California Naturalist

Humboldt's Lily (Liliumhumboldtii) is a plant endemic to CA and is considered rare. It was named after naturalist and explorer, Alexandervon Humboldt. Its flowers typically bloom around June. There are two subspecies.Ssp.humbodtii is found primarily in the Sierra foothills andssp.

A baby bird's gape is the huge open part of the mouth, often brightly colored, it is thought, to induce feeding from adults. Gape can also be used as a verb to describe begging behavior.

Western tussock moth (Orgyiavetusta) caterpillars are beautiful and abundant around the state in late spring/early summer, but like some other caterpillars, they possess chemical defenses that can trigger allergic reactions, commonly in the form of a rash.

Itching to start your weekend? Us too! These Columbian black-tailed deer twins (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) seen outside the window at CalNat HQ north in Hopland are a more common occurrence than single fawns, who are born mostly to young does.

Citizen Science Day is April 14. "There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew" - Marshall McLuhan. To understand and protect California's unique natural resources, we need all the information we can gather across many different disciplines.