Scotch Broom
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click photo to enlarge |
Late Spring and early summer we get a lot of wildflowers blooming in the
mountains. This yellow one was very profuse this year. A friend told me I
needed to drive up the mountains with my camera so I did. What I saw was the
Scotch Broom plant which is an invasive noxious plant the people would love to
get rid of. Scotch broom - Cytisus scoparius - is a prodigious seed producer.
The seeds have hard coats enabling them to survive in the environment for up
to 80 years. The seeds are transported from place to place in mud stuck to
vehicles, equipment, shoes and the feet of animals. Seeds may be carried via
runoff from roads into streams and gullies. Then seedlings may establish along
streamsides and along gully walls. |
click photo to enlarge |
Locally we see it wherever the soil has been disturbed and there is more and
more of it every year. With its brilliant yellow flowers and dense, bushy
stands along highways, Scotch broom is one of the most recognizable plants
in California. It is also one of the most threatening to native
plants and landscapes. Some BLM agencies will even lend you tools to defeat
or remove Scotch Broom. |
click photo to enlarge |
But the trip did make for some nice photographs and a pretty day. Driving
up the south side of the mountains was all socked in with fog but once we
crossed over the the north side it was a very pretty sunny day. |
click photo to enlarge |
click photo to enlarge
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