Winter 2025 Almanac: Salamanders and Sperm Whales
Life during winter is full of conversation.
Botany
The Adder’s-Tongue—Our Fetid Friend in the Shadows
Deep in the shadows of redwood understory, when winter rains still drip on the mosses and ferns, an unusual flower heralds the beginning of the blooms—a sort of “flower new...
A Lifeline for Three Endangered Wildflowers
The Inflation Reduction Act is helping scientists imagine hopeful futures for endangered North Bay wildflower species that were listed decades ago.
Elder Statesberry
"We don't have a California state shrub yet, but the blue elderberry ought to be a top contender," writes Alison S. Pollack. "It's an overachiever."
The Tussle Between A Beetle and its Shrub
Look closely on a spring day, and you will find an emerald gleam on ubiquitous coyote brush.
Stitching Nature Together
The project, says artist Liz Harvey, “draws on the past to navigate toward an uncertain but yet hopeful future.”
Sex and Poison May Explain California Death Cap Invasion
Local mycologists suspect death caps—huge and abundant in the Bay Area—may be competing with chanterelles underground.
Winter 2024 Almanac: Manroots, Skinks, and Avocets
You didn’t imagine it. That was a tiny blue tail you saw wriggling through the damp leaves and brush. Illustrations by Jane Kim.
Bay Nature’s Hall of Botanical Horrors
For those who dare—meet the Bay Area’s spookiest plants (and two freaky fungi).
Naturalist’s Notebook: How Salt Marsh Plants Cope With All the Salt
Meet the Salt Marsh 3, a trio of marsh plants specially adapted to live in the brine.
