Spring is of course the best time to see so many of San Diego’s best annual herbs. Rare plant surveys are always one of my favorite tasks on the job because I am sure to learn a new species or visit an unexplored site! Prior to a survey, I prepare by researching the rare plants that have potential to occur within the survey area. Numerous resources are utilized to brush up on what to look for in the field and to create a short list of historic locations and microhabitats for rare plants. Because rare plants are rare, the volume of information available on these species is sometimes pieced together with more than a century of site records, and specimens are not always fully documented.
Let’s do a science side step from plants to psychology and consider the idea of confirmation bias. In general, bias is something a credible scientist strives to avoid while building an objective knowledge base of the world. The theory of confirmation bias can be described as perceiving new information through the filter of one’s own knowledge to reaffirm an existing belief. Like when you’re looking to buy a Subaru and suddenly you notice Subarus everywhere you look. This confirmation bias is what I try to avoid in the field by investigating each plant and always expecting the unexpected.
It was the end of March and I was performing a Nuttall’s lotus (Acmispon prostratus) monitoring visit at a coastal bluff restoration site. The site was previously disturbed but has somewhat of a native seed bank intact. I was using pin flags to flag the Nuttall’s lotus locations along the sandy dune when I saw a flash of purple. So, I assumed the classic botanist position: crouched down with my face only about a foot from the earth. As I took a closer look I was surprised at what I saw. There were deeply lobed leaves springing out of the sand, curled under on the margins, almost looking ballooned. Small hairs were visible on the stem and at the end of the stem one, small, pale purple flower was in full bloom. It was Phacelia stellaris, also known as Brand’s phacelia or star phacelia. I didn’t dare to touch, not only to avoid impacting this one plant, but also because phacelias are known to cause dermatitis. This phacelia plant was mixed in among sandy sea shells and nestled up close with another small sprout of beach evening primrose (Chamissonia cheiranthifolia). I collected site and location data, took a few photos, and enjoyed the feeling of spying something out of the ordinary.
Brand’s phacelia (Phacelia stellaris) is an annual herb, native to California and Baja California. This plant is a California Native Plant Society (CNPS) rare plant rank 1B.1. It’s bloom period is between May and June, and it resides in coastal dunes of coastal strand and coastal sage scrub communities. I have been surveying the site since 2014, and Michelle Balk had been surveying the site for several years prior. No historic records of this phacelia had been reported at this location, and we had certainly never observed it during our site visits. Although it is not unexpected to see Brand’s phacelia in this terrain, it was a surprise to see something new pop up. It’s important to never be too sure about what will be found in the field. Certainty and over confidence can often lead to confirmation bias; however preparation and an open mind can lead to success in finding even more than expected.
Photo Credit: By Shelley Lawrence