These little sycamore seeds have landed in our orchard without permission with not another sycamore tree in sight, think we've all played with these before when growing up, we used to call them helicopters! Who knows how far these seeds have flown before landing and would grow into massive trees if left to do their thing! There is an Island in the middle of the sea on Strangford Lough that I row around which is full of sycamore trees that I believe the seeds have flown and landed here, these hel

Field Notes: August 28, 2025 Location: Chaparral slope above Sycamore Canyon, Santa Monica Mountains, California ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Encounter Summary: On the dusty switchback I met Floromimus coronatus, the “Thornpom,” plum-sized and armored in cream lobes tipped faint rose, six straw-yellow legs posed like twig pedicels. It does not bloom; the whole body is the flower—an artichoke of false calyces riding a low, olive disk. When my shadow crossed it, the creature tucked and sprinted, then sprang into