Flora of Camp Tahquitz - Ribes, Quercus, Sambucus, and Solidago

I was back at Camp Tahquitz recently and took a few more plant photos, which I've identified to the best of my ability.  As always, if you have a different opinion, I'd like to hear from you.

Ribes cereum (wax currant).  This is one of three types of Ribes (goosberries and currants) that exist around camp.

A nearby oak is identified by sign as Canyon Live Oak (Quercus chrysolepis, Canyon Oak, Maul Oak, Goldcup Oak, Gold cup Live Oak, canyon live oak, gold cup oak).  Q. chrysolepsis exist nearby, but from what I can tell they have a much smoother edge to their leaf.

So while I think it's definitely an oak (Quercus), I think it's a different species of  oak.  Candidates that are locally known and reported on Calflora are Quercus dumosa (Nuttall's scrub oak, coastal sage scrub oak, scrub oak) and Quercus wislizeni var. frutescens (Chapparal Oak, Live oak, bush interior live oak, interior live oak).  Q. dumosa is the best match with regard to the size of the tree and leaf colors, but it's clearly competing for sun and nutrients with the larger pine that it grows beneath, so I don't want to put too great an emphasis on size.  Another possibility is that this is a hybrid; oaks commonly hybridize.  It's interesting that all the oaks noted are at the upper end of their standard elevation range according to CalFlora.org, yet they are reported in Barton Flats by reputable sources. 

There's a nice Elderberry (Sambucus nigra  ssp. caerulea  or Sambucus mexicana, blue elderberry) in camp which I mentioned previously, but did not show in pictures.

 

The plant pictured below was a bit of a puzzle, and I mentioned my guess in a previous blog post that it was Solidago (Goldenrod). I based that on the following series of observations: 

 

Elsewhere in camp (where it is sunnier) what appears to be the same plant is in bloom.  In bloom it is much more easily and clearly identifiable as Goldenrod (Solidago - probably S. confinis, southern goldenrod).