Monty Burns

The Gold Medallion tree is blooming all over San Diego.

The Gold Medallion Tree (Cassia leptophylla) is one of San Diego’s most popular trees, and it is blooming in most parts of San Diego right now. The yellow flowers bloom in clusters at the tips of the branches, clusters which can grow to the size of a basketball on mature trees. Native to Brazil and introduced to California in the 1980s, it does well here because it is extremely drought tolerant, loves full sun, and will tolerate frost to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. It grows to about 25 feet tall with a 25-foot canopy, and is evergreen for most of the year. The yellow flowers on the tree now will drop in about a month, making way for the footlong pods that will drop early fall.

The lifespan of the Cloudless Sulfur Butterfly is only 2-4 weeks.

Wikimedia Commons/Charles J. Sharpe

The Cloudless Sulfur Caterpillar uses the Gold Medallion tree as a host plant for pupating, and when the tree is blooming (as it is now), you’ll often see the Cloudless Sulfur butterfly (Phoebis sennae) fluttering all around it. The adults are clever at camouflage, resting on flowers that match the color of their wings. Growing to just under 2 inches in size, the males are a bright lemon yellow, while the females are more of a golden yellow. Both genders have black spotting on the wings. Their rapid, darting movements are one way to easily differentiate them from other similar species.

Ocean Water Temperatures Will Probably Peak in the next few weeks, the result of many weeks of summer sunshine and warm coastal air temperatures. While the water offshore seldom reaches 70 degrees Fahrenheit, shallow-water temperatures of 70-75 degrees are not uncommon on gently shelving beaches late in the day. Wide, sandy beaches such as Coronado, south Mission Beach, and La Jolla Shores are now at their best for comfortable bathing.

Super Full Moon Rising over Chula Vista at Otay River Valley

David K Miller Photography

August’s Full Moon Will Arrive On Monday the 19th, and it will be the first supermoon of the year, bigger and brighter than any moon this year so far. The highest tides this month are associated with the full moon. A high tide of +7.35 feet is predicted at 9:05 pm Sunday, August 18, and an identical tide of +7.35 feet is due at 9:48 pm on Monday, August 19. Lowest tides for the month occur very early in the morning: a -1.14–foot tide at 3:29 am on Sunday and a -1.25–foot tide at 4:03 am on Friday.