One of the Bay Area's best displays is at Edgewood Park, only a short distance for our Peninsula readers. There are many miles of trails in Edgewood Park, and each offers something unique to go with flowers--forest shade, forest views, vast meadows, water ravines (usually dry), and fine exercise trails. Docent-led walks by the Friends of Edgewood National Preserve are available each Saturday and Sunday from the first of March to mid-June. During these walks you will see many of the 50-plus species of blooming wildflowers in the park. The March and June walks start at Old Stage Day Camp, and the April and May walks start at the Park-and-Ride lot at Edgewood Road and Highway 280. No reservations are needed. Bring a snack and water. Restrooms are available only at Old Stage Day Camp. For more information or to schedule a guided tour for your group, call Dianne Hunt, docent coordinator, at 650-261-1935.

Our walk this week starts at the Old Stage Day Camp trailhead. Parking is limited inside the park, but you will find space along Edgewood Road. Edgewood Trail is marked with a trail sign next to the parking area. The trail quickly climbs through a mixed forest of oak, bay, and madrone through six switchbacks, gaining a couple hundred feet. Through this shady area you will see spring flowers, including Western hound's tongue, with clusters of blue to purple flowers and white centers growing on top of a long central stalk. The plant gets its common name from the large, simple leaves growing at the base of the plant, which have small hairs on the surface that give a rough texture resembling a dog's tongue. We also spotted patches of maiden hair fern. The black stems of maiden hair fern were pounded by Indians and then woven into baskets as a black pattern. Strands of maiden hair also made the pattern of a special hat called "the squaw cap." When a woman became widowed, her hair was burned off at the neckline and then smeared with pine pitch. On top of this, she wore the squaw cap for a year as a sign of her grief--so reports Kathleen Lyons and Mary Beth Cooney-Lazaneo in their book entitled "Plants of the Coast Redwood Region." My wife suggested that this would produce a bad case of scalp itch, but who am I to argue the duties of a grieving widow? We found another plant that we couldn't precisely identify. I think it is vetch. It looked like a garden sweetpea, pale lilac to deep pink in color. The previously mentioned book reports that the young seeds and shoots can be cooked and eaten like domestic peas.

The trail continues over a service road. You can turn left here and shorten your hike, but we suggest that you continue on since the trail levels out. There are good views across the canyon--which is Edgewood Road--to Pulgas Ridge Open Space Area. Soon, the trail opens to the broad meadow area, where the wildflower display is especially grand. Your views to the west and south focus on the Santa Cruz Mountain Range. You will probably notice the sounds of Highway 280; we have found that the level of traffic noise in this area is directly proportional to the speed and direction of the wind. During our recent hike, the freeway noise was quite loud, but at other times the wind prevailed and the freeway noise could not be detected. As you wander across the meadow to the junction with Serpentine Trail, you will notice lupin--a bright purple bush--and blue-eyed grass. The latter is not a grass but an iris. And the eyes aren't blue, but yellow, and so it is with common names. Pigs sometimes grub at the woody plants, and therefore, the genus name "Sisyrinchium," which means "pig snout." According to Lyons and Cooley-Lanzaneo, tea from blue-eyed grass was used as a remedy for fever reduction.

When you reach the junction with the Serpentine Loop Trail, turn left and walk along the meadow past the service road to the junction with Sylvan Trail. Turn left there and climb briefly toward the tree-covered knoll and the next junction, then right into the shady canyon and its eight switchbacks. When we were there, we spotted wild cucumber in this area, a profusely growing vine that often obliterates the shrub over which it spreads. The seeds from wild cucumber were used for a variey of ailments, from kidney trouble to falling hair to treating saddle sores on horses (Lyons and Cooney-Lazaneo).

At the bottom, turn left and walk along the hillside through a mixed forest to the day camp/picnic area. The parking area is just ahead.

If you have more time, take the Ridgeview Loop or the Serpentine Loop. The latter will take you through the meadows below the tree line, and the former will take you up and over the high point at an elevation of 872 feet.

Plan to visit the Edgewood Park at least once during the next few months. If you are serious about wildflowers, take a weekend docent-led hike. Or pick up your favorite flower guide and give it a go. Either way, you're sure to enjoy nature's springtime display.