I'm a retired astrophysicist who accidentally became a full-time botanist in 2001, when I got hooked on figuring out "what flower is that?" at the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve (SRPER). Since then, I've worked on plants full-time, since they continue to be a source of fascination and mystery.

I soon started compiling plant trail guides for different areas of southern California so I wouldn't have to figure out the plants again on my next visit.

I concentrated on the flora of the SRPER from 2003 to 2005, and then began working on the flora of the Borrego Desert in the winter / spring and San Jacinto Mountain in the summer / fall. I also helped RT Hawke and Shaun Hawke with the southern California section of their Flora of the Pacific Crest Trail.

My profile pix is Brodiaea santarosae.

My main plants page: http://tchester.org/plants/index.html

Some iNat posts of interest, species discussions and posts showing repeat photography of the same plant:

http://tchester.org/plants/iNat_notable_links.html