Viola pedunculata

Viola pedunculata, a yellow native violet that can be eaten. When fully ripe the seedpod's explosive dehiscence makes it hard to collect the seeds.link

Owl's Clover

Owls Clover

Orthocarpus densiflorus Synonym Castilleja densiflora is an annual little green photosynthetic semi-parasite that taps into to other plants roots.

Wildflowers 2009

Some local wildflowers 2009:

Dodecatheon clevelandii ssp. clevelandii
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This one is Phacelia parryi













Amsinckia (fiddlenecks) with scorpioid cymes

Ringneck

San Diego Ringneck snake(Diadophis punctatus similis)



I rescued this one that was trapped in a bucket that I carelessly forgot to turn over. It released a smelly musk on my hand that easily washed off but never tried to bite. The bright red coiled tail is also supposed to frighten off predators.

Ceanothus bloom 2009

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The Ceaonothus is blooming right now. This is my Ceanothus trail:




Cercocarpus blooming behind this one.






Flowers the color of the sky.

Ceanothus verrucosus

A San Diego area endemic is Ceanothus verrucosus or worty stemmed ceanothus. This is the first ceanothus species to bloom in the year. The white flowers are strongly odoriferous and attract many bees. The plants have no burl and are killed by fire but the seedling are obligate firefollowers. This way seeds never germinate until the parent plant is killed by fire. The populations have generational cycles based on fire patterns.

ceanothus mutants

Most Ceanothus tomentosa plants have sky blue or lavender flowers but rarely Ceanothus tomentosa individual plants have recessive flower coloration like white cream or yellow:

Ceanothus blooming

There are blue Ceanothus tomentosa var. oliveae: