Tag: wildflowers

Epilobium canum

Published on by HashiLeave a comment

This week in the PerpJo: Epilobium canum, also known as California fuchsia, hummingbird trumpet and firechalice, is a species of willowherb in the evening primrose family (Onagraceae). It’s a low-growing, spreading, perennial sub-shrub with grey-green leaves that are velvety to the touch. and a profusion of bright scarlet flowers in late summer and autumn. It is native to dry slopes and chaparral of western North America, especially California. It’s doing well at our place, and I’m happy to see that it‘s now flowering.

Eriogonum cinereum

Published on by Hashi1 Comment

Ashyleaf buckwheat is one of my favourite chaparral plants, and I love that it grows natively here on our block. Also known as coastal buckwheat, it is endemic to the coastline of Southern California, primarily within Los Angeles County and Ventura County.

Eriogonum cinereum can reach from 0.6–1.25 m in height and width. Its foliage is a lovely pale turquoise/silvery grey colour. The leaves are wavy-edged and one to three centimeters long. The inflorescences stick out from the plant, each with several flower cluster heads of tiny tightly-packed frilly flowers which are usually pale pink in colour. It is the food plant for Euphilotes bernardino, the Bernardino dotted blue butterfly.

Romneya coulteri

Published on by Hashi4 Comments

The Matilija Poppies are putting on a lovely show in the Park. Romneya coulteri is native to California and northern Mexico. The plant grows from 2 to 3 metres (6 to 9 feet) tall, with very large flowers that somewhat resemble a fried egg.

The flower is the largest of any California native species. It was nominated as state flower in 1890, but the California poppy won the title in a landslide.

Acmispon glaber

Published on by HashiLeave a comment

I’ve been looking at a lot of deerweed flowers, and I’m not convinced by the prevailing wisdom about their varying colours. If an individual flower turns orange after pollination, as I’ve often heard, then I would expect to see a more random distribution of orange flowers. But it’s very consistent — the further down the stem, the darker (and more shrivelled) the flower. There are no yellow flowers down low — am I to assume that every single blossom was pollinated? And there are no orange flowers up high — why not? I see bees up high.

It really seems to me that every flower gets darker as it gets older; that it’s age, not pollination, that makes the colour change.

Clarkia unguiculata

Published on by HashiLeave a comment

Clarkia unguiculata is commonly known as elegant clarkia. It is endemic to California, where it’s found in many woodland habitats, including the understory of oak woodlands here in the Santa Monica Mountains. It’s one of my favourite wildflowers, and not just because my last name is Clark 😊.

The showy flowers have hairy, fused sepals forming a cup beneath the corolla, and four petals up to 2.5 centimeters long. The paddle-like petals are pink to reddish to purple and have a slender “stalk” and diamond-shaped or triangular “tongue” (sorry, are there more correct names for parts of a petal?). There are eight long stamens, the outer four of which have large red anthers. The white stigma protrudes from the flower and can be quite large.

The above paragraph does nothing to convey how pretty this plant is! It really is very elegant.

Diplacus longiflorus

Published on by HashiLeave a comment

Week 17 in the PerpJo. There’s a lovely orange/red specimen of bush monkey flower growing in Legacy Park. I first assumed it was scarlet monkey flower but that has quite different leaves, and simpler flowers. I’m confused about the Latin names of the various species. Some sites say that Mimulus changed to Diplacus. Some sites say the reverse. Regardless, the various monkey flowers are important butterfly host plants and a nectar source for hummingbirds.

Viola pedunculata

Published on by HashiLeave a comment

Viola pedunculata, the Johnny jump-up, California golden violet, or yellow pansy, is a perennial yellow wildflower of the coast and coastal ranges in California and northwestern Baja California. The plant grows on open, grassy slopes, in chaparral habitats, and in oak woodlands. We see its cheerful yellow flowers in the Santa Monica Mountains from early to late spring.