California Native Wildflower Virtual Tour
Our first stop will be a tour of flowers that butterflies love. These flowers provide the nourishing nectar the butterflies drink for food, and the butterflies in turn help the plants pollinate and reproduce. Provided by the California Native Plant Society and members.
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Sticky Bush Monkeyflower (Mimulus aurantiacus) |
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Coyote Mint (Monardella villosa) |
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Sulfur Flower Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum) |
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Snowdrop Bush (Styrax officinalis var. redivivus) |
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Crimson Columbine (Aquilegia formosa) |
Our next stop will be wildflowers you can see in the desert after the late winter or early spring rains.
This is a Desert Hollyhock of Globe Mallow from the 29 Palms area
{http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/8120_3181/4573/0004.jpeg }
This is a close up of a cactus flower from a pin cushion cactus
{ http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/8120_3181/4573/0012.jpeg }
Next we see a tall spike of flowers from a yucca plant {http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/8120_3181/4569/0089.jpeg }
( all photos of desert flowers courtesy of Charles Weber )
Hiking up in the Sierras, we might wee these wildflowers growing along the trail or filling open meadows beneath the towering peaks ..
The above is a Dwarf Alpine Paintbrush, photo by Brother Alfred Brousseau
{ http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/5205_1622/1421/0076.jpeg }
This wildflower is Congdons Bitterroot, photo by John Game
Heading up into the Cascades near Mount Shasta you might see this streambank birdsfoot trefoil .
{ http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/6121_1611/3983/0089.jpeg }
photo by Brousseau
or this Tolmie Startulip
{ http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/9092_3191/3543/0134.jpeg } by Lorraine Elrod
In the Chaparral of the coastal mountains, where there is less moisture than the forests, but more than in the deserts, you would be able to catch the sweet scent of the Ceonothus in bloom February April, and hear the bust buzz of the thousands of bees who feed on this flower .
{ http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/5205_1622/2824/0034.jpeg } by Brosseau
Or enjoy the flash of red of this Texas Paintbrush
{ http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/8253_3202/0180/0006.jpeg } by Beatrice F. Howitt
And the hummingbirds will dart about you as you watch them hover in mid-air to drink the nectar from the tall flowered spikes of the Hummingbird Sage plant
{ http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/8253_3202/0180/0021.jpeg } by Beatrice F. Howitt
Out on the Channel Islands, the flowers are sometimes only found on the islands and not on the mainland. This makes them endemic to the islands .
Bush or Tree Mallow
(Malacothamnus fasciculatus ssp. catalinensis in Thorne)
(Malacothamnus fasciculatus in Jepson)
The bush mallow showing leaves and
flowers
© 1997 Dr. Bill Bushing
Close-up of bush mallow (Malacothamnus
fasciculatus) flower
© 1997 Dr. Bill Bushing
{ http://www.catalinaconservancy.org/plants/thorne/malafasc.htm }
St. Catherine's Lace or Giant Buckwheat
(Eriogonum giganteum ssp. giganteum in Thorne)
(Eriogonum giganteum var. giganteum in Jepson
Island endemic St. Catherine's
lace growing
on a rocky outcropping
© 1998 Dr. Bill Bushing
{ http://www.catalinaconservancy.org/plants/thorne/eriogiga.htm }
And other island flowers may also have counterparts on the mainland
Galvesia speciosa
Bush snapdragon
Bush snapdragon flowers.
Bush snapdragon flowers.
{ http://www.catalinaconservancy.org/plants/thorne/galvspec.htm }
Poppy
(Eschscholtzia ramosa)
The native poppy (Eschscholtzia
ramosa)
© 1997 Dr. Bill Bushing
{ http://www.catalinaconservancy.org/plants/thorne/eschramo.htm }