Far Out Flora

Gardening in the Outerlands of San Francisco

Tag Archives: Brodiaea

Edgewood Natural Preserve Wildflowers

June 29, 2011 by Matti | 7 Comments

Chlorogalum pomeridianum - Wavy-leafed Soap Plant

Chlorogalum pomeridianum - Wavy-leafed Soap Plant

Wildflower season is getting pretty scarce here, and we tried to get in one more hike before everything dries up. 30 minutes south of SF there’s a cool place called Edgewood Natural Preserve just outside of Redwood City. (oh, btw…we did this hike about 4 wks ago). Kudos to Megan…she did all the leg work trying to identify the names on these guys with the help of their wildflower identifier tool. There’s always a chance that the ID is off, but hey…we try. Check out this Chlorogalum pomeridianum above. These California native perennials grow from bulbs and can be lathered into a soapy foam in your hands with a little water.

Calochortus luteus - Yellow Mariposa Lily

Calochortus luteus - Yellow Mariposa Lily

Calochortus luteus is another bulb grower that likes our western coast. I didn’t realize it until now, but Megan just saw these in Tiburon on her solo trip.

Bellardia trixago - Mediterranean Lineseed

Bellardia trixago - Mediterranean Linseed

Sounds like Bellardia trixago are a little obnoxious out in the Bay Area. Native to the Mediterranean, here it grows like a weed and likes to seek out neighboring roots. After latching on to them, it starts stealing nutrients from their wildflower buddies.

Lotus scoparius var. scoparius - Deerweed

Lotus scoparius var. scoparius - Deerweed

Butterflies dig the nectar from this Lotus scoparius var scoparius. Extra bonus, their larvae enjoy munching on this guy too. Seems like a great plant to have if you adore attracting some winged friends. Wildscaping does a great in-depth write up to check out.

Snake hiding in the Grass

Snake hiding in the Grass

So we were hiking along and…OMGosh we saw a big old snake. Actually, Megan saw it first. Sensing her slight panic…I just froze. Another two feet and my foot would have been stepping on it. Oh, did I say it was big? Okay, only 4-5 feet long…but still a little freaky.

Snake heading down the hole

Snake heading down the hole

Not certain why maybe a guy thing, but I felt the urge to get super close to it to see if it had a rattle. Well, it didn’t so I felt safer. What we saw next was awesome. It slithered along for a couple minutes then jetted straight down what looked like a gopher hole. Crazy.

Achyrachaena mollis - Blow Wives

Achyrachaena mollis - Blow Wives

Okay, Matti has a new favorite common name for a plant. Yes, Achyrachaena mollis is also known as Blow Wives. I must work that into conversation some time today.

Brodiaea - Cluster Lilies

Brodiaea - Cluster Lilies

Gnaphalium californicum - California Cudweed

Gnaphalium californicum - California Cudweed

Gnaphalium californicum grows readily up and down most of the West Coast. NOTE we don’t recommend this, but heard that people brew this guy into a make shift tea. Any harvesters out there do this regularly?

Mimulus aurantiacus - Sticky Monkey Flower

Mimulus aurantiacus - Sticky Monkey Flower

Maybe it’s because this is one of the few flowers that I can regularly identify, or the name just rolls off my tongue…but I love Mimulus. Seems to grow well in a variety of soils and sorta a work horse in the landscape. Hey, you know who has the heartbeat on CA wildflowers? Phyte Club. You must swing by their blog and give them a read.

– Far Out Flora

Ferry Ride to Wild Tiburon Flower Fun

June 6, 2011 by Megan | 5 Comments

Leaving the Ferry Building

Memorial Day I took the ferry over to Tiburon to check out Old St. Hilary’s. I was googling around about wildflowers in Marin, and found this description from the landmarks society website “Wildflowers surround Old St. Hilary’s, Tiburon’s iconic hillside landmark, which was originally a mission church named for St. Hilaire, Bishop of Poitiers. The heirs of John Reed—who held title to El Rancho Corte Madera del Presidio, the Mexican land grant that included the Tiburon Peninsula—deeded the one-quarter acre site for $2 to the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which built the church as a place of worship for local railroad workers in 1888.”

Old St. Hillary's in Tiburon

I was sold, and love any excuse to get on a boat in the bay. It’s not a long walk from the ferry drop off to Old St. Hillary’s. In early spring you can find the super rare Tiburon Paint Brush (Castilleja neglecta). I was able to track down a couple wildflowers while I was there. Didn’t see a single other person the whole time I was there except for a lone jogger.

Calochortus luteus loveliness

Mariposa lily cuteness was in bloom all over the place. Lots of little black beetle like bugs in most of them.

Brodiaea

Thanks to Annie’s I can identify crap loads of plants I was clueless about earlier, but I’m still a rookie. As a junior level California native plant identifier, I think the above is a Brodiaea of some sort, but that’s all I know. They were everywhere!

Cute little Dudleyas

Keep an eye out for Dudleya blooms this time of year if you live near the coast. Guessing this is Dudleya farinosa. All of our backyard duds are in flower right now.

Old St. Hillary's

California Poppies

Lots and lots and lots of California poppies blooming all over the place. They were the cute little light orange guys.

Gosh Darn Yellow Composites (GDYC)

I have four guesses of what this might be, but for now I’m going to call it Gosh Darn Yellow Composite. Update, thanks to a helpful flickr member help I have a positive id: Hemizonia congesta ssp. lutescens

Silene californica

This was another unknown (to me) until a kind flickr member ID’ed it for me as Silene californica. I love you flickr! Next year we’ll get our wildflower searching happening a little earlier when more is going on.