Whale Point cabin at the UC Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve, where we were staying.
The images here feature some of the familiar plants in the vicinity, and one would think I should know them better considering how frequently I have
visited Big Creek over prior decades. I would appreciate any corrections to my errors in the tentative attempts at identification by a marine zoologist.
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The flowers here are island morning glory (Calystegia macrostegia), family Convolvulaceae.
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The California hedgenettle (Stachys bullata) is a very common plant at Big Creek.
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sticky monkey-flower (Diplacus aurantiacus)
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Eriophyllum confertiflorum, commonly known as golden or yellow yarrow,
belongs to the family, Asteraceae, amd is native to California and Baja California.
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California hedgenettle (Stachys bullata) is a
member of the mint
family (Lamiaceae), along about 7,000 other species including many noted for their culinary uses such as basil, rosemary, sage, oregano, thyme, and lavender.
These all have square stems, which is not unique to the mint family but its species are by far the most commonly encountered square-stemmed plants,
unless one happens to frequently encounter figworts, St. John's worts, bedstraws, willowherbs, or four-angled spikerushes.
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blue dick (Dipterostemon capitatus)
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The genus, Dipterostemon, is monotypic within Asparagacee, including only D. capitatus (blue dick).
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The sticky monkey-flower (Diplacus aurantiacus) is native to the West Coast, from
southwestern Oregon to California's Central Coast. It belongs to the lopseed family (Phrymaceae).
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The sticky monkey-flower plant has a close mutualistic relationship with
the checkerspot butterfly, Euphydryas chalcedona, providing it with its principle food source, and with its distribution corresponding
to the life cycle of the butterfly (Mooney et al., 1981).
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The sticky monkey-flower gets the first part of its name
because its leave are covered with a resin that helps the plant resist grazing by insects and also helps it resist desiccation.
It gets the second part of its name because its flower looks a bit like a smiling monkey.
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A blue dick (Dipterostemon capitatus), apparently
also known by other common names including wild hyacinth or purplehead. It is native to California and multiple other western states, and also northwestern Mexico.
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Coast Indian paintbrush (Castilleja affinis) is native
to western-most North American from British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, Mexico.
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Yarrow, or common yarrow (Achillea millefolium), belongs to Asteraceae, gets up
to 1 m tall, and has a pungent odor.
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coast Indian paintbrush (Castilleja affinis)
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Red larkspur (Delphinium nudicaule) is a
perennial plant belonging to the buttercup family (Ranunculacee). It is a native plant found from Oregon to California's Coast and Sierra
Nevada ranges below about 6,500 feet (2 km) elevation.
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Rubus ursinus, the California blackberry, which is mostly found throughout
California and west of the Cascade mountain range in Oregon and Washington, although it can also be found as far east as Idaho, and further north and
south. It is popular as a native plant that does well in gardens
(calscape.org).
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Pipestems or chaparral clematis (Clematis lasiantha) are members of the buttercup family,
Ranunculaceae. They are popular California native vines for planting in gardens (Calscape.org).
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The island morning glory (Calystegia macrostegia) thrives on the coast
of California between Monterey and San Diego.
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The island morning glory attracts various insects with its
abundant nectar and pollen, especially the native bindweed turret bee (Diadasia bituberculata, but this looked like a fly to me.
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coast Indian paintbrush (Castilleja affinis)
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Under Construction!