Category Archives: Native

May 15, 2013 · 9:11 am

Plant of the day: sun rose

Small bushes covered with delicate yellow flowers are scattered through the chaparral. This is sun rose (Helianthemum scoparium). It’s one of the few California natives that is in the same family as the ornamental, rock rose. You can see the similarities in the delicate petals and many stamens (from 5 to 45!) of broom rose. The small, needle-like leaves are sparse and grow close to the stem.

This sub-shrub can be just a few inches tall, or up to two feet high. It can be found in the dry hillsides of the North Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada down into  Southwestern California; its northernmost range is Mendocino county. According to CalFlora, sun rose sprouts by the thousands after a fire–and the plants are much more leafy, looking very different than they usually do.

It is also called  broom rose and rushrose.

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May 14, 2013 · 9:10 pm

Plant of the day: red ribbons

Clarkia_coccinaA brilliant magenta flower clings to a shady cliff. Each of its four petals is deeply notched into three lobes, and four matching straplike sepals are bent backwards in between each petal. This is red ribbons (Clarikia coccina), a showy and beautiful California native. It is endemic to this state, and is mainly found north of Santa Cruz county.

The Clarkia genus in general is a particularly beautiful one, with petals that are often clawed, lobed, or decoratively patterned. Other species have even more elaborately modified flowers, with leaves that look like they have been carved away by an inventive sculptor.

I have found no record of red ribbons being eaten used medicinally.

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May 13, 2013 · 10:24 pm

Plant of the day: goldwire

Hypericum_coccinum1The large yellow flowers of goldwire (Hypericum coccinum) are adorned with many long yellow stamens. Beneath each cluster of showy blooms, the stalk is dense with paired, gray-green leaves that grow straight out from the stem. The leaves grow thickly from ground to flower, and the regular geometry creates a very striking visual effect. 

Goldwire is endemic to California, and is generally found in dry, rocky soils in the chaparral. Hypericum_coccinum2

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May 12, 2013 · 10:22 pm

Plant of the day: California tea

Rupertia_physodesWhen I first saw California tea (Rupertia physodes), I wondered briefly if I was looking at a strange variation of poison oak. The glossy leaves are grouped together in threes, after all!

But when this little bush is in bloom it is clearly in the pea family. The flowers grow in small clusters of several white flowers with purple accents on the inner petals. The leaves are completely unlike those of poison oak: they have straight margins, pointy tips, and are slightly hairy. When crushed, they give off a sweet, fruity smell that reminds me vaguely of tomato.

The leaves can be brewed into a tea, hence the name. It is also called forest scurfpea and common rupertia. Rupertia_physodes-3 Rupertia_physodes-2

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May 10, 2013 · 5:00 pm

Plant of the day: pitcher sage

Lepechinia_calycina-2A bold bush with large white flowers and thick fragrant leaves grows abundantly along Old Railroad Grade. This is pitcher sage (Lepechinia calycina), likely named for its vessel-shaped flowers. Each large bloom is an inch or so long, and its lower lip protrudes out from the flower like a landing pad for pollinators. As it moves inward, this lip puckers into a distinctive ridge. The serrated, pungent leaves are large and thick with a wooly feel.

Unlike other species of native sage, Lepechinia is in the mint family. It was used medicinally by indigenous Californians to treat fever and headache, but despite the strong smell of its leaves I haven’t found any reference that it was used for cooking. Neither is there any mention of it being poisonous.

It is endemic to California, found from Lake to Ventura counties.Lepechinia_calycina

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May 8, 2013 · 8:42 pm

Plant of the day: western azalea

Rhododendron_occidentaleOn warm days, stands of azalea bushes exude a sweet and spicy fragrance. These shrubs in the rhododendron family are one of my favorite plants. The flowers are beautiful: large white trumpets have a splash of peachy orange on their upper lip, and a delicate array of long stamens. But the best thing about western azalea (Rhododendron occidentale) is their smell: it is the epitome of Californian summers. These shrubs prefer to grow on stream banks, and their pungent aroma is embedded in childhood memories of swimming holes and rock hopping. Even the leaves–pale green and slightly sticky–have their own fragrance. It’s a lovely thing. In My First Summer in the Sierra, John Muir said everybody must like this “charming shrub” not only for itself, but “also for the shady alders and willows, ferny meadows, and living water associated with it”.

Western azalea also grows in marshy flats, and I spotted the one photographed here at the Potrero Meadow picnic area. I have only seen azaleas blooming in late spring and early summer, but the Marin Flora says there are some plants near Rattlesnake Camp that have flowers almost all year round–a treat worth keeping an eye out for.

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May 8, 2013 · 12:25 am

Plant of the day: scythe-leaf onion

IMG_6626Clusters of purple flowers are perched like tiny bouquets on the barren soil of a serpentinite outcrop. Each flower emerges directly from the earth, attended by one or two curling, blade-like leaves. This is scythe-leaf onion (Allium falcifolium). Its flowers are only about a centimeter long–brilliant fucshia-colored funnels with six white stamens inside. The leaves are a dusty shade of green.

According to the Manual of Pacific coast drug plants, Native American tribes used scythe-leaf onion for food, and it was used medicinally as a diuretic. It grows on rocky, well-drained soils and has a strong preference for serpentine. Look for it from Santa Cruz to the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon. IMG_6633

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May 5, 2013 · 11:03 pm

Plant of the day: bush poppy

Dendromecon_rigidaBush poppy was a stunning sight in a fog-soaked hike atop Mt. Tamalpais today. The brilliant yellow flowers adorn the chaparral like jewels. Each blossom can be a few inches across, with four delicate petals surrounding a slightly orange mound of stamens. The leathery, gray-green leaves also are attractive.

Bush poppy (Dendromecon rigida, also known as tree poppy) can grow up to nine feet tall, though all the ones I have seen have been much smaller.  You can find it in coastal chaparral, and also in the foothills of the coast ranges and the Sierras up to 6,000 feet. It thrives in well-drained, rocky soil; I saw it along the red-dirt cut banks of the Rock Spring trail on the east side of the mountain.

The photo above, which only shows the blossom, doesn’t do this plant justice–it really is a striking shrub, especially as a splash of color in the muted tones of the chaparral.

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May 3, 2013 · 10:52 pm

Plant of the day: croftonweed

Ageratina_adenophoraThis tuft-topped weed is thriving in the roadside ditches above the ocean. Croftonweed (Ageratina adenophora) )is an invasive, introduced from Mexico that has spread throughout California’s coast ranges. It reproduces asexually as well as through its abundant seeds, and is particularly aggressive in a coastal habitat. It’s considered a noxious weed in Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii.

It was originally introduced to California as an ornamental plant. In Marin County, you can see a lot of it growing along Panoramic Highway above Stinson Beach.

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May 2, 2013 · 10:47 pm

Plant of the day: yerba buena

Clinopodium_douglasii1This inconspicuous, trailing plant is one of the most prized herbs of the west coast. It has a strongly sweet, slightly minty flavor that made it valuable for both cooking and medicine. The city of San Francisco was named Yerba Buena until 1847; in Spanish, the phrase literally means “good herb”.

Yerba buena (Clinopodium douglasii) is a dainty little plant. It is widespread in the area, growing in the coastal scrub and deep under the redwoods. You can find it from Alaska to Los Angeles county. The paired leaves are a light spring green but often are tough and slightly sandpapery to the touch–though in sheltered, shaded places they can be quite delicate. In the spring, tiny white flowers appear along the stem, at the base of the leaves. It spreads from woody rhizome, but the prostrate stems also can grow roots, which is why you’ll often see it growing as a sparse, leggy mat.

The plant was used to season food, as a tea, and as a perfume; hunters would rub the leaves on their skin to disguise their odor from game. Yerba buena was taken medicinally to treat colds, fevers, pinworms, insomnia, kidney problems, toothaches, colic, upset stomach, thinness, and to become thin. It was also used as an aphrodisiac. Clinopodium_douglasii2

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