Coastal tidy tips (Layia platyglossa) are eye-catching, with their buttery yellow centers and white petal tips. But keep a sharp eye out because there are two other and very similar looking species in Marin. You can tell this one apart because the plant is glandular, has fragrance, and the hairs on the stems rise out of dark spots.
These ones were seen blooming on the bluffs of Steep Ravine
Filed under Native, Plant of the day
Elegantly colored clusters of flowers sprout from a prickly head of leaves. This is false babystars (Leptosiphon androsaceus), one of the many similar-looking species in the area. I tend to call them all “linanthus”, the groups former scientific name which doubles as a common name for some species.
False babystars grow in shallow and serpentine soils and is particularly fond of rocky canyonsides. Blooms can be lavender, pink, or white–but most commonly are lavender petals with a purple throat, as shown here. The long threadlike stalk between the leaves and the flower is actually part of the blossom itself–the technical term for this flower shape is “salverform.”
The easiest way to tell false babystars apart from its closest lookalike, L. parviflorus, or variable linanthus, is because the foliage is hairy but not glandular. Also the petals lobes (the part that look like petals, not the skinny tube below) are somewhat larger, usually greater than 8 mm. 
Filed under Native, Plant of the day
As sunbeams filter through the redwood canopy, the understory lights up with flares of pink. This is Sonoma county’s Kruse Rhododendron State Park, and I was lucky enough to find myself there last week with the rhododendrons (Rhododendron macrophyllum) in full bloom. It’s a surprisingly beautiful sight to be in a forest of these tall shrubs when they are heavy with their large pink flowers. The effect is lovely and somehow festive–as if the woods had been decorated for a girl’s birthday party.
Pacific rhododendron can grow to 12 feet tall, and are found from British Columbia to Monterey; they are the state flower of Washington. They usually grow in under conifer forests, but you can also sometimes find them in the chaparral, according to the Marin Flora.
This plant is not edible, but it was used ceremonially by west coast tribes. The Karok used it in a sweathouse ceremony designed to bring luck; the Kashaya and Pomo people use the flowers to make dance wreaths.
Filed under Good for gardens, Native, Plant of the day
Bushes of beautiful blue-purple snapdragon flowers thrive on a dry, rocky cliff. Inside are four pale stamens, two of which curl charmingly against the tube of petals. This is foothill penstemon (Penstemon heterophyllus).
This California endemic is popular for gardens as it is deer resistant, drought tolerant, hardy, and attracts butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinators. The narrow, opposite leaves are quite attractive too. Plus, one source says that these plants can live up to thirty years! Amazing.
It is also known as bunchleaf penstemon.
Filed under Good for gardens, Native, Plant of the day
Long stems bearing balls of pale blue flowers grow on a hot, rocky hillside. Narrow, fernlike leaves grow up each stalk. This is bluehead gilia (Gilia capitata), a hardy native to California and most other western states.
Bluehead gilia is good for sunny native plant gardens, where it self-sows and attracts bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. A member of the phlox (Polemoniaceae) family, it is also known as blue field gilia, globe gilia, and blue thimble flower.
Filed under Good for gardens, Native, Plant of the day
The browning grass of Potrero Meadow has a few bright splotches of color. The pale purple blossoms of one-leaf onion (Allium unifolium) are held a few feet high atop a fleshy, leafless stem; two or three linear leaves grow from the base (I’m not sure where the name “one-leaf” came from).
One-leaf onion is found in coastal counties from central California to southern Oregon. Look for it in moist clay or serpentine soils, especially along grassy streambanks.
Native onions, including this one, were an important food source for indigenous Californians. According to the Native American Ethnobotany Database, one-leaf onion bulbs were traded for other goods such as skins, baskets, or pottery. Bulbs were eaten raw, roasted, or fried, as well as used for seasoning (though I would want to do more research before eating it, since the Mendocino Indians considered it poisonous, and the California Poison Control database lists it as minorly toxic). 
Filed under Native, Plant of the day
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.
Filed under Native, Plant of the day
A 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.
Filed under Native, Plant of the day
The 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. 
Filed under Native, Plant of the day
When 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. 
Filed under Edible, Native, Plant of the day
Flowers Of Marin 