Yellow Star-thistle
Yellow Star-thistle is a member of the sunflower family. Each flowerhead is actually made up of 20-40 individual yellow flowers. The spines on the sepals may still be sharp long…
Miniature Lupine
Lupine is a member of the pea family. The plant is most noticeable for its palmate leaves and the large pea pods that hold its seeds. The blue flowers are…
Butter-and-eggs or Common Owl’s-Clover
Butter-and-eggs is a member of the figwort family. The flowers are long tubes with three inflated (balloon-like) sacks near the top. In Butter-and-eggs, the sacks are bright yellow. Note that…
Vernal Pool Goldfields
Vernal Pool Goldfields are a member of the sunflower family. Each flowerhead is actually made up of 20-100 individual yellow flowers. The outer ray flowers look like petals while the…
Downingia or Calico Flowers
Downingia is a member of the bellflower family. Each flower has five corolla lobes or petals. The two upper petals are smaller than the three lower ones. The flowers are…
Field Owl’s-Clover
Field Owl’s-Clover is a member of the figwort family. The flowers are long tubes with three inflated (balloon-like) lobes near the top. In Field Owl’s-Clover the inflated sacks are bright…
Frying Pan Poppy
The Frying Pan Poppy is a member of the poppy family. All members of this family have four petals. The flowers are yellow. The leaves are delicate and fern-like. Frying…
Little Quaking Grass
…into clusters called florets. Because grasses are wind-pollinated, they do not need showy flowers to attract insects. In fact, petals could block the wind and prevent pollination. The rattle-like florets…
Purple Needlegrass
Purple Needlegrass is a member of the grass family. Each grass flower is made up of a pair of tiny bracts and the stamens and pistil. Because grasses are wind-pollinated,…
Soap Plant or Soaproot
Soap Plant is a member of the lily family. The flowers have three petals and three sepals which are similarly colored and make the plant appear to have six petals. …