Scientific name: Sidalcea calycosa Family: Malvaceae (mallow) Habitat: vernal pools, wet grassland Size: plant up to 12 inches tall, flower 1.5 to 2.0 cm across
Scientific name: Pogogyne douglasii Family: Lamiaceae (mint) Habitat: vernal pools, wet grassland Size: plant 1 to 4 inches tall, flower 9 to 20 mm long and 7 to 10 mm across
Scientific name: Downingia species Family: Campanulaceae (bellflower) Habitat: vernal pools Size: Plants are 3 to 10 inches tall; each flower is 7 to 18 mm; Downingia Bicornuta usually has larger flowers than the other two species.
Scientific name: Dichelostemma capitatum Family: Liliaceae (lily) Habitat: grasslands, woodlands Size: plant up to 1 foot tall, flower 8 to 12 mm across in clusters
Scientific name: Erodium botrys Family: Geraniaceae (geranium) Habitat: grassland (often disturbed) Size: plant 4 to 36 inches tall, flower 1.5 cm across, seed up to 10 cm long
Scientific name: Calandrinia ciliata Family: Portulacaceae (purslane) Habitat: grassland (disturbed) Size: plant with stems up to 1 foot; flower 8 to 30 mm across
Scientific name: Pogogyne zizyphoroides Family: Lamiaceae (mint) Habitat: vernal pools, wet grassland Size: plant 1 to 4 inches tall, flower 4 to 8 mm long and 2 to 3 mm across
Scientific name: Vicia villosa Family: Fabaceae (pea) Habitat: grassland (often disturbed) Size: Plants are long and viney, growing up to a few feet long; each flower is 1 to 1.5 cm long, the clusters have 10-30 flowers.
For 2 billion years, bacteria were the only creatures on Earth. Long before the dinosaurs, a special type of bacteria slowly increased the level of oxygen in the Earth’s air to 20 percent. Without this oxygen other plants and animals could not have evolved, including us.
