Scientific name: Lomatium caruifolium Family: Apiaceae (carrot) Habitat: wet grassland Size: plant up to 1 foot tall, flowers in clusters 1 to 2 cm across
Scientific name: Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia Family: Boraginaceae (borage) Habitat: grassland (often disturbed) Size: plant up to 3 feet tall; flower 4 to 10 mm across
Scientific name: Eschscholzia lobbii Family: Papaveraceae (poppy) Habitat: grassland (shallow soils) Size: plant 4 to 8 inches tall, flower 1.5 to 2.5 cm Fun facts: Early Spanish-Californians made a hair-oil from the plant which made their hair shiny. They believed that it also made their hair grow.
Scientific name: Leontodon taraxacoides Family: Asteraceae (sunflower) Habitat: vernal pools, wetlands Size: plant 8 to 10 inches tall; flower 20 to 40 mm across Fun facts: The genus name (Leontodon) means “lion tooth”. This plant is not native.
Scientific name: Ranunculus bonariensis var. trisepalus Family: Ranunculaceae (buttercup) Habitat: vernal pools Size: plant 2 to 8 inches tall; leaves 6 to 20 mm long; flower 6 to 10 mm across
Scientific name: Centaurea solstitialis Family: Asteraceae (sunflower) Habitat: disturbed areas, grassland Size: plant up to 2.5 feet tall, flower 5 cm across including spines
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.
