Calypso Orchid

Calypso bulbosa in the forest

Calypso orchid (Calypso bulbosa) is the rare plant. As the name implies it is the member of the orchid family that is not common in Northern hemisphere but quite abundant in tropics. Strangely enough orchids  are about as numerous as Asteraceae and which family holds more species is still unclear. To give you an  example, vanilla plant is an orchid. Yes, the same plant that they harvest to produce vanilla extract. Orchids are also famous as 'hobby" plants as lots of them require meticulous care. Lots of Orchidaceae have flowers of unusual shape, colour or fragrance that make them popular decorative plants.

Calypso (Venus's slipper) close-up

But not our little calypso. This particular genus (Calypso which means concealed) grows in the northern forest. The several species I found were blooming wild in Crescent City, the northernmost town of California (that is not counting Smith River). It grows in other northern counties as well. The plant is rather small and grows in the shade so it is indeed easy to miss and the species are solitary. The name bulbosa refers to the bulbous corms (swollen parts of underground stem) whose function is to store stuff to survive winters.

Calypso flower in profile

Calypso is also known as Venus' slipper or fairy slipper because of its shoe-like shape of the flower. The coloring is pink spots and stripes on white background.

One interesting fact about Calypso is that it sometimes attracts bees by its yellow anther-like hairs but they produce no nectar so bees feel deceived and avoid visiting the plant again.

Red Valerian

Red valerian is not exactly a wild plant, but it seems to grow without any care on the curbs where it was planted for decoration. It is a garden escape and can grow wild. It is a very attractive plant. It is not closely related (i.e not the same genus) to the garden valerian (Valeriana officinalis) though it does belong to the same family Valerianaceae.

Red and white varieties of red valerian growing at the curb

The Latin name for our friend red valerian is Centranthus ruber. You can see plants with red or white flowers. Oddly enough, even species with white flowers are still considered Centranthus ruber (ruber means red, in case you didn't know).

Close-up of flowers of red valerian

The flowers are fairly small and grows in (typically) round clusters. The flowers have peculiar shape which makes plant easy to identify. The leaves are opposite. Presumably the plant is edible (leaves and roots) but I haven'r tried it yet. Unlike true valerian, this plant is not considered to be medicinal.

White form of red valerian

Centranthus ruber makes an excellent garden plant. It attracts pollinators like bees and butterflies, takes minimum care and is attractive to look at.

Pacific Ninebark

 Pacific ninebark behind twinberry

Pacific ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus) is not a herb but a shrub. The common name gets its name from the fact that the bark is peeling away in layers but I haven't really looked at the bark because I did not know what the plant was at the moment. Notice on the above pictures that the plant in the front is twinberry.

Pacific ninebark flowers and leaves

It's a shrub that puts forward round clusters of white attractive flowers. The plant belong to the Rose family (Rosaceae) so expect to see 5 petaled flowers with lots of stamens. The flowers and the leaves do indeed remind those of Rubus (thimbleberry, etc) except they are small and form round clusters.

This plant likes wet habitat so it can be most often found along the rivers. However it is drought-tolerant and therefore became a popular garden plant. Personally I have not seen this plant often.

Greenspot Nightshade

Solanum douglassii

Greenspot Nightshade (Solanum douglasii) is a plant that I found growing on the Pacific coast of central California. It seemed to like to wind itself around other bushes. Anyway there are lots of species of Solanum but the fine specimen in question is Solanum douglassii, Douglas' nightshade. 

Solanum douglassii stem. Notice white hair

Let's check the characteristics: the stem is covered with white hairs. Check. The leaves have smooth or toothed edges. My species has toothed and wavy edges. The inflorescence is an umbel-shaped array of small flowers. Check. Green spots at the bases of corolla. It took me a while to notice them but they are there. As a bonus, some plants had nice black berries growing. Native Americans used the berries medicinally though I don't know exactly what for. 

 Solanum douglassii flowers. Notice green spots on the petals

Some species of Solanum, like Solanum nigrum (black nightshade) are rumoured to be edible but you have to try it at your own risk. Also if you cook the leaves of the aforementioned black nightshade, like boil them 2 times for 15 minutes, it also supposed to make them edible but again, do it at your own risk as there is no guarantee that they are edible and toxicity within the species may vary greatly. Note that only ripe berries are edible. You have to be absolutely sure it's Solanum nigrum as some species look very similar to it but they are toxic. 

 

 Solanum douglassii flowers and black berries

Notice that the pictures in this post are of Solanum douglassii. I did not find information on its edibility.

Yellow Star Thistle

 Yellow Star Thistle

Yellow Star Thistle (Centaurea solstitialis) is a member of the Aster family (Asteraceae) that can be frequently seen in empty dry lots and commons. The plant is also known as golden star thistle and St. Barnaby's thistle. As usual, the common name thistle share several Latin names, for example a well known plant bull thistle is a different genus, Cirsium vulgare.

Centaurea solstitialis flowers with thorns

Yellow star thistle is a good name though because the thistle does indeed look like a star, but that effect is produced not by flowers but by long thorns sticking around it.

Vinegar Weed

 Trichostema lanceolatum (camphor weed) at Lake Santa Margarita

Vinegar weed is a very interesting plant. It has small elongated leaves and relatively big flowers with long parts sticking out. It was obviously a plant of the mint family. I was lucky to identify it very soon after I took a picture: the plant in question is called Trichostema lanceolatum, part of the Mint family (Lamiaceae). Like other mints it has square stem. The common name is not quite right. The plant indeed has a very strong smell, it feels juicy to the touch but I would not describe it exactly like vinegar smell. The smell is quite pleasant though pungent. That pungent smell is referred to in common names like turpentine weed and camphor weed. Camphor smell would probably be the closest description. As far as I know it is not edible.

Trichostema lanceolatum grows in dry hard soil in hot climate

The plant is striving in hot climate in dry soil though so far I have only seen it in one place: Lake Santa Margarita where the photographs have been taken. I read that the smell is produced by volatile oils and these oils also help to keep other plants away.

Notice the similarity to another plant called wooly blue curls. The Latin name for that one is Trichostema lanatum. Notice the same genus, Trichostema.The latter plant is extremely rare.

Ambrosia artemisiifolia

Ambrosia artemisiifolia

Ambrosia artemisiifolia or comon ragweed is the most widespread species of Ambrosia. I have already written about silver burr ragweed (Ambrosia chamissonis). Indeed you can see close resemblance between two different species of the same genus Ambrosia. The leaves look very similar and the tassels of flowers are common to both. But Ambrosia chamissonis grows mainly on the sea coast while Ambrosia artemisiifolia is common on the dry land. It does not mind the hot climate. Beach variety is also more prostrate while common ragweed plants grow tall.

Common ragweed flowers

The name artemisiifolia is given to the plant because the leaves resemble those of a related genus Artemisia (wormwood or sagebrush). The smell is also somewhat similar though Ambrosia have tougher leaves and bigger flowers (still very small though) that are green or yellow. An interesting thing about common ragweed is that it is supposed to be one of the major culprits of hay fever though I personally never suffered from this particular plant.

Like Artemisia, Ambrosia belongs to the Aster family (Asteraceae).

Conyza canadensis

Conyza canadensis

Conyza canadensis or horseweed is a plant that can be found in dry (and not only) areas. With Croton setiger and Ambrosia artemisiifolia it makes the big three that can be found blooming in the heat of the August on the dry plains. So what can be found about conyza?

Conyza canadensis

Other names for conyza include coltstail, marestail and butterweed. The former two are obvious for the plants's resemblance to coltstail. Note that there are plants named horsetail (Equisetum) and mare's tail (Hippuris) that are quite different from Conyza. The name butterweed is most likely given for the plants resemblance to senecio genus, which is commonly known as butterweed (among other common names).

Conyza flowers. Notice resemblance to senecio.

One interesting fact about conyza is that the plant developed resistance to herbicides. Another fact is that Zunu Indians used crushed flowers to cause sneezing by inserting plants in the nostrils.

As the name canadensis implies, conyza grows in Canada and also in Britain so it is not exclusive to hot climate though it sure strives here. During the heat the top of the plant can be seen wilting down but it straightens up when the air becomes cool.

As you can guess by looking at the flowers conyza is part of the aster family (Asteraceae).

Croton setiger

Croton setiger, commonly referred to as turkey mullein is a heat tolerant plant that is quite common in the dry area. Well, at least it's common at the area where I live right now. The plant is amazing: 100 degrees heat and full sun and it's looking nice and green. However even this hardy plant can have too much: recently I saw few species dried to a crisp from long exposure.

Croton setiger in a desert area

So the name mullein points to similarity to common mullein. Indeed, both plants have fuzzy leaves. But that's all they have in common. These two plants are not related. Common mullein's Latin name is Verbascum thapsus and it belongs to Figwort family (Scrophulariaceae). Croton is part of the Spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). The flowers are quite different too: verbascum has distinctive yellow flowers with 5 petals. Crotons's flowers are tiny and formed into clusters of sandy color.

Croton setiger close-up

Croton' leaves have pleasant smell when crushed, provided the plant is healthy. The leaves are fuzzy. here is the close-up of flowers:

Croton's flowers

Asclepias

Asclepias or milkweeds are peculiar flowers that are very easy to recognize due to their unusual shape. Asclepias as the name suggests are named after a Greek god of medicine. The common name milkweed refers to milky sap that the plant exudes if you break its leaf or stem. The plant is supposed to be medicinal.

Asclepias belong to dogbane family (Apocynaceae) among whose members we encounter species like plumeria and vinca (periwinkle). Lots of species of this family has milky juice and are toxic if ingested. Lots of plant are tropical species.

You can see the shape of the plant in the pictures. The structure of the flower remains the same in all the species though the shape of leaves and colour of flowers vary. Below you can see species of Asclepias fascicularis or narrow leaf milkweed.

Acclepias growing near the curb

Close-up of flower heads

Close-up of flowers. Notice inverted sepals.

Milkweeds are drought-tolerant and grow well in hot dry countries.

Cocklebur

Cocklebur (Xanthium)

Cocklebur or Xanthium is a plant belonging to the aster family (Asteraceae). It has big triangular leaves and the seeds are spead by forming burs that attach to passing humans and animals.

Cocklebur leaf closeup

Cocklebur's green bur can be glimpsed behind a leaf

Cocklebur with lots of green burrs

Death Camas

 Death camas

Death camas are interesting plants with distinctive flowers that make them fairly easy to recognize as death camas. As the name implies, they are extremely poisonous. The trouble though is to point them down to the genus. Death camas used to belong to the genus Zigadenus. Since then phylogenetic research involving DNA analyses split this genus into several others. What used to be Zigadenus elegans is now called Anticlea elegans. Other genera include Toxicoscordion, not to mention species within genera.

Death camas flowers

The trouble is that all these species look very much alike. They all have rather small white flowers with six petals, protruding stamens and yellow-green spots on the petals. The leaves can have angular or rounded edge and the spots can be round or more like a stripe. I was not able to identify the genus with more presicions but my guess it is either Anticlea or Toxicoscordion. They all belong to the family Melanthiaceae but used to be part of the Lily family (Liliaceae).

Silene Gallica

Silene gallica in a meadow near beach

Silene gallica is a plant of the Pink family (Caryophyllaceae) that grows in meadow habitat. The plant is inconspicuous, with rather small pink flowers and hairy stems and leaves.The blooming period is short.

Silene gallica flowers

Ambrosia chamissonis

 Ambrosia chamissonis growing among the dunes

Ambrosia chamissonis (silver beach ragweed) is a plant that I have just recently discovered in our dunes. At first I though it was some kind of chenopodium: the triangular shape of leaves and striped stem led me to this opinion. However I quickly found out that it was Ambrosia or beach ragweed, a member of the Aster family (Asteraceae).

Ambrosia chamissonis leaves

So what's up with this plant who is masquerading as chenopodium when in fact it is an aster? It has leaves that can have different shapes: oval or deeply lobed. The leaves are fleshy but not quite as fleshy as those of succulents. The flowers are in a spike. The stems can be very hairy or just barely. Yet it has some kind of integral appearance and once you know it, it is easy to recognize. I guessed it was the same plant in spite of different shape of the leaves. The fruit is supposed to form a burr but I have not seen those yet.

Here is another picture of the flowers. An interesting thing was that the species with cut-leaves were blooming while the ones with triangular/oval shape were not.

Ambrosia chamissonis in bloom

And here is a picture of the stem:

Ambrosia chamissonis close-up of the stem

Want to see a hairy stem? Here it is:

Ambrosia chamissonis hairy stem

And one more:

Ambrosia chamissonis stem and leaves

Yes, I know I ran amok with this one.  But it is exciting to find some new plant and to be able to identify it quickly.

Like other plants with clusters of usually tiny or very small flowers ragweeds are wind pollinated. These kind of plants may cause hay fever because they need wind to have their pollen spread out unlike flowers that are pollinated by insects. Incidentally this Ambrosia happens to have male and female flowers growing on the same plant.

Why is this plant called Ambrosia (it's a Latin name, too)? Good question. It has smell, not unpleasant but nothing to invoke images of the famous food of the gods. I don't think it is even used as spice.The common name ragweed speaks for itself.

Corn Sandspurry

Corm sandspurry (Spergula arvensis)

Corm sandspurry (Spergula arvensis) is a plant that at first sight can be confused with Gilia millefoliata. They are both tiny inconspicuous plants and the leaves look somewhat similar. However, if you look close, you'll see that the flower structure of spergula is quite different: it has a big pistil in the middle while gilia has none.

Spergula arvensis

Spergula (and very similar to it  spergularia) are part of the Pink family (Caryophyllaceae), which also counts amonng its members such planrs as carnation (Dianthus), campion (Silene), chickweed (Stellaria) etc.

Here is a close-up of the flower of Spergula arvensis:

 Spergula arvensis

And just for comparison here is a picture of sticky sandspurry (Spergularia macrotheca). Notice how similar the flowers look: same distinctly visible petals and similar round pistil.

Spergularia macrotheca

Beach suncup

Beach suncup

Beach suncup is a very attractive plant with bright yellow flowers, rather small but not too small. Well, I like suncups. It looks very close to Sierra suncup, a desert plant. Suncups' Latin name is... well, in a minute. First, note that suncup is another name for evening primrose, so it follows that suncups belong to Evening primrose family (Onagraceae). Like other plants of this family it had 4 petal and cross-like shape of the stigma.

So about this Latin name. Well, the whole idea of the Latin name is to have a unique scientific name that is peculiar to one particular species. It is done for ease of identification because common names are a mess. There can be ten or more genera sharing the same common name. So botanists came out with scientific name for every plant discovered on the planet. However, I found that some plants have two or even more Latin names. This genus suncup and this beach suncup species in particular seems to have six (sic!) Latin names.

So, want to know these names? Here goes: Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia. Then just listing the genus: Camissonia, Oenothera, Agassizia, Holostigma, Sphaerostigma. Six names in total! Could be even more. Obviously, we can't deal with them all. We'll just pick the most popular one: beach suncup or Camissonia cheiranthifolia.

It first forms a rosette and then shoot out a long stem from it.

Beach suncup (Camissonia cheiranthifolia)

Notice that beach suncup like its desert relative has red spots on the petals (never mind the bug):

Camissonia cheiranthifolia. Notice red spot on the petals.

And here is a picture of Sierra suncup, a plant often seen in a desert:

Sierra suncup (Camissonia sierrae) in the desert

Coast Buckwheat

Eriogonum latifolium

Another common plant in the dune habitat is coast buckwheat (seaside buckwheat). This plant is most easily recognized by its leaves, even when not in bloom. The leaves are coarse but not really fleshy and covered with white fuzz. The flowers are in clusters, the color varies from white to red. The stem can be short or rather long. It is not a vine.

Coast buckwheat (Eriogonum latifolium) is part of the Knotweed family (Polygonaceae) and you can see swollen joints on the stem. Here is picture that shows joints clearer:

Coast buckwheat (Eriogonum latifolium)

Here is a picture with more mature plant that turned pink:

Eriogonum latifolium in bloom