Rafinesquia neomexicana (Desert Chicory or Plumeseed) is an annual herb in the Asteraceae family that grows in the San Diego County desert. This small and isolated cluster is somewhat unusual, the plant has weak stems and grows taller through the support of other plants. Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California; March 2024.
BEGININGS 🌱🌱🌱 The first rains brought the lupines. #wildflowers#FieldOfDreams. A new season begins after laying fallow since mowing last spring. The seedling on right have first true leaves. Those on right are seed leaves. #lupine#CaNativePlants Arroyo Lupine: lupinus succulentus #gardening 🌱🌱🌱
California Native Plant Society is hiring. (Or was a month ago)
"We're hiring and looking for a full-time Associate Vegetation Ecologist / Data Analyst! 🎉 🌱🔍
If you're craving a role that combines field explorations with technical data work, this position is for you. The AVE/DA will travel to field sites across California to help map vegetation for the Bureau of Land Management's Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring program.
The position will run for at least 15 months, beginning in Nov. 2023.
Here's a photo from our morning walk under a nicely overcast sky with some drizzle. :)
This beautiful golden-yellow color along our trails is kindly provided by Isocoma menziesii aka Menzies' Goldenbush — a small shrub in the Asteraceae (sunflower) family that typically blooms summer into fall here.
Vertical, might need a click/tap to see as intended.
Many Downingia cuspidata (Toothed Downingia) blooming in a vernal pool, with some white popcorn flowers and the long, thin leaves of Orcutt's Brodiaea. San Diego, California; April 2023.
For a plant nerd like me, in California, the CalFlora database at https://www.calflora.org/ is an absolutely invaluable tool.
I don't think they're on Mastodon and they're raising funds right now to continue their operation, so I hope it's okay to share this here (there's a little "Donate" button on their home page) with any other plant nerds. 😄
And here's a photo of Lyrocarpa coulteri aka Coulter's Lyrepod (click & see alt-text!).