Spotted in Joshua tree woodland north of Mojave, California: "Desert Christmas tree", Pholisma arenarium, a member of the Boraginaceae that makes a living as a parasite of nearby shrubs, in this case probably rabbitbrush
A genuine wildflower has appeared in our "wildflower" garden patch. We seeded a bit of strimmed-to-the-roots lawn a few years ago with a local mix of seeds. It looked ok, but we gave up. We've left it alone again this year and a Bulbous Buttercup has appeared, which was not in the original mix. So it got here on it's own, so a wild flower. The other "wildflowers" that came from the mix are not, because we planted them. #Nature#Botany#Wildflower
Ya, the contrast is over the top. Just playing around with parametric masks in Darktable. Trying to see how far I could push it. (Phacelia campanularia, desert bluebell.)
One of my favorite wildflowers is Castilleja angustifolia (desert paintbrush). They brighten up the desert wonderfully! It is a semi-parasite plant usually robbing nutrients from grasses that it grows with. The flowers are actually the green-yellow tubes. The bright red part are bracts.