Visitors 91
Modified 7-May-26
Created 6-May-26
36 photos
Luxuriant blossoms, opening along soft-tufted stem. Stems, leaves, and buds are adorned with star-shaped hairs (“stellate trichomes”), protecting the plant from herbivory (and evaporation?). Crimson-red as buds, opening to luscious pink petals surrounding dark-red stamens. (Later, pollen will turn the anthers yellow: see the third gallery.) A magnet for pollinators: exotic Western Honeybees, native ants and crickets. A jumping spider snags a green insect.
Surrounding chaparral shelters other native plants: flowering Yerba Santa, elderberry, and Chaparral Clematis; Pitcher Sage, ready to flower soon. Several varieties of naturalized flowering thistles of also thrived in ground laid bare by fires’ heat – until pulled by volunteer docents, careful to stash the still-potent buds away. Blue-belly Lizard shelters beneath a composting sheaf of thistle stems, reluctant to move even once exposed to cold and light. Birds hunt: California Scrub Jay, an omnivore looking for any chance; and a bright iridescent Anna’s Hummingbird, snatching insects from air to satisfy his need for protein.
Surrounding chaparral shelters other native plants: flowering Yerba Santa, elderberry, and Chaparral Clematis; Pitcher Sage, ready to flower soon. Several varieties of naturalized flowering thistles of also thrived in ground laid bare by fires’ heat – until pulled by volunteer docents, careful to stash the still-potent buds away. Blue-belly Lizard shelters beneath a composting sheaf of thistle stems, reluctant to move even once exposed to cold and light. Birds hunt: California Scrub Jay, an omnivore looking for any chance; and a bright iridescent Anna’s Hummingbird, snatching insects from air to satisfy his need for protein.
Dan Quinn