White Globe Lily

Posted on June 26, 2026 by tspuckler

While hiking in Henry W. Coe State Park, I saw this plant that is also known as Fairy Lantern, White Globe-tulip, Alabaster Tulip, Indian Bells, Satin Bells, Snowy Lily-bell, and Snow Drops.

This is a native wildflower endemic (limited) to California. It is found primarily in the central coastal hills and Sierra Nevada foothills up to 5,000 feet. It favors environments that receive full sun, but tolerates partial shade. It can be found on hillsides and rocky slopes, such as road cuts and river canyons.

It blooms from early to late Spring, depending on the habitat and elevation. It is unique within its genus in that its flowers remain in a bud-like state, hanging downward, never fully opening its petals. It seemingly protects its inner sensitive space by closing it off to the outside world.

White Globe Lily shares the distinguishing characteristics of the Lily Plant Family – simple linear leaves, perennial bulbs, and flowers with three petals and three sepals. It isn’t just a pretty flower; it plays an essential role in its ecosystem. By attracting a variety of pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, it helps maintain biodiversity in its habitat.

Besides its ecological role, the White Globe Lily has cultural significance as well. Native American tribes have historically used the plant for various medicinal purposes, including as a poultice for wounds.

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Fernald’s Iris

Posted on May 8, 2026 by tspuckler

While visiting the Golden State in April of this year, I encountered several examples of this fine plant. It is characterized by its narrow, gray-green leaves and flowers that range in color from creamy white to pale yellow, often with darker yellow veins and a yellow signal.

Fernald’s Iris is found in the Northern California Coast Ranges, including the Santa Cruz Mountains and the San Francisco Bay Area, where it frequents dry, lightly shaded areas in the northern and southern coastal mountains. It lives only in California.

Plants grow individually in the filtered light of a protective oak canopy, and extend slightly outward into the grasslands along forest edges. I saw examples in roadside fields as well as along woodland mountain trails.

Irises are perennial plants, growing from rhizomes (underground root systems that send out roots and shoots from its nodes) or, in drier climates, from bulbs. They have long, erect flowering stems which may be simple or branched, solid or hollow, and flattened or have a circular cross-section.

In colorful magazines promoting California’s wine industry, the Fernald’s Iris is sometimes called the “Little Yellow Wild Iris.” “Wine Country Iris” would be equally appropriate, since its distribution coincides closely with the best wine producing regions in the central coast.

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Whitehead Mule-ear

Posted on June 20, 2025 by tspuckler

While exploring a clearing in the woods in the Santa Cruz Mountains, this plant really stood out. It is a short, low-growing, golden-rayed wildflower that resembles a sunflower.

Whitehead Mule-ear occurs chiefly in California’s North Coast Range, Central Coast Range and some parts of the Sierra Nevada foothills. It is typically found in an understory habitat associated in sunny clearings of mixed oak forests.

This is a relatively short plant, usually less than 24 inches tall, with long leaves for which the plant gets its common name. The leaves may up to 16 inches long.

Whitehead Mule-ear can grow in large, dense colonies in moist meadows, creating a beautiful display. In my situation it was growing with just a few plants that added texture, shape and color to the landscape.

These produce excellent flowers for pollinators and other wildlife, attracting bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects to the blooms and birds and small mammals to the seeds.

With both a deep tap root and strong laterals, these slow-growing, but long-lived perennials also are good for controlling erosion.

Although I have visiting this particular meadow a number of times over the years, this was the first time that I’ve ever encountered this wildflower.

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Field Chickweed

Posted on May 16, 2025 by tspuckler

Some places where I search for reptiles and amphibians in California are blanketed with this small white wildflower.

Field Chickweed is a spring-blooming matted or clumped perennial herb that pops up in a variety of open sunny habitats. It grows throughout North America, but is infrequent in the Southeast.

This herbaceous perennial plant grows to 3–10 inches tall, forming leafy stems that often branch near the base. Pairs of opposite leaves occur along the stems.

Individual flowers are about 1/3″ inches across and sport five white petals. The nectar and pollen of the flowers attract primarily bees, including little Carpenter Bees, Cuckoo Bees, and Mason Bees.

The seeds of Field Chickweed are eaten by many small rodents, including the Deer Mouse, Meadow Jumping Mouse, House Mouse, and Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel.

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California Goldfield

Posted on February 21, 2025 by tspuckler

It was hard not to notice this wildflower while travelling around the Las Vegas area – in some cases, it was growing right along the edge of the road.

This species is native to a large part of California, Oregon and surrounding areas, where it is a very common member of the flora community in a number of habitats.

Large populations of this species bloom at once in the Spring to produce the carpets of yellow on hillsides and in meadows – this phenomenon gives this plant its common name.

California Goldfield is usually just a few inches tall, with many short, slender, reddish-green stems bearing narrow leaves, mostly near the base.

With a flower no larger than a quarter, it attracts a variety of pollinators, including bees and butterflies.

California Goldfields are variable in appearance as they adapt to their environment. The plants grow taller with more rainfall, whereas the leaves grow smaller and tougher with less rainfall.

This tough species is known to tolerate soil better that is less than optimal for other plants.

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Lady’s Smock

Posted on August 16, 2024 by tspuckler

While hiking in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, I noticed this small wildflower. It is a perennial herb native throughout most of Europe and Western Asia. It is grown as an ornamental plant in gardens, and has become naturalized in North America as a result of cultivation.

Its other common name, “Cuckoo Flower,” derives from the formation of the plant’s flowers at around the same time as the arrival each Spring of the first Cuckoo Birds in the British Isles.

In the United States it tends to be found in man-made or disturbed habitats, river or stream floodplains, forests, fields, swamps and wetlands. I usually see it growing in partial shade at the edges of meadows.

In British folklore Lady’s Smock is said to be sacred to the fairies, and so it was considered unlucky if it was brought indoors. It was not included in May Day garlands for this reason.

This plant is also known as Meadow Bittercress, Mayflower and Milkmaids.

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Beach Morning Glory

Posted on June 28, 2024 by tspuckler

While walking along the California shoreline last month, it was hard not to notice this plant. This species of bindweed is a perennial vine which grows in beach habitats on the west coast and in selected areas on the east coast of North America, and across Europe into Asia.

The plant bears fleshy stems, kidney-shaped leaves, and attractive flowers with corollas that are delicate pink to vivid lavender. Its showy flowers are insect-pollinated and attract bees, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps and ants.

Beach Morning Glory is also called Railroad Vine due to its scrambling nature and ability to cover less-used tracks and roadsides. It is adapted to coastal areas where sand is plentiful and the soil is well-draining. Salt, heat, and wind don’t bother this plant and it is common to see it splayed across sand dunes.

Its leaves are succulent and rounded, with a notched tip resembling a cloven hoof, hence its species name, pes-caprae, which means “goat’s foot” in Latin. The roots of this plant often go for more than 3 feet into the sand.

Like other members of its family, its flowers are ephemeral; they bloom in the morning and begin to wilt and close up by afternoon, hence the common name “Morning Glory.” Beach Morning Glory typically blooms in Summer and Fall, but may bloom year-round.

Life is tough for a plant on the beach side of a sand dune. The wind is always blowing, battering stems and leaves with salt spray or burying them under layers of sand. There’s plenty of sun for photosynthesis, but no shade when rays get too intense. But Beach Morning Glory finds a way to thrive in this hostile environment.

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California Lilac

Posted on May 10, 2024 by tspuckler

While hiking in Marin County, California, I noticed these hard-to-miss plants. Not a true Lilac, but rather a member of the Buckthorn Family, it is one of the most fragrant and colorful native shrubs on the West Coast.

Native Americans have long used California Lilac blossoms for soap. When rubbed between your hands with water, the blossom lathers. And even more surprising, it has a nice wintergreen aroma.

California Lilac supports local wildlife by serving as an important food source for deer. Its seeds are food for quail. And its flowers are a source of nectar for birds, butterflies and bees. Wild Lilac is also a host plant for the California Tortoiseshell butterfly.

This plant can often be found growing in poor, rocky soil and flourishing in drought stricken areas. They are drought and cold tolerant, and prefer dry soil in full sun to achieve the best blooms. Their extensive root systems allow them to anchor in dry, rocky slopes.

Belonging to the genus Ceanothus, California Lilacs, have around 50 to 60 species. Their waxy, small leaves help them endure Northern California’s dry summers.

Another feature of California Lilac is its nitrogen-fixing ability. Most members of this genus have nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their roots that help to nitrify the soil, thereby reducing the need for fertilization but also enables them to survive wildfires. It is considered a pioneer plant because it’s among the first to grow back after a wildfire.

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Beavertail Cactus

Posted on March 22, 2024 by tspuckler

While hiking through the Arizona and Nevada desert, I often seen this classic arid-land plant. Found in the southwestern United States, it occurs mostly in the Mojave, Anza-Borrego, and Colorado Deserts, as well as in the Colorado Plateau and northwest Mexico.

Beavertail Cactus looks like the Prickly Pear Cactus, but does not have long spines. This is a medium-to-small species that grows to about a foot tall, with pink-to-rose colored flowers. This plant can be found in chaparral, desert and grassland. It grows in well drained soil composed of sand, gravel, cobble and even on boulders.

A single plant may consist of hundreds of fleshy, flattened pads. These gray-green, jointed stems are wide and flat resembling the tail of a Beaver. Although they lack spines, they have many small barbed bristles, called glochids, that easily penetrate the skin.

The Cahuilla Native Americans used this plant as a food staple. Its buds were cooked or steamed, and then were eaten or stored. Its large seeds were ground up to be eaten as mush. The Desert Tortoise enjoys eating the juicy pads and the magenta-colored flowers of this plant.

Beavertail is usually the first cactus in the Mojave Desert to bloom, flowering as early as February and through May.

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Indian Paintbrush

Posted on March 1, 2024 by tspuckler

While hiking on Mount Charleston in Nevada I came across a number of wildflowers; this one was particularly distinctive.

Indian Paintbrush is a hemiparasite, meaning that although it is green and can photosynthesize, it also has the ability to sequester nutrients from other organisms, in this case, perennial grasses.

Despite being parasites for part of their lives, these plants, like other flowering plants, rely on pollinators for reproduction. A variety of insects visit Indian Paintbrush flowers, especially bees. This is somewhat surprising since the color red is difficult for insects to see.

However, like most red flowers, it is especially adapted for pollination by hummingbirds. Hummingbirds have long bills that allow them to reach the nectar rewards at the end of long, tubular flowers.

Ironically, this plant was used by Native Americans as both a love charm in food and as a poison used to against their enemies, as this species is known to have toxic properties.

Indian Paintbrush generally prefers sunlight and moist, well drained soils. Their root systems connect with and grow into the root systems of other planets to harvest nutrients from their host plants. For this reason, they are not able to be transplanted easily.

That red color we so often admire is actually bracts, or specially modified leaves, as opposed to flowers. The plant’s true flowers are actually smaller, slender green growths hidden among the bracts.

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Category Archives: Wildflowers – Spring

White Globe Lily

Fernald’s Iris

Whitehead Mule-ear

Field Chickweed

California Goldfield

Lady’s Smock

Beach Morning Glory

California Lilac

Beavertail Cactus

Indian Paintbrush