Sunday, January 29, 2012

Early wildflowers

Growing up in New England, it's still a little hard for me to believe that "spring" wildflowers start blooming in January in California.  The climate here is completely different of course, with a wet season from October-April and a dry season from May-September.  

Many plants start to germinate when the rains begin in October/November, and the earliest flowers appear a few months later in January/February.  Here are three species that started flowering during the past week:


Footsteps-of-spring, or yellow mats (Sanicula arctopoides)
[Sometimes called bear's-foot sanicle]


Baby blue-eyes (Nemophila menziesii)
[Named after Archibald Menzies]


Bitter-cress (Cardamine oligosperma)
[Note the developing seed pods, called siliques]

1 comment:

  1. sometimes in a warm winter in a warm corner the snow drops bloom the first week in February in Humarock !! c

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