Coarsegold, California
Revised 4-12-10

White Flowers       Yellow Flowers       Orange Flowers        Red Flowers        Wildflower Index        Pink Flowers        Purple Flowers        Blue Flowers       Green/Brown Flowers
Common Aster      NOTES

Common Aster
(Closeup)

Common Aster, Leaves

Common Aster, Leaves
AKA Common Aster,
Chilean Aster
Aster chilensis
Sunflower family

Bachelor's Button CU     NOTES

Bachelor's Button
(Closeup)

AKA Cornflower
Centaurea cyanus

Sunflower family

Elegant Brodiaea, Pale CU

Elegant Brodiaea,
Pale version

 

Elegant Brodiaea CU     NOTES

Elegant Brodiaea
(Closeup)

 

Elegant Brodiaea

Elegant Brodiaea
AKA Harvest Brodiaea
Brodiaea elegans
Lily family

Charming Centaury CU     NOTES

Charming Centaury
(Closeup)

Charming Centaury

Charming Centaury
AKA Canchalagua
Centaurium venustum
Gentian family

Sticky Chinese Houses CU      NOTES

Sticky Chinese Houses
(Closeup)

Sticky Chinese Houses

Sticky Chinese Houses
Collinsia heterophylla
Figwort family

Sticky Chinese Houses, variant CU

Sticky Chinese Houses,
Color variation
(Closeup)

Sticky Chinese Houses, variant

Sticky Chinese Houses,
Color variation

Elegant Clarkia CU     NOTES

Elegant Clarkia
(Closeup)

Elegant Clarkia, Double, CU

Elegant Clarkia
Double variant

Clarkia unguiculata

Evening Primrose family

Woodland Clarkia      NOTES

Woodland Clarkia
(Closeup)

Woodland Clarkia, Leaves
(Closeup)
Clarkia unguiculata
Evening Primrose family

Farewell-to-Spring, Pale Violet CU     NOTES

Farewell-to-Spring
(Closeup)

 

Farewell-to-Spring, Pale Violet

Farewell-to-Spring
Pale violet variant
Clarkia amoena
Evening Primrose family

Williamson's Clarkia CU     NOTES

Williamson's Clarkia
(Closeup)

 Williamson's Clarkia, variant

Williamson's Clarkia
Clarkia williamsonii
Evening Primrose family

Williamson's Clarkia, Lavender variant CU       NOTES

Williamson's Clarkia,
Lavender variant
(Closeup)

Williamson's Clarkia, Lavender variant

Williamson's Clarkia, Leaves
Lavender variant
Clarkia williamsonii
Evening Primrose family

Winecup Clarkia CU     NOTES

Winecup Clarkia
(Closeup)

Winecup Clarkia

Winecup Clarkia
AKA Winecup Fairyfan
Clarkia purpurea ssp. quadrivulnera
Evening Primrose family

     NOTES

Clammy Clover
(closeup)

Clammy Clover

Clammy Clover
AKA Creek Clover
Trifolium obtusiflorum
Pea family

Rabbit's-Foot Clover CU     NOTES

Rabbit's-Foot Clover
(Closeup)
Trifolium arvense
Pea family

 
Tomcat Clover CU     NOTES

Tomcat Clover
(Closeup)

Tomcat Clover

Tomcat Clover
Trifolium willdenovii
Pea family

     NOTES

White-Tipped Clover
(Closeup)

White-Tipped Clover
Trifolium variegatum
Pea family

    NOTES

Long-Beaked Filaree
(Closeup)

Long-Beaked Filaree, Leaf
AKA Broad-Leaf Filaree, Storksbill
Erodium botrys
Geranium family

     NOTES

Red-Stemmed Filaree
(Closeup)
 

Red-Stemmed Filaree
AKA Storksbill
Erodium cicutarium
Geranium family
 

Cut-Leaved Geranium CU      NOTES

Cut-Leaved Geranium
(Closeup)

Cut-Leaved Geranium 

Cut-Leaved Geranium
AKA Wild Geranium
Geranium dissectum
Geranium family

Henbit3-13-07.jpg (20159 bytes)       NOTES

Clasping Henbit
(Closeup)

Clasping Henbit, Leaves
Lamium amplexicaule
Mint family

Larkspur CU     NOTES

Larkspur
(Closeup)

Larkspur, Leaves
Delphinium sp.,
poss. Foothill Larkspur,
D. hansenii
ssp. ewanianum
Buttercup family

Larkspur, Violet variant CU

Larkspur, Violet Variant
(Closeup)

Larkspur, Violet variant

Larkspur, Violet Variant

Harlequin Lupine     NOTES

Harlequin Lupine
(Closeup)

LupineHarlequinLvs4-10-07.jpg (32017 bytes)

Harlequin Lupine
Lupinus stiversii
Pea family

Purple Milkweed CU     NOTES

Purple Milkweed
(Closeup)

MilkweedPurpleLvs4-10-07.jpg (38093 bytes)

Purple Milkweed, Leaves
Asclepias cordifolia
Milkweed family

Horse Mint CU      NOTES

Horse Mint
(Closeup)

Horse Mint 

Horse Mint
AKA Horsemint Giant Hyssop,
Nettle Leaf Giant Hyssop

Agastache urticifolia
Mint family

Bolander's Monkeyflower CU      NOTES

Bolander's Monkeyflower
(Closeup)

Bolander's Monkeyflower

Bolander's Monkeyflower
Mimulus bolanderi
Snapdragon family

Dwarf Monkeyflower CU      NOTES

Layne's Monkeyflower
(Closeup)

Layne's Monkeyflower

Layne's Monkeyflower
Mimulus layneae
Snapdragon family

NightshadePurple4-14-07CU.jpg (15215 bytes)       NOTES

Purple Nightshade
(Closeup)

NightshadePurpleLvs4-14-07.jpg (18653 bytes) 

Purple Nightshade, Leaves
Solanum xanthi
Nightshade family

Purple Owl's Clover CU     NOTES

Purple Owl's Clover
(Closeup)

Purple Owl's Clover

Purple Owl's Clover
AKA Escobita
Castilleja exserta
Snapdragon family

    NOTES

Pennyroyal
(Closeup)

Pennyroyal

Pennyroyal
Mentha pulegium
Mint family

PhloxWesternShowyCU5-30-05.jpg (22304 bytes)      NOTES

Western Showy Phlox
(Closeup)

PhloxWesternShowy,5-30-05.jpg (16807 bytes)

Western Showy Phlox, Leaves
Phlox speciosa ssp. occidentalis
Phlox family

Smooth Spike Primrose CU      NOTES

Smooth Spike Primrose
(Closeup)

Smooth Spike Primrose, Leaves

Smooth Spike Primrose, Leaves
Epilobium pygmaeum
Evening Primrose family

    NOTES  

Wild Radish
(Closeup)

Wild Radish, Leaves
Raphanus sativus
Mustard family

Western Redbud, Flowers      NOTES

Western Redbud
(Closeup)

Western Redbud3-27-07.jpg (53473 bytes)

Western Redbud
AKA California Redbud
Cercis occidentalis
Legume family

Red Maids CU      NOTES

Red Maids
(Closeup)

Red Maids

Red Maids
Calandrinia ciliata
Purslane family

     NOTES

Longspur Seablush
(Closeup)

Longspur Seablush, Leaves
AKA Long-Spurred Plectritis
Plectritis ciliosa
Valerian family

    NOTES

Foothill Shooting Star
(Closeup)

Foothill Shooting Star
AKA Henderson's Shooting Star 
Dodecatheon hendersonii
Primrose family

Tocolote CU      NOTES

Tocolote
(Closeup)

Tocolote

Tocolote
AKA Maltese Star Thistle
Centaurea melitensis
Sunflower family

Common Vetch CU      NOTES

Common Vetch
(Closeup)

Common Vetch  

Common Vetch
AKA Garden Vetch
Vicia sativa ssp. nigra
Pea family

Spring Vetch CU     NOTES

Spring Vetch
(Closeup)

Spring Vetch

Spring Vetch
Vicia sativa
Pea family

Winter Vetch CU       NOTES

Winter Vetch
(Closeup)

Vetch5-11-07.jpg (19304 bytes)  

Winter Vetch
AKA Hairy Vetch
Vicia villosa
Pea family

Yerba Santa CU     NOTES

Yerba Santa
(Closeup)

Yerba Santa

Yerba Santa
Eriodictyon californicum
Waterleaf family

Unidentified Pu04 CU

UID Pu04
(Closeup)

Unidentified Pu04

UID Pu04

   

NOTES:

Bachelor's Button

Bloom:  April–July
Description:  Annual herb, 1–3'.  Stems erect, slender.  Leaves linear with light gray hairs.  Fluffy flower heads are blue, purple, pink, or white.
Special:  Not native.   BACK

Bolander's Monkeyflower

Bloom:  May–July
Description:  Annual herb, ½–2'.  Red-purple flowers with white lines.  Petal lobes unequal, upper shorter.  Leaves very sticky.
Special:  Native; limited to California.   BACK

Charming Centaury

Bloom:  May–August
Description: 
Annual herb, 4–15".  Erect, sparsely leaved.  Pink star-shaped flowers have 5 half-dollar–size, intense rose-purple petals with bright white splotches at the base where they flare out of a red-spotted narrow tube.  Bright yellow anthers, strangely twisted, protrude, and one style, with branched stigma, lies flat out of the way until the anthers dry up.
Special:  Native; limited to California.  Herbage has a very bitter taste & may contain toxic quantities of alkaloids.   BACK

Clammy Clover

Description:  Annual herb.
Special:  Native.   BACK

Clasping Henbit

Bloom:   March–August
Description:   
Annual herb, 2–16".  Long, slender, bright red-purple tubular flowers in whorls.  Rounded upper leaves clasp the stem.
Special:  Not native.   BACK

Common Aster

Bloom:  July–November
Description:    Perennial herb, 1–4'.  Pinkish-lavender flower heads small with conspicuous outer bracts.  Individual ray flowers broad.  Stem leaves very short and linear, close to stem.  A few large lancelike leaves near stem base.
Special:   Native.  Dry open places.  Common.   BACK

Common Vetch

Bloom:  Summer
Description:   Annual herb or vine, 3–4'.  Colors vary from white to purple.
Special:  Not native.  Attractive to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.   BACK

Cut-Leaved Geranium

Bloom:  All Year
Description:   Annual herb, 1–2'.  Flower clusters loose.  Beaklike style tips purple.  Leaves narrowly lobed, sharp-pointed.
Special:  Not native.   BACK

Elegant Brodiaea

Bloom:  April–June
Description:  Perennial from a corm, up to 2'.  3–5 linear leaves (4–16") at base; usually withered by flowering time.  Inflorescence is an umbel of fluorescent violet or blue-violet funnel-shaped flowers, each with 3 sepals and 3 petals, 1½" long.  Prefers heavy soils.
Special:  Native.  Corms were an important staple food of natives.   BACK

Elegant Clarkia

Bloom:  June–July
Description:  Annual herb.  Slender plant 6–36", stems often stout.  A few lanceolate leaves (¾–3") with buds nodding along an erect raceme of a few flowers.  Flowers are 4-petaled (1–1½") with circular, diamond-shaped, or broadly triangular ends with a reddish blotch, and narrowly stalked bases.
Special:  Native.  Clarkia seeds were among the most highly prized foods of Sierra Nevada Native Americans, especially Miwoks.  When ripe, the tops of plants were tied in bundles and dried on rocks.  Then the plants were unbundled and seeds dislodged by beating with sticks.  The seeds were parched and ground into meal, eaten dry or with acorn meal.   BACK

Farewell-to-Spring

Bloom:  May–July
Description:  Annual herb, 12".  Leaves linear, ¾–3".  Showy flowers are 4-petaled, pink or purple, lighter at the center, with a dark splotch along the upper edge.  8 stamens.
Special:  Native.  Flowers close at night, reopen in morning.  There are 30–40 species of Clarkia in California.   BACK

Foothill Shooting Star

Bloom:  February–March
Description:  Perennial herb, 2–24".  Nodding flowers; 5 petals are pink to lavender with yellow and white bands.
Special:  Native.   BACK

Harlequin Lupine

Bloom:  April–July
Description:  Annual herb, up to 18".  Leaves palmately compound with 6–8 leaflets, each up to 2" long.  In the cluster of flowers, ¾" long, the banner is yellow, wings are pink, and keel is white.  ¾" fruit is brown, hairy, filled with seeds.
Special:  Native, limited to California.   BACK

Horse Mint

Bloom:  June–September
Description:  Perennial herb, 1–6'.  Terminal brushlike cluster of tubular 2-lipped flowers.  Coarsely toothed triangular leaves.
Special:  Native.  Strong odor.   BACK

Larkspur

Bloom:  May–June
Description: 
4–16", generally only 1 stem with a few leaves (to 3"), mostly at base, nearly round, palmately divided into narrow, forked lobes.  One or several open racemes of blue or blue-violet flowers, 1–5 sepals, the uppermost bearing a backward spur.  4 petals, blue or white with blue marks, deeply notched on lower edge; upper petals white or bluish, angling upward from center.
Special:  Native.  Poisonous to livestock, second only to Locoweeds.  The poisonous alkaloid delphinine is found in all parts of the plant & causes vomiting, weak pulse, coma, and death.   BACK

Layne's Monkeyflower

Bloom:  May–August
Description:  Annual herb, 4–12".  Dark rose flower with white throat, rose dots, dark blotch in the crease of the lowermost projecting petal.
Special:  Native, limited to California.   BACK

Long-Beaked Filaree

Bloom:  March–May
Description:  Annual herb.  Elongated leaves forming a central leaf blade area.  Long-beaked seeds up to 4".
Special: 
Not native; invasive.  Corkscrew seeds attach to humans and pets, piercing flesh.  BACK

Longspur Seablush

Bloom:  March–May
Description:  ½–1½'.  Annual herb.  Small pink-purple flower head with elongated spur, two red dots.  Leaves narrow, clasping.
Special: 
Native. 
 BACK

Pennyroyal

Bloom:  June–September
Description:  Perennial herb, 1–3'.  Flower 1/8" pink to pale violet, in dense whorls along slender spikes.  Toothed, lancelike leaves in pairs along square stem below flower clusters.
Special:  Not native; invasive.  Strongly aromatic.   BACK

Purple Milkweed

Bloom:  May–July
Description:  Perennial herb, up to 2', with milky sap. Leaves opposite, clasping, ovate to heart-shaped (6").  Flowers in an umbel with 5 sepals reflexed, 5 petals spreading.  Both stem and flowers are red-purple.  Smooth stem & leaves are a waxy blue.
Special:  Yative.  Yields a fiber that natives used for rope.  Also used as a contraceptive & snakebite remedy.  Monarch larvae feed on leaves of milkweeds.   BACK

Purple Nightshade

Bloom:  February–July
Description:  Perennial or shrub, 1–3'.  Flat starlike flowers, deep violet to lavender.  Leaves oval, fuzzy.  Greenish berry.
Special:  Native.  Dry slopes.   BACK

Purple Owl's Clover

Bloom:  March–May
Description:  Annual herb, 4–16", erect. Leaves parted into threadlike segments; stems are stiff & hairy.  Pink to purple flowers, 1", with the 3 petals of the lower lip being white-tipped & spotted with yellow or purple, forming a pouch with 3 tiny teeth; the upper 2 petals form a narrow rose-purple hooked beak with a velvety cap.  The bracts are the most conspicuous part of the bloom.
Special:  Native.  Spanish name means "little broom."  Flowers may be eaten raw, but only in moderate quantities as the plant has the ability to concentrate selenium if it is in the soil.   BACK

Rabbit's-Foot Clover

Bloom:  May–October
Description:  Annual herb, 4–18" tall.  Pale pinkish "feathers" hide white flowers in cylindrical heads to 2" long.  Leaves silky.
Special:  Not native.   BACK

Red Maids

Bloom:  April–May
Description:  Annual herb.  Low-growing, 4–20" stems, each bearing ½–3" narrow, fleshy leaves and several small flowers (less than ½"). The five separate petals form a shallow bowl; although they are usually shiny red or red-purple, some are pure white. The anthers are bright orange and have 3–15 stamens.
Special:  Native.  Flowers open only in bright sunlight. Indians prized the shiny black seeds as a food source; they may be eaten raw or ground into flour. The leaves are tasty as well, edible raw or cooked.  BACK

Red-Stemmed Filaree

Bloom:  February–May
Description:  Annual herb.  Flower small, delicate.  Leaves twice pinnate.  Long-beaked seeds (¾–2") coil when dry.  Red stems are in prostrate rosettes.
Special: 
Not native; invasive.  Seeds attach to humans and pets and may penetrate skin.   BACK

Smooth Spike Primrose

Bloom:   Summer
Description:   Annual herb rarely reaching half a meter in height.  Densely foliated in thick green leaves which are hairless lower on the stems, and velvety to hairy toward the tips of the branches.  The inflorescences at the ends of the stems are dense with small, pointed leaves between which the flowers emerge. Many of the flowers are cleistogamous, meaning they self-pollinate without opening, while others open to reveal four bright pink darkly veined notched petals.  The fruit is a small capsule a few millimeters long.
Special:  Native.  Grows in wetlands (drying creekbed, in our case).    BACK

Spring Vetch

Bloom:   April–July
Description:  Annual herb, vine, 1–3'.  1–2 red-purple flowers near the base of each leaf.  4–8 pairs of narrow leaves are blunt-tipped with tiny bristles.
Special:   Not native.  Photographed at Oak Creek.   BACK

Sticky Chinese Houses

Bloom:  March–May
Description:  Annual herb, 4–24".  Leaves opposite, lance-shaped (sometimes toothed).  Pea-like flower clusters in distinct layers.  Flowers are almost 1".  The 2-lipped corolla is pale lilac, pink, or purple; upper lip lighter, with many maroon dots at base.
Special:  Native.  Named for the structure of the flowers, in perfect rings widely spaced around the stem, forming a fairytale pagoda.  Likes sandy soil, shaded flats or slopes.   BACK

Tocolote

Bloom:  March–July
Description:  Annual herb, ½–2'.  Leaflets narrowly lancelike.  Flowers are yellow.  Spines are reddish purple.  Closely resembles Star Thistle.

Special: 
Not native.  Invasive.   BACK

Tomcat Clover

Bloom:   March–July
Description:   Annual herb.  Flowers white-tipped.  Leaflets narrowly lancelike.  Each calyx lobe has 3 sharp points.
Special:  Native.   BACK

Western Redbud

Bloom:   Early spring (before leafing out)
Description:   Tree or shrub, to 16'.  Large flowering shrub or small tree with rounded crown of many spreading branches.  Leaves 1½–3½" nearly round, dark green above, paler below.  Bark is smooth gray, becoming fissured with age.  ½" flowers are pealike, purplish-pink, in clusters of 2–5 scattered along twigs.  Seeds are long, flat, thin pods, brown or purplish, with beanlike seeds.
Special:  Native, but I think that all park redbuds were planted.  Natives made bows from the wood.  Deer browse the foliage.   BACK

Western Showy Phlox

Bloom:   April–June
Description: 
  Perennial herb.  Deeply bilobed petals, long corolla tubes.  Flowers are in loose clusters above long, lance-like leaves.
Special:  Native.  BACK

White-Tipped Clover

Bloom:  April–July
Description:  Annual herb, 4–16".  Flowers red-purple, white- or pink-tipped.  Calyx lobes broadly triangular with a single long spine.  Leaflets narrowly oblong, coarsely sawtoothed.
Special:  Native.   BACK

Wild Radish

Bloom:  February–July
Description:  Annual or biennial herb, 1–4'.  Flowers various colors, including pink, yellow, and white.  Broad pinnate leaves.  Seedpods fat, constricted between each seed.
Special:  Not native.   BACK

Williamson's Clarkia

Bloom:  May–July
Description:  Annual herb, 12".  Purple fan-shaped petals, lighter near the center, with a dark purple splotch along the upper edge.  Leaves linear.
Special:  Native.  BACK

Winecup Clarkia

Bloom:  April–July
Description:  Annual herb, ½–2'.  Leaves linear.  Small cuplike flowers, each petal fan-shaped, solid purple or with a darker central spot.  Flower buds erect. Open places.
Special:  Native.   BACK

Winter Vetch

Bloom:   March–July
Description:  Annual herb, vine, 2–5'.  Leaves pinnately compound & slightly hairy, each composed of 12–18 narrow leaflets.  Leaf stems end in narrow tendrils.  Each raceme bears 10 or more blue-purple flowers sweeping down off one side of stem.
Special:  Not native; invasive.  May be toxic, containing alkaloids & cyanogenic substances.   BACK

Woodland Clarkia

Bloom:  May–June.
Description:  Annual herb, 1–3'.  Striking delicate violet flowers with outer petal lobes on a threadlike base with a dark red spot and 8 anthers, some red.
Special:  Native, limited to California.   BACK

Yerba Santa

Bloom:  May–July
Description:  Evergreen shrub with sticky branches.  Leaves glabrous & glutinous above, veiny & tomentulose below.  Flowers lavender to white tubular funnels.
Special:  Native.  Leaves can be brewed to make a bitter tea.  A stronger version was used to treat coughs and sore throats.   BACK
 

Home Oak Creek Park Sierra

Family On the Road Birding

Gardening Wildflowers Wildlife

On The Road Copyediting Crafts