Berberis pinnata
Dichelostemma capitatus
Sisyrinchium bellum
Rubus ursinus
Sidalcea malvaeflora
Genista monspessulana
Marah fabacea
Calochortus umbellatus
Cytisus scoparius
Lomatium utriculatum
Maianthemum stellatum
Taraxia ovata
Osmorhiza berteroi
Flowers are blooming everywhere!
– Barberry is blooming below Amaranth and on the steep trail above the Indian Warrior.
– Blue Dicks is blooming up on the ridge and next to the Ridgewood bench.
– Blue-Eyed Grass is blooming up on the ridge.
– California Blackberry is all over the Land Trust and is starting to bloom.
– Checkerbloom is just starting up on the ridge.
– False Solomon Seal is blooming on the edge of the bay forest along the Homestead Trail. There are tons of buds and they will be exploding with their little white flowers soon.
– French and Scotch Broom are bright with their yellow flowers. These are some of the most aggressive invasives here. Pull it if you can, cut off the flowers so it can’t go to seed. Do whatever you can to combat its advance.
– Manroots or Wild Cucumber is a native vine with white flowers that is blooming all over.
– Mountain Sweet Cicely can be found blooming in the woods with small white flowers and long seeds. The fresh seed pods are sweet.
– Oakland Star Tulip, is blooming near the Indian Warrior patch and above the Ridgewood bench.
– Spring Gold I have only found blooming on the Ridgewood rock.
are sweet.
– Sun cups are blooming up on the ridge and down by the Ridgewood bench.
– Bay Laurel trees are blooming. These trees are everywhere around here. The blooms have a lovely vanilla scent.
– Checker Lily is at its height. There is a hillside of it blooming below Amaranth between 4a and 9b on the map.
– Chickweed is blooming. This non-native plant is from Europe and has a long history in folk medicine.
– Death Camas is blooming in many places including the 4a to 9b hillside below Amaranth. The entire plant is poisonous, hence the name.
– Fairy Bells will bloom for months. Flower bells hang under the leaves and are usually impossible to see from our vantage, so turn over the leaves and peak underneath.
– Footsteps of spring is blooming all along the trail up on the ridge.
– Indian Warrior is blooming in a large patch on the Homestead Trail at 9j (we cleared this hill of broom last October so the flowers will be on display as never before this spring).
– Iris, Ground Iris with white and various shades of purple blooms are popping up all over.
– Milkmaids are everywhere. This is a member of the mustard/radish family (edible).
– Pacific Hound’s Tongue is blooming all over.
– Saxifrage blooming now with lots of budding plants near by.
– Shooting Stars can be found blooming on the same 4a to 9b hillside as the Checker Lily below Amaranth, also at the HVLT work site and on the Ridgewood rock.
– Trilium is fading. There are still blooms in lots of shaded places but the blooms are starting to wilt.
Finished blooming:
– Fetid Adder’s Tongue is finished blooming but still has the distinctive adder’s tongue-like seed pod. The plants are very distinctive with their opposing wing leaves mottled with red blotches.
Key to map:
I haven’t located Bay, Chickweed, California Blackberry, Manroots, French or Scotch Broom on the map as they are everywhere. Trillium, Pacific Hound’s Tongue, Milkmaids and Iris are also blooming in many more locations than are noted on the map.
a – Footsteps of spring (Sanicula arctopoides)
b – California barberry (Berberis pinnata)
c – Checker Lily (Fritillaria affinis)
d – Douglas Iris (Iris douglasiana)
e – Blue Dicks (Dichelostemma capitatum)
f – Fetid Adder’s Tongue (Scoliopus bigelovii)
g – California saxifrage (Micranthes californica)
h – Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon hendersonii)
i – Indian Warrior (Pedicularis densiflora)
j – Checkerbloom (Sidalcea)
k – Mountain Sweet Cicely (Osmorhiza berteroi)
l – Spring Gold (Lomatium utriculatum)
m – Milkmaids (Cardamine californica)
n – Manroots (Marah)
o – Sun Cups (Taraxia ovata)
p – Pacific Hound’s Tongue (Cynoglossum grande)
q – Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum)
r – California Blackberry (Rubus ursinus)
s – Smith’s Fairy Bells (Disporum smithii)
t – Trillium (Trillium ovatum)
u – Oakland Star Tulip (Calochortus umbellatus)
z – Fremont’s Death Camas Lily (Zigadenus fremontii)
Gallery of wildflowers and plants found in Homestead.
