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Purpus buckwheat, Eriogonum kennedyi var. purpusii, California, White Mountains, Westgard Pass, Cedar Flat, Owens Valley watershed, elevation 2329 m (7640 ft).

Two very different buckwheat species with nearly indistinguishable basal leaf mats, often growing together, but rarely this together! (See last photo.) Eriogonum kennedyi var. purpusii has white hairless flowers and hairless flowering stems. Eriogonum caespitosum has hairy yellow flowers and hairy stems. After the flowering stems have broken off for the winter, there is no way to tell them apart.

Indian chickweed, Mollugo cerviana, California, Inyo County, White Mountains, Beer Creek, Deep Springs Valley watershed, elevation 1579 m (5180 ft).

This area received exceptional monsoon precipitation, with about 2.25 inches 5 weeks prior, and another 1.6 inches 4 weeks prior, to this observation.

Though considered introduced in this region, this annual species only appears after exceptional warm-season rains, and seems as well-integrated into the local flora as many of the other local native monsoon-triggered annual species.