elizevz's Identifications

Bladderpod (Cleomella arborea) A.k.a. Bee-plant. Native, perennial, much-branched, minutely hairy shrub in the Spider Flower (Cleomaceae) family that grows 5--20 dm (up to 6.5 ft) tall in sandy soils and desert washes. Leaves are gray-green, alternate, and composed of 3 leaflets often folded at midrib. Flower filaments are very long, exserted and often curled at the end. Fruit capsules (or "bladders") are inflated, smooth, leathery, and light brown. There are several subspecies. The subspecies are differentiated by the shape of the fruit capsules. The bright yellow flowers attract bees and other pollinators. A common name is Bee-plant.

The field guides are out of date on the Genus because the name was revised based on DNA sequence analysis in 2015: https://www.biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.205.3.1
Plant name variations for Bladderpod (as of 01/24/23):
Some references, like borregowildflowers.org and Flora of North America and Baja California Plant Field Guide call it PERITOMA arborea. Others like Shrubs and Trees of the Southern California Deserts and California Desert Flowers call it ISOMERIS arborea. Jepson eFlora and I-Naturalist calls it CLEOMELLA arborea (as of 12/27/23).

Desert Straw House Plant Nursery. Specialize in Native Plants to attract pollinators in the Coachella Valley https://www.desertstrawhouse.com/plant-nursery
"Bladderpod grows in a variety of habitats from coastal bluffs to desert washes. It is native to primarily southern California into Baja California. It is an evergreen shrub that grows 2-4 feet tall. Its blue-green leaves give off a pungent odor when disturbed. Some say it smells like burnt popcorn, others say a combination of bell peppers and onions. The odor is thought to discourage insects from eating the leaves. Yellow flowers are produced in clusters year-round with a peak in winter and spring. The flowers are followed by inflated seed pods, giving the plant its common name. A perfect landscape plant that provides a year-round display with newly forming buds, flowers, and developing fruit at all stages. Often all on display at the same time.
Bladderpod is an excellent addition to your wildlife habitat. It provides a source of cover for small animals, and nectar for hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies while also being resistant to predation by deer and rabbits."

Jepson eFlora Bladderpod (Cleomella arborea) https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=101653

Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers https://borregowildflowers.org/?type=search&searchtype=S&family=&name=Peritoma%20arborea%20angustata

Flora of North America (calls it Peritoma) http://beta.floranorthamerica.org/Peritoma

Shrubs and Trees of the Southern California Deserts. Jim W. Dole and Betty B. Rose, Foot-loose Press, 1996, pp. 32, 66.

California Desert Flowers: An introduction to families, genera, and species, Sia Morhardt and Emil Morhardt, 2004. pp. 122-123.

Baja California Plant Field Guide, Jon P. Rebman, Norman C. Roberts, 3rd. ed, 2012, p. 212.

Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants, Lowell John Bean and K. Saubel, Malki Museum Press, 1972 (species not listed or called by another name)

A Database of Foods, Drugs, Dyes and Fibers of Native American Peoples, Derived from Plants http://naeb.brit.org/ (species not listed)

Leaf Shape and Arrangement diagrams: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Leaf_morphology.svg

CalFlora's Southern California Plant Communities http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/plantcommunities.html

Plants of Southern California: Regional Floras http://tchester.org/plants/floras/#abdsp (comprehensive website)

Native and Introduced Plants of Southern California by Tom Chester http://tchester.org/plants/index.html

Neon blue-green colored wasp foraging on Seacliff Wild Buckwheat when we first saw it. . .

Cuckoo Wasps are small, metallic, and heavily armored. Mostly parasitic in the nests of other wasps or bees.

Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America, Eaton and Kaufman, 2006, pp. 332-333.

Perennial native plant, a.k.a. Sea Pink, growing on coastal sand dune. A leafless thin stalk bears a single pink globose head with many 5-petaled individual flowers. Basal leaves are long, 6-12 cm, and narrow. Peak bloom time: Feb-Sept.

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 119.

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 244-245.

An introduced, tiny, 1.2 cm wide, salmon-colored belly flower. (Occasionally found in blue, pink, and almost red forms.) Blooms most profusely Mar-July.

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, p. 358.

These coastal juncos are year-round residents in Monterey pine forests and live oak woodlands.

Adults generally have gray heads, necks, and breasts, gray or brown backs and wings, and a white belly. Males tend to have darker, more conspicuous markings than the females. The white outer tail feathers flash distinctively in flight.

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 2008, pp. 374-375.

Monterey Birds, Don Roberson, 2nd ed. 2002, sponsored by Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society, p. 439.

Butterfly foraging on California Aster.
Link to host plant: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/93654888

Field Crescent (Phyciodes pulchella) Butterfly in the Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae) family.
Identification: Upperside is orange and black. Underside of forewing is yellow-brown with a yellow bar at the cell and small black patches on the inner margin. Underside of hindwing is yellow-brown with rusty markings.
Wing Span: 1 - 1 3/4 inches (2.5 - 4.5 cm).
Life History: Males patrol just above vegetation during the day. Females lay eggs in large batches on underside of host plant leaves. Caterpillars feed on leaves; young ones sometimes live in a loose web. Partially-grown caterpillars hibernate.
Flight: One flight from June-August in the mountains and far north, two flights from May-September on plains, three or four flights from April-October in lowland California.
Caterpillar Hosts: Various asters (Aster and Machaeranthera species).
Adult Food: Flower nectar.
Habitat: Flats and open areas, fields, meadows, and streamsides from plains to mountains.
Range: Central Alaska and northern Canada south to southern California, southern Arizona, and southern New Mexico; east to the western edge of the Great Plains.
Conservation: Not usually required.
NCGR: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.

Butterflies and Moths of North America https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Phyciodes-pulchella and https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species_search

Bug photographs from the U.S/Canada for I.D: https://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Phyciodes+pulchella and https://bugguide.net

Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America. Brock and Kaufman, 2003, p. 178-179.

Common Butterflies of California, Text and Photographs by Bob Stewart, 1997

Butterflies & Their Favorite Flowering Plants: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park & Environs, Lynn and Gene Monroe, 2004

Wagner's Caterpillars of Western North America "last we heard 1450 species accounts were in progress" thebals 6/6/23.

Rosilla (Helenium puberulum) A.k.a. Sneezeweed. Native plant in the Aster family (Asteraceae) often found growing by streams or seeps. Basal and lower cauline leaves are linear to oblong-elliptic. Mature spherical heads are brown, on very long slender stems, up to 16 dm (5.25ft) tall. Short, yellow ray flowers under the round head. Peak bloom time: June-August. The common name derives from the use of dried leaves of some Heleniums to make snuff.

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 74-75.

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=3223

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 297.

Monterey County Wildflowers https://montereywildflowers.com/asteraceae-sunflower3misc/

A “sea” of Marsh Baccharis growing in the meadow behind Whalers Cove.

Marsh Baccharis (Baccharis glutinosa) Native, perennial plant in the Asteraceae family that often grows in coastal freshwater and saltwater marshes, along streambanks and other moist places. Stems are simple, mostly unbranched and erect, resin-gland-dotted and sticky. Leaves are lanceolate, entire or finely serrated, gland-dotted, with 3 main veins. Flowers are in clusters of rounded to +- flat-topped heads. Like other Baccharis, this plant is dioecious. Male flowers are pure white with disk flowers only. Female flowers are more elongated with pinkish phyllaries. Peak bloom time: June-October. Attracts many species of pollinators.

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=1607

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 38-39.

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 182.

Flora of Fort Ord: Monterey County, California, David Styer, 2019, p. 33

Monterey County Wildflowers https://montereywildflowers.com/asteraceae-baccharis/

Oregon Flora https://oregonflora.org/taxa/index.php?taxon=3211

Mexicali Onion (Allium peninsulare) Native plant in the Onion (Allium) family that grows in dry, sandy, gravelly soil. Stem is 12--45 cm tall. 2-3 basal leaves. Inflorescence is umbrels of red-pink-purple flowers.

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=12620

Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers (not listed)

Baja California Plant Field Guide, Jon P. Rebman, Norman C. Roberts, 3rd. ed, 2012 (not listed)

California Desert Flowers: An introduction to families, genera, and species, Sia Morhardt and Emil Morhardt, 2004 (not listed)

California Desert Wildflowers, Philip A. Munz, 1975 (not listed)

Male. Link to female Costa's Hummingbird for comparison: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144261929
Link to observation of dozens of Costa's peacefully sharing hummingbird feeders: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144476737

Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae) Male has purple head and long extended dark purple gorget that looks often looks black. Female has a pale postocular stripe that connects to side of neck. This distinguishes it from female Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) that looks very similar. "Black-chinned leave the (desert) area in September and return in April, while Costa's are present year round." D. Rankin. Costa's avoid the hot summer by migrating to coastal California and Baja California.
Conservation Status: Vulnerable in California. A desert adapted hummingbird. Common but numbers have declined where desert is cleared for development. In some places it has adapted to nesting in suburbs. Natural desert habitat: washes, stream sides, sage scrub, mostly in dry and open places having a good variety of plant life.
Diet is mostly nectar and insects. Takes nectar from flowers, and will feed on tiny insects as well. Looks for nectar on desert native plants such as agave, chuparosa, desert honeysuckle, and fairy-dusterill and also feed on sugar-water mixtures in hummingbird feeders. 4:1 (or even 3:1) is a good ratio of water to sugar. Change the solution at least weekly before it gets cloudy or moldly and Never add red dye!
The thin, high-pitched whistle of the male Costa's is often heard over desert washes in early spring. Sound recordings below.

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 7th ed., 2017, pp. 96-97.

Audubon Guide to North American Birds https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/costas-hummingbird

Bird Songs and Sounds I.D. worldwide https://xeno-canto.org/explore?query=Calypte%20costae

Found Feathers: https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/idtool.php

MALE Lazuli Bunting perched on top of a large poison oak shrub in the middle of a grassy meadow. We were alerted to its presence by the beautiful song.

Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena) is a migratory songbird in the Cardinals (Cardinalidae) family. Length is 5.5 inches (14cm). Breeding males are bright cerulean above with broad, white wingbars, white belly, and orange breast. Females are plain buffy brown with paler wingbars and a slightly brighter orange-brown breast. It breeds on shrubby hillsides and other semiopen habitats in western North America. Males often sing from a high exposed perch. It winters mainly in Mexico, where it frequently gathers in flocks in weedy fields. "Females can be difficult to distinguish from Indigo Bunting, although their range doesn't overlap much. Lazuli Bunting never shows streaks below like female Indigo Bunting often does; also note bolder wingbars, brighter breast, and less contrasting pale throat."
Breeding birds are present on the Monterey Peninsula, CA from late April into August.

Ebird with species description, range map and sound recordings: https://ebird.org/species/lazbun

The Cornell Lab: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Lazuli_Bunting/

Xeno-canto: Bird songs, sound recordings, bird range and migration map: https://xeno-canto.org/species/Passerina-amoena

Audubon Guide to North American Birds https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/lazuli-bunting

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 2008, pp. 386-387.

Monterey Birds, Don Roberson, 2nd ed. 2002, sponsored by Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society, p. 446.

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 7th ed., 2017, pp. 528-529.

Merlin Bird ID: How to use/get the portable App (Bird ID help for 8,500+ species) https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

Comprehensive Feather I.D. tools and more: https://foundfeathers.org/resources/

Found Feathers (Worldwide): https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/idtool.php

The Cornell Lab (Birds in U.S. and Canada, includes Compare with Similiar Species) https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/

Lots of cottony seeds drifting in the wind.

Frémont Cottonwood (Populus fremontii fremontii) Large, native tree in the Willow (Salicaceae) family that grows up to 20m (66 ft) tall, with a wide crown, in springs or creeks. Bark is deeply furrowed. Inflorescence is pendant catkins. Leaves wiggle in the wind (like quaking aspens) and turn a beautiful golden yellow color in the late fall. Seeds have profuse cottony fibers that look like drifting snow when they disperse on a windy day.

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=52463

Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers (and more) https://borregowildflowers.org/?type=search&searchtype=S&family=&name=Populus%20fremontii%20fremontii

California Desert Wildflowers, Philip A. Munz, 1975
Flora of North America http://beta.floranorthamerica.org/Main_Page
Baja California Plant Field Guide, Jon P. Rebman, Norman C. Roberts, 3rd. ed, 2012
Southern California Plant Communities: http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/plantcommunities.html
Leaf Shape and Arrangement diagrams: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Leaf_morphology.svg
Shrubs and Trees of the Southern California Deserts. Jim W. Dole and Betty B. Rose, Foot-loose Press, 1996
Native American Ethnobotany: A database of plants used as drugs, foods, dyes, fibers, and more by Native People of North America http://naeb.brit.org/
Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants, Lowell John Bean and K. Saubel, Malki Museum Press, 1972
Plants For A Future: A resource and information center for edible and otherwise useful plants: https://pfaf.org/User/cmspage.aspx?pageid=305
Plants of Southern California: Regional Floras http://tchester.org/plants/floras/#abdsp (comprehensive website)
Native and Introduced Plants of Southern California by Tom Chester http://tchester.org/plants/index.html

Chaparral Beardtongue (Keckiella antirrhinoides) A.k.a. Yellow Bush Penstemon. Native, perennial plant. Per Jepson: "Stem: spreading to erect, 6--25 dm; young stems canescent (glabrous). Leaf: +- opposite, in axillary clusters on older stems; blade 5--20 mm, (ob)lanceolate to narrowly (ob)ovate, base tapered, margin generally entire. Inflorescence: finely short-hairy and sparsely glandular. Flower: corolla 15--23 mm, yellow (drying +- black), tube + widely expanded throat"
There are several subspecies.

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=29880

Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers (and more) https://borregowildflowers.org/?type=search&searchtype=S&family=&name=Keckiella%20antirrhinoides
(lists 2 subspecies, only)

Baja California Plant Field Guide, Jon P. Rebman, Norman C. Roberts, 3rd. ed, 2012, pp. 334-335.

California Desert Wildflowers, Philip A. Munz, 1975, p. 49 (species listed as Beard Tongue)

Plants of Southern California: Regional Floras http://tchester.org/plants/floras/#abdsp (a comprehensive website)

Native and Introduced Plants of Southern California by Tom Chester http://tchester.org/plants/index.html

Western Wallflower (Erysimum capitatum) Endemic in California. It is a native, perennial plant in the Mustard (Brassicaceae) family that grows up to 120cm (47 inches) tall on dry, rocky slopes and hillsides away from the coast. A.k.a. Douglas' Wallflower. Leaves are long and slender. Flowers are petaled, generally orange, sometimes yellow. Peak bloom: April-July. Fruit (Silique) pedicels are spreading to ascending. Calflora lists 4 subspecies.

Calflora (with species distribution map in CA) https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=3472

Jepson eFlora Erysimum capitatum https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=25113

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 110-111.

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 336.

Monterey County Wildflowers– a photographic guide https://montereywildflowers.com/brassicaceae-wallflower/

Oregon Flora https://oregonflora.org/taxa/index.php?taxon=13141

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Western Wallflower is in the Mustard (Brassicaceae) family (which is a large family) "Members of the mustard family all have 4 petals and 6 stamens. Fruits in the Mustard family are of two kinds, siliques and silicles. Siliques are at least twice as long as they are wide, while silicles are less elongated. Some siliques are more or less cylindric, others (as in the Wild Radish) are noticeably fatter at the base and taper towards the tip. . ." Monterey Wildflowers https://montereywildflowers.com/brassicaceae-wallflower/

Jepson eFlora Key to Brassicaceae: https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_keys.php?key=70 and
Taxon page/family description https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=70

Jepson eflora Key to Wallflower (Erysimum genus):
https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_keys.php?key=10582 and
Taxon page/genus description https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=10582

Whitemargin Sandmat (Euphorbia albomarginata) a.k.a. Rattlesnake Spurge, Rattlesnake Sandmat. Native, perennial herb. Leaves glabrous and opposite throughout. Leaf margins membranous and generally pale. Stem prostrate, repeatedly forking.

https://borregowildflowers.org/?type=search&searchtype=S&family=&name=Euphorbia%20albomarginata

Jepson eFlora calls Euphorbia albomarginata
"Rattlesnake Sandmat" https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=25405

Distant Phacelia (Phacelia distans) A.k.a. Common Phacelia. Native, annual plant found on slopes in clay to rocky soils in many plant communities. There are many subspecies. A.k.a Wild Heliotrope. Stems are decumbent to erect, simple or branched from base, puberulent, sparsely stiff-hairy, and sparsely glandular distally. Leaves are 1-2 pinnately compound with toothed segments. Young leaves may have white spots. Flowers are curled cymes and may be dark blue to faint blue, and occasionally white. Corolla is 6--9 mm, 5-petalled, and funnel to bell-shaped. Throat is marked with dark lavender spots if corolla is blue, no spots if corolla is white. Filaments are exserted and can be white or purple with white anthers.

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=37450

Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers (and more) https://borregowildflowers.org/?type=search&searchtype=S&family=&name=Phacelia%20distans

Baja California Plant Field Guide, Jon P. Rebman, Norman C. Roberts, 3rd. ed, 2012, pp. 291-292.

California Desert Wildflowers, Philip A. Munz, 1975, p. 85.

Plants of Southern California: Regional Floras http://tchester.org/plants/floras/#abdsp (a comprehensive website)

Native and Introduced Plants of Southern California by Tom Chester http://tchester.org/plants/index.html

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 102-103.

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 198.

"Common on Crescent Bluff Rd near Merrill Farms."
Flora of Fort Ord: Monterey County, California, David Styer, 2019, p. 68.

Evolution to name of Phacelia distans
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15256746#page/233/mode/1up

Leaf Shape and Arrangement diagrams: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Leaf_morphology.svg

Desert Straw House Plant Nursery. Specialize in Native Plants to attract pollinators in the Coachella Valley https://www.desertstrawhouse.com/plant-nursery

Flora of North America http://beta.floranorthamerica.org/Main_Page (species not listed as of 12/28/23)

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Borage (Boraginaceae) family, a.k.a. Forget-me-not family.

Most members of this family have hairy leaves. Most species have inflorescences that have a coiling shape, at least when new, called scorpioid cymes. The flower has a usually five-lobed calyx. The corolla varies in shape from rotate to bell-shaped to tubular, but it generally has five lobes. It can be green, white, yellow, orange, pink, purple, or blue. There are five stamens and one style with one or two stigmas. The fruit is a drupe, sometimes fleshy.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48150-Boraginaceae

Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers https://borregowildflowers.org/?type=search&searchtype=C&family=Borage&name=

Western Sycamore (Platanus racemosa) is a native tree, a.k.a. California sycamore, Western sycamore, and California plane tree. Large leaves typically have 5 "fingers." The trunk has mottled light gray, dark gray, and beige bark. Peak bloom time: Feb-April. Fruits are prickly, round balls, first green then turning brown.

https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=38655

White Sage (Salvia apiana) Native, perennial, aromatic sage plant that grows up to 1.5m (5ft) tall. Leaves are blue-gray, 4--8 cm long, widely lanceolate with tapered base, minutely toothed, hairs dense and appressed. Clusters of white flowers with tiny purple spots on prominent spikes that are up to 2m tall. Peak bloom time: March-July. White sage is considered a sacred plant and is used by various Native cultures as incense (smudge sticks) in cleansing ceremonies.

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=43038

Baja California Plant Field Guide, Jon P. Rebman, Norman C. Roberts, 3rd. ed, 2012, p. 298.

Shrubs and Trees of the Southern California Deserts. Jim W. Dole and Betty B. Rose, Foot-loose Press, 1996, pp. 88, 90.

Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers https://borregowildflowers.org/?type=album&genus=Salvia&specific=apiana&class=