Douglas' spineflower ~ 05/23/14 ~ Pinnacles

Douglas' spineflower

Chorizanthe douglasii 

CNPS 8th Edition Inventory

Polygonaceae

Because of the spineflowers' family relationship to buckwheats (a fave butterfly host plant), I'm keeping an eye on them.  I first started seeing Douglas' this year April 29 on the westside.  These are small plants, which may have tiny caterpillars, too.  Don't know yet.  In addition to the Douglas' shown above, here are the known spineflowers found at Pinnacles National Park (with my common name updates taken from Jepson eFlora):

(CalPhotos) - (Calflora) - (Jepson) - none of the below with CNPS status

red triangles/Thurber's - Centrostegia thurberi (formerly Chorizanthe) - common, sand or gravel

pink spineflower - Chorizanthe membranacea - common, sand, gravel or rocks
one-awn spineflower - Chorizanthe uniaristata - common, sand, gravel, talus or clay

I also made a spineflower list o' links for Fort Ord National Monument with the only common spineflower being the Douglas' as shown here.