yellow-eyed grass ~ 07/06/11 ~ Frog Pond

yellow-eyed grass
Sisyrinchium californicum
Iridaceae

There are plenty of small yellow flowers about the size of a quarter coin that superficially look like this one. What caught my attention was the multiples of threes in the petals, stamens, and pistils. Add in the grass-like leaves, and my first thought was it looked like a yellow version of blue-eyed grass. It was a good guess as they're both in the same genus Sisyrinchium. One by one, I'm slowly adding new flowers to my repertoire of those that I recognize. I liken it to learning new vocabulary words in a foreign language.

blue-eyed grass & California buttercup
Sisyrinchium bellum & Ranunculus californicus
Iridaceae & Ranunculaceae

I've never before seen so much blue-eyed grass on any of my hikes. It's too bad we didn't capture a photo that shows the proliferation at Garland Ranch. It may have actually outnumbered the vetch on the mesa. On the trail up past the waterfall, we found a small stand of blue-eyed grass which had unusual spiky petals (see second picture above); I wonder why that happens.

rosy sandcrocus
Romulea rosea var. australis
Iridaceae

ps 05/15/10 - I've been looking for this ID ever since a friend from Santa Cruz wondered what it was last year. Thanks to Flickr Califlora's (NOT the Calflora) CA Wildflower ID Help Line, I discovered the identity. It's a native of South Africa.

Douglas iris
Iris douglasiana
Iridaceae

There were only a couple small spots of the Douglas iris on the Engelsmann and Wild Boar trails at Wilder Ranch. I am amazed by the color variation for this species.

blue-eyed grass
Sisyrinchium bellum
Iridaceae

This spring I really tried to pay attention while hiking. I love the detail of this flower!