white fiesta flower ~ 03/14/09 ~ Fort Ord

white fiesta flower
Pholistoma membranaceum
Boraginaceae (formerly Hydrophyllaceae)

I was confused when trying to ID this flower, because the leaves looked like fiesta flower, but I thought fiesta flowers were bluish. Same genus, different species.

Fremont's star-lily
Toxicoscordion fremontii (formerly Zigadenus fremontii)
Melanthiaceae (formerly Liliaceae)

I'm not positive about this ID to species. It's apparently related to the soap plant.

ps 03/10/11 & edited 07/26/11 - I'm positive about this ID, because the stamens are less than 1/2 the perianth. I've also updated the names and links.

California saxifrage
Saxifraga californica
Saxifragaceae

These are fairly small flowers, but I love the close-up details. I wonder how often I have hiked past these and not noticed.

sky lupine ~ 03/14/09 ~ Fort Ord

sky lupine

Lupinus nanus
Fabaceae

The sky lupine was just starting to show up. I think I only saw 2 or 3 lupine plants during my hike. Little did I know at the time that 2009 would be the year of the lupine in the Monterey area.