Monterey spineflower ~ 05/14/11 ~ Fort Ord

Monterey spineflower
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Polygonaceae

This particular variety of spineflower is listed as federally threatened. To see closeup pictures of this flower, check out my recent sand gilia pictures, then click on each photo to enlarge, and look for the pink spiky clumps to the right of each picture. The purple flowers with yellow-tips are purple owl's-clovers.

I may have walked by Monterey spineflowers many times on the Fort Ord BLM Lands and never knew it was considered likely to become endangered. I would have loved to have better closeup shots. However, being on Fort Ord Army Lands, we were instructed to strictly stay on the path for our own safety due to continuing munitions removal. I believe the above picture was taken in an area that was burned in 2003.

For those who live north of me in Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, and San Francisco counties, the other variety C. pungens var. hartwegiana (Ben Lomond spineflower) is listed as federally endangered.

coast horned lizard ~ 05/14/11 ~ Fort Ord

coast horned lizard
Phrynosoma blainvillii

I've said from the get-go that Nature ID does not show many of the cool things I see during hikes, nor is this blog a decent representation of what can be found on the Central Coast of California. You may have noticed I mainly post pictures of flowers, and it's NOT because I'm particularly more interested in plants than say birds or marine life. The great thing about taking pictures of plants is that they hold still, except when the wind blows. Plus, I can generally get close enough to take a decent picture. Flowers don't run, swim, or fly away. Unfortunately, sometimes the clearest pictures I get of animals is if they're dead, like this red-breasted nuthatch post. Even so, I was surprised to see this flattened coast horned lizard since this was on restricted Army Lands, and I can't imagine much traffic goes through on this road. Poor thing. Click this highlighted link to see much cuter (and alive!) pictures of juvenile coast horned lizards I found on Fort Ord BLM Lands on August 4, 2010.

purple owl's-clover ~ 05/14/11 ~ Fort Ord

purple owl's-clover / banded owl's-clover

Castilleja exserta var. latifolia

Orobanchaceae (formerly Scrophulariaceae)

It is with many thanks to Mark Eggar on Flickr with his impressive knowledge and photo collection of Castilleja that I was able to obtain expert ID for the purple owl's clover variety/subspecies. My policy for Nature ID is to never use other people's photos and only quote if I have written permission. Seeing as how I don't have permission from Mark, yet, click on this link to my Flickr post for his comment about why these Castilleja are unusual to ID. As a note, the ongoing 2006 CNPS vascular plant list for Fort Ord (alphabetical) does not include this subspecies.

I could not decide which photo was better, the clearer first one with the non-native foxtail chess (Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens) in Poaceae or the second pic with chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum) in Rosaceae, so I posted both. The third pic centers on older C. exserta var./ssp. latifolia with what I believe is white-flowering wedge-leaved horkelia (Horkelia cuneata) in Rosaceae to the top right. The last photo above shows this Castilleja growing among sky lupine (Lupinus nanus) in Fabaceae and non-native sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella) in Polygonaceae, as well as many other plants. These were found in areas that were burned in 2003, 2008, or 2009.

ps 06/02/11 - I've added additional ID's in the text based on Cindy's comment below.

cobweb thistle ~ 05/14/11 ~ Fort Ord

cobweb thistle
Cirsium occidentale
Asteraceae

According to Jepson Online Interchange, there are 7 native varieties of cobweb thistle found in California. Two of those, C. occidentale var. occidentale (cobweb thistle) and C. occidentale var. venustum (venus thistle), are recorded for Fort Ord by the California Native Plant Society. Without the flower I have no clue as to which variety this one is. Quite honestly, while I reference Jepson as I search for information, I don't really understand its descriptions when distinguishing between closely related plants. Several of these thistle were found in a 2009 burn area.