coastal sagewort ~ 05/14/11 ~ Fort Ord

coastal sagewort / beach sagebrush
Artemisia pycnocephala
Asteraceae

The first time I remembered the word Artemisia was during a conversation with a friend two months ago. The smell of crushed leaves from CA's native Artemisia reminds him of his childhood in England where he knew A. absinthium as wormwood. His nanny made him drink a tea of it once a month to prevent intestinal worms. I don't think it was a pleasant memory. It amazes me how scents stick in our memories and instantly transport us years to the past.

The above ID is my best guess based on looking at CNPS updated 2010 plant list for Fort Ord with 5 species of Artemisia listed out of 41 sp./ssp. found in California according to Calflora. Also shown above is western bracken fern and what I believe is white-flowering wedge-leaved horkelia (Horkelia cuneata). This area was burned in 2010.

ps 10/20/11 - After again looking at different Artemisia, I'm more positive of this ID now.

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.