List

Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve

(104 plants)

Thanks to Calflora.org and the California State Parks for this list.


Alkali Buttercup Ranunculus cymbalaria CA Bloom May - Jun Yellow flower with a green center 5 - 8 petals Mostly basal leaves, sometimes with smaller ones up the stem. Found in wetlands CA native	Buttercup flower with 5-8 petals. The central area becomes a cylinder of tiny fruits.	Leaves vary in shape and are sometimes notched. They're larger near the base of the plant.	Found in wet areas, often in dense patches. Often grows low to the ground but can grow erect to over 1 foot tall.
Annual Psathyrotes Psathyrotes annua CA Bloom Apr - Oct Yellow flower, sometimes reddish purple. Very hairy. Grows low to the ground. Found in alkali soil, often in deserts CA native	In the aster family, many tiny flowers are surrounded by a set of pale hairy phyllaries.	Flower are sometimes reddish purple.	Leaves create a low mounded cushion. They're quite hairy, which gives the plant a pale appearance.
Beardless Wild Rye Elymus triticoides A tough and woody perennial bunch grass 18"-4 ft. Inflorescence a spike that is flat, 2-8" 3-7 florets per spikelet Floret awns to 0.1" CA Bloom Jun - Jul Stabilizes soil with extensive rhizomes, creating dense colonies. More on Elymus. CA native	This rye has 2-ranked spikelets that connect directly to the stem. There is space between each alternating spikelet.	Hollow stems (like straws) connect at solid joints. Leaves are about 1/4" wide and a foot long.	Prominent blue-green leaves are 4-12" long and grow away from the stem. Found in moist habitats with heavy soils.
Bigelow Mimulus Diplacus bigelovii CA Bloom Feb - Jun Five magenta petals, wide at the tip. Grows from 2 to 10 inches tall, often with the flowers nestling in a bed of leaves. Found in the desert and on slopes CA native	Flower is over 1" wide with a yellow and purple center.	Flower tube is long, surrounded by hairy sepals at the base.	Leaves are oval-shaped, about 1 inch long, and opposite. This plant grows from 2" to 10" tall.
Bitterbrush Purshia tridentata Height 1 - 12 ft. CA Bloom Feb - Mar This woody shrub associates with sagebrush, and varies from under a foot to many feet tall. During the summer, its profusion of yellow flowers makes it stand out. Flowers turn into pointy fruits, under 1 inch long. CA native	Yellow flowers are about 1 inch accross, with 5 separate petals and many stamens.	Leaves often have 3 "fingers" or teeth, thus "tridentata".	Bitterbrush colors sagebrush areas yellow with its flowers in the summer.
Black Cottonwood Populus trichocarpa CA Bloom Feb - Apr A large riparian tree with alternate leaves Leaf stems are round (Fremont Cottonwood's is flattened). Widely distributed in California, except the central valley. CA native	Leaf tops are glossy dark-green. Undersides are pale. Leaves are long and pointed, with small teeth on the edge.	Alternating secondary veins connect to a central one.	Grows near running water. Trunks get very large, and the tree height often exceeds 100 feet.
Black Medick Medicago lupulina Height 6 in. - 2 ft. CA Bloom Jun - Aug Yellow clover-like flower Compound leaves in groups of 3s - hairy, with short petioles. Found in disturbed areas with good drainage. Widely distributed around the world. Not CA native	Leaves are grouped in 3s, with short petioles. Leaflets are toothed towards the tip and end in a short point.	Yellow pea-shaped flowers clustered like a clover.	Stem is quite thin, and grows along the ground when the plant is young. Fruit develops into a hard, black, oval pod.
Bog Orchid Platanthera sparsiflora CA Bloom May - Sep Orchid-shaped flowers. Alternate, narrow, pointed leaves with parallel veins. Found in forests and meadows, often near streams. CA native	Green flower. Complex orchid shape.	Note the spur that sticks out behind the blossom.	Spike of green orchid flowers grow up to 2 feet tall, above 6" narrow, pointed leaves near the bottom of the plant.
Booth's Sun Cup Eremothera boothii CA Bloom May - Aug Brown, pink, white flower Four petals Alternate leaves CA native
Buffalo Berry Shepherdia argentea CA Bloom May - Jun Small yellow flowers with 4 separate "petals" bunch at the end of short side branches. Leaves are deciduous, wider toward the tip than near the stem. Found near water. CA native	White flowers and red berries on short, thorny side branches.	Opposite leaves about 2 inches long, covered in fine hairs that make them look pale.	Deciduous in the winter. Thorny branches often form a thicket. Typically grows to 14 feet tall.
Bull Thistle Cirsium vulgare CA Bloom June - Sept This thistle has spiny everything. A pear-shaped spiny base supports a 2-inch-tall purple flower. Dead flowers with many spines stay on the plant for a long time. Bull Thistle is common in disturbed areas. Not CA native. Moderately Invasive	A fairly thin pear-shaped spiny bulge below flower is a good way to distinguish this species.	Bull Thistle has big spines all the way up the stem, on the leaves, and around the flower.	Here is a basal rosette of thick, toothed leaves.
Catclaw Horsebrush Tetradymia axillaris CA Bloom Apr - May Yellow flower Tiny petals Alternate leaves CA native
Chairmaker's Bulrush Schoenoplectus americanus Flower Coastal salt-marsh freshwater-marsh CA native
Common Bog Rush Juncus effusus Perennial Rush to 4 ft. Stem cross section is round with grooves Inflorescence branched 1-2" No awns CA Bloom Jun - Aug This water-loving rush grows in tight clumps from stout rhizomes. Found in wetlands, along streams, and in marshes. CA native	Yellow-brown flowers appear at the top of the stem, with a stem-like bract proceeding above it. The stem is grooved, the bract is not.	Brown leaf sheaths grow at the base of stem, but create no leaf blades.	This rather tall rush is found on lake shores, wet pastures. Some subspecies are native, others weedy.
Common Dandelion Taraxacum officinale CA Bloom Feb - Mar Dandelion comes from the French phrase "dent de lion", which means lion's tooth - a reference to its jagged leaves. Each flowerhead gets a bare stalk, less than a foot tall. Not hairy. Disturbed areas. Not CA native	Here's the yellow dandelion head we all know. Below are green phyllaries that point downward.	Leaves have irregular, backwards-pointing lobes.	Brown fruits are attached to a white oval receptacle at one end and grow a white beak at the other end. The beak attaches to many bristles, forming a parachute that carries the seed when it's mature.
Common Sagebrush Artemisia tridentata CA Bloom Jul - Aug Brown flower Tiny petals Alternate leaves Slopes CA native
Coville's Orach Stutzia covillei CA Bloom Mar - May Green flower Tiny petals Alternate leaves CA native
Creeping Velvetgrass Holcus mollis CA Bloom Jun - Aug Not CA native
Curly Dock Rumex crispus CA Bloom Jan - Dec Green, white flower Tiny petals Alternate leaves Disturbed Not CA native Somewhat Invasive
Cut Leaved Water Parsnip Berula erecta CA Bloom Jul - Aug White flower Five petals Alternate leaves CA native
Dark Green Goosefoot Chenopodium atrovirens CA Bloom Jul - Sep Brown, green, pink flower Tiny petals Alternate leaves CA native
Desert Mountainmahogany Cercocarpus ledifolius CA Bloom Feb - Mar Pink, red, yellow flower Five petals Alternate leaves Slopes CA native
Desert Peach Prunus andersonii CA Bloom Mar - Jun Pink, violet flower Five petals Alternate leaves CA native
Douglas Sedge Carex douglasii CA Bloom May - Jun Slopes CA native
Downy Chess Bromus tectorum CA Bloom May - Jun Disturbed Not CA native Highly Invasive
Fewleaf Bee Plant Carsonia sparsifolia CA Bloom May - Aug Yellow flower Four, irreg petals Alternate leaves CA native
Field Sedge Carex praegracilis Perennial Sedge 10"-3 ft. Stem cross section is triangular Inflorescence to 2" No awns CA Bloom May - Jun This common sedge is found in alkaline, moist places. CA native	The inflorescence is short and dense, with separate male and female florets in the same cluster.	Male flowers protrude from their protective scales. Female flowers hide inside brown scales except at maturity.	Leaves are long, narrow, and either flat or V-shaped. Praegracilis is Latin for "very slender".
Five Horn Bassia Bassia hyssopifolia CA Bloom Jun - Jul Green flower Tiny petals Alternate leaves Disturbed Not CA native Somewhat Invasive
Fowl Bluegrass Poa palustris CA Bloom Apr - May Meadows Not CA native
Fox Tail Barley Hordeum jubatum CA Bloom May - Jul CA native
Fremont's Goosefoot Chenopodium fremontii CA Bloom Jun - Oct Green flower Tiny petals Alternate leaves CA native
Giant Blazingstar Mentzelia laevicaulis CA Bloom Aug - Oct Yellow flower Five petals Alternate, basal leaves CA native
Golden Dock Rumex fueginus CA Bloom May - Aug Green, yellow flower Tiny petals Alternate leaves Coastal salt-marsh freshwater-marsh CA native
Granite Prickly Phlox Linanthus pungens CA Bloom Jun - Sep Pink, white flower Five petals Alternate, opposite leaves CA native
Grayswamp Whiteheads Angelica capitellata Flower Green, white flower Tiny petals Alternate leaves CA native
Greasewood Sarcobatus vermiculatus CA Bloom Mar - May Green, pink, yellow flower Tiny petals Alternate leaves CA native
Great Basin Bulrush Amphiscirpus nevadensis Flower CA native
Great Basin Popcorn Flower Amsinckiopsis kingii CA Bloom May - Jul White flower Five petals Alternate leaves CA native
Great Basin Wild Rye Elymus cinereus CA Bloom Jun - Aug CA native
Green Ephedra Ephedra viridis CA Bloom Apr - May Orange, yellow flower Tiny petals Opposite leaves CA native
Green Rabbitbrush Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus CA Bloom Aug - Oct Yellow flower Tiny petals Alternate leaves CA native
Herb Sophia Descurainia sophia CA Bloom May - Aug Yellow flower Four petals Alternate, basal leaves Disturbed Not CA native Somewhat Invasive
Hoary Aster Dieteria canescens CA Bloom Jul - Oct Violet flower Many petals Alternate, basal leaves CA native
Hop Sage Grayia spinosa CA Bloom May - Jun Green, orange, pink, yellow flower Tiny petals Alternate leaves CA native
Interior Rose Rosa woodsii ssp. ultramontana CA Bloom May - Jun Pink flower Five petals Alternate leaves CA native
Jeffrey Pine Pinus jeffreyi CA Bloom May - Jun Needles in groups of 3, are 5 to 10 inches long. Bark in large vertical plates, smells of vanilla. A beehive-shaped cone, 5 to 12 inches long, with prickles pointing inward. CA native	Cone grows to 12 inches long, with prickles on each scale pointing inward (Gentle Jeffrey) Ponderosa Pine's prickles point out.	Bark in large vertical plates. Smells like vanilla. Turns reddish brown with age.	Needles last 5 to 8 years, so you see foliage along the branches. Ponderosa lasts only two years, so tends to be towards the end of branches.
Lemmon's Alkali Grass Puccinellia lemmonii CA Bloom May - Aug CA native
Lesser Panicled Sedge Carex diandra CA Bloom May - Jun Meadows CA native
Little Leaf Horsebrush Tetradymia glabrata CA Bloom Aug - Sep Yellow flower Tiny petals Alternate leaves CA native
Little Paintbrush Castilleja minor CA Bloom Jul - Sep Orange, red, yellow flower Tiny petals Alternate leaves CA native
Long Anthered Rush Juncus macrandrus Flower CA native
Mono Buckwheat Eriogonum ampullaceum CA Bloom Jul - Sep Small cream colored flowers with red accents. Found in sandy soil in the high desert. CA native	Flowers are white with red parts. They cluster closely together next to the stem.	Leaves are basal, rounded, and wooly, up to 1 inch wide.	Grows to about 2 feet tall. Stem is not hairy.
Montevideo Spike Rush Eleocharis montevidensis Perennial Sedge 10-24" Stem cross section flat or oval Inflorescence to 0.5" No awns Locally common in foothill woodland and forest streams. CA native	30 to 100 dark scales form a dense spike of bisexual spikelets less than 1/2" long at the top of the stem. A green bract extends beyond the spikelet cluster.	Hidden behind the scales are bisexual flowers. The base of the female style has a bump on it called a tubercle.	This spike rush is a sedge, not a rush. Leaves are dark sheaths only - there are no leaf blades. Unlike most sedges, stems of this species are oval, not triangular.
Narrowleaf Willow Salix exigua CA Bloom Feb - Mar Tiny petals Alternate leaves CA native
Nebraska Sedge Carex nebrascensis CA Bloom May - Jun Meadows CA native
Needle-And-Thread Stipa comata CA Bloom May - Jul CA native
Nevada Blue Eyed Grass Sisyrinchium halophilum CA Bloom May - Jun Blue, violet flower Six petals Basal leaves CA native
Nuttall's Alkali Grass Puccinellia nuttalliana CA Bloom May - Jun CA native
Nuttall's Coldenia Tiquilia nuttallii CA Bloom May - Aug Pink, white flower Five petals Alternate leaves CA native
Pale Spike Rush Eleocharis macrostachya Perennial Sedge 8"-3 ft. Stem cross section round or oval Inflorescence a spike to 2" No awns CA Bloom May - Jun Leaf sheaths are reddish brown at the bottom and green above and don't have a blade. CA native	This Spike Rush is a sedge, not a rush. It has erect, bright green, round stems and no leaf blades.	A single spikelet, about 1" tall, appears at the top of each stem, containing 30-80 florets, each covered by a protective scale.	This is a common sedge in fresh or brackish wetlands.