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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
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Buttercup flower with 5-8 petals. The central area becomes a cylinder of tiny fruits.
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Leaves vary in shape and are sometimes notched. They're larger near the base of the plant.
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Found in wet areas, often in dense patches. Often grows low to the ground but can grow erect to over 1 foot tall.
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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
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In the aster family, many tiny flowers are surrounded by a set of pale hairy phyllaries.
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Flower are sometimes reddish purple.
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Leaves create a low mounded cushion. They're quite hairy, which gives the plant a pale appearance.
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Beardless Wild Rye
Elymus triticoides
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This rye has 2-ranked spikelets that connect directly to the stem. There is space between each alternating spikelet.
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Hollow stems (like straws) connect at solid joints. Leaves are about 1/4" wide and a foot long.
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Prominent blue-green leaves are 4-12" long and grow away from the stem. Found in moist habitats with heavy soils.
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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
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Flower is over 1" wide with a yellow and purple center.
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Flower tube is long, surrounded by hairy sepals at the base.
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Leaves are oval-shaped, about 1 inch long, and opposite. This plant grows from 2" to 10" tall.
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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
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Yellow flowers are about 1 inch accross, with 5 separate petals and many stamens.
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Leaves often have 3 "fingers" or teeth, thus "tridentata".
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Bitterbrush colors sagebrush areas yellow with its flowers in the summer.
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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
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Leaf tops are glossy dark-green. Undersides are pale. Leaves are long and pointed, with small teeth on the edge.
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Alternating secondary veins connect to a central one.
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Grows near running water. Trunks get very large, and the tree height often exceeds 100 feet.
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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
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Leaves are grouped in 3s, with short petioles. Leaflets are toothed towards the tip and end in a short point.
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Yellow pea-shaped flowers clustered like a clover.
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Stem is quite thin, and grows along the ground when the plant is young. Fruit develops into a hard, black, oval pod.
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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
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Green flower. Complex orchid shape.
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Note the spur that sticks out behind the blossom.
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Spike of green orchid flowers grow up to 2 feet tall, above 6" narrow, pointed leaves near the bottom of the plant.
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Booth's Sun Cup
Eremothera boothii
CA Bloom May - Aug
Brown, pink, white flower
Four petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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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
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White flowers and red berries on short, thorny side branches.
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Opposite leaves about 2 inches long, covered in fine hairs that make them look pale.
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Deciduous in the winter. Thorny branches often form a thicket. Typically grows to 14 feet tall.
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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
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A fairly thin pear-shaped spiny bulge below flower is a good way to distinguish this species.
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Bull Thistle has big spines all the way up the stem, on the leaves, and around the flower.
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Here is a basal rosette of thick, toothed leaves.
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Catclaw Horsebrush
Tetradymia axillaris
CA Bloom Apr - May
Yellow flower
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Chairmaker's Bulrush
Schoenoplectus americanus
Flower
Coastal salt-marsh freshwater-marsh
CA native
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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
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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.
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Brown leaf sheaths grow at the base of stem, but create no leaf blades.
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This rather tall rush is found on lake shores, wet pastures. Some subspecies are native, others weedy.
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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
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Here's the yellow dandelion head we all know. Below are green phyllaries that point downward.
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Leaves have irregular, backwards-pointing lobes.
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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.
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Common Sagebrush
Artemisia tridentata
CA Bloom Jul - Aug
Brown flower
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
Slopes
CA native
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Coville's Orach
Stutzia covillei
CA Bloom Mar - May
Green flower
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Creeping Velvetgrass
Holcus mollis
CA Bloom Jun - Aug
Not CA native
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Curly Dock
Rumex crispus
CA Bloom Jan - Dec
Green, white flower
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
Disturbed
Not CA native Somewhat Invasive
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Cut Leaved Water Parsnip
Berula erecta
CA Bloom Jul - Aug
White flower
Five petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Dark Green Goosefoot
Chenopodium atrovirens
CA Bloom Jul - Sep
Brown, green, pink flower
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Desert Mountainmahogany
Cercocarpus ledifolius
CA Bloom Feb - Mar
Pink, red, yellow flower
Five petals
Alternate leaves
Slopes
CA native
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Desert Peach
Prunus andersonii
CA Bloom Mar - Jun
Pink, violet flower
Five petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Douglas Sedge
Carex douglasii
CA Bloom May - Jun
Slopes
CA native
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Downy Chess
Bromus tectorum
CA Bloom May - Jun
Disturbed
Not CA native Highly Invasive
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Fewleaf Bee Plant
Carsonia sparsifolia
CA Bloom May - Aug
Yellow flower
Four, irreg petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Field Sedge
Carex praegracilis
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The inflorescence is short and dense, with separate male and female florets in the same cluster.
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Male flowers protrude from their protective scales. Female flowers hide inside brown scales except at maturity.
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Leaves are long, narrow, and either flat or V-shaped. Praegracilis is Latin for "very slender".
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Five Horn Bassia
Bassia hyssopifolia
CA Bloom Jun - Jul
Green flower
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
Disturbed
Not CA native Somewhat Invasive
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Fowl Bluegrass
Poa palustris
CA Bloom Apr - May
Meadows
Not CA native
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Fox Tail Barley
Hordeum jubatum
CA Bloom May - Jul
CA native
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Fremont's Goosefoot
Chenopodium fremontii
CA Bloom Jun - Oct
Green flower
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Giant Blazingstar
Mentzelia laevicaulis
CA Bloom Aug - Oct
Yellow flower
Five petals
Alternate, basal leaves
CA native
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Golden Dock
Rumex fueginus
CA Bloom May - Aug
Green, yellow flower
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
Coastal salt-marsh freshwater-marsh
CA native
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Granite Prickly Phlox
Linanthus pungens
CA Bloom Jun - Sep
Pink, white flower
Five petals
Alternate, opposite leaves
CA native
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Grayswamp Whiteheads
Angelica capitellata
Flower
Green, white flower
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Greasewood
Sarcobatus vermiculatus
CA Bloom Mar - May
Green, pink, yellow flower
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Great Basin Bulrush
Amphiscirpus nevadensis
Flower
CA native
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Great Basin Popcorn Flower
Amsinckiopsis kingii
CA Bloom May - Jul
White flower
Five petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Great Basin Wild Rye
Elymus cinereus
CA Bloom Jun - Aug
CA native
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Green Ephedra
Ephedra viridis
CA Bloom Apr - May
Orange, yellow flower
Tiny petals
Opposite leaves
CA native
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Green Rabbitbrush
Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus
CA Bloom Aug - Oct
Yellow flower
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Herb Sophia
Descurainia sophia
CA Bloom May - Aug
Yellow flower
Four petals
Alternate, basal leaves
Disturbed
Not CA native Somewhat Invasive
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Hoary Aster
Dieteria canescens
CA Bloom Jul - Oct
Violet flower
Many petals
Alternate, basal leaves
CA native
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Hop Sage
Grayia spinosa
CA Bloom May - Jun
Green, orange, pink, yellow flower
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Interior Rose
Rosa woodsii ssp. ultramontana
CA Bloom May - Jun
Pink flower
Five petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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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
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Cone grows to 12 inches long, with prickles on each scale pointing inward (Gentle Jeffrey) Ponderosa Pine's prickles point out.
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Bark in large vertical plates. Smells like vanilla. Turns reddish brown with age.
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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.
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Lemmon's Alkali Grass
Puccinellia lemmonii
CA Bloom May - Aug
CA native
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Lesser Panicled Sedge
Carex diandra
CA Bloom May - Jun
Meadows
CA native
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Little Leaf Horsebrush
Tetradymia glabrata
CA Bloom Aug - Sep
Yellow flower
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Little Paintbrush
Castilleja minor
CA Bloom Jul - Sep
Orange, red, yellow flower
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Long Anthered Rush
Juncus macrandrus
Flower
CA native
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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
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Flowers are white with red parts. They cluster closely together next to the stem.
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Leaves are basal, rounded, and wooly, up to 1 inch wide.
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Grows to about 2 feet tall. Stem is not hairy.
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Montevideo Spike Rush
Eleocharis montevidensis
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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.
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Hidden behind the scales are bisexual flowers. The base of the female style has a bump on it called a tubercle.
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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.
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Narrowleaf Willow
Salix exigua
CA Bloom Feb - Mar
Tiny petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Nebraska Sedge
Carex nebrascensis
CA Bloom May - Jun
Meadows
CA native
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Needle-And-Thread
Stipa comata
CA Bloom May - Jul
CA native
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Nevada Blue Eyed Grass
Sisyrinchium halophilum
CA Bloom May - Jun
Blue, violet flower
Six petals
Basal leaves
CA native
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Nuttall's Alkali Grass
Puccinellia nuttalliana
CA Bloom May - Jun
CA native
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Nuttall's Coldenia
Tiquilia nuttallii
CA Bloom May - Aug
Pink, white flower
Five petals
Alternate leaves
CA native
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Pale Spike Rush
Eleocharis macrostachya
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This Spike Rush is a sedge, not a rush. It has erect, bright green, round stems and no leaf blades.
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A single spikelet, about 1" tall, appears at the top of each stem, containing 30-80 florets, each covered by a protective scale.
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This is a common sedge in fresh or brackish wetlands.
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