The plant commonly known as just Miner’s Lettuce (or Indian Lettuce, or Spring Beauty) holds a little surprise: including all subspecies, no less than 13 different ones grow in San Diego County. The two most common ones are Claytonia parviflora and Claytonia perfoliata, but their ranges and bloom periods overlap.
Plant Tag: Annual
Annuals are plants with an entire life cycle (seed – flower – seed) within one growing season. All parts of the plants except for the seed die off, and the plant will regrow from seed the following growing season.
Platystemon californicus
Common name: Creamcups
Photographic plant portrait for Platystemon californicus, commonly known as Creamcups — a pretty little flower in the poppy family that will show in surprisingly large numbers!
Collinsia heterophylla
Common name: Purple Chinese Houses
Photographic plant portrait for Collinsia heterophylla (Purple Chinese Houses). Too many photos, but this annual herb is just too pretty!
Nemophila menziesii var. integrifolia
The Baby Blue Eyes have long puzzled me. The photos that I found online didn’t really match what I saw with my own eyes. More specifically, most of the flowers that I saw here in San Diego County where much smaller, and looked different. Yet people told me: yes, those are Baby Blue Eyes.
Salvia columbariae
Common name: Chia Sage, Golden Chia, Desert Chia
Photographic plant portrait for Salvia columbariae (commonly known as Chia Sage, Desert Chia, Golden Chia) together with etymology & links.
Antirrhinum confertiflorum
Common name: Ghost Flower
Photographic plant portrait for Antirrhinum confertiflorum, the Ghost Flower (formerly known as Mohavea confertiflora), an annual spring wildflower in the desert that uses floral mimicry to attract pollinators.