I sort of thought these were mutant California poppies at first ... until I started seeing lots of them.
Second time seeing (and remembering!) this flower. Blooming in abundance at the lower elevations.
This might have been my first time seeing something in the Orobanchaceae ... or at least my first time recognizing it as such! Most of the them are parasites that don't photosynthesize, and I'm pretty sure this was one of them. Pretty rad little plant. Now I just need to figure out if it was O. fasciculata or O. californica...
LOTs of these blooming along the trailside, more than I've ever seen.
