Looking rather windblown. The coreopsis is one of the dominant species in those spectacular hillside displays; this shot shows the foliage more clearly. However, it is joined here by a different lupine: the Mojave Royal Lupine, found in the true desert, is similar to the Valley Lupine seen on the grassland hillsides, but the plants are smaller, the flowers are a more intense royal blue, and the leaves are all basal (sprouting from the base of the plant instead of along a stem).
Looking rather windblown. The coreopsis is one of the dominant species in those spectacular hillside displays; this shot shows the foliage more clearly. However, it is joined here by a different lupine: the Mojave Royal Lupine, found in the true desert, is similar to the Valley Lupine seen on the grassland hillsides, but the plants are smaller, the flowers are a more intense royal blue, and the leaves are all basal (sprouting from the base of the plant instead of along a stem).
Had this IDed as Dune (O. deltoides), but not sure I correctly eliminated similar sp. Then again, I may have done so & now don't remember how. :-) Mojave Desert, in a protected draw right at the base of the San Gabriel Mtns.
There was a large display of these in San Francisquito Canyon. It comes in a variety of shades, from white to medium blue. Shot of bush here.
Uncommon; in a protected hollow. Smaller than Miniature Lupine, but with larger flowers.
Uncommon this trip; in a protected hollow.
California Poppies can grow as either annuals or, less commonly, perennials. The perennials are usually just slightly larger clumps within the carpet of annuals, but this was a true prize specimen, growing all by itself on the edge of a shallow wash.
These poppies at the edge of an arroyo offered a ground-level perspective.
Only seen in this one spot. Native, much to my shock -- does look kinda coarse and weedy.
Seems that genera in which some members are native and others introduced, as in this genus, are the exception rather than the rule.
My first posted photo from the buckwheat family.
Roadside -- only one seen.
Native range is California and northern Baja.
I was surprised when the Jepson Manual treatment didn't include the Antelope Valley (western Mojave Desert) in its range, & thought maybe I had it misidentified all this time, but Wikipedia notes "often shares a habitat with the California poppy" -- as here. Close shot with good detail of fresh flowers (top), aging flowers (below), & developing pods (bottom) -- view large.
A rare white mutant. Also present: Goldfields.
Large numbers of a white variety were being found near Bartlett Lake in Arizona in 2009. I do not know whether these, found in the Antelope Valley in California in 2003, are the same mutant or an independent one.
I'm uncertain of the exact place this photo was taken but these poppies carpet this whole area in many years during spring... they are even visible in some Google Earth photos.
Kind of a blind guess except that this is listed in the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve brochure and it looks similar.
