Wildflowers

The plant is named for the flower which resembles a nestlings beak pointing upward. Salt Marsh Bird's beak is a hemiparasite that both photosyntheses and attaches to a host plant. This endangered annual forb's natural range extends along the Pacific Coast from Central California into Northern Baja California. This years bloom has come early, the plants life cycle probably accelerated due to drought conditions. Hairs on the plant help collect dew, a useful adaptation during drought.

Creekside in an ecological restoration site.

Dodders are parasitic plants. The specimen seen here is using Pickleweed as a host plant.

This where most of my shots were taken, including this community's banner.

The female flowers of this dioecious species.

I had set myself a goal to photo and post a different wildflower species each day for the last couple of months, but with September arriving and with it more fruit than flowers, I will not be posting daily from now on.

It was an enjoyable challenge though.

Fun Fact: Pregnant ewes ingesting the plant from the 12th to the 14th day of gestation may have prolonged gestation due to the absence of the pituitary gland in the malformed offspring. The most striking malformation is partial or complete cyclopia in which one eye or two fused eyes are in a single orbit with a median skin protuberance above.