March 29, 2017

NEW
– American rocket, a bright yellow flower on a tall stem with glossy leaves is blooming up on the ridge and below Amaranth.
– Blue eyed grass, not a grass but a member of the iris family, is blooming deep blue/purple up on the ridge.
– California goldfields carpets the side of trail yellow on the 4-Corners spur and above the Old Eagle trail.
– English daisy, a European native, is blooming below Amaranth.
– Feathery false lily of the valley, bigger than the more common one blanketing the forest floor right now is hiding in the forest.
– Field madder, native to Europe and North Africa, is a tiny purple star flower in meadows.
– Flax, native to the Mediterranean region, is a pale blue flower at the end of a long stalk.
– Owl clover, not a clover but an Indian paintbrush, is blooming on the knoll below Homestead Hill.
– Red stemmed filaree, a native of the Mediterranean basin, is blooming purple in the meadows.
– Rosy sandcrocus, a South African native, is blooming bright purple with a yellow heart on Kerouac Hill.
– Shepherd’s needle, native of Eurasia, with feathery leaves and bright white clusters is blooming on the Ridgewood Rock and along the Homestead Trail.
– Silver lupine, a big bush lupin is starting to bloom up on the ridge.
– Sky lupine, a bright blue and white lupine, grows in single stalks close to the ground.
– Wild radish, native to Asia, is blooming with purple flowers in the meadows on the ridge.
– Wild mustard, a Mediterranean native, is a tall yellow flower in meadows up on the ridge. The flowers are edible.
– Woodland star with its bright star flower is blooming on the Ridgewood Rock.

Forests
Starting
– Coralroot is blooming above the trail in the big Indian warrior patch.
– Fairy Bells will bloom for months. The plants are up and fresh but only a few have blooms. Flower bells hang under the leaves and are usually impossible to see from our vantage, so turn over the leaves and peak underneath.
– False lily of the valley is carpeting the forest floor. A few have started blooming, soon the carpet will be bright with white star flowers.
– Forget-me-not* the familiar pretty little blue flower, a European native, is starting to bloom now. This is one of our most successful invasives covering the forest floor and crowding out native species.
– Fringe cups with its greenish fringed flowers is blooming next to the bridge on the Eagle trail.
– Giant trillium is blooming in a patch near the Oso berry on Homestead Trail East.
Fading
– Barberry with its sweet smelling, bright yellow flowers is blooming on the trail up to the ridge from the Indian warrior patch and on top of the knoll below Homestead Hill.
– Green wattle with its heady scent, is blooming with its yellow puff flowers. This native of Eastern Australia blooms after the first rains.

Forest Edges
Starting
– Common California aster is blooming on the Homestead trail.
– Douglas iris is blooming with purple and white blooms near the large Indian warrior patch at 9k.
– Ground iris is blooming white on the oak knoll after you cross the creek above 9d.
– Manroots or Wild cucumber is a native vine with white flowers that will soon be blooming all over.
– Pacific sanicle with its rich foliage and unspectacular dull yellow flower is blooming on the spur trail going up to 4-corners.
– Red maids, with its rich pink flower, is blooming along the trail to 4-Corners.
– Woodland strawberry is common at the forest edges where it is starting to bloom.
– Wood sweet cicely is abundant along all the woodland paths. Its small white blooms are appearing now. Once it goes to seed, the tender pods make a delicious trail snack.
Peaking
– Indian warrior is popping up in many locations and showing bright color at the large patch at 15.
– Milkmaids, are just starting. This is a member of the mustard/radish family (edible).
Fading
– Pacific hounds tongue with its small blue flowers and large leaves is popping up all over and blooming at the edges of the forest and in shaded meadows.
– Shooting star is blooming below the sign post at 9e with lots of buds nearby.

Meadows
Starting
– Buttercup is blooming on the ridge and in some of the lower meadows.
– California poppy is showing its orange bell flower in the meadows.
– Checkerbloom is blooming up on the ridge near the patches of blue dicks.
– Chickweed, a native of Europe, is edible and nutritious, and is used as a leaf vegetable, often raw in salads.
– Common vetch, a native of the Mediterranean, is the purple pea blooming in the meadows
– Purple sanicle is blooming on the Eagle trail below Amaranth and near the Indian warrior patch.
– Sourgrass, native to South Africa, is a noxious weed here. We used to suck on the sour juice in the stems when we were children and squeeze the juice onto our Miner’s lettuce salads as dressing.
– Sun cups is a bright yellow close to the ground in the meadows.
– White flowered onion*, native to the Mediterranean basin, is blooming in gutters and wet places. All parts of the plant from the bulb to the flower are edible.
Peaking
– Blue dicks, a soft blue cluster at the end of a long stem is bobbing blue on the ridge trail and down in the brighter places along the Homestead Trail.
– Footsteps of spring is blooming up on the ridge and in open meadows.
– Oakland star tulip, one of the rare plants in Homestead, is blooming along the trails, and in meadows.
– Spring gold, a bright yellow low cluster, is blooming on Ridgewood Rock.
Fading
– Checker lily is blooming along the Eagle Trail, going up, 8 steps past the little creek below 9e on the right.
– Death camus is blooming in woodland meadows, the whole plant is poisonous, hence the name.
– Greene’s saxifrage, one of the flowers in Homestead found only on the Ridgewood Rock is blooming there now. These tiny blooms stand atop long stems and bloom on the mossy shelves of the rock.
– Marin checker lily, distinguishable from the other checker lily by its rich chocolate color, is listed as rare, threatened, or endangered on the CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants. It’s blooming in the meadow below Amaranth.
– Wooly lomatium, with its hairy greenish disklike flowers grow close to the ground on the Ridgewood Rock and up on the ridge below Homestead Hill.

Key to map:
I haven’t located Chickweed, White flowered onion, Milkmaids, Forget-me-nots, American trailplant, Fennel, California Blackberry, California honeysuckle, Bay, Chickweed, Cleavers, Hedge parsley, Manroots, Swordfern, Sourgrass, Coyote brush, French or Scotch Broom on the map as they are so prolific.

Flowers that are not currently blooming have been removed from the map and are greyed out in the map key.

Gallery of wildflowers and plants found in Homestead.

*Non-native

Share this: