April 4, 2017

NEW
– California plantain, this tiny plant has needle-like leaves and translucent flowers clustered on a stalk. It’s blooming in a large patch above the junction at 13 and in meadows.
– Crimson columbine, red with yellow heart, is a beautiful discovery in the forest or at the forest edge. It is blooming now on the Red Plum trail, near 10a.
– English hawthorn, a big tree is starting to bloom above the railroad tie bridge between 11 and 12. In a week or so when it is in full bloom, it will be spectacular.
– Pacific star flower, a member of the primrose family, is out with its pretty pink flower, its white center showing off its yellow tipped stamens. Another forest lover, it is blooming on the Eagle Trail between 6a and 6b.
– Thimbleberry, in the rose family, with its white flower and lobed leaves, is a forest shrub. The raspberry looking fruit is edible.
– Tomcat clover is blooming on the Ridgewood Rock.

Forests
Starting
– Coralroot is blooming above the trail in the big Indian warrior patch. Look for it in the woods along the Homestead Trail.
Peaking
– Fairy Bells will bloom for months. 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. The carpet is bright with white star flowers.
– Feathery false lily of the valley, bigger than the more common one, is very fragrant and blooming above the bridge at 6e.
– Forget-me-not* the familiar pretty little blue flower, is a European native. 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 near 9.
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.
– Giant trillium is blooming in a patch near the Oso berry on Homestead Trail East.– 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
– 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 and in meadows at the forest edge.
– Common California aster is blooming on the Homestead trail.
Peaking
– Douglas iris is blooming with purple and white blooms everywhere, in meadows and along forest trails.
– English daisy, a European native, is blooming below Amaranth.
– Manroots or wild cucumber is a native vine with white flowers that is blooming all over.
– Pacific sanicle with its rich foliage and unspectacular dull yellow flower is blooming along the Homestead Trail.
– Red maids, with its rich pink flower, is blooming along the trail to 4-Corners.
– Woodland strawberry is common at the forest edges.
– 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, 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.

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.
– Common vetch, a native of the Mediterranean, is the purple pea blooming in the meadows
– 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.
– Purple sanicle is blooming on the Eagle trail below Amaranth and near the Indian warrior patch.
– Red stemmed filaree, a native of the Mediterranean basin, is blooming purple in the meadows.
– 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.
– Sun cups is a bright yellow close to the ground in the meadows.
– 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.
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.
– California goldfields carpets the side of the trail yellow on the 4-Corners spur and above the Old Eagle trail.
– Ground iris is blooming purple in meadows.
– Oakland star tulip, one of the rare plants in Homestead, is blooming along the trails, and in meadows.
– Rosy sandcrocus, a South African native, is blooming bright purple with a yellow heart on Kerouac Hill.
– 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.
– Spring gold, a bright yellow low cluster, is blooming on Ridgewood Rock.
– 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.
Fading
– Checker lily is blooming on the Ridgewood Rock.
– Chickweed, a native of Europe, is edible and nutritious, and is used as a leaf vegetable, often raw in salads.
– Death camus is blooming in woodland meadows, the whole plant is poisonous, hence the name.
– Footsteps of spring is blooming up on the ridge and in open meadows.
– Woodland star with its bright star flower is blooming on the Ridgewood Rock.
– 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

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