The Calico Cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii) is commonly found in desert areas of the southwestern United States and the adjacent areas of Mexico, including the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Baja California and Sonora. In California it is found in the lower Colorado and Mojave deserts. There are five recognized varieties in the state. Calico Cactus grows in clusters, sometimes up to 20 and more stems. Its bright magenta flowers bloom in April in its southern extremes to late May at northern locations. The flowers are borne at the upper half to one third of the stem. They are funnelform in shape, up to 3.5 inches long with dark-green stigmas. The fruit is very spiny. At first it is green, becoming pink and drying when ripe. The ripe fruit has spines which are easily detached. The seeds are black, and around a tenth of an inch in size. The stems are initially cylindrical and erect in young plants, but later with the stem base lying on the ground. The stems are usually 1.5 to 3.5 inches in diameter and up to 25 inches high, and obscured by heavy spines which tend to angle downwards. The plants have around 10 ribs, which are somewhat flattened and tuberculate. It is not often used, even in desert gardens, because it is very slow growing and tends to not flower until it has reached mature size. Nevertheless, the flowers are a beautiful reward for the patient desert gardener.

Engelmann's Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii var. acicularis) is a native shrub that grows in southern California.

Engelmann's Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii var. armatus) is a native shrub that grows in southern California.

Engelmann's Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii var. chrysocentrus) is a native shrub that grows in southern and central California.

Echinocereus triglochidiatus is a species of hedgehog cactus known by several common names, including kingcup cactus, claretcup, and Mojave mound cactus. This cactus is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it is a resident of varied habitats from low desert to rocky slopes, scrub, and mountain woodland. It is most abundant in shady areas. There are a number of varieties of this highly variable cactus species, but not all are universally recognized. In general it is a mounding cactus, forming bulbous piles of few to hundreds of spherical to cylindrical stems. It is densely spiny and somewhat woolly. The showy flower is a funnel shaped bloom up to 8 or 9 centimeters wide and bright scarlet red to orange-red petals. There is a thick nectar chamber and many thready pink stamens at the center of the corolla. The flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds.

Ehrendorferia chrysantha (syn. Dicentra chrysantha) is a species of flowering plant in the Fumariaceae, a family of showy wildflowers sometimes included in the Papaveraceae, the poppies. Its common name is golden eardrops. This plant is native to California and Baja California, where it lives in dry, brushy areas and thrives on periodic chaparral wildfire. This is a somewhat bushy taprooted perennial herb which may reach 1.5 meters in height. It has many tall, smooth stems with long waxy pale leaves which are divided into many lobes and leaflets. Atop each branch of each stem is a panicle of bright yellow aromatic flowers. Each flower has curving, pointed outer petals sculpted outward from the center of the flower, which is covered by a ridge made up of the inner petals. The fruit is a capsule one or two centimeters long.

Elymus californicus is a species of wild rye known by the common name California bottlebrush grass. This grass is endemic to California where it is an uncommon species known from a few counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. It grows between one and two meters in height. The tall, erect stem is nearly naked, bearing the occasional sheathing leaf with a blade 10 to 20 centimeters long. It bears an erect flower cluster which curves as it becomes heavier in grain. Each flower cluster is divided into three or four nodes with three or four spikelets per node. Each spikelet is between one and two centimeters long, not counting a long awn about two centimeters long.

Leymus cinereus is a species of wild rye known by the common names basin wild rye and giant wild rye. It is a common native grass of western North America, including western Canada and the United States from California to South Dakota and Minnesota. It grows in many types of habitat, including grassland and prairie, forests, scrub, chaparral, and sagebrush. This is a perennial grass forming large, tough clumps up to 2 meters tall and sometimes exceeding one meter in diameter. It has a large, fibrous root system and sometimes small rhizomes. The flower cluster is an unbranched, cylindrical spike divided into up to 35 nodes with several flower spikelets per node.

Giant wildrye (Elymus condensatus) is a grass that grows in bunches or clumps, has a distinctive silver blue hue, and does not die back in any season. It grows in California and northern Mexico in coastal sage scrub, chaparral and woodlands, rarely in wetlands. 

This grass makes a nice drought-tolerant lawn substitute. It spreads by rhizomes (underground roots) but not rapidly; it can be easily contained in the area you want it to fill. 

It often hybridizes with Leymus triticoides, producing the common hybrid grass Leymus x multiflorus. The cultivar 'Canyon Prince' from the Channel Islands is often used in landscapes or gardens because it is somewhat smaller and more compact.

Giant wildrye supports butterflies and moths.

Horticultural selection from Elymus condensatus. This medium grass, a selection of the hardy Leymus condensatus, has striking blue-green foliage that adds interest and color contrast to any landscape. Its powdery blue flower stalks grow 1' -2' above the broad leaves and can be cut and used in floral arrangements. This specimen grass can be used in a variety of ways; filling large patio containers or spilling over small planters. The foliage color contrasts nicely with the dark green of Ceanothus or Manzanitas. In addition to its aesthetic value, it is a great slope stabilizer, adaptable to many soils, drought tolerant but will also tolerate watering. Cut back every few years for best appearance.

Horticultural selection L. condensatus: origin = cuttings (1968) by Ralph Philbrick, Prince Island off san Miguel Island, santa Barbara Co.; intro sBBG 1986. Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Selection of E.condensatus from prince Island off of san Miguel Island. Introduced by santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Selected from population occuring north of santa Barbara.

Elymus elymoides is a species of wild rye known by the common name squirreltail. This grass is native to most of North America west of the Mississippi River. It occurs in a number of ecosystems, from alpine forest to desert sage scrub to valley grassland. It is a perennial bunch grass growing to around half a meter in height. Its erect solid stems have flat or rolled leaf blades. The flower cluster is up to 15 centimeters long and somewhat stiff and erect, with spikelets one or two centimeters long not counting the awn, which may be 9 centimeters long and sticks straight out, making the flower cluster look like a bottlebrush. This grass is considered a very good forage for sheep. It is best for grazing during the winter, when it is small and green. It becomes less palatable to livestock when its awns grow long and sharp at maturity.

Blue wildrye (Elymus glaucus) is a perennial bunchgrass that grows upright to about 4 feet. It grows as narrow tufts of several erect stems and spreads outward by rhizomes.  It is a common and widespread species native to North America from Alaska to New York to northern Mexico. 

Blue wildrye is a crucial soil stabilizer, habitat creator, and food source for local wildlife. The seeds are a food source for native mammals and birds.

This is a popular accent grass for the garden, providing green to blue green color and texture contrast. It can hybridize with other species of Elymus to produce highly variable forms. 

Western Rye Grass (Elymus glaucus ssp. glaucus) is a native grass that grows in northern, southern and central California. It tends to grow in open places, at elevations from 0-8200 feet.

Blue Wildrye (Elymus glaucus ssp. virescens) is a native grass that grows in northern, southern and central California. It tends to grow in open places, at elevations from 0-1000 feet.

Elymus lanceolatus is a species of grass known by the common names thickspike wheatgrass and streamside wheatgrass. It is native to North America, where it is widespread and abundant in much of Canada and the western and central United States. There are two subspecies, ssp. lanceolatus occurring throughout the species' range and ssp. psammophilus occurring in the Great Lakes region. Elymus lanceolatus is a perennial, low growing, rhizomatous grass that actively grows in summer and spring. This plant is native to semiarid regions of the United States. Elymus lanceolatus is polymorphic, capable of growing in high altitude regions of the Rocky Mountains or at sea level near the Great Lakes in the United States. The bloom period for E. lanceolatus is mid-spring, and it is available commercially. Elymus lanceolatus is characterized by its yellow flowers, green or grey leaves, and brown seeds. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), it has a moderate harvest regrowth rate. Wheatgrass is unique in that in can adapt to fine, medium, and coarsely textured soils in the environment. However, it is shade intolerant, has a medium fertility requirement, and has a medium salinity tolerance. Studies suggest that amounts of soil needed for wheatgrass harvest can be approximated by understanding the plant' water depletion rate and rainfall amount in the region, which consequently helps reduce drainage. This grass produces hollow, erect stems up to 1. 3 metres (4. 3 feet) tall. The grass grows from a dense network of roots and rhizomes thickly intertwined to form a sod. The leaves are up to 25 centimetres (9. 8 inches) long and . 5 cm (0. 20 in) wide and are flat or slightly rolled at the edges. In dry, hot weather the leaves roll completely into cylindrical shapes. The inflorescence is a narrow, compact spike at the top of the stem, measuring up to 22 cm (8. 7 in) long. Each spikelet may have 2 to 11 flowers. The plant reproduces often by seed but in some areas, particularly in sandy substrates, it reproduces vegetatively by sprouting from its rhizome. New plants sprout from a soil seed bank, the seeds surviving in the soil for 3 to 4 years on average. The plant thrives under irrigation or in areas with 200-500 millimeters (8-20 inches) of annual precipitation.

Streambank Wheatgrass (Elymus lanceolatus ssp. lanceolatus) is a native grass that grows in northern, southern and central California. It is moderately fast growing and moderately long-lived. It grows in an upright form to a height of 2.3 feet, with active growth during the spring and summer. Flowers are yellow and bloom in the mid spring. Leaves are gray-green and deciduous. It tends to grow in open places, at elevations from 2000-4000 feet.

Elymus multisetus is a species of wild rye known by the common name big squirreltail. It is native to the western United States where it grows in many types of habitat. It is a perennial grass reaching 60 centimeters in maximum height. The flower cluster is an array of spikelets each with several long, hairlike awns which may be up to 20 centimeters long.

False Wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata ssp. spicata) is a native grass that grows in northern, southern and central California. It is fast growing and long-lived. It grows in an upright form to a height of 3 feet, with active growth during the spring, summer, fall. Flowers are yellow and bloom in the early summer. Leaves are gray-green and deciduous. It tends to grow in open areas, at elevations from 2600-5400 feet.

Elymus triticoides is species in the Poaceae (Grass) family known by the common names Creeping Wild Rye and Beardless Wild Rye. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Texas, where it often grows in moist habitat, sometimes with heavy and saline soils. It forms a solid, rhizomatous root system which allows it to grow at water's edge and prevent the soil from eroding. It reaches 1.3 meters in maximum height with stiff, slender green to blue-green leaves that stand away from the stems at an obvious angle. The flower cluster is a narrow spike up to 20 centimeters long. This grass is not frequently used in residential gardens, but it is a good range land grass for grazing, and it is used to stabilize waterways because of its soil-retaining rhizome network.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Selected for use in the garden, horticultural selection from Elymus triticoides. Introduced by Suncrest Nurseries.

Enemion occidentale (syn. Isopyrum occidentale) is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name western false rue anemone. It is endemic to California where it is a resident of forest, woodland, and chaparral habitats in many of the mountain ranges. This is a small perennial herb producing one or more erect, unbranched stems growing to maximum heights near 25 centimeters. Leaves appear toward the top of the smooth, naked stems. Each green cloverlike leaf is divided into usually three irregular lobes. The solitary flowers are petite with white to very light lavender petallike sepals and no petals. At the center are white stamens with yellow anthers and white styles with yellow stigmas.

Enemion stipitatum (syn. Isopyrum stipitatum) is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name Siskiyou false rue anemone. It is native to northern California and southern Oregon where it grows in forest, woodland, and chaparral habitats in the local mountain ranges. This is a petite perennial herb producing one or more erect, unbranched stems to a maximum height no more than 15 centimeters. Leaves appear toward the top of each stem in arrays of several cloverlike leaves with three-lobed leaflets. The tiny solitary flowers each have five white petallike sepals only a few millimeters long. The center of the flower contains several thick white stamens topped with small yellow anthers and 3 to 5 styles.

Ephedra viridis is a species of Ephedra known by the common names green ephedra and green Mormon tea. It is native to the western United States, where it is a member of varied scrub, woodland, and open habitats. This shrub is made up of many erect bright green twigs. They may yellow somewhat with age. Nodes along the twigs are marked by the tiny brown ridges which are the plant's leaves. Male plants produce pollen cones at the nodes, each under a centimeter long with protruding yellowish sporangiophores. Female plants produce seed cones which are slightly larger and contain two seeds each.

Epilobium brachycarpum is a species of willowherb known by the common names Tall Willowherb, Tall Annual Willowherb, Panicled Willowherb and Tall Fireweed. It is native to and widespread in North America, where it is a resident of varied open and woodland habitats. It has also been introduced to some areas in South America. This is a tall hairy, hairy annual herb occasionally reaching two meters in height. It is somewhat gangly and thin like an erect weed, with narrow, curving, pointed leaves up to a few centimeters in length. The flower has four petals which may be so deeply notched that they look like four pairs. They are generally light purple or pink, with darker veining. The fruit is a capsule 1 to 3 centimeters long.

California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum) is a beautiful species of willowherb, native to the California foothills and coastal areas. It is a perennial plant, notable for the profusion of bright scarlet flowers in summer and autumn --- it's frequently the only native California plant in an area flowering at the height of summer. They tend to die back and go dormant in the winter.

Other common names include California Fuchsia (from the resemblance of the flowers to those of Fuchsias), Hummingbird Flower, and Hummingbird Trumpet (as the flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds).

California Fuchsia is often found by seasonal creeks, seeps and spring, particularly in the drier southern part of its range.

California Fuchsia is easy to grow. It does best and will flower most profusely in full sun. In the wetter, northern part of its range or near the coast, this plant will typically require no supplemental water after established. In the drier, hotter, inland southern areas, it will often die without summer water unless planted close to an irrigated or other wet area. You can water it 1x/month without much danger.

Plants tend to get straggly after flowering by late fall or early winter. Best to cut it back to the ground as soon as the flowers are spent, and it will come back back lush and healthy in the spring. Otherwise, it will look straggly and unhealthy the next year and is more likely to die.

This plant will readily self-seed, so once you get this species established, it will usually start springing up around your garden. It also spreads by rhizomes. There's probably no better California native plant for attracting hummingbirds.

This plant is on several fire-resistant plant lists, including FireSafe Marin and County of San Diego.

Everett's Choice California fuchsia (Epilobium canum var. latifolium 'Everett's Choice') is a deciduous perennial in the Evening-Primrose family (Onagraceae). Everett Butts from Wapumne Nursery (Lincoln, California) introduced this horticultural selection, and it is one of the lowest growing of all California fuchsias. Small silvery leaves hug the ground, with red-orange tubular flowers floating above. Hummingbirds adore the flowers and rely on them as a food source in late summer and early autumn, when little else is blooming.

California fuchsias grow on dry slopes and ridges in Chaparral, Coastal Sage Scrub, and Pine or Fir Forest plant communities. Along the coast, it grows in extremely dry soil with no summer rain, but can also be found growing near creeks and streams. Inland, it survives drought, but looks fresher when growing near naturally moist sites. Everett's choice grows best in full sun along the coast with some afternoon shade in hot inland gardens. Although drought tolerant, it performs best with a deep summer watering every couple of weeks after establishment. As with all California fuchsias, a hard winter cut-back will produce a denser plant the following year. Everett's choice looks great next to a path or trailing over a rock wall or container.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden.

Horticultural selection from Epilobium canum. Sierra salmon Fuchsia has narrow blue-gray leaves and produces profuse salmon-colored flowers in late summer or fall when many other flowering natives are dormant. Upright growing from 8"-2' tall and equally wide. Epilobiums are recommended for casual or informal gardens. Plant on slight slopes among rocks, in dry stream-beds, against rock walls or in rock gardens. Good for erosion control and fall color. Cold hardy to 1 degrees F. They are beloved by hummingbirds. We recommend cutting California Fuchsia back very hard in the late fall ready for flush of new growth in the spring. Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden.

Epilobium ciliatum is a species of willowherb known by the common names Fringed Willowherb and American Willowherb. This plant is found in many parts of the world. It is native to much of North America and eastern Asia, and it is an introduced species in much of Eurasia and Australia. It may be found in a great variety of habitats, including disturbed areas and roadsides. This is a clumping perennial often exceeding one and a half meters in height. It has thickly veined lance-shaped leaves which may be up to 15 centimeters long toward the base of the plant. The foliage, stem, and flower cluster are covered in bristly hairs and glands. The trumpet-shaped flowers have four petals which are so deeply notched they look like four pairs. They are white to light purple or pink with dark veining. The fruit is a narrow, hairy capsule up to 10 centimeters in length, and it may be held on a long stalk.

Epilobium cleistogamum is a species of willowherb known by the common name selfing willowherb. This plant is endemic to central California where it is a resident of vernal pools and mudflats. It is a small annual plant with fuzzy pointed green leaves. Some of the leaves have hairs which are knobby and gland-tipped. The flowers are usually cleistogamous, that is, they self-pollinate without opening. Some of the flowers do open to reveal pinkish-purple to nearly white, deeply notched petals. The fruit is a tough four-sided capsule about a centimeter long.

Epilobium densiflorum is a species of willowherb known by the common names denseflower willowherb, dense spike-primrose or dense boisduvalia. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Baja California, where it is found in a variety of habitats. This is an erect annual often exceeding a meter in height with fuzzy green foliage. The pointed leaves are up to 8 centimeters long near the base of the plant, and the upper leaves are generally more hairy than the lower. The stem may branch or not. The top of the stem is occupied by a hairy, leafy, densely flowered inflorescence. Each flower has four deeply notched petals in shades of pinkish purple to nearly white with dark veining, each about a centimeter long. The fruit is a cylindrical capsule about a centimeter long.

Epilobium minutum is a species of willowherb known by the common names little willowherb, chaparral willowherb and desert willowherb. It is also called "smallflower willowherb" in reference to its small size relatively. However that name, in particular the British English variant "small-flowered willowherb", typically refers to Epilobium parviflorum. This annual wildflower is native to western North America from British Columbia and Alberta to California and Arizona. This is a plant of fields and meadows, including vernal pools, and it is one of the first flowers to spring up in areas recently cleared by wildfire. Epilobium minutum is a small, spindly plant with thin, branching stems approaching a maximum of 40 centimeters in height. The sparse leaves are oval-shaped and one or two centimeters long. The stems are topped with few tiny white to light purple flowers with notched petals each a few millimeters long. The fruit is a capsule one or two centimeters in length. It is a much smaller plant than most members of the genus, referenced by both the specific name minutum as well as some of its commmon names.

Epilobium pallidum is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name largeflower spike-primrose. It is native to western United States, where it grows in moist areas in northern California, Oregon, and Idaho. It is an annual herb producing a narrow, upright stem up to 60 centimeters long lined with narrow oval leaves each up to 5 centimeters in length. The inflorescence atop the stem bears several flowers and hairy, leaflike bracts. Each flower has four bilobed petals each up to about a centimeter long and bright pink in color. The fruit is a beaked capsule between 1 and 2 centimeters long containing a row of tiny seeds.

Epilobium torreyi is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common names Torrey's willowherb and brook spike-primrose. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California, where it grows in many types of habitat, often in moist areas. It is a hairy annual herb producing a narrow, upright stem often exceeding half a meter tall lined with narrow lance-shaped leaves. The hairy, glandular inflorescence bears tiny white or pink flowers. They are usually cleistogamous, remaining closed and self-pollinating. The fruit is a capsule up to about a centimeter long.

Epipactis gigantea is a species of orchid known by the common names stream orchid and giant helleborine. This wildflower is native to western North America from western Canada to central Mexico. This is one of the most abundant orchids of the Pacific coast of North America.

Epipactis gigantea is an erect perennial reaching anywhere from 30 centimeters to one meter in height. Its stems have wide or narrow lance-shaped leaves 5 to 15 centimeters long and inflorescences of two or three showy orchids near the top. Each flower has three straight sepals which are light brownish or greenish with darker veining, each one to two centimeters long. The two top petals are similar in shape and reddish-brown with purple veins. The lowest petal is cup-shaped with a pointed, tongue-like protuberance and is brighter red-brown and more starkly veined, often with areas of yellow. The fruit is a hanging capsule 2 or 3 centimeters long which contains thousands of tiny seeds. This plant grows in wet areas in a variety of habitats, including riverbanks, hot springs, and meadows. Unlike some of its relatives, this species is an autotroph. A distinctive race with burgundy colored foliage is known from The Cedars in Sonoma County California, an area of serpentine rock, and it is called forma rubrifolia (P M Brown).

Epipactis gigantea is cultivated in the specialty horticulture trade and available as a non-wild collected propagated ornamental plant for: natural landscape, traditional, native plant, and habitat gardens. A maroon leaved (forma rubrifolia) cultivar is also grown, called 'Serpentine Night'.

Grows best in sandy, coarse-grained or other fast draining soil. Prefers part shade in coastal sites, and part shade or shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden by Roger Raiche.

Equisetum arvense, commonly known as the Field Horsetail or Common Horsetail, is a rather bushy perennial with a rhizomatous stem formation native to the northern hemisphere. These horsetails may have sterile or fertile stems. Sterile stems start to grow after the fertile stems have wilted. The sterile stems tend to be much taller and bushier, with the jointed segments being around one inch long with a diameter of about 1/20th of an inch. These segments contain one set of whorled, slender, erect branches each. Some stems can have as many as 20 segments and be as tall as 2-24 inches. The fertile stems tend to be half as tall as the sterile stems and also tend to be more succulent. This plant also has a very high diploid number - 216 (108 pairs of chromosomes) - which is roughly 5 times greater than the human diploid number (46).

Equisetum hyemale (Rough Horsetail or Scouring Rush) is a widespread species ative to moist forests, forest edges and stream banks, swamps, fens throughout most of California. It is primarily found in wetlands, and in riparian zones of rivers and streams where it can withstand seasonal flooding. It is also found around springs and seeps, and can indicate their presence when not flowing. Other habitats include moist forest and woodland openings, lake and pond shores, ditches, and marshes and swamps. It has jointed reed-like stalks impregnated with silica which makes them feel rough to the touch. The rough bristles have been used to scour or clean pots, used as sandpaper, as well as to shape the reeds of reed instruments such as clarinets or saxophones. Boiled and dried Equisetum hyemale is used as traditional polishing material like fine grit sandpaper in Japan. Best used in a container. If planted in the ground it can be an aggressive spreader. It is popular on the margin of ponds and bioswales.

Scouringrush Horsetail (Equisetum hyemale ssp. affine) is a native fern that grows in Northern, Southern and Central California, primarily in the Warner Mountains and White and Inyo Mountain regions. It tends to grow in streams and moist, sandy or gravelly places, at elevations from 0-9800 feet.

Equisetum laevigatum is a species of horsetail known by the common names smooth scouring rush and smooth horsetail. This plant is native to much of North America except for northern Canada and southern Mexico. It is usually found in moist areas in sandy and gravelly substrates. It may be annual or perennial. It grows narrow green stems sometimes reaching heights exceeding 1.5 meters. The leaves at the nodes are small, scale-like brownish sheaths and there are occasionally small, spindly branches. The stems are topped with rounded cone-shaped sporangia.

Equisetum telmateia (great horsetail or northern giant horsetail) is a species of Equisetum (horsetail) with an unusual distribution, with one subspecies native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa, and a second subspecies native to western North America. The North American subspecies is often simply but ambiguously called "giant horsetail", but that name may just as well refer to the Latin American Equisetum giganteum and Equisetum myriochaetum. It is a herbaceous perennial plant, with separate green photosynthetic sterile stems, and pale yellowish non-photosynthetic spore-bearing fertile stems. The sterile stems, produced in late spring and dying down in late autumn, are 30-150 centimeter (rarely to 240 centimeter) tall (the tallest species of horsetail outside of tropical regions) and 1 centimeter diameter, heavily branched, with whorls of 14-40 branches, these up to 20 centimeter long, 1-2 millimeter diameter and unbranched, emerging from the axils of a ring of leafs. The fertile stems are produced in early spring before the sterile shoots, growing to 15-45 centimeter tall with an apical spore-bearing strobilus 4-10 centimeter long and 1-2 centimeter broad, and no side branches; the spores disperse in mid spring, with the fertile stems dying immediately after spore release. Occasional plants produce stems that are both fertile and photosynthetic.

Giant Horsetail (Equisetum telmateia var. braunii) is a native fern that grows in northern, southern and central California. It tends to grow in moist places, at elevations from 0-4500 feet.

Arenaria congesta is a species of flowering plant in the pink family known by the common name ballhead sandwort. It is native to western North America from central Canada to the American southwest. This is a perennial herb forming a tuft of slender upright stems up to about 40 centimeters tall. The leaves are needlelike to thready, up to 8 centimeters long and only a few millimeters wide. They may be fleshy or flat and they often have a very sharp tip. Most of the leaves are located in a patch at the base of the plant, and there are a few scattered along the mostly naked stem. The flower cluster is an open or rounded cyme of five-petalled white flowers. The fruit is a toothed capsule containing several reddish seeds. The plant was used for a variety of medicinal purposes by Native American groups, including the Shoshone.

Camissonia boothii is a species of wildflower known as Booth's evening primrose. This plant is native to the western United States and northwestern Mexico where it is most abundant in arid areas such as deserts. This is an annual plant with hairy reddish-green stems and mottled foliage. The stem ends in a nodding flower cluster of many small flowers which may be white to red or yellowish, often with darker shades on the external surfaces of the four spoon-shaped petals. They have long stamens with clublike yellowish anthers. Flowers of this species tend to open at dusk rather than dawn as in many other Camissonia. The fruit is a twisted capsule one to 3 centimeters long. Plant appearances may vary across subspecies.

Eremothera chamaenerioides is a species of evening primrose known by the common name long-capsule suncup. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows especially in desert regions. It is an annual herb producing an erect, hairy, glandular stem which is reddish in color and up to half a meter tall. The leaves are lance-shaped or oval and up to 7 or 8 centimters long. The nodding inflorescence produces several flowers, each with white petals a few millimeters long and drying to dull red. The fruit is a capsule 3 to 5 centimeters long.

Eriastrum densifolium is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name giant woollystar. This wildflower is native to California and Baja California where it grows in open areas such as sand dunes and dry washes. It grows on an erect stem with slightly hairy to densely woolly foliage, often giving the plant a dark gray-green color. The leaves are narrow and spike-shaped with pointed lobes. The top of each stem is occupied by a bunched flower cluster full of woolly leaflike leafs and funnel-shaped, flat-faced flowers. The flowers are each 1 to 3 centimeters long with a face up to three or four centimeters wide. The lobes are white to bright, striking blue, sometimes with longitudinal pinstripes. The stamens protrude from the throat.

Eriastrum diffusum is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name miniature woollystar. It is native to the southwestern United States from California to Texas, where it grows in many types of open habitat. This is an annual herb producing a thin, usually woolly stem up to about 20 centimeters long, growing erect or spreading outward. The leaves are divided into 2 to 4 narrow, threadlike linear lobes. The flower cluster is a woolly cluster of narrow, leaflike leafs laced with webby fibers. The small flowers are funnel-shaped, with yellowish throats and white to pale blue corollas.

Eriastrum eremicum (desert woolstar) is an annual plant in the phlox family (Polemoniaceae) found in the Sonoran Desert. :129 It often grows in great abundance covering the desert floor in a blanket of sky blue color. :129

Eriastrum pluriflorum is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names Tehachapi woollystar and many-flowered eriastrum. This wildflower is endemic to California where it is an uncommon resident of varied chaparral and woodland habitats in the central part of the state from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Mojave Desert. This is a small annual plant which may be anywhere from 2 to 25 centimeters in height, forming an erect bunch or a small patch on the ground. Its stem has the occasional narrow, thready leaf a few centimeters in length and coated in woolly hairs. The flower cluster is a mass of spindly leafs strung thickly with dense, cobwebby wool and bearing many distinctive trumpet-shaped flowers. Each flower has a very narrow throat tube one to two centimeters long ending in a flat faced corolla. The centimeter-wide corolla has five rounded to diamond-shaped lobes which are bright lavender to blue. The throat of the flower may be the same color or yellowish to reddish. The light-colored stamens protrude from the corolla.

Eriastrum sapphirinum is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name sapphire woollystar. This wildflower is endemic to California where it is found in many habitats throughout the state. It is an annual reaching anywhere from 5 to 40 centimeters in height, forming clumps or singular spindly stems. The stem is erect and may be reddish to green, and has the occasional threadlike leaf with sparse hairs to a coat of dense wool. The flower clusters at the tips of the stems are packed with pointed, leaflike green to red leafs and funnel-shaped flowers. The corolla of the flower has five lobes each one half to one centimeter long and pale to bright blue. The throat of the flower is the same color or yellowish to white. At the mouth of the tube there may be dots of yellow and white. The light colored stamens protrude.

Eriastrum wilcoxii is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name Wilcox's woollystar. It is native to the western United States, where it grows in various types of desert and plateau habitat. It is an annual herb producing a thin, branching, usually woolly stem up to about 30 centimeters tall. The leaves are narrow and thready, up to 3 centimeters long, and sometimes divided into two or more lobes. The inflorescence is a woolly cluster of narrow, leaflike bracts laced with webby fibers. The small flowers have yellow throats and blue corollas with lobes up to half a centimeter long.

Ericameria arborescens is a species of flowering shrub in the daisy family known by the common name goldenfleece. This plant is native to California and Oregon where it is a resident of chaparral communities and open woodlands. This is a resinous, hairy shrub exceeding two meters in maximum height. It has many erect branches covered in very thin, needlelike to lance-shaped leaves between 3 and 6 centimeters long. Atop each stem is an flower cluster of many bright golden flowers, each a rounded bunch of disc florets about half a centimeter wide. This plant is adapted to ecosystems prone to wildfire.