Clarkia rubicunda is a flowering plant endemic to California. It is found mostly in the central part of the state. The plant is known by the common names ruby chalice clarkia and farewell to spring. It is similar in appearance to another flower of genus Clarkia also called farewell to spring. It bears attractive poppy-like blooms with wide, cup-shaped corollas of four pink or purplish petals. The corolla of the flower sometimes has a bright red center. As the common name suggests, it blooms in June and July.

Clarkia speciosa is a species of flowering plant in the Onagraceae (Evening Primrose) family known by the common name Red Spotted Clarkia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the Central Coast and mountains and from the Sierra Nevada foothills. The plant is variable across its intergrading subspecies, taking a decumbent to erect form with a stem up to about half a meter long. The open or dense flower cluster has opening flowers and several closed buds. As the bud opens the sepals all separate from each other. The fan-shaped petals are up to 2.5 centimeters long and may be lavender to pink to deep red, sometimes fading to white or yellowish at the base. There is sometimes, but not always, a large bright red spot near the middle of the petal. There are four subspecies of this plant. One, ssp. immaculata (also sometimes called var. immaculata), is known as the Pismo clarkia and is federally listed as an endangered species. It is known from about 20 occurrences on the coastline of San Luis Obispo County near Pismo Beach. This subspecies takes a decumbent form and the petals lack the red spot.

Pismo Clarkia (Clarkia speciosa ssp. immaculata) is a rare native annual herb that grows in Central California, primarily in the Central Coast region. It tends to grow in sandy hills, at elevations from 0-2300 feet.

Elegant clarkia (Clarkia unguiculata) is an annual wildflower in the Evening-Primrose family (Onagraceae). It is endemic (limited) to California, but is often sold in wildflower seed mixes throughout the country. Elegant clarkia has tall, thin stems, narrow leaves, and four spade-shaped petals in various shades of pink. Butterflies, moths, and bees are attracted to its flowers. It blooms in summer, when many wildflowers are finished for the year.

Another popular name is woodland clarkia, and its natural habitat is indeed open woodlands. It usually is found growing in oak woodlands or mixed evergreen forest, with native grasses and other wildflowers that appreciate part shade. Sow seeds in fall and let the rain do the rest. Allow to self-sow in fall before cutting back dead stocks. Grow this clarkia in the middle or back of a flower bed where its tall, whimsical flowers make a charming backdrop. Or create a mini-meadow under an oak tree with native bunchgrasses, wild onion, white globe lily, and purple chinese houses.

Clarkia williamsonii is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common name Fort Miller clarkia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the forests and woodlands of the northern and central Sierra Nevada foothills. This is an erect annual herb with linear to lance-shaped leaves each a few centimeters long. The flower cluster produces opening flowers and buds which are closed except for the tips, where the sepals do not fuse. The sepals all separate or remain fused in pairs as the flower blooms. Each fan-shaped petal is up to 3 centimeters long and is usually lavender with a white area and a purple spot in the middle. The petals are occasionally solid deep red.

Chaparral clematis (Clematis lasiantha) is a vine with profuse small white blooms followed by fluffy attractive seed heads.  Chaparral clematis is in the buttercup family that is native to the north-central Pacific coast and up to the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It grows on hillsides, in chaparral, and in open woodland.

The flowers attract butterflies.

Gardeners value chaparral clematis for its long flowering season, nearly six months in spring and summer. The rich texture of its leaves is another benefit.  It is easy to grow, and grows fast up to 15 feet. It will adorn a fence, an arbor or a pergola or wind through shrubs and trees.

Virgin's bower (Clematis ligusticifolia) is a climbing, spreading vine with showy flowers. It is also known as Old-man's Beard and Yerba de Chiva, and Virgin's bower (though this may also refer to C. lasiantha). It is native to North America and widespread across the western United States in streamside thickets, wooded hillsides, and coniferous forests up to 4,000 feet. It was called "pepper vine" by early travelers and pioneers of the American Old West. 

Bladderpod (Cleomella arborea) is a very fast-growing densely-branching shrub with abundant bright-yellow flower clusters at the ends of its stem branches. It can grow to 1 ½ - to 6 ½ -feet tall and 6 feet wide. The fruit is a large, papery, lantern-like capsule that is smooth and green when new, aging to light brown. This is the “bladderpod” for which the plant is named. A typical flower cluster bears a number of unopened flower buds at its tip, open flowers, and  maturing fruits. The leaves are light green.  The flowers stay on the plant most of the year and are highly fragrant, though opinion is divided on whether the scent is pleasant or unpleasant.

Bladderpod is one of the easiest California natives to grow. This tough plant does well even on south-facing slopes, alkaline soils, and salty conditions. It tolerates weekly summer water but can also get by with only natural rainfall. It is easy to grow from seeds and readily self seeds; once you have a few mature plants in your garden, expect new seedlings to pop up each winter.

It is deer resistant and attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. It particularly attracts harlequin beetles which eat the leaves. If they become a problem, they can be removed by hand or sprayed off with a garden hose. It is usually not possible to eliminate them entirely.

Clinopodium chandleri is a rare native perennial herb in the Lamiaceae (Mint) family that grows in Southern California and northern Baja, primarily in the Peninsular Range region. It tends to grow in rocky slopes, at elevations of 1,700-2,300 feet. It was formerly classified in the genus Satureja, and some sources still refer to it by that name. It is a low-growing, fragrant, spreading herb that prefers regular water and some shade. It is well suited for containers. Although it is native to mountain areas, it can be grown near the coast.

Spanish for 'good herb', Yerba Buena (Clinopodium douglasii) is a creeping evergreen perennial commonly used as a groundcover, rock garden, and container plant. A member of the Mint family, Yerba Buena's small, delicate leaves and tiny white flowers have a pleasant fragrance. The leaves are used in tea, traditional medicine, cooking, and essential oils.

This plant roots itself as it spreads, forming low mats that can be encouraged by pinching the stems. Yerba Buena grows best when planted in full or part shade. It is a low- to moderate- moisture plant that adapts to different soil types, as long as drainage is good. Plant under trees or in shady spots mixed in with taller shade-loving plants.

Monkey Flower Savory is a rare native perennial herb in the Lamiaceae (Mint) family that grows in the Coast Ranges from Monterey southward to the Transverse Range. The majority of its population lies within the Los Padres National Forest. It is uncommon throughout its range and for this reason it is included on CNPS list 4.2. It tends to grow in moist places, at elevations from 400 to over 5,000 feet. Like others in this genus, it is low-growing and delicate in appearance, but older specimens in the wild can attain nearly 2 meters. It is herbaceous with slender stems but occasionally woody at the base. The flowers are small, hairy, with a rounded-toothed margin. The tubular flowers are red-orange and grow to 1-2 inches. Hummingbirds love them! Overall, it resembles an Epilobium but requires more moisture. It spreads by rhizomes wherever there is adequate moisture.

Collomia grandiflora is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names grand collomia and large-flowered mountain trumpet. This annual herb is native to western North America. It is also cultivated as an ornamental. The plant produces an erect, hairy or fuzzy stem which may be red to green in color. Arranged at wide intervals along the stem are long, lance-shaped leaves, the lowermost sometimes toothed along the edges. Atop the stem is an flower cluster of several flowers in white to yellow or orange. Each tubular, flat-faced flower is 2 or 3 centimeters wide with 5 curving, light-colored petals and stamens tipped with anthers which bear blue pollen. The fruit is a capsule containing sticky seeds.

Collomia linearis is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names tiny trumpet and slenderleaf collomia. This tiny wildflower is native to North America where it is fairly widespread across the north and west. It is an annual herb with a velvety erect stem bearing long, narrow green leaves. Atop the stem is a cluster of up to 20 white or light pink flowers, each about a centimeter across. Each has five small rounded petals and stamens tipped with anthers bearing white pollen.

Comarostaphylis diversifolia is a rare shrub in the heath family known by the common name Summer Holly. It is slow growing in an upright form up to a height of 20 feet or more, with striking white flowers in the spring, an incredible summer display of holly-like red berries , and attractive gray bark. It is native to southern California and northern Baja California, where it grows in coastal chaparral habitat, usually on well drained slopes. Its bark is gray and shreddy and the tough, evergreen leaves are oval in shape and sometimes toothed. The flower cluster is a raceme of urn-shaped flowers very similar to those of the related shrubs, the manzanitas. The fruit is a bright red, juicy drupe with a bumpy skin. There are two subspecies. C. d. ssp. diversifolia - native to the coastal hills of southern California and Baja California, C. d. ssp. planifolia - native to the Channel Islands of California and the Transverse Ranges north of Los Angeles. Subspecies diversifolia tends to grow with Mission Manzanita, Scrub Oak and Toyon.

In nature, Summer Holly is most often found on shady dry slopes, near occasional creeks or runoffs. It grows slowly until it breaks through the lower canopy, and gets its leaves in the sun. In landscapes it does best in dry part shade, near irrigated spots or other slightly damp areas. It prefers heavier, richer soils that retain the little moisture it gets a little longer. Best to plant Summer Holly in the fall, so it can get established by summer. This plant is among the least tolerant to direct water in the summer. After the first year, direct water in the summer will usually kill it.

Constancea is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the aster family containing the single species Constancea nevinii (formerly Eriophyllum nevinii), which is known by the common name Nevin's woolly sunflower. It is endemic to three of the Channel Islands of California, where it grows in coastal scrub habitat. This is a small shrub or subshrub generally growing up to one or 1.5 meters tall, and taller when in erect form, with a branching, woolly stem. The whitish, woolly oval leaves may be up to 20 centimeters long and are divided into many narrow lobes with edges curled under. The flower cluster is a cluster of 10 to 50 or more small flower heads, each on a short peduncle. The flower head has a center of hairy, hairy, star-shaped yellow disc florets and a fringe of four to nine yellow ray florets each about 2 millimeters long. The fruit is an achene a few millimeters long with a small pappus at the tip.

Like many Channel Islands endemics, this plant was threatened with extinction by the herbivory of the feral goats living on the islands; the goats have since been removed and the plant is recovering. The yellow flowers contrast nicely with the silvery-gray foliage. This plant would be good for coastal gardens in southern California where temperatures are moderate and it would receive some fog drip.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and part shade in inland sites. Introduced by C. Bornstein, santa Barbara Botanical Garden.

Cordylanthus ramosus is a species of flowering plant in the broomrape family known by the common name bushy bird's beak. It is native to the western United States where it grows in mountains and plateau, including the sagebrush of the Great Basin. It is an annual herb producing an erect, branching gray-green form, often tinted with red, becoming bushy at its most robust and appearing not unlike a sagebrush. The small leaves are narrow and linear or divided into several narrow, thready lobes. The inflorescence is a small spike of a few flowers surrounded by bracts which are linear or divided into narrow, thready lobes like the leaves. The bracts are faintly woolly and occasionally bristly in texture. The flower is one to two centimeters long with a hairy yellow pouch enclosed in darker, tougher reddish sepals. This plant had a number of historical medicinal uses for the Navajo people, who used it as an emetic.

Corethrogyne filaginifolia (syn. Lessingia filaginifolia) is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common names Common Sandaster and California Aster. The taxonomy of this plant and certain relatives is currently changing; recently the Corethrogynes have been grouped together under the name Lessingia filaginifolia, and then moved back to genus Corethrogyne as a single species with many synonyms.

It is native to western North America from the southwestern corner of Oregon to Baja California, where it is a common member of many plant communities, including chaparral and woodlands, forests, scrub, grasslands, and the serpentine soils flora.

This is a robust perennial herb or subshrub producing a simple to multibranched stem approaching a meter in maximum length or height. The densely woolly leaves are several centimeters long and toothed or lobed low on the stem and smaller farther up the stem.

The flower cluster is a single flower head or array of several heads at the tips of stem branches. The head is lined with narrow, pointed, purple-tipped phyllaries which curl back as the head matures. Inside are many purple, lavender, pink, or white ray florets and a center packed with up to 120 tubular yellow disc florets. The fruit is an achene with a pappus of reddish bristles on top.

California Aster appears to do best in rocky slopes and sloping rock gardens. They often don't do as well on flat areas. On dry slopes surrounded by rocks, the plant will usually stay beautiful year round. If happy, it will often reseed and pop up in nearby rocky places.

This plant is very drought tolerant if situated properly. It is not tolerant of summer water, which will often kill it after its first year. California Aster is available in nurseries primarily in low-growing, spreading varieties. 'Silver Carpet' is one of the most beautiful and popular.

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

Horticultural selection from Corethrogyne filaginifolia. Selected for the garden. Introduced by santa Barbara Botanic Garden. One of the best native California groundcoves. Very low growing and compact, with a nice mounding form, beautiful silver folliage and pink flowers that last from summer through fall. Blooms in summer and fall.When planted over a wall or rocks it spills over nicely. It is a perfect plant for borders, planters, rock gardens and containers. Keep lightly pruned for best appearance. Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and part shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden. Introduced by santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and part shade in inland sites.

Cornus canadensis (Canadian Dwarf Cornel, Canadian Bunchberry, Crackerberry) is a herbaceous member of the Cornaceae (Dogwood) family. It is widespread outside of California, but within the state it is a rare species occurring only near the coast in Mendocino County. It grows about 20-30 centimeters tall and bears tiny flowers a few millimeters across that form a cluster at the center of four white, petal-like leaves 3-4 centimeter diameter. Each flower has highly elastic petals that flip backward, releasing springy filaments that are cocked underneath the petals. The filaments snap upward flinging pollen out of containers hinged to the filaments. This motion takes place in less than half a millisecond and the pollen experiences 800 times the force that the space shuttle does during liftoff. The Bunchberry has one of the fastest plant actions found so far requiring a camera capable of shooting 10,000 frames per second to catch the action (Edwards et al. 2005).

The Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea, syn. C. stolonifera, Swida sericea) is a species of dogwood native throughout northern and western North America from Alaska east to Newfoundland, south to Durango and Nuevo Len in the west, and Illinois and Virginia in the east. Other names include Redtwig Dogwood, Red-rood, American Dogwood, and (subsp. occidentalis) Western Dogwood. In the wild, it commonly grows in areas of damp soil, such as wetlands. It is a medium to tall deciduous shrub, growing 1.5-4 meter tall and 3-5 meter wide, spreading readily by underground stolons to form dense thickets. The branches and twigs are dark red, although wild plants may lack this coloration in shaded areas. The leaves are opposite, 5-12 centimeter long and 2.5-6 centimeter broad, with an ovate to oblong shape and an entire margin; they are dark green above and waxy pale below; fall color is commonly bright red to purple. The flowers are small (5-10 millimeter diameter), dull white in color, in clusters 3-6 centimeter diameter. The fruit is a globose white berry 5-9 millimeter diameter.

Western Dogwood (Cornus sericea ssp. occidentalis) is a native shrub that grows in northern, southern and central California. It is moderately fast growing and long-lived. It grows in a semi-upright form to a height of 16 feet, with active growth during the spring and summer. Flowers are white and striking, and bloom in the summer. Leaves are medium green and deciduous. It tends to grow in moist places, at elevations from 0-8000 feet.

Crepis acuminata is a North American species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name tapertip hawksbeard. It is native to the western United States where it grows in many types of open habitat. Crepis acuminata is a perennial herb producing a woolly, branching stem up to about 70 centimeters (28 inches) tall from a taproot. The gray-green leaves are long and cut into many triangular, pointed lobes. The longest, near the base of the plant, may reach 40 centimeters (16 inches) in length. The inflorescence is an open array of flower heads at the top of the stem branches. Each of the many flower heads is enveloped in smooth or hairy phyllaries. The flower head opens into a face of up to 10 yellow ray florets. There are no disc florets. The fruit is a narrow achene 7 or 8 millimeters long tipped with a pappus of white hairlike bristles.

Croton californicus is a species of croton known by the common name California croton. This plant is a perennial or small shrub not exceeding a meter in height. The plant produces long oval-shaped leaves a few centimeters long and covered in a light-colored coat of hairs. This species is dioecious, with individual plants bearing either male (staminate) or female (pistillate) flowers, both only a few millimeters across. The staminate flowers are tiny cups filled with thready yellowish stamens and the pistillate flowers are the rounded, lobed immature fruits surrounded by tiny pointed sepals. This plant is native to California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Baja California, where it grows in the deserts and along the coastline.

Cryptantha muricata is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name pointed cryptantha. It is native to California and adjacent parts of Arizona, Baja California, and Nevada, where it is known from many habitat types. It is an annual herb producing a branching 10 centimeters to one meter in height which is coated densely in rough and soft hairs. The leaves are linear in shape and no more than 4 centimeters long. They have hairs and bristles, some of which have bulbous bases. The flower cluster is a length of very hairy developing fruits tipped with a cluster of small five-lobed white flowers.

Cucurbita foetidissima (buffalo gourd, calabazilla, chilicote, coyote gourd, fetid gourd, Missouri gourd, stinking gourd, wild gourd, wild pumpkin) is a xerophytic tuberous plant found in the southwestern USA and northwestern Mexico. A member of the cucumber family, the fruit is consumed by humans and non-human animals both. The fruit can be eaten cooked like a squash when very young. As the fruit becomes fully mature, it is too bitter for humans to eat. At this stage, the fruit is used by natives for decorative purposes or in making musical instruments, particularly rattles. The seeds are the source of buffalo gourd oil. It grows fast (including a massive underground tuber) with little water, and some have proposed growing it for fuel or biofuel ethanol

Cane Cholla is one of the most common native species of cholla cactus in California. There are two recognized Varieties: Var. parkeri is found in desert transition chaparral adjacent to the low desert of San Diego County and northern Baja, northward to Santa Barbara County where it grows at elevations from 0-5,200 feet. Chollas tend to hybridize freely, and determinations of species and varieties can be difficult. Var. parkeri is generally distinguished by its erect habit and long, straight segments. The segments are usually 3-5 times longer than wide. The flowers are generally yellow, sometimes with streaks of green or orange. The fruit is dry and inedible.

Coastal Cholla is a native shrub in the cactus family that grows in Southern California, primarily in the South Coast and Channel Islands regions. It tends to grow in ocean bluffs, at elevations from 0-1000 feet. Has magenta flowers that bloom in the spring.

Cylindropuntia ramosissima is a species of cactus known by the common names diamond cholla and branched pencil cholla. Cylindropuntia ramosissima is native to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of the Southwestern United States, California, and Northwestern Mexico, and to Baja California and its Islas San Benito. Cylindropuntia ramosissima is native to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of the Southwestern United States, California, and Northwestern Mexico, and to Baja California and its Islas San Benito. Cylindropuntia ramosissima is a decumbent or erect and treelike cactus which can approach 2 meters-6 feet in maximum height. It has many narrow branches made up of cylindrical segments, green in color drying gray, the surface divided into squarish, flat tubercles with few or no spines, or often with a single long, straight spine. The flower is small and orange, pink or brownish in color. The fruit is a small, dry, spiny body up to 2 centimeters long.

Cyperus bipartitus, commonly known as slender flatsedge, river cyperus, or the shining flatsedge, is a common species of sedge. The name "slender flatsedge" also applies to Cyperus gracilis. C. bipartitus is native to the Americas, where it is found widely distributed from north to south in wet environments, such as lakes, sandbars, and ditches from elevations of 30 metres (98 ft) to 1,140 metres (3,740 ft). This is a small annual plant with fibrous roots and thin stems rarely exceeding about 25 centimetres (9. 8 in) in height. There may be a one to three thin, short leaves around the base of the plant. The inflorescence is one to two centimeters long and holds several flat spikelets. These may be surrounded by long, leaflike bracts. Each spikelet contains flowers covered by dark reddish brown bracts. The achene fruit is a black disc about a millimeter wide.

Cyperus eragrostis is a species in the Cyperaceae (Sedge) family known by several common names, including tall flatsedge, Nutsedge and Tall Cyperus. It is almost always found in wetland-riparian areas where it can spread rapidly. It is a green sedge with tall, erect stems, and long, thin, pointed leaves. Its flowers are found within tough, rounded, greenish-yellow or beige spikelets. This species is originally native to the western United States but it has become naturalized across North America, Europe, and parts of South America and Australia. It can become a weed where it is introduced; it has been known to infest rice fields.

Cyperus erythrorhizos is a species of sedge known by the common name redroot flatsedge. It is found throughout North America from central Canada to central Mexico. It is a plant of wet areas such as rivers and ditches, generally at low elevations. It gets its common and scientific names from the red color of its roots. This sedge grows to a maximum of a meter in height, but is usually quite a bit shorter. It may have a number of long, wispy leaves around the base of the plant. The flower cluster may contain one to several spikes, each spike containing 20 to over 100 spikelets. Each spikelet is light greenish brown to reddish brown and is made up of up to 30 leafed flowers. The fruit is a glossy achene about a millimeter long.

Cyperus esculentus is part of the sedge family found widespread across much of the world, in California it can often be found in disturbed habitats. In some parts of the world it is cultivated for its edible tubers.

It is very difficult to control once established, since it is resistant to most chemical treatments and mechanical or manual methods of control do not typically eliminate all the abundant tubers from which it regenerates.

Cyperus odoratus is a species of sedge known by the common names fragrant flatsedge and rusty flatsedge. This plant can be found in much of the tropical and warm temperate world, including South, Central, and North America, Southeast Asia, some Pacific Islands, Australia, New Guinea, Madagascar, and central Africa. It is a plant of wet, muddy areas, including disturbed and altered sites. This species is quite variable and may in fact be more than one species included under one name. In general this is an annual plant approaching half a meter in height on average but known to grow much taller. It usually has some long, thin leaves around the base. The inflorescence is made up of one to several cylindrical spikes attached at a common point. Each of the spikes bears a large number of flat, oval-shaped spikelets. Each spikelet is usually light brown to reddish-brown and has a few to over 20 flowers. Each flower is covered by a tough, flat bract with a visible midvein. The fruit is a flat achene less than two millimeters long.

Cyperus strigosus is a species of sedge known by the common names false nutsedge and straw-colored flatsedge. It is native to most of the United States and Canada, where it grows in wet areas in many habitat types, including disturbed and cultivated areas such as roadsides and crop fields. It is common and sometimes weedy. It is a perennial sedge growing up to 70 centimeters tall. The flower cluster is a cluster of many linear-shaped spikelets up to 3 centimeters long each. A few long, leaflike leafs grow at the base of the spike.

Danthonia unispicata is a species of grass known by the common name onespike oatgrass, or onespike danthonia. It is sometimes treated as a variety of Danthonia californica, to which it is similar. It is native to western North America, where it grows in several types of habitat, including grassland and open areas in mountain forests.

Darmera peltata (Indian rhubarb or, ambiguously, "umbrella plant") is the only species within the genus Darmera in the family Saxifragaceae. It is a slowly-spreading rhizomatous perennial from mountain streamsides in woodland in the western United States (southwestern Oregon to northwestern California). In late spring the flowers emerge before the leaves, with rounded cymes of numerous five-petalled white to bright pink flowers (measuring up to 1.5 centimeter across each) borne on flower stems up to 2 meter long. The leaves are peltate, rounded, deeply lobed, coarsely-toothed, conspicuously veined and dark green, also on stems up to 2 meter in height. The leaves turn red in autumn.

In gardens, Darmera peltata flourishes in pond margins and bog gardens, where it forms an imposing umbrella-like clump. It is suited to smaller gardens where there is no room for Gunnera manicata or Gunnera tinctoria, unrelated plants that are somewhat similar in appearance, but much larger. It is easy to grow in the cooler climates of its native range, but is not happy in hot southern areas.

D. peltata has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Dasiphora fruticosa (Shrubby Cinquefoil; syn. Potentilla fruticosa L., Pentaphylloides fruticosa (L.) O.Schwarz) is a shrub in the family Rosaceae, native to the cool temperate to subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, often growing at high altitudes in mountains. It is a deciduous, much branched flowering shrub growing to 0.1-1 meter tall, rarely up to 1.5 meter. The habit is variably upright to sprawling or prostrate, but stems are often ascending especially those stems with many long branches. The bark of older stems is shreddy with long thin strips. The plants are densely leafy, the leaves are divided into five or seven (occasionally three or nine) pinnate leaflets. The leaflets are linear-oblong, 3-20 millimeter long, with entire margins and more or less acute ends. The foliage (both leaves and young stems) is hairy, variably covered in fine silky, silvery hairs about 1 millimeter long. The flowers are produced terminally on the stems and are 2-3 (-4) centimeter across, buttercup-shaped, with five petals and 15-25 stamens; the petals are pale to bright yellow (orange to reddish in some western Chinese populations). The fruit is a cluster of achenes covered with long hairs. The species is variably dioecious or bisexual; flowering is typically from early to late summer. It is normally found growing in moisture retentive soils in swamps and moist rocky areas.

Datura discolor, also called the desert thorn-apple, is an herbaceous annual plant native to the Sonoran Desert of western North America, where it grows in sandy soils and washes. All parts of the plant contain a mix of alkaloids that are potentially lethal when enough is ingested. Deaths from careless recreational use of Daturas and related plants are frequently reported. The species was first described in 1833. The term discolor, meaning "various colors," refers to its upward-growing trumpet-shaped flowers, which are white in the bell, and pale to dark violet from the narrow part of the bell to the base. The plant itself is an upright or low-lying shrub that can grow to 4 1/2 feet tall. Its foliage is light green, and its stalks have conspicuous purple stripes. The ovate-shaped leaves can be whole or toothed..

Datura wrightii, or "Sacred Datura", is the name of a flowering and poisonous ornamental plant of the Nightshade Family (Solanaceaes), endemic to southwestern North America. It is ubiquitous throughout the South Western United States specifically but is observably most abundant within Southern California. It is sometimes used as an (often powerfully) intoxicating hallucinogen. Datura wrightii, as well as other members of the botanical Datura genus are sub-classified as a 'deliriant' hallucinogens which are virtually all anticholinergic drugs (specifically antimuscarinics). This class of hallucinogens are known for causing considerable disturbances in cognition, perception (especially visual and auditory) as well as a multitude of psychological facets relating to memory and attention.

Additionally, antimuscarinics like sacred datura also frequently lend themselves to the induction of morbid, frank and highly-realistic external visual hallucinations and illusions, along with disorientation, photophobia, confusion, moderate to severe impairments in judgment, psychological acuity and behavior, sporadic or periodic agitation, and perhaps most notably; a strong reality obfuscating delirium. Pharmacologically, the bulk of the psychoactive and perceptual presentations in datura's deliriously intoxicating effects seems to be linked particularly to the plant's antagonism (chemical inhibition) of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M1, or simply; the "M1 receptor" within the central nervous system (mostly the brain) where the function of the highly pertinent brain chemical; acetylcholine is blocked and/or inhibited from exerting its normal, natural function on the receptor.

The plant is a vigorous herbaceous perennial that grows 30 centimeter to 1.5 meter tall and wide. The leaves are broad and rounded at the base, tapering to a point, often with wavy margins. The flowers are the most striking feature, being sweetly fragrant white trumpets up to 20 centimeter (8 inches) long, often tinted purple, especially at the margin or in the throat. There are five narrow points spaced symmetrically around the rim. It can bloom from April to October. The fruit is spiny and conspicuous. In clear weather, flowers open at nearly full dark and wither a few hours after sunrise the following morning; in cloudy weather or in part shade, they may open earlier and last longer. A closely related species, Datura discolor, is limited to the Colorado Desert (a subdivision of the Sonora Desert) and is very similar in appearance. Datura wrightii is also often confused for or mistakenly conflated with the Datura innoxia species, however innoxia usually occurs further north and is also more common as a gardening plant whereas wrightii seems to be exorbitantly feral.

Southern California has historically been the site of various "toloache" (datura)-based native religious complexes by local indigenous peoples such as the Chumash, the Hopi, Tongva, and the Kumeyaay, among others. Certain ethnobotanists hypothesize or maintain that some of these California datura religions are very old, even when compared to other ingenious entheogenic substance use throughout the world. Datura wrightii is considered to be sacred to numerous tribes like the ones mentioned due again, to its very powerful visionary (and despite its inherent dangers); conspicuous entheogenic or thematic subjective and perceptual effects. These mind-altering, often archetypal experiences have served as a foundation for the mythologies of folklorish figures like Chinigchinix among the Mission Indians, and the beliefs and practices of the ethnographically-labeled "Datura Cult" of the Chumash. The Chumash datura complex in particular remains to be perhaps the most well-documented anthropological assessment and investigations by westerners into sacred datura's ethnobotanical ritualistic uses by indigenous peoples in the the U.S. The plant was utilized in sacred ceremonies and rites of passage for the younger members in several of the aforementioned tribes. In regards to the documented Chumash approach to datura, when a boy was 8-years-old, his mother gave him a preparation of "momoy" (an entheogenic datura concoction) to drink. This was supposed to be a spiritual challenge to the boy to help him develop the spiritual well-being required to become a man. Not all of the boys survived due to the high-risk of potentially lethal toxidrome from the anticholinergic toxicity which often results in dysrhythmia (usually an accelerated/fast heart-rate) or depressed breathing capabilities (acute respiratory depression), as it greatly impacts both the central and peripheral nervous systems due to the widespread layout of muscarinic receptors throughout the body (lungs, brain, heart, etc.) as well as the vitalness of their proper functioning.

The physical outcomes of antimuscarinic poisoning is often worsened by fervent elevations in body temperature (hyperthermia), urinary and gastrointestinal faltering, severe dehydration and ''drying', polydipsia (insatiable desire to hydrate oneself) or adipsia (pathological apathy or disregard towards hydrating oneself), bizarre behavior (sometimes violent), aimless or fugue wandering, akathisia, functional visual blindness, along with a possibility for lasting corneal damage as well as just general semantic or mental incoherency or emotio-cognitive 'flatness'. There can also be a paradoxical waxing and waning periods or intervals between immobility and restless, suggestibility and combativeness, confusion and lucidity, etc. Besides decreased mental stability, physiological poisonings and death, even among users who survive, especially ones who continue to use the plant; sacred datura and its related species have also long been associated with dementia, twilight confusion, madness, infirmity, socioethical perturbations in personality, capriciousness, ardent devilment, cunningness, hermitry, nocturnality, moonlight, asceticism, muteness, sacrality, malevolence, femininity, prowess, sensuality, lust, 'power' and witchcraft/sorcery; particularly necromancy (contacting forces of the underworld).

The Zuni people have also been reported using the wrightii species for ceremonial, magical, and divinatory purposes. For example, root pieces would be chewed by a robbery victim to determine the identity of the thief through a proposed divinatory ritual or practice. The powdered root is also used by rain priests in a number of ways to ensure fruitful rains for the land's flora and fauna. From a spiritual and symbolic standpoint; the plant is not only associated with crepuscularity, nightfall and lunar phenomena, but also water, and thus rainfall and cloudiness or precipitation are common themes in rituals.

It is one of North America's most historically relevant entheogens, particularly when considering the additional species of datura spread throughout the continent which contain the same phytochemical (tropane) alkaloids. Although perhaps not as recognized within western culture as the infamous Datura stramonium specimen, d. wrightii has still been used for its hallucinogenic effects by modern westerners; often in reckless attempts at exploiting the plant's psychoactive (deliriant) effects recreationally. Often this is performed through oral administration (as opposed to topically or smoked), and in carelessly high doses. Datura wrightii also appears to be the same species that was taken by various members of the notorious Manson Family cult and social commune led by Charles Manson in the late 1960s. It was purportedly repeatedly used in Spring of 1969 by Tex Watson and Paul Walkins (only months prior to the Tate?LaBianca murders) due to its proximity to the Spahn Ranch hippie-settlement in Los Angeles County.

Since the advent of the internet however, with the increased access to information and educational resources on the datura's substantial dangers and the acknowledgment of different (safer) types of hallucinogens, this has inevitably led to a notable decrease recreational use and experimentation by users in western drug culture and 'psychonauts', namely due to the severe physical risk and psychological dangers of using it casually. But also, ultimately due to the near-universally reported unpleasant, flustering and dysphoric qualities of the hallucinogenic trips themselves. "Pleasant" or enjoyable recreational experiences with any species of the datura genus is fairly rare, or at least cooccurring alongside other uncomfortably unsettling peripheral effects or phases of discomfort or disturbance. Usually prolonged after-effects tend to also be another strong deterrent of casual experimentation.

The main active ingredient is Scopolamine; also known as "Devil's Breath" when present in its isolated/extracted form, especially when extracted from Brugmansia species by criminal groups in Colombia for poisonings and robbery. Scopolamine is produced by a various other nightshade plants in other regions of the world (like Brugmansia is South America) owing to the alkaloid's extensive scope of cultural lore and social influence as a result of its nearly identical effects and societal outcomes or perspectives even cross-culturally, such as the reputation antimuscarinics have traditionally held even in western cultures via scopolamine-containing plants of the Old World such as belladonna, henbane, mandrake, etc.

Deinandra corymbosa is a rare North American species of plants in the tarweed tribe within the sunflower family. Common name is coastal tarweed. Deinandra corymbosa is native to California, found in the Coast Ranges from Humboldt County to Santa Barbara County. Isolated populations have been reported farther inland in Shasta and Kern Counties, the latter in an urban area within the City of Mariposa.

Clustered Tarweed (Hemizonia fasciculata) is a ative annual herb in the Asteraceae (Sunflower) family. It was formerly classified as Hemizonia fasciculata, and some sources may still refer to it that way. It grows in southern and central California from the coast into the west slope of the mountains, from San Luis Obispo County southwards into Baja. It tends to grow in grasslands, woodlands and coastal sage scrub at elevations from sea level to about 4,000 feet. Its long blooming season makes it a dependable source of color in wildflower gardens. The composite flowers have 5 ray flowers and six disk flowers. It is sometimes included in wildflower seed mixes and is useful in restoration projects.

Delphinium cardinale is a species in the Ranunculaceae (Buttercup) family known by the common names Scarlet Larkspur. This wildflower is found primarily in the southern half of California and Baja California, where it grows on coastal and inland chaparral slopes. This tall larkspur grows on an erect stem which can exceed two meters in height. The basal leaves are divided into many narrow lobes. The top of the thin stem is occupied by many widely spaced flowers, each at the end of a pedicel several centimeters long. Each flower has scarlet red sepals which are generally curled forward into a bowl shape. The petals are also scarlet, except for the top two which are scarlet marked with bright yellow blotches. The flower may be 3 centimeters wide and the same in length, including the spur. This is a very showy plant when in bloom that works well at the back of a bed or among low chaparral shrubs. Due to its height and thin stem it may need support when in bloom. It will die back to the ground in late summer and should be kept dry, reemerging in spring if conditions have been suitable.

Parry's Larkspur (Delphinium parryi ssp. parryi) is a beautiful native perennial herb that grows in southern and central California. It most often grows at elevations from 700-5600 feet in the Peninsular, Transverse Ranges, South Coast ranges. In the drier parts of it's range, it grows most often on north facing slopes, and in partially shaded areas underneath scrub oaks or other larger shrubs.

This is a difficult plant to find in nurseries, but not too hard to grow from seeds. It's striking blue flowers bloom in late spring and early summer.

Channel Islands tree poppy (Dendromecon harfordii) is a flowering shrub or small tree and one of the most popular native plants with gardeners. It blooms with an abundance of  bright yellow flowers that contrast with sparse blue-gray oval leaves on  thin, branching stems. The flowering season is winter to spring but throughout most of the year, it can be covered in showy flowers. 

Channel Island Tree Poppy is spectacularly beautiful, easy to grow, and very fast growing. It can grow to 6 feet in two years. It likes full sun and well-draining soils, though it also does well in dry part-shade. It likes gentle slopes and flats. It is very tolerant of summer water for its first two years, but when mature, it's best to reduce it to 1x / month or eliminate supplemental water completely, especially if the plant is in partial shade.

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

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

Western bleeding heart or Pacific bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa) is a perennial in the Poppy family, commonly found in moist wooded areas from California to British Columbia. The plant features clusters of drooping, heart-shaped pink and white blooms on leafless stems, emerging from delicate, fern-like leaves.

This plant self-seeds readily and spreads quickly through its underground root system. After flowering in spring, it often goes dormant for the summer, then re-emerges and flowers again in autumn. It prefers shade in warmer areas and more sun in cooler regions of its range.

Western bleeding heart is well-suited for shady, moist garden environments, often used as a groundcover or in woodland settings. It provides visual interest with its distinctive heart-shaped blooms and delicate foliage, offering an attractive addition to a variety of garden designs. It also attracts pollinators like bees and butterflies.

Grows best in loamy, medium draining soil. Prefers part shade in coastal sites, and shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden.

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

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

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

Pacific Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa ssp. formosa) is the more common subspecies of Dicentra formosa. It is a native perennial herb that grows in central and northern California. Leaves are finely divided and fernlike, growing from the base of the plant. Flowers are pink, red, or white and heart-shaped and bloom in clusters at the top of leafless, fleshy stems above the leaves from mid-spring to autumn, with peak flowering in spring. The four petals are attached at the base. The two outer petals form a pouch at the base and curve outwards at the tips. The two inner petals are perpendicular to the outer petals and connected at the tip. There are two tiny, pointed sepals behind the petals. Seeds are borne in plump, pointed pods. The plant self-seeds readily. It frequently goes dormant for the summer after flowering, emerging and flowering again in autumn.

This species is frequently confused with and sold as Dicentra eximia, which has narrower flowers and longer, more curved outer petal tips. D. formosa is related to Lamprocapnos spectabilis, another popular plant called "bleeding heart", which was formerly placed in the same genus. There are two subspecies: Ssp. formosa has leaves glaucous beneath and never glaucous above, flowers purple pink to pink or white. It grows on the western slope of Sierra Nevada, Coast Ranges to central California, Cascades, extreme southwestern British Columbia. Ssp. oregana has leaves that are glaucous above and beneath, flowers cream or pale yellow. It grows in a small area of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon.

In warmers areas in its range, it prefers shade. In cooler areas in its range, it prefers more sun.

Dichelostemma ida-maia is a species of flowering plant known as firecracker flower. It is native to northern California and southern Oregon, where it grows in mountain forests, woodlands, and coastal meadows. It is also widely cultivated as an ornamental plant for its showy crimson and cream flowers. This is a perennial herb growing from a corm which erects a tall, naked stem topped with an umbel of six to 20 flowers. Each flower is a cylindrical red tube two to three centimeters long. The tip of each flower lobe curls back to reveal a shiny white underside. The curls rim the mouth of the tubular flower in a corona, surrounding the small anthers and a stalked ovary. The flower hangs when it is in anthesis and holds itself erect as the fruit develops. One umbel may have some hanging flowers and some erect fruiting flowers at the same time.

Dichelostemma volubile is a species of flowering plant known by the common names twining snakelily and twining brodiaea. This wildflower is endemic to the mountain foothills of California, where it grows in scrub and woodland. It grows tall, erect, naked stems topped with spherical flower clusters of up to 30 densely-packed pink flowers. Each flower is a tube up to a centimeter long with a spreading corolla of six petal-like lobes. The purplish or reddish stems may twine tightly around each other and occasionally other plants.

Western Ponysfoot (Dichondra occidentalis) is a rare native perennial herb that grows in Southern and Central California, primarily in the South Coast and Channel Islands regions. It tends to grow in slopes, at elevations from 200-1600 feet.