From a New Year's morning run on the Garapito Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains, near Los Angeles.

Some related posts: Deadly Nightshade, Douglas' Nightshade

This bumblebee is doing its best to hold on and squeeze far enough into a Turricula blossom to slurp some nectar.

Other than rabbitbrush, there are not many food choices for bees in the Southern California mountains in the Fall, so they have to take advantage of what can be found.

Not much Turricula (Poodle-dog bush) is blooming either, but it has been such a prolific fire-follower that here and there a plant is in flower.

From Sunday's Ten Miles - Four Peaks run in the San Gabriel Mountains.

The two most showy wildflowers we saw on our run in the Marin Headlands last weekend were montbretia (above) and belladonna lily. Both are escapees from cultivation that originated from the Cape of South Africa.

Montbretia (Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora) is a garden hybrid developed in France in 1879 from two South African species. In California it is most commonly found along the coast from Santa Cruz County, northward. Belladonna lily (Amaryllis belladonna) is widely cultivated and has been reported in numerous California counties, primarily along the coast.

Even though snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea) is an unusual plant that does not contain chlorophyll and depends on a tree and a fungus for its nourishment, it still has flowers, and the flowers still have nectar.

This was the first time I'd seen any kind of insect feeding on its flowers.

From Sunday's out & back run from Islip Saddle to Mt. Baden-Powell.

Some related posts: Snow Plant, Western Tiger Swallowtail

Was looking to get in a short run this morning and decided to check if any Humboldt lilies were blooming in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon.

The last time I'd seen Humboldt lilies bloom here was June 2006, following an unusually wet Spring and a two year period in which Downtown Los Angeles recorded 50+ inches of rain. 

This Spring some months were wet and some months were dry, but December 2010 was the wettest in Los Angeles in 121 years. Add to the mix that the last two water years Los Angeles recorded above average rainfall, and it seemed there was a pretty good chance the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon lilies would be in bloom.

I'd seen lily stalks in other areas in recent weeks, and some blooming Humboldt lilies in the San Gabriel Mountains, but when I checked Upper Las Virgenes Canyon in early May, there had been none. But today there was -- right in the middle of thorny patch of blackberry bushes.

Also blooming in the canyon were California wild rose and the non-native plant moth mullein -- so named because of the similarity of the flower's anthers to the fuzzy appearing antennae of a moth.

Related post: Humboldt Lily

Relatively uncommon in the areas in which I run, the vivid rose-purple of Canchalagua (Centaurium venustum) is always a treat to see. Not only are its colors eye-catching, it's petals are unusually uniform and precisely formed, which makes the flowers stand out even more.  A closer look reveals bizarrely shaped anthers, which are fluted and spiraled.

The plant is reported to have been used medicinally, but according to Chumash Ethnobotany by Jan Timbrook & Chris Chapman, based on the field notes of John P. Harrington, it wasn't clear whether it was "a remedy of the old-time Indians, or of the whites."

Here's an advertisement from an 1852 volume of the American Whig Review, in which Canchalagua was specified as an ingredient of the patent medicine "Dr Rogers' Compound Syrup of Liverwort, Tar and Canchalagua." (The document was digitized by Google as part of the Making of America Project.)

Another startling chaparral color is the red of scarlet larkspur (Delphinium cardinale).

From this afternoon's (warm) run up the Chumash Trail to Rocky Peak Road in Rocky Peak Park.

The electric yellow of a clubhair mariposa (Calochortus clavatus) is one of the most vibrant colors of the chaparral. These blossoms are along the Phantom Trail in Malibu Creek State Park.

From Sunday's run of the Phantom Loop.

Some related posts: Mariposa Yellow, Mariposa, Plummer's Mariposa Lily

Various species of Phacelia are fire-followers and have bloomed in profusion in areas burned by the Station Fire. These are Davidson's Phacelia (Phacelia davidsonii) along the Three Points - Mt. Waterman Trail about a mile from Three Points.

Like Turricula, many species of Phacelia can cause a contact dermatitis similar to poison oak. Generally, any Phacelia should be considered suspect, and especially those that are fuzzy and sticky.

One Phacelia that has been shown to elicit a reaction is California bluebell (Phacelia minor) -- a relatively common wildflower in the middle to lower elevation areas burned by the Station Fire. In one study, it was found that the amount of two active compounds in Phacelia minor required to produce a qualified reaction was 6.3 µg and 3.8 µg; compared to 170 µg for Turricula and 1.6 µg for a component of urushiol from poison ivy.

Related post: After the Station Fire: Contact Dermatitis from Turricula parryi - Poodle-dog Bush