Cucumber Beetles (Acalymma trivittata) munching on the pistillate blossom of the wild gourd Calabazilla (Cucurbita foetidissima). The photograph is from Sunday's Ahmanson-Cheeseboro run.

If somehow you were to miss the bright yellow of the Lemon Lily amid the greens of a mountain meadow, its arresting fragrance would certainly draw your attention.

In this case, Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja affinis), Scarlet LarkSpur (Delphinium cardinale), and Indian Pink (Silene californica) in the Cheeseboro Canyon area of Southern California.

When the hills and valleys of Southern California turn golden brown, and temperatures reach into the nineties or beyond, mixed in among the desiccated grasses, enjoying the heat and the sun, may be the delicate pink to purple of a Plummer's Mariposa Lily (Calochortus plummerae).

The Plummer's Mariposa is listed by the California Native Plant Society as being rare, threatened, or endangered.

I had been running for nearly an hour, and the heat was oppressive. Following an unusually cool Spring, it had been tough to adjust to afternoon temperatures of nearly 100 degrees. The refreshing green hills of Spring had turned a golden brown, and the muddy ruts of a Ranger's truck had been baked to the hardness of concrete. In Las Virgenes Canyon there had still been a little water in the creek, and I poured the cooling liquid over my head and down my back.

Snow Plant (Sarcodes sanguinea) is so different from the norm that each encounter is memorable. In a world where most plants are green, its startling red color and unusual structure always make an impact.

The fuzzy critter with the beady eyes is a Bee Fly. Its darting, hummingbird-like movements caught my eye while running on the Tumamait Trail near Mt. Abel (Cerro Noroeste) on Sunday. It was feeding on a Western Wallflower (Erysimum capitatum). Fully consumed by the morning's experiences, I had been marveling at the vibrant yellow of Wallflowers along the trail.

This showy, if somewhat bizarre looking, flower (Clarkia unguiculata) blooms late in the Spring, and is also known by the common name Farewell to Spring.

Caterpillar Phacelia (Phacelia cicutaria) was prevalent at Sage Ranch prior to the 2005 Topanga Fire. It may be somewhat more widespread than I've generally seen, but this could be due in part to last year's record rainfall and this season's late rainfall. It doesn't appear to be a fire follower in the same sense as Large Flowered Phacelia, Star Lily or Dicentra, whose populations have increased dramatically this year.

A close view of Owl's Clover reveals the probable reason for the name -- fat little purplish-pink owls, crowned with a tinge of yellow, perched amid the purplish-pink of this unusual blossom.

Like the Star Lily, Large Flowered Phacelia (Phacelia grandiflora) appears to be a "fire follower," blooming in the Simi Hills in the aftermath of the Topanga Fire.

Tarantula Hawks are huge wasps that prey on tarantulas and trap door spiders. This one (a male) was on a narrow-leaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis Dcne.) at the start of the Chumash Trail in Simi Valley. Several good runs start at this trailhead, and many variations are possible. It's 2.6 miles up the trail to Rocky Peak Rd, and from there you can do out and backs north or south along the fire road, or loops via Las Llajas canyon, the Hummingbird Trail, or the Lower Stagecoach Trail. (Photo from a run on September 14, 2005.)