Coastal Botanical

family, ocean, wildflowers, , , , , , , , ,

Son “Pathfinder” came from Oregon to see his sister Kate’s family, and we six packed into his truck to drive out to the coast for the day, to hike along a ridge trail and also picnic on the beach. As usual, I lagged behind half the time, making discoveries every few feet of interesting grasses and flowers, and trying to learn or remember their names.

California Aster a.k.a. Pacific Coast Aster

The wind was blowing up on the bluffs, but on the beach the air was still, and Kate was able to slice cheese in her lap and pass it around to the rest of us with nary a grain of sand involved.

Black Mustard

I’m showing several instances of Coastal Buckwheat, one of my favorite plants, with blooms more or less faded from the original pastel pink. It just now occurs to me that one reason I love it may be that those gray and pink colors were also featured in my grandma’s bathroom when I was a child. The bees appreciate it for their own reasons.

Below, a mixture of catsear and lotus combined to create a carpet of yellow:

Another contributor to the sunny tone was the Seaside Woolly Sunflower:

Seaside Woolly Sunflower

The grasses were swaying back and forth in the wind — European Marram Grass, my Seek app told me — and my favorite Rattlesnake Grass was abundant.

European Marram Grass
Rattlesnake Grass

European Searocket

To eat our snacky lunch, we gathered around a minimalist and rickety teepee someone else had built, because there was a nice log beside it that seated five nicely. In the foreground here is Tetragonia tetragonioides, which I’ve always known as New Zealand Spinach, but the actual New Zealanders usually call it  warrigal. There’s a better-watered specimen of this plant that keeps volunteering in my backyard garden:

A pink sport from the usual white native yarrow.

Pathfinder patiently discussed with me ways to tell two members of the Carrot Family apart, plants that grow in a similar habitat and that I’ve repeatedly mixed up over the decades. He noticed the different leaf shape and type: Cow Parsnip has large, deeply toothed leaves:

Cow Parsnip

…while Angelica — in this case Henderson’s Angelica — has pinnately compound leaves.

Henderson’s Angelica

Their flowers aren’t exactly the same, either, and there are other differences. Once I saw the two plants growing right next to each other; that helped, for a time. Unfortunately the Seek app that I use a lot does not have a search feature; but if it did, I would probably be even more distracted from enjoying the plants themselves. So I guess it’s just as well.

Coastal Buckwheat with yarrow and more.

It was a very satisfying outing, even if several of us did get sunburned. That was opportunity to take advantage of a backyard botanical: my Aloe Vera plant, the leaves of which we peeled on one side, revealing the gelatinous interior, which we applied to red arms and neck. Oh, so soothing.

Our whole crew slept well that night!

chickory

20 thoughts on “Coastal Botanical”

    1. Yes, our California native Achillea millefolium sometimes comes out with the pink variation of bloom color, why I don’t know; I assume they would have the same qualities as the standard white. I’ve never used yarrow for tea myself; is it pleasant to the taste?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I quite enjoy yarrow tea. It has a slightly bitter, herbal taste, but I find it pleasant. Also, skin usually get better when I drink it 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Thank you for the great botany lesson! Don’t think I knew any of those plants except the coast buckwheat and the New Zealand spinach! The rattlesnake grass is very different, does it rattle too? I can see why it’s your favorite.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. I can almost feel that sun on my cheeks as I peruse your pictures and names though I can’t keep the names in my head anymore than you can. The seaside woolly sunflower makes me think of golden yarrow that I saw at the Claremont arboretum. Love that saturated color.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. Common names can be tricky, for sure. You mentioned ‘lotus’ in one photo, but I didn’t see anything that resembled a lotus flower, and no self-respecting lotus would set up shop in that landscape! The woolly sunflower was a suprise, as well. It’s clearly a member of the sunflower family, but it’s suggestive of other ground-hugging, moisture-conserving plants here that are found along our mud flats or in desert-like areas.

    I smiled at the coastal buckwheat; it’s clearly a relative of the buckwheat I find on our prairies. We have yarrows and searockets as well; it’s quite fun to see these different species in your area. What we don’t have are those cliffs and rocks — that’s something I really like!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Actually it’s the botanical name that is lotus – Lotus corniculatus. Bird’s-foot Trefoil is one of its common names. But I only ever learned the name lotus on a blog a long time ago, so I don’t know what its common name might be locally.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Ah, ha! If you’d used the full scientific name, or bird’s-foot trefoil, I would have known the flower. It’s interesting that there are only a few species in that genus, and L. corniculatus is the most widespread. All of them are non-native, and none of them grows in Texas, so I only know this one from bloggers in the northeast — until now!

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.