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Figueroa Mountain
Figueroa Mountain is a summit in Santa Barbara County in the U.S. state of California. It is in the San Rafael Mountains, part of the Transverse Ranges group of ranges. The mountain is located in Los Padres National Forest. Figueroa Mountain was named for a member of the well-known southern California family, the most eminent of whom was José Figueroa, governor of Alta California in 1833–35. In turn, the mountain itself served as the inspiration for the name for the Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company. The Figueroa Mountain Recreation Area has excellent spring wildflower displays after wet winters. Late March brings out the early blooming specimens such as purple shooting stars ( Dodecatheon clevelandii ssp. clevelandii). Later arrivals on the mountain include chocolate lilies ( Fritillaria biflora), and the scarlet Indian paintbrush (Castilleja spp). The open grassland areas support a profusion of annual species including goldfields (Lasthenia spp.), sky lupine (Lupinus nanu ...
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San Rafael Mountains
The San Rafael Mountains are a mountain range in central Santa Barbara County, California, U.S., separating the drainages of the Santa Ynez River and the Santa Maria River. They are part of the Transverse Ranges system of Southern California which in turn are part of the Pacific Coast Ranges system of western North America. Geography Most of the mountain range is within the Los Padres National Forest, and the northern slopes are included in the remote San Rafael Wilderness area. The highest peaks include Big Pine Mountain (6,820 ft, 2,079 m), San Rafael Mountain (6,593 ft, 2,010 m) and McKinley Mountain (6,220 ft, 1,896 m), none of which are easily accessible except by foot or horse. The highest peak at the southern edge of the range is Little Pine Mountain. Hurricane Deck is a spectacular block of sandstone that can be found deep in the San Rafael Wilderness. The Sisquoc River headwaters are on the north slopes of Big Pine Mountain. It is a designated Wil ...
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Lupinus Nanus
''Lupinus nanus'', the sky lupine, field lupine, dwarf lupin, ocean-blue lupine or Douglas' annual lupine, is a species of lupine native to the western United States. It is found natively in California, Nevada, and on Steens Mountain in eastern Oregon. It tends to grow on slopes and in open or disturbed areas below 1300 meters. It grows tall with blue flowers containing white or yellow spots. It is an annual plant that blooms in the months of March, April and May. It contains anagyrine and is considered toxic if directly ingested. Among the biologically active chemicals found in the plant are genistein, 2'-hydroxygenistein, luteone and wighteone. Variation ''Lupinus nanus'' has a large genetic variability. There are three accepted subspecies of ''Lupinus nanus'': *''Lupinus nanus'' subsp. ''latifolius'' (Benth. ex Torr.) D.B. Dunn – Sky lupine *''Lupinus nanus'' subsp. ''menkerae'' (C.P.Sm.) D.B. Dunn (commonly called Menker's lupine) *''Lupinus nanus'' subsp. ''nanus'' Dou ...
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Ribes
''Ribes'' is a genus of about 200 known species of flowering plants, most of them native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The various species are known as currants or gooseberries, and some are cultivated for their edible fruit or as ornamental plants. ''Ribes'' is the only genus in the family Grossulariaceae. Description ''Ribes'' species are medium shrublike plants with marked diversity in strikingly diverse flowers and fruit. They have either palmately lobed or compound leaves, and some have thorns. The sepals of the flowers are larger than the petals, and fuse into a tube or saucer shape. The ovary is inferior, maturing into a berry with many seeds. Taxonomy ''Ribes'' is the single genus in the Saxifragales family Grossulariaceae. Although once included in the broader circumscription of Saxifragaceae ''sensu lato'', it is now positioned as a sister group to Saxifragaceae ''sensu stricto''. Subdivision First treated on a worldwide basis in 1907, the in ...
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Rhamnus (genus)
''Rhamnus'' is a genus of about 110 accepted species of shrubs or small trees, commonly known as buckthorns, in the family Rhamnaceae. Its species range from tall (rarely to ) and are native mainly in east Asia and North America, but found throughout the temperate and subtropical Northern Hemisphere, and also more locally in the subtropical Southern Hemisphere in parts of Africa and South America. One species, the common buckthorn (''Rhamnus cathartica''), is able to flourish as an invasive plant in parts of Canada and the U.S., where it has become naturalized. Both deciduous and evergreen species occur. The leaves are simple, long, and arranged alternately, in opposite pairs, or almost paired (subopposite). One distinctive character of many buckthorns is the way the veination curves upward towards the tip of the leaf. The plant bears fruits which are black or red berry-like drupes. The name is due to the woody spine on the end of each twig in many species. One species is kno ...
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Arctostaphylos
''Arctostaphylos'' (; from "bear" and "bunch of grapes") is a genus of plants comprising the manzanitas () and bearberries. They are shrubs or small trees. There are about 60 species, of ''Arctostaphylos'', ranging from ground-hugging arctic, coastal, and mountain species to small trees up to 6 m tall. Most are evergreen (one species deciduous), with small oval leaves 1–7 cm long, arranged spirally on the stems. The flowers are bell-shaped, white or pale pink, and borne in small clusters of 2–20 together; flowering is in the spring. The fruit are small berries, ripening in the summer or autumn. The berries of some species are edible. ''Arctostaphylos'' species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including '' Coleophora arctostaphyli'' (which feeds exclusively on ''A. uva-ursi'') and '' Coleophora glaucella''. Distribution Manzanitas, the bulk of ''Arctostaphylos'' species, are present in the chaparral biome of western North Am ...
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Pinus Sabiniana
''Pinus sabiniana'' (sometimes spelled ''P. sabineana''), with vernacular names including towani pine, foothill pine, gray pine, bull pine, and digger pine, is a pine endemic to California in the United States. Some sources discourage using the name "digger pine," considering it pejorative ("digger" was a slur commonly used to refer to Indigenous Americans in the Great Basin and California). Description The ''Pinus sabiniana'' tree typically grows to , but can reach feet in height. The needles of the pine are in fascicles (bundles) of three, distinctively pale gray-green, sparse and drooping, and grow to in length. The seed cones are large and heavy, in length and almost as wide as they are long. When fresh, they weigh from , rarely over . The male cones grow at the base of shoots on the lower branches. File:Pinus sabiniana pollen cones Pinnacles, California.jpg, Pollen cones File:Pinus sabineana 00061.JPG, Bark File:J20161101-0079—Gray pine cone, pine nuts, and resin—R ...
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Quercus Wislizenii
''Quercus wislizeni'', known by the common name interior live oak, is an evergreen oak, highly variable and often shrubby, found in many areas of California in the United States continuing south into northern Baja California in Mexico. It generally occurs in foothills, being most abundant in the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada, but also widespread in the Pacific Coast Ranges—where since 1980 it has been known as a separate species ''Quercus parvula''—and the San Gabriel Mountains. It was named for its collector, Friedrich Adolph Wislizenus (1810–1889). Description It is a large shrub or tree growing to tall, although where it is common in the low-elevation Sierra Nevada foothills it seldom exceeds . The dark-green leaves—appearing grayish from a distance—are usually small, long, thick, and often spiny-toothed at higher elevations, particularly on young trees. The male flowers are on catkins, the female flowers in leaf axils. The acorns are long, and mature the ...
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Quercus Douglasii
''Quercus douglasii'', known as blue oak, is a species of oak endemic to (and found only in) California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is California's most drought-tolerant deciduous oak, and is a dominant species in the blue oak woodland ecosystem. It is occasionally known as mountain oak and iron oak. Description ''Quercus douglasii'' is a medium-sized tree with sparse foliage, generally tall, with a trunk in diameter at breast height. Trunks are typically solitary, but some trees have multiple trunks. The tallest recorded specimen was found in Alameda County, at . The trees grow slowly, about per year. Individual trees over 500 years old have been recorded. The bark is light gray with many medium-sized dark cracks. The blue-green leaves are tough and leathery, deciduous, long, and entire or shallowly lobed. The acorns are long, with a moderately sweet kernel, and mature in 6–7 months from pollination. ''Q. douglasii'' is mo ...
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Quercus Lobata
''Quercus lobata'', commonly called the valley oak or roble, grows into the largest of California oaks. It is endemic to California, growing in interior valleys and foothills from Siskiyou County to San Diego County. Mature specimens may attain an age of up to 600 years. This deciduous oak requires year-round access to groundwater. Its thick, ridged bark is characteristic and resembles alligator hide. The valley oak's deeply lobed leaves assist in identification. Description The valley oak may surpass in height, with a sturdy trunk possibly exceeding in diameter. The "Henley Oak", in Covelo, California, is the tallest known valley oak, at . The branches have an irregular, spreading and arching appearance that produce a profound leafless silhouette in the clear winter sky. During autumn, the leaves turn a yellow to light orange color but become brown later in the season. In advancing age, the branches assume a drooping characteristic. The tree's pewter-colored rippled bark ad ...
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Dipterostemon
''Dipterostemon'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae. Its only species is ''Dipterostemon capitatus'', synonym ''Dichelostemma capitatum'', known by the common names blue dicks, purplehead and brodiaea (alternately spelled brodiea and brodeia), native to the Western United States (particularly Arizona, California, Oregon, Utah, and New Mexico) and northwest Mexico. Description ''Dipterostemon capitatus'' is an herbaceous perennial growing from an underground corm to a height of as much as 60 cm. It has 2–3 leaves which are 10–40 cm long. The inflorescence is head- or umbel-like, and dense. It usually contains 2 to 15 flowers, which have a blue, blue-purple, pink-purple, or white perianth. The flower tube is 3–12 mm and is narrowly cylindrical to campanulate. Flowers have six fertile stamens, deeply notched, lanceolate, white, angled inward, slightly reflexed at tip, with outer filaments wider at the base. It has a twi ...
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Salvia Spathacea
''Salvia spathacea'', the California hummingbird sage, hummingbird sage, or pitcher sage, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to southern and central California growing from sea level to . This fruity scented sage blooms in March to May with typically dark rose-lilac colored flowers. It is cultivated in gardens for its attractive flowering spikes and pleasant scent. Distribution The pitcher sage is found in the California coast ranges from the Sacramento Valley south to the San Diego area. It is a common species that grows on open or shady slopes in moist oak woodland, chaparral, and coastal sage scrub not far from the Pacific Ocean. Description ''Salvia spathacea'' is an evergreen perennial with flowering stems growing from a woody base, tall. When not flowering plants grow less than tall, forming clumps of sprawling foliage. Each plant produces a single flowering stem which rarely branches. It spreads by rhizomes and can form colonies up to in di ...
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Eschscholzia Californica
''Eschscholzia californica'', the California poppy, golden poppy, California sunlight or cup of gold, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae, native to the United States and Mexico. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant flowering in summer (spring in southern Australia), with showy cup-shaped flowers in brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow (occasionally pink and white). It is also used as food or a garnish. It became the official state flower of California in 1903. Description California Poppy is a perennial or annual plant growing to tall with alternately branching glaucous blue-green foliage. The leaves are alternately divided into round, lobed segments. The flowers are solitary on long stems, silky-textured, with four petals, each petal long and broad; flower color ranges through yellow, orange and red (with some pinks). Flowering occurs from February to September in the northern hemisphere (spring, summer, fall). The petals close at night ...
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