Douglas' spineflower ~ 05/23/14 ~ Pinnacles

Douglas' spineflower

Chorizanthe douglasii 

CNPS 8th Edition Inventory

Polygonaceae

Because of the spineflowers' family relationship to buckwheats (a fave butterfly host plant), I'm keeping an eye on them.  I first started seeing Douglas' this year April 29 on the westside.  These are small plants, which may have tiny caterpillars, too.  Don't know yet.  In addition to the Douglas' shown above, here are the known spineflowers found at Pinnacles National Park (with my common name updates taken from Jepson eFlora):

(CalPhotos) - (Calflora) - (Jepson) - none of the below with CNPS status

red triangles/Thurber's - Centrostegia thurberi (formerly Chorizanthe) - common, sand or gravel

pink spineflower - Chorizanthe membranacea - common, sand, gravel or rocks
one-awn spineflower - Chorizanthe uniaristata - common, sand, gravel, talus or clay

I also made a spineflower list o' links for Fort Ord National Monument with the only common spineflower being the Douglas' as shown here.

diffuse spineflower ~ 05/17/14 ~ Fort Ord

diffuse spineflower

Chorizanthe diffusa
(common, sand or gravel)

Polygonaceae

These short and spreading white flowers tickled my fancy.  I wish I had better pics a couple steps back, but with a large tour group that kept moving at quick clip (thanks to speedy Jane Styer) I only had time for a couple quick pics.  Too bad it was also blustery windy (read: blurry photos).  I'd like to note that spineflowers belong to the buckwheat family, an extremely popular food source for several local butterflies.  I double-checked this ID with David Styer who gave me his 2014 updated Fort Ord plant list, which is different than the online 2012 CNPS list.  I hear from his wife Jane that he's recently described a new spineflower sp.  Very cool.  Out of the 51 Chorizanthe spp./var. listed on Calflora and in addition to the diffuse spineflower shown above, here are the other spineflowers of record for Fort Ord (with my common name updates taken from Jepson eFlora):

(CalPhotos) --- (Calflora) --- (Jepson) --- (CNPS status)
narrow-leaf spineflower --- C. angustifolia --- uncommon, sand --- may be new sp.*
Douglas' spineflower --- C. douglasii --- sand or gravel --- 4.3
Monterey spineflower --- C. pungens var. pungens --- sand --- 1B.2
robust spineflower --- C. robusta var. robusta --- sand or gravel --- 1B.1 --- not on David's list**

* With David's permission, this is what he said, "Also, what we had called C. angustifolia, turns out not to be that, but a species new to science that will probably be called C. minutiflora. It has smaller flowers than any other Chorizanthe."  He goes on to say, "You can mention it, but you should note that the new name is not yet official."

** Also, David said, "I would, however, remove C. robusta from the list. Randy Morgan says he added some years ago (perhaps when he was working for Jones & Stokes), but learned later, when he saw the real robusta, that what he had seen at Ft Ord was not robusta. That is how it got on the Ft Ord list, and why I removed it from the list."

I also made a spineflower list o' links for Pinnacles National Park with Douglas' being the only spineflower found at both locations.

Douglas' spineflower ~ 04/29/14 ~ Pinnacles

Douglas' spineflower

Chorizanthe douglasii 

CNPS 8th Edition Inventory

Polygonaceae

This is the first time I've noticed this spineflower starting to bloom this year.  Its pinkish color reminds me of the federally threatened Monterey spineflower found at Fort Ord, but Douglas' is upright rather than spreading across the sand like Monterey.

sand gilia and Monterey spineflower ~ 05/14/11 ~ Fort Ord

sand gilia and Monterey spineflower
Gilia tenuiflora ssp. arenaria and Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory and CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Polemoniaceae and Polygonaceae

This pretty little purple sand gilia, aka Monterey gilia, is listed as federally endangered and threatened in the state of CA. The dusty-pink clumps to the right in each picture is the Monterey spineflower.  I believe these pictures were taken in a 2003 burn area. The white flowers shown in the second picture are popcorn flowers (Plagiobothrys sp.) in Boraginaceae. Considering there are at least 7 species of popcorn flowers found at Fort Ord, I'm not going to attempt to identify it tonight from the fuzzy photo. 

Monterey spineflower ~ 05/14/11 ~ Fort Ord

Monterey spineflower
Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens
CNPS 8th Edition Inventory
Polygonaceae

This particular variety of spineflower is listed as federally threatened. To see closeup pictures of this flower, check out my recent sand gilia pictures, then click on each photo to enlarge, and look for the pink spiky clumps to the right of each picture. The purple flowers with yellow-tips are purple owl's-clovers.

I may have walked by Monterey spineflowers many times on the Fort Ord BLM Lands and never knew it was considered likely to become endangered. I would have loved to have better closeup shots. However, being on Fort Ord Army Lands, we were instructed to strictly stay on the path for our own safety due to continuing munitions removal. I believe the above picture was taken in an area that was burned in 2003.

For those who live north of me in Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, and San Francisco counties, the other variety C. pungens var. hartwegiana (Ben Lomond spineflower) is listed as federally endangered.