Can you help me identify these plants?

March 28, 2012 1:20 PM

Plant ID-Filter: I'm having trouble identifying these plants from Crystal Cove state park in Orange County, California. Any native plant specialists able to lend me a hand?
posted by BuddhaInABucket to home & garden (14 answers total)

Image #2 in your album is costal prickly pear cactus (Opuntia littoralis).
posted by RichardP at 1:51 PM on March 28, 2012

I'm pretty sure image #6 is chaparral nightshade (Solanum xanti).

Oh, and just above that should have been "coastal", not "costal"...
posted by RichardP at 2:17 PM on March 28, 2012

Jepson Manual 2e says photo #15 is scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis). The flower details in the other photos are too hard to see, but I'll keep working on them.
posted by retypepassword at 2:19 PM on March 28, 2012

#16 looks like a Ribes. I'm not sure which species.
posted by retypepassword at 2:22 PM on March 28, 2012

retypepassword: I didn't recognize that twig as a ribes because it didn't have the flowers, but you're right- it's Ribes speciosum, I have other pictures which show that more obviously now that I know. Thanks!
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 2:25 PM on March 28, 2012

#11 looks kind of like a wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum). Hard to tell without the radishy radish flowers.
posted by retypepassword at 2:52 PM on March 28, 2012

It's hard to tell — is it possible that #8 is an immature specimen of Bush Poppy (Dendromecon rigida)?
posted by RichardP at 3:14 PM on March 28, 2012

#3 looks kind of like Artemisia californica, or California Sagebrush.
posted by fancyoats at 4:16 PM on March 28, 2012

#17 looks like an Erodium botrys (notice the large pokey thing (its fruit)? All Erodiums have a pokey thing of some sort). Its common name is long-beaked stork's bill.
posted by retypepassword at 4:18 PM on March 28, 2012

#1 looks like a bush mallow of some sort (Malacothamnus sp.). I can't tell specifically what it is, but the closest-looking one I've found is Chaparral mallow (Malacathamnus fasciculatus).
posted by retypepassword at 4:50 PM on March 28, 2012

#8 is Oenothera ssp. Not sure which one.
#5 Is Rhus integrifolia.
#14 looks like an everlasting or rabbit tobacco- maybe Pseudognaphalium californicum.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:00 PM on March 28, 2012

Oh, the fern might be Athyrium filix-femina, but it's hard to tell how divided the leaflets are from the photo.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:57 PM on March 28, 2012

Based on my knowledge of CA desert species 4 looks like a milkweed and 10 is some sort of Encelia.
posted by a22lamia at 7:00 PM on March 28, 2012

It seems like you're getting all the answers you're looking for here, but for future reference iNaturalist is an awesome site for this kind of stuff. They have a specific "ID please" section that I've made a lot of use of for animals and plants and fungi. Very knowledgeable people over there.

(This is assuming you don't already know about the site, obviously.)
posted by primalux at 9:49 PM on March 28, 2012 [1 favorite]