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Wildflower Mount Diablo Rattlesnake Weed, Wild Carrot Scientific Name: Daucus pusillus Family: Apiaceae (Parsley-Carrot Family) Blooms: Apr - May Color: White Annual herb Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Kevin Hintsa

Wildflower Mount Diablo Pink Spineflower, Membranous Chorizanthe Scientific Name: Chorizanthe membranacea Family: Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family) Blooms: May - Jun Color: Red-Pink Annual herb Native, endemic to California Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Mike Woodring

Wildflower Mount Diablo Oak Mistletoe Scientific Name: Phoradendron villosum Family: Viscaceae (Mistletoe Family) Blooms: Jun - Sep Color: Yellow-Orange Shrub (parasitic) Native Berries are white and more conspicuous than yellow flowers Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Kevin Hintsa

Wildflower Mount Diablo Poison Hemlock Invasive, naturalized Scientific Name: Conium maculatum Family: Apiaceae (Parsley-Carrot Family) Blooms: Apr - Jul Color: White Perennial herb Introduced Toxicity: Major Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Michael Marchiano

Wildflower Mount Diablo Hillside Broomrape Scientific Name: Aphyllon vallicola Family: Orobanchaceae Blooms: Jul-Sep Color: Red-Pink Annual or perennial herb Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants

Variable Checkerspot by Dan Sandri March 24, 2025 Dan Sandri Here's a super-common butterfly - the Variable Checkerspot. Also known as the Chalcedon Checkerspot, the Variable Checkerspot is more commonly seen on Mount Diablo right now as a caterpillar. The caterpillars are black, with orange markings, which warn potential predators that they taste bitter due to the iridoid glcosides they accumulate from the plants they eat. Caterpillars can be seen now feeding on the leaves, flowers and bracts of Indian Paintbrush, Monkey Flower, Penstemon , Plectritis , California Figwort (aka California Beeplant, aka Scrophularia californica ) and many other plants. When they reach full size, they drop off into the leaf litter, or under fallen limbs or rocks, and pupate. They will emerge as adults the following Spring. There is one generation of butterflies per year. Why are they called Variable Checkerspots? The adult comes in many shades, with the top of the forewing colored with a mix of black, orange, or brown, with a mix of yellow, red, or white spots, or some combination of some or all those colors (see the difference in the 2 adults shown here). The smaller male butterflies show mostly in April – June and patrol constantly for the larger females. Soon they will be one of the most common butterflies seen on our hikes/rides. But see the caterpillars now! Catepillar form of Variable Checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona) Variable Checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona) Variable Checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona) BACK TO LIST

Wildflower Mount Diablo Common Fiddleneck Scientific Name: Amsinckia intermedia Family: Boraginaceae (Borage Family) Blooms: February Color: Yellow-Orange Annual herb Native Amsinckia intermedia is a small orange flower characterizrd by red dots whereas the other species Amsinckia menziesii is a yellow flower without dots. (Jepson, Calflora) Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Daniel Fitzgerald Daniel Fitzgerald Leaf Detail Daniel Fitzgerald Plant View Daniel Sandri

Edwards Digger Bee Anthophora edwardsii Apidae Anthophora Describe your image Describe your image Describe your image Describe your image Describe your image Describe your image Description Anthophora edwardsii has a mostly dark abdomen without bold hair bands. There can be a metallic bluish sheen to abdomen. Nectar/ Pollen Plants Most local Anthophora are generalists. Habits Nests are usually single-celled and 3-4 inches deep. Nests are made in early Spring, with an egg laid on a pollen/nectar combination. Larvae hatch, feed and pupate in the Fall. Adults hatch in Fall and overwinter underground, and emerge the following Spring (males first). These Anthophora are often found in large, active aggregations along some of Mount Diablo State Park’s wide trails. Season Earlier Spring (starting late-February/early March)

Wildflower Mount Diablo Red Ribbons Clarkia Scientific Name: Clarkia concinna ssp. concinna Family: Onagraceae (Evening Primrose Family) Blooms: May - Jun Color: Red-Pink Annual herb Native, endemic to California Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Mike Woodring

Grasslands by Glenn Keator, Ph. D. (excerpted from MDIA's book, Plants of the East Bay Parks) Plant Communities of Mount Diablo State Park January 1, 1999 Mike Woodring Few of California's grasslands and open places have been untouched by humans. Many were, before settlement, quite different communities that were altered deliberately or accidentally, in many cases by removal of shrubs and trees. The most altered open places are where western "civilization" has deliberately created agricultural lands for grazing, production of hay, and nonnative vegetables and fruits, and also for housing tracts. Although few such altered lands are directly considered, many parklands have areas whose past histories often reflect such treatment. Many of these are in the process of being reclaimed by native species yet retain an unnatural appearance. Such open places are what we call "disturbed", meaning there is little natural vegetation. Plowing, tilling, grazing, and burning have so altered the original vegetation that few native plants have survived. Instead these areas are home to plants we call weeds, escapes, and aliens. Weeds are natural here because they're designed to be opportunists, waiting for the chance to move in when land has been cleared. Our original grassland communities were dominated by perennial, native bunchgrasses -- clumped grasses that go dormant in summer but do not die. Hundreds of different kinds of annual, perennial, and bulb-bearing wildflowers occur between bunchgrasses, providing a magic carpet of ever-changing color from March through early June. Today, only a few such areas remain to remind us of the original splendor of these grasslands. The changes that most grasslands have undergone are dramatic. Whether grazed or ungrazed, managed or unmanaged, the majority of grasslands show the effects of the introduction of weedy, nonnative grasses and forbs. Some of these alien grasses and flowers were brought in by design, and others were introduced by accident -- often as contaminants of crop seeds (wild oats with cultivated oats, for example); as useful hay crops (alfalfa; sweet clover; red clover), as possible food plants (cardoon, chicory, fennel), or in ballast or bricks. Native bunchgrasses were generally more palatable than nonnative grasses; so as overgrazing progressed, the demise of these bunchgrasses was inevitable. Bunchgrasses were quickly replaced by annual European and Mid-Eastern grasses, including wild oats (Avena spp. ), foxtails (Hordeum spp. ), Italian rye (Lolium perenne ), bromes (bromus spp. ), and fescue (Festuca spp. ). Meanwhile, flowers with weedy characteristics and long-range dispersal strategies began to fill the spaces between grasses. The greater the grazing pressure, the more the "armed" weeds such as cardoons and thistles took over. Today, much rangeland has been degraded by pernicious, spiny plants like star thistle (Cantaurea solstialis ) and milk thistle (Silybum marianum ) or by poisonous plants like Klamath weed (Hypericum perforatum ). Most grasslands in our parks are at some stage between the extremes of weedlots and natural meadow; many are recovering to bunchgrasses and native wildflowers. But few will ever be completely free of the interlopers. New evidence suggests that light grazing may actually promote better wildflower displays by removing overshadowing grasses at the time of year when wildflowers are actively growing. Much remains to be discovered. One exception to our grassland story is grasslands on serpentine soils. Serpentine rock -- California's slick, soft, shiny bluish-green rock of metamorphic origin -- is notorious for its barren, nutrient-poor soils. Serpentine soils are low in essential calcium, high in toxic heavy metals such as molybdenum and nickel, and overly rich in magnesium, a needed nutrient that is nonetheless toxic in large quantities. Consequently, only certain specialized native flowers and grasses evolving over the eons, have managed to adapt to serpentine soils. Alien weeds and grasses are unable to grow here, so serpentine grasslands give us fine examples of bunchgrasslands in their near-original state. Meanwhile myriad species of wildflowers, including annuals, summer-dormant perennials, and bulbs, light up our grasslands in spring. Following abundant winter rains and the long, warm days of spring, floral displays explode upon the scene,wherever wildflowers can find a space between grasses. Some years the nonnative grasses get a head start, and wildflowers end up stunted; other years, wildflowers begin growth with or before the grasses and appear in vividly colored masses. Annuals adapt to California's summer-dry regime by dying when soils dry. Before this, however, they leave behind thousands of summer-dormant seeds. Perennials and bulbs use another ploy; they simply put their extra food and water into safe, underground roots or bulbs until the rains return. Since these subterranean structures are often several inches below the soil surface, they remain cool even during the hottest summers. Wildflowers belong to numerous families and come in many shapes and sizes, but most are white, blue, purple, or yellow: "bee" colors. (Bee eyes do not perceive orange and red.). Bees are our most abundant, prolific pollinators of open space. BACK TO LIST

Leanira Checkerspot Chlosyne leanira Nymphalidae Brushfoots Flies May to June Host Plant Indian Paintbrush Nectar Plant Narrow-leaved goldenbush Daniel Fitzgerald Daniel Fitzgerald Underwing

Wildflower Mount Diablo Fire Poppy Scientific Name: Papaver californicum Family: Papaveraceae (Poppy Family) Blooms: May Color: Yellow-Orange Annual herb Native, endemic to California Fire Follower Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Mike Woodring