Wildflower Mount Diablo Chaparral Penstemon, Foothill Penstemon Scientific Name: Penstemon heterophyllus var. heterophyllus Family: Plantaginaceae (Plantain Family) Blooms: Apr - Jun Color: Blue-Purple Perennial herb (parasitic) Native, endemic to California Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Mike Woodring

Blooming wildflowers Mount Diablo Blooming Now Download list Prev 1 2 3 4 1 ... 1 2 3 4 ... 4 Next Alkali Heliotrope, Seaside Heliotrope Heliotropium curassavicum var. oculatum American Brooklime Veronica americana California Swamp Thistle Cirsium douglasii Glittering Vervain Verbena gemmea Purple Sanicle Sanicula bipinnatifida Spearmint Mentha spicata Tall Stephanomeria, Rod Wirelettuce Stephanomeria virgata ssp. pleurocarpa Vinegar Weed Trichostema lanceolatum Western Lupine Lupinus formosus Wild Radish Raphanus sativus Broadleaf Filaree, Grape Storksbill, Long-beaked Filaree Erodium botrys Bull Thistle Cirsium vulgare California Fuchsia, Hummingbird Fuchsia, Zauschneria Epilobium canum California Milkweed Asclepias californica California Rose Rosa californica Clammy Clover Trifolium obtusiflorum Dense Flowered Willowherb, Dense boisduvalia, Dense flowered boisduvalia, Dense flowered spike primrose Epilobium densiflorium Fringed Willowherb, Northern willow herb, Slender willow herb Epilobium ciliatum Grass Poly, Hyssop Loosestrife Lythrum hyssopifolia Jersey Cudweed Pseudognaphalium luteoalbum Little Springbeauty Claytonia exigua ssp exigua Muehlenburgers Centaury Zeltnera muehlenbergii Narrow Leaf Milkweed Asclepias fascicularis Panicled Willowherb, Summer Cottonweed Epilobium brachycarpum Red Sand-spurry Spergularia rubra Prev 1 2 3 4 1 ... 1 2 3 4 ... 4 Next Blooming Non-Native Jump to Blooming Native Wildflower Guide Up

Savannah Sparrow Towhees, Sparrows, Juncos, and Longspurs Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis Winter Towhees, Sparrows, Juncos, and Longspurs Daniel Fitzgerald Found in open areas including grasslands or grassy areas with scattered shrubs. This pale-backed sparrow usually has a white central crown stripe and streaking on the breast that occasionally forms a central stick-pin; compare with Song Sparrow. Note yellowish lores, pinkish legs. Eat insects, spiders, fruits, and small seeds, and mollusks.

Wildflower Mount Diablo Torrey's Cryptantha Scientific Name: Cryptantha torreyana Family: Boraginaceae (Borage Family) Blooms: May - Jun Color: White Annual herb Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants

Wildflower Mount Diablo Hummingbird Sage Scientific Name: Salvia spathacea Family: Lamiaceae (Mint Family) Blooms: Feb-Jul Color: Red-Pink Perennial herb Native, endemic to California Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Hummingbird Sage shown with Bush Monkey Flower

Wildflower Mount Diablo Oakwood Violet, Goosefoot Violet, Mountain Violet Scientific Name: Viola purpurea Family: Violaceae (Violet Family) Blooms: Mar - May Color: Yellow-Orange Perennial herb Native Per Ertter & Bowerman, typically on rocky ground or in clefts of rock. Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Kevin Hintsa

Wildflower Mount Diablo Common Eucrypta Scientific Name: Eucrypta chrysanthemifolia var. chrysanthemifolia Family: Boraginaceae (Borage Family) Blooms: Apr - May Color: White Annual herb Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Ken-ichi Ueda, iNaturalist

Wildflower Mount Diablo Warrior's Plume Scientific Name: Pedicularis densiflora Family: Orobanchaceae (Broomrape Family) Blooms: Feb - May Color: Red-Pink Perennial herb Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Mike Woodring

Close Call: The Near-Extinction of Peregrine Falcons by Anastasia Hobbet January 1, 2024 Dave Furseth Lea este artículo en español The fastest animal on earth is a neighbor of yours. It’s the peregrine falcon, clocked at well over 200 miles per hour during its precipitous dives while hunting. Address? Mount Diablo State Park and surroundings, where at least two pairs are now readying themselves to nest in the dramatic pinnacles of Pine Canyon and the remote Black Hills above Black Hawk, where they will spend the spring and summer brooding the eggs and nurturing the youngsters until the kids become independent. Sounds rosy, but there’s a big “if" needed at this point: if the birds can get enough privacy and seclusion. They need a lot of quiet space, and with well more than 100,000 visitors per year now visiting Pine Canyon, is privacy possible for any creature? The responsibility for ensuring some seclusion for the Pine Canyon birds falls to two parks: Castle Rock, which is an East Bay Regional Park; and Mount Diablo State Park. The main access to lower Pine Canyon is via the former, but Pine Canyon's sandstone cliffs lie just over the boundary inside the State Park, forming a section of its westernmost edge. Two annual nesting closure zones stretching from Februrary 1 through July 31 help these blistering-fast aerial hunters feel some confidence in their security. The staffs of the two adjacent parks cooperate in enforcing the closure, but it's tough for a park supervisor working with a tiny staff to dispatch anyone fast, which is key. Widespread use of DDT beginning in the late 1950's almost wiped out peregrines in the U.S. and across the western world. It interfered with calcium deposition, thinning the mother's eggshells so much that they cracked when she tried to sit on them. The embryos died, pitching the population into collapse. DDT was finally banned in the U.S. in 1972, and some years later, Save Mount Diablo inspired a massive, successful effort to return the birds to Castle Rock. Keeping the birds safe during their six-month breeding has proved dicey. The Covid era drove cabin-fevered people into the parks -- all parks everywhere -- and even the most secluded places on and around Mount Diablo, on legal trails and hacked trails, became patterned with boot prints, bike tires, and horse hooves. MDIA volunteers formed the Peregrine Team in 2015 to support the closure zone enforcements of the rangers and staff in the two parks. This (2024) is the team's 10th season. In addition to informing hikers about the closure, they spot hikers in the closure area, and, if possible, gently interact with them when they return to the legal trail -- or even better: before they leave it -- about the ethics and benefits of respecting closure zones. You can help too. Plan to hike Stage Road in Pine Canyon and the trails from Curry Point. You'll see closure signage. Visit with other hikers as you go. If you spot people who may be headed into the closure zones, draw their attention gently to the signs. If they choose to trespass, don't intervene. They'll remember your words. Crowd-sourcing works -- eventually. Back to the Peregrine Team Page Peregrine in Flight | Scott Hein Peregine Team in action. Peregrine Team members lead group hikes during the nesting season into Pine Canyon BACK TO LIST

Wildflower Mount Diablo Bilobe Clarkia, Mule-ear Clarkia, Twolobe Clarkia Scientific Name: Clarkia biloba ssp. biloba Family: Onagraceae (Evening Primrose Family) Blooms: June 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 Pacific Hound's Tongue Scientific Name: Cynoglossum grandis Family: Boraginaceae (Borage Family) Blooms: Feb - Mar Color: Blue-Purple Perennial herb Native Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants Kevin Hintsa

Wildflower Mount Diablo San Gabriel Bluecup Scientific Name: Githopsis diffusa Family: Campanulaceae (Bell flower Family) Blooms: Apr-Jun Color: Blue-Purple Annual herb Native, endemic to California Jump to Blooming Now Blue / Purple Red / Pink White Yellow / Orange Invasive Plants