Collomia tracyi is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name Tracy's collomia. It is endemic to northern California, where it grows in the coniferous forests of the mountain ranges, including the Klamath Mountains. It is an annual herb producing a slender, branched stem no taller than about 8 centimeters. The glandular, hairy leaves are lance-shaped. The inflorescence is composed of two or three flowers emerging from the leaf axils. Each flower is white to lavender and up to 2 centimeters long. This species can be distinguished from the more common and widespread Collomia tinctoria by the positioning of the stamens and stigma in the flower.

Colubrina californica is a species of shrub in the buckthorn family known by the common name Las Animas Nakedwood. It is native to the Sonoran Desert of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in desert scrub habitat. The thorny shrub has deciduous leaves, oval in shape and coated in silky hairs. The inflorescence is a dense cluster of several tiny nectar-filled flowers. It blooms in April and May after the ground is moistened with rain.

Comandra is a monotypic genus containing the single species Comandra umbellata. Its common names include bastard toadflax, umbellate bastard toadflax, and common comandra. The plant has a disjunct distribution; its four subspecies occur in North America and the Mediterranean. Comandra is a perennial herb growing about 8 to 34 cm tall. The leaves are up to 3. 3 cm long and are alternately arranged. The flowers lack petals, but have five greenish-white sepals. The flowers are insect-pollinated. The fruit is a drupe. Subspecies include:C. u. ssp. californica - California bastard toadflaxC. u. ssp. pallida - pale bastard toadflax, pine bastard toadflaxC. u. ssp. umbellataC. umbellata is semiparasitic; it is not holoparasitic as it obtains some nutrition through photosynthesis. It has a wide host range, parasitizing over 200 known plant species. These include Aster, Antennaria, Solidago, Rosa, Rubus, Fragaria, Vaccinium, Acer, Betula, Populus, Carex, and some grasses. Uses. A decoction of the plant parts was made by the Navajo people for narcotic and other medicinal usage. In times of food shortage, the berries were used by Native Americans as a food source, and though small, they have a sweet taste. Pathogens. C. umbellata is the alternate host for the comandra blister rust (Cronartium comandrae), a rust fungus that affects pine species in North America. Comandra blister rust can cause tree losses of up to 7% in some regions where it is common. When C. umb is infected by the rust aeciospores from the pine host, yellow, blister-like spots bearing urediniospores appear on the leaves of the plant within 20 days. In the following weeks, teliospores develop on brown, hairlike telia that germinate to produce basidiospores, the fungal life stage capable of infecting pines.

Comarostaphylis diversifolia is a rare shrub in the heath family known by the common name Summer Holly. It is slow growing in an upright form up to a height of 20 feet or more, with striking white flowers in the spring, an incredible summer display of holly-like red berries , and attractive gray bark. It is native to southern California and northern Baja California, where it grows in coastal chaparral habitat, usually on well drained slopes. Its bark is gray and shreddy and the tough, evergreen leaves are oval in shape and sometimes toothed. The flower cluster is a raceme of urn-shaped flowers very similar to those of the related shrubs, the manzanitas. The fruit is a bright red, juicy drupe with a bumpy skin. There are two subspecies. C. d. ssp. diversifolia - native to the coastal hills of southern California and Baja California, C. d. ssp. planifolia - native to the Channel Islands of California and the Transverse Ranges north of Los Angeles. Subspecies diversifolia tends to grow with Mission Manzanita, Scrub Oak and Toyon.

In nature, Summer Holly is most often found on shady dry slopes, near occasional creeks or runoffs. It grows slowly until it breaks through the lower canopy, and gets its leaves in the sun. In landscapes it does best in dry part shade, near irrigated spots or other slightly damp areas. It prefers heavier, richer soils that retain the little moisture it gets a little longer. Best to plant Summer Holly in the fall, so it can get established by summer. This plant is among the least tolerant to direct water in the summer. After the first year, direct water in the summer will usually kill it.

Comarum palustre (syn. Potentilla palustris), known by the common names purple marshlocks, swamp cinquefoil and marsh cinquefoil, is a common waterside shrub. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, particularly the northern regions. It is most commonly found on lake shores, marshy riversides and stream margins, often partly submerged with foliage floating. It is a parent of some Fragaria, Comarum hybrids, ornamental plants produced by crossing with strawberries. Its branches spread into leaves with three to seven narrow leaflets which are sharply jagged. The stem is a reddish brown, low sprawling, vine-like structure. Flowers extend from the branch which vary from red to purple, and are about one inch in diameter, blooming in summer. Swamp cinquefoil prefers peat soils but can also grow in moist sandy areas. It flourishes in USDA Zone 3 (minimum-40 degreesF (-40 degreesC)). It grows to about 12-18 in (30-46 cm) wide by 12-18 in (30-46 cm) high when cultivated properly.

Condalia globosa is a perennial shrub of the Rhamnaceae family, that is commonly known as Bitter Condalia, also Snakewood. This shrub is native to Mexico in central and western Sonora and the Sea of Cortez, eastern regions of Baja California Sur and Baja California; also southwestern Arizona in the Sonoran Desert, and the associated region in southeastern California, in the Lower Colorado River Valley.

Desert lavender (Condea emoryi) is a fast-growing, aromatic shrub prized for its silvery-white, lavender-scented foliage and vibrant purple flowers, which can bloom year-round. Its fuzzy leaves and stems add texture to gardens, and it forms a dense, upright bush that can reach up to 12 feet tall and 8 feet wide.

As a semi-deciduous plant, desert lavender may drop some of its leaves during the heat of summer. It thrives in full sun and well-drained soil, making it an excellent choice for low-maintenance, water-wise landscapes. While highly drought-tolerant, it can handle occasional summer watering, about once a month.

This versatile shrub can be pruned into a hedge, with pruning ideally done in summer or fall. desert lavender is deer-resistant and attracts pollinators, making its fragrant flowers a favorite for hummingbirds and bees.

Grows best in sandy, coarse-grained or other fast draining soil. Selection from the Mojave Desert made by Carol Bornstein and introduced by santa Barabara Botanic Garden.

Constancea is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the aster family containing the single species Constancea nevinii (formerly Eriophyllum nevinii), which is known by the common name Nevin's woolly sunflower. It is endemic to three of the Channel Islands of California, where it grows in coastal scrub habitat. This is a small shrub or subshrub generally growing up to one or 1.5 meters tall, and taller when in erect form, with a branching, woolly stem. The whitish, woolly oval leaves may be up to 20 centimeters long and are divided into many narrow lobes with edges curled under. The flower cluster is a cluster of 10 to 50 or more small flower heads, each on a short peduncle. The flower head has a center of hairy, hairy, star-shaped yellow disc florets and a fringe of four to nine yellow ray florets each about 2 millimeters long. The fruit is an achene a few millimeters long with a small pappus at the tip.

Like many Channel Islands endemics, this plant was threatened with extinction by the herbivory of the feral goats living on the islands; the goats have since been removed and the plant is recovering. The yellow flowers contrast nicely with the silvery-gray foliage. This plant would be good for coastal gardens in southern California where temperatures are moderate and it would receive some fog drip.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and part shade in inland sites. Introduced by C. Bornstein, santa Barbara Botanical Garden.

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Coptis laciniata is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name Oregon goldthread. It is native to Washington, Oregon, and far northern California on the west coast of the United States, where it grows in wet habitat in the understory of mountain and coastal coniferous forests. It is a small perennial herb creeping on a yellow stolon through other vegetation and leaf litter. There are a few leaves on its short stem which are divided into leaflets subdivided into several toothed lobes. The stemlike flower cluster arises up to 19 centimeters tall from the stem at ground level. Each flower is an array of thin, threadlike petals. Six to 12 fruits arise on short stalks, arranged in a ring. The fruits are shiny, hairless follicles, each roughly a centimeter long.

Corallorhiza maculata, or spotted coralroot, is a North American coralroot orchid flower. Varieties are also known as western coralroot and summer coralroot. It is found from Mexico to Canada, mostly in woodlands. This orchid is a myco-heterotroph; it lacks chlorophyll and gets food by parasitizing the mycelium of fungi in the family Russulaceae. The rhizome and lower stem are often knotted into branched coral shapes. The stem is usually red or brown in color, but occasionally comes in a light yellow or cream color. There are no leaves and no photosynthetic green tissues. The stalklike stems bear dark red scales and intricate orchid flowers. The flowers are small and emerge regularly from all sides of the stem. The sepals are dark red or brown tinged with purple, long and pointed. The side petals are reddish, and the lip petal is bright clean white with deep red spots. It is usually lobed or toothed on the side and 7-10 millimeter. In some varieties, the lip is plain white without spots. Several Native American groups historically used the stems dried and brewed as a tea for such maladies as colds, pneumonia, and skin irritation.

Corallorhiza mertensiana, or Pacific coralroot, is a coralroot orchid native to the shady conifer forests of northwestern North America. It also goes by the common names Western coralroot and Mertens' coralroot. Corallorhiza mertensiana was previously considered a subspecies of Corallorhiza maculata but was given species rank in 1997 by Freudenstein. Corallorrhiza mertensiana is a leafless, parasitic, perennial orchid that is 6-20 inches tall. The stem is red to brownish purple. The upper petals are pink to reddish pink, with yellow to dark red veins. The lower petals are wider, dark pink to red, and have three deep red veins. Beneath the lower petal the spur is prominent. The flower spikes are visible from May to August. Corallorrhiza mertensiana has no roots, only hard, branched rhizomes that resemble coral. Fungal Associations. Corallorrhiza mertensiana is a nonphotosynthetic, myco-heterotroph that receives its nutrition from ectomycorrhizal fungi. The fungi receive mineral nutrients and carbon symbiotically from trees. Corallorrhiza mertensiana parasitizes the carbon from the fungi. Corallorrhiza mertensiana only associates with mutually exclusive subsets of species from the Russulaceae. Corallorrhiza mertensiana never shares fungal species with Corallorrhiza maculata even when intermixed at the same growing site. Habitat and Distribution. Corallorrhiza mertensiana grows in shady coniferous forests at low to mid-elevations. It prefers damp soil that is rich in humus, and receives dappled sunlight. Corallorrhiza mertensiana is found in the Cascades from Alaska to California, and the Rocky Mountains from Alberta to Wyoming. In a survey of the plants found in Glacier Bay, Alaska in 1923, Corallorhiza mertensiana was reported to be growing beneath the thickets of Alnus tenufolia along with Petasites frigida, Aspidium, and Polystichum. In British Columbia is has been found to be associated with Gaultheria shallon, Hylocomium splendens, and Rhytidiadelphus loreus.

Corallorhiza striata is a species of orchid known by the common names striped coralroot and hooded coralroot. This flowering plant is widespread across much of southern Canada, the northern and western United States, and Mexico. It lives in dry, decaying plant matter on the ground in pine and mixed coniferous forests, and it obtains its nutrients from fungi via mycoheterotrophy.

Corallorhiza trifida, commonly known as early coralroot, northern coralroot, or yellow coralroot, is a coralroot orchid native to North America and Eurasia, with a circumboreal distribution. The species has been reported from the United States, Canada, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, India, Nepal, Kashmir, Greenland, Pakistan, and almost every country in Europe. Corallorhiza trifida is yellowish green in color, leafless, and partially myco-heterotrophic, deriving some, but not all of its nutrients from association with fungi of genus Tomentella. It also contains chlorophyll, with which it supplies some of its own carbon nutrition via autotrophy. Corallorhiza trifida is yellowish green in color, leafless, and partially myco-heterotrophic, deriving some, but not all of its nutrients from association with fungi of genus Tomentella. It also contains chlorophyll, with which it supplies some of its own carbon nutrition via autotrophy.

Yakima bird's-beak, also called clustered bird's-beak (Cordylanthus capitatus), is an uncommon plant of the Western U. S. Annual with spreading branches, 10-50 cm, glaucous-green or grey-purple, densely glandular- and nonglandular-hairy. Stems paniculately branched; herbage green, pubescent (spreading-viscid and short-glandular-pilose) with long soft white hairs. Leaves of main stem alternate, deeply divided into 3 linear to thread-like segments, 20-40 mm; of the branches entire, few and remote. Inflorescences "leafy" 2-4 flowered small capitate spikes, 15-20 mm, head-like; bracts gland-tipped, of 2 kinds: those subtending the spike 4-7, linear-lanceolate, palmately divided (lobes 3 in lower ½), 10-20 mm; those subtending each flower entire or pinnately divided, 12-18 mm, elliptical, acute, entire, arched outward, purplish. Yakima bird's-beak flowers from July to early September. The flowers are purple. It is likely to be found in dry, gravelly soil derived from volcanic rocks, within a few feet of sagebrush.

Cordylanthus eremicus is a species of flowering plant in the broomrape family known by the common name desert bird's beak. It is endemic to California, where it is known from dry mountainous habitat in the San Bernardino Mountains, the mountains of the Mojave Desert region, and the Kern Plateau in the southern Sierra Nevada.

Cordylanthus nevinii is a species of flowering plant in the broomrape family known by the common name Nevin's bird's beak. It is native to pine and oak forests and woodlands in southern California, western Arizona, and northern Baja California. It is a red-tinted gray-green annual herb reaching 80 centimeters in maximum height. It is densely coated in glandular hairs. The sparse leaves are linear in shape and no more than 3 centimeters long. Flowers are solitary or appear in pairs or threes. At their bases are one or more bracts which may be divided into three narrow lobes with knobby tips. The flower is between 1 and 2 centimeters long. It is a fibrous white pouch sometimes veined with purple, enclosed in a beaklike calyx of sepals.

Cordylanthus nidularius is a rare species of flowering plant in the broomrape family known by the common name Mt. Diablo bird's beak. It is endemic to Mount Diablo in the San Francisco Bay Area in California, where it grows in chaparral on serpentine soils. This small annual herb is red-tinted gray-green in color and coated with glandular hairs and woolly fibers. The flowers are each surrounded by 2 or 3 bracts divided into three narrow lobes up to 1. 5 centimeters long. The corolla is a purple-streaked white pouch enclosed in a calyx of sepals.

Cordylanthus parviflorus is a species of flowering plant in the broomrape family known by the common name purple bird's beak. It is native to the western United States where it grows in several types of habitat, including the sagebrush steppe of the Great Basin. It is an annual herb, red-tinted gray-green in color, and hairy, glandular, and sticky in texture. It grows 20 to 60 centimeters tall. The inflorescence bears flowers accompanied by hairy, lobed red-green bracts. The flower is up to 2 centimeters long, made up of a dark-veined pink pouch enveloped in darker sepals.

Cordylanthus pilosus is a species of flowering plant in the broomrape family known by the common name hairy bird's beak. It is endemic to the mountain ranges and foothills of northern California, where it grows in woodland and chaparral habitat, often on serpentine soils. There are three subspecies, each mainly limited to a different section of mountains. In general this annual herb is erect and branching, reaching a maximum height anywhere between 20 centimeters and 1.2 meters. It is purple-tinted gray-green in color and usually quite hairy in texture, the hairs sometimes associated with sticky glands. The branches have sparse tufts of small linear leaves. The flowers of the flower cluster have leafs which may be linear in shape or lobed, each lobe knobby or notched. The flower is up to 2 centimeters long and has a whitish pouch marked with yellow and purple enclosed in hairy sepals.

Hairy Bird's Beak (Cordylanthus pilosus ssp. pilosus) is a native annual herb that grows in Central and Northern California, primarily in the North Coast and North Coast Range regions. It tends to grow in open slopes, at elevations from 0-2300 feet.

Cordylanthus ramosus is a species of flowering plant in the broomrape family known by the common name bushy bird's beak. It is native to the western United States where it grows in mountains and plateau, including the sagebrush of the Great Basin. It is an annual herb producing an erect, branching gray-green form, often tinted with red, becoming bushy at its most robust and appearing not unlike a sagebrush. The small leaves are narrow and linear or divided into several narrow, thready lobes. The inflorescence is a small spike of a few flowers surrounded by bracts which are linear or divided into narrow, thready lobes like the leaves. The bracts are faintly woolly and occasionally bristly in texture. The flower is one to two centimeters long with a hairy yellow pouch enclosed in darker, tougher reddish sepals. This plant had a number of historical medicinal uses for the Navajo people, who used it as an emetic.

Cordylanthus rigidus is a species of flowering plant in the broomrape family known by the common name stiffbranch bird's beak. It is native to California and northern Baja California, where it grows in many types of habitat from coastal flats to high inland mountains. This is a hairy annual herb growing to maximum heights anywhere from 30 centimeters to 1.5 meters. There are at least four subspecies and possibly natural varieties not distinct enough to be considered subspecies. There is great variety in the appearance of the plant. The stem and foliage vary in color from greenish to yellows and reds; like other members of its family this species is a parasite on other plants so it does not rely entirely on green chlorophyll to produce its own nutrients. Its leaves are linear in shape and 1 to 4 centimeters long. The edges may roll in. The loose flower cluster produces solitary flowers on long stalks. Each hair-covered flower is shaped like a conical bird's beak with leaflike, pointed outer and inner leafs. Tucked inside is the pouched white flower. The whole unit is up to 2 centimeters long. The fruit is a capsule containing dark brown seeds one or two millimeters long.

Rigid Bird's Beak (Cordylanthus rigidus ssp. rigidus) is a native annual herb that grows in southern and central California. It tends to grow at elevations from 0-7000 feet.

Cordylanthus tenuis is a species of flowering plant in the broomrape family known by the common name slender bird's beak. It is native to the US states of California, Oregon, and Nevada, where it grows in woodland and forest. It erects a spindly stem which may exceed a meter in height with sparse narrow leaves a few centimeters long, and is sometimes sticky with glandular secretions. The plant is greenish and tinted with yellow or purple coloration. The stem branches at intervals and at the end of each branch is a cluster of one to several flowers. Each pocket-shaped flower is one to two centimeters long and about one wide, made up of fuzzy maroon lobes with white or yellow lips. There are several subspecies, including:

Corethrogyne filaginifolia (syn. Lessingia filaginifolia) is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common names Common Sandaster and California Aster. The taxonomy of this plant and certain relatives is currently changing; recently the Corethrogynes have been grouped together under the name Lessingia filaginifolia, and then moved back to genus Corethrogyne as a single species with many synonyms.

It is native to western North America from the southwestern corner of Oregon to Baja California, where it is a common member of many plant communities, including chaparral and woodlands, forests, scrub, grasslands, and the serpentine soils flora.

This is a robust perennial herb or subshrub producing a simple to multibranched stem approaching a meter in maximum length or height. The densely woolly leaves are several centimeters long and toothed or lobed low on the stem and smaller farther up the stem.

The flower cluster is a single flower head or array of several heads at the tips of stem branches. The head is lined with narrow, pointed, purple-tipped phyllaries which curl back as the head matures. Inside are many purple, lavender, pink, or white ray florets and a center packed with up to 120 tubular yellow disc florets. The fruit is an achene with a pappus of reddish bristles on top.

California Aster appears to do best in rocky slopes and sloping rock gardens. They often don't do as well on flat areas. On dry slopes surrounded by rocks, the plant will usually stay beautiful year round. If happy, it will often reseed and pop up in nearby rocky places.

This plant is very drought tolerant if situated properly. It is not tolerant of summer water, which will often kill it after its first year. California Aster is available in nurseries primarily in low-growing, spreading varieties. 'Silver Carpet' is one of the most beautiful and popular.

Grows best in sandy, coarse-grained or other fast draining soil. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and part shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden.

Horticultural selection from Corethrogyne filaginifolia. Selected for the garden. Introduced by santa Barbara Botanic Garden. One of the best native California groundcoves. Very low growing and compact, with a nice mounding form, beautiful silver folliage and pink flowers that last from summer through fall. Blooms in summer and fall.When planted over a wall or rocks it spills over nicely. It is a perfect plant for borders, planters, rock gardens and containers. Keep lightly pruned for best appearance. Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and part shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden. Introduced by santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and part shade in inland sites.

Cornus glabrata is a species in the Cornaceae (Dogwood) family native to California and Oregon and known by the common name Brown Dogwood and several other names. It is found in the Coast Ranges and the Sierra foothills, below 5,000 ft., and on some of the Channel Islands. This is a large shrub or thicket-forming bush with very limber branches that often come down to the ground and root to form new plants. It also spreads by root suckers. The bark may be brown, reddish or purple, giving it interest in winter when it is leafless. The bright green leaves turn red in fall. It bears plentiful clusters of fuzzy white flowers and bluish-white berries. This shrub is most often found near water, usually directly on the bank of a water source, but it can become less thirsty in the garden by periodic deep watering.

Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) is a species of dogwood native to western North America from lowlands of southern British Columbia to mountains of southern California. An inland population occurs in central Idaho. Cultivated examples are found as far north as the Queen Charlotte Islands.

This small to medium-sized deciduous tree often has multiple trunks and and an irregular form. What appears to be its flower is actually a dense, rounded, greenish-white flowerhead composed by myriad tiny flowers; the 4 to 8 large white "petals" are actually leaves. Its fruit is a compound pink-red berry, containing 50-100 small seeds; though edible, it is not very palatable.

With its spectacular white flower arrays, bright green leaves, beautiful autumn foliage, and attractive growth form, Pacific Dogwood is among the more popular native California trees in landscaping applications. It's long-lived and easy to grow when planted in its natural range and in the right site type. It needs to be planted in cool, rich, deep and well-draining soil, in part shade, preferably among smaller companion plants, so as it matures it can reach its branches out into direct sun.

Provide occasional summer water until established; then stop all supplementary irrigation. Avoid disturbing the soil within a few feet of the trunk.

The Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea, syn. C. stolonifera, Swida sericea) is a species of dogwood native throughout northern and western North America from Alaska east to Newfoundland, south to Durango and Nuevo Len in the west, and Illinois and Virginia in the east. Other names include Redtwig Dogwood, Red-rood, American Dogwood, and (subsp. occidentalis) Western Dogwood. In the wild, it commonly grows in areas of damp soil, such as wetlands. It is a medium to tall deciduous shrub, growing 1.5-4 meter tall and 3-5 meter wide, spreading readily by underground stolons to form dense thickets. The branches and twigs are dark red, although wild plants may lack this coloration in shaded areas. The leaves are opposite, 5-12 centimeter long and 2.5-6 centimeter broad, with an ovate to oblong shape and an entire margin; they are dark green above and waxy pale below; fall color is commonly bright red to purple. The flowers are small (5-10 millimeter diameter), dull white in color, in clusters 3-6 centimeter diameter. The fruit is a globose white berry 5-9 millimeter diameter.