Last Word
WILDFLOWERS A-BLOOMIN’
Ablaze with Spring Color BY BETTY HARTIG
T
he hills are alive! Purple, white, yellow, blue, and orange are just a few of the vibrant colors that dot the trails and hillsides of San Luis Obispo County. It is spring, and wildflowers are emerging with grace and glamour. The varying floras are delightful to view. Some plants and flowers are tiny, barely visible, and others bloom boldly like a spotlight beckoning to not be ignored. Tree and shrub blossoms contribute to the landscape; even weeds are part of the showy spring palette. When does this flower display happen? March is the magical month when it usually begins. Luckily, Central Coast residents and visitors get to enjoy thriving botanical displays for a lengthy period.
shrub bears white flowers and blue powdery coated berries that can be edible if precautions are taken. One vine found in several locations on the Bob Jones Pathway is a wild blackberry. This plant’s stems and leaves have coarse, hairy leaves with prickly type needles. The fruit can vary in color from light red to deep purple. The berries are very tart, not sugary, like Sweet Tart candy. Fair warning! Choose and pick berries carefully. Not all berries are safe to eat. Highly poisonous black nightshade emerges on the pathway. Possessing white star-shaped flowers as well as shiny blackberries containing atropine, nightshade was used by Cleopatra to dilate her pupils to make her eyes appear large and thus more alluring to her suitors. This is a plant to Spring vegetation activity is easily observed admire, but not sample. The berries are toxic if while hiking or biking the numerous trails within ingested. Long ago, the Native American people the County. Johnson Ranch Open Space, Mon- used black nightshade berry juice for tattooing. taña de Oro, and Harmony Headlands are prime wildflower trails. You can even view flowers on Wildflowers do not only provide a vivid visual the predominately flat asphalt-covered Bob Jones show. Like most things in nature, a purpose is Trail in Avila that is inclusive to just about ev- served beyond what one observes. The colorful eryone. It can, however, be like an Easter egg bouquets provide habitat for pollinators, such hunt, where you must seek and find. What are as bees and butterflies. These flowers benefit insome of the flowers you can expect to see on sects, wildlife, and are important for ecosystem this trail? A variety of lupine with its upright function. During the winter months, when food lavender flower spikes, yellow field mustard, is scarce, wildflower seeds become a nutritional spiny thistle, glossy yellow petaled Oxalis, or- source for small mammals and birds. Wildflowange sticky monkeyflower, to name a few. Indian ers improve soil health as well as prevent erosion. paintbrush bright red tufts often pop out along the trail. The trumpet-shaped coast morning Interestingly, they play a role in improving glory grows well, which like the poppy, closes water quality by collecting water and allowing its bloom to retain heat when the sunsets or on it to slowly soak into the ground, therefore recloudy days. Often the morning glory will wind ducing runoff. This action minimizes the number its way up trees and shrubs, creating a nice floral of pollutants flowing into our waterways. There display on a nonflowering host. Brilliant, deep, are many additional ways wildflowers aid people. orange-colored poppies are a splendid treat to Humans have used plants, including flowers, see. An appropriate symbol of the Golden State, for food, healing ailments, and treating wounds, California poppies became the official California throughout history. state flower on March 2, 1903. Other beautiful contenders were in the running for this honor; Take time to discover and learn about wildpossibly, due to the floral fields representation flowers for not only beauty and fragrance but of gold sought during the gold rush, the poppy also their contributions that pleasantly benefit was selected. the environment. Examining wildflowers can be fascinating; each shape and design are integral Along with appealing blossoms, you can occa- works of art. Lace up your hiking shoes and head sionally spot berries adorning branches of vines, out on a trail while the blooms are out; you are plants, and shrubs, such as the elderberry. The sure to savor the experience.
Lupine
Oxtails
Poppies
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Central Coast Journal
