EISPIRATEN

Anybody know what this is? I saw it growing along the Mt. Lowe East Trail today. Kinda unique and cool.

I don't know, but I've seen them and think they're cool too. Something out of a Dr. Seuss story!

They remind me of the Western Anemone post-flower seed pods that I saw up in Banff, Canada two summers ago. And it appears that there are some to be found in California:

http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species ... recnum=357

https://www.google.com/search?q=western ... 87&bih=952

That first photo looks really cool!

jfr- thanks for the info on the Western Anemone. Although there are some similarities, the things I saw were growing on a woody shrub/tree roughly the size of a fair sized manzanita (see, second pic). They were growing on a south facing slope at approximately 5,000 ft. elevation. Looks like the Western Anemone is lower to the ground and more herbaceous, no?

So I think this stuff is Virgin's Bower. What do you think?

http://www.pbase.com/dancinec/image/115217308

tchester says it grows in the San Gabes.

http://tchester.org/sgm/plants/climbers.html

Calflora entry here:

http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species ... ecnum=2255

Yep, now that you mention it, that second picture pretty much rules out the anemone. The anemones were all green and non-woody, just another low flowering plant growing in a grassy meadow.

Now if only you could remember which plant this was next year during the spring and summer, and the ID might be easier.

I've been wracking my pea brain on this... I did identify it once apon a time

We get these flowers (virgins Bower) all over the santa ana mountains usually in the 3-5k ft range.

http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species ... ecnum=2254

Without a specimen in hand I would lean much more toward this variety.

chaparral clematis, pipestem, pipestem clematis

Yeah, looking at the "communities" in which it primarily grows and scrolling through some of the pics on Calflora, I think you're probably right matt. Input much appreciated.