pennywort_man's Favorites

Shepherd's-Needle (Scandix pecten-veneris) A.k.a. Venus' Neddle. Introduced/naturalized plant in the Carrot (Apiaceae ) family that grows 15-30cm (up to 12 inches) tall in grassland or disturbed soils. This plant has distinctive leaves, which are finely-dissected similar to parsley. It has asymmetrical white flowers, with a longer outward-facing petal. The long, narrow, "needle-like" fruits give the plant its common name. Peak bloom time: April-May.

Jepson eFlora (CA native and naturalized plants with botanical illustrations, videos) https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=43465

Calflora (CA native plants with species distribution maps, plant communities) https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=7376

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell ,2015 (2300+ species), pp. 28-29.

Monterey County Wildflowers (photographic guide of wildflowers, shrubs and trees) https://montereywildflowers.com/apiaceae-woodland/

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016 (950+ species with photos), p. 173.

Flora of Fort Ord: Monterey County, California , David Styer, 2019 (includes peak bloom times), p. 26.

5-minute video of Fort Ord Flora and Fauna, produced by David Styer: https://fortordcleanup.com/archives/2020/natural-treasures-of-fort-ord-90-amazing-photographs/

Fort Ord A Love Story, Dorothy E. Denning, 2024 (includes 1,000+ color photos)

Flora of North America http://beta.floranorthamerica.org/Main_Page

Leaf Shape and Arrangement diagrams: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Leaf_morphology.svg

Native American Ethnobotany: Native plants used as food, medicine, dyes, tools, fibers and more by indigenous people of North America: http://naeb.brit.org/ (search by scientific name) (species not listed)

Endangered Species Fact Sheets (species in Monterey County) http://www.elkhornsloughctp.org/factsheet/ (species not listed)

CNPS Rare Plant Inventory: https://rareplants.cnps.org/Home/ (species not listed)