Flora of Camp Tahquitz - herbaceous plants

For additional and background information see my other posts on the Flora of Camp Tahquitz.

Note: I think I'll throw this post out into the wild in its current incomplete form and hope I get some plant ID help.  Update: (8/2) I've decided that it's P. labrosus, not P. rostriflrus. (7/31) I decided that my ID of Solidago was right based on a return trip. Update: (30 July) I have an ID for the "cute plant" courtesy of a nice reader.  It's Horkelia.  Also, I fixed a self-inflicted misidentification of Penstemon.

I'm not sure why my focus seems to be on the smaller herbaceous plants.  Perhaps I can see myself more easily growing them at home.  I'm looking for plant ID help on some of these - I'll willingly take your input and corrections.

Penstemon.  I'm thinking Penstemon rostriflorus  (Bridge penstemon, Bridge's Penstemon, beaked penstemon) rather than P. labrosus  (San Gabriel beardtongue) because of the more rounded flower ends.  (8/2): I've reversed myself.  P. rostriflorus seems to have a more clumping growth habit than I see here and different flower / leaf configurations so I'm coming down in favor of Penstemon labrosus (San Gabriel beardtongue). I had earlier this mis-identified as California Fuschia (Epilobium). oops.

There's some interesting color variation.  I'm not sure if it's age that makes the color change or if it's just a typical variation.  I could find examples that supported both points of view.

A large patch of Mugwort (Artemisia douglasiana, California Mugwort, Douglas' sagewort) at the bottom of the meadow.  A hand lettered sign noted that this was "Common sage" but all parties that I've consulted now agree that isn't correct.

much more below...

Close up of the Artemisia:

Top view of the Artemisia:

Hartweg's Iris (Iris hartwegii ssp. australis, southern Hartweg's Iris) had just finished blooming when I was there in the second week of July.  This is an interesting iris to find because this geographically isolated population of the species (which explains the subspecies name, australis = southern) that lives only in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties between 5000' and 7000' feet elevation.  The main body of the I. hartwegii species exists in more northern areas of the state.  This southern subspecies is purple, but the others are yellow or cream colored.  You can see a remnant of the purple flower in this photo.

Wooly Mullein (Verbascum thapsus, common mullein, wooly mullein, great mullein, mullein, Jacob's staff, flannel leaf, velvet plant, candlewick plant, lung wort, felt wort) appears mostly near the Commisary.  It's not native.  It's actually considered an invasive weed by Cal IPC, but it is interesting to look at:

This is a biennial plant. "First-year plant is a rosette of large, woolly, gray-green leaves.... Plants usually bolt in second year and have a single stem covered with overlapping, woolly leaves from base to inflorescence." -CAL-IPC.

Here we come to a bit of a conundrum.  This is another patch of Artemisia, located not far from the one listed above (this patch is just up the dirt road from campsite 9).

But, it appears subtly yet distinctly different than the other: The leaves are more silvery overall, with far fewer leaves that have the highly lobed character of the previous patch.  Finally, the scent of the leaves when crushed was less aromatic than the scent of the other patch.  It could be the growth conditions, but I've (perhaps hopefully) decided that this may be Artemisia ludoviciana (Silver Wormwood).  However, I've been unable to find a definitive description of the leaf that would differentiate the two Artemesias and pictures on Calflora show both leaf characters for both plants, so my species ID is somewhat questionable in my mind.  One thing this is NOT, is White sage, a common belief among the staff at camp.

Here's a little plant that looks like strawberry (Fragaria) but...

...it has these tall flower stalks that are unlike any Fragaria that I've ever seen (out of focus in this photo):

Close up of flower stalks:

I was TOTALLY perplexed about the flower stalks given the otherwise close resemblance to strawberry.  I had a discussion with one of the camp staff about this and at first we thought it was in fact strawberry with another plant growing in its midst, but quickly determined that it wasn't.

After some searching, I think I've stumbled on the right genus: Drymocallis.  It could be Sierran Beauty (Drymocallis lactea var. lactea) but it's more likely to be Sticky cinquefoil (Drymocallis glandulosa).  I'd bet a large number of dollars to donuts that it's not Fragaria.

NOT Strawberry, Drymocallis:

There were a number of these around camp, but I'm coming up without a firm ID.  Maybe one of my readers can help?

Likewise with this low growing and cute groundcover.  Bees loved the small flowers, visible but out of focus in the second photo. UPDATE:  Reader Katie pointed me towards Horkelia, and I think she's right: Horkelia rydbergii (Rydberg's horkelia).  There's the distinct possibility of finding the rare(!!) Horkelia wilderae (Barton Flats horkelia) in the vicinity since camp is located in Barton Flats.  I'll have to look for it when I return.

Solidago?  That's a major guess, so don't hold me to it.  A flower would help but I didn't see any here.  UPDATE 7/31: In sunnier locations I have seen a yellow flower spike on what appears to be the same plants and this makes me confident that it's in genus Solidago.  A hand-lettered sign said "deer weed", but that common name usually refers to Acmispon glaber (formerly Lotus scoparius  AKA common deerweed, deerweed) which also has a yellow flower but looks nothing like this.  I'm now willing to give odds that it's Solidago.  There is a probable species candidate: S. velutina ssp. californica  (California Goldenrod),  based on online reference to its habitat of "Woodland margins, grassland, disturbed soils". 

Linanthus.  I'm making the call that it's Linanthus pungens  (granite prickly phlox).

Here's a plant that I expected to have a tough chaparral name but instead I find that it's called False Indigo (Amorpha californica, California false indigo, False indigo, mock locust).  There's a variety that exists near Napa.  Since I'm not near Napa, that makes this Amorpha Californica var. Californica. This plant is the larval food plant for our California State butterfly, the California Dogface

False Indigo (Amorpha californica, California false indigo, False indigo, mock locust)

There were at least two different kinds of currants/ gooseberries at camp.  This Ribes roezlii (Sierra gooseberry) was one that happened to catch my eye.