[The common name is somewhat of a puzzle. 'Yerba' means herb in Spanish, but 'mansa,' often thought to mean 'calm,' may have been derived elsewhere. Karl Theodor Hartweg collected it in 1837 in Mexico, noting its name as Yerba del manso, and it was published first by Thomas Nuttall. According to Robert DeRuff, Plants of Upper Newport Bay, "The common name, Yerba Mansa, means 'tame herb.'  The true name once was Yerba del Manso, 'the herb of the tamed Indian.' " Mansa/manso means tame, tranquil or calm in Spanish, but this plant was extensively used medicinally by the Chumash and Cahuilla people, and "calm" may have referred more to healing as it was known as "the healing herb". However, Indians who worked at Spanish missions were known as mansos, so this would have been 'the herb of the manso,' or 'tamed Indian,' and thus has nothing to do with the word 'calm.']

Puncture vine *
Tribulus terrestris
Zygophyllaceae
[The Zygophyllaceae is the caltrop family. A caltrop is a multi-pointed metal device used as an anti-personnel or anti-equine weapon to be strewn across a battlefield. The Romans referred to it as a tribulus.}

Calabazilla, Stinking gourd
Cucurbita foetidissima
Cucurbitaceae

Willow-herb Epilobium ciliatum Onagraceae

Creek monkeyflower
Mimulus guttatus
Phrymaceae
[guttatus = from the Latin meaning "a drop-like spot" which describes the red dots on both petals and sepals]

Water pennywort ^
Hydrocotyle verticillata
Araliaceae
[verticillata = whorled, referring to the flowers]

Yellow bird-of-paradise *
Caesalpinia gilliesii
Fabaceae
[named for Scottish botanist John Gillies, 1792-1834]

Allium sp. Alliaceae