WESTERN MOJAVE DESERT
APRIL 2017 PAGE TWO


   
Broad-flowered gilia
Gilia latiflora ssp. latiflora
Polemoniaceae
[Named for Filippo Luigi Gilii, 1756-1821]


 
Blue dicks
Dichelostemma capitatum ssp. capitatum
Themidaceae
Extensive research has not turned up any definitive answer to the question of why this plant is so named, but it seems likely that its name derived as a nickname shortened from Dick-el-OS-tem-ma, which was an epithet first published in 1843. NOTE: the generic name has been changed to Dipterostemon, so perhaps this should be called blue dips.


 
 
 
Broad-fruited pectocarya
Pectocarya platycarpa
Boraginaceae
 
 



   
Bristly pectocarya
Pectocarya setosa
Boraginaceae



   
Desert zygadene
Toxicoscordion brevibracteatum
Melanthiaceae



 
Ironclad beetle
Asbolus verrucosus
Tenebrionidae

  Inflated beetle
Cysteodemus armatus
Meloidae


 
 
 
Checker fiddleneck
Amsinckia tessellata var. tessellata
Boraginaceae
[Named for Wilhelm Amsinck, 1752-1831]
 
 



   
California croton
Croton californicus
Euphorbiaceae




 
 
 
Creosote bush
Larrea tridentata
Zygophyllaceae
[Named for Juan Antonio Hernández Perez de Larrea, 1731-1803]
 
 
 



 
 
 
Wild-rhubarb
Rumex hymenosepalus
Polygonaceae
[Right: Five-lined sphinx moth, Hyles lineata, caterpillar]
 
 



   

Cushion cryptantha
Cryptantha circumscissa
Boraginaceae






PHOTO GALLERIES
INDEX
CALFLORA.NET PAGE THREE
OF EIGHT
CALIFORNIA PLANT NAMES: LATIN AND GREEK MEANINGS AND DERIVATIONS
VIRGINIA PLANT NAMES: LATIN AND GREEK MEANINGS AND DERIVATIONS