pickleweed, 9/12/10

Pickleweed, 9-12-10

Pickleweed, 9-12-10

Saltgrass, 9/12/10

Southern Tarplant, 9/6/10

Butterfly, skipper family, on Southern Tarplant, 9/6/10

Mulefat at Heron Pointe, 9/12/10

Seaside Heliotrope (along the Heron Point path boardering the wetlands), 9/12/10

Seaside Heliotrope (patches of green) on the Hellman Property, 9/12/10

California Fuschia at Heron Pointe, 9/12/10	White Sage at Heron Poine, 9/12/10	California Coast Goldenbrush at Heron Pointe, 9/12/10
California Buckwheat, Heron Pointe, 9/12/10	Deerbush, 9/12/10	California Encelia, 9/6/10
White Sage (light colored leaves), native bunch grass, CA Encelia, CA goldenbrush, 8/15/09	California Coast Goldenbrush, 8/1/09	California Buckwheat (the white flowering plant)

Coffeeberry at Heron Pointe, 9/12/10

Toyon, aka "Hollywood", Heron Pointe, 9/12/10

Milkweed (not sure what type or if native), Heron Pointe, 9/12/10

Yarrow (white flowering plant), Heron Pointe, 9/12/10

Path at Heron Point Cultural Education Center, landscaped with California Native Plants, 8/1/09

Beginning portion of Heron Pointe Path with no California Native Plants

Example of Heron Pointe path in areas with well established CA native plants

Native plant, California Lilac, Heron Pointe, 4/11/09

California native plant, Cleveland Sage, Gum Grove Park, 4/11/09

Invasive species, Artichoke Thistle
The four pictures below show this highly invasive plant.  Artichoke Thistle smothers native plants and is very difficult to remove.  Artichoke Thistle propagates by seed and usually does not stray too far from the parent plant unless the seed is disturbed.  Each flower bud produces 600-800 seeds.  The plant's tap root is 6-9 feet deep making digging it up very difficult and if all the roots are not all removed it will just sprout up again.  One acre of land heavily invested can have up to 22,000 plants.  Research suggests pruning the leaves and flower buds can help to prevent spreading but this must be done at precisely the right growth time and repeated through certain seasons, every three weeks and you still have the problem of the deep tap root.  This highly invasive non-native is found all over Gum Grove Park, Heron Pointe and the Hellman Ranch area of Los Cerritos Wetlands. 

Artichoke Thistle in bloom, Gum Grove Park, 4/19/08	Young Artichoke Thistle, Gum Grove Park, 4/11/09	Artichoke Thistle (foreground), 4/19/08
Artichoke Thistle, dies off in the summer/fall. 9/12/10	Artichoke Thistle, 4/19/08

Poison Hemlock (very toxic, not native, 4/20/08)

Purple spots on Poison Hemlock stems, positive identifier, 5/20/10

Poison Hemlock (very toxic, not native), 4/19/08

Jimson or Loco Weed (toxic), NOT Native to California, 4/20/08

Jimson Weed (Datura stramonium), not a native -- all parts of this plant are toxic This plant was introduced to the US, from Europe or Asia.  It is found throughout the country including in Gum Grove Park, Heron Point and Los Cerritos Wetlands.  Causes hallucinations and can cause death.  References: http://www.caf.wvu.edu/~forage/weedsolu/jimsonwd.htm http://bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/courses/Spring%2005%20projects/jimsonweed.htm

Pretty, but the yellow & white daisy type flowers are not native, Gum Grove 5/11/10	Closeup of the non-native daisy type flowers at Gum Grove, 5/20/10	Another common invasive, tree tobacco, 8/15/09
Black Mustard (young plant), non native, invasive, 9/12/10	Gum Grove Park, Spring Picture (4-19-08), non-native plants	Gum Grove Park, Summer Picture (8-1-09), non-native plants

View of Hellman property area of the wetlands from Gum Grove parking lot, 8/15/09

In the pic on the left, the pretty red patches (often seen in wet or seasonal ponding areas) is actually a non-native plant, a very invasive iceplant originating from Africa.  This same iceplant is found in many California coastal wetlands, including at Bolsa Chica.  Also shown in the pic on the left are many natives including pickleweed, deerbush, California goldenbrush, mulefat, to name a few.  The white bare areas are sometimes called pannes or "salt pans", these areas are covered with water often.  Sometimes also called seasonal ponds.