A Field Guide to California Wildflowers

The hills of California are alive with color during the spring when wildflowers blanket the countryside in a rainbow of blooms. From poppies to lupines to buttercups, there's no shortage of beautiful flowers to admire. But the state's natural beauty doesn't start or stop there; you can find an array of vibrant wildflowers throughout the year. The best time to go out and look for wildflowers is on a sunny day just after it has rained. California is a desert and many plants use the seasonal rain as a cue to crank up the color.

With this Field Guide to California Wildflowers we will introduce you to some of the most common California wildflowers with photos we have taken and the time of year you will most likely see them so that you can identify them while out exploring. So grab your camera gear and get ready for a beautiful adventure!

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Updated: 3/9/24

Count: 80 - Stay tuned, more flowers to come with each outing.

Plant: Baby Blue Eyes Blooms: February to June
​​Plant: Belladonna Lily Blooms: July to September Notes:
Plant: Black Sage Blooms: April to July
​Plant: Blue Dicks Blooms: March to May
​Plant: Bush Mallow Blooms: January to December Note: Also called Chaparral Mallow
Plant: Bush Sunflower Blooms: May to November
​Plant: Branched Scorpion Weed Blooms: April to October
Plant: California Aster Blooms: June to November
Plant: California Buckeye Blooms: May to June Notes: Seeds are toxic
Plant: California Bush Poppy Blooms: February to September
​Plant: California Fuchsia Blooms: June to October
​Plant: California Poppy Blooms: March to May
​Plant: California Sun Cup Blooms: March to May
Plant: California Wild Buckwheat Blooms: April to November
​Plant: Canaigre Dock Blooms: March to May Note: Wild Rhubarb
Plant: Canterbury Bells Blooms: March to June
Plant: Chamise Blooms: April to June
Plant: Chaparral Yucca Blooms: April to June
Plant: Chia Sage Blooms: March to June Notes: Very short plant, low to the ground. Sometimes all you will see is the spiky flower stock coming out of the ground.
​​Plant: Common Phacelia Blooms: February to June
​​Plant: Coulter’s Lupine Blooms: March to May
Plant: Dandelion Blooms: May to October Notes: Known as a weed to most people
Plant: Davidson’s Lotus Blooms: May to August Notes: Flowers can be yellow to Orange
​Plant: Deerweed Blooms: March to July
Plant: Desert Indian Paintbrush Blooms: March to August
Plant: Elegant Clarkia Blooms: May to June
​Plant: Evening Primrose Blooms: June to September
Plant: Felt Leaved Yerba Santa Blooms: March to August Notes: Flowers can be white to Pale Blue. Butterflies love these
​Plant: Hairy Bittercress Blooms: March to July
​Plant: Halfmoon Milkvetch Blooms: March to May
​Plant: Largeflower Linanthus Blooms: May to August Note: RARE and Endangered
​Plant: Large-Flowered Phacelia Blooms: January to June

​​Plant: Lesser Indian Paintbrush Blooms: March to September
Plant: Mexican Elderberry Blooms: March to September
Plant: Mexican Pink Blooms: May to July
​Plant: Morning Glory Blooms: May-June
Plant: Moth Mullein Blooms: June to September
Plant: Mustard Blooms: March to July
Plant: Nevada Gila Blooms: March to June
​Plant: Padre's Shooting Star Blooms: February to April
Plant: Pasture Goatsbeard Blooms: March to October Notes: Introduced from Europe
Plant: Periwinkle Blooms: March to July
Plant: Pitted Onion Blooms: April to June
Plant: Plummer's Mariposa Lily Blooms: May to July
​Plant: Prickly Pear Cactus Blooms: April to June
​Plant: Prickly Poppy Blooms: March to July
​Plant: Red-gland Spurge Blooms: December to May Notes: Very small flower which makes it difficult to see
​Plant: Red-stem Filaree Blooms: February to May
​Plant: Rock Goldenbush Blooms: September to November
​​Plant: Rock Purslane Blooms: April to November
​Plant: Rubber Rabbitbrush Blooms: July to November
​Plant: Sacred Datura Blooms: April to October Note: Flowers can be a light shade of purple or blue as well. All parts of this plant are poisonous
​​Plant: San Bernardino Sun Cup Blooms: March to May
​​Plant: Scarlet Larkspur Blooms: May to July
​Plant: Scarlet Monkeyflower Blooms: May to October
​Plant: Scarlet Pimpernel Blooms: March to August
Plant: Short Leaved Cliff Aster Blooms: March to September
​Plant: Showy Prickly-Nut Cryptantha Blooms: March to July
​Plant: Silverpuffs Blooms: March to June
​Plant: Snow Plant Blooms: May to July Notes: Found in foreset areas 3,000 to 10,00 feet elevation
​Plant: Spanish Broom Blooms: April to June Notes: This plant is on the Government Noxious Weed List because it alters the soil and extreme fire hazard.
​Plant: Telegraph Weed Blooms: September to November
​Plant: Tarweed Blooms: April to September
​Plant: Thistle Blooms: May to October Notes: Flower can be pink to red, or blue to purple
Plant: Tidy Tips Blooms: March to June Notes: Flowers can also be all white
Plant: Tree Tobacco Blooms: April-August Notes: Leaves of this plant are poisonous if eaten
​Plant: Tufted Poppy Blooms: March to June
Plant: Twiggy Wreath Plant Blooms: June to October
Plant: Violet Wood-sorrel Blooms: March to October Notes: Leaves in three shaped like hearts
​Plant: Whipple Cholla Blooms: May to July
Plant: White Pincushion Blooms: April to July
​​Plant: White Sage Blooms: April to July
​Plant: White Tidytips Blooms: March to June
Plant: Wild Cucumber Blooms: January to April Notes: Produces large spiky fruit
​Plant: Wishbone Bush Blooms: December to June
​Plant: Wooly Sunflower Blooms: March to June
​Plant: Yellow Pincushion Blooms: April to July
​Plant: Yellow Rabbitbrush Blooms: June to October
​Plant: Yellow Star Thistle Blooms: May to October Notes: Invasive, Toxic to Horses
​Plant: Yellow Wood-sorrel Blooms: March to October Notes: Leaves in three shaped like hearts

Stay tuned, more flowers to come with each outing.

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