May 17, 2011
These beautiful springtime flowers of the northern California Coast Ranges mountains are endemic to Northern California. Many times these colonies are found in chaparral brushlands where they can easily missed because of the over-story of woody species. Erythronium californicum Purdy, which is in the family Liliaceae, has sometimes been called the "soul of spring". It was first described by the famous botanist and plant collector Carl Purdy (the USGS Quad on the north end of HREC is called "Purdy's Garden").
