California Native Plants In 2017,Soon spring after a made nice rain an inexuberant the Spring, entrance venture out in inMenifee the Menifee a�er Valley an unusually and wet winter and consistentlook rainfall for these through native 2016plants. a�er a five-year drought. Chia Salvia hispanica Monkey Flower The chia is a coveted plant Mimulus diplacus of the Luisenos. They The stems and leaves of used chia seeds for monkey flowers are endurance purposes. One edible. They can o�en be teaspoon of the high found growing in almost protein chia was sufficient solid rock with very li�le to sustain an individual for moisture. They are very twenty-four hours. drought tolerant.

Wild Cucumber Fiddleneck Marah fabaceus Amsinckia The fruit is pod-like and is The stems bear many covered with spines. small flowers which curl Each pod holds four black over at the top in a seeds which were manner reminiscent of a pulverized and used as a fiddle. This plant is paint pigment for known to be toxic to petroglyphs. horses and ca�le. Black Sage Wild Buckwheat Salvia mellifera Arctostaphylos glauca Black Sage is a small, These berries, called “li�le highly aroma�c, apples” can be harvested evergreen shrub. This when they ripen to make photo shows Snakehead a refreshing drink. Rock in the background Coyotes relished the drink and black sage plants as musch as the Luisenos. growing in the foreground. California Poppy. Eschscholzia Californica Miners Le�uce California poppy leaves Claytonia perfoliata were used for both food Miner's le�uce refers to and medicine. The leaves its use by California gold could be boiled or rush miners who ate it to steamed and used to get their vitamin C and to treat toothaches, sores prevent scurvy. It can be and as a seda�ve for eaten as a leaf vegetable. babies. It became the Most commonly it is state flower in 1903. eaten raw in salads. Indian Paintbrush Manzanita Castilleja Arctostaphylos glauca Also known as These berries, called “li�le Prairie-fire, Painted Cup apples” can be harvested or Painted Lady, these when they ripen to make a flowers are edible and refreshing drink. Coyotes were eaten by the relished the drink as much Luisenos with other fresh as the Luisenos. greens.