Penstemon, the beardtongues, is a large genus of roughly 250 species of flowering plants native mostly to the Nearctic, but with a few species also found in the North American portion of the Neotropics. It is the largest genus of flowering plants endemic to North America. Formerly placed in the family Scrophulariaceae by the Cronquist system, new genetic research has placed it in the vastly expanded family Plantaginaceae.
Lupinus, commonly known as lupin or lupine, is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centers occur in North Africa and the Mediterranean. They are widely cultivated, both as a food source and as ornamental plants, although in New Zealand's South Island, introduced lupins are viewed as a severe environmental threat.
Cryptantha is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae. They are known commonly as cat's eyes and popcorn flowers. They are distributed throughout western North America and western South America, but they are absent from the regions in between.
Cercocarpus, commonly known as mountain mahogany, is a small genus of at least nine species of nitrogen-fixing flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native to the western United States and northern Mexico, where they grow in chaparral and semidesert habitats and climates, often at high altitudes. Several are found in the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion.
Camissonia, sometimes commonly known as sun cup or sundrop, is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the evening primrose family Onagraceae. A total of 12 species are known, nearly all from western North America, especially in the California Floristic Province, but also one from South America. Previous circumscriptions of the genus had recognized up to 62 species before it was split among other closely related genera.
Alice Eastwood was a Canadian American botanist. She is credited with building the botanical collection at the California Academy of Sciences, in San Francisco. She published over 310 scientific articles and authored 395 land plant species names, the fourth-highest number of such names authored by any female scientist. There are seventeen currently recognized species named for her, as well as the genera Eastwoodia and Aliciella.
Mentzelia is a genus of about 60-70 species of flowering plants in the family Loasaceae, native to the Americas. The genus comprises annual, biennial, and perennial herbaceous plants and a few shrubs.
Dalea is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. Members of the genus are commonly known as prairie clover or indigo bush. Its name honors English apothecary Samuel Dale (1659–1739). They are native to the New World, where they are distributed from Canada to Argentina. Nearly half of the known species are endemic to Mexico. Two species of Dalea have been considered for rangeland restoration.
Cirsium arizonicum, the Arizona thistle, is a North American species of thistle in the sunflower family, native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It has been found in Arizona, southeastern California, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Sonora, and northwestern Chihuahua.
Psorothamnus is a genus of plants in the legume family. These are shrubs and small trees. Many are known by the general common name indigo bush. Some are referred to as daleas, as this genus was once included in genus Dalea. These are generally thorny, thickly branched, strongly scented bushes. Most species bear lupinlike raceme inflorescences of bright purple legume flowers and gland-rich pods. Psorothamnus species are native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The genus is paraphyletic and it has been proposed that the genus Psorodendron be reinstated to accommodate sections Xylodalea, Capnodendron, and Winnemucca.
Astragalus lentiginosus is a species of legume known by the common names spotted locoweed and freckled milkvetch. It is native to western North America, where it grows in many habitat types. There are a great number of wild varieties of this species, and they vary in appearance. The flower and the fruit of a given individual are generally needed to identify it down to the variety.
Allium howellii is a North American species of wild onion known by the common name Howell's onion. It is endemic to California.
Argyrochosma jonesii, known as Jones' false cloak fern, is a species of fern native to the southwestern United States and Sonora, Mexico. It grows on calcareous rocks, and has small, finely-divided leaves with a leathery texture and dark axes connecting the leaf segments. Unlike many members of Argyrochosma, it does not secrete white powder on the underside of its leaves. First described as a species in 1917, it was transferred to the new genus Argyrochosma in 1987, recognizing their distinctness from the "cloak ferns".
Dieteria canascens is an annual plant or short lived perennial plant in the daisy family, known by the common names hoary tansyaster and hoary-aster.
William Russel Dudley was an American botanist. He headed the botany department at Stanford University from 1892 to 1911. His collection built at Stanford is considered to be one of the most important contributions to knowledge of the flora of California. This became the nucleus of what is now known as the Dudley Herbarium.
Vernon Orlando Bailey (1864–1942) was an American naturalist who specialized in mammalogy. He was employed by the Bureau of Biological Survey, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). His contributions to the Bureau of Biological Survey numbered roughly 13,000 specimens including many new species. Bailey published 244 monographs and articles during his career with the USDA, and is best known for his biological surveys of Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Oregon.
