When I heard about the surprising discovery by Jane Strong of Hesperevax acaulis var. ambusticola, an uncommon species that I had never seen before practically in my back yard, I went out to the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area to photograph it. Santa Fe Dam is a county park situated in Irwindale in the San Gabriel Valley which impounds water from the mountains carried by the San Gabriel River. I was amazed at how small and inconspicuous this species is, but Jane's telescopic eyes spotted it, and it's a cute little plant. There are a number of other somewhat unusual things there, and quite a few other species now in bloom with further evidence that this will be a good year floristically. Some excellent infor-mation on the plant communities and interesting species, plus a link to a flora of the area compiled by Mickey Long, can be found at:  http://cnps-sgm.org/santafedam/plants.html. There are species there especially near the Nature Center that have been planted, and since it is a somewhat disturbed area, there are many introduced species. I express my appreciation to Jane for helping me with identifications. An upside-down V symbol next to the common name indicates a species new to me, and an asterisk indicates a non-native or hybrid taxon.

Bush sunflower
Encelia californica
Asteraceae
[Named for Christoph Entzelt, 1517-1583]

Caterpillar phacelia
Phacelia cicutaria var. hispida
Hydrophyllaceae

Black sage
Salvia mellifera
Lamiaceae

cf. Small-leaf Mountain lilac *
Ceanothus sp. 'Julia Phelps'
Rhamnaceae

Purple nightshade
Solanum xanti
Solanaceae
[Named for János Xántus (de Vesey) 1825-1894]

Wishbone bush
Mirabilis californica
Nyctaginaceae

Sun cups
Camissonia bistorta
Onagraceae
[Named for Ludolf Karl Adelbert von Chamisso, 1781-1838]

cf. Coulter's lupine
Lupinus sparsiflorus
Fabaceae

Large-flowered cryptantha
Cryptantha intermedia
Boraginaceae

Winged pectocarya
Pectocarya penicillata
Boraginaceae