Occasional notes on the wildflowers of 91011
It starts as a spray or splash of heavily lobed leaves. It then develops into a modest, inverted, cup-shaped flower. Its insides are absurdly packed with yellow stamens. Its petals shade from red or very dark red down to almost black at their bases. These shadowy flowers usually hide under a pair of leaves near the flower’s base that look like all-too-much like the antlers of a wayward moose. But soon, the entire show, leaves and all, will pack up and by the end of spring disappear without a trace, waiting underground until the next winter’s rains.
Yep, that’s California Peony (Paeonia californica). It’s one of only two wild peonies in the state, and the only one you’ll find in Southern California. It’s not considered to be rare, but it can easily seem elusive — not least because if you don’t find it within a month either side of flowering, you surely won’t find it at all.
The beauty of this flower lies in part in the contrast between the subtle coloring of its dark petals and the exuberance of its bright green leaves. It’s a nonconformist. It makes a splash, and then it departs. Once you’ve seen it up close, either you’ll think it’s odd and you’ll move on — or you’ll fall in love with it. If you find it, look well, because it’s notoriously difficult to grow at home!
Where and when to find it. California Peony occurs from Carmel to northern Baja California, on chaparral hillsides and coastal sage scrub. It’s found throughout the higher parts of Cherry Canyon, having been seen in at least a dozen locations, but many of these observations document but a single plant, not a colony. In some years, some of those plants just don’t appear. The flat upper section of Liz’s Loop is a fairly reliable location, but it also grows in a few places along the Cerro Negro Trail, as well as on the higher slopes above the Cerro Negro Trail but below the main fire road. There is also a good patch near the end of the Lookout (spur) Trail. Our peonies depend heavily on winter rains, so they may bloom by early February, or not until early April, or in a really dry year . . . not at all.
- For more about Paeonia californica, visit Wikipedia.
- For information about growing this plant in your yard, visit Calscape.org.
- For distribution maps, taxonomy, and more photos, visit Calflora.org.
- And go here to read other occasional notes on the wildflowers of 91011.
