Occasional observations on the wildflowers of 91011.
If you were merely to glance at the blooms at Cherry Canyon, or almost anywhere throughout our local hills and canyons, you’d be right to conclude that ours is a landscape dominated by shrubs. Happily, most of these are flowering shrubs! But if you take a much closer look at our chaparral shrubscape, you may discover that some of those shrubs are either thoroughly interwoven WITH vines or they simply ARE vines. Southern Honeysuckle, with its creamy white blossoms, is a subtle example of the latter — a vine that masquerades as a shrub. But let’s forget about subtlety for a minute, okay?
Heartleaf Penstemon (Keckiella cordifolia) isn’t subtle. It’s about as RED as red can be, and it’s often happy to — literally! — get in your face. See, it’s a vine, and like all vines, it loves to climb and or wander. Sometimes it can bunch up and look like a regular shrub, but just as often it sneaks up through some other plant, or even climbs twenty feet up a tree, only to dangle delectably over a trail or fire road. Needless to say, it’s beloved by hummingbirds and butterflies. Oh, and also by hikers!
The San Gabriels and Verdugo Mtns. have several red penstemons, which include flowers in both the Penstemon and Keckiella genus. Some have evocative names, like Scarlet Bugler or Eaton Firecracker. But only Heartleaf Penstemon has a name that is truly helpful, because in addition to blossoms that are also scarlet or firecracker red, its leaves really are shaped like hearts. You can easily see these hearts at the bottom center of the photo below. (Sure, those hearts look just a little prickly, but who’s to judge? Don’t most of us, at least now and then, have prickly hearts too?)
When and where to find it. Heartleaf Penstemon bursts into bloom in late May and can hang around, sporadically, well into the summer months. It’s concentrated along the coast and into the coastal ranges from San Luis Obispo south to the Mexico border. At Cherry Canyon and in other local spots, it likes partial shade and often seeks shelter under larger trees along most of our roads and trails. One of its most pleasing habits is to spring up right alongside Southern Bush Monkeyflower, mixing its flaming red hues with the monkeyflower’s softer palette of yellow and orange. How can you not stop to admire?
- For more about Heartleaf Penstemon, visit Wikipedia.
- For information about growing Keckiella cordifolia in your yard, visit Calscape.org.
- For distribution maps, taxonomy, and more photos, visit Calflora.org.
- You can also read (or subscribe to) other occasional notes on the wildflowers of 91011.
