First flowers of native Snowdrop Bush (Styrax redivivus, Styracaceae)
Here are the first new flowers of native Snowdrop Bush (Styrax redivivus) in the Styracaceae plant family fully open in the mountains today. This deciduous shrub has everything - gorgeous white flowers like these, edible nuts (here), and pretty autumn leaves (here). The flowers have a strong, sweet fragrance like perfume. For the few weeks that they flower, there is no finer wildflower in our mountains. They are pretty common here on San Marcos Pass - both in woodland and chaparral. They are stunning flowers, worth hunting for. (San Marcos Pass, 26 April 2019)
The shrubs are unusual, a singleton in their family here in California. The specimen map at the Jepson eFlora shows them all around the central valley in California, but I suspect their distribution is highly localized. They are common here on the pass, but I don't think I've seen them anywhere else in Santa Barbara County. There is just one record from San Luis Obispo county to the north and none from Ventura county to the south.
First flowers of native Snowdrop Bush (Styrax redivivus, Styracaceae)
Here are the first new flowers of native Snowdrop Bush (Styrax redivivus) in the Styracaceae plant family fully open in the mountains today. This deciduous shrub has everything - gorgeous white flowers like these, edible nuts (here), and pretty autumn leaves (here). The flowers have a strong, sweet fragrance like perfume. For the few weeks that they flower, there is no finer wildflower in our mountains. They are pretty common here on San Marcos Pass - both in woodland and chaparral. They are stunning flowers, worth hunting for. (San Marcos Pass, 26 April 2019)
The shrubs are unusual, a singleton in their family here in California. The specimen map at the Jepson eFlora shows them all around the central valley in California, but I suspect their distribution is highly localized. They are common here on the pass, but I don't think I've seen them anywhere else in Santa Barbara County. There is just one record from San Luis Obispo county to the north and none from Ventura county to the south.