Orobanche californica ssp. jepsonii. (observed on Montaņa de Oro Oats Peak trail to Coon Creek 7-2-05)
(Pending final identification... Barbara Renshaw says "... I looked at some pictures, and I guess that your plant is Orobanche californica ssp. jepsonii. But that can only be true if there were herbs or shrubs in the Astercaceae family there.  Such plants could include Artemisia californica (CA Sagebrush), Ericameria ericoides (Mock Heather), Yarrow, either true Yarrow or "Golden Yarrow," Pearly Everlasting.")


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4-15-06: Notes added as to the location of the sighting...
The subject was observed one foot off the west side of the trail heading down from Oats Peak toward Coon creek...
sort of on the ridge, and fairly near the top. 
At Topo Map of Montaņa de Oro with Trail Overlay there is a topo map (http://docents.info/images/topo-map-of-MDO-w-trails/) to http://docents.info/images/topo-map-of-MDO-w-trails/MDO-trails-with-topo-80q.jpg -- the observation point was approximately in the center of the sub-image from that map, shown in the image below (click the thumbnail to enlarge), to
http://docents.info/images/7-2-05-orobanche/orobanche-location-7-2-05-mdo.jpg

References:  http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/ipc/weedinfo/usedimages/Brbroomrapemap.html shows the distribution of Branched Broomrape in California...
from http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/ipc/weedinfo/orobranche-ramosa.htm   and
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/ipc/weedinfo/orobanche.htm 
 
ref. http://plants.usda.gov/cgi_bin/topics.cgi?earl=plant_profile.cgi&symbol=OROBA 
 
http://plants.usda.gov/cgi_bin/topics.cgi?earl=plant_profile.cgi&symbol=ORCA2&photoID=orca2_002_ahp.tif 

 

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