Despite the dry conditions of early summer in chaparral brushlands one can stumble across cheery patches of magenta to blue wildflowers.   This beauty of a wildflower, Foothill Penstemon or Foothill Beardtongue (Penstemon heterophyllus), is found in all major coastal mountain ranges where it prefers dry hillsides and rocky cliffs ...usually found in chaparral brushlands.  It can also be found in open oak woodlands and grasslands.

This cheery late spring/early summer flower has five petals that are untied to form a "two-lipped" tubular flower that attracts hummingbirds.  This flower is endemic to California and is rather common at the UC Hopland Research & Extension Center.