PLANT of the MONTH   ~~   OCTOBER, 2007
updated on or about the 1st of each month

TURKEY MULLEIN Common Name(s): Turkey Mullein, Dove Weed, Yerba del Pescado, Fish Locoweed Scientific Name: Eremocarpus setigerus Family: Euphorbiaceae Plant Type: Annual spreading herb Size: up to a foot high but usually lower, spreading to 1-3 feet wide Common Habitat: common in open, sandy disturbed places

Turkey mullein is a very low-growing plant that is commonly found in summer through fall on the sides of fire roads and other such places that are open to full sun. Its gray-green, roundish, thick leaves are 1/2 to 2 inches long, spade-shaped with 3 veins visible and covered in bristly hairs. Stems are also bristly. The pale yellowish flowers largely blend in with the foliage and are in bloom from May to November.

The species name of Eremocarpus stands for single fruit, which is present on pistillate flowers. Setigerus means that it bears bristles. Its common names tell two different stories; one, it is a food source for certain fowl that favor its seeds. Two, native peoples found the stems and leaves to contain a poison that they used to stun fish. Additional early uses were mostly topical in nature to cure chest disorders or other ailments.

One odd thing I've noted about this plant as I've been observing it this fall is the how often I find it growing in geometric shapes. I've seen triangles, squares, arrows, diamonds, and trapezoids to name a few. It is almost like searching for shapes in the clouds.

Contributed by Liz Baumann

ARCHIVES of past Plants of the Month:
September 2007: Wild Heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum)
August 2007: California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)
July 2007: Calabazilla (Cucurbita foetidissima)
June 2007: Speckled Clarkia (Clarkia cylindrica)
May 2007: Prickly Poppy (Argemone munita)
April 2007: Wild Cucumber (Marah macrocarpus)
March 2007: Large-Flowered Phacelia (Phacelia grandiflora)
February 2007: Chaparral Currant (Ribes malvaceum)
January 2007: Tree Tobacco (Nicotiana glauca)
December 2006: Poison Oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum)
November 2006: Sycamore (Platanus racemosa)
October 2006: Cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium)
September 2006: Vinegar Weed (Trichostema Lanceolatum)
August 2006: Lemonade Berry (Rhus integrifolia)
July 2006: Woolly Blue Curls (Trichostema lanatum)
June 2006: Yucca (Yucca whipplei)
May 2006: Monkey Flower (Mimulus Species)
April 2006: Lupine (Lupinus Species)
March 2006: Ceanothus (Ceanothus Species)
February 2006: Wild Peony (Paeonia californica)
January 2006: Purple Nightshade (Solanum xanti)
December 2005: Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia)

REFERENCES:
Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains, by Milt McAuley - link to Amazon.com
Flowering Plants: The Santa Monica Mountains, Coastal and Chaparral Regions of Southern California, by Nancy Dale - link to Amazon.com
Roadside Plants of Southern California, by Thomas J. Belzer - link to Amazon.com
California Native Plants for the Garden, by Carol Bornstein, David Fross, and Bart O'Brien - link to Amazon.com