#endemic

Two cassowaries by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾 北斎, Japan, 1760-1849)

1: c.1820-40s, drawing from Illustrations for the Great Picture Book of Everything

Mauligobius maderensis

Madeira Goby

Image source

Status: Least concern

ʻAkiapōlāʻau in the Rain

Fiddlenecks (Amsinckia, very probably Amsinckia eastwoodiae, which is specific to Southern California).

In the spring, fiddlenecks explode in our area, filling fields and hillsides with tall, bristly stems of pretty yellow flowers.

They’re a big downside, though. Fiddlenecks are so prolific that they’re invasive, and will crowd out every other native plant and wildflower that might otherwise grow. If you mow them down, they’ll quickly come back, so they have be pulled out by the roots.