Here is an exotic looking beauty; it's native to California and Oregon but it looks almost tropical. This is the Leopard Lilly (Lilium pardalinum subsp. vollmeri).  This photograph slipped through the net when I was compiling entries following my trip to the States in July.
 L. pardalinum is a plant of moist streambanks and boggy fens and wetlands. I saw it growing in one of the marshier meadows draining down from Mount Eddy but the photo above was taken only a few miles out of San Fransisco.
 On the other side of the bay Mount Tamalpais rises to a height of 2,580 feet above sea level. The day after I flew in I did some day hiking with friends who live in the city. We drove out via the Golden Gate Bridge and walked a number of trails. The wildflower season is more or less over in this part of California by mid-summer but this lovely Leopard Lilly was growing among the dreaded Poison Ivy by a stream that still had a trickle of water.
 Mount Tam has sweeping views over to SF/Oakland/Berkley, also out to sea and inland across Marin County. But not the day we went- a thick Frisco fog was blanketing the Bay Area!