In the foreground, glossy green foliage in shadow and bright red snapdragon-like flower of Island Snapdragon, Gambelia speciosa. The flower is a little over-exposed to light, but bright red and tubular, with lips shaped remarkably like their family sisters, the true snapdragons. The leaves are small, oval, with smooth perimeters and a glossy green texture.

Here's a surprise. A little over a week ago, I cleared out some spent wildflowers and discovered a plant growing happily between a shrub and my neighbor's fence, where I couldn't see it. Island Snapdragon I planted years back but hidden.

#photography #gambelia #speciosa #galvezia #garden #flower

Female long nosed leopard lizard in breeding colors, in Oregon’s Great Basin desert.

#gambelia#lizards#oregonherps#insituherps#fieldherping#reptilephotography#oregondesert#Easternoregon#wildlifephotography#nikonwildlife#greatbasin