This was a new one for me. Snow queen (Synthyris reniformis var. cordata), a member of the snapdragon family (Scrophulariaceae), is much too small and inconspicuous for such a dramatic name as snow queen. The flowers were about as high as my longest finger, and I was flat on my belly for this shot.
This species can have more reniform (kidney shaped - wider than long) leaves than the one shown here, but leaf shape is variable. Jepson says that plants with leaves longer than they are wide were known as S. reniformis var. cordata, so I take it this may be outdated.
There's also variation in flower color in this species - they're more commonly found with blue to purple flowers.
Photos taken on March 14 in the Noyo watershed east of Fort Bragg, Ca. The flowers were growing on the roadbed of a little-traveled redwood forest road.
[This just in: the snapdragon or figwort family, Scrophulariaceae, according to the wikipedia article has been hacked to pieces and many genera kicked out and sent to other families, including Synthyris, which apparently belongs now to Plantaginaceae (plantain family). This is exactly why I wouldn't necessarily want to be a real botanist.]
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