sunburst anemone (a natural list, no. 18)

they're everywhere, yet they never get old (metaphorically)

You’re reading a natural list, a series in which I (an amateur naturalist) share three delightful things about an animal, plant, or fungus native to California along with an original illustration. It’s by no means an exhaustive list of delightful things, but it’s a start.

This series was inspired by the common tradition of naturalists keeping “life lists” that document the species they’ve seen throughout their lifetimes, and it’ll run as long as it takes to get through every California native species (which is to say, buckle in, because there are over 6,500 plants alone).

Whew, it’s been a little while since I’ve done one of these (both an installment of this series and a newsletter post in general, oops).

We’re picking up a natural list again today with one of my favorite organisms on the planet, also one of my favorites to witness people touching for the first time. It is, of course, none other than the sunburst anemone.

But before we get into why I find this cnidarian particularly delightful, I have some very fun news … the print collection of Filter Feeder: Nature Loved & Lost is now available! It compiles pieces from a wide range of artists and writers about processing both joy and grief in our relationships with nature and community. All proceeds are being donated to LA wildfire relief organizations.

You can get a downloadable PDF here for free or pre-order a print copy here.

Cool, now let’s get into the sunburst anemone.