Today's botany lesson

As I was returning to the Rolling Steel Tent with the focaccia I had scored I saw this striking succulent and wondered what the hell it was called. A black succulent??? I hadn’t known such a thing existed. The omniscient internet brain informed me:

The succulent plant most commonly known for its dark purple-to-black leaves is the Aeonium arboreum ‘Zwartkop’, often referred to as the Black Rose, Black Tree Aeonium, or Purple Rose Aeonium. 

Then there were these interesting blossoms a little farther down the street:

Leucospermum cordifolium (commonly known as ornamental pincushion or bobbejaanklou) is a striking evergreen shrub native to the Western Cape of South Africa.

Next door were these Valeriana rubra, a.k.a red valerian, spur valerian, kiss-me-quick, fox’s brush, devil’s beard or Jupiter’s beard. I’m less curious about the flower than the thinking that led to it being called both kiss-me-quick and devil’s beard. Were there gardeners going about kissing the devil.

As a former Californian I had no trouble identifying these California poppies, the state flower.