Pretty Pointy Things

If you like your flowers a little on the dangerous side, then these are for you. The gorgeous cactus flowers above, with their delicate splashes of pink on yellow, are well protected by the spiny pads around them. The white and purple blossoms below are protected from pretty much everything by the dagger-like leaves beneath them. I'm not sure of what either of these plants are called, but I'm hunting. Both of them were found at Casperson Beach in Venice this past Sunday.