In the midst of recent rains, thousands of Orcutt?EUR??,,????'?????<

Environmental groups, including the Ballona Institute and the Center for Biological Diversity, are pleading with the Los Angeles Department of Public Works to cease construction pending a determination by state wildlife authorities of the plant?EUR??,,????'?????< adequate mitigation.

In the meantime, city crews have surrounded three patches of pincushions with yellow caution tape and placed small plastic flags beside individual plants as part of an effort to alert pedestrians. But there were signs that those precautions were not working. A week ago, environmentalists snapped photographs of pincushions sprouting between two utility poles placed on the ground by Los Angeles Department of Water and Power crews. The poles were recently removed.