At a Glance

Last year's fires created new growing areas for invasive plants.Of particular concern, black mustard weed could prove to be the perfect fuel for fires.The weed has become too widespread to fully eradicate.

The vast carpets of colorful wildflowers across much of California could turn into the perfect fuel for wildfires, according to experts who are monitoring the state's spectacular wildflower .

Of particular concern is the invasive black mustard plant, a weed which grows in clumps up to 10-feet-tall and has taken over many fire-scarred areas in the Santa Monica Mountains.

"In a couple of months, the mustard will dry out, turn brown and become ," Joseph Algiers, a restoration ecologist for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, told NBC4 in Los Angeles. "Sadly, newly burned sites are more subject to invasion."

Ninety percent of the urban national park burned in last year's .

(MORE: Millions of Pine Trees Felled by Hurricane Michael Could Fuel Devastating Wildfires)

Black mustard was introduced by the Spanish as a spice crop, Heather Schneider, a rare plant biologist with the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, told KCLU radio. She said the plant's seeds can lie dormant in the ground for up to 50 years. Wildfires, though, clear the existing vegetation and pave the way for the dormant black mustard seeds to grow.

"Part of what makes them so striking is that they're very large plants ... and they produce tons of those that are so photogenic," Schneider said. "But that means they also produce tons of seed."

Black mustard's height can turn into a "fire ladder" that carries flames to taller trees, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. And because of where and how it grows, black mustard is often found in places with other highly flammable non-native grasses, including brome.

Ventura County Fire Capt. Kenneth Wong told the Times that once they are dry, the invasive grasses can ignite easily and quickly spread fire.

"The grasses are ," Wong said. "They turn brown pretty quick."

Experts say black mustard is so pervasive it has become impossible to quickly eradicate.

"It would probably be easier to get another man on the moon than to get rid of this invasive plant on a regional scale," Algiers told NBC4.