I think this is the same plant. Has long yellow flowers

Arctostaphylos sp.? Those are 'preformed inflorescences' that will flower in late winter or early spring.

The first set of photos could be the manzanita or Arctostaphylos. Pretty common native plant in SoCal. But if the last photo with the tubular yellow flowers is indeed the same plant, then it is NOT arctostaphylos. This is a member of the heath family and like the vast majority of that family, will have small, pendulous, urn-shaped flowers in whites and pinks.

Would be nice to have a closer version of the last picture shown here, one where it was possible to get a good look.

Otherwise I think we are looking at something like this, as nonmember posted above:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/treebeard/15451405420

It does look like Bigberry manzanita, Arctostaphylos glauca. Thanks for your help.

Here's some photos I found:

inlandvalleygardenplanner.org/plants/arctostaphylos-glauca/

https://calscape.org/view.php?pl=307&img=1056

http://www.desertwildflower.com/plants/bigberry-manzanita

I used the picture of that one because it shows the pre-bloom flower buds.