Page Revised: 4/27/07

 

Available Sites

Cheeseboro & Palo Comado Cyns

Zuma & Trancas Canyons

Circle X Ranch

Rancho Sierra Vista

Triunfo Canyon Park

Leo Carrillo State Park

Rancho Sierra Vista

Point Mugu State Park

Malibu Creek State Park

 

Date of Review

4/26.

4/24.

4/23 & 4/16 & 4/14 & 4/9 & 3/24.

4/15.

4/12.

4/4.

3/25.

3/23.

3/14.

 

What's Blooming photo gallery: http://www.researchlearningcenter.com/bloom/bloom.htm
What's Blooming archive:
http://www.researchlearningcenter.com/bloom/archive/index.htm
Calendar of Events:
http://www.nps.gov/samo/planyourvisit/outdooractivities.htm

 

 

Cheeseboro &

Palo Comado Canyons

Sheep Corral Trail

  Date: 4/26/07

 

 

        This trail runs through the burn area and looked quite good in the otherwise mediocre flower showing we had last year.  This year has been too dry and consequently not much is blooming. The wild morning glory is doing well, but other than that even the weeds seem to be struggling. I only encountered about 20 species in bloom and most of those had a very light showing.  We did see the dried-up skeletons of some the seasons earlier flowers, but even these remains were few and far between. Highlights (such as they were) included a few wooley blue curls, some bush monkey flower, a few bush sunflowers, popcorn flower, a few blue dicks, some purple nightshade, a couple of caterpillar phacelia, some yellow pincushion, yerba santa, wishbone bush, and a few mustard evening primrose.  (TV)

 

Naturalist's rating:  Poor

 

Zuma and Trancas Canyons

The Backbone Trail

  Date: 4/24/07

 

 

        With the recent warm weather, the Backbone Trail (from Kanan Rd. west to Zuma Ridge Trail) is finally blooming.  Nothing spectacular, but enough variety to be worth a look.

Some of the 70 or so species encountered were: blue larkspur, fiesta flower, holly-leaved redberry, Califonria bee plant, caterpillar phacelia, verbena, bush lupine, redbud, wild pea, woodland star, milk maids, blue-eyed grass, blackberry, sticky cinquefoil, meadow rue, star lily, Parry's phacelia, California mustard, plus 3 kinds of ceanothus, at least 2 popcorn flowers, 3 kinds of bedstraw (including the unusual Gallium andrewsii, or pine mat), and last, but not least, California poppy.  (JS)

 

Naturalist's rating:  Good (for this year)

 

Circle X Ranch

Canyon View Trail

  Date: 4/23/07

 

 

        This trail is usually one of the better ones to do for flower hikes, but not this year.  It's been too dry and consequently many of the annual species never even bothered to germinate.  We stared our hike at the little park office on Yerba Buena and walked down to the campgrounds and then part way down the grotto trail.  We also did what I call "flower alley," a short section of the grotto trail from the first waterfall to the point where the trail begins to climb again.  While there was little to be seen even here, we did encounter a decent showing of Chinese houses, a hollyleaf cherry, some blue larkspur, and a few fiesta flowers. Continuing up the Canyon View trail the chaparral was quite dry with very few flowers to look at. At the Sandstone Peak trailhead we walked back down the road to the park office.  As it turned out we saw several nice flowers along the shoulders of Yerba Buena as well (like the Parry's phacelia and a few different species of lupines.)  Highlights (such as they were) included: deerweed, wild morning glory, elderberry, sugarbush, greenbark ceanothus, canyon sunflower, bush sunflower, poison oak, virgin's bower, caterpillar phacelia, purple nightshade, popcorn flower, blue dicks, a few leftover wishbone bush, bush monkey flower, yellow monkey flower, creek monkey flower, wooley blue curls, purple clarkia, a couple of lupines, chamese, and a couple chia.  All told, including the walk along the road, we saw over sixty different species of flower in bloom.  However, most of these flowers were seen only in very low numbers and consequently I've rated the trail as "poor."  (TV)

 

Naturalist's rating:  Poor

 

Circle X Ranch

Ceanothus update

  Date: 4/16/07

 

 

        Just a very quick update for the ceanothus lovers in the crowd.  The ceanothus season is winding down. You can still find individuals blooming, especially in sheltered environments, but the big displays are over for the year.  Overall the flower season this year remains poor compared to other years we’ve had recently.  (TV)

 

Rancho Sierra Vista / Satwiwa

Native plant garden

  Date: 4/15/07

 

 

        Few wildflowers are blooming throughout the mountains because of our apparent drought, but for a short wildflower walk, consider the native plant garden at Rancho Sierra Vista when you visit the Satwiwa Native American Center or hike another trail in the area. True, the garden does get water, but it has lots of blooms of bladderpod, vervain, black sage, golden currant, monkey flower and purple nightshade. The prickly pear cactus has lots of red fruits and the native onions are flowering. The walk is short, but the flower rating is very good. (SB)

 

Naturalist's rating:  Very Good

 

Circle X Ranch

Triunfo Backbone Trail

  Date: 4/14/07

 

 

        This past weekend the NPS sponsored hike of the backbone trail did the section at Circle X Ranch between the Sandstone Peak trailhead and the trailhead at about mile marker 9 on Yerba Buena Road.  This four mile section is one of the newest but is finally getting old enough that some of the pioneering species like the phacelias, bleeding hearts and fire poppies are no longer quite so profuse.  This trail is especially good for views of the ocean since so much of it is on high, steep, South facing hillsides.  Although we did not do the side trail up to Triunfo Peak, that would normally be on my itinerary for this hike. The view on top of Triunfo is almost as good as from Sandstone Peak.

        We had a very large group this time with over thirty participants.  Many of us were quite interested in flowers so we stopped often and discussed the flowers we encountered.  We also had a couple of geologists along and enjoyed hearing about the physical landscape.  It was a perfect day and even the shortage of flowers didn’t dampen people’s spirits.  The quantities of flowers were quite low due to the very dry conditions.  Interestingly enough, we are still seeing reasonably typical species counts, rather, it is the number of individuals of any given species that is often very low.  We encountered almost seventy different species in bloom which is close to the about ninety or so I might expect to see on this trail.  Highlights include ceanothus, purple nightshade, star lily, fuchsia flowered gooseberry, wild cucumber, bush monkey flower, blue dicks, wild morning glory, popcorn flower, Parry’s phacelia, mustard evening primrose, bush lupine, wishbone bush, rock rose, sunflowers, woolly blue curls, prickly phlox, hedge nettle, chinese houses, blue larkspur, small-flowered meconella, fiesta flower, yellow pincushion, red-skinned onion, purple clarkia, and deerweed.  You should keep in mind that many of the flowers I’ve listed here were present only in very low numbers.  It would be easy to hike this tail and miss seeing many of them unless you were keeping a careful watch.  (TV)

 

Naturalist's rating:  Mostly Poor with some Fair sections

 

Triunfo Canyon Park

Southwest end near the Reservoir

  Date: 4/12/07

 

 

        We didn’t have time to hike the Pentachaeta Trail on this outing but did a quick loop up to the Las Virgenes Reservoir and back.  While everything looks unusually dry we did see some nice flowers. The highlight is always seeing the endangered Lyon’s pentachaeta and we were not disappointed as we ran into a number of small populations on the social trails leading up to the reservoir.  We also encountered California poppy, chaparral flowering ash, blue eyed grass, blue dicks, ground pink, good numbers of the small white linanthus,  a few golden yarrow, wild cucumber, woolly blue curls, popcorn flowers, a couple of owl clover, fuchsia-flowered gooseberry, Johnny jump-up, the delightful cream cups, some lupine, fiesta flower, purple clarkia, and coast goldfields.  All told about forty species in bloom.  By the way, I’ve heard that the pentachaeta trail is doing OK this year too.  (TV)

 

Naturalist's rating:  Good

 

Circle X Ranch

Mishe Mokwa Loop

  Date: 4/9/07

 

 

        We did the loop clockwise on April 7, (going to Sandstone Peak before Split Rock).  I had low flower expectations on this hike.  I did it a month ago and there wasn't much in bloom and there hasn't been any rain since.  To my surprise things are blooming quite nicely.  Some things, larkspur and saxifrage, actually seem to be doing better than in average years. 

        At the Sandstone Peak trailhead there is lots of blooming deerweed.  It accompanies you up the steep climb along with some black sage and California everlasting.  As you get closer to the peak there is a lot of prickly phlox and hoary leaf ceanothus along with popcorn flower, blue dick, purple nightshade, sticky monkey flower, wild cucumber, shiny lomatium, chaparral current and Eastwood manzanita.

        From Sandstone Peak to Split Rock the padres shooting stars have finished blooming (and a month ago they hadn't even put up stems) there is some owl's clover, collarless poppies, larkspur, goldfields and common fiddleneck. 

        Climbing up from Split Rock flowers seem to be in their own distinct patches.  First there is a small gathering of milkmaids, then saxifrage, then mountain phacelia.  Then you come on the beautiful view of a red rock mountainside covered in the lovely blue hairy leaf ceanothus with cream colored virgin's bower spilling over the top of it.  In this area the trail and surrounding stones are all dusted with a layer of tiny blue flowers.  Back at the top there are some parry's phacelia, mustard evening primrose and woolly blue curls.  No chocolate lilies yet.  (DS)

 

Naturalist's rating:  Fair

 

Circle X Ranch

Grotto Trail

  Date: 4/8/07

 

 

        Heading out from the group campsite there are common fiddleneck, greenbark ceanothus, wild cucumber, purple nightshade, California everlasting, big pod ceanothus and black sage. 

        There is no water at all in the first stream crossing and the second crossing is low.  However patient observation showed that there are newts in the water.  A good sign. 

        Up the hill to the meadow there is incredibly vivid and plentiful larkspur, Chinese houses, fiesta flowers, popcorn flower, and star lily. 

        In the meadow there is blue eyed grass and vetch in great abundance.  Also wild morning glory, sticky monkey flower and blue dicks.  Heading down to the grotto there are wishbone flower, mustard evening primrose, deerweed, virgin's bower, canyon sunflower and mountain mahogany. 

        It seems that this dry year has been favorable to star lilies, there are more than I recall from past years. 

         The January freeze did dramatic damage to many of the laurel sumac who now stand out with their dead orange leaves.  But a closer examination shows a profusion of new sprouts bursting out of their branches much like oaks after a fire.  (DS)

 

Naturalist's rating:  Fair

 

Leo Carrillo State Park

Willow Creek and Nicholas Flat Trails 

  Date: 4/4/07

 

 

        From the trailhead near the entrance station to Leo Carrillo State Park, we took the Willow Creek Trail to the right and hiked up to the junction with the Nicholas Flat Trail and back down that trail, making it a 3mile loop. It was Spring Break and the campground was full. We passed several hikers on the trail.

        The highpoint of the hike literally and also from a flower sighting standpoint was near the trail junction. We saw a couple groupings of fresh Scarlet Buglers, not a very common sight in these mountains. In terms of quantity of flowers, the Wishbone Bush, Indian Paintbrush, Minute Popcorn Flower, Blue Dick, Red-Stem Filaree and both the California and Two-Tone Everlastings were most obvious. Tiny flowered Spurge always like the type of decomposing shale soil found here. Not far from the start of the Willow Creek Trail, on the south side, is a beautiful, large Bladder Pod dripping with pods and flowers. The expected Deerweed, Santa Barbara Locoweed, Popcorn Flower, Black Mustard, Morning Glory, Narrow-Leaved Bedstraw, Wild Sweet Pea, Yellow Sweet Clover and Sunflower were evident, but in smaller quantities than usual in a normal rain year. We saw a few blooming Greenbark Ceanothus and Lemonade Berry, and a few Mustard Evening Primrose among some Parry’s Phacelia and California Poppies. Near the entrance to the campground we saw Wild Elderberry and Mule Fat flowering.  (BE)

 

Naturalist's rating:  Fair

 

Rancho Sierra Vista

Satwiwa Loop Trail

  Date: 3/25/07

 

 

        On March 25th, we hiked the Satwiwa loop at Rancho Sierra Vista.  Both ponds were dried up!  Flowers that were present were small in number.  The highlight was seeing  Padre's shooting stars.   Peony had just finished.  My list: morning glory, California everlasting, California poppy, fiddleneck, wild cucumber, ceanothus, wild radish, black mustard, blue dick, slender tarweed, filaree, locoweed, vetch, and purple nightshade.  (KJ)

 

Naturalist's rating:  Fair

 

Circle X Ranch

Sandstone Peak Trail

  Date: 3/24/07

 

 

        This trail is usually not the best around for flowers but in compensation more than makes up for it by taking you to the highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains.  The views are unobstructed and on a clear day you can easily see San Clemente seventy miles out to sea or the snow on Old Baldy eighty mile to the East. The ceanothus is the flowering shrub to see right now.  While the bigpod ceanothus is winding down there are still many individuals dotting the landscape with their whitish to purplish blossoms. For me the prize is the hairy-leaved ceanothus with its tight purple clusters of many small blossoms. It is easy to see why some people call this shrub the “chaparral lilac.”  As you climb higher toward the peak the bigpod and hairy-leaved give way to the whiter hoary-leaved ceanothus which is also beginning to bloom nicely on this trail.  The other flowers worth noting are prickly phlox, wild cucumber, deerweed, chaparral current, purple nightshade and Eastwood manzanita.  Otherwise we saw very few flowers, both in terms of variety and quantity.  All told only a little over two dozen different flower species were seen in bloom.  (TV)

 

Naturalist's rating:  Good

 

Point Mugu State Park

La Jolla Canyon

  Date: 3/23/07

 

 

        From Ray Miller Trailhead - La Jolla Canyon trail through La Jolla Valley and return via the Backbone trail.  The Giant Coreopsis in La Jolla Canyon are almost in full bloom.  Most plants had 3/4's of their buds open.  Another week and they should be at their peak.  We also saw copious amounts of Blue Dick and Indian Paintbrush throughout the hike.  Other flowers in bloom were: Scarlet Pimpernel, Fuchsia Flowered Gooseberry, Shooting Stars, Red Stem Filaree, Turkish Rugging, Parry's Phacelia, Fiesta Flower, Wild Cucumber, Purple Nightshade, Lemonade Berry, Buckwheat, Everlasting, Morning Glory, Hedge Nettle, Greenbark Ceanothus, Buck-Brush, Blue Eyed Grass, Tree Tobacco, Bladder Pod, California Poppy, Collarless California Poppy, Coast Wallflower, Mustard, Deerweed, Santa Barbara Locoweed, Bush Sunflower and Chaparral Currant.  At Thornhill-Broome Beach across Hwy 1 from the trailhead we observed Pink Sand Verbena.  (R&AT)

 

Naturalist's rating:  Good

 

Malibu Creek State Park

Phantom Trail

  Date: 3/14/07

 

 

        I was on the Phantom Trail (northern Malibu Creek SP, north of Mulholland) earlier this week (Wednesday, to be specific), and I saw a lot of Indian Paintbrush in bloom.  Not certain of the exact species, but it is bright cardinal in color, one in which the style extrudes itself out of the flower tube.  There are also California poppies coming out on the ridge, as well as a fair amount of ceanothus in bloom, and not big-pod, either, in both white and 'blue'.  Naturally, poison oak is beginning to put out buds in many areas.  I also saw willow in bloom, but can't remember exactly where - been all over, trying to get out a lot before the weather gets too hot - just that it wasn't on the Phantom Trail, of course.  I also saw a few very small, deep purple-with-a-hint-of-red flowers that had a vague resemblance to native geraniums (not the horticultural ones) on the southern Phantom Trail ridge.  A "belly flower" that require getting on your stomach to really see,  (JC)

 

Naturalist's rating:  NR

 


 

 

Contact Information:

 

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

 

401 West Hillcrest Drive
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

 

805-370-2301

 

www.nps.gov/samo

 

Thank you

 

for your contributions:

 

 

Bob Sweet
Bonnie Clarfield
Burt Elliot
Dorothy Steinicke
Greg Sweel
Jack Gillooly
Jay Sullivan
Jim Carleton
Judy Joy Lively
Kathy Jonokuchi
Ken Low
Kenda Sikes
Lynne Haigh
Matt Friedman
Michael Charters
Ralph Waycott
Richard & Agnes Thaler
Robert W. Maughmer
Sheila Braden
Tarja Sagar
Tony Valois

If you would like to contribute to the wildflower report:

 

e-mail:
Tony_Valois@partner.nps.gov

 

or phone Tony at 310-457-6408