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Page Revised: 1/27/08 |
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Available Site Reviews Topanga State Park |
Date of Review 1-23-08 |
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What's Blooming photo gallery: http://www.researchlearningcenter.com/bloom/bloom.htm |
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Now that the
winter rains have brought green plants to the trails we are getting more
questions about flowers. While a few of the winter flowers have begun to
show, in reality there are probably fewer flowers blooming now than two months
ago. One of our wildflower watchers who frequently submits flower reports
took a long hike recently and saw only six flowers. This meager number
included the even the weedy sorts like mustard and clover and sparse holdovers
from last year like fuchsia and telegraph weed. There are signs of many flowers
sprouting but it is going to take some warm weather and time for them to
really get going. Things you might look for include wild cucumber, chaparral
currant, wishbone bush and buckwheat, perhaps some nightshade or prickly phlox.
I've even seen some scattered bigpod ceanothus in bloom but mostly just a lot
of buds. If we do get some warm weather the ceanothus could burst out in a
hurry. Other gifts of
the recent rains are fresh clear air and the area's creeks and waterfalls
full of lively waters. On the other hand you might run into a bit of rock, mud
or even water on the trails so choose your footwear accordingly. Always feel
free to call the park office if you have questions about trail conditions or
closures. |
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Topanga Canyon State
Park |
Musch Trail |
Date: 1/23/07 |
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From the Trippet Ranch parking lot.
Walk up the paved road. The pond that
had been completely dry for 18 months has been brimming with water for the
past two weeks. Several dozen mallards
are making use of it. Turn onto the
signed dirt trail at the top of the hill. The rains have started to wake up the
plants. While there are no extravagant
floral displays the flowers are starting to come out. On this hike I saw chaparral current, wild
cucumber, fuchsia flowering gooseberry, California everlasting, California
buckwheat, golden yarrow, sticky monkey flower, telegraph weed, purple and
white nightshade, California fuchsia, black sage, big pod ceanothus, cudweed
aster, and prickly phlox. Not bad for
January. (DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: NR |
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Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area 401 West
Hillcrest Drive 805-370-2301 |
Thank
you for your
contributions: Bob Sweet |
If you
would like to contribute to the wildflower report: e-mail: or phone
Tony at 310-457-6408 |
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