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Page Revised: 3/1/06 |
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Available Sites Cheeseboro/Palo
Comado Cyns |
Date of Review 2/23/06. |
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Cheeseboro/Palo Comado
Canyons |
Palo Comado Cyn
Trail & a portion of China Flat Trail |
Date: 2/23/06 |
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A good portion of this trip was a
quick survey done in a vehicle so this list must be considered incomplete
(for example, a hike of the same area a few weeks earlier netted over twice as
many species in bloom.) Ignoring the common weedy species the highlights
included fiddleneck, Parry's phacelia, Indian paintbrush, woolly blue curls,
purple nightshade, popcorn flower, wild cucumber, bigpod ceanothus, greenbark
ceanothus, deerweed, two-tone everlasting, canyon sunflower, prickly phlox,
stinging lupine, bajada lupine, chia, mustard evening primrose, sun-cup,
wishbone bush, golden yarrow, yellow pincushion, peony, star lily, California
poppy, windmill pink, morning glory, twining snapdragon, white snapdragon,
blue toadflax, yellow monkey flower, Brewer's red maids, eucrypta, and
miner's lettuce. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Circle X Ranch |
Grotto and Mishe Mokwa loop |
Date: 2/19/06 |
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2/18/06, Grotto Trail: Flowers are off to a slow start. The white big pod ceanothus are in full
bloom, dropping tiny white flowers like snow.
The wild cucumbers are getting started. There are some blue larkspur, sticky monkey
flower and a few peony’s. The hummingbird sage is just starting. 2/19/06: Sandstone Peak-Mishe Mokwa
Loop: There are a lot of big pod
ceanothus, some California buckwheat, deerweed, golden yarrow and wild
cucumber. At the base of Sandstone
Peak there was prickly phlox and purple nightshade. Continuing on there was greenbark
ceanothus, chaparral current, Eastwood and big berry manzanita in bloom. The meadow of padres shooting stars has
past its peak. Heading down to Split
Rock there are at least a dozen silk tassel bushes and, on the morning we
walked, several dozen earthstar mushrooms.
Coming up from Split Rock there are a few milk maids, an occasional
canyon sunflower and the very beginning of wooly blue curls. (DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Zuma-Trancas Canyons |
Backbone Trail between Kanan and
Mulholland |
Date: 2/11/06 |
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Highlights include pitcher sage,
sun-cup, slender sunflower, canyon sunflower, white nightshade, purple nightshade,
golden-yarrow, Indian warrior, big-pod ceanothus, greenbark ceanothus,
man-root, popcorn flower, deerweed, chaparral currant, fuchsia-flowered
gooseberry, milkmaids, walnut, peony, four o'clock. (RW & BE) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Nicholas Flat |
various trails |
Date: 2/6/06 |
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This seldom visited area has a lot to
offer in a small space even though the wildflowers are just starting to
bloom. On the drive to the area off of Decker Road, lots of big pod ceanothus
were blooming, but only a few buds were open at Nicholas Flat. We saw an
occasional bloom here and there, such as canyon sunflower, wild sweet pea,
hummingbird sage, greenbark ceanothus, chaparral currant, California
everlasting and fiddleneck. On the slopes where chocolate lilies will bloom
later, there were quite a few shooting stars. The pond is full and had
several migratory birds in it: ring neck ducks, pied bill grebes and buffleheads
as well as the usual coots. The highlight for us was the lichens.
They’re all over the oaks and many other plants as well. We saw green
shield lichens, firedot and candleflame
lichens. These are the grey green, yellow and orangey lichen crusts on the trees
and shrubs. Dotted ramalina
lichens were hanging down from the bare branches of the bush mallow. Perhaps
the lichens were more visible since the bushes have not leafed out yet, but
they were a treat to see. (SB) |
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Naturalist's rating: just beginning |
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Will Rogers State Park |
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Date: 2/2/06 |
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Starting at the front parking kiosk
and going up the hill staying on the trail more than the fireroad.
Things are greening up and starting to bloom.
Big pod ceanothus has a good start through the park. Big berry manzanita are in full bloom with
their delicate bells well attended by hummingbirds. There is also a fair amount of deerweed
and California everlasting. Lots of
little starts of things; one clump of wishbone flower, a little purple
nightshade, a single chaparral current bush, one stand of rock rose and a
single bush poppy. It can't compare to
last February but it is still lovely.
(DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Solstice Canyon |
Solstice Canyon Trail |
Date: 1/22/06 |
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Spring flowers are already starting
to bloom along the easy trail to Tropical Terrace. White flowers of
California blackberry are poking out. A few plants of both white and purple
nightshade are in bloom as well as wild cucumber. Poison oak is sprouting
lush, green new leaves. Sugarbushes are in bud. The
streamside alders have already produced both catkins and cones. Of course,
all the usual non-natives are starting to bloom too. You’ll see
mustard, beggar ticks and Bermuda buttercups. Just before you reach the
tropical terrace, you’ll find bay trees in bloom. Be sure to smell the
flowers on the bay trees which smell like mild gardenias and so different
from the spicy smell of the bay leaves.
(SB) |
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Naturalist's rating: Poor, but
promising |
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Circle X Ranch |
All trails |
Date: 1/9/06 |
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Very little change since the last report
in November. The scattered holdouts from last summer are now pretty much gone
and most of the new season’s flowers are still only represented by
scattered individuals that are well ahead of the majority. Consequently, the
flower density remains very low and the species count only slightly above a
couple of dozen. Bigpod ceanothus has been making slow but steady gains on
several trails but most are not yet blooming. In some locations the chaparral
current are finishing up and now in fruit, but in others they are still
flowering well. The bigberry manzanitas on the Mishe Mokwa trail are
definitely winding down but in compensation a few of the Eastwood manzanitas
up by Sandstone peak are beginning to bloom. One location on the Triunfo
section of the backbone trail has a grand display of purple nightshade and
cliff aster but most of the rest of the trail is quite barren. Except for the
part of the trail that skirts the creek the canyon view trail is devoid of
flowers. Similarly, the grotto trail has little to show in the way of
flowers. On the other hand all trials are in good condition and have greened
up quite nicely. Several of the creeks have water in them again and greet the
hiker with their conversation. With the clearer air hikes to Sandstone peak regularly
reveal the even the most distant of the Channel Islands as well as far off
snow-capped peaks. The abundance of plants and even swelling flower buds
suggests that given some warm weather the flower situation will improve
rapidly. Among the scattered flowers
we’ve recently encountered at CXR are annual paintbrush, white hedge
nettle, tree tobacco, red-stem filaree, two-tone everlasting, wishbone bush,
both bush and canyon sunflowers, deerweed, telegraph weed, twiggy wreath
plant, mule fat, California bay, silk-tassel bush, shooting stars, wild
cucumber, greenbark ceanothus, Southern tauschia, golden yarrow, wild morning
glory, rock rose, and hillside gooseberry.
(TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Poor |
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Rancho Sierra Vista |
Satwiwa Loop Trail |
Date: 12/18/05 |
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A cool, cloudy day was perfect to see
the usual early bloomers appearing on this short (1.5 mile) loop trail. There
are a lots of chaparral currant, known as our earliest bloomer. A few late summer/fall flowers, such as
mallow and mule fat, are still hanging on to bushes. Big pod ceanothus is in
bud and many blooms are already opening. A few bushes of purple nightshade
have lots of blooms. Toyon is loaded with luscious red berries, although some
bushes have already been stripped by the birds. (SB) |
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Naturalist's rating: Promising, but
poor, due to quantity. |
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Point Mugu State Park |
Backbone trail: Ray
Miller to Danielson Multi-use |
Date: 12/10/05 |
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Each
month between December and June the National Park Service (NPS) escorts
hikers on sequential segments of the Backbone Trail Hike (BBT). Car and van shuttles facilitate the
logistics. The hikers are chosen in
November. If you're interested in
participating in next year's walk contact the NPS Visitors Center,
805-370-2301. Perfect weather accompanied the lead
segment of this year's NPS BBT hike.
Unending views of the Channel Islands, dramatic clouds and far off interior
mountain ranges literally placed us in the middle of wide open spaces. The area is still very dry. Plants greened up with the October
precipitation, but they aren't yet willing to risk their future generations
on our unpredictable weather. Blooms
are just around the corner if the elements would only cooperate. Climbing out of La Jolla Canyon's
Riparian environment, the hills of Coastal Sage Scrub held limited species
offerings. Sometimes just a single
flower was all one could enjoy. As we
descended back into the Riparian floor of Sycamore Canyon the gold, yellow
and greens of the canyon's namesake tree were glorious. Some of the perennial shrub species are
holding a good bloom quite well, but you'll have to be patient for the burst
of color. Blooms are either fall
holdovers or winter's early arrivals, mixed in with some ubiquitous
exotics. As we walked we noted: mule
fat, coyote bush, lemonade berry, ashy leaf buckwheat, bladderpod, deerweed,
wand chicory, black mustard, big-pod ceanothus, chaparral currant, squaw
spurge, and four o'clock. Also enjoyed
were: sugar bush, purple nightshade, cliff-aster, prickly phlox, gum plant,
woolly aster, California fuchsia, wand buckwheat, chamise; greasewood, tree
tobacco, and telegraph weed (RW) |
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Naturalist's rating: Poor |
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Santa
Monica Mountains National Recreation Area 401 West
Hillcrest Drive 805-370-2301 |
Thank you for your
contributions: Burt
Elliot Ralph Waycott |
If you
would like to contribute to the wildflower report: e-mail: or phone
Tony at 310-457-6408 |
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