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Available Reviews
Triunfo Creek (Canyon) Park Topanga Canyon Malibu Creek SP Castro Crest Sunset Hills Open Space Las Virgenes View Park Hope Nature Preserve Point Mugu SP Paramount Ranch Santa Ynez Canyon Rancho Sierra Vista Zuma Canyon Corral Canyon Park Topanga Canyon State Park Stunt Ranch |
Date of Review
03/19(2), 03/06, 2/20, 2/11. 3/17, 2/18. 03/06, 2/16. 02/27. 2/26. 2/25, 2/11, 2/9, 2/4. 2/25. 2/20, 2/11. 2/20. 2/15. 2/12. 2/3. 1/30. 1/27. 1/19. |
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It is gratifying to see a number of new people submitting flower reports.
If you are unfamiliar with the format of the reports or are submitting pictures I've added notes here. A quick note to let people know I have moved out of the Santa Monica Mountains. This will make it difficult for me to include my customary ramblings here at the beginning of the newsletter. On another front, I apologize that I have been neglecting the iPhone wildflower app. I know Apple's release of iOS 8 last year broke the style function but as everything else still works (although it looks ugly) I decided to move the patching this to the back burner. Picking up and moving to another state is time consuming, and to make matters worse I was also forced to buy and set up a new Mac computer to continue this work. In addition, this update seems like a good time to incorporate some of the new features I added when I created the Android version of the app. With a little bit of luck it should be ready soon... ‑ ed. |
| Triunfo Canyon Park |
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03-19-15 |
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Westlake Vista Trail at junction of Triunfo and Lindero Canyon. This is the trail to the right, going up to the reservoir area; the Pentachaeta Trail is the one to the left.
Trail route and conditions: The route is flat for a few hundred yards until a junction with a trail going left. If you go straight here, you’ll come out at the flat area near the reservoir. For the best flowers, though, take this left fork, which now proceeds uphill and becomes more rugged. Continue taking the left forks at subsequent trail junctions except those that dead-end. A few spots will require caution if children are present as there are drop-offs. The trail will eventually come out along the ridge overlooking the reservoir from above. Hike down parallel to the fence towards the reservoir and the floral carpets you'll see as you approach it, then return on the main trail from there. Flowers: This trail appears to have the best variety of species of any trail in the region at present, with several dozen types in bloom. It’s also one of the few trails with actual carpets of flowers, not just individuals and small patches. The densest flowers include owls clover, goldfields, popcorn and phlox. Highly recommended, and don’t miss the floral mix near the corner of the reservoir fence! ‑ Bob Matthews 
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| Triunfo Creek Park |
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03/19/15 |
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Took a trip to Triunfo today as despite living next to it for several years I've never noticed it! I opted to take the Pentachaeta Trail from the car park (sign posted). Was not disappointed with the displays of goldfields, purple owl's-clover, foothill plantain and some other good plants.
The most common plants of the day were wild hyacinth, purple nightshade agg., miner's lettuce (perfoliata), wide-throated monkey flower, shiny lomatium, Fuschia-flowering gooseberry, fiesta flower, caterpillar phacelia, "common" fiddleneck, cottonweed, western blue-eyed grass, fringed lianthus, California chicory, silver puffs, poison oak (in flower), everlasting nest straw, black sage. I was rather happy to find one of my long-standing "nemesis flowers" which was Padre's shooting-star, there is a large congregation about 20-25 minutes down the trail but most have lost their flowers. Lots of wild cucumber (which I mistook for white bryony being from Britain and all) with vines over many shrubs and oaks. Saw singles of Parry's Larkspur, Parry's phacelia, indian warrior, woolly blue-curls, mission woodland-star, chia, Calystegia sp, twining snapdragon, California peony, Pterostegia drymarioides and California poppy. There was a good comparison of musk filaree and red-stem filaree immediately by the car park in the rocks before the start of both paths (both non-native but interesting). Erodium botrys (non-native) also common along the trail. There was some sort of dodder off in the distance that I did not see well enough for ID. There was a good patch of white form wild hyacinth about 5-10 minutes down the trail from the car park where the path bends to the left (east). Not many butterflies but several Sara orange-tip, California sister, Behr's metalmark, white chequered-skipper and a fly-by duskywing sp. Lots of insect life about, my highlight was a snake fly (Agulla sp.) which I have not encountered before. I still have some unidentified plants to go through, not that this post needs to be any longer than it already is. I mostly stuck to the main path to avoid disturbance, it is a rather rocky trail with hilly regions, but worth doing if you can. ‑ James Bailey |
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| Topanga State Park |
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03/17/15 |
Hiked today on the Backbone Trail eastbound from Piuma. The trailhead is located on Piuma Road, 1.2 miles E of Las Virgenes Cyn Road. On this trail there are lots of Fiesta Flowers, Fern Phacelia ,Mariposa Lilies, and tons of Blue Dicks! Other flowers that I saw were Western Wallflowers, Blue Larkspur, Yellow Monkey Flowers, Sticky (Orange) Monkey Flowers, Burr Clover, Stinging Lupine, Parry's Phacelia , Sticky Phacelia , California Golden Poppies, Purple Nightshade, Eucrypta , Globe Gilia, Popcorn Flower, Fiddlenecks , Morning Glory, Black Sage, And Purple Sage.
‑ Jim Garafalo
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| Point Mugu State Park |
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Spring 2015 |
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Here is a list of plants submitted by the National Park Service's botanist Tarja Sagar. This list was generated as part of the Park's ongoing monitoring of the recovery of the habitiat that was burned in the Springs Fire two years ago. It was generated over the course of the last couple of months so not all of these would still be in flower.
PtMugu10Mar2015.pdf |
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| Triunfo Canyon Park |
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03/06/15 |
I re-visited the Pentachaeta Trail, part of the Los Robles trail system on March 6 and was not disappointed. There was a very large variety of species, some I haven't seen in awhile because of the drought. The chocolate lilies were abundant as well. Flowers observed: California fuschia flowering gooseberry, ground-pink, common goldfield, Lyon's daisy, red skinned onion, purple owl's clover, wild hyacinth, common fiddleneck, indian warrior, filaree, California poppy, speedwell, purple nightshade, wild cucumber, miner's lettuce, shiny lomatium, fern-leafed phacelia, small evening primrose, wide throated monkey flower, twining snapdragon, golden top, shiny peppergrass, bigelow coreopsis, woodland star, Parry's phacelia, red maids, woolly blue curls, fiesta flower, popcorn flower,wild radish, snakeroot, and lemonade berry.
‑ Kathy Jonokuchi
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| Malibu Creek State Park |
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03/04/15 |
On 3/4/15 I hiked the Phantom Trail. The trailhead is located on Mulholland, approximately 1 1/2 miles west of Las Virgenes on the north side of the street. Walking the first half mile of the trail you will see Purple Nightshade. Broad leafed Lupine, Bush Sunflower, Greenbark Ceanothus, Sticky Phacelia , Eucrypta, Indian Paintbrush, Wishbone Bush, Popcorn Flower, and Fiddlenecks . Further up there is Owls Clover, red Maids , Caterpillar Phacelia , and California Golden Poppies. Best displays of Poppies are 1 1/2 to 2 miles from the trailhead on the ridge tops.
‑ Jim Garafalo
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| Castro Crest |
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2/27/15 |
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This can be an amazing hike for flowers. It starts on the steep and twisting drive to the top of Corral Canyon Rd. The roadside is covered in succulent lupine, bush sunflower, tree poppies, California poppies, loco weed and even a few catalina mariposa lilies. Enjoy these sightings because I didn't see any of these flowers on the trail.
The trail head downhill from the parking lot through the chaparral. Many chaparral plants are in bloom, notably twining snapdragon, wooly blue curls, black sage, wild cucumber, popcorn flower, blue dicks, mule fat, wooly lomatium and both white and blue ceanothus. Near the bottom of the trail there are chocolate lilies, star lilies and wild peony in full glory. The trail leads down into a canyon bottom that, during wet years, is threaded with a dozen running streams. Today only two streams held ponded water. The trail in this riparian area is bordered with milkmaids, there are also the tiny and lovely blue skullcap, chaparral current, fuchsia flowering gooseberry, miner's lettuce and eucrypta. Climbing back into the chaparral on the far side of the canyon I expected that I would see the same chaparral flowers in bloom but there were also manzanita, virgin's bower, Indian pinks, shiny lomatium, wild morning glory and telegraph weed. There were some amazing displays of Indian paintbrush and banks of wishbone flower interspersed with parry's phacelia, yellow collarless poppies and yellow monkey flower. A really wonderful hike. ‑ Dorothy Steinicke 
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| Sunset Hills Open Space |
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02/26/15 |
Today I hiked at Sunset Hills Trail with friends. Along the green meadow we saw many beautiful wild flowers. There are popcorns, poppies, shooting stars, and many other flowers. A lot of them I still don't know their names, but I took their photos to share. I love our open space, we are blessed to enjoy the land and the flowers on it.
‑ Fei Wen
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| Las Virgenes View Park |
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2/25/15 |
Went to the New Millennium Trail again today (2/25/15). I hiked the same part of the trail that I did on 2/9/15 (see report for that date). What a difference! Many of the same plants are blooming, but there are many more of them. There are a bunch of Lupines, Red Maids , and about 1 1/2 miles up the trail there are tons of Caterpillar Phacelia. There are still California Golden Poppies near the top of the ridge.
‑ Jim Garafalo
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| Hope Nature Preserve |
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2/25/15 |
On 2/25/15 I hiked the Los Robles Trail/East and saw many blooms; The trail head is at the south end of Moorpark Road (where the road ends.) Popcorn Flower, Fiddlenecks, Purple Nightshade, Prickly Phlox, Red Maids, Blue Dicks, Bush Sunflower, Eucyrpta, Sticky Phacelia, and Sticky Monkey Flower.
‑ Jim Garafalo
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| Miscellaneous Locations |
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mid February |
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Lupinus succulentus, L. bicolor, L. longifolius, L. sparsiflorus, L. hirsutissimus are all flowering in several locations in the range.
Plagiobothrys collinus is flowering at Wildwood, a few P. nothofulvus and P. acanthocarpus at Triunfo Creek Park (Semler) Acmispon [Lotus] maritimus, A. sparsiflorus, and A. glaber are all flowering in various places in the range. Escscholzia caespitosa is flowering along trail to Upper Sycamore waterfall. Astragalus trichopodus that is flowering is the variety lonchus at west end--abundant along Yellow Hill fire road and Willow Springs trail up from Leo Carillo, for example. Phacelia viscida and parryi are both flowering in lots of places in the range. I haven't seen Camissonia bistorta flowering yet--only Camissoniella micrantha, but bistorta could be flowering some place. Oxalis californica is flowering along the coastal slopes ‑ Tarja Sagar |
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| Point Mugu State Park |
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02/20/15 |
Castilleja affinis, Camissoniopsis bistorta?, Lupinus - a few kinds, the really hairy one is out too, Dichelostemma capitatum, Plagiobothrys sp (I still have hard time with this and Cryptantha), Erodium cicutarium, Calystegia macrostegia, Encelia californica, Phacelia parryi, Emmenanthe penduliflora, Thysanocarpus lacianata, Lomatium lucidum, Lathrys vestitus, Calochortus catalinae, Silene lacianata, Lotus something, Mimulus aurantiacus, Antirrhinum kelloggii, Astragalus trichopodus (oceans of it), Eschscholzia californica, Oxalis spp., Galium spp. (angustifolium?), Calandrinia ciliata, Perityle emoryi, Stefanomeria spp., Phacelia spp. (viscida? see photo with giant leaves), a Non Native Blue Mint along trail in two places.
‑ Crystal Anderson
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| Paramount Ranch |
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2/20/15 |
Starting at the Medea Creek Trail (at the corner of Cornell Rd and Mulholland), there are a lot of Red Maids blooming. On the Coyote Canyon Trail Big Pod Ceanothus is blooming. I also saw Blue Dicks, Owls Clover, Popcorn Flower. Wild Cucumber, Prickly Phlox, Yellow Monkey Flower. Purple Nightshade, and a few Parry's Phacelia. On the rolling grasslands along the Backdrop Trail , there are places where there are California Golden Poppy, and a few Johnny Jump-ups. Back by the Park Headquarters, there are lots of Goldfields.
‑ Jim Garafalo
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| Topanga Canyon State Park |
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2/18/15 |
The grassy areas are filled with red maids, small highlights of bright color. Entering the woodland portion of the trail there are encrypt, snake root, wild cucumber, purple nightshade and wild sweet pea. Entering the chaparral portion you can enjoy the views of the mountainside cloaked in both blue and white ceanothus. Closer to hand there are succulent lupine, wishbone flower, popcorn flower, wild morning glory, California everlasting, bush sunflower and a few parry's phacelia. On this hike I also saw my first rattlesnake of 2015.
‑ Dorothy Steinicke
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| Malibu Creek State Park |
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2/16/15 |
On 2/16/15 , I hiked the Talepop Trail from the De Anza Park Trailhead. About 1/8 of a mile from the trailhead is a very nice display of California Golden Poppies. On the section of the Talepop Trail that goes down to Liberty Canyon there are nice displays of Blue Dicks and Lupine. I also saw Indian Paintbrush, Canterpillar Phacelia, Wild Cucumber, and one Mariposa Lily.
‑ Jim Garafalo
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| Topanga Canyon State Park |
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2/15/14 |
I entered from the Pacific Palisades end of this trail and walked through the riparian section. The creek is almost entirely dry but the flowers are starting. The wild sweet pea is the most prevalent flower in the riparian area. There are also purple nightshade, big pod ceanothus, wild cucumber, California bay and fuchsia flowering gooseberry. At the base of the "waterfall" (no water falling) there were milkmaids in bloom. Climbing up into the chaparral portion of this trail there were blue dicks, wishbone flower, fiddle neck, popcorn flower, twining snapdragon, eucrypta, owl's clover and California everlasting.
‑ Dorothy Steinicke
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| Rancho Sierra Vista |
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2/12/15 |
On 2/12/15, I hit the jackpot at the overflow parking area at Rancho Sierra Vista: the biggest display of chocolate lilies and shooting stars in one place I have ever seen. Also observed: California poppies, popcorn flower, filaree, common groundsel, ground pink, indian paintbrush, wishbone bush, star lily, squaw spurge, goldfields, Parry's phacelia, ground pink, speedwell, golden yarrow, johnny jump up, wild cucumber, common fiddleneck,and lacepod.
‑ Kathy Jonokuchi
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| Point Mugu SP & Triunfo Creek Park |
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02/11/15 |
Just wanted to let everyone know that there are some spectacular flower displays right now and probably worth going for a hike in the park. The ground pinks were photographed at Pentachaeta Trail on Friday and the poppies were photographed last Sunday at junction of Sycamore Canyon Rd and Overlook Trail. I apologize for the quality, iPhones are not the best.
‑ Crystal Anderson
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| Las Virgenes View Park |
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2/11/15 |
Las Virgenes View Trail is located on the northwest corner of Las Virgenes Rd and Mulholland Dr. Parts of the trail are lined with Filaree. Further up I found Wishbone Bush, Popcorn Flower , and Blue Dicks. Turning left at the "T" intersection at the ridge, I went up the hill to find some Lupines (Broad Leafed I think) and more Blue Dicks, There are lots of plants growing that haven't bloomed yet , but they are facing the usual dilemma: will the winds dry them out, or will we get enough rain to keep the bloom going.
‑ Jim Garafalo
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| Triunfo Creek Park |
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02-10-15 |
This is a place where I have frequently been both rewarded with extraordinary flowers and confounded by the lack of trail markers. Today was no exception. For the first ten minutes of the hike I thought that the blooms that I have been observing had not made it to this area, I only saw big pod ceanothus. Then I started to see fuchsia flowering gooseberry, wild cucumber and wooly lomatium. I happened on a gorgeous group of Indian warriors, something I have not frequently encountered. Coming out of the chaparral and into meadow there were blue dicks, deer weed and popcorn flower but there was also the highlight of this hike; hillsides carpeted in ground pinks, thousands upon thousands of them. They were interspersed with shooting stars that looked as though their peak bloom was a couple of weeks ago. There were also tiny red and white flowers that I was unable to identify. At the edge of the meadow there were miner's lettuce and blue larkspur. Then the well trodden trail that I had been following disappeared into impenetrable chaparral, forcing me to backtrack. An outstanding hike.
‑ Dorothy Steinicke
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| Las Virgenes View Park |
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2/9/15 |
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The New Millennium Trail is in the City of Calabasas. The trailhead that I used is in the Dog Park, just south of the intersection of Las Virgenes and Agoura Road , across the street from A E Wright Middle School. It is the ridge that is to your left if you are driving south on Las Virgenes Road.
Thanks to a recent light rain, Purple Filliree is now lining the lower trail. There are also more Red Maids growing. I took the short-cut that goes up a ridge to join the south loop. Blue Dicks are growing on the short- cut trail, and near the top, some Lupines are starting to bloom. Turning right on the trail junction, I noticed that a lot of Caterpillar Phacelia is growing, but it is not blooming yet. Further on, near the top of the ridge, there is a nice patch of California Golden Poppies blooming (see pic). Continuing on, I turned right on the trail that stays on the ridge ( instead of staying on the loop trail). There I found more Blue Dicks, Popcorn Flower, Chia, and a few Bush Sunflower. ‑ Jim Garafalo |
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| Las Virgenes View Park |
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2/4/15 |
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The New Millennium Trail is in the City of Calabasas. The trailhead that I used is in the Dog Park, just south of the intersection of Las Virgenes and Agoura Road , across the street from A E Wright Middle School. It is the ridge that is to your left if you are driving south on Las Virgenes Road.
Plants are starting to bloom. As I walked up the trail I saw a few Red Maids, some wild Cucumber , and some Blue Dicks. Turning left at the "T" intersection (1.2 miles) , I walked another half mile till I was coming down the hill into the next canyon. At that point, I was surprised to see a couple of nice patches of California Golden Poppies brightening up the top of a hill on the other side of the canyon. I followed the loop trail and was able to walk on the ridge of the hill about 200 yards to take some pics. Lots of stuff is growing on this trail. If it doesn't dry out and we get a little more rain it could be a good wildflower year. ‑ Jim Garafalo 
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| Zuma Canyon |
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2/3/15 |
Zuma Canyon is an under appreciated gem of a location. It's possible to hike a small loop, a medium loop, a large loop or an enormous loop. I joined the Zuma Canyon loop to the Canyon View and Ocean View Trails to make a fairly large loop. The flowers are really starting to come into bloom. The big pod ceanothus and the wild cucumber are already past their peak. The cucumbers are showing off their fruit more than their flowers. The fuchsia flowering gooseberry and Indian paintbrush are looking very nice. Additionally I saw; bush sunflower, chaparral currant, southern tauschia, toyon, poison oak in flower, wild sweet pea, blue dicks and purple nightshade. Alongside the still-dry creek were mule fat, cud weed aster and California everlasting. Climbing up the southern side of the canyon the only new flowers encountered were eucrypta and wishbone flower.
‑ Dorothy Steinicke
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| Corral Canyon Park |
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1/30/15 |
| The Sara Wan Trail is an excellent place to ramble through coastal sage scrub. It is a loop trail and I always do it clockwise in order to enjoy the ocean views on the descent. Things are not yet awash in blooms here. The predominantly apparent flowers are the wild cucumbers which sprawl over the tops of shrubs pushing up their racemes of white flowers and with spiky fruits dangling below. There are also bush sunflowers, mule fat, purple nightshade, some wild sweet pea in bloom as well as some poison oak. I saw the very beginnings of Indian paintbrush, wishbone flower and purple sage. As I descended the ocean facing hillside I could see pods of dolphins in the ocean. The hillside was covered with ground hugging lupines (Lupinus succulentus? I'm not sure) ‑ Dorothy Steinicke | ||
| Topanga Canyon State Park |
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1/27/15 |
| After our little bit of rain the mountainsides are blooming with honey scented white blossoms of big pod ceanothus. I hiked The Musch Trail and it was everywhere. When there was a breeze there was a "snowfall" of white blossoms. Additionally the manzanita are in bloom with bell shaped flowers and wild cucumber is really getting going. There is an occasional splash of color from purple nightshade. I returned on the fire road where there were California everlasting and telegraph weed blooming alongside the road. So there was not a great variety of plants in bloom but the quantity of the blooming ceanothus make getting your boots muddy well worth it. ‑ Dorothy Steinicke | ||
| Stunt Ranch |
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1/19/15 |
| The milkmaids are out alongside the creek. I always think of them as the first harbingers of spring. Even more impressive were the many varieties of mushrooms and other fungus in evidence. I wish I knew them better. There was also a fair amount of wild cucumber. Venturing up into the chaparral the big pod ceanothus are just starting to bloom. There were also chaparral currant, both the usual pink flowered ones and also the white flowered ones that I only know from this trail. We saw a single blooming bush poppy. ‑ Dorothy Steinicke | ||
Contact Information:
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Santa Monica Mountains NRA 401 West Hillcrest Drive Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 805-370-2301 www.nps.gov/samo |
If you would like to contribute a wildflower report you can e-mail the editor at: Tony[underscore]Valois@nps.gov |
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What's Blooming
on the web at
www.smmflowers.org/whatsblooming
or go to
www.nps.gov/samo
click on "Things to Do"
and "Look for Wildflowers"
