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Page Revised: 3/31/06 |
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Available Sites Circle X Ranch |
Date of Review 3/31/06 & 3/17/06
& 3/13/06 & 2/19/06. |
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After a long period of
down-time the Park’s web site is again accepting new content. Please
feel free to contact us if you have a wild flower report you would like to
share with the public. What's Blooming photo gallery: www.nps.gov/samo/bloom/bloom.htm |
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Circle X Ranch |
Sandstone Peak Trail |
Date: 3/31/06 |
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At the lower elevations near the
trailhead things look similar to a few weeks ago: few flowers, both in term
of species count and quantity of individuals. However, moving up to higher elevations
we begin to encounter large numbers of very heavily laden hairy-leaved
ceanothus and a good number of prickly phlox. The deep blue and hot pink of
these two flowers provide the perfect counterpoint. There was one short
section of the trail which also included an abundance of the white blossoms
of the hoary-leaved ceanothus that struck me as being as beautiful as any
wildflower display I have ever seen. It wasn't just the unusually heavy
blossom load, but rather the whole aspect taken together. It felt almost as
if a skilled artist had arranged the dramatic colors to produce a work of
art. Last year was a banner year for flowers in general, but only average for
the ceanothus. This year the ceanothus have been spectacular and worth a hike
in their own right (perhaps some compensation for the otherwise poor flower
showing we’ve had so far this year.) Other notable sightings included
purple nightshade, several black sage bushes beginning to bloom, golden
yarrow, and good numbers of another favorite, the Eastwood manzanita, near
the top of the trail. Don't forget to look for the smaller flowers like the
delicate California saxifrage along the talus slopes just below the highpoint
of the ascending trail. A few weeks ago it looked like the wild cucumbers
were beginning to dry up but they are in full bloom again, thanks perhaps to
the recent rains. There are still some shooting stars about and even a few
chaparral currents. So don't let the rather poor flower condition near the
bottom of the trail stop you, its much better farther up out of sight. So how to rate this trail? It
doesn’t seem quite fair to rate it too high based on the presence of
just a few of really stand-out species, but then, flower watching has always
been a rather subjective sport. If you love the “California
Lilac” as much as I do, then perhaps even “Excellent” is
justified. However, cooler heads would point out that on the basis of the variety
of flowers in bloom this is still a rather poor showing. You’ll have to
decide for yourself. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair to Very Good |
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Topanga State Park |
Los Liones Trail |
Date: 3/30/06 |
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Trailhead at the end of Los Liones
St. off Sunset Blvd., just in from PCH. This trail is just starting to come
into bloom. Elderberry flowers,
deerweed and California everlasting are visible from the trailhead. Hiking a little ways brings you to canyon
sunflower, morning glory, purple and white nightshade, wild cucumber, sticky
monkey flower, bush sunflower and cliff aster. This is a trail that is known for
phacelia. Not much yet but we did see
some parry's and big flower phacelia..
(DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Malibu Creek State Park |
Reagan Meadows |
Date: 3/23/06 |
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This is a lovely hike and one where
you are not likely to encounter many other people. Park in the gravel lot at the southeast
corner of Mulholland and Cornell and walk up the paved driveway to the park buildings. Beyond the buildings the trail is
obvious. Soon the trail forks and you
can choose the left and the meadow first or right and the woods, you can loop
back the other way. Either choice is
perfumed with the scent of ceanothus.
I took the meadow trail first.
There are brambles of golden current and little yellow violets peeping
out at the edge of the trail. There is
common fiddleneck, miner's lettuce, chaparral current, and, of course the
ceanothus. Curving uphill to the right
at the end of the meadow you can return through the woods. Here you find western wallflower, baby blue
eyes, fiesta flower, larkspur and Chinese houses. (DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Topanga State Park |
Dead Horse & Musch trails |
Date: 3/22/06 |
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Dead Horse Trail to Musch trail and
return to Dead Horse on the fire road. The recent rains are paying off in
flowers. Things are really starting to
bloom. The Dead Horse Trail is
riparian at the beginning and then goes to chaparral. In the riparian area there is blooming
chamise, greenbark ceanothus, canyon sunflower, hummingbird sage and
manzanita. Above the footbridge there
are several dozen peonies in bloom, they must have waited for the rain. In the chaparral area there are fuchsia
flowering gooseberry and vervain. In
the meadow before the trail meets the Musch Trail there are buttercups and
blue eyed grass. Going up the Musch
Trail there is sticky monkey flower, purple nightshade, California buckwheat,
California everlasting, wild morning glory and golden yarrow. The most notable plant in bloom is notable
penstemon which is just gorgeous and there is quite a bit of it. There are also some lovely tree
poppies. Coming down the fire road to
the Trippet Ranch parking lot there are still some prickly phlox hanging
on. (DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Circle X Ranch |
Canyon View Trail |
Date: 3/17/06 |
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Still very few flowers making an
appearance, both in terms of quantity and variety. One of the few plants that
are having a good blooming season this year are the ceanothus. I was debating
giving this trail a poor rating, but the fine display of greenbark ceanothus
easily bumped it up to a fair rating (as a side note, we are still getting a
great displays of the similar, but deeper blue, hairy-leaved ceanothus on the
higher elevations at CXR.) Other highlights include, deerweed, California
buckwheat, popcorn flower, wild cucumber, chamise, purple nightshade, blue
larkspur, wishbone bush, common fiddleneck, shooting star, mustard evening
primrose, wooly blue curls, annual paintbrush, golden yarrow, bush monkey
flower, canyon sunflower, wild morning glory, blue dick, and California
blackberry. (TV). |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Cold Creek Preserve |
Stunt High Trail |
Date: 3/16/06 |
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This canyon is a wonderful hike in
any season but especially nice in the spring.
The creek is full of water and the deep shade of the canyon bottom is
refreshing. Right at the trail head is
some mustard evening primrose. There
are a lot of deep blue ceanothus throughout the canyon. By the creek there are purple nightshade,
California everlasting, wild cucumbers, miner's lettuce, milkmaids and
fuchsia flowering gooseberry. There
are bunches of baby blue eyes in every sunlit patch. Going up the hill into the meadow
there are golden yarrow, lupine, popcorn flower, common fiddleneck, sweet
peas, fiesta flowers, blue dicks and blue eyed grass. Continuing into the chaparral there
is Eastwood manzanita and the beautiful flowering ash trees dripping with
creamy yellow blossoms. (DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Circle X Ranch |
Grotto Trail |
Date: 3/13/06 |
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Highlights include deerweed,
California buckwheat, popcorn flower, bush sunflower, canyon sunflower,
two-tone everlasting, California everlasting, greenbark ceanothus, morning glory,
purple nightshade, blue larkspur, chinese houses, wild cucumber, chamise,
bush monkey flower, wishbone bush, fuchsia flowered gooseberry. About three
dozen different species encountered but for most a very light turnout. The
great display of greenbark ceanothus helps bump the rating up to
"fair." (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Solstice Canyon |
Sostomo trail |
Date: 3/7/06 |
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This beautiful canyon with a year
round creek is always a good place for a hike. We took the Sostomo Trail and added the
Deer Canyon loop and didn't encounter another person for the entire
hike. We did see Sara Orange tip and
California Sister butterflies. There
were blackberries, California everlasting, morning glory, canyon sunflower
and purple and white nightshade in bloom.
There were beautiful patches of hummingbird sage which each seemed to
have a hummingbird in attendance. The
greenbark and big pod ceanothus are both in bloom. There was parry's phacelia, fuchsia
flowering gooseberry and wishbone flower in bloom. Sitting by the creek we saw newts. On the way back we were serenaded by
frogs. (DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Circle X Ranch |
Mishe Mokwa Loop Trail |
Date: 3/6/06 |
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We are still seeing mostly light
turnouts of many flowers, the notable exception being the several species of
ceanothus which have all had a banner year. Highlights include bigpod,
greenbark, hairy-leaved, and hoary-leaved ceanothus, California buckwheat, deerweed,
two-tone everlasting, popcorn flower, morning glory, wild cucumber, a good
number of prickly phlox, golden yarrow, the largely finished chaparral
current, eastwood manzanita, shooting stars, purple nightshade, yellow cress,
miner's lettuce, milkmaids, hillside gooseberry, California peony, and blue
larkspur. I am frequently told by people that
they particularly enjoy seeing the greenbark ceanothus blooming on this
trail. In fact there is very little greenbark ceanothus on the Mishi Mokwa loop
trail. The confusion arises because the much more plentiful hairy-leaved
ceanothus can also have green bark and blue flowers. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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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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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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