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Page Revised: 4/13/06 |
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Available Sites Cheeseboro/Palo Comado Cyns |
Date of Review 4/13/06. |
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What's Blooming photo gallery: www.nps.gov/samo/bloom/bloom.htm |
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Cheeseboro / Palo Comado Canyons |
Various north-end trails |
Date:
4/13/06 |
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Trails examined included the Albertson
Motorway, Palo Comado Canyon Trail, and the Sheep Corral Trail. Much of the
lower section of this unit is literally choked with non-native grasses and
weeds but if you get up to the Northern end you are rewarded with some very
nice wildflower displays. Some sections of some of the trails are quite good
right now, even very good, but overall the quality of the flower display was
quite variable from place to place. Be aware that much of this unit was
burned in last fall's fires and is not fully open for visitor use. Be sure to
read all posted signs to avoid entering closed areas. Some of the burned
areas are especially fragile right now. The lower end of the Palo Comado
Trail was quite disappointing, but as the trail begins to rise we saw good
numbers of several different species of wildflowers. Turning left onto Sheep
Corral trail the situation was again quite good at least until we dropped
back down into the depths of the burn. It is interesting to see how some
areas are coming back primarily as non-native weeds, but in other areas the
native wildflowers are holding their own. My own curiosity will certainly
keep me watching the burned areas as Spring progresses. Similarly, sections
of the Albertson Motorway vary considerably, but none as bad as the weed
choked lower end of the unit. Highlights include succulent lupine,
paintbrush, purple nightshade, windmill pink, blue dick, prickly phlox,
mustard evening primrose, popcorn flower, bush monkey flower, yellow monkey
flower, black sage, chia, sunflowers, caterpillar phacelia, Parry's phacelia,
several different lupines, wild morning glory, datura, wishbone bush, both
white and yellow pincushions, several different lotus, white, blue, and
twining snapdragons, eucrypta, a few different gilias,
sections quite dense with star lily, golden yarrow, blue toadflax, fire
poppies, fiesta flower, long-beaked filaree, and skullcap. All told over ninety
different species in bloom. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Poor to Good |
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Rocky Oaks |
Various trails |
Date:
4/9/06 |
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Our unseasonably cool weather has
delayed the wildflower blooms here, but now things look promising. Most of
the trails to the eastern edge of the site are still very wet and muddy and
will keep you from exploring the meadow. In the areas surrounding the meadow
you can see the beginnings of bloom: popcorn flowers, cryptantha, filaree and
long-billed filaree, as well as lots of funnel-web spider webs and mushrooms.
North of the pond area are small lupines. South of the pond the trail
continues into drier chaparral vegetation and views start to improve. Firedot, candleflame and
speckled greenshield lichens are clearly visible on
black sage, chamise and other shrubs and you’ll find California
buckwheat, lots of California everlasting and then patches of California
poppies. As you continue west, blooms improve. The most impressive are the
several types of ceanothus in bloom, especially the blue violet one,
ceanothus oliganthus. You can also see Carolina geraniums, golden violets,
more small blue lupines and some mountain mahogany, just starting to bloom
before that trail ends at the far western edge of the park. (SB) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair to Good |
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Malibu Canyon State
Park |
Backbone Trail between Corral Trailhead
and Tapia Park |
Date:
4/8/06 |
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This hike was section number six of
the National Park Service's annual Backbone Trail hike. This section starts
at the Corral Canyon trailhead and runs along the Mesa Peak Fire road then
down to Tapia Park on Malibu Canyon Rd. A good portion of this hike is along
the ridgeline offering some excellent vistas of both the ocean and the valley.
Flower density is still low for this time of year which is somewhat offset by
great displays of ceanothus, producing only a fair showing. All told about
fifty species in bloom. Highlights include Greenbark ceanothus, prickly
phlox, purple nightshade, Eastwood manzanita, manroot,
sunflowers, Parry's phacelia, fiesta flower, virgins bower, a few different
lupines, paintbrush, Indian pink, California blackberry, oxalis albicans, and, perhaps the most important, summer holly. (RW) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Circle X Ranch |
Grotto Trail |
Date:
4/7/06 |
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the flower situation looks similar to
the last report for the Grotto Trail: except for a few species the quantity
of individuals remain low. The species count is up but many in the count are
represented by just one plant in bloom. The recent rains have left the trail
muddy in places, although it should be fine by the time you read this. There
is a lot of water in the creek, enough to make the creek crossings a bit of a
challenge and the waterfalls worth looking at. In the evenings there is a lot
of frog song mixed in with the sound of the rushing water. This trail is
excellent for another of our blue ceanothus, the greenbark ceanothus. It is a
much paler blue than the darker hairy-leaved ceanothus found up on the
Sandstone Peak and Mishe Mokwa trails. Other flower highlights include good
quantities of purple nightshade, a single white nightshade, several morning
glories, everlasting, canyon sunflower, some chinese houses, blue larkspur, a
few fiesta flowers, miner's lettuce, popcorn flower, a little blue eyed
grass, some bush monkey flower, a few blue dicks, one star lily, a few
scraggly wishbone bushes, a fuchsia flowered gooseberry, and wild
cucumber. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Point Mugu State Park |
La Jolla Canyon Trail |
Date:
4/6/06 |
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On 4/06/06 we hiked up the La Jolla
Canyon Trail and connected with the Loop Trail westerly. Our objective was to
find the Creeping buttercups that had been washed out from last years rains.
We found several plants, but none were blooming. Including the grasses and
trees we found 48 species in bloom. The dominant color was yellow which included
hedge mustard, giant coreopsis, bush sunflower, deerweed, telegraph weed and
bush monkey flower. Also found were sour clover, golden yarrow, bur clover
and tree tobacco. Slender bedstraw, canyon sunflower, western wallflower,
snake root, Santa Barbara locoweed and prickly sow thistle concludes the
yellowish group. Second most common were the whitish
group which included morning glory, Calif. everlasting, horehound, poison oak, and mule fat.
Two-tone everlasting, Calif. buckwheat, cliff aster, bigpod ceanothus, wild blackberry,
eucrypta, and popcorn flower rounds out this group. In the purple/blue category we found
black sage, redstem filaree, purple night shade,
rigid hedge nettle, greenbark ceanothus, blue dick, blue-eyed grass, and
wishbone bush. Red/pink was represented by coast paint brush, wild sweetpea,
and scarlet pimpernel. Other sightings were rip-gut brome,
red brome, Calif. walnut, slender oats, golden top, arroyo willow and wild
oats. There was plenty of water flowing in
the creeks and at least three waterfalls were on display. The trail was in
good condition with only a couple of muddy sections. The ticks seem to be as
plentiful as they were last year, so don't spare the deet. (RWM) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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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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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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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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