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Page Revised: 4/19/05 |
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Available Sites Zuma/Trancas Canyons |
Date of Review 4/18/05 & 4/3/05 |
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See the photo gallery of
What’s Blooming at: http://www.nps.gov/samo/bloom/bloom.htm |
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In the interest of keeping
this What’s Blooming page brief, but simultaneously providing
access to past reports, we have created an archive
of previous reports |
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The vast fields of
wildflowers that some were expecting have not yet appeared, but we may still
see them if the weather cooperates. Indeed, we are still
waiting for that superlative display which will earn an
‘Excellent’ rating. Plant growth is definitely lush. If
you do encounter an excellent site please let us know. Many organizations are now
offering guided wildflower walks. You can check the Spring calendar of the
Santa Monica Mountains NRA, Outdoors, for more details. The on-line
version of this published booklet can be found at http://www.nps.gov/samo/outdoors. |
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Upper Zuma Canyon |
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Date: 4/18/05 |
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Today we hiked Upper Zuma Canyon and
the wildflower display was very good to excellent. There were big stands of
bush lupine, black sage, Spanish broom, fiesta flower, deerweed, wishbone bush,
sticky monkey flower and canyon sunflower.
Other finds were star lily, globe lily, clematis, blue larkspur,
Parry's phacelia, caterpillar phacelia, large flower phacelia, hedge nettle,
meadow rue, and prickly phlox. Some of the streams are now dried up and the
remaining streams are easily crossed.
(KJ) |
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Naturalist's rating: Very Good to Excellent |
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Circle X Ranch |
Grotto Trail |
Date: 4/11/05 |
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This easy-to-moderate trail goes
downhill about 1.5 miles through riparian, grassland, and chaparral habitats,
in shade and sun, with dramatic views of Boney Ridge and a couple of
waterfalls. We counted seventy four species in bloom, not counting a few that
we did not recognize. The Grotto remains a bit more challenging to get to
since the winter's rains because of the high water levels. We get frequent
questions from children regarding the California Newt seen in the stream and
pools near the Grotto. Flower highlights include Evening Primroses, Lilies,
Phacelias, a grassy field full of Vetches, a huge
crop of Chinese Houses, Blue Larkspur, Blue Dicks, Crimson Pitcher Sage, and
Nightshades. The appearance of Clarkias (including Purple Clarkia on the
Canyon View Trail), and seed heads of the Silver Puffs remind us that Spring
is well along now. The complete list includes Deerweed,
Red-stem Filaree, Black Sage, California Buckwheat, California Filago, Black
Mustard, Yellow Monkey flower, Creek Monkey Flower, Bush Monkey flower,
Yellow Sweet Clover, Mustard Evening Primrose, Small Evening Primrose, Bush
Sunflower, Canyon Sunflower, Bur Clover, Morning Glory, Pineapple Weed,
California Everlasting, Two-tone Everlasting, Common Chickweed, Pacific
Sanicle, Windmill Pink, Mule Fat, Annual Bedstraw, Climbing Bedstraw,
Narrow-leaved Bedstraw, Spring Vetch, Winter Vetch, Blue Dick, Purple
Nightshade, White Nightshade, Black Walnut, Silver Puffs, Caterpillar
Phacelia, Parry's Phacelia, Fiesta Flower, Blue Larkspur, Chinese Houses,
Popcorn Flower, Eucrypta, Miner's Lettuce, Chamise, Scarlet Pimpernel,
Blue-eyed Grass, Golden Yarrow, Catalina Mariposa Lily, Star Lily, Bigpod
Ceanothus, Greenbark Ceanothus, Wishbone Bush, Hollyleaf Cherry, Hollyleaf
Redberry, Strigose Lotus, Coastal Lotus, Yucca, Rattlesnake Weed (Daucus Pusillus), Cliff Aster,
Stinging Lupine, California Blackberry, Thread Stem, Common Groundsel,
Twining Snapdragon, Fuchsia-flowered Gooseberry, Crimson Pitcher Sage, Hedge
Nettle, Elderberry, Willow-herb Clarkia, Sugar Bush, Curly Dock, Coffeeberry,
Wild Sweet Pea, Sow Thistle, Prickly Sow Thistle, Annual Cat's Ear. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Very
Good |
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Westlake Vista / Semler
Park (Triunfo Creek Park) |
Pentachaeta Trail |
Date: 4/11/05 |
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This little-known trail is at the
end of Lindero Canyon Road just beyond the intersection of Triunfo Canyon
Road. Managed as Open Space by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the
easy 1-mile trail is named for the endangered “Lyon’s pentachaeta,”
a small daisy endemic to the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills (only 20
known populations, this area one of the best). The trail traverses open
hillside meadows mixed with chaparral, and though the grasses are starting to
turn, the wildflowers are just hitting their stride. Most profuse were coast
goldfields in wide patches with clumps of owl’s clover and blue-eyed
grass mixed in – a stunning color-combo! Lots of chamise, golden
yarrow, and dove lupine were also seen, with bright patches of Chinese houses
hiding in the chaparral shade. Further on, another good combo mixed
ground-pink with angel’s gilia and goldfields. Others in the profuse or
patchy categories were woolly blue-curls, red maids, caterpillar phacelia,
coast lotus, fiesta flower, chia, yellow pincushion, blue larkspur—and
a few mariposa lilies and fairy lanterns. All-in-all, a unique mix of 45
species – don’t forget your camera! (JG) |
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Naturalist's rating: Very Good |
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Newton & Upper
Solstice Canyons |
The Backbone Trail |
Date: 4/9/05 |
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This hike was the fifth of the NPS
2004-2005 Backbone Trail Series. We will be hiking the entire Backbone Trail,
one part each month and reporting on the flowers seen. A couple of the early
hikes that were rained out have been re-scheduled for April and May resulting
in two hikes in each of these months. This hike was from the Kanan Dume Road
Trailhead to the Corral Canyon Road trailhead, about 6.5 miles. This trail
drops into cool oak groves and rises up to dry sage scrub several times along
its length providing multiple opportunities to see a large variety of
flowers. We recorded seeing 119 different species in bloom. Several of the
flower displays were quite spectacular, especially among the blue flowers. We
are still waiting for that superlative display that will earn an excellent
rating. Highlights include masses of Fiesta
Flowers, frequent Catalina Mariposa Lilies, Star Lilies, Indian Paintbrush,
Monkey flowers, good quantities of both Parry's and Caterpillar Phacelias,
Sunflowers, several different Lupines, Evening Primrose, Blue-eyed Grass,
Chinese Houses, groves of Chamise, Crimson Pitcher Sage, Indian Pink, Woolly Blue Curls, California Poppies,
Tree Poppy, many Blue Dick, and Globe Gilia. (BE & TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Very Good |
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Point Mugu State Park |
Chumash Trail / |
Date: 4/5/05 |
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The steep ascent from PCH via the Chumash
trail is strenuous and has tricky footing in places. A walking stick might be
a good idea. The reward is an unobstructed view of the coast just off of the
Seabee firing range. This trail is principally coastal sage scrub but since
it is literally right on the coast it shows a slightly different mix of
plants than seen in the sage scrub more frequently encountered in the
interior of the Rec. Area. At the top I always stop to look at the native
bunchgrasses in the wide-open grassland. We continued on to the La Jolla Loop
trail and took the lower branch back to the La Jolla Canyon Trail and finally
to the Ray Miller Trailhead. Down below you can get the impression that
summer is just around the corner as things are really beginning to dry out.
We also did a very quick side jaunt up the Mugu Peak trail to see what was
blooming near the creek. Parts of the La Jolla Loop Trail had a great deal of
Poison Oak along the trail margin. It could be avoided if you were careful,
but if you don't know what it looks like you have almost no chance of
avoiding it. In addition, Mosquitoes were thick along a couple of short
sections so repellent might not be a bad idea if you plan on stopping near
the creek. Highlights include Indian Paintbrush, many Catalina Mariposa Lilies,
Blue-eyed Grass, several different Lupines, Bush Monkey Flower, Bush Mallow,
Southern California Locoweed, Sticky Cinquefoil, Chinese Houses, Larkspur, and
Indian Pink. Altogether about eighty different species were encountered. The complete list includes: Deerweed,
Indian Paintbrush, Black Mustard, Black Sage, Catalina Mariposa Lily, Wild
Morning Glory, White Sweet Clover, Golden Yarrow, Bush Sunflower, Bur Clover
Blue-eyed Grass, California Buckwheat, Stinging Lupine, Succulent Lupine,
Bush Lupine, Bush Mallow, Parry's Phacelia, Blue Dicks, Oxalis, White
Pincushion, Coastal Lotus, Lance-leaf Live-forever, Bush Monkey Flower,
Toyon, Giant Coreopsis, Rattlesnake Weed (Daucus Pusillus), Yucca, Small
Evening Primrose, Whispering Bells, Narrow-leaved Bedstraw, Wishbone Bush,
Shiny Lomatium, California Filago, Snakeroot, Lemonade Berry, Red-stem
Filaree, Southern California Locoweed, Horehound, Sow Thistle, California
Sagebrush, Wild Cucumber, Cliff aster, Cheeseweed, Pineapple Weed. Eucrypta,
Winter Vetch, Italian Thistle, Pacific Sanicle, Poison Oak, Wild Sweet Pea,
California Blackberry, Hedge Nettle, Crimson Pitcher Sage, Scarlet Pimpernel,
Annual Bedstraw, Strigose Lotus, Coulter's Lupine, Tomcat Clover, Field
Clover, Woolly Aster, Sticky Cinquefoil, Fiesta Flower, Purple Nightshade,
Chinese Houses, Climbing Bedstraw, Larkspur, Miners Lettuce, Indian Pink,
Curly Dock, California Wild Rose, Greenbark Ceanothus, Bigpod Ceanothus,
Southern Tauschia, Caterpillar Phacelia, Peninsular Onion, Mule Fat, and Prostrate
Coast Goldenbush. (TV). |
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Naturalist's rating: Good to Very Good |
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Zuma & Trancas
Canyons |
Zuma Loop Trail |
Date: 4/3/05 |
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About 25 species of wildflowers are
in bloom in the lower canyon area. Dominant species include: bush and canyon
sunflowers, scarlet pimpernel, black sage, and fiesta flower. Other species
along the higher portion of the loop trail include Catalina mariposa lily,
Indian paintbrush, bush lupine and blue-eyed grass. There is still a good
amount of water flowing through Zuma Creek. All creek crossings are passable
with some rock hopping. (KL) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Solstice Canyon |
Solstice Canyon Trail |
Date: 3/31/05 |
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Along the easy 1.25 mile trail to
Tropical Terrace, flowers are sparse. Sages, sunflowers, and poppies are
common in the re-vegetation area, but outside of that only single specimens are
showing here and there. Near the Keller House are the bright oranges, purple
and yellow of nasturtium, bull mallow and oxalis – all non-natives. We
counted ten species blooming along the by pass road and only 5 more on the
way up to the Tropical Terrace. White nightshade and hedge nettle made a nice
grouping in the shaded area just before the Sostomo Trail cut off. (SB) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Cheeseboro & Palo
Comado Canyons |
China Flat Trail |
Date: 3/30/05 |
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On 3/30/05 we hiked the China Flat Trail
in the Cheeseboro/Palo Comado canyon preserve. The trail was badly rutted by
the recent rains, but dry. The flowers were out in large quantities with 82
species identified, warranting a very good rating. Starting immediately at
the trail head just off Lindero Canyon Rd. we found a profusion of blooms
starting with the mundane prickly sow thistle, sour clover, red stem filaree,
hedge mustard, horehound, popcorn flower and bush
sunflower. A large stand of Chilean clover and some windmill pinks, bur
clover and scarlet pimpernel were scattered along the trail. Chamise, small
evening primrose, black sage, hoary leaf ceanothus, bush monkey flower and
wooly blue curl were also abundant. Yerba Santa was found all along the
trail. The foliage was quite ragged, but many blooms were present. The
lavender rock rose (Cistus), mule
fat, blue dick, and masses of the long billed filaree were also seen. Annual
cat's ear, owl's clover, dove lupine, purple
nightshade, and wild cucumber had several representatives in bloom. Many
small flowers were present in amongst the grasses including Chile lotus,
Minute flowered popcorn flower, strigose lotus, silver puff and angel’s
gilia. Proceeding further up the canyon we
found Calif. buckwheat, mustard evening primrose, fern-leaf phacelia, morning
glory, violet snapdragon and chia. Eucrypta, wishbone bush, stinging lupine,
yellow monkey flower and common groundsel were also flowering. Deerweed was
starting to bloom and many yellow pincushions were present. We spotted slender bedstraw, tumbling
mustard, two toned everlasting, and both the common Calif. poppy and the
collarless poppy. Lace pod, Calif everlasting, fiddle neck, collared lupine
and cobwebby thistle were plentiful. Several prickly phlox, black mustard,
velvet leaf everlasting, sun cup and snake root were seen. The bright blue
flowers of the hairy ceanothus and lots of miner's lettuce and some annual
bedstraw were found. Fiesta flower, chickweed, spring vetch, pineapple weed,
and dandelion were also found. Several elderberry were blooming as were small
flowered fiddleneck, western ragweed, shepherd's purse, and a single purple Clarkia. Grasses in bloom include soft brome,
wild oats, hare barley, golden top, slender oats, rip-gut brome, Madrid
brome, and red brome. (RWM) |
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Naturalist's rating: Very Good |
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Rancho Sierra Vista |
Satwiwa Loop / Hidden
Valley Overlook |
Date: 3/29/05 |
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As the meadow grasses go to seed, the
hills and canyons are coming into peak bloom with nearly 60 wildflower
species seen. The high part of the loop—a half-mile stretch between the
windmill and Upper Sycamore Canyon Trail—continues to show the best
variety. Notables included hedge nettle, snake root, the last shooting stars,
dove lupine, blue-eyed grass, continuing ceanothus, Indian pinks, black sage,
fiesta flower, and miner’s lettuce. Better yet, the Hidden Valley
Overlook Trail—often “overlooked,” but with great ocean
views—turned up a profusion of mariposa lilies and golden yarrow, with
lots of bush sunflowers, wishbone bush, and the first CA buckwheat and bush
mallow. With this much on the lip of Upper Sycamore Canyon, the trail to the
stream, waterfall, and down-canyon should be overflowing with flowers. (JG) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good to Very Good |
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Circle X Ranch |
Canyon View Trail |
Date: 3/27/05 |
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The Canyon View Trail is really one
of the best for flowers. Right off the
bat there is chamise, blue dicks, California buckwheat and black sage in
bloom. In the frequent exposed rocky
places there is an array of yellow monkey flower, larkspur, parry's phacelia,
mustard evening primrose, popcorn flower and chia. There are big patches of globe gilia along
the trail. In one spot there are
caterpillar, big flower and parry's phacelia all growing together. There is golden yarrow, sticky monkey
flower, deerweed, stinging lupine, purple nightshade and woolly blue curls.
There are more star lilies this year than I have ever seen before. There are several lovely groups of mariposa
lilies. There are creeks which are
frequently dry that are now flowing with water. By these creeks red-skinned onion and
annual paintbrush are blooming. There
are many clumps of rock rose. . (DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Very
Good |
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Malibu Creek State Park |
High Road to Visitor
Center |
Date: 3/24/05 |
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If you take the path marked
‘back country trails’ (Crags Road), you will still see some good
patches of wildflowers like globe gilia, wild morning glory, small flowered
lotus, owl’s clover, fiddlenecks and chia, but it is becoming
increasingly difficult as the non-native grasses have really surged ahead. Shrubs
and small trees like mule fat, greenbark ceanothus and elderberry have the
advantage as they are above the grasses.
There is a nice display of eucrypta, chia, Parry’s phacelia and
caterpillar phacelia near the white sage and in the shady spots fiesta flower
is blooming. On the rocky slopes sticky monkey flower provides splotches of
gold. Views of the creek are still
excellent. (SB) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Circle X Ranch |
Backbone Trail below
Triunfo Peak |
Date: 3/23/05 |
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This trail is one of the newest
sections of the Backbone Trail has been crafted with much care (when the
trail was new someone did a good chunk of it in a wheelchair). As the trail has
aged grass is taking over in places and displacing the pioneering
wildflowers. The recent heavy rains have exposed rocks and caused several
slides including one place were it is necessary to leave the trail to get
around several massive boulders. The gentle slope of the trail encourages
water to pool on the trail making mud a frequent acquaintance after a
rain. The trail itself runs about six
miles from the Mishe Mokwa trailhead to Yerba Buena Road at about mile 9.10. I decided to come back on Yerba Buena and
make a loop of it, adding another two miles (and about ten flowers to the
count). Be careful if you choose to do
this since Yerba Buena has very little shoulder in some places. On the weekends the heavier, often fast
traffic might make this not a good idea.
Including the road, 96 different flowers were seen blooming. However, much of the trail is not heavily
flowered so I have only given this trail a “good” rating. Highlights include many Hollyleaf Cherry,
the deep blue Hairy-leaved Ceanothus, several different species of Lupines,
Prickly Phlox, Wild Morning Glory, masses of Blue Dicks, many Star Lilies,
Chia, frequent encounters with Parry's Phacelia, a beautiful Fuchsia-flowered
Gooseberry, several areas with Twining Snapdragon, Catalina Mariposa Lily
(along the road), some Blue Larkspur, Chocolate Lily, Chinese Houses, Bush
Monkey Flower, and a small creek surrounded by Red-skinned Onion. Also seen blooming were Annual Cat's
Ear, Popcorn Flower, California Buckwheat, Wild Cucumber Golden Yarrow,
Red-stem Filaree, White-stem Filaree, Annual Bedstraw, Narrow-leaved
Bedstraw, California Filago, Eucrypta, Mountain Mahogany, Hollyleaf Redberry,
Miner's Lettuce, Black Sage, Black Mustard (and three other unidentified
mustards), Elderberry, Scrub Oak, Coast Live Oak, Purple Nightshade, Sow
Thistle, Prickly Sow Thistle, Common Groundsel, Chamise, Greenbark Ceanothus,
Bigpod Ceanothus, Hedge Nettle, Fiesta Flower, Two-tone Everlasting,
California Everlasting, Canyon Sunflower, Bush Sunflower, Pacific Sanicle,
Southern Tauschia, Yellow Monkey Flower, Creek Monkey Flower, Narrow-leaved
Fringe-Pod, Pigmy Weed, Deerweed, Strigose Lotus, Coastal Lotus, Coulter's
Lupine, Stinging Lupine, Bush Lupine, Collar Lupine, Henbit, Windmill Pink,
Silver Puffs, Rock rose, Mustard Evening Primrose, Small Evening Primrose,
Woolly Blue-curls, Bleeding Heart, Wishbone Bush, Horehound, Spanish Broom,
Bigberry Manzanita, Bur Clover, Virgin's Bower, Skullcap, Rattlesnake Weed (Daucus pusillus),
Owl Clover, Shooting Stars, Yellow Pincushion, Coast Goldfields, Poison Oak,
Pineapple Weed, California Plantain, Woolly Lomatium, Field Clover,
California Poppy, Chaparral Current, Turkey pea, Wild Radish, Cheeseweed,
White Sweet Clover, Yellow Sweet Clover, and Blow Wives. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Circle X Ranch |
Mishe Mokwa and
Sandstone Peak Trails |
Date: 3/21/05 |
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This six mile loop is quite popular, and
while it often lags the nearby Canyon View trail in flower diversity, it more
than makes up for it in grandeur of views. If you don't want to do the whole
six mile loop and are mostly interested in flowers then the section from the
trailhead to split rock usually shows three-quarters of the flowers of the
whole loop. The trail is still muddy in places because of persistent springs
along the trail, but most of the mud is shallow or avoidable. On 3/21/05 we
hiked the Mishe Mokwa Trail primarily to view the chocolate lilies before
they were done for the season. We were not disappointed,
perhaps a dozen were blooming in the usual section along the trail. I noticed
that quite a few of the plants exhibited the cut stems where a lily should
have been. The trail was muddy is places, but readily traversed. Including
the grasses some 69 species were found in bloom almost all in good
quantities. A rating of good is assigned for this display. White and yellow
flowers made up two thirds of the blooms. The whites included chamise, Calif.
buckwheat, Catalina Mariposa lily, big pod ceanothus and lots of popcorn
flower. A single cliff aster but a fair amount of wooly lomatium and miner's
lettuce was seen. The usual morning glory, holly leaf red berry, eucrypta,
wild cucumber, and two-tone everlasting were also present. A very unusual
white bloom was found among a stand of Parry's phacelia, exhibiting the same
leaves and large exserted white anthers of the typical deep purple Parry's
phacelia. Perhaps this was Parry's ghost. Lace pod, holly leaf cherry,
virgin's bower, poison oak, Calif. saxifrage, Calif. everlasting, and sandbar
willow made up the rest of the white shaded blooms. The yellow/golden
colors were represented by bur clover, deerweed, golden yarrow, sow thistle,
strigose lotus, silver puff and a small evening primrose tentatively
identified as yellow sun cup. Also in this group were common groundsel,
yellow monkey flower, slender bedstraw, southern tauschia, snakeroot, Calif.
collarless poppy and bush monkey flower. Rounding off this list were both mustard and miniature evening primrose, canyon
sunflower, coast goldfield, and American winter cress. The red tinged colors
were represented only by wild sweet pea, owl's clover and chaparral current. The
violet/blue/purple color group contributed red stem filaree, black sage, blue
dick, wooly blue curl and chia. Also seen were stinging lupine, purple night
shade, chocolate lily, Parry's phacelia, and both dove and collar lupines. A
violet snapdragon, some globe gilia, hairy leaf ceanothus and blue larkspur
were also contributors. A strange green gall was found in several locations
on a hoary leaf ceanothus. Also an unusual sight was the mass of what is
believed to be spore cells rising above the thick moss with their little
round green capsule supported on a 1/4 to 1/2 inch stalk. Grasses are
plentiful and they included slender oats, Madrid brome, foxtail barley,
golden top, red brome, blue grass, soft brome, and broom sedge grass. Some
less frequently seen bird's foot fern was also seen. (RWM) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Santa
Monica Mountains National Recreation Area 401 West
Hillcrest Drive Ph. 805-370-2301 web. www.nps.gov/samo |
Thank
you for your
contributions: Sheila
Braden |
If you
would like to contribute to the wildflower report: e-mail: or phone
him at 310-457-6408 |
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