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Page Revised: 05/21/2011 |
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Available Site Reviews Topanga Canyon State Park Paramount Ranch Malibu Creek State Park Castro Crest Red Rock Canyon Park Triunfo Canyon Park Circle X Ranch Los Robles Open Space Wildwood park Oakbrook Regional Park Cold Creek Canyon Palo Comado Canyon |
Date of Reviews 05/19. 05/19 & 04/29. 05/18 & 05/15 &
04/09. 05/15 & 04/23. 05/15. 05/10. 05/02 & 04/21 &
04/04 & 03/30. 05/02. 04/26. 04/19. 04/19. 04/13. |
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Quick Links: Wildflowers
of the Santa Monica Mountains - Photos of 850 SMM species. Archive - Previous “What's Blooming” reports. Outdoors - The
Calendar of Events for the Santa Monica Mountains NRA. Wildfowers
Facebook - A place where people can share about flowers. SMM WildFlowers - The Park's popular wildflower app for the iPhone/iPad. |
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We had a great start this year with
many of our winter flowers appearing as early as December. The warm, dry weather we had early in the
season made for pleasant hiking but shortened the season for many of our
flowers. I can’t remember a
shorter ceanothus bloom up here at Circle X Ranch. In addition, that long
early-winter dry spell was very hard on a lot of the plants. Many of the
typical early season annual species were pretty scarce. I’ve heard many comments like
“... but we’ve had so much rain!” I must remind people that
plants are living organisms and as such not very interested in high
“average” quantity, but much more dependent on consistency, and we’ve had very
little of that this year. Lately
things have been very lush with many of the perennials looking good to
excellent but this remains about the worst year I’ve ever seen for some
of the early annuals. On the other
hand most of them can still be found if you are willing to look, just not in
the dramatic eye-popping displays of some of the recent past. There are signs that the season for the
“later” annuals will be better since our rain was more consistent
later in the season. On that note, we are now beginning to see some of
the later season flowers. One that is
always symbolic to me was my first encounter of “Farewell-to-Spring”
a few weeks ago. As always, if you want to contact me
or submit a flower report my email address is at the at the bottom of this
page. See you on the trails. – ed. |
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Topanga Canyon State Park |
Santa Ynez Canyon |
Date: 05/19/2011 |
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Entering on the
Palisades side, trailhead at the end of Vereda de
la Montura St. which branches off of Palisades
Drive. This is one of my
favorite hikes. The creekside area is always green and shady. Be aware that a lot of the green is poison
oak, long pants and long sleeves are a good idea. This canyon is a
gem in the summer time. It gets a lot
of summer flowers after the hillsides have dried up. It is not quite there yet but there is
still a lot of water in the creek and a lot of flowers in bloom. Upon entering the trail flowering black sage,
canyon sunflower and hedge nettle were immediately visible. As I walked along I saw blackberry flowers,
purple nightshade, sticky monkey flower, wild rose, deer weed, bush lupine,
honeysuckle, lance leaf dudleya, sweet pea and wild morning glory in bloom. The cream bush, which is one of the special
flowers on this hike, is just getting started. I really went on this trail to look at the
chaparral portion that heads of the mountain to Trippett
Ranch. May often has spectacular
flowers in this section. Not this
time. There are flowers worth going to
see, but not the abundance that is often there. There are the usual chaparral flowers; yucca,
golden yarrow, yellow pin cushion, chamise, Turkish rugging, California
buckwheat and owl's clover. There are
only a few specimens of the more exciting flowers that often occur here;
white snapdragon, scarlet larkspur, golden star lilies and globe gilia. The scarlet larkspur looked as though it
had been browsed by deer. There were a
lot of butterflies; checkerspots, California
sisters, mourning cloaks, swallowtails and a lot of little blues. – Dorothy Steinicke |
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Paramount Ranch |
Trail behind the Train Depot |
Date: 05/19/2011 |
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I often don't
think of Paramount Ranch as a good hiking spot for sighting flowers,
but this trail had quite an abundance of flowers. It would be a great
trail to take a family with younger children as the trail is short (about an
hour) and the western town is fun and there are bathrooms. Go
through the western town to the train depot. The trail is to the right
and goes up a small hill. Yarrow lined almost the entire trail with
sprinklings of elegant clarkia and woolly blue curls. The yellow and
purple combination was quite appealing. Other notable plants
include: golden current in berry, abundant black mustard, tocalote, red stemmed filaree, Italian thistle and milk
thistle, mint leaf verbena, a very large horehound bush, caterpillar
phacelia, perezia, purple clarkia, elderberry, chamise, buckwheat, a nice
large patch of foothill penstemon, quite a few yuccas up the hillside, owl's
clover, slender sunflower, purple nightshade, purple sage, golden stars,
mountain dandelion, spring vetch, pineapple plant, and fiddleneck.
There is a short trail off to the left of the main trail which leads to a
secluded picnic bench. We also saw a baby rattlesnake slithering across
the road and a horned lizard hiding in a bush.– Fred and Nellie |
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Malibu Creek State Park |
Cistern Trial |
Date: 05/18/2011 |
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There are some
nice blooms on the Cistern trail in Malibu Creek State Park. The
trailhead is located about 1.6 miles west of Las Virgenes Road on Mulholland
Highway, on the south side of the street. The trail is not signed, but
there is a "no bikes" sign at the trailhead. There is a
colony of Matilija Poppies near the beginning of the trail. I also saw
California Buckwheat, Golden Yarrow, Black and Purple Sage, Deerweed.
Purple Nightshade, Canyon Sunflower, Sticky Monkeyflower, Woolly Bluecurls,
Indian Paintbrush, Scarlet Pimpernel, and Vervain. Continuing
west on the canyon bottom and turning right on the Cage Creek trail there are
some annuals blooming; Elegant Clarkia, Caterpillar Phacelia, and at the
junction of the Cage Creek trail and the Lookout Trail there is some Specked
Clarkia. Further on up the Lookout Trail there is White Popcorn Flower
and Goldenstar. The hike that I am describing is a 2 and 1/2 mile loop:
Take the Cistern Trail down to the canyon bottom and turn right,
right on the Cage Creek trail, and right on the Lookout Trail which
takes you back to the Cistern Trail.
– Jim Garafalo |
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Castro Crest |
Backbone Trail |
Date: 05/15/2011 |
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The section of the
Backbone trail from Kanan Rd to Latigo Cyn is showing some really nice blooms
right now. This part of the trail heads east , over tunnel #1 on Kanan
Rd. Among the flowers that you will see are Sticky Monkey Flower,
Indian Paintbrush, Golden Yarrow, Fiesta Flower, Mariposa Lily, a
couple of different kinds of Phacelia, Black Sage, Purple Sage, Pitcher Sage,
Wooly Blue Curls, Elegant Clarkia, Canyon Sunflower, and Bush Lupine.
If you cross the road when you get to Latigo Canyon road and continue east on
the backbone trail for a little ways, there are even more nice blooms,
including some Indian Pinks. This trail has some of the best wildflower
displays that I have seen this season in the Santa Monica’s. – Jim Garafalo |
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Red Rock Canyon Park |
Red Rock Fire Road |
Date: 05/15/2011 |
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The park is at the
very end of Red Rock Canyon Rd. which intersects Old Topanga Rd. Be careful on Red Rock Canyon Rd. There are many blind curves and several
places where it is essentially only one lane wide. This was one of
the nicest and most flower filled walks I've been on it a while. The trail is a fire road that heads uphill
out of the parking area. On your right
is a still running stream. On your left
towering rock walls pocked with many worn away holes. There are masses of blooming flowers
clustered together. There is golden
yarrow, elegant clarkia, blue dick, chamise, elder flower, wild roses, banks
of Chinese houses, purple nightshade, virgin's bower in seed pods, canyon
sunflower, sticky monkey flower, holly leaf cherry, California chicory, lance
leaf dudleya, Indian pinks and lots of blue larkspur and
farewell-to-spring. The green
hillsides above the creek are speckled with flowering yucca. Continuing uphill you leave the rock
formations behind and find yourself inside a giant green bowl. There are still a lot of flowers along the
road including black sage, wild morning glory, deer weed, bush lupine, California
everlasting, Indian paintbrush, California buckwheat purple sage and a few
mariposas. There is one stand of
surprisingly large hummingbird sage plants in bloom. Surprisingly there are prickly phlox and
greenbark ceanothus still in bloom.
The road comes to a T the left, downhill direction will take you to
Stunt Rd. The right continues
uphill. That is the way I went. This stretch is much more exposed and had
fewer flowers but there were still some rewarding surprises. There was bush sunflower, yellow monkey
flower, woolly blue curls, mustard evening primrose, popcorn flower, cliff
aster and white snapdragon. In one
sheltered patch just off the trail there was a large clump of notable
penstemon. – Dorothy
Steinicke |
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Malibu Creek State Park |
Crags Road |
Date: 05/15/2011 |
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It was a beautiful
day in Malibu Creek with blue skies and puffy white clouds and a
wonderful day for a hike. However, there were not too many
flowers. We walked from the lower parking lot to the rock pool and then
back to Crags Road past the MASH site to the Malibu Lake
community. The flowers we saw were: black mustard, spring
vetch, storkbeak filaree, Italian thistle,
poison hemlock, yarrow, purple sage, bedstraw, deerweed, bush mallow, sticky
monkey flower, red stem filaree, popcorn flower, caterpillar phacelia,
elderberry, foothill penstemon, farewell to spring, elegant clarkia, some
large wild rose bushes and one brilliant deep red
colored purple clarkia on the right hand side of the road past the
MASH site.– Fred and Nellie |
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Triunfo Canyon Park |
Pentachaeta Trail |
Date: 05/10/2011 |
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The Pentachaeta
Trail is located at the end of Triunfo Canyon Road at Lindero Canyon
Road. The trail was delightfully blooming with flowers. There was
a few large patches of Pentachaeta fairly close to the trailhead. We
also saw elderberry, California poppy, elegant clarkia, yarrow, foothill
penstemon, mulefat, hollyleaf redberry, black
mustard, curly dock, California everlasting, chamise, Italian thistle, purple
nightshade, gooseberry fuschia, milk thistle, sweet yellow clover, pineapple
plant, blue eyed grass, yucca, blue dicks, purple sage, woolly blue curls,
and lupine. We went up a small trail to the right and saw creek monkey
flower and globe lily. The trail went into a dry creek and was so
overgrown we went back onto the main trail, but were glad for the detour to
see both of these flowers. Back on the mail trail we saw black sage,
mint leaf verbena, scarlet pimpernel, sticky monkey flower, golden stars
(just a couple of almost dead ones). Then we happened upon a gopher
snake in the middle of the trail. It looked at us for a few minutes and
then slithered back into the grass. Continuing on we saw deerweed,
caterpillar phacelia, English plantain, and sugarbush.
We ventured up another small trail and encountered miner's lettuce, virgin's
bower and some honeysuckle growing on a scrub oak tree. It was a great
hike!. – Fred and Nellie |
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Circle X Ranch |
Grotto Trail |
Date: 05/02/2011 |
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There is still a
lot of water in the creek and newts cavorting which makes this hike
especially nice. There is black sage,
canyon sunflower, blue dicks, blooming sugar bush, sticky monkey flower and
purple nightshade. Past the second creek
crossing there is a rock wall with water seeping down it. It is completely covered in masses of creek
monkey flowers with a gathering of Chinese houses, Santa Monica Mountain
dudleya and willow herb clarkia below it.
Really lovely. The trail up to
the meadow has popcorn flower, deer weed, caterpillar phacelia, wild morning
glory, California chicory and woolly blue curls. The meadow is carpeted with Catalina
mariposa lilies and spring vetch.
Continuing down through the chaparral there are star lilies, flowering
yucca, golden yarrow, chamise, hedge nettle, blue eyed grass and hummingbird
sage. Look for more newts in the creek
below. – Dorothy Steinicke |
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Circle X Ranch |
Canyon View Trail |
Date: 05/02/2011 |
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This trail does
not have the lovely accompaniment of a nearby stream, but as the name
suggests, there are wonderful views.
The beginning of the trail (branching off from the Grotto Trail) is
nearly carpeted with yellow monkey flowers.
There are twining snapdragons, black sage, California buckwheat,
chamise, blooming yucca, wild morning glory, blue dicks as well as purple
clarkia, elegant clarkia, globe gilia caterpillar phacelia and gorgeous
Perry’s phacelia. There are some
collarless poppies and blooming sugar bush as well as star lilies and
butterfly mariposas. We walked as far
as the creek filled with step pools and lined with blooming red skinned
onions, creek monkey flower and speedwell.
A lovely spot.
– Dorothy Steinicke |
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Los Robles East |
Oak Creek Cyn Loop |
Date: 05/02/2011 |
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This is a nice
trail because it is close to Thousand Oaks and easy to access. It is a
good trail to hike when you don't have much time, but want some variety and a
little bit of a workout. Take Moorpark Rd. to where it dead ends at the
mountains. Turn right on Green meadow and follow to the trail
head. The trail starts in an oak grove. When you leave the grove
you'll be in a coastal sage scrub area. The Los Robles east trail
leads up to a hilltop that offers magnificent views of the Conejo
Valley. Chamise and black sage were in abundance. Some other
flowers that we saw include: purple nightshade, horehound, Italian
thistle, black mustard, annual bedstraw, rock rose (right near the parking
lot) white nightshade (near the trailhead), elderberry, pearly everlasting,
gooseberry fuschia, sugar bush, canyon sunflower, popcorn flower, sticky
monkey flower, cobweb thistle (up a small trail to the right), prickly phlox,
deerweed, goosefoot, yarrow, verbena, mariposa lily, sweet yellow clover,
scarlet pimpernel, fiddleneck, tree tobacco, greenbark ceanothus, morning
glory, bush sunflower, stork's beak, and one blue dick. Other notable
sightings include: a prickly pear with fruit, five wild cucumber seed
pods hanging in a row on a tree branch looking like Christmas ornaments and a
yucca in bud. All in all it was a great hike considering it was a quick
get away after work. – Fred
and Nellie |
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Paramount Ranch |
Misc. Trails |
Date: 04/29/2011 |
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Leaving the
Western Town area I took the Coyote Trail and then wound around to the
northwest and returned by way of an informal trail through the
grassland. In less than two miles I saw
spring vetch, blue dicks, purple nightshade, golden yarrow, elegant clarkia
(early), wishbone flower (late), elder flower, chia and chamise in
bloom. There was owl's clover,
flowering yucca, caterpillar phacelia and woolly blue curls. In the deep shade there were Chinese
houses, fiesta flowers, hummingbird sage, prickly phlox, sugar bush and
cinquefoil. In the grassland there
were a lot of California poppies. – Dorothy Steinicke |
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Wildwood Park |
Misc. Trails |
Date: 04/26/2011 |
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We started at the
main trailhead on Arboles and headed west, then
down to the creek, continuing west along the creek to the falls, the picnic
areas, and the treatment plant, and then north up the switchbacks to lizard
rock. From there you have a magnificent vista including the lovely broad open
valley looking back east to where you can see your car sitting in the
distance. The only annuals that seem to be doing well are the weedy one's
I'll not mention by name here. It was a lovely hike on a lovely afternoon,
but of the about thirty species found in bloom there was not much to write
home about. Some of the highlights include purple sage, blue dicks, Several
Catalina mariposa lilies scattered in the grassy fields, chamise, California
wild rose, California buckwheat, Turkish rugging, black sage, yucca,
rattlesnake weed (the low prostrate one) caterpillar phacelia, chia, bush
mallow, morning glory, golden yarrow, popcorn flower, wishbone bush, sugar
bush, California blackberry, purple nightshade, and scarlet pimpernel. As you
can see I gave up and added some of the weeds to this list just to make it a
bit longer. – ed. |
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Castro Crest Area |
Backbone Trail |
Date: 04/23/2011 |
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This is becoming one
of my very favorite places to hike.
There are amazing views from the parking lot. Standing at the
trailhead you can see golden yarrow, deer weed, woolly blue curls, black
sage, chamise and wild morning glory in bloom. Descending through the chaparral there is
blooming California everlasting, purple nightshade, chaparral current, sticky
monkey flower and popcorn flowers.
Entering the wooded canyon bottom you cross and recross
little streams. I counted fourteen
water crossings in all. In that wooded
shade there are milkmaids, miner's lettuce, sweet pea, fiesta flowers, johnny
jump ups, fuchsia flowering gooseberry and canyon sunflowers. Rising up again through the chaparral there
are California poppies and blue dicks. Walk as far as you like and return as
you came. – Dorothy
Steinicke |
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Circle X Ranch |
Backbone Trail |
Date: 04/21/2011 |
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This section of
the backbone trail from the parking lot at the Mishe Mokwa Trailhead out to
the south side of Triunfo Peak overlooking the ocean and then back is one of
my favorites. It has a good variety of habitats and many sheltered nooks and
crannies which can harbor shy flowers. For this time of year it is probably
one of the best flower producers at Circle X Ranch. The flowering highlights
included bush mallow, golden yarrow, bush sunflower, a couple of the little
native clovers, red-skinned onion, lance-leaved dudleya, bush lupine, chia,
chinese houses, a couple of chocolate lilies still holding on, a few woodland
star, blue larkspur, sticky cinquefoil, a single farewell-to-spring,
elderberry, Parry's phacelia, yellow monkey flower, holly-leaved cherry,
fiesta flower, miner's lettuce, hedge nettle, wild cucumber, sugar bush,
morning glory, california everlasting, purple nightshade, popcorn flower,
caterpillar phacelia, bush monkey flower, black sage, tarweed, silver puffs,
brown microseris, virgin's bower, Chinese houses, woodland star, a couple of
the little wooly-heads, deerweed plus a couple of it’s small lotus
cousins as well, ceanothus megacarpus in a spare second-bloom, rock rose,
Eastwood manzanita, chamise, prickly phlox, buckwheat, woolly blue curls,
blue dicks, Douglas sandwort, and the common fiddleneck. All told well over
seventy different species in bloom but most only in modest to low numbers.
Still, a pretty darn good showing in an off-year. – ed. |
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Oakbrook Regional Park |
Hidden Meadow Trail |
Date: 04/19/2011 |
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The trailhead is located
at the end of Falling Star Ave. which is off of Kanan Rd. Go all the
way to the end of the Cul de sac. The trail
is on the right side of the street. We started out thinking there
wouldn't be much to see. However, we were mistaken. We went at 4:00
in the afternoon, which was a perfect time as the sun was low, the shadows
abundant, and a gentle breeze. Chemise and black sage
were blooming along the whole trail. The scent of black sage
was delightful. We also saw these plants in bloom: bush sunflower,
sugar bush, California buckwheat, prickly phlox, morning glory, black
mustard, prickly poppy ( just one on the left hand side), purple
nightshade, sticky monkey flower, hoary leaf ceanothus, two tone everlasting,
popcorn flower, lupine, wooly blue curls, deer weed, wishbone, nolina,
strigose lotus, cobweb thistle, horehound, caterpillar phacelia, hairy leaf
ceanothus, Brauton’s rattle weed, 1 blue dick, slender sunflower, wild
cucumber, foothill penstemon, and bedstraw. The Brauton’s rattle
weed was located on a side trail to the left just before you reach a large
fire road with a power line. There were five plants
in bloom. When we walked up the hill we were greeted
by several areas filled with slender sunflowers and woolly blue curls.
It was a nice view at the top of the hill.
– Fred and Nellie |
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Cold Creek Preserve |
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Date: 04/19/2011 |
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We hiked in the
creek bed and along the upper trail. We also saw several California
frogs in the creek. The plants that we saw in bloom: Caterpillar
phacelia, popcorn flower, storksbill filaree,
canyon sunflower, sweet yellow clover, horsetail, morning glory, sticky
monkey flower, sugar bush, purple nightshade, bedstraw, blackberry, poison
oak, mule fat, pitcher/hummingbird sage, miner's lettuce, bush lupine, black
sage, California buckwheat, Indian pink, greenbark ceanothus. – Fred and Nellie |
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Cold Creek Canyon |
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Date: 04/19/2011 |
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We hiked mainly along
the creek but saw a lot of flowers on the path down to the creek and on
another path returning from the creek. There was a lovely grove of
white thorn ceanothus, which is an unusual sight. Most of the blooms on
the white thorns were gone but we spotted a few. We saw a lot of single
stemmed yellow aster-like flowers in the meadow areas. I couldn't find
their name. They had grasslike stems and leaves. These are the
plants we saw in bloom: elderberry, blue dick, purple nightshade, filaree,
wild cucumber, California buckwheat, deerweed, sweet pea, sticky monkey
flower, canyon sunflower, wild dandelion, gooseberry fuschia, yellow sweet
clover, bajada lupine, greenbark ceanothus, pimpernel, black sage, cotton
plant, sugar bush, yarrow, bedstraw, pitcher/hummingbird sage, windmill pink,
blackberry, spring vetch, bur-weed, coastal live oak, shiny lomatium, poison
oak, milk maids, white thorn ceanothus, sow thistle, prickly phlox, pin
cushion, fiesta flower, two tone everlasting, mountain mahogany, chia, yucca,
arroyo willow, scarlet buglar, notable penstemon. – Fred and Nellie |
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Palo Comado Canyon |
China Flat Trail |
Date: 04/13/2011 |
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We hiked the China
Flat Trail starting at the trailhead off of Kings Court up to the top where
we had our lunch, then down the Suicide Trail and took the connector back to
the Chine Flat Trail to make a large loop of it. The day was breezy and cool,
perfect for hiking a trail that can present little relief from the heat on a
warm day. Probably the best parts of this trail is the spectacular view from
up on top. My experience with the flowers on this trail tends to be a bit
like the popular Sandstone Peak trail - you don't come here for the flowers,
it's all about the view. Flowering highlights include rock rose, yerba santa,
popcorn flower, some very nice displays of some of our dainty native grasses
in bloom, silver puffs, wishbone bush, deerweed like a yellow flowering hedge,
some of the little prostrate lotus, caterpillar phacelia, yellow popcorn
flower, chia, bush sunflower, buckwheat, chamise, small evening primrose,
mustard evening primrose, black sage, purple nightshade, blue dicks, prickly
phlox, at least three different lupines, fiddleneck, bush monkey flower,
yellow monkey flower, a couple of beautiful examples of our native cobweb
thistle, woolly blue curls, and a single example of the dainty and uncommon
sleepy catchfly. – ed. |
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Calabasas |
Headwaters Corner |
Date: 04/12/2011 |
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We hiked around
the visitor's center and up the hill a little ways from the visitor's center.
Then we ventured across the street and up the hill. The plants we saw in bloom:
yarrow, arroyo willow, purple nightshade, black sage, mint leaf verbena,
black walnut, bush sunflower, popcorn flower, white nightshade (this was up
the hill behind the visitor's center, under a large oak tree. The oak tree
was surrounded by brush that was difficult to get through) fiddleneck, mule
fat, blackberry, milk thistle, interior locoweed, yellow sweet clover, black
mustard, annual bedstraw, elderberry, shiny lomatium, hummingbird sage, blue
dicks, mariposa lily, verbena, lupine, purple sage (just one plant in bloom,)
strigose lotus and owl's clover.
– Fred and Nellie |
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Thousand Oaks |
Oakbrook Overlook Trail |
Date: 04/10/2011 |
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This was a short hike
located off Westlake Blvd. near Lang Ranch. It was a lovely day. The hike has
a slight uphill grade that levels out when you reach the ridge. Nice view. We
saw these plants in bloom: Blue eyed grass, popcorn flower, purple
nightshade, gooseberry fuschia, shiny lomatium, fiesta flower, elderberry,
miner's lettuce, black sage, blue dicks, bush sunflower, tall bedstraw and
annual bedstraw, Indian pink, black mustard, sticky monkey flower, wild
cucumber, horehound, scrub oak, slender sunflower, woolly blue curls,
deerweed, California buckwheat, Southern California interior locoweed,
peninsular nolina. – Fred
and Nellie |
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Malibu Creek State Park |
Backbone Trail |
Date: 04/09/2011 |
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Today’s hike
was the seventh leg of the 2011 Backbone Trail series co-sponsored by the
National Park Service and the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council. We are hiking sections west to east
covering one segment every two weeks. Today's hike direction was reversed as
we ascended and then descended from Saddle Peak down into Dark Canyon and
crossing Piuma Road on to Malibu Canyon.
The following
native species were noted in bloom: scrub oak, golden yarrow, deerweed,
buckwheat, purple nightshade, chamise, prickly phlox, silver lotus, dove
lupine, yellow sweet clover, bull clover, blue dicks, arroyo lupine, black
sage, purple sage, popcorn flower, vetch, sticky monkey flower, everlasting,
sugar bush, bush lupine, greenbark ceanothus, virgin's bower, canyon sunflower,
eucrypta, baby blue eyes, mountain mahogany, fuchsia flowering gooseberry,
chaparral currant, poison oak, bush poppy, big berry manzanita, miner's
lettuce, wild cucumber, coast live oak, white thorn ceanothus, truncated
lupine, crimson pitcher sage, twinning snapdragon, wooly blue curls, morning
glory, caterpillar phacelia, chia sage, mariposa lily, big pod ceanothus,
blue eyed grass, chinese houses, California poppy, wishbone bush, fiesta
flower, lomatium, woolly blue curls, hollyleaf cherry, peony, tomcat clover,
stinging lupine, woodland star, coastal wallflower, pincushion, gilia, owl's
clover, blackberry, winter cress, black walnut, skullcap, summer holly, large
flowered lotus, arroyo willow, blue larkspur, annual or common bedstraw, mule
fat, canyon sweet pea, hedge nettle. Lots of non-native grasses but very good
nonetheless. Our best flower day of the series so far. – G. Sweel, R.
Waycott (and others) |
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Circle X Ranch |
Mishe Mokwa to Split Rock |
Date: 04/03/2011 |
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Though 45 species were sighted over this
2-mile trail, many were quite sparse compared with most other years –
apparently in response to this year’s “wacky weather.” With
early and late rain, a false spring in between, and scattered freezes, the
flowers have been hard-pressed to gain any momentum. The most prominent of
the profuse were: deerweed near the trailhead, beds of popcorn flowers,
lomatium, virgin’s bower, and goldfields. Other notables included blue
larkspur, chia, wooly blue curls, small-flowered primrose, turkey pea, bajada
lupine, and just a few chocolate lilies. The day’s bloom rates a
“Fair” with hopes for improvement in coming weeks. However, the
day’s clouds, cool conditions, and wealth of green rate a “Good”
to very. – Jack Gillooly. |
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Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area 401 West
Hillcrest Drive 805-370-2301 |
If you
would like to contribute to the wildflower report you can e-mail the
editor at: or phone
Tony at 310-457-6408 |
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What’s Blooming on the web at www.researchlearningcenter.com/bloom or go to www.nps.gov/samo and click on “What’s Blooming”
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