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Page Revised: 5/26/06 |
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Available Sites Upper Solstice Canyon |
Date of Review 5/24/06 & 5/20/06 |
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What's Blooming photo gallery: www.nps.gov/samo/bloom/bloom.htm |
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Upper Solstice Canyon |
Backbone Trail |
Date: 5/24/06 |
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Backbone Trail from Corral Canyon Rd.
toward Castro Crest This is a perfect hike to see
chaparral recovering from fire and to see flowers that are seldom seen except
after fires. The hillside is covered
with the blackened skeletons of burnt shrubs.
Underneath is a carpet of flowers.
Twining snapdragon, small evening primrose, fern leaf phacelia and the
impressive large flower phacelia spread for as far as the eye can see. There are also wild cucumber, eucrypta and
monkey flower. A bit further along the
trail these flowers are joined by whispering bells, Brewer's red maids and
globe gilia. There are a few
collarless poppies here and there. Also blue dicks, mariposa lilies and
mustard evening primrose. When you cross out of the burned area
you have an excellent opportunity to see what the flora would look like had
it not burned. Here there are
flowering yucca, California buckwheat, sticky monkey flower, purple
nightshade, golden yarrow, wild morning glory, bush sunflower, chamise,
popcorn flower and California everlasting.
There are also wooly blue curls, lots of rock rose, caterpillar
phacelia, purple clarkia and red skinned onion growing in a flowing
creek. (DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Excellent |
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Newton and Upper
Solstice Canyons |
Backbone Trail |
Date: 5/20/06 |
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Backbone Trail Sections including
Kanan Road to Latigo Canyon Road and crossing over Latigo Canyon Road and
continuing to the end of Corral Canyon Road through Upper Solstice Canyon. This hike was a make-up of the fifth
of the 2005-2006 Backbone Trail NPS Series.
The originally scheduled hike was rained out on March 11th and
rescheduled. For the wildflower
enthusiast, the rescheduled hike was a blessing in disguise as we encountered
at least 94 flowering plants. The
weather began overcast, but soon cleared to sunny conditions. The total hike distance was approximately
6.5 miles. Starting at the overflow parking area
just north of the main Kanan Road trailhead we went down to the main Backbone
Trail junction and proceeded south towards the Newton Canyon waterfalls. From the parking area we noticed black
mustard, Spanish broom, sticky monkey flower, deer weed, yucca, tree tobacco,
yellow sweet clover, milk thistle, big pod ceanothus, chicory, black sage,
chamise, and red-stemmed filaree. Once
on the trail we spotted caterpillar phacelia, purple nightshade, popcorn
flower, scarlet pimpernel, greenbark ceanothus, wishbone bush, windmill pink,
eucrypta, heart leafed penstemon, sugar bush, California everlasting, parry's
phacelia, wild cucumber, figwort, miner's lettuce, fiesta flower, hedge
nettle, canyon sunflower, bur-chervil, snowberry, holly leafed cherry,
willow-herb clarkia, purple clarkia, blue larkspur, horehound, and golden
yarrow. As the trail emerged from Newton
Canyon we continued up and over the tunnel and east towards Latigo Canyon
Road. Along the way we identified
mountain mahogany, cobweb thistle, Indian paintbrush, elderberry, California
buckwheat, coulter's lupine, vervain, chinese houses, bedstraw, chia, bush
lupine, sticky cinquefoil, scarlet pitcher sage, blue-eyed grass, wild
hyacinth, canyon pea, mariposa lily, purple sage, dove lupine, coast live
oak, coffee berry, California black walnut, fuchsia-flowered gooseberry,
morning glory, woodland stars, slender sunflower, globe gilia, and foothill
penstemon. Crossing Latigo Canyon Road we noted
bush poppy, Indian pink, milkmaids, elegant clarkia, stinging lupine, poison
oak, wooly blue curls, yellow monkey flower, rock rose, long-beaked filaree,
common groundsel, and fern-leaved phacelia.
Continuing down into Upper Solstice Canyon we observed tomcat clover,
scarlet bugler, blackberry, collarless poppy, red-skinned onion, globe lily,
twining snapdragon, star lily, skullcap, Turkish rugging. Just before the end of the trail at the top
of Corral Canyon Road we entered a recently burned area covered with large
flowered phacelia, coastal lotus, red maids, and small evening primrose. (GS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Point Mugu State park |
Various south-west corner trails |
Date: 5/19/06 |
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We started at the Chumash trailhead
and hiked up the steep hill to the Mugu Peak trail and then to the La Jolla
Valley Loop trail and finally down to the coast on the La Jolla Canyon trail.
We had a friend drop us off at the Chumash trailhead so that we could walk
back to the car we left at the La Jolla Trailhead. This avoids the two mile
hike along PCH between these two trailheads. In paces we ran into both wood
ticks and mosquitoes so protective clothing and perhaps repellent might be a
good idea. These trails are narrow and poison
oak is right along the edge of the trail in several places. If you are
not familiar with it you might want to bring a friend who is. As with most
trails that pass through multiple ecosystems there was a good variety of
flowers, almost a hundred different in bloom, some in good quantities.
Highlights include wild morning glory, giant coreopsis, canyon sunflower,
Indian paintbrush, bush monkey flower, creek monkey flower, scarlet monkey
flower, deerweed, bush mallow, black sage, purple sage, scarlet pitcher sage,
yarrow, golden yarrow, cliff aster, Catalina mariposa lily, blue-eyed grass,
yucca, oxalis, lance-leaf live-forever, wishbone bush, blue dicks, Southern
California locoweed, Parry's phacelia, caterpillar phacelia, both bigpod
ceanothus and greenbark ceanothus in a second bloom, bladderpod, Coulter's lupine,
bush lupine, purple and white nightshade, chinese houses, golden stars, blue
larkspur, Indian pink, hedge nettle, elderberry, Carolina geranium,
snowberry, California blackberry, sticky cinquefoil, California figwort,
gumplant, fuchsia-flowered gooseberry, willow-herb clarkia,
farewell-to-spring, and California loosestrife. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Rancho Sierra Vista |
Satwiwa Garden |
Date: 5/14/06 |
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There is a nice display of
wildflowers at the Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa Native Plant Garden. You can
see creek monkey flower (yellow with red spots), sticky monkey flower,
onions, golden currant (berries), fuchsia flowered gooseberry (berries), all
three sages (black, purple and white) and hummingbird sage too. Lots of
native grasses are in the fenced area which protects them from the native
rabbits. At the beginning of the garden path are bladderpod, both yellow and
white yarrow and lots of prickly pear cactus (both flowers and fruits). The little garden path has a lot of flowers
to see, plus (on weekends) you can visit the beautiful artwork display at the
Satwiwa Culture Center. Of course, on any day you can come and walk around
the area or walk onto the Satwiwa loop trail and see fields of non native
mustard (yellow) and radish (pink, white and rose) as well as the flowers of
purple vetch sticking up among them.
(SB) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Topanga State Park |
Hondo Canyon & Topanga Meadows |
Date: 5/11/06 |
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The creek runs right alongside Old
Topanga Rd. Find rocks to scramble
across on and the trail takes you up to a meadow that is filled with blue
eyed grass interspersed with mariposa lilies and buttercups, rigid hedge
nettle stands at the edge of the woods.
The trail climbs through the meadow and enters the woods where there
are deerweed, canyon sunflower and sticky monkey flower. There is an area that is completely covered
in hummingbird sage. Just
beautiful. (DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Cheeseboro & Palo Comado Canyons |
Various north-end trails |
Date: 5/11/06 |
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Just a brief update to the Cheeseboro
report on 4/20/06 (see below). As summer has progressed we continue to see very
good to even excellent displays of wild flowers in the north end of this unit
while the south end languishes under its burden of non-native weeds. It is
definitely worth the trip to the north end if you are up for the two-plus
mile hike (one way) just to reach that remote portion of this unit. Many
people bike up to the north end, although the roughness and grade of some of
the trails make it difficult to focus on the flowers while on a bike.
It’s probably worth mentioning that the north end is pretty barren of
trees while the lower “weedy” end has some beautiful stands of
native oaks making hiking in the lower end a real pleasure as the temperature
rises. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Poor to Very Good |
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Cold Creek Preserve |
Stunt High Trail |
Date: 5/3/06 |
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At the trail head there is flowering
purple sage and the first mariposa lily I have seen this season. Good signs.
Heading into the woods the creek is rushing. There bush poppy, purple nightshade, canyon
sunflower, golden yarrow and baby blue eyes.
Climbing up into the meadow there are geophytes; more mariposas, blue
eyed grass, blue dicks, goldenstars, sweet pea, larkspur and a large sweep of
Chinese houses. Climbing higher into
the chaparral there is California everlasting, deerweed, caterpillar
phacelia, eucrypta, popcorn flower, wooly blue curls, heart leaf penstemon,
California buckwheat and sticky monkey flower. There are some special treats; blow wives, skullcap,
mustard evening primrose and exquisite fairy lanterns. A lovely hike. (DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Circle X Ranch |
Backbone Trail below Triunfo Pk. |
Date: 4/28/06 |
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We’re still waiting for the great
flower displays we’ve seen here in the past. The species count is up to
a respectable eighty five species, but many are having such a light turnout
that it would be easy to miss the few individuals in bloom. This well-groomed
grassy trail affords several dramatic vistas in most directions of the
compass, especially if you take the side trip up to Triunfo Peak. The trail
condition is excellent, and its wide and level aspect is a pleasure to hike.
It has been recently mowed which is good because tall grasses can harbor
ticks, including those that may potentially carry Lyme disease. Indeed, I
went off trail for just a moment and found several ticks on me when I
returned to the trail. There are still some decent displays
of greenbark ceanothus blooming on this trail but they are now well past
their prime. Other flower highlights include elderberry, shooting stars,
chinese houses, Douglas sandwort, eucrypta, a couple of different
everlastings, a few early purple clarkia, coast goldfields, hedge nettle,
small-flowered meconella, black sage, windmill pink, rock rose, chia, chinese
houses, Parry’s phacelia, caterpillar phacelia, fiesta flower, bleeding
heart, red-skinned onion, deerweed, California buckwheat, popcorn flower,
wild cucumber, purple nightshade, blue larkspur, wishbone bush, common
fiddleneck, mustard evening primrose, wooly blue curls, California saxifrage,
prickly phlox, miners lettuce, golden yarrow, bush monkey flower, canyon
sunflower, wild morning glory, blue dicks, virgin’s bower, and a few
different Lupines (TV). |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Malibu Creek State Park |
Backbone Trail |
Date: 4/22/06 |
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Backbone Trail Sections Including Stunt
Road to Piuma Road and Piuma Road east crossing to Piuma Road west crossing. This hike was the seventh of the
2005-2006 Backbone Trail NPS Series. We will be hiking the entire Backbone
Trail, one part each month and reporting on the flowers seen. The hike series
was oversubscribed this year so we are having a Saturday and Sunday hike over
the same route to accommodate all interested hikers. Following is the flower
list gathered by different people over the two days. Our route took us from
the top of Stunt Road to Malibu Canyon Road:
a distance of 7.5 miles. The weather both days was overcast and cool. Starting at the top of Stunt Road, we
went up and over Saddle Peak, descending the Saddle Peak Trail through Dark
Canyon and climbing the Piuma Ridge Trail to descent to Piuma Road, and
following the road to the Backbone Trailhead parking on Malibu Canyon Road.
The hike includes the Coastal Sage Scrub, Southern Oak Woodland, Chaparral,
Riparian Woodland, and Valley Grassland plant communities. Expectations of a
large variety of blooming species were met with over 90 species being noted.
The cool weather we have been experiencing has delayed flowering of many
plants, but has also induced several plants to continue flowering. As usual,
there always seems to be a couple plants that we could not immediately
identify. The Backbone Trailhead going west
from the top of Stunt Road begins about 100 yards down Stunt. Before reaching
the trail we had already noted Greenbark Ceanothus, Red Stem and Long-Beaked
Filaree, Golden Yarrow, Elderberry, Black Mustard, Mule Fat, Big Pod
Ceanothus, Yellow Sweet Clover, and Common Sow Thistle. On the trail to the
top we saw our first Prickly Phlox, Bur Clover, Tomcat Clover, Blue Dicks,
Two-Tone Everlasting, Popcorn Flower, one of the Vetches, Prickly Sow
Thistle, Dove Lupine, Plantain, Virgins Bower, Canyon Sunflower, Wild Sweet
Pea, Miner’s Lettuce, Coast Live Oak, and Shiny Lomatium. There is a
lot of Spanish Broome on this section, but only a few flowers are braving the
cold. Also noted was the Hairy-Leaved Ceanothus which bears a great
similarity with the Greenbark Ceanothus. Here one can compare the leaf
structures to see the difference: The
Greenbark leaf has one main vein and the Hairy-Leaved has a triple main vein.
As the trail topped out we had a
special treat, seeing White Thorn with a profusion of purple flowers. As
mentioned previously in these blooming reports, this is been a terrific year
for Ceanothus blooming. The White Thorn is a seldom seen species of Ceanothus
but we saw many in bloom continuing further down the trail. There is an
abundance of Eastwood Manzanita blooming and bearing berries and further down
the trail and we were able to compare the rough textured leaves of the Eastwood
with the smooth leaves of the Big Berry Manzanita and see the larger berries.
Other flowers along the trail were the Fuchsia-Flowered Gooseberry, Scrub
Oak, Silver Lotus on the rocks, Large-Flowered Lotus, Sugar Bush, Deer Weed,
and Cobweb Thistle. A scattering of Bush Poppies remain where they had
dominated after the 1993 fire, now giving way to the more typical Chaparral.
In the cool, shady areas Wild Cucumber flowers persist and we saw Bush
Lupine, California Everlasting, Some Wooly Blue Curls, and lots of
Bur-Chervil. There were Morning Glory, Black Sage, Caterpillar Phacelia,
Eucrypta, a few early Chamise, Hummingbird Sage, Turkey Pea, Silver Puffs, a
Windmill Pink, lots of Chia, Catalina Mariposa Lily, Purple Sage, Pacific
Sanicle, Wishbone Bush, Foothill Lupine, Bush Monkey Flower, lots of Poison
Oak, Blue-Eyed Grass, a single Indian Pink, a profusion of Hollyleaf Cherry,
Mountain Mahogany, Fiesta Flower, Narrow-Leaved Bedstraw, Minute Popcorn
Flower, Cliff Aster, Hedge Mustard, and Scarlet Pimpernel. Nearing the bottom
of the descent are many Chinese Houses. We also noted Hedge Nettle and
Wallflower. Climbing out of Dark Canyon always seems to provide special
displays; this time it was Baby Blue Eyes, Woodland Star, Globe Gilia, Yellow
Pin Cushion, Wild Peony, and the invasive Italian Thistle. The Piuma Ridge Trail has Blue Larkspur,
Owl’s Clover, Hedypnois, Blackberry, Indian Warrior, London Rocket,
Small Evening Primrose, Mustard Evening Primrose, Water Cress, California
Poppy, and Collarless Poppy. As the trail approached Piuma Road a second time
there were more and more introduced species as we hiked through an area of an
old cabin ruins, ending with the invasive Periwinkle. (BE & GS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Zuma/Trancas Cyns
vicinity |
Backbone Trail |
Date: 4/22/06 |
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The short stretch of Backbone Trail
from Mulholland Hwy to Encinal Canyon Rd (about 1 mile) is a delight to the
senses. Each breeze is filled with the smell of sage and California
Everlasting. Each turn has striking contrasts from white popcorn flower to
deep purple Parry's phacelia and purple nightshade to the bright yellow
candle flame and fire dot lichen growing golden designs on to deep green
chamise. Starting from Mulholland Hwy, the trek is all down hill to Encinal
Canyon Rd, but it will certainly lift your spirits. Other flowers present: lupine, monkey
flower, deer weed, morning glory, canyon sunflower, cliff aster. (JJL) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good to Excellent |
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Circle X Ranch |
Canyon View Trail |
Date: 4/21/06 |
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Still very few flowers making an
appearance. Actually, the species count is up to a respectable seventy five
species, but many are having such a light turnout that it would be easy to
miss the few small individuals in bloom. Now that the ceanothus have mostly
finishing up it is harder to be generous in rating this trail, but on the
other hand the trail is in good condition, is very lush and green, and is a
pleasure to hike. Highlights include black sage, windmill pink, rock rose,
chia, yellow pincushion, chinese houses, Parry’s phacelia, red-skinned
onion, deerweed, California buckwheat, popcorn flower, wild cucumber, both
white and purple nightshade, blue larkspur, wishbone bush, common fiddleneck,
mustard evening primrose, wooly blue curls, water speedwell, collarless
California poppy, globe gilia, California saxifrage, miners lettuce, annual
paintbrush, golden yarrow, bush and creek and yellow monkey flowers, canyon
sunflower, wild morning glory, blue dicks, virgin’s bower, a couple of
early elegant clarkia, and a few California blackberry. (TV). |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Cheeseboro & Palo Comado Canyons |
Various north-end trails |
Date: 4/20/06 |
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Trails examined included the
Albertson Motorway, Palo Comado Canyon Trail, Sheep Corral Trail, Cheeseboro Ridge
Trail and Cheeseboro Canyon 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
has not been fully reopened 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 and Cheeseboro Canyon Trail and most of the Cheeseboro Ridge Trail were
quite disappointing, but as these trails reach their Northern ends we begin
to see good numbers of several different species of wildflowers. The vicinity
of the intersection of Sheep Corral Trail and Palo Comado Trails was quite
good at least until we dropped back down into the depths of the burn. It is
interesting to see how some of the burned 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, 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, a lot of both white and yellow pincushions, several
different lotus, white and twining snapdragons, eucrypta, several different
gilia, sections quite dense with star lily, golden yarrow, blue toadflax,
fire poppies, several different pinks, 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 Very Good |
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Cold Creek Preserve |
Cold Creek Canyon Trail |
Date: 4/19/06 |
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We hiked up the trail from the lower gate
to the upper gate on Stunt Road on 4/19/06, seeing the Cold Creek Preserve
for the first time in 5 years. Last year this area was closed because of
landslides. Permission must be obtained from the Mountains Restoration Trust
before using this particular trail. Our main objective was to see the Stream
Orchids, but unfortunately none were yet in bloom. The hike was well worth
the time spent in as much as 55 species were found to be in bloom including
less frequently seen species such as the white thorn Ceanothus and skullcap.
Other species seen, by color follows. White/Cream included wild cucumber,
Calif. everlasting, Durango root, eucrypta, bedstraw, white nightshade,
two-tone everlasting, wild blackberry, chamise, Calif. buckwheat, popcorn
flower, mountain mahogany, miner's lettuce, white sweet clover, bur chervil,
chickweed, Eastwood manzanita, hoary
leaf ceanothus, minute-flowered popcorn flower and milkmaids. Yellow/golden blooms seen were bur
clover, golden yarrow, sour clover, prickly sow thistle, dandelion, large
flowered lotus, bush poppy, mustard evening primrose, coast live oak, black
walnut, shiny lomatium, canyon sunflower, yellow iris, strigose lotus and
snake root. In the lavender/purple/blue group
were succulent lupine, red stem filaree, greenbark ceanothus, hairy
ceanothus, caterpillar phacelia, fiesta flower, skull cap, purple nightshade,
black sage, and white thorn ceanothus. Red/pink were represented by scarlet
pitcher sage, wild sweet pea, cobwebby thistle and scarlet pimpernel. Other sightings included a species of
goosefoot, Calif. filago, Madrid brome, ripgut brome, red brome and soft
brome. A rating of good is warranted for
this hike. (RWM) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Santa
Monica Mountains National Recreation Area 401 West
Hillcrest Drive 805-370-2301 |
Thank
you for your
contributions: Burt
Elliot |
If you
would like to contribute to the wildflower report: e-mail: or phone
Tony at 310-457-6408 |
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