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Page Revised: 7/18/06 |
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Available Sites Topanga State Park |
Date of Review 7/17/06 & 6/12/06
& 6/5/06. |
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There will be a talk
titled “What’s Blooming
Now” at the National Park Service Visitor
Center in Thousand Oaks this coming Friday at 7:00pm.
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Topanga State Park |
Musch Trail |
Date: 7/17/06 |
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I was on the Musch Trail in early morning
and there are still some displays of everlasting and buckwheat, but things
are drying up fast. There is heart-leaved penstemon, a little notable
penstemon, perezia, scarlet larkspur, slender tarweed, and bush mallow. (LH) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Cold Creek Preserve |
Stunt High Trail |
Date: 7/17/06 |
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The predominant flower on the
riparian portion of this trail is bush mallow. There is also heart leaf penstemon, slender
tarweed, cliff aster as well as the occasional elegant clarkia and golden
yarrow and little patches of Indian pinks here and there. Leather root is blooming at the edge of the
creek and scarlet monkey flower in the creek.
The chaparral portion of the trail has suffered some overzealous trail
maintenance which has wiped out most of the trailside flowers. There is honeysuckle, toyon, wild rose,
purple sage, narrow leaf milkweed, scarlet bugler, gumplant, purple clarkia
and scarlet larkspur, but not much of any of them. (DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Pt. Mugu State Park |
Thornhill Broome Beach |
Date: 7/17/06 |
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The beach can be a lovely place for a
walk, especially when temperatures in the hills and valleys are hovering in
the high 90s and low 100s. There is not a lot of shade but the air is cooler
and the sound of the surf can be very relaxing. In addition, for flower
watchers the blooms encountered there are often very different from
elsewhere. This environment is actually very harsh and consequently the
variety of plant species is often quite low. As you move away from the surf
the plant diversity quickly climbs and sometimes in a matter of a couple
hundred yards you are in a completely different ecosystem. I confined my walk
to the loose sands between the beach and the coastal sage scrub that starts
almost immediately as you move inland. This is the so-called coastal strand
ecosystem which has become increasingly scarce since this habitat has been a
prime target for housing development and is otherwise easily damaged by
trampling beach-goers. When I come here I always look for the beach morning
glory growing here but have yet to see it in bloom. Oh well, maybe next time. A listing of highlights in this type
of site become almost a complete listing of all the plants encountered.
However, if we exclude the ever-present weedy aliens, the highlights include
beach evening primrose, pink sand verbena, sea rocket, beach saltbrush, and silver beach-bur. Including the sage scrub
that is quite visible to the north of the beach we can add prickly pear,
yucca, laurel sumac, twiggy wreath plant, both California and ashy leaf
buckwheat, telegraph weed, both lance-leaf and caulk dudleya, prostrate
spurge, bush mallow, tree tobacco, cliff aster, a single little white
nightshade, and elderberry. This is a pretty good showing for this ecosystem
even though we only saw about two dozen different plants in bloom. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Castro Crest region |
Backbone Trail between Latigo and Corral |
Date: 7/16/06 |
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Backbone Trail from Latigo Rd.
trailhead east to Corral Canyon Rd. trailhead. We also included a short jaunt
up the Castro Peak motorway to Bulldog road. Many of the spring flowers have dried
up for the season although a few can still be found scattered about in the
shade if one looks carefully. This is a good hike for the warmer months of
summer as quite a bit of it is shaded. The cooler and wetter areas associated
with the oak woodland and riparian ecosystems allow spring plants to hold on
longer than in drier and hotter ecosystems. However, these same conditions
also allow poison oak to thrive, and
while most of the trail is wide enough to make it easy to stay out of the
foliage there are a couple of places where the trail is both narrow and the
oak is right at the trail’s edge. The middle and east end sections take
you up into the drier chaparral and sage scrub ecosystems which provides a
larger variety of plants over the length of this portion of the backbone
trail. The relatively low density of flowers we saw might have dropped this
trail’s rating down to poor at the height of the blooming season, but
this is a decent showing for the summer months. There are a lot of similarities
between this section of the Backbone trail and the one reported on 7-14-06
below. Although there are fewer total flowers there is some compensation in
that there are some rather unusual ones. One additional thing worth
mentioning, this section of the trail includes the site of a modest burn from
last fall near the Corral Canyon trailhead. While the spectacular flower
display reported earlier for this burn has mostly finished for the season it
is still an interesting place to visit in its own right. Some of the flowering highlights include
toyon, chamise, bush mallow, laurel sumac, woolly blue curls, some black
sage, a bit of purple sage, heart-leaved penstemon, scarlet bugler, fleabane
aster, an early woolly aster, cliff aster, bush monkey flower, slender
sunflower, bush sunflower, scarlet larkspur, twiggy wreath plant,
Plummer’s mariposa lily, a single Humboldt lily, golden yarrow, a fair
amount of California wild rose, chaparral honeysuckle, California fuchsia,
perezia, narrow-leaved milkweed, annual paintbrush, a good bit of
canchalagua, bird’s beak, Indian pink, California buckwheat, Spanish
clover, wild morning glory, white pincushion, large-flowered phacelia, a lone
soap plant, Santa Susana tarweed, perennial wool star, Dolores champion, and
hawkweed. All told about seventy different plant species in bloom. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Circle X Ranch |
Mishe Mokwa loop trail And Sandstone Peak |
Date: 7/15/06 |
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Essentially all of the spring flowers
have dried up although a few can still be found scattered about under the
oaks and by the creek if one looks carefully. Even the perennial shrubs which
were blooming well in June have mostly given up thanks the heat we’ve
had over the last few weeks. The dry upper sections of this trail pass
through sage scrub and chaparral and are almost devoid of flowers. This is
especially true of the sandstone peak trail which is famous for its grand
panoramas. Indeed, most of the flowers we encountered were scattered about in
rather low numbers and several in the overall species count were based on a
single dried-up specimen. Some sections of this trail provide a bit of shade,
but once you get up toward the ridges there is not much relief from the sun.
On a hot day I’ll carry almost a gallon of water to do this loop. The
creek at split rock still has water in it and makes the picnic table in the
shade under the oaks a very pleasant for lunch. This is also an area were you
can still find a few of the spring flowers hiding out from the heat. There
are a couple of places where poison oak hangs out over the trail (notably
near split rock) and you really have to be on the watch and be able to identify it by sight to avoid getting into
it. It’s hard to talk about flower
highlights when there are so few, but they would include linanthus, slender
tarweed, chamise, chaparral honeysuckle, Fish's milkwort, cobweb thistle,
bush mallow, a couple of rose snapdragons, bird’s beak, toyon, twiggy
wreath plant, the very fragrant pitcher sage, heart-leaved penstemon, chalk
dudleya, Spanish clover, California fuchsia, turkey mullein, scarlet monkey
flower, bush monkey flower, golden yarrow, Tejon milk-aster, and California
buckwheat. Fewer than forty different plant species in bloom. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Poor |
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Upper Zuma Canyon |
Backbone Trail between Kanan and Mulholland |
Date: 7/14/06 |
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Backbone Trail from Kanan Rd. Trailhead
west to Mulholland Rd. Many of the spring flowers have dried
up for the season although a few can still be found scattered about in the
shade if one looks carefully. This is a good hike for the warmer months of
summer as quite a bit of it is shaded. The cooler and wetter areas associated
with the oak woodland and riparian ecosystems allow spring plants to hold on
longer than in drier and hotter ecosystems. However, same conditions also
allow poison oak to thrive, and while
most of the trail is wide enough to make it easy to stay out of the foliage
there are a couple of places where the trail is narrow and the oak is right
at the trail’s edge. The west end also passes through the drier
chaparral and sage scrub ecosystems providing for a larger variety of plants
over the length of this section of the Backbone trail. The relatively low
density of flowers we saw might have dropped this trail’s rating down
to fair at the height of the blooming season, but this is a pretty good
showing for the summer months. Some of the flowering highlights
include toyon, laurel sumac, heart-leaved penstemon, chalk dudleya, chamise,
cliff aster, elegant clarkia, hedge nettle, bush monkey flower, branching
phacelia, slender sunflower, bush mallow, scarlet larkspur, twiggy wreath
plant, Plummer’s mariposa lily, golden yarrow, common madia, California
wild rose, cream bush, checker bloom, snow berry, coffee berry, Fish’s
milkwort, chaparral honeysuckle, perezia, bird’s beak, hillside
penstemon, Indian pink, woolly blue curls, California buckwheat, wild morning
glory, and narrow-leaved milkweed. All told about sixty different plant
species in bloom. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Circle X Ranch |
Triunfo Backbone Trail |
Date: 6/30/06 |
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Many of the spring flowers have dried
up for the season although a few can still be found scattered about if one
looks carefully. We are beginning to see good numbers of some of the true summer
flowers like twiggy wreath plant, cliff aster, slender tarweed, and scarlet
larkspur. This trail passes principally through dry coastal sage scrub and
chaparral with little relief from the sun. The trail was brushed a couple of
months back but some sections have grown back with a bit of thistle and
foxtail. I still wear shorts while hiking this trail but I also wear gators
to protect my socks. For some people long pants might be in order. When I was
there I saw quite a few butterflies including both checkers and swallowtails. Except for some of the shrubs like
bush monkey flower, chamise, laurel sumac, black sage, and California
buckwheat most of the flowers are scattered about in rather low numbers.
Flower highlights include, Plummer's mariposa lily, California chicory,
branching phacelia, good numbers of both speckled clarkia and
farewell-to-spring, masses of golden yarrow, yellow monkey flower, hedge
nettle, perezia, rock rose, lance-leaf dudleya, wild morning glory, Turkish
rugging, purple nightshade, woolly blue curls, bush mallow, a lot of canyon
sunflower, some slender sunflower, pitcher sage, bird’s beak, toyon,
western thistle, elderberry, heart-leaved penstemon, California fuchsia,
California thistle, and the dramatic native bleeding heart. All told about
sixty species in bloom. (BC & TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Rancho Sierra Vista |
Misc. Trails |
Date: 6/28/06 |
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Trails hiked include the Wendy Trail,
portions of the Satwiwa Loop Trail, The Hidden Valley Overlook Trail, and
portions of the Ranch Overlook Trail. Many of the spring flowers have dried
up for the season although a few can still be found scattered about if one
looks carefully. These trails pass principally through dry grasslands,
coastal sage scrub, and chaparral with little relief from the sun. The
sections closest to the trailheads are also the areas that are most disturbed
and consequently there is more "weedy" non-natives there. Once you go
south into the chaparral you begin to see more of the native wildflowers.
Highlights include hyssop loosestrife, turkey mullein, California wild rose,
California blackberry, bush mallow, narrow-leaved milkweed, purple sage,
black sage, California everlasting, elderberry, yarrow, golden yarrow, wild
morning glory, horehound, bush monkey flower, canyon sunflower, heart-leaved
penstemon, hedge nettle, common vervain, deerweed, perezia, Plummer's
mariposa lily, cliff aster, purple nightshade, scarlet larkspur, slender
tarweed, California collarless poppy, chamise, and laurel sumac. All told
about forty species in bloom.. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Circle X Ranch |
Canyon View Trail |
Date: 6/24/06 |
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Many of the spring flowers have dried
up for the season although a few can still be found scattered about if one
looks carefully. Some of the true summer flowers have not gotten off to a
proper start yet and consequently we are between seasons, so to speak. This
trail and most of the Grotto trail have been recently brushed so it is again
a pleasure to hike them in shorts. Until the Canyon View trail joins the
upper section of the Grotto trail there is not much shade during the heat of
the day. In the morning and evening the trail twists around enough that the
steep hillsides above the trail can provide quite a bit of shade. The creeks
still have water in them and this provides a pleasant variety to a trail that
otherwise passes principally through dry coastal sage scrub and chaparral.
Just below the campgrounds I saw the largest alligator lizard I have ever
seen sunning himself on a rock. This guy, typical of the breed, allowed me to
get quite close before scuttling off into the bushes. Except for some of the
shrubs like bush monkey flower, deerweed, chamise, black sage, and California
buckwheat, most of the flowers are scattered about in rather low numbers.
Flower highlights include scarlet larkspur, Plummer's mariposa lily, yucca,
California chicory, cliff aster, Parry's phacelia, purple clarkia, elegant
clarkia, golden stars, masses of golden yarrow, yellow monkey flower, creek
monkey flower, annual paintbrush, white hedge nettle, rock rose, lance-leaf
dudleya, wild morning glory, heart-leaved penstemon, Turkish rugging,
California wild rose, both purple and white nightshade, woolly blue curls,
bush mallow, slender tarweed, and canyon sunflower. All told well over fifty
species in bloom. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Fair |
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Circle X Ranch |
Grotto Trail |
Date: 6/24/06 |
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We are now moving away from the
dramatic early Spring flowering season and into the more subdued displays of
Summer. As such, the shady area near the Grotto becomes a lot more attractive
as it gets hotter. The creek and falls still have a lot of water in them and
the tadpoles and newts are a delight for the young among us. When I was down
among the huge live oaks near the Grotto one of my favorites, the house wren,
was singing up a storm. Many of the flowers reported earlier are now on the
way out but in compensation we are beginning to see some of the very
beautiful flowers that appear later in the season. Among these are the
clarkias and lilies, several of which are now showing up on the Grotto Trail.
In addition, right now we are getting a pretty amazing second bloom of the
greenbark ceanothus. Indeed, it rivals a first bloom of some previous years.
Including the flowers encountered on the dirt road leading down to the
campgrounds we saw a respectable seventy species in bloom. Highlights
included golden yarrow, sugar bush, several different monkey flowers,
California buckwheat. deerweed, yucca, black sage, sunflowers, chamise, white
and purple nightshades, a few early woolly asters, elegant and purple
clarkias, wild morning glory, California blackberry, blue-eyed grass, blue
dicks, red skinned onion, chinese houses, angels gilia, lance-leaf dudleya,
elderberry, Catalina mariposa lily, heart-leaved penstemon, and crimson
pitcher sage. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Upper Solstice Canyon |
Backbone Trail |
Date: 6/14/06 |
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I was so awed by the fire following
flowers when I visited three weeks ago that I made a return visit. Things have changed. The large flower phacelia cover an even
more extensive area. White pincushion
which we didn't see last time is blooming in profusion. However the small evening primrose are
almost finished, there is very little twining snapdragon or globe gilia and
no Brewers red maids to be found. Moving out of the burned area the
chaparral boasts a lot of slender sunflower and Turkish rugging along with
golden yarrow, California buckwheat and California everlasting. This time we went deeper into the canyon
and found a delightful full stream running surrounded by blooming flowers:
Purple, elegant and willow herb clarkia, the lovely canchalagua and sapphire
wool stars as well as sticky madia, fiesta flower, blue larkspur, Indian
pinks, hummingbird sage, Indian paintbrush, Chinese houses, and blue eyed
grass. Being by the stream is
refreshing but don't forget to plan for the uphill climb out. (DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Topanga State Park |
Temescal Canyon Loop Trail |
Date: 6/12/06 |
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I was amazed at how much was in bloom
in the well traveled canyon. There is nothing
that is terribly unusual but that deficit is compensated by the profusion of
flowers in bloom. Entering the trail
there are wild rose, vervain hedge nettle, black sage and purple nightshade. Heading up to the waterfall there was
yucca, caterpillar phacelia, sticky monkey flower, California everlasting,
golden yarrow, greenbark ceanothus, Indian pinks and scarlet monkey
flower. Near the waterfall we found a
California newt, something I have never observed in this creek. Climbing further there is deerweed, elder
flower, cliff aster, morning glory and canyon sunflower. Coming down through the chaparral there was
bush sunflower, wishbone flower, white nightshade, violet snapdragon, woolly
blue curls, Turkish rugging, Parry's phacelia, mallow, California bee plant
and blue eyed grass. There were a
large number of lizards sighted on the chaparral side including a horned
lizard. (DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Cheeseboro & Palo Comado Canyons |
Various north-end trails |
Date: 6/7/06 |
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We are now moving away from the
dramatic displays of the early Spring flowering season and into the more
subdued displays of Summer. Many of the flowers reported earlier are now on
the way out but in compensation we begin to see some of the very beautiful
Summer flowers. Among these are the clarkias, penstemons and lilies, several
of which are now showing up in the north end of Cheeseboro. Trails visited
include the Albertson Motorway, Palo Comado Canyon Trail, Sheep Corral Trail,
Cheeseboro Ridge Trail, Sulfur Springs 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, 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 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 the year progresses.
Similarly, sections of the Albertson Motorway vary considerably, but none as
bad as the weed choked lower end of the unit. Right now the Sulfur Springs
Trail is doing fairly well but it too is showing signs of drying up. Many of
the species blooming earlier in the season have finished up for the year or
are only lightly represented now. Highlights include lupines, paintbrush,
datura, purple nightshade, blue dick, primroses, popcorn flowers, golden
stars, heart-leaved and hillside penstemons, scarlet bugler, Rein orchid, and
phacelias. The sages are doing very well now as are the mariposa lilies,
clarkias, monkey flowers, morning glory, sunflowers, pincushions, golden stars,
hooked navarretia, sapphire wool stars, yucca, snapdragons, yarrow and even a
few early scarlet larkspur. (TV) |
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Naturalist's rating: Poor to Good |
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Topanga State Park |
Santa Ynez Trail |
Date: 6/5/06 |
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This cool dark canyon makes a great
summer hike and is also worth a look in spring. At the trail head there is sticky monkey
flower, lupine and deerweed. Once you
get to the creek there is hedge nettle and white hedge nettle, purple
nightshade, canyon sunflower, golden yarrow, black sage and elder
flower. There is some lovely scarlet
monkey flower, California buckwheat, sweet pea, white nightshade, wild rose,
caterpillar phacelia and heart leaf penstemon. The Humboldt lilies are just starting and
the ones in bloom all seem to be dangling above the trail. There is also cinquefoil and large flower
phacelia. Leaving the riparian area
the trail rises into the chaparral.
There you find chamise, owls clover, Turkish rugging and white and
yellow pin cushion. There is quite a
bit of white snapdragon and scarlet bugler with dudleya and golden stars
peeping through. There is one patch
each of fleabane aster and sapphire wool stars. The riparian area is always a good place to
look for butterflies and the chaparral to look for lizards and snakes. (DS) |
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Naturalist's rating: Good |
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Leo Carrillo State Park |
Nicholas Flat Trail |
Date: 6/2/06 |
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Leo Carrillo Campground to Nicholas
Flat. The hike begins with a series of switchbacks up to a ridge. Wild Rose
and Gumplant can be seen in the beginning followed by Deerweed, Mustard,
Monkey Flower, Purple Nightshade, Sow Thistle, California Everlasting and
Ashy Buckwheat. Large clusters of Purple and Black Sage line the trail
interspersed with Morning Glory, Mariposa Lily and Indian Paintbrush.
Approaching the ridge we saw Scarlet Bugler and Southern Calif. Locoweed
which had finished blooming but had numerous seed pods. Along the ridge we
saw California Bay Laurel, Greenbark Ceanothus, Golden Yarrow, Bush
Sunflower, Parry's Phacelia and many Chaparral Yucca in full bloom. During a
second set of switchbacks which take you up to Nicholas Flat we encountered a
magnificent show of Purple Clarkia. On the final approach to the Flat we saw
Hedge Nettle, Crimson Pitcher Sage, Blue Eyed Grass, Yarrow, Red Stem
Filaree, Scarlet Pimpernel, Tomcat Clover, Wooly Blue Curl, Italian Thistle
and Common Vervain. Many of the plants
were in their last stages of flowering - we were on this trail four weeks ago
and while the show is diminished, it is still beautiful and worth the uphill
effort. Just beware of the heat - you are almost fully exposed to the sun for
the three miles up. You'll also have expansive views of the ocean and the
Boney Mountains on the way back down.
(R&AT) |
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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: Bonnie Clarfield |
If you
would like to contribute to the wildflower report: e-mail: or phone
Tony at 310-457-6408 |
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