Natural History Wanderings

Submitted by
Julia Lynam, Interpretive Ranger
Cottonwood Ranger Station, Joshua Tree National Park

Great photo opportunities are reported in the northern area of the Park where Parry’s Nolina is flowering. This yucca relative with its six-foot flower stems bearing dense clusters of creamy white flowers provides a dramatic counterpoint to the stark mountain terrain of Joshua Tree National Park. Nolina is blooming on trails around the West entrance and in the Pine City/Queen Valley area. Park at Pine City trailhead or drive the Queen Valley Road. These unpaved roads are accessible to regular automobiles.

Many flowers are blooming throughout the Park, right up to the higher elevations, and most trails will repay a visit. The more we look the more we see!

The early annual flowers on the low-lying Bajada in the south of the Park are fading to be replaced by blooming brittlebush and some cactus. Yellow desert dandelions, desert senna and coreopsis brighten the roadsides in the Pinto Basin and Wilson Canyon.

For abundance and locations of Wildflowers click on Read More

Abundance: Sightings of any particular species may refer to many blooms, or to just a few blooms. On a scale of one to ten, the number that appears after the location key refers to an estimate of relative abundance of flowers at that location, with “1” indicating a few scattered blooms and “10” indicating that the place is carpeted with the species!

There may be several common names for a species – or none!  Please refer to the scientific name if you don’t recognize the common name.

Key to Locations. See park map to find them.

Yellow Flowers

Common NameScientific NameLocation/Abundance Acton’s brittlebushEncelia actoniiSTR/4 Adonis blazing starMentzelia multiflora var longilobaQV Barrel cactusFerocactus cylindraceusBJ/1, SB/1, CW/2, QV, 49/2, QV, STR/1 Bird’s nest buckwheatEriogonum nidulariumQV BlackbrushColeogyne ramosissmiaQV BladderpodIsomeris arboreaCW/5, PB/5, 49/2, QV Blazing starMentzelia nitensCW/1, 49/1, STR/3 BrittlebushEncelia farinosaBJ/5, WC/3, PB/3, SB/6, LSB/6, CW/5, 49/3, QV Buckwheat speciesEriogonum sppLSB/5, SB/4, BJ/8, California coreopsisCoreopsis californicaWC/6, W/4, QV, STR/9 California evening primroseCamissonia californicaSB/1, QV, STR/1 California juniperJuniperus californicaQV, CW/1 Checker fiddleneckAmsinckia tessellataBJ/1, W/6, WC/5, CW/2, NE/4 QV/8, HV/2, BD/4,SB/3, STR/7 ChinchweedPectis papposa var papposaPB/4 Coastal lotus, coastal bird’s foot trefoilLotus salsuginotus var brevivexillusSB/3 Cooper’s jewelflowerCaulanthus cooperiQV, STR/1 Creosote bushLarrea tridentataCC/5, CW/1, PB/3, WC/2, LSB/6, SB/6,QV, BJ/5, STR/3 Desert bedstrawGalium stellatum var eremicumSB/1,QV Desert dandelionMalacothrix glabrataPB/8, BJ/2, W/2, WC/5, LSB/2, SB/4, QV, STR/1   Desert lotus, Desert bird’s-foot trefoilLotus strigosusPB/3, BJ/3, CW/2, LSB/1,SB/3, W/1, STR/3, QV Desert miseltoePhoradendron californicumSTR/2 Desert rockpeaLotus rigidus49/3, CW/5, IC, SR/2, HV/4, BD/4, SB/4, LSB/2, W/5, QV, STR/3 Desert sennaSenna armataCC/1, SB/2, PB/2, QV, CW/1 Desert trumpetEriogonum inflatum var inflatumCW/3, PB/4, WC/1, SB/3, LSB/5,QV Dwarf cottonroseFilago depressaSB/5 Dyssodia, San Felipe dogwoodAdenophyllum porophylloidesSB/5, LSB/5, QV, CW/1 False woolly daisySyntricopappus fremontiiQV Golden desert-trumpetsLinanthus aureusCW/1, STR/1 Golden suncupsCamissonia brevipesCW/3, SB/2,QV, STR/2 Goldenbush (linear leaved)Ericameria linearifoliaQV Granny’s hairnetPterostegia drymariodesLSB/1, STR/1 Green brittlebushEncelia frutescensPB/1 Heart-leaved evening primroseCamissonia cardiophylla ssp cardiophyllaSB/3 Jones’s blazing starMentzelia jonesiiLSB/1, W/2 Live-foreverDudleya saxosaQV, N/1, CW/2,STR/1, STR/2London rocketSisymbrium irioLSB/4, SB/1, CW/1 Mojave ragweedSenecio mohavensisPB/3, Mormon teaEphedra sppQV, CW/2, STR/3 Pale evening primroseCamissonia pallidaSB/2, CW1,QV, STR/3 Palmer bead-pod, bladderpodLesquerella tenellaCW/1 Pancake-pear cactus, Dollar-joint cactusOpuntia chloroticaQV Parish’s golden poppyEschscholzia parishiiBJ/3, PB/3, CW/2, LSB/3,SB/4, W/5, WC/2, 49/1,QV, STR/3 Parish’s viguiera/goldeneyeViguiera parishiiCW/6, LSB/4, W/1, 49/1, QV, STR/3 Prince’s plumeStanleya pinnataCW/2 Pygmy cedarPeucephyllum schottiiPB/1, LSB/3, SB/3 Pygmy poppyEschscholzia minutifloraW/1, STR/1 Ranch weedAmsinckia menziesiiQV Rush milkweed, AjameteAsclepius subulataPB/1 Sahara mustard*Brassica tournefortiiCW/1, PB/3, STR/1 Sand blazing starMentzelia involucrataCW/2, QV,STR/1,   ScalebudAnisocoma acaulisLHV/1, SR/2, QV/5, STR/2 Silver puffsUropappus lindeyiQV, STR/2 Skunkbush sumacRhus trilobataQV Stebben’s desert dandelionMalacothrix stebbensiiSTR/1 SweetbushBebbia juncea var asperaPB/4, LSB/1, SB/1, QV TrixisTrixis californica var californicaPB/2, CW/1, LSB/4, SB/2, STR/1 Tumble mustardSisymbrium altissimumQV Twining snapdragonAntirrhinum filipesCW/1, LSB/1, W/1,QV, STR/2 Wallace’s woolly daisyEriophyllum wallaceiCW/2, BJ/1, W/4, N/3, PB/4, SR/2, WC/6, BR/2, QV, STR/5 Wand holdbackCaesalpinia virgataSB/4, LSB/1 Whispering bellsEmmenanthe pendulifloraBJ/2, CW/2, W/3, STR/2 Yellow or thick-leaved ground cherryPhysalis crassifoliaCW/2, PB/2, BJ/1, LSB/1,SB/1,QV, STR/1 White-stem blazing starMentzelia albicaulisQV, STR/2 White-stem milkweedAsclepius albicansBJ/1 Yellowhead, YellowdomeTrichoptilium incisumPB/1, CW/1, LSB/1, WC/2, SB/4 Yellow tansy mustardDescurainia pinnataCW/3, W/2, QV, STR/2 STR/2Yellow turbansEriogonum pusillumQV, STR/2   

Blue Flowers

Common NameScientific NameLocation/AbundanceAmsoniaAmsonia tomentosaSTR/7, CW/2Canterbury bell, desert bellPhacelia campanulariaCW/5, BJ/2, LSB,/3, N/1, WC/1, W/2, 49/1, QVCoulter’s lupineLupinus sparsiflorusCW/3, W/3, WC/2, QV, STR/1

• invasive species of concern

Joshua Tree National Park Phone 760 367 5500                                                            http://www.nps.gov/jotr