Natural History Wanderings

Updated later on 3/1/13

Wildflower report from Joshua Tree National Park for 3/1/13

The wildflower bloom in Joshua Tree National Park is still developing very slowly, although we’ve added in a few Joshua Tree bloom at Black Rock this week. The yellow  flowers of the bladderpod (Peritoma arborea) bushes along Pinto Basin Road and the red flower of the chuparosa (Justicia californica) bushes south of Cottonwood Visitor Center are visible from the road,  but little else is flowering yet.  The young leaves of annual wildflowers are appearing in the south of the Park and a few small blooms may be seen on the Bajada Nature Trail. Watch this space!

Click Read More to see detailed list of wildflowers in bloom by location and abundance.

On a scale of one to ten, the number that appears under the location key refers to an estimate of the relative abundance of flowers at that location, with “1” indicating a few scattered blooms and “10” indicating that the place is carpeted with that species!