Natural History Wanderings

Santa Monica Mountain National Recreation Area just published a new wildflower report.  They have new postings for Circle X Ranch, Malibu State Park and Topanga Canyon Ranch.   Below are the reports and dates:

Circle X Ranch     Mishe Mokwa Trail     Date: 06/29/2011

“We did just a quick hike down toward split rock near sunset. The evening was cool and the light lovely but in the end we had to turn back before we got there because it was getting too dark. I made a flower list but is was very brief because so many things have dried up in the last few weeks. The best of the lot was plentiful scarlet larkspur and Plumber’s mariposa lily, both still approaching their peak. The other things I made particular note of was the appearance of the tarweeds and the dropping of the leaves on the salvias — both signs that spring is over and summer is here, at least on this trail. Still looking good was woolly blue curls, heart-leaved penstemon, white pitcher sage, bird’s beak, both caulk and lance-leaved dudleya, and california buckwheat. Additional highlights were scarce and most of the remaining things I will mention here are on the way out or even essentially done. They include black sage, yucca, sapphire wool stars, golden yarrow, small-flowered dwarf-flax, Turkish rugging, deerweed, yellow monkey flower, chamise, sticky madia (another tarweed), one golden stars, and several sticky monkey flower shrubs with only a few sad flowers showing on a bush that had hundreds of dried up blossoms. The mariposa lily and scarlet larkspur on their own keep the rating of this trail “good.”  – ed.”

Topanga State Park: Trippet Ranch     Santa Ynez trail to waterfall     Date: 06/28/2011

 “Our goal for this hike was to visit the Santa Ynez Waterfall. We hadn’t been here for a few years. Several people we talked to along the trail told us it was dried up and no longer existed. Fortunately, they were wrong. Surprisingly we saw quite a few flowers for this time of year and there was a lot of variety also. The hike started as a ridge trail and this portion of the hike had the most flowers. There were large bushes of lupine and heart-leaf penstemon. There was also quite a few Plummer’s mariposa lilies and a large smattering of crimson larkspur. Other flowers in bloom on the upper trail included: sticky monkey flower, pitcher sage, scarlet pimpernel, tarweed, deerweed, buckwheat, filaree, California everlasting, bush mallow, verbena, elderberry, cliff aster, morning glory, black sage, red berry in berry, bush sunflower, honeysuckle, yucca, narrow-leaf milkweed, bull thistle, toyon, yarrow, laurel sumac, chamise, wooly blue curls, narrow-leaf dudleya, twiggy wreath plant, bedstraw, woolly blue sapphire, cudweed aster, and chalk dudleya.”

“The trail then descends into the Santa Ynez Canyon. It was cool and pleasant with a lot of foliage, but not as many flowers. We saw: wild rose, blackberries in berry (tasty) canyon sunflower, and holly-leaf red berry. As I mentioned earlier our goal was to go to the waterfall. After about 15 or twenty minutes in the canyon you will come to a post that says “waterfall” with an arrow pointing to a trail. Take that trail. A sign states that the trail in not maintained. However, it is pretty easy to navigate. You will cross the creek several times and will sometimes have to walk in the creek bed to find the trail start up again. One crossing leads to a false trail, so be sure the trail is going parallel to the creek. There is a lot of poison oak. We saw quite a bit of Spanish broom, some more pitcher sage, a few Indian pinks, and several Humboldt lilies on the way to the waterfall. You will come to a point where the trail stops. Getting to the waterfall requires boulder climbing and wading through the creek. Your shoes will probably get wet. When we arrived at the waterfall, which fell into a small pond and grotto and was quite beautiful, we were delighted with the scarlet monkey flowers growing out of the fern covered rocks. As a side note, near the post that says, “waterfall” there are two chimneys from a homesteaders house hiding in the brush. Have fun!. – Fred and Nellie”

Malibu Creek State Park     Backbone Trail     Date: 06/28/2011

“The Backbone trail crosses Piuma Road about 1.2 miles east of the junction of Piuma Road and Las Virgenes.   There is a small area to park on the right. I crossed the street and took the east bound trail, up a small hill , then down to the stream , then going up the mountain.  Despite it being so late in the season, there are still flowers to see on this trail .  There is much Currant blooming right now  and there are some beautiful Plummer’s Mariposa Lily still blooming at various points along the trail.  At the beginning of the trail there is some California Fuchsia and some Scarlet  Larkspur.  Other flowers that I saw blooming were California Buckwheat, Cliff Aster, Slender Tarweed, Bush Sunflower, Sticky Monkeyflower, White Morning Glory, Black Sage, Deerweed,  and Golden Yarrow.  Near the top of the trail (2 miles up) there is a spot where a good number of Indian Pinks are blooming.  A little past here, there are some Chaparral Yucca in bloom.  – Jim Garafalo”

From the editor of the Santa Monica Mountains website:

“Much of the hiking I’ve done recently indicates that the flower season is nearly over and summer is here. Granted, most of my recent hiking has been in some of the drier parts of the range but still the indications of the change of the season are here. For sure, flowers can be found throughout the summer and my camera will be busy, but mostly gone is the best Southern California has to offer. Where before any old trail was bound to please from now on finding flowers will be a matter of the craftiness of the flower hunter. Look for sheltered sites with shade or water or near the coast. These places can offer flowers year-round and additionally may reward us with some of the rarest finds. Alternatively, consider re-defining your expectations of what defines a flower. Many of the true summer flowers are small and obscure and not perhaps what the typical person would use in their flower arrangements (for example, many of them have the word “weed” in their names.) Now is the beginning of the season of the true flower enthusiast.”

Go to their website to see all of their reports: http://www.researchlearningcenter.org/bloom/