Natural History Wanderings

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area has just posted a new wildflower bloom report:

There has been little to report as the lack of rain has kept things pretty barren this year. I’ve gone out looking for flowers several times in the last few weeks but the poor showings made it seem hardly worth the effort to report them here. That said, You can find flowers if you go looking for them. Many things that you would normally find blooming at this time of year can indeed be found, but expect much lower quantities, more restricted distribution, and in some cases dwarfed or otherwise stunted versions of them. It seems we need to be using our summer flower hunting skills even though it is only early March. Look for flowers where they can survive the drought, that is, in damper and more sheltered areas. The trails that are open and exposed have a summer-like dryness about them including deep dust and little in the way of delicate herbaceous plants.  I’ll also mention I get questions about finding waterfalls and the answer is the same. Not this year. On the other hand the weather has been sunny and pleasant with cool clear air. Many of the trails are in excellent condition. For me, more than enough reason to get out if only for some exercise. We also need to remember that it is still quite early in the season and it is still possible to get significant rain.  Keep your fingers crossed. And, as always, I’ll see you on the trails. – ed.

 Triunfo Canyon Park Misc. Trails Date: 03/08   
This is one of my favorite places to send people who want a beautiful site that is close to the 101 corridor. As elsewhere this year it was pretty dry and many of the regular flowers are few or non-existent.  I counted about 60 different species in bloom but that required a couple hours of dedicated walking on a significant cross-section of its many trails and includes the standard weeds one sees everywhere. Going over my list I’m not sure what to call a “highlight” since most things were present in such low quantity it would be easy to miss almost everything on the list. In any case highlights include deerweed, wild morning glory, wild peony, a few different ceanothus, fiesta flower, Chinese houses, blue dicks, fiddle neck, California poppy, miners lettuce, popcorn flower, bush monkey flower, woodland star, purple nightshade, black sage but some individuals are already dropping their leaves!, two-toned everlasting, fuchsia-flowered gooseberry, canyon sunflower, woolly blue curls, and one chocolate lily. In a normal year I would rate this showing as “fair” at best. Hopefully things will improve.  – ed.

Circle X RanchBackbone Trail Date: 02/25  
This was hike number three of the Backbone Series sponsored by the National Park Service. We picked up the trail at mile marker 9.1 and hiked west to the Mishe Mokwa trailhead. Most of us also did the new section to the west on the open portion of the Etz Maloy Motorway and down to Mulholland.  As noted elsewhere things were pretty dry on most of this trail with only a modest number of flowers in bloom.  The best portions for flowers were the long north-west facing section and some of the deeper ravines. These sections are more sheltered from the sun and consequently not nearly as dried out.  About 40 different species seen, but this includes the standard weeds one sees everywhere. Overall a modest showing but it is still a bit early in the season for many flowers.  Highlights include three different species of ceanothus, canyon sunflower, bush sunflower, fuchsia flowered gooseberry, a few chaparral gooseberry, blue-eyed grass, a couple of different everlastings, deerweed, bush monkey flower, golden yarrow, some early black sage, Eastwood manzanita, wild morning glory, wild cucumber, cliff aster, rock rose, wish-bone bush, prickly phlox, blue larkspur, hedge nettle, and shooting stars. Further on to the west a few additional species were noted by other hikers in the group including wooly blue curls and elderberry.  A decent showing given the dry year we are having.  – ed.

Read all of their reports at Wildflowers – Whats Blooming in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.