Natural History Wanderings

Figueroa Wildflower Update

Greetings and welcome to the 2015 Wildflower season! Unlike last year, the wildflowers on Figueroa Mountain are off to a great star; however, they appear to be confused once again……or are they? The wildflowers started early this year, including some of the late season flowers that we usually do not see until April. Hmm…perhaps the wildflowers know something that we don’t.

Let’s get started, shall we? As you cross the first cattle guard, look for popcorn flowers, blue dicks, buttercups, fiddlenecks, Johnny jump-ups, fiesta flowers, lomatium, miner’s lettuce, sky lupine, hummingbird sage and milk maids. As one makes the turn along the second bend, look to your right and find vivid, Red Indian paintbrush starting to bloom on the rock formation. Hummingbird sage and Johnny jump-ups can also be seen here. About 20 yards further, on the right, one will find a carpet of shooting stars, Johnny jump-ups, lomatium and popcorn flowers. Another 25 yards down the road will bring you to a slope on the left where miniature lupine, sky lupine, buttercups and popcorn flowers are rapidly blooming. As one continues under the tree canopy, Johnny jump-ups, fiesta flowers, popcorn flowers, blue dicks, wild cucumber, miner’s lettuce and milk maids are making their presence known. Look for the hummingbird sage, as it is preparing to bloom along this area, as well.

Continue up the hill and you’ll encounter the road lined with lovely, white flowering Ceanothus. Other wildflowers to look for as you continue your uphill climb include, buttercups, California poppies, fiddlenecks, shooting stars, prickly phlox, wild onions, blue dicks, vivid orange wall flowers, Mexican elderberry, popcorn flowers, milk maids, filaree, royal lupine, sky lupine, lomatium, coreopsis and wild canyon peas.

The charming and beautiful chocolate lilies are making their grand entrance at Vista Point (large gravel turnout about 11.4 miles from the bottom). Shooting stars, lomatium, goldfields, fillaree, blue dicks and buttercups can also be found here. In the serpentine area across the road, you’ll see California poppies, buttercups, lomatium, blue dicks, shooting stars, wild onions and coreopsis.

Beyond the Figueroa Fire Station, approximately half of a mile on the right, look for the presence of beautiful orange wall flowers, accompanied by wild onions, shooting stars, lomatium, buttercups and goldfield.

Another half of mile further, the slopes on your left are rapidly beginning to fill with sky lupine and California poppies. It is a bit over half filled with these beauties, but it should be in its full glory within 2 to 3 more weeks. Along this stretch, also look for bush lupine, the beginning of caterpillar phacalias, California poppies and sky lupine.

As one continues on Figueroa Mountain Road to the Davy Brown Trailhead, California Poppies and lupine are showing off. As you pass the Davy Brown Trailhead, just beyond the serpentine outcrop, look to the left and find a beautiful display of shooting stars along with popcorn flowers, lomatium and buttercups. As you continue for yet another quarter mile, look at the dirt turnout on the left. If you walk a few steps into that field, you will find gorgeous chocolate lilies, popcorn flower and shooting stars. As one approaches the gate at the bottom of Ranger Peak, look to your right and discover some small but beautiful baby blue eyes peeking through the tall grass. From Ranger Peak to Cachuma Saddle, the Ceanothus continues to bloom, along with bush lupine, bush poppies, sticky leaf monkey flowers, purple nightshade, a few Indian paintbrush, purple sage, milk thistle, prickly phlox,

Sunset Valley has very little to see at this point. Aside from some California poppies, milk thistle, a few bush poppies and a prickly phlox here and there, the wildflowers are not yet doing much in this area.

As you start your descent down Happy Canyon, look for California poppies, bush lupine, royal lupine, purple nightshade, blue dicks, clematis, Johnny jump-ups, shooting stars, wild onions and a few prickly phlox. In the area across from the old

Cachuma Campground, fiesta flowers and lupine are becoming more visible. Just beyond the campground, look for prickly phlox, wild canyon peas and Indian paintbrush along the rock formation on the right. About a mile further, the grassy hillsides and fields are beginning to come alive with yellows, oranges and purples protruding from within the tall, lush green grass. One can see a blend of coreopsis, California poppies, blue dicks, royal and sky lupine. As you continue with the last few miles of your wildflower journey through Figueroa Mountain, you will find shooting stars, popcorn flowers, Johnny jump-ups, wild cucumbers, cactus flowers, prickly phlox and of course, California poppies and lupine.