Natural History Wanderings

Latest Poppy Reserve Researcher Field Notes for Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve reports on 4/8/15

Lightning Bolt Trail – There are a few poppies left along the sides of the trails. Some of the plants still have buds, there are a few flowers and the seedpods are forming. The mature plants are starting to get the yellow color in their petals.
Lupine have finished flowering and are going to seed. The green bushes you see in the Reserve are Rubber Rabbitbrush and they will bloom around November. Four O’Clock/Wishbone Bush are struggling to produce flowers but the buds and leaves are drying up; as you get closer to the Kitanemuk Vista Point, there are a few there that have nice looking flowers. This area also has beavertail cacti that are blooming and the California Buckwheat is forming its white to pink clusters of flowers. The lighter gray-green plants that are producing leaves are an aster, and they will bloom around September. The Desert Straw is starting to form the stalk that just has leaves.
Kitanemuk Vista Point – the Acton Encelia (Brittlebush) are starting to bloom.