Page Revised: 04/18/10
Available Site Reviews Circle X Ranch Zuma/Trancas Canyons Malibu Creek State Park Cheeseboro / Palo Comado Triunfo Canyon Park Leo Carrillo State Beach Solstice Canyon Rancho Sierra Vista / Satwiwa Arroyo Sequit Scenic Drives in SAMO	Date of Reviews 4/10 & 3/27 & 3/21 & 3/13 & 3/11& 3/5 & 3/1. 3/27. 3/25. 3/24 & 3/10. 3/21 & 3/13. 3/14. 3/14. 3/13. 3/7. 3/1.
Quick Links What's Blooming Now - Photo highlights of the current flower reports. Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains - Photos of over 700 species. Archive - Previous “What's Blooming” reports. Outdoors - The Calendar of Events for the Santa Monica Mountains NRA.

The hiking I've done recently and verbal reports I’ve been getting suggests that our typical earliest and most dramatic spike in the bloom has already past in most places. However, the later plants that follow the first explosion include some of my favorites and participate in the longer, broader peak of Mid Spring. While the flower density may be less than it was there is still a lot to see and in fact we often have more diversity as spring progresses. The good thing about Spring in the Santa Monica Mountains is that almost anywhere you go you find something blooming. I recently noticed that a few of the annuals that were looking pretty sad have bounced back nicely after the recent rain. For other the drying out spell in mid-March was perhaps just a bit too long. And while I have not been receiving a lot of flower report submissions for the newsletter this year I want to point out that it has been and continues to be a pretty good year for wildflowers -- certainly the best we have seen in recent years.

I’ve made several changes to the layout of the Wildflower website lately and one of them is a new search called What’s Blooming Now. I will try to keep this up to date with the highlights of the flower sightings people have reported here. BTW, this list may include more flowers than are reported on below since I generally will include anything I’ve run across lately even if I felt it was not worth creating a full report about it.

As we saw last month the internet is not a perfect place. I was unable to publish any updates to this newsletter for quite a while because a technical difficulty prevented me from making any changes here. I was however, still able to get the word out by posting a downloadable copy of this newsletter at http://www.nps.gov/samo/naturescience/wildflowers.htm. In the future, if nothing seems to be going on here you might check that location too.

As always, if you want to contact me or submit a flower report my email address is at the at the bottom of this page. See you on the trails.

– ed.

Circle X Ranch		Mishe Mokwa to Split Rock	Date: 4/10
	This Ranger guided hike was specifically billed as a wild flower hike. The plan was to take our time to examine anything and everything that was blooming. The section of the Mishe Mokwa Trail from the road out to Split Rock is perfect for this. It passes through a number of different ecosystems and so it offers a good cross-section of what is available in the Park at the higher elevations. Most of us won’t miss a lily or a larkspur when it is blooming. The big advantage of going with a ranger is that their experience can help you expand your vision of flowers. We took the time to look at many of the small flowers that are frequently overlooked by the casual flower enthusiast. Even with the dry spell we had in March we still manage to see close to eighty different flowers in bloom. That large number is a reminder that even if the drama of early spring is over the flowering season as a whole is still very much alive. Before I list the flowering highlights we encountered I want to mention that many of these were well represented by numerous individuals. Highlights included black sage with wonderfully dense blossoms, woolly blue curls, blue dicks, several different lotus, several different popcorn flowers (spanning three genera,) three different monkey flowers, a couple different evening primroses, golden yarrow, several of the small cottony members of the sunflower family, several different members of the celery family with their small umbelliferous flowers, several trees and shrubs with their small green flowers, star lily, eucrypta, purple nightshade, miner’s lettuce, Parry’s phacelia and mountain phacelia (among others,) A couple of different lupines, the delightful twining snapdragon, collarless California poppy, sense stands of couple of different gilias, a few early Chinese houses, skullcap, yellow pincushion, several of the deep blue hairy-leaved ceanothus (but mostly done now) sunflowers, holly-leaved cherry, both coast and southern goldfields, owl’s clover, a few early clarkias, blue larkspur, one Catalina mariposa lily, and even a few chaparral current still holding on. I would rate this hike as very good. – ed.

Zuma/Trancas Canyons		Backbone Trail	Date: 3/27
	Today’s hike was the fifth leg of the 2010 Backbone Trail series sponsored by the National Park Service and the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council. We are hiking west to east every two weeks. The weather was unusually warm, dry and windy for springtime. Thanks to several riparian crossings in Trancas, Zuma and Newton canyons; and associated north slope traverses the temperature and winds weren’t a factor. We began on Encinal Canyon Road in the headwaters of Trancas Canyon, and reached destination at the trailhead on Latigo Canyon Road. 72 blooming native species were observed. If your don’t lift your gaze you would have missed virgin’s bower draped on: billowy big pod, green bark, and hoary-leafed Ceanothus; mountain mahogany, elderberry, holly-leafed red berry, walnut, ash, bay and tree poppy. While smack in your face and dripping with wild cucumber were: sticky and common monkey flowers, fuchsia flowering gooseberry, purple nightshade, fig wort, mustard and small evening primroses, canyon and slender sunflowers, wooly blue-curls, deer weed, meadow rue, and prickly phlox. Finally, if one didn’t watch their feet they might have stepped on: Coulter’s, truncated, arroyo, dove and bush lupines; California plantain, popcorn, blue-eyed grass, collared and collarless poppies, morning glory, blue dicks, miner’s lettuce, milk maids, caterpillar and Parry’s phacelia, wishbone, whispering bells, chia, twining snap dragon, skull caps, star lily, fiddle neck, globe gilia, fiesta flower, golden yarrow, Indian warrior, hummingbird sage, coast lotus, paint brush, and slender wooly marbles. We’re looking forward to our next walk through upper Solstice Canyon and down the north slope of Malibu Canyon.. – Ralph Waycott.

Circle X Ranch		Mishe Mokwa to Sandstone Loop	Date: 3/27
	As we predicted in the last What's Blooming report we saw some of our favorite flowers on this NPS sponsored "Hike with a Ranger" event. Several people on the hike had not seen a chocolate lily before. I must admit I love introducing it to people for the first time. We also saw plenty of shooting stars but they are clearly ramping down now. The open field previously filled with thousands was down to a good scattering of individuals hiding in the shade along its north edge. The deep blue hairy-leaved ceanothus are still doing well but some are beginning to drop their flowers. The ground looked like it had a sprinkling of blue snow in places. Another plant we talked about on the hike was poison oak. The trail is actually in quite good condition so don't be put off by this plant. Now is the time to look for its dainty white flowers. See if you can tell if the plant is male or female. Like other members of the sumac family poison oak comes in two forms. Flowering highlights include blue dicks, black sage, Chia, wooly blue curls, small evening primrose, mustard evening primrose, Parry's phacelia, caterpillar phacelia, collarless California poppy, yellow cress, twining snapdragon, several different lotus including the more uncommon Chile lotus, a few bigpod ceanothus, hairy-leaved ceanothus, hoary-leaved ceanothus, about five different lupines, quite a lot of virgin's bower, several different plants in the celery family with their small yellow umbelliferous flowers, purple nightshade, miners lettuce, some holly leaved cherry, the bright pink prickly phlox, Eastwood manzanita looking quite nice, a few bigberry manzanita, lace pod, California saxifrage, skullcap, blue larkspur, several different popcorn flowers spanning three genera, coast gold fields, a few chaparral current still looking nice on the backside of the trail, golden yarrow, globe gilia and angels gilia. All told we counted over seventy species in bloom. BTW, if you missed this hike you get another chance to Hike With a Ranger on Saturday April 10^th. – ed.

Malibu Creek State Park		Deer Leg Trail to Crags Road	Date: 3/25
	At Regan Ranch I saw over 40 different flowers including "all the usual suspects" but of note there was a ton of Spreading Larkspur on the Deer Leg trail as well as the first Chinese Houses' I've seen this spring. The Crag's Trail running between Malibu Creek State Park & the Regan Ranch has Western Wallflower blooming as well as a pure white Solanum xanti intermixed with the common purple color. – Sarah Dickey.

Cheeseboro / Palo Comado		Palo Comado Canyon Trail	Date: 3/24
	We did a very quick look at the Palo Comado Canyon Trail on our way to another location. I did not have time to make a flowering list but we saw many of the same flowers that are doing well elsewhere. Much of this burned in 2005 and these burn sections are still have a different mix of plants several years after the burn. This is a somewhat dryer section of the park so things are not as lush as at some of the lower elevations. Even so, once you get north of the grassy fields in the lower valley things start to look pretty good. As always with this section of the park you have to hike or bike in quite a way from a trailhead to get to where things start looking like something other than huge oak meadows full of non-native grasses and mustard. I have had good luck with the Sheep Corral Trail in the past although I did not have time to sample it this time. It might be worth the hike if you haven’t been there before, but be prepared for a significant hiking effort including some good sized hills. – ed.

Circle X Ranch		Mishe Mokwa to Sandstone Loop	Date: 3/21
	Over 60 species were sighted on this spectacular 6-mile hike, with many just beginning to bloom, a number in peak, and a few trailing off. The most prominent of the profuse was Ceanothus oliganthus, the dark blue one (or “hairy-leaved”). It was first sighted along Little Sycamore Canyon Road, and large patches were seen along the entire trail (interspersed with 3 other Ceanothus: greenbark, big pod, and hoary-leaved). 2nd place honors went to a few large, rocky patches of shooting stars – with many species in 3rd place, including chocolate lilies, skull cap, blue larkspur, chia, wooly blue curls, small-flowered primrose, virgin’s bower, turkey pea, winter cress, California saxifrage, bajada lupine, and prickly phlox. The day’s bloom rates a “Good,” and if no rain materializes, look for a “Very Good” peak (or better) during the next few weeks. – Jack Gillooly.

Triunfo Canyon Park		Pentachaeta Trail	Date: 3/21
	The Pentachaeta Trail was beginning to peak. Many flowers that were reported earlier were still blooming. The main event: the chocolate lilies were in abundance. Additionally, there was Wild Peony, Wishbone Bush, Parry's Phacelia, Dove Lupine, Purple and White Chinese Houses, Fiddleneck, Caterpillar Phacelia, Chia, Yellow Yarrow, Milk Maids and Silver Puffs. Rating Very Good, close to Excellent. – Kathy Jonokuchi.

Leo Carrillo State Beach		Nicholas Flat to Willow Creek Loop	Date: 3/14
	This 2-mile trail is nearing peak bloom, with 40+ species along the way and a “Good” rating – which should stay that way for a few weeks. The most profuse were CA poppy (2 species), Parry’s phacelia, popcorn sp, chia, wishbone bush, and coast paintbrush. Other notables were globe gilia, Indian pink, stinging and Coulter’s lupine, scarlet bugler, locoweed, oxalis, bladderpod, mustard evening primrose, and rattlesnake weed. This trail is also one of the best for native grasses, and many species are now going to seed (nearly upstaging the wildflowers), including: two needle grasses (Nassella pulchra and Achnatherum coronatum), oniongrass (Melica imperfecta), and cane bluestem (Bothriochloa barbinodis). Join a state park ranger and myself for a public walk on Sat 3/20 at 10am – should be “good” or better. – Jack Gillooly.

Solstice Canyon		TRW Loop Trail	Date: 3/14
	Post-fire wildflowers, in their 3rd season after the Corral Fire, are still amazing on this 1.5 mile trail – earning it an “Excellent” rating. Most profuse are canyon sunflower (along Solstice Creek) and bush sunflower (on the hillsides), with tons of caterpillar phacelia, sticky phacelia, and coastal lotus – both trailside and covering the hillsides. Another 20 or so species include blue dicks, annual bedstraw, beggar ticks, eucrypta, chia, and hedge nettle. Purple nightshade was especially deep and rich in color, perhaps owing to the extra nutrients in the soil (and that great “watering can in the sky”). With a rushing creek down below, this spot is definitely worth a visit. – Jack Gillooly.

Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa		Satwiwa Loop to Waterfall (Upper Sycamore)	Date: 3/13
	Flowers are doing well on this 3-mile walk-around, but still a bit shy of peak. Among the 30 species seen were wild sweet pea, blackberry, bush sunflower, purple nightshade, Parry’s phacelia, meadow rue, shooting stars, virgin’s bower, 2 CA poppies, fiesta flower, and lots of wishbone bush (on descent into canyon). So far, the area is “Fair” to middling for the season, but give it some warm weather and a late shower, and it should progress to “Good” or better. (Note: The upper creek and waterfall are running well, and you’ll see many extra wildflower species along the whole Upper Sycamore stretch – from the creek intersect on Old Boney Trail, to the paved road.) – Jack Gillooly.

Triunfo Creek Park		Westlake Vista Trail	Date: 3/13
	On March 13, 2010 I hiked in Triunfo Creek Park, on the Westlake Vista Trail and saw the following flowers blooming: Woolly Blue Curls, Fuschia Flowered Gooseberry, Owl's Clover, Popcorn Flower, Ground Pink, Johnny Jump Ups, Red Stem Filaree, Coast Goldfields, Purple Larkspur, California Poppies, Pineapple Weed, Woolly Lomatium, Lace pod, Shooting Stars, Greenbark Ceanothus, Bigpod Ceanothus. – Stacey Best.

Circle X Ranch		Backbone Trail	Date: 3/13
	Today’s hikes were the third and fourth legs of the NPS sponsored Backbone Trail hikes in the 2010 series. This report is on the fourth leg (the report on the morning hike is below). We are hiking west to east every two weeks. The weather was broken overcast and cool, perfect for hiking and visuals. Due to recent rains we had to combine the third and fourth legs into one day. The morning was spent on the third, Yerba Buena, leg. The afternoon was the fourth, Encinal to Etz Meloy, leg. This is our only “in and out” leg though we are eternally optimistic that continued attempts to purchase the one private property will succeed and it will be a continuous trail. This afternoon forty four native species were observed in bloom. Wild cucumber has casually engulfed all of the trails this year. It is the first species one should expect to encounter and it was for us. We then enjoyed some surprises: wooly blue curl, indian warrior, slender sunflower, rock rose, and star lily. Familiar species in various bloom phases included: elderberry, chaparral currant, golden yarrow, purple nightshade, canyon sunflower, greenbark and big pod ceanothus, four o’clock, redberry, deer weed and strigose lotuses, stinging and Coulter’s lupines, mustard evening and suncup primroses, prickly phlox, eucrypta, lomatium(s), and everlasting(s). Our first blue eyed grass of the season accompanied blue dicks while in other locations there were wonderful displays of Parry’s phacelia. These are just some of the species we saw and in the future one should look forward to a very good showing of bleeding hearts. The disturbance made while constructing this trail just a few years ago is similar to a wildfire. Bleeding heats and other fire-followers are free of their chaparral canopy and spring back to life only to be re-entombed in a few of years. – Ralph Waycott.

Circle X Ranch		Backbone Trail	Date: 3/13
	Today’s hikes were the third and fourth legs of the NPS sponsored Backbone Trail hikes in the 2010 series. This report is on the third leg (the report on the afternoon hike is above). We are hiking west to east every two weeks. This four mile section of the Backbone trail begins at the Mishe Mokwa trailhead and then ends at mile marker 9.1 on Yerba Buena Road. Unless you arrange a shuttle you will have to either retrace your footsteps or walk back on the road. I frequently use the road on weekdays but on the busy weekends the lack of a good place to walk along the shoulder can make that a bit hazardous. This section is still fairly new and consequently has a good number of disturbance loving flowers along it (although some have faded into the background over the half-dozen years since it opened.) While this is not a ridgeline trail it provides good vistas in several directions. The section closest to the Mishe Mokwa trailhead is the best for flowers and I frequently do just the first mile or so out to the saddle separating the northwestern section from the southeastern section. Flowering highlights include three different species of ceanothus, both purple and white nightshades, wild cucumber, some early black sage, popcorn flowers, several different lupines (also watch for them on Yerba Buena driving to the trailhead) morning glory, deerweed and some of its smaller cousins, bush monkey flower, a couple of different sunflowers, golden yarrow, wishbone bush, blue dicks, a couple of different evening primroses, a few early wooly blue curls, prickly phlox, miners lettuce, lace pod, creek monkey flower, dense stands of shooting stars, woodland stars, coast goldfields, and even a couple of chocolate lilies. All told over forty species in bloom. – ed.

Circle X Ranch		Sandstone Peak Trail	Date: 3/11
	What this trail lacks in flowers it more than makes up for in sweeping vistas of the ocean and the valley. When the hairy leaved ceanothus is blooming it can be quite good for flowers as well. Flowering highlights included some very nice displays of hairy leaved ceanothus, deerweed, popcorn flower, golden yarrow, blue dicks, a few black sage, fiddleneck, wooly blue curls, purple nightshade, both bigberry and Eastwood manzanita, California saxifrage, and prickly phlox.. – ed.

Palo Comado / Cheeseboro		Date: 3/10
	Palo Comado (In Cheeseboro). Red Stem Filaree, Prickly Phlox, Fiddleneck (especially closer to China Flats), Popcorn Flower, Common Sunflower, Monkey Flower (just blooming in places), Miner's lettuce, and one grouping of Parry's Phacelia. The Yerba Santa had buds. – Stacey Best.

Arroyo Sequit		Date: 3/7
	Took a nice hike in Arroyo Sequit yesterday, March 7. I only went halfway and back, starting in the grassy area going counter-clockwise, but saw the following plants in bloom: Parry's Phacelia; Indian Warrior; Purple Nightshade; one or two Blue Eyed Grass in the grassy field at the entrance; and Peonies. Beware of a fork in the trail. There is a sign the says End of nature trail at the fork. We went to the right and ended up on a fire road. Not the way to go. My suggestion is to take the hike clockwise. Another couple found this very simple to follow -- no fork problem. Who knows what's in bloom on the second half of the trail. I was pleasantly surprised on the first half. – Bob Moncrief.

Circle X Ranch		Mishe Mokwa Trail	Date: 3/5
	We hiked out to split rock and back thinking that this section of the trail would have the most flowers. In particular we wanted to check on the chocolate lilies since people have been seeing them elsewhere. Still not very many flowers in evidence, certainly less than we saw on the Canyon View Trail a few days earlier. Including those plants lightly represented by just a few individuals we counted about thirty species in bloom. We actually saw more species and better displays along Yerba Buena Rd on the way up to the trailhead. The best thing we saw was a pretty good display of hairy-leaved ceanothus (the deep-blue "California lilac") on a couple of sections of the trail. There were chocolate lilies, but only a few. There are a large number of plants visible but most have yet to begin blooming. Nearby the trailhead we saw a couple of dense stands of shooting stars. It might be well worthwhile to do at least a portion of the backbone trail going east from the Mishe Mokwa parking lot. There was some mud on the trail but nothing too deep. Highlights include Hairy-leaved ceanothus, a few chocolate lilies, a few shooting stars on the trail but many in open stands near the trailhead, deerweed, a couple of woolly blue curls, blue dicks, a localized population of small-flowered evening primrose, several wild sweet pea, a few early blue larkspur, california saxifrage, a couple of different popcorn flowers, only a few chaparral current since most are in fruit now, california peony, turkey pea, and one Parry's phacelia. We still need more warm weather before these sheltered trails are going to do much. – ed.

SAMO Scenic Drives		Date: 3/1
	Scenic driving through the mountains: The pale white blossoms that seem to frost the big pod ceanothus shrubs at all elevations are fading. More and more pale blue spikes of greenbark ceanothus are flowering and especially at the higher elevations, you’ll see the blue violet blossoms of hairy-leaved ceanothus. Goldfields cover the meadow by the main parking lot at Paramount Ranch. Canyon sunflowers (yellow petals, yellow centers) in shady places are everywhere along with lots more bush sunflowers (yellow petals, brown centers), especially on PCH. The yellow coreopsis daisy bouquets are all along PCH and especially striking in the Pt. Mugu State Park area. Lupines (shades of magenta, blue and purple) are popping up here and there (especially at Circle X). Scenic drives everywhere are progressing nicely. – Sheila Braden.

Circle X Ranch		Canyon View Trail	Date: 3/1
	This trail is often one of the best early trails at CXR because it possesses sheltered south-facing slopes passing through several different ecosystems. Of the sixty or so different flowers I saw many are nowhere near full bloom yet and just represented by scattered individuals. When doing this trail I always make a quick detour and cross the creek to look at the mossy north-facing rocky slope near the waterfalls on the Grotto Trail. It’s always worth the couple hundred yards spent to see some additional flowers and get a good view of the waterfalls (now almost completely exposed by the leafless sycamores) Highlights include popcorn flower, both greenbark and hairy-leaved ceanothus (although most of the hairy-leaved is at higher elevations,) a couple of mostly faded bigpod ceanothus, blue dicks, fiddleneck, both white and purple nightshades, globe gilia, California buckwheat, a couple of different lupines, bush monkey flower, a couple of different sunflowers, a couple of different evening primroses, two different everlastings, wild cucumber – many now with large spiny fruits showing, lace pod, some hold-out cudweed aster, a few of our different celeries, wishbone bush, a few shooting stars (but you have to look carefully to find them – again, look higher up to find the big dramatic fields full of these,) golden yarrow, skullcap, owl’s clover, California peony, Parry’s phacelia, a couple of different small lotuses as well as the shrubby deerweed (which is also a lotus,) holly-leaved cherry, and finally, the bedstraws with their tiny yellow-green flowers. If you are interest in small green flowers you could pay attention to some of our trees and shrubs, many of which are in bloom now. By the way, this is the best time of year to visit Sandstone Peak if you want to see the islands. I’ve seen the distant San Nicolas and even San Clemente a number of times recently. – ed.

Contact Information: Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area 401 West Hillcrest Drive Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 805-370-2301 www.nps.gov/samo	If you would like to contribute to the wildflower report: e-mail: Tony_Valois@partner.nps.gov or phone Tony at 310-457-6408
What’s Blooming on the web at www.researchlearningcenter.com/bloom or go to www.nps.gov/samo and click on “What’s Blooming”