Trip Recap
A large group of 32 CNPS members and non-members attended the most ambitious on this year’s schedule (you were warned). We began at Blue Jay campground, high in the heart of the Santa Ana Mountains. On the drive up we stopped briefly to note a colony a giant stream orchids (Epipactis) in bloom. During the short walk to the trailhead we observed a mature Piperia (rein orchid) beginning to spike – so we knew it would be a good plant day.
The weather was warm, clear and still. Once on the trail, we soon discovered the near endemic San Miguel savory (Satureja) with its incredibly fragrant foliage, silktassel (Garrya) and a small native vetch (Vicia). White fairy lantern lily (Calochortus albus) was present, but not quite in bloom. Once into Hot Springs Canyon the array of flowers rolled by quickly (clarkia, Chinese houses, cryptantha, delphinium, wild hyacinth, sticky cinquefoil, baby blue eyes, California peony, popcorn flower, chia, four phacelias and three clovers). A couple of unusual plants included large stands of golden linanthus, Douglassandwort (Minuartia) and slender woolly-heads.
With such a large group, the going was slow, but the spirits were high as we eventually rounded the bend to see perhaps OC’s only colony of Oregon grape (Berberis aquifolium var. dictyota). After another half mile of rocky trail we rested at a waterfall and admired the large colony of sticky dudleyas on the rocks before heading back.
All told, we noted an incredible 149 plant species along the 3.7miles from our beginning. See the next tab for a complete list. Also noted were a few California newts, a striped racer snake, Indigo buntings, several butterflies and many unnamed insects.
Quite a day.
Plant Seen
Acmispon glaber - deerweed
Acmispon heermanii – wooly lotus
Acmispon sp. (prob A. maritimus)
Acmispon strigosus - hirsute lotus
Acourtia microcephala - sacapellote
Adenostoma fasciculatum – chamise
Adiantum sp. - maidenhair fern*
Agoseris grandifolora – mountain dandelion
Allium haematochiton – red-skinned onion
Alnus rhombifolia - alder
Anagallis arvensis - scarlet pimpernel+
Anthriscus caucalis? - bur-chervil?+
Arctostaphylos glandulosa – eastwood manzanita
Artemisia californica - California sagebrush
Artemisia douglasiana - California mugwort
Avena sp. – wild oat+
Baccharis salicifolia - mule fat
Barbarea orthoceras - American winter cress
Berberis aquifolium var, dictyota - barberry
Brickellia californica - California brickle bush*
Calochortus albus - Mariposa lily
Calochortus sp. (likely C. weedii var. intermedius)
Carduus pycnocephalus – Italian thistle+
Castilleja exserta – purple owl’s clover
Castilleja foliosa – felt paintbrush
Castilleja minor ssp. spiralis – California threadtorch
Ceanothus sp. (oliganthus?) – California lilac
Centaurea melitensis – tocalote+
Cercocarpus betuloides - mountain mahogany
Cheilanthes clevelandii - cleveland's lip fern
Cirsium officidentale - California thistle
Clarkia purpurea – four-spot clarkia
Claytonia perfoliata - miners lettuce
Clematis pauciflora - ropevine
Collinsia heterophylla - chinese houses
Corethrogyne (Lessingia) filaginifolia - cliff aster
Crassula connata – pigmy stonecrop
Cryptantha sp. - cryptantha
Datisca glomerata - durango root
Delphinium parryi - parry's larkspur
Delphinium patens - liver-leaved larkspur
Dendromecon rigida – bush poppy
Dichelostemma capitatum - wild hyacinth
Drymocallis glandulosa - sticky cinquefoil
Dudleya lanceolata - lance-leaved live-forever
Dudleya pulverulenta – chalk dudleya
Dudleya viscida – sticky live-forever
Eleocharis sp. – spike rush
Elymus condensatus - giant wild rye
Epilobium canum - California fuchsia
Eriogonum fasiculatum ssp. polifolium – Cal. buckwheat
Eriogonum gracile – slender buckwheat
Eriophyllum confertifolium - golden yarrow
Erodium sp.- cranesbill+
Fraxinus dipetala – California flowering ash
Galium angustifolium - narrow-leaved bedstraw
Galium aparine - common bedstraw+
Garrya flavescens – silktassel
Gilia sp.*
Hedypnois creteca - Crete weed+
Helianthus gracilentus – slender sunflower
Hesperoyucca whipplei - chaparral yucca
Heteromeles arbutifolia - toyon
Hypochaeris glabra – smooth cat’s ear+
Jepsonia parryi – coast jepsonia
Juncus sp. - rush
Keckiella cordifolia – heart-leaved bush penstemon
Lasthenia (coronaria?) - goldfields
Lathyrus vestitus var. vestitus - San Diego sweet pea
Ledidium sp. - peppergrass
Lilium humboltii var. oscellatum – humbold lily*
Leptosiphon aureus – golden linanthus
Lithophragma affine - woodland star*
Lomatium dasycarpum – wooly-fruited lomatium
Lomatium lucidum - shiny lomatium
Lonicera subspicata - southern honeysuckle
Lupinus bicolor - miniature lupine
Lupinus excubitus – guard lupine
Malosma laurina - laurel sumac
Malacothamnus fasciculatus laxiflorus – bushmallow
Marah macrocarpa - wild cucumber
Meconella denticulata - small-flowered meconella*
Melica imperfecta - melic grass
Micranthes californica - California saxifrage*
Mimulus aurantiacus - bush monkeyflower
Mimulus brevipes - slope semaphore
Mimulus cardinalis – scarlet monkeyflower
Mimulus guttatus - seep monkeyflower
Minuartia douglasii – Douglas sandwort
Muhlenbergia rigens - deer grass
Nemophila menziesii - baby blue eyes
Oxalis albicans – California wood sorrel
Paeonia californica - California peony
Pellaea andromedifolia - coffee fern
Pellaea mucronata - California cliff-brake
Pentagramma triangularis - goldback fern
Phacelia distans – common phacelia
Phacelia imbricata – imbicate phacelia
Phacelia minor - wild canterbury-bell
Phacelia parryi – parry’s phacelia*
Pinus coulteri – coulter pine+
Piperia sp. (prob P. cooperi) – rein orchid
Plagiobothrys sp. - popcorn flower
Plantago erecta - plaintain
Platanus racemosa - western sycamore
Plectritis ciliosa – long-spurred plectritis*
Polypodium californicum - California polypody fern
Pseudognaphalium californicum - California everlasting
Pseudognaphalium canescens - white everlasting
Psilocarphus tenellus var. tenellus– slender woolly-heads
Pteridium aquilinum - western bracken fern
Quercus agrifolia - coast live oak
Quercus berberidifolia - scrub oak
Rhamnus californuca - redberry
Rhamnus illicifolia - holly-leaved redberry
Rhus ovata - sugarbush
Rhus trilobata - skunk bush
Ribes californicum – hillside gooseberry
Ribes indecorum - white-flowered currant
Ribes speciosa – fuschia-flowered gooseberry
Rosa californica - California wild rose
Rubus ursinus - California blackberry*
Rumex sp. - dock
Salix sp. - willow
Salvia apiana - white sage
Salvia columbaria - chia sage
Salvia mellifera - black sage
Sambucus mexicana – Mexican elderberry
Sanicula crassicaulis – pacific sanicle
Satureja chandleri – San Miguel Savory
Scrophularia californica - figwort
Seliginella begelovii - bushy spike moss
Sidalcea malviflora – common checker bloom
Silene gallica – common catchfly+
Sisyrinchium bellum – blue-eyed grass
Solanum sp. - nightshade
Solidago velutina – California goldenrod
Sonchus sp. – sow thistle+
Stachys sp. – hedge nettle
Stephanomeria cichoriacea – chicory-lvd. wreath plant
Stipa pulchra – purple needlegrass
Symphiocarpus mollis - spreading snowberry
Thalictrum fendleri - meadow rue
Toxicodendron diversilobum - poison oak
Trifolium ciliolatum – tree clover
Trifolium hirtum – rose clover+
Trifolium willdenovii - valley clover
Vicia sp. (prob. V. ludoviciana) - vetch
Vicia villosa - purple vetch+
Observed nearby:
Epipactus gigantea – giant stream orchid
Swertia parryi – parry’s deer’s ears
* Seen during last week’s scouting trip
+ Not native - at this site
Hobo Canyon is a short coastal canyon just over the north ridge from better known Aliso Canyon, but in many ways it is easier to explore. Like Aliso, it offers some of Orange County’s most remarkable habitats: Diegan Sage Scrub and Coastal Maritime Chaparral. In this small area and unique habitat grow some of Orange County’s rarest plants. Verbesina dissita (Bigleaf Crown Beard) is a beautiful medium sized shrubby yellow daisy that in the U.S. is only found in two or three coastal OC canyons. We’ll also look for Summer Holly (Comarostaphylis), Bush Rue (Cneoridum), Dichondra occidentale, Ceanothus megacarpus and Redberry (Rhamnus crocea). Dudleya stolonifera grows nearby. As we skirt the ridge above the canyon we should see other great flowers, such as Centaurium, Eriastrum and Chorizanthe (Turkish Rugging). Leader: Ron Vanderhoff, assisted by Mike and Cathie Field.
