Plant Species of the Borrego Desert: 2008-2009 Blooms

desert woolly-star, Eriastrum eremicum

chia, Salvia columbariae

Both pictures taken on 4 April 2009 in Henderson Canyon. See Wayne Armstrong's pictures from Butler Canyon on 11 April 2009 from the most recent trip.


Table of Contents

Introduction
Rainfall This Season

Annual Germination, Growth and Blooms
     General Requirements for Annual Germination
     Peak Bloom: What Does That Mean?
     Summary of Annual Germination, Growth and Blooms in 2008-2009

     Detailed Germination, Growth and Bloom Reports From Each Hike
     Pictures From Each Hike

How Long Will An Annual Bloom Last
     General Factors
     Predictions for This Year

Species in Bloom On Each Trip
     Number of Species and Plants in Bloom On Each Trip
     List of Species in Bloom On Each Trip

Links to Other Webpages on Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Blooms


Introduction

The Borrego Desert is the northern part of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park below an elevation of 3000 feet, named for the Borrego Valley and the town of Borrego Springs (map and expanded definition).

This page gives information about the 2008-2009 bloom for all species in this area, with emphasis on the annuals that are responsible for the widespread showy blooms that appear in some years on the desert floor. The date of the last update to this page is given at the bottom of this page.

In addition to specific information about current conditions, this page also gives some general information on what is needed to germinate those annuals, and what is needed to sustain the annual bloom.

The information here is by no means a definitive list to what is blooming in the Borrego Desert; it only records the species I've seen in bloom on my hikes that occur roughly every fourth day. Because the locations change, the numbers of species in bloom, and the number of plants in bloom, cannot usually be directly compared from trip to trip. However, the information here will give the reader an idea of what the bloom is doing in the Borrego Desert.

Note that there is often quite a difference in the annual bloom between the moister canyons west of Borrego Springs and the drier areas around the Badlands. Similarly, even within those canyons on the west, there can be large differences between the north-facing and south-facing slopes, and between canyons with permanent water, like Borrego Palm Canyon, and drier canyons. In the drier areas to the east, there can be large differences between the edges of washes and the middle of washes, and between shady canyons and open areas.

The locations for each hike are in the detailed reports below; more information is sometimes given in Botanical Trail Reports in Chronological Order, which usually includes more information about the bloom on each trip.

Rainfall This Season

Rainfall is the most important determinant of blooms. Rainfall is usually highest on the mountain slopes, especially on the west edge of the Borrego Desert, and falls off dramatically with lower elevation to the east. This occurs whenever our rainfall is mostly orographic. However, when rainfall is from convection, the deserts can at times get more rainfall than the coast. (See Precipitation types.)

In addition to desert stations, I've also given the rainfall from my house in Fallbrook, on the coastal side at 680 feet elevation, to show the large difference in rainfall between the wet side of the mountains and the dry side.

The following table gives the storm totals, in inches, as of the last day of each storm. The storm totals were taken from the Weather Service Rainfall Storm Summary, except for Fallbrook and the Borrego Badlands. Occasionally other stations are missing in that report; if so, totals are taken from the Rainfall Summary Map.

There is no weather station in the Borrego Badlands; the rainfall estimates are just guesses made from how wet the area appears on trips there. If a station didn't appear in the summary, I assumed the rainfall total was zero. Although this assumption is probably usually correct, it is not necessarily always valid since missing data plague all rain reports.

Note that the total rainfall at the bottom of the table is since 1 October, since rain that falls earlier doesn't germinate the desert annuals (see below); this is different from the rainfall reported by the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Visitor Center using the normal California rainfall year that begins on 1 July.

DateFallbrookSan FelipeAgua CalienteBorrego Palm CanyonBorrego SpringsBorrego Badlands
8 August 20080.00?????
4 November 20080.160.000.000.000.000.00
27 November 20081.810.510.520.310.35~0.30
15 December 20082.400.980.150.750.47~0.4?
17 December 20081.610.872.131.141.54~1.5?
22 December 20080.510.040.000.000.00?
25 December 20080.510.080.000.000.02?
3 January 20090.080.000.000.000.000.00
23 January 20090.160.000.000.000.000.00
26 January 20090.160.000.000.000.000.00
7 February 20091.650.910.080.240.310.31?
9 February 20090.630.90?0.370.72?
16 February 20090.55??0.240.58?
 
Total Since 1 October10.23~5.3?3.5?3.053.99~3.0?

Annual Germination, Growth and Blooms

General Requirements for Annual Germination

The timing of rainfall is extremely important for the annual bloom. Rainfall received in the summer and early fall will not germinate the annuals that bloom in February and March. Rainfall received after January will either not germinate those annuals, or will germinate them too late for them to produce a robust bloom in most years. Thus rain must fall in October, November, and/or December in order to germinate the annuals that produce the showy mass displays.

The amount in a single storm is also important. Native annuals require about an inch of rainfall, received over no longer than a period of something like several days, in order to germinate. Our native annuals have learned the hard way that any less rainfall doesn't guarantee enough moisture in the soil for them to produce seeds.

Unfortunately, non-native annuals can germinate on less rainfall, and can sometimes get a head start over our native annuals if we get a first rainfall much less than an inch.

See Predicting Desert Wildflower Blooms - The science behind the spectacle from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum for information relating to Arizona desert blooms.

Peak Bloom: What Does That Mean?

The term Peak Bloom means different things to different people:

Most of the time, I use the latter definition of Peak Bloom, but I also try to mention when the carpets of flowers are present.

If you are looking for a particular species in bloom, the time of Peak Bloom doesn't matter to you; you want to know only when that species is in bloom. Plant species bloom at different times; it is not possible to see every species in bloom even over the time period of a month.

For example, if you want to see the beautiful blooms of beavertail cactus, Opuntia basilaris, you'll need to come just after the showy annual carpets are finished. If you want to see the beautiful flowers of desert-willow, Chilopsis linearis ssp. arcuata, then you'll need to come here in summer, when few species are blooming except for it.

Here is a list of the annual species that produce the showy carpets of flowers:

Other annuals can produce carpets of flowers, but are either more limited in their distribution, such as Bigelow's monkeyflower, Mimulus bigelovii, or purple mat, Nama demissum; or don't produce such showy displays, such as Fremont pincushion, Chaenactis fremontii (since fields of white don't show up well against the whitish background of the desert soil).

Summary of Annual Germination, Growth and Blooms in 2008-2009

Every annual that is going to bloom this spring is in bloom or has finished flowering. A number of annual species have finished flowering, including most of the species that produce carpets of flowers.

We are still at the peak in the number of species in bloom, although we are past the peak in the total number of plants in bloom. On 4/11/09 in Butler Canyon, I found over 2,300 plants in bloom from 93 different species, which is the largest number of species I've seen in bloom on a single day so far this year. See the plots below of the number of plants, and number of species, in bloom, versus time for this year.

A total of 116 annual species have been observed in bloom as of 11 April 2009 (see detailed list); 207 total species have been observed in bloom so far this season.

Some times of peak bloom in 2009, in order of when peak bloom began (all dates are approximate), defined mostly by the number of plants in bloom:

Peak bloom defined mostly by the annuals is indicated by the word annuals or Geraea in parentheses above.

The dates above were strongly influenced by the heat waves of 23 February to 3 March and 16-20 March, when high temperatures were mostly from 80 to 91°. The first heat wave ended the annual bloom in many places on the desert floor, but stimulated the hairy desert-sunflower, Geraea canescens, to burst into bloom, as well the perennials in the canyons on the westside. The second heat wave knocked out the Geraea bloom and much of the annual display in Glorietta Canyon.

The duration of peak bloom given above range from 13 days to 42 days, with a median duration of 18 days, 2.5 weeks. This is a fairly typical interval for the peak bloom time for species on the coastal side of the mountains as well, such as at the Santa Rosa Plateau.

Areas with a longer peak bloom duration are the westside canyons (Henderson, Rockhouse, S22 Montezuma Grade) which have a large range in elevation.

Many annuals were smaller than normal due to no rainfall for 52 days after they germinated on 15-17 December 2008. Fortunately, the inch of rain on 7-9 February 2009, and the half inch of rain on 16 February 2009, helped many plants produce more blooms, and it has turned out to be a decent bloom season after all. In fact, the small size of most of the non-native Asian mustard, Brassica tournefortii, plants allowed the smaller native plants to produce a better show!

Detailed Germination, Growth and Bloom Reports From Each Hike

Detailed reports since 1 February are given here; for earlier reports, see Reports from 28 November 2008 to 28 January 2009.

These reports are just summaries of these conditions from each hike. Many of these hikes have much more complete botanical reports online with additional information; see Plant Trail Reports, San Diego County, 2009.

2/1/09: Rockhouse Canyon. The bloom is similar to that on 1/28/09, with the following three additional annuals now in bloom. There is only a single very small plant of everlasting nest-straw, Stylocline gnaphaloides, that germinated here this year, and it is now in bloom. The first plants of many of the following two non-native annuals, Mediterranean schismus, Schismus barbatus; and Asian mustard, Brassica tournefortii, have begun to bloom here.

One plant of Parish's viguiera, Viguiera parishii, is beginning its bloom. Buds of cheesebush, Hymenoclea salsola, are growing larger and may begin blooming in the next week or two. Small buds have appeared on one plant of beavertail cactus, Opuntia basilaris, and on one plant of brittlebush, Encelia farinosa.

Chuparosa, Justicia californica, is in full bloom in Clark Valley along the Rockhouse Canyon Road.

One plant of brittlebush, Encelia farinosa, is in full bloom along S22 near the bottom of the Montezuma grade, but most plants there are not yet showing buds.

2/5/09: Rockhouse Canyon. The annuals have popped into full bloom at several locations along Rockhouse Canyon Road west of Clark Lake! We spent about an hour photographing about ten annual species that had popped into bloom in the last four days. All the usual suspects were there, including spectacle-pod, Dithyrea californica (one even had its first fruit!); narrow-leaved cryptantha, Cryptantha angustifolia; brown-eyed primrose, Camissonia claviformis ssp. peirsonii; Spanish needle, Palafoxia arida; desert dandelion, Malacothrix glabrata, and hairy sand verbena, Abronia villosa. We found some perennial / subshrub plants of California fagonia, Fagonia laevis, in full bloom there as well. Chuparosa, Justicia californica, continues in full bloom along the Road.

On our car stops along Rockhouse Canyon Road, and hike up Rockhouse Canyon to upper Rockhouse Canyon, we saw over 500 individual specimens of 42 species in bloom. In Rockhouse Canyon, Bladderpod, Isomeris arborea; and desert-lavender, Hyptis emoryi; continue to be in full bloom. In the upper canyon, desert apricot, Prunus fremontii, is still in full bloom, but is near its end.

However, the annuals have not yet begun blooming in most locations here.

2/11/09: Coyote Canyon Road, Box Canyon. There are carpets of flowers now along Coyote Canyon Road, most of them from spectacle-pod, Dithyrea californica, which is in full bloom seemingly everywhere along the Road. Some plants have their first beautiful fruit that looks like spectacles. Dune primrose, Oenothera deltoides; hairy sand-verbena, Abronia villosa var. villosa; and brown-eyed primrose, Camissonia claviformis ssp. peirsonii; have all begun blooming in the area at the end of Di Giorgio Road.

Driving along Coyote Canyon Road reveals new species in bloom regularly, including the first blooms of desert dandelion, Malacothrix glabrata, in a number of places. There is no water at First Crossing, so many passenger cars, driven carefully, can make it to Second Crossing. We were pleased to find a nice patch of longbeak streptanthella, Streptanthella longirostris, between First and Second Crossing.

Most annuals in Box Canyon have not yet begun blooming.

On our car stops along Coyote Canyon Road, and hike up Box Canyon, we saw over 1100 individual specimens of 53 species in bloom.

2/17/09: Rockhouse Canyon Road, Henderson Canyon Road, Coyote Canyon Road, Box Canyon. The carpets of flowers along Coyote Canyon Road are even better, with desert dandelion, Malacothrix glabrata; Fremont pincushion, Chaenactis fremontii; and desert chicory, Rafinesquia neomexicana, beginning to join the show.

Hairy sand-verbena, Abronia villosa var. villosa, is now producing its usual carpets of flowers along S22. The first hairy desert-sunflower, Geraea canescens, blooms have appeared along Henderson Canyon Road.

Buds of desert lily, Hesperocallis undulata, will pop in about a week at S22 and Rockhouse Canyon Road.

On our car stops along Henderson Canyon and Coyote Canyon Roads, and hike up Box Canyon, we saw over 1600 individual specimens of 61 species in bloom!

Most annuals in Box Canyon are still the same, and have not yet begun blooming.

2/20/09: S22, Borrego Dunes Area of Borrego Badlands. This area of the Borrego Badlands probably has the most total blooms of anyplace, but unfortunately 99.9% of the blooms are from the non-native Asian mustard, Brassica tournefortii. However, there are 33 native species in bloom here, including the first blooms of the desert lily, Hesperocallis undulata. There are hundreds of plants here total, and we observed about 50 of them showing off their first blooms.

There are large numbers of hairy sand-verbena, Abronia villosa var. villosa; and dune primrose, Oenothera deltoides, in bloom in a number of locations. We found the first blooms of about 20 plants of hairy desert-sunflower, Geraea canescens, ten stunning plants of Borrego milk-vetch, Astragalus lentiginosus var. borreganus; and five plants of gray desert sunflower, Helianthus niveus ssp. canescens.

2/24/09: Coachwhip Canyon. Peak bloom has begun! We found one lovely field of flowers that can't have any more flowers blooming in the future than are blooming right now.

The roadside of S22 is covered with annuals in flower; we found 31 species in bloom within a 100 foot stretch along the road, and another 16 species in bloom along our hike in Coachwhip Canyon, for a total of 47 species in bloom here. We estimated we saw 1786 individual plants in bloom. Since we capped the count for each species at 99 plants, we easily saw over 2000 individual plants in bloom.

3/2/09: Little Surprise Canyon, Galleta Meadows, Di Giorgio Road, Henderson Canyon Road, Fonts Point Wash, Coachwhip Canyon entrance. This was primarily a car trip to sample the major bloom areas for a group of botanists from the Pasadena area, with the only hiking excursion being in Little Surprise Canyon.

Little Surprise Canyon had about 40 species in bloom, with more yet to come, and was a delight, even in 85° heat in the morning. There were literally thousands of plants in bloom just in this small canyon, many producing good displays already.

After Little Surprise Canyon, we stopped at Galleta Meadows at the corner of Borrego Springs and Henderson Canyon Road. It was interesting that this area was past peak bloom, even though Little Surprise Canyon, just a few miles away, was not yet at peak bloom.

Next stop was the end of the pavement of Di Giorgio Road. Michael Charters and I were shocked to see how the bloom had faded there. On 2/11/09, this area looked glorious, with vast fields of blooms from spectacle-pod, Dithyrea californica, and the first flowers of a number of other species. Today, the spectacle-pod was all in fruit, and many of the other species were either in fruit or on their last flowers.

The east end of Henderson Canyon Road had a good display of hairy desert-sunflower, Geraea canescens, although it is patchy and struggling to overcome the invasive non-native Asian mustard, Brassica tournefortii.

The S22 roadside near Coachwhip Canyon still had many blooms. The area of the mudhills on the east side of Coachwhip Canyon showed the strong influence of species and habitat. The plants on the mudhills are just starting their bloom, and are a week or two away from being in full bloom. Yet right at the base of the mudhills, in the sand, the desert lily, Hesperocallis undulata, plants had finished their bloom and were in fruit!

During this day, we saw over 2400 individual plants in bloom of 74 species.

3/7/09: Clark Valley, Henderson Canyon Road. The desert floor is still at peak bloom, and flowers are beginning at 3000 feet elevation in Culp Valley. On my drive in, Culp Valley was lit up with the pinkish-purple blooms of the non-native redstem filaree, Erodium cicutarium, which unfortunately has taken over most of the open spaces between the shrubs, along with the non-native red brome, Bromus madritensis. The bottom of the Montezuma Grade on S22 was lit up by native species, with hundreds of plants in bloom of brittlebush, Encelia farinosa; creosote, Larrea tridentata; and Parish's poppy, Eschscholzia parishii.

The hairy desert-sunflower, Geraea canescens, display on east Henderson Canyon Road was still going strong. The base of Coyote Mountain just a bit west of the PegLeg Monument had a good display of belly flowers, including desert 5 spot, Eremalche rotundifolia, bristly langloisia, Langloisia setosissima; yellow-head, Trichoptilium incisum; and desert star, Monoptilon bellioides. The parking spot for this area is marked with a beautiful display of Arizona lupine, Lupinus arizonicus, on the south side of S22.

We spotted the first cholla bloom of the season, on silver / golden cholla, Opuntia echinocarpa, at S22 and Rockhouse Canyon Road.

In Clark Valley northeast of Clark Lake, we found about 40 plants in bloom of desert lily, Hesperocallis undulata, including one flower stem 30 inches tall! Some of the plants were finished blooming, or on their last flowers, but some had a number of flowers yet to come.

Borrego milk-vetch, Astragalus lentiginosus var. borreganus; and Salton milk-vetch, Astragalus crotalariae, are beginning bloom in Clark Valley.

We saw over 2200 plants in bloom of 60 species during this entire day.

3/11/09: Henderson Canyon Road, Ella Wash to Vista del Malpais. The hairy desert-sunflower, Geraea canescens, display on east Henderson Canyon Road was still going strong. The base of Coyote Mountain just a bit west of the PegLeg Monument has an even better show of belly flowers than four days ago, and pebble pincushion, Chaenactis carphoclinia, is now in full bloom there.

Surprisingly, our hike along Ella Wash was like a trip back a few weeks in time. Several species were still blooming there that were essentially finished blooming along S22 here, including hairy sand verbena, Abronia villosa; desert lily, Hesperocallis undulata; and brown-eyed primrose, Camissonia claviformis ssp. peirsonii.

Desert pincushion, Chaenactis stevioides, is now in full bloom here, and many areas of the Badlands are covered with Arizona lupine, Lupinus arizonicus in full bloom. The first blooms of little desert trumpet, Eriogonum trichopes, were seen.

We saw over 3000 plants in bloom of 67 species during this entire day.


Reports after 3/11/09 not yet online.


Pictures From Each Hike

Most of my pictures were taken for scientific purposes, and not specifically to show anything about the bloom. However, they may be of interest to people showing some aspects of what the bloom was like on a given date. My pictures are not even on standard webpages; I link to a directory and you have to click on the link for each picture to see it. Scientific names are used almost exclusively for the picture names.

The context for most of these pictures is given in the botanical reports from each hike.

In contrast, on the hikes of Michael Charters here, he documented many of the plants in bloom, and placed them on standard webpages with common and scientific names. I recommend you click on his pages first. Wayne Armstrong also photographed some of the flowers on one walk.

2008200920092009
November 28
December 4
December 9
December 12
December 19
December 23
December 29
January 2
January 7
January 12
January 15
January 19
January 24
    Charters
January 28
February 1
February 5
February 11
    Charters
February 17
February 20
    Charters
February 24
    Coachwhip Canyon (crop)
    Coachwhip Canyon (full)
March 2
    Charters
    Henderson Canyon Rd
March 7
    desert 5 spot, Eremalche rotundifolia
    bristly langloisia, Langloisia setosissima
March 11
March 12
    Charters
March 15
March 23
March 27
March 31
April 4
April 9
    Armstrong

How Long Will An Annual Bloom Last

General Factors

Past Rainfall, Future Rainfall, and Heat are the main factors determining how long an annual bloom will last on the desert floor at about 1000 feet elevation:

Predictions for This Year

The annual bloom this year is past its peak in the lower desert.

Species in Bloom On Each Trip

Number of Species and Plants in Bloom On Each Trip

Four plots are given below:

The plots and the table here must be interpreted cautiously, for at least two reasons:

I've added two bars in each plot, that represent the time of peak bloom estimated by Park Rangers. Two bars were needed since I wasn't sure of the meaning of the word between in the Park Rangers statement that they anticipate the peak blooming season to hit between the 3rd week of February and the 2nd week of March, depending on the weather. The lower pink bar extends from the beginning of the third week of February (2/15) and the end of the second week of March (3/14). The upper green bar extends from the end of the third week of February (2/22) to the beginning of the second week of March (3/7).

The number of species in bloom began its peak at ~1 March, and possibly will end its peak at ~15 April, a period of six weeks. This is almost the same duration as the peak bloom at the Santa Rosa Plateau for 2001-2005, where the number of species in bloom typically peaks from ~1 April to ~10 May, a time lag of about four weeks.

The following plot gives the percent of the species that have bloomed so far that are annuals:

The following tables not yet updated with numbers from trips after 3/11/09.

The following table gives the numbers used for the above plots, for the last two months. For earlier numbers, see Numbers from 28 November 2008 to 28 January 2009. The individual observations used to obtain these numbers are in the List of Species in Bloom On Each Trip.

Number of1/21/71/121/151/191/241/282/12/52/112/172/202/243/23/73/11
Species78917131820264154613547756167
Plants88949932874123330337487112915939771786244622283055

List of Species in Bloom On Each Trip

The list is not yet updated with numbers from trips after 3/11/09.

The table gives the number of plants observed to be in bloom for each species on each hike, with a maximum value of 99 plants for each species. This maximum value prevents one species from dominating the total plants in bloom, and makes it much easier on me to keep track of the bloom.

Because the hike locations vary, some species will not be present on every hike, so the lack of an entry for a given hike says nothing about whether that species is blooming elsewhere.

The Checklist is sorted first by category, with dicots before monocots, and then by family and scientific name. The Family and Scientific Name are from the Jepson Manual. An asterisk before the Common Name indicates a non-native taxon.

See Plant Family Abbreviations to obtain the full family name from the abbreviations used in the table below.

This table gives the number of plants in bloom only since 1 February 2009. Some species thus have no number of plants in bloom listed in this table since they were observed in bloom only on trips prior to that date. For those earlier trips, see list of species seen in bloom from 28 November 2008 through 28 January 2009.

Some species that have bloomed in the Borrego Desert are not listed here, since I never observed them in bloom. Such species are found only in a few locations, and I either never visited those locations or they bloomed in between my visits to their location.

Of course, species that bloom later in the year are not present in this list, so it is not the equivalent of a plant checklist for the Borrego Desert.

#FAMScientific NameCommon Name2/12/52/112/172/202/243/23/73/11
1ACAJusticia californicachuparosa79809999  20  
2ASCAsclepias albicanswhite-stemmed milkweed         
3ASCAsclepias subulatarush milkweed         
4ASCSarcostemma hirtellumrambling milkweed   1 10   
5ASTAmbrosia dumosaburroweed         
6ASTBaccharis salicifoliamule fat  2020     
7ASTBaileya pauciradiataColorado Desert marigold      110 
8ASTBebbia juncea var. asperasweetbush103053    10
9ASTCalycoseris wrightiiwhite tackstem      2 1
10ASTChaenactis carphoclinia var. carphocliniapebble pincushion      105099
11ASTChaenactis fremontiiFremont pincushion  110  202010
12ASTChaenactis stevioidesdesert pincushion     5 9999
13ASTChrysothamnus paniculatuspunctate rabbitbrush101       
14ASTEncelia farinosabrittlebush  230210999999
15ASTEncelia frutescensbutton encelia    2   15
16ASTEricameria brachylepisboundary goldenbush         
17ASTGeraea canescenshairy desert-sunflower   10205999999
18ASTGnaphalium luteo-album*common cudweed   5     
19ASTGutierrezia sarothraematchweed1111     
20ASTHelianthus niveus ssp. canescensgray desert sunflower    5    
21ASTHymenoclea salsola var. salsolacheesebush 15050109920  
22ASTIsocoma acradenia var. acradeniaalkali goldenbush         
23ASTLepidospartum squamatumscale-broom1        
24ASTMalacothrix glabratadesert dandelion 12550110993050
25ASTMonoptilon bellioidesdesert star     10305099
26ASTPalafoxia arida var. aridadesert needle2540405099104025
27ASTPerityle emoryiEmory's rock-daisy      115
28ASTPeucephyllum schottiipygmy-cedar         
29ASTPleurocoronis plurisetaarrow-leaf  13     
161ASTPsathyrotes ramosissimaturtleback        1
30ASTRafinesquia neomexicanadesert chicory  230120509999
31ASTSenecio mohavensisMojave ragwort      1  
32ASTStephanomeria pauciflora var. pauciflorawire-lettuce         
33ASTStylocline gnaphaloideseverlasting nest-straw1        
34ASTTrichoptilium incisumyellow-head     10509999
35ASTTrixis californica var. californicaCalifornia trixis 1       
36ASTViguiera parishiiParish's viguiera1521     
37ASTXylorhiza orcuttiiOrcutt's woody-aster     5  2
38BORAmsinckia menziesii var. menziesiismall-flowered fiddleneck      20  
39BORAmsinckia tessellata var. tessellatabristly fiddleneck      50  
40BORCryptantha angustifolianarrow-leaved cryptantha 540999999999999
41BORCryptantha barbigerabearded cryptantha  11 3050 50
42BORCryptantha costataribbed cryptantha    1    
183BORCryptantha ganderiGander's cryptantha       22
43BORCryptantha maritimaGuadalupe cryptantha     9950250
44BORCryptantha micranthapurple-root cryptantha  5  55  
45BORCryptantha nevadensisNevada cryptantha       110
46BORCryptantha pterocaryawing-nut cryptantha   1     
47BORHeliotropium curassavicumseaside heliotrope       3 
48BORPectocarya heterocarpachuckwalla pectocarya   29950502050
49BORPectocarya platycarpabroad-fruited combseed   99150995 
50BORPectocarya recurvatacurvenut combseed         
199BORTiquilia palmeriPalmer's coldenia        10
51BORTiquilia plicataplicate coldenia    1 1  
52BRABrassica tournefortii*Asian mustard102099999999999999
53BRADescurainia pinnatawestern tansy-mustard  10      
54BRADithyrea californicaspectacle-pod 209999309950120
55BRAGuillenia lasiophyllaCalifornia mustard 1   220  
56BRALepidium lasiocarpum var. lasiocarpumhairy-podded pepper-grass  3101050203030
57BRASisymbrium irio*London rocket  309922050  
58BRAStreptanthella longirostrislongbeak streptanthella  2020   120
59CACFerocactus cylindraceusCalifornia barrel cactus      1  
60CACMammillaria dioicaCalifornia fish-hook cactus11103  2  
61CACOpuntia echinocarpasilver cholla       11
62CAPCleomella obtusifoliaMojave cleomella      2  
63CAPIsomeris arboreabladderpod99991010     
64CARAchyronychia cooperifrost mat   2     
65CHEAtriplex elegans var. fasciculatawheelscale       10 
66CHEAtriplex hymenelytradesert holly    11   
67CHEChenopodium murale*nettle-leaved goosefoot  520     
68CHEMonolepis nuttallianaNuttall's poverty weed       99 
69CRACrassula connatapygmy-weed      99  
70EUPChamaesyce polycarpasmall-seeded spurge1555 2020150
71EUPCroton californicusCalifornia croton   5  2  
72EUPDitaxis lanceolatanarrowleaf ditaxis129950  10 1
73EUPEuphorbia erianthabeetle spurge  2      
74EUPStillingia linearifolialinear-leaved stillingia 211     
75EUPStillingia spinulosaannual stillingia    1    
76FABAstragalus aridusannual desert milk-vetch      111
77FABAstragalus crotalariaeSalton milk-vetch       6 
78FABAstragalus lentiginosus var. borreganusBorrego milk-vetch    10  10 
79FABCercidium floridum ssp. floridumblue palo verde         
308FABDalea mollissilky dalea        20
80FABDalea mollissimadowny dalea      111
81FABLotus rigidusdesert lotus51031     
317FABLotus salsuginosus var. brevivexillusshort-bannered coastal lotus        5
82FABLotus strigosusstrigose lotus     50 150
83FABLupinus arizonicusArizona lupine  1020 99999999
84FABMarina parryiParry's marina         
85FABPsorothamnus emoryiEmory's indigo-bush1   1 1  
86FABPsorothamnus schottiiindigo bush  1      
87FOUFouquieria splendens ssp. splendensocotillo11201052010520
88GERErodium cicutarium*redstem filaree 59999  30  
89GERErodium texanumTexas filaree      1  
90HYDEmmenanthe penduliflora var. penduliflorawhispering bells      1  
91HYDNama demissum var. demissumpurple mat      1  
92HYDPhacelia crenulata var. ambiguaheliotrope phacelia    29911099
93HYDPhacelia crenulata var. minutifloralittle-flowered heliotrope phacelia    1015201
94HYDPhacelia distanscommon phacelia 109999  99  
95KRAKrameria grayiwhite rhatany     1 15
96LAMHyptis emoryidesert-lavender999950501010507080
97LAMSalvia eremostachyadesert sage11       
98LOAMentzelia affinisyellow blazing star      3020 
389LOAMentzelia albicauliswhite-stemmed blazing star        10
99LOAMentzelia involucratabracted blazing star      202010
100MALEremalche exiliswhite mallow      599 
101MALEremalche rotundifoliadesert five-spot      53 
102MALHibiscus denudatusrock hibiscus      1  
103NYCAbronia villosa var. villosahairy sand-verbena 130999999999999
104NYCAllionia incarnatatrailing four o'clock   1     
105NYCMirabilis bigelovii var. retrorsawishbone plant  510 1  10
106ONACamissonia boothii ssp. condensataBooth's desert primrose      3110
107ONACamissonia californicaCalifornia suncup     20501050
108ONACamissonia claviformis ssp. peirsoniibrown-eyed primrose 1030999999503099
109ONACamissonia pallida ssp. pallidapale sun-cup 111  40  
110ONAOenothera deltoides ssp. deltoidesdune primrose  202099 32020
111PAPEschscholzia minutiflora ssp. minutiflorasmall-flowered poppy 203030 9950 99
112PAPEschscholzia parishiiParish's poppy 1230 20999999
113PLAPlantago ovatadesert plantain   59999999999
114POLGilia latifoliabroad-leaf gilia       2060
115POLGilia stellatastar gilia     1201010
116POLLangloisia setosissima ssp. setosissimabristly langloisia      205099
117POLLoeseliastrum schottiiSchott's calico       120
118POLEriogonum deflexum var. deflexumflat-topped buckwheat         
119POLEriogonum inflatumdesert trumpet 1 1 21  
120POLEriogonum thomasiiThomas' buckwheat    152599
483POLEriogonum trichopes var. trichopeslittle desert buckwheat        5
121POLEriogonum wrightii var. nodosumWright's buckwheat5122     
122PORCalandrinia ambiguadesert red maids    52 120
123RESOligomeris linifolianarrowleaf oligomeris    30 209999
124ROSPrunus fremontiidesert apricot 20       
125RUTThamnosma montanaturpentine broom2 21     
126SCRMimulus bigelovii var. bigeloviiBigelow's monkeyflower  5   1  
127SCRMohavea confertifloraghost flower      1  
128SIMSimmondsia chinensisjojoba  22     
129SOLDatura wrightiisacred datura  11     
130SOLLycium andersoniiAnderson's desert-thorn 1 3     
131SOLLycium brevipes var. brevipesdesert-thorn1        
132SOLLycium fremontiiFremont box-thorn   5     
133SOLNicotiana obtusifoliadesert tobacco1 33     
134SOLPhysalis crassifoliathick-leaved ground cherry 2 2     
135VISPhoradendron californicumdesert mistletoe131  1   
136ZYGFagonia laevisCalifornia fagonia 3205  1055
137ZYGLarrea tridentatacreosote bush1223220999999
138LILHesperocallis undulatadesert lily    50234050
581POAAristida adscensionissix-weeks three-awn        20
139POAAristida purpureapurple three-awn 2       
140POACynodon dactylon*Bermuda grass         
599POAHordeum murinum ssp. glaucum*foxtail barley        30
141POAPennisetum setaceum*fountain grass1222     
142POAPleuraphis rigidabig galleta 1210 305550
143POASchismus barbatus*Mediterranean schismus110152099999999

Links to Other Webpages, etc. on Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Blooms

DesertUSA Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Wildflower Reports For 2009

Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers: Where and When to Look from the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Wildflower Hotline: (760)767-4684. "Information on this recording is updated regularly."

Anza-Borrego Foundation and Institute Wildflowers (link didn't work on 9 February 2009)

Theodore Payne Wildflower Hotline (Reports begin on 6 March 2009)

Carol Leigh's California Wildflower Hotsheet


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Copyright © 2008-2009 by Tom Chester.
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http://tchester.org/bd/blooms/2009.html
Comments and feedback: Tom Chester
Updated 11 April 2009.