Bloom Reports from the Anza-Borrego Desert: 2011-2012
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Rainfall This Season
Annual Germination, Growth and Blooms
General Requirements for Annual Germination
Bad Bloom Years Are All The Same; Good Bloom Years Are All Different
Peak Bloom: What Does That Mean?
Summary of Annual Germination, Growth and Blooms in 2010-2011
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, With Photographs
Pictorial Gallery of Species in Bloom, organized by flower color
Links to Other Webpages on Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Blooms
Introduction
This bloom report page reports the bloom status in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and nearby areas below 3000 feet elevation. Most observations are typically at about 1000 feet elevation. The 2009-2010 page covered the same area, whereas the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 pages were restricted to the Borrego Desert portion of the Park.
This page gives information about the 2011-2012 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 the text of this page is given at the bottom of this page. However, the plots below showing the progress of the bloom are always kept up to date, even if this page hasn't been recently updated otherwise.
The plots below also show the progress of the bloom in 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011. For detailed progress of the bloom in those years, see 2010-2011 Blooms and the links therein.
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 at all locations in the Anza-Borrego Desert; it only records the species we've seen in bloom on trips that occur roughly every fourth day, occasionally augmented by observations from other people. 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 Anza-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. Location matters!.
The locations for each hike are in the detailed reports below; sometimes more information is given in Botanical Trail Reports in Chronological Order, which usually include more information about the bloom on each trip.
Rainfall This Season
Rainfall is the most important determinant of blooms. Summer monsoonal rainfall germinates summer annuals and stimulates some perennial plants to bloom in the late summer and fall. Fall / winter Pacific storm rainfall germinates the late winter / spring annuals, and causes the usual late winter / spring bloom in the desert. See the next section for more information.
Summer monsoonal rainfall is from thunderstorms, is extremely spotty in coverage, and does not occur every year in sufficient amounts to stimulate blooms.
Fall / winter 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, and the storm winds are from the west. However, when rainfall is from convection, or if the storm winds are from the east, the deserts can at times get more rainfall than the coast. (See Precipitation types.)
In addition to desert stations, we've also given the rainfall from Tom's 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.
Table 1 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, which is the amount recorded at my house. Occasionally other stations are missing in that report; if so, totals are taken from the Rainfall Summary Map. Rainfall reports for Ocotillo Wells are reported here for the month to date.
If a station didn't appear in the summary, or we couldn't find it elsewhere on line, we usually 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. In a few cases, when it was clear that some rainfall must have been received at those missing stations, we've guesstimated the rainfall.
Note that the total rainfall at the bottom of the table is since 13 September, since rain that falls earlier doesn't germinate the desert annuals (see below). This rainfall total may be 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. Also, the total rainfall sometimes contains rainfall in Fallbrook not reported in the table if there was no major rainfall in the desert.
Table 1. Major Rainfall Events Since 13 September 2011
| End Date | Fallbrook | Ranchita | San Felipe | Agua Caliente | Borrego Springs | Ocotillo Wells |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/13/2011 | 0.00 | 0.24 | 0.28 | |||
| 10/5/2011 | 0.83 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| 11/4/2011 | 0.51 | 0.51 | 0.24 | 0.11 | 0.03 | 0.03 |
| 11/6/2011 | 0.39 | 0.09 | 0.04 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 11/12/2011 | 0.60 | 1.29 | 0.95 | 0.41 | 0.39 | 0.18 |
| 11/20/2011 | 0.78 | 0.31 | 0.08 | 0.05 | 0.00 | 0.05 |
| 12/12/2011 | 0.99 | 0.38 | 0.44 | 0.56 | 0.25 | 0.15 |
| 1/16/2012 | 0.28 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 1/21/2012 | 0.47 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 1/23/2012 | 0.48 | 0.40 | 0.08 | ? | 0.08 | ? |
| Total All Rain to 1/24/12 | 5.33 | 2.98 | 1.79 | 1.17 | 0.99 | 0.69 |
As of 11/16/11, the rainfall total for the 2011-2012 year reported at the Visitor Center, measured at the nearby Colorado District Headquarters, was 1.31 inches (data from Mary Jo Churchwell), compared to the Borrego Springs NWS total of 0.66 inches. The extra amount at the Visitor Center either included some monsoonal rainfall before 9/13/11, or represented heavier rainfall at that location on 9/13/11 and/or 11/12/11.
Annual Germination, Growth and Blooms
General Requirements for Annual Germination
There are two main rain windows for annual germination in the Borrego Desert: monsoonal / summer rainfall, received from thunderstorms in July, August and September, and fall / winter rainfall received from October through January.
Monsoonal rainfall germinates a handful of summer annuals that bloom in September and October. Occasionally, fall / winter rainfall occurring in October will germinate some of these summer annuals.
Our most common summer annuals are listed in Table 2.
Table 2. Summer Annuals Germinated by Monsoonal Rainfall
| Scientific name | Common Name | Family |
|---|---|---|
| Amaranthus fimbriatus | fringed amaranth | Amaranthaceae |
| Aristida adscensionis | six-weeks three-awn | Poaceae |
| Boerhavia coulteri | Coulter's spiderling | Nyctaginaceae |
| Boerhavia intermedia | fivewing spiderling | Nyctaginaceae |
| Boerhavia wrightii | Wright's spiderling | Nyctaginaceae |
| Bouteloua aristidoides var. aristidoides | needle grama | Poaceae |
| Bouteloua barbata var. barbata | six-weeks grama | Poaceae |
| Chamaesyce micromera | Sonoran spurge | Euphorbiaceae |
| Chamaesyce setiloba | Yuma spurge | Euphorbiaceae |
| Datura discolor | desert thornapple | Solanaceae |
| Ditaxis neomexicana | New Mexico ditaxis | Euphorbiaceae |
| Kallstroemia californica | California caltrop | Zygophyllaceae |
| Mollugo cerviana | carpet-weed | Molluginaceae |
| Stillingia spinulosa | annual stillingia | Euphorbiaceae |
Most of these summer annuals won't be seen in a given year at any time unless there has been sufficient summer rainfall (Aristida adscensionis is one of the few summer annuals that is also a spring annual). Good monsoonal rainfall occurs in fewer than half of all years. Monsoonal rainfall is always spotty, with thunderstorms soaking an area of perhaps one square mile, and not touching surrounding areas.
The rest of this section discusses only the "normal" annuals seen by most visitors to the Borrego Desert in the late winter and early spring.
The timing of fall / winter 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, December and/or January in order to germinate the annuals that produce the showy mass displays. The potential showiness of the bloom declines when the germinating rainfall gets later in January, since the annuals don't have enough time to grow very large before the increasing heat of March ends their bloom.
The amount in a single storm is also important. Native annuals require at least 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 less rainfall doesn't guarantee enough moisture in the soil for them to produce seeds. Many annuals won't even germinate with two inches of rainfall in the Badlands and similar soils.
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. Note, however, that there is a big difference between the Sonoran Desert germination in Tucson and in Borrego Springs.
Germinating rainfall typically occurs in Tucson in October and November, whereas it typically occurs in Borrego Springs in December and January. See Monthly average rainfall in Tucson and Borrego Springs from September to February (in the plot, month 13 is January and month 14 is February). Tucson receives an average of 1.5 inches of rain in October and November, whereas Borrego Springs receives an average of only 0.6 inches then, not enough to germinate annuals then in most years. Borrego Springs receives an average of 2.0 inches of rain in December and January, which is usually enough to germinate annuals there during that period. (As detailed above, since rainfall declines markedly to the east of Borrego Springs, the probability of germination in those areas in a given year declines as well.)
Bad Bloom Years Are All The Same; Good Bloom Years Are All Different
Janice Emily Bowers, with her vast experience in desert blooms, said it best in her book Flowers and Shrubs of the Mojave Desert, 1998, p. 4:
... maybe one in five [springs] will bring a good wildflower display. All bad springs are more or less alike in that wildflowers are scarce or not to be seen, but all good years are different in that no two have the same abundance of flowers or the same combinations of species. This is because different kinds of annual wildflowers have different requirements for germination and growth.
This is just as true for the Borrego and Sonoran Deserts.
Peak Bloom: What Does That Mean?
The term Peak Bloom means different things to different people:
- To the casual visitor to the Borrego Desert, it means the time period when there are carpets of showy flowers on the desert floor that will immediately be obvious in a large-scale photograph. As a result, this is also what the Park Staff means by Peak Bloom as well, and what is reported by them in the postcard notifications to those who sign up for that.
Only a few species produce those showy carpets of flowers, and the timing of their bloom does not necessarily correspond to each other, let alone the ~200 other species that bloom in February and March.
Note that other species can produce fields of flowers, but not in the sense of carpets of flowers. For example, brittlebush, Encelia farinosa, can produce very showy displays on hillsides long after the carpets of annuals are gone.
- To a wildflower enthusiast, or a botanist, it might mean the time period when they can see the maximum number of species in bloom on a given one or two day trip. This in general occurs later than the time when showy carpets of flowers are present.
In fact, Tom has been in the desert at such a time of peak bloom, with perhaps 50 species in full bloom within a mile of his location, and had visitors ask him where the flowers are. Clearly, they were looking for carpets of flowers, and weren't interested in walking around to find all the species in bloom at that location.
Most of the time, we use the latter definition of Peak Bloom, but we 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.
See observed dates of peak bloom in 2008-2009 and in 2009-2010 for various locations.
These annual species produce the showy carpets of flowers:
- hairy sand verbena, Abronia villosa
- brown-eyed primrose, Camissonia claviformis
- spectacle-pod, Dithyrea californica
- hairy desert-sunflower, aka desert gold, Geraea canescens
- Arizona lupine, Lupinus arizonicus
- desert dandelion, Malacothrix glabrata
- dune primrose, Oenothera deltoides
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 2011-2012
Monsoonal rainfall was nearly absent this year. We've observed only some very small patches of small numbers of summer annuals, from roadsides in Culp Valley and near the Second Crossing of Coyote Creek.
The rainfall events of 12 November and 12 December 2011 produced limited to moderate germination of annuals in the canyon bottoms west of Borrego Springs, with very little germination in the hillsides above those canyon bottoms, and very little germination anywhere to the east of Borrego Springs. In the southern part of ABDSP, it produced good germination in Fossil Canyon, and presumably elsewhere in the Coyote Mountains, as shown in this picture of a hillside slope of healthy young plants of Chaenactis carphoclinia, pebble pincushion.
The following pictures show just how bad it was on 18 January 2012 at the beginning of the Hellhole Canyon Trail; at the junction of the Hellhole Canyon Trail and the California Riding and Hiking Trail; at about a half mile up the California Riding and Hiking Trail; and in Little Surprise Canyon. In those pix, germination was only seen in Little Surprise Canyon.
In the lower desert, it is shaping up so far as a poor bloom year, with the best blooms only where moisture is greatest, primarily along roadsides and at the very bottom of canyons.
We are still waiting for enough rainfall to produce widespread germination in areas east of Borrego Springs, which normally occurs in late December to early January.
There are desert areas outside of ABDSP that have good blooms now, from heavy rainfall in September and October 2011, such as lowermost Box Canyon immediately east of Mecca, and the southern boundary of Joshua Tree National Park on Cottonwood Springs Road. RT Hawke discovered both of these areas, fairly limited in size, where much water ponded above dikes.
In ABDSP, specifically, we observed low numbers of annuals of five native species in Borrego Palm Canyon on 12/10/11, accompanied by larger numbers of three non-native annuals. We observed larger numbers of annuals of four native species in Glorietta Canyon on 12/28/11, and smaller numbers of another ten native species, but good germination was confined to patchy small areas.
Germination was almost non-existent along the Villager Peak Trail on 12/15/11 and 12/19/11, with just a few annuals observed in Rattlesnake Canyon above that Trail. Similar almost non-existent germination was observed in Palo Verde Canyon on 12/23/11, and along the lower half of the California Riding and Hiking Trail above Hellhole Canyon on 1/18/12.
On 1/22/12, germination was excellent throughout Fossil Canyon in the Coyote Mountains, just north of the town of Ocotillo and I-8 (not Ocotillo Wells).
Detailed Germination, Growth and Bloom Reports From Each Hike
These reports are just summaries of these conditions from each hike.
See also Detailed Germination, Growth and Bloom Reports From Each Hike in 2010-2011 and 2009-2010.
11/7/11: S22, Coyote Creek Road. Our main goal for this trip was to look for Kallstroemia californica, a summer annual. We didn't actually expect to find it, since the monsoonal rain this year was minimal. But we did find a few summer annuals here and there, such as Chamaesyce micromera and Datura discolor. We found one small patch of summer annuals on the hill above Second Crossing.
On our entire trip, the most abundant species in bloom are Eriogonum elongatum, long-stemmed buckwheat along S22 in Culp Valley; Dicoria canescens, desert dicoria, in the "Zero" Crossing of Coyote Creek in the drainage just south of the pavement's end on Di Giorgio Road; Baccharis salicifolia, mule fat, at Second Crossing; and numerous Fouquieria splendens, ocotillo, blooms along S22 and near Desert Gardens. Altogether, we observed a pretty-remarkable 46 species in bloom, with over 689 plants total in bloom. (No species counts more than 99 plants to that total.) The number of species in bloom was high due to making many stops along Coyote Creek in different habitats.
11/11/11: S22, Tubb Canyon. Tubb Canyon was very dry; even Tubb Spring looked quite dry. Most of the species we recorded as being in bloom on this trip were found along S22. We found a "more typical for this time of year" total of over 226 plants of 24 species in bloom.
11/15/11 S2, Grapevine Canyon, Bitter Creek Canyon, Borrego Springs. The blooming stars of the show in Bitter Creek Canyon were Gutierrezia californica, Ericameria brachylepis, Isocoma acradenia var. eremophila, and Eriogonum wrightii var. nodosum, California matchweed, boundary goldenbush, solitary-leaved alkali goldenbush, and Wright's buckwheat, with over 100 plants of each species in bloom except for about 50 plants of Wright's buckwheat. Although the soil was moist, we found only a few germinated annuals, two non-natives: Erodium cicutarium, redstem filaree, and Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens, red brome, and one native: Pholistoma membranaceum, white fiesta flower.
Overall on our trip, including the driving portion along S2 in San Felipe Valley below 3000 feet elevation, we found over 553 plants of 25 species in bloom.
11/22/11: S2, SR78, Pinyon Wash, Pinyon Canyon, Harper Flat. Although the soil in this area was moist, we found very little germination so far, just a few scattered Brassica tournefortii, Sahara mustard, along with one of its typical ~one inch diameter clumps containing 50 crowded plants.
Our drive along Pinyon Wash was filled with Chrysothamnus paniculatus, punctate rabbitbrush, in glorious full bloom. We had no idea there were so many plants of this species here! We'd been seeing a handful of plants along SR78, but Pinyon Wash contains the mother lode for this plant in this area. There were a number of chuparosa and ocotillo in bloom in the wash as well, with many ocotillo fully leafed out. Pinyon Canyon had a number of Eriogonum wrightii var. nodosum, Wright's buckwheat, in full bloom.
Overall on our trip, including the driving portion along S2 in San Felipe Valley below 3000 feet elevation, we found over 341 plants of 15 species in bloom.
11/30/11: Wilson Trail. This trip was at 4,000 feet elevation, well above the cutoff of 3,000 feet elevation for this page, so is not included in the plots and tables below. The only germination was abundant and widespread non-native Erodium cicutarium, redstem filaree, which is able to germinate at cool temperatures and thus gets a head start on the native annuals. This is probably a major reason behind its dominance in many places in Culp Valley.
12/4/11: S2, SR78, Fish Creek, Wind Caves Trail. Although this area had received rainfall, we saw no annual germination. Outside of Fish Creek itself, the plants looked pretty pathetic overall, typical of the end of the drought season. But some plants in the wash, with the higher groundwater table, looked pretty good. The Isocoma acradenia was in full bloom, and we even saw one plant each of Astragalus crotalariae, Salton milk-vetch, and Xylorhiza orcuttii, Orcutt's woody-aster, in bloom.
On our entire trip, including the drive along S2 and SR78, we saw over 241 plants of 21 species in bloom.
See Wayne Armstrong's Pictures from this trip.
12/10/11: S22, Borrego Palm Canyon. This was a delightful trip, since there were a number of baby annuals of five native species, unfortunately accompanied by larger numbers of three non-native annuals. The most abundant annuals were the non-native Brassica tournefortii, Saharan mustard and Bromus madritensis, red brome, and the native Pholistoma membranaceum, white fiesta flower, with hundreds of seedlings of each species. We saw lesser numbers of Phacelia distans, common phacelia, and the non-native Erodium cicutarium, redstem filaree.
On our entire trip, including the drive along S22, we saw over 373 plants of 16 species in bloom.
See Wayne Armstrong's Pictures from this trip.
12/15/11: S22, Fonts Point Wash, Villager Peak Trail, lower Rattlesnake Canyon. No germination was noted along the Villager Peak Trail, and only a handful of individual seedlings were noted in Rattlesnake Canyon, from several native species and from Brassica tournefortii.
On our entire trip, including the drive along S22 and a stop in Fonts Point Wash, we observed over 170 plants of 17 species in bloom.
See Wayne Armstrong's Pictures from this trip.
12/19/11: S22, Villager Peak Trail, upper Rattlesnake Canyon. Germination in upper Rattlesnake Canyon was almost as poor as in lower Rattlesnake Canyon, with only a few spots having more than just a few seedlings.
On our entire trip, including the drive along S22, we observed over 282 plants of 18 species in bloom.
12/23/11: S22, Palo Verde Canyon. Germination was essentially non-existent in Palo Verde Canyon.
On our entire trip, including the drive along S22, we observed over 222 plants of just 10 species in bloom.
12/28/11: S22, Glorietta Canyon. We observed good numbers of annuals of four native species in Glorietta Canyon on 12/28/11, and smaller numbers of another ten native species. However, good germination was confined to patchy fairly small areas, mostly in the washes and canyon floors, with little germination on hillsides.
On our entire trip, including the drive along S22, we observed over 236 plants of just 8 species in bloom.
1/6/12: S2, PCT North of SR78 at Scissors Crossing. Some native germination was observed, but 99% of all the seedlings were from two non-native species, Erodium cicutarium, redstem filaree; and Bromus madritensis rubens, red brome. Redstem filaree was everywhere, whereas red brome was mostly on north-facing slopes.
On our entire trip, including the drive along S2, we observed over 142 plants of 24 species in bloom.
1/8/12: ABF Rebman Field Trip: S3, SR78, S2, Pinyon Mountain Road. No intensive field survey was conducted. The list of plants in bloom were just the ones noted during the trip. Just 18 plants of 8 species were seen in bloom.
1/10/12: S2, PCT North of SR78 at Scissors Crossing. Same conditions as on 1/6/12 in the area surveyed both days, plus we observed significant native annual germination in the sandy area north of the large parking area on S2 a bit north of Scissors Crossing, including Camissonia pallida, Loeseliastrum schottii and Camissonia californica.
On our entire trip, including the drive along S2, we observed over 209 plants of 26 species in bloom.
1/18/12: S22, California Riding and Hiking Trail from Hellhole Canyon toward Culp Valley, Little Surprise Canyon. Nearly all the species we observed in bloom were from two stops along S22 on Montezuma Grade. Germination was shockingly absent along nearly the entire length of the California Riding and Hiking Trail, with just a handful of Cryptantha and Chaenactis carphoclinia seedlings in just a few areas, accompanied by just three small areas where Pholistoma membranaceum, white fiesta flower, has germinated, and one sandy area along a drainage that had a hundred plants of Pectocarya recurvata, curvenut combseed, each about one inch high with a single very tiny flower. There was very sparse germination in Little Surprise Canyon, with some of the tiny Senecio mohavensis plants producing just a few tiny buds.
If you blinked while hiking or driving past any of those areas, none of those plants would have been seen.
The following pictures show just how bad it was at the beginning of the Hellhole Canyon Trail; at the junction of the Hellhole Canyon Trail and the California Riding and Hiking Trail; at about a half mile up the California Riding and Hiking Trail; and in Little Surprise Canyon. In those pix, germination was only seen in Little Surprise Canyon.
On our entire trip, including the drive along S2, we observed over 298 plants of 38 species in bloom.
1/22/12: S2, Fossil Canyon. We made three stops along S2 to check on the germination:
- Blair Valley. There was good germination by the parking area by the bathroom next to S2, but it is essentially all non-native Erodium cicutarium, accompanied by a smaller number of native Pectocarya, both of which were beginning to bloom.
- Mason Valley. There was good germination of a number of native annuals, as well as the non-native Erodium and Brassica tournefortii, both of which were blooming. Most of the Brassica tournefortii were blooming as very small pathetic plants with just a few flowers, which is all they will have total unless they get more rain, and maybe even if they do.
- Carrizo Badlands overlook. There was no germination except under some shrubs, and in a little drainage. Although the germination was pretty sparse, it was of mostly native plants: Phacelia distans, Erodium texanum, and even five spot, Eremalche rotundifolia.
- Fossil canyon had excellent germination, entirely of native annuals! If we get more rain, this canyon will look good. For example, this hillside slope is covered with healthy young plants of Chaenactis carphoclinia, pebble pincushion.
The total number of blooms on our entire trip was low, only 140 plants of just 24 species in bloom.
1/30/12: S2, SR79, Lowermost Oriflamme Canyon. We observed some germination in stops along Oriflamme Road, as well as some germination in the 0.40 miles of Oriflamme Creek that we surveyed above the Campground site. However, the germination was significantly less than we expected from what we had seen in Mason Valley on a stop along S2 on 1/22/12.
Although we saw several shrub species in full bloom, Ribes indecorum, white-flowering currant; and Ziziphus parryi, lotebush, most shrubs had no buds on them. They looked like they were barely surviving, and not thriving like they should be doing at this time of year.
Although we saw 42 species in bloom in total, there were only 471 plants in bloom by our count, a very low total for that number of species in bloom. For example, we saw a single pathetically-small plant of chia, Salvia columbariae, in bloom, without any other baby plants of that species present. Seedlings of many other annual species appeared to be missing totally, or were few in number.
Pictures From Each Hike
See Photo Gallery of Desert Species Observed in Bloom for photographs organized by flower color. The date and location of each picture are given in that table.
Most of the rest of Tom's 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. Tom's pictures are not even on standard webpages; Table 3 gives links 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 sometimes given in the botanical reports from each hike.
Table 3. Links to Directories With Pictures From Each Trip
| 2011 | |
|---|---|
| November 07
November 11 November 15 November 22 November 30 | December 4
December 15 |
See also Pictures From Each Hike in 2010-2011 and 2009-2010 (caution: some pictures may have been deleted due to web space limitations).
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:
- Past rainfall affects how big the plant is, and how many resources it has to keep blooming, especially the root system of the plant and how much moisture is available in the ground. Given enough resources, annuals can withstand conditions that would otherwise abruptly end the bloom.
- Future rainfall can allow a bloom to keep going even if resources are meager. Even annuals near death can produce significant new growth if they receive rainfall.
- Heat is the main factor that terminates a bloom. Tom has seen a very robust February bloom abruptly end in just two weeks in March when 90° heat begins and is sustained for a few weeks. On the other hand, the bloom can go into April in years with cooler March temperatures.
Predictions for This Year
As of 19 January 2012, unless we get further rainfall this month, areas east of Borrego Springs will have essentially no annual show at all. Canyons west of Borrego Springs will have a very poor annual show, since the limited number of annuals will each produce just a few flowers. The show will get better as one goes up in elevation, with areas at 3000 feet and above having a decent year.
With further rainfall, areas in the southernmost part of San Diego and Imperial Counties should have a good display, at least in the canyons.
Species in Bloom On Each Trip
Number of Species and Plants in Bloom On Each Trip
Five plots are given below; each plot has this year's bloom data as well as last year's bloom data for comparison:
- The first two plots, Figures 1-2, show what was observed on each trip, the total number of species in bloom and the total number of plants in bloom. The total number of plants in bloom for each individual species is capped at a maximum of 99 plants.
- The next two plots, Figures 3-4, give the cumulative total numbers from all trips so far this season, of all species seen in bloom and of all annual species that germinated this year and have begun blooming. Thus this does not count any annual species that survived from last year and is now blooming. These cumulative total numbers include the number of species on a given trip as well as those from all trips previous to that trip.
The last plot, Figure 5, gives the percent of the species that have bloomed so far that are annuals.
The plots and the table here must be interpreted cautiously, for at least three reasons:
- First, long hikes will find more plants in bloom than short hikes. For example, the hikes of 12/29/08, 1/2/09 and 1/9/09 were all in Henderson Canyon, but were 4, 7 and 8 miles long, respectively. The increase in the number of plants was due almost entirely to the length covered.
- Second, some areas have a higher species diversity than others, and so will have more species blooming at a given time. For example, on 2/20/09, Tom botanized the Borrego Badlands, which had significantly fewer species than the Coyote Creek area he had botanized for the previous two trips. As a result, the total number of species observed in bloom skidded from 61 to 35, even though the bloom overall in the Borrego Desert was still getting better. Note that the cumulative number of species, and annuals, seen to be in bloom from all trips that year continued to increase, since the Badlands had some species not found elsewhere.
- In 2009-2010, Tom began by botanizing the Coyote Creek Area, which had abundant water along the Creek. As a result, Tom found significantly more species in bloom than he did in 2008-2009, when he began by botanizing the very dry Clark Lake Area.
On 12/1/09, Tom visited an area that had received a summer thunderstorm on 5 September 2009, and as a result had many more species in bloom than anyplace else he visited in December 2008 or December 2009.
The curves for November and December for 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 could thus easily have been switched between years if Tom had also switched areas botanized in each year. (I.e., if Tom had botanized wet / monsoon storm areas in 2008-2009 and dry areas in 2009-2010.)
In fact, the number of species in bloom on a trip to Clark Valley on 12/19/09 produced almost exactly the same number of species in bloom as the 12/19/08 trip a year earlier.
Figure 1. Number of Species in Bloom on Each Trip
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Figure 2. Number of Plants in Bloom on Each Trip
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Figure 3. Cumulative Number of Species Seen in Bloom From All Trips
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Figure 4. Cumulative Number of Annual Species Seen in Bloom From All Trips
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Figure 5. Percent of All Species Seen in Bloom From All Trips That Are Annuals
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Table 4 gives the numbers used for the above plots, for the last two months. The individual observations used to obtain these numbers are in the List of Species in Bloom On Each Trip.
Table 4. Number of Species and Total Number of Plants in Bloom on Each Trip
| Number of | 11/07 | 11/11 | 11/15 | 11/22 | 12/4 | 12/10 | 12/15 | 12/19 | 12/23 | 12/28 | 1/6 | 1/8 | 1/10 | 1/18 | 1/22 | 1/30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Species | 47 | 24 | 25 | 15 | 22 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 10 | 8 | 24 | 8 | 26 | 38 | 24 | 42 |
| Plants | 692 | 226 | 553 | 341 | 242 | 422 | 170 | 282 | 222 | 236 | 142 | 18 | 209 | 298 | 140 | 471 |
List of Species in Bloom On Each Trip, With Photographs
Table 5 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 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.
The Checklist has thumbnail photographs for most of the species, all of which were taken in the Borrego Desert. Clicking on the thumbnail photograph gives a larger version equal in size to the ones at the top of this page.
All the larger versions are also presented in Pictorial Gallery of Species in Bloom, organized by flower color, and with the location and date of each picture.
All pictures were taken by Tom, with a Sony Point and Shoot T9 camera except the following:
- Mike Crouse contributed the pictures for Camissonia pallida, Crassula connata, Eschscholzia parishii, Fouquieria splendens, Mammillaria dioica, Mirabilis tenuiloba, Penstemon clevelandii var. connatus, Prunus fremontii, and Ribes indecorum, using either a Cannon Point and Shoot SD1100IS or SD1200IS.
- Bill Sullivan contributed the pictures for Oenothera elata ssp. hirsutissima and Mimulus cardinalis.
This table gives the number of plants in bloom only in the last two months, in order to remove species that are probably no longer blooming.
Some species that have bloomed in the Borrego Desert are not listed here, since we never observed them in bloom. Such species are found only in a few locations, and we either never visited those locations or they bloomed in between our visits to their location.
Of course, species that bloom later in the year, and species that do not have flowers (ferns, etc.) are not present in this list, so it is not the equivalent of a plant checklist for the Borrego Desert.
An asterisk before the common name indicates a non-native species.
Table 5. List of Species in Bloom On Each Trip, with Number of Plants Observed in Bloom
| # | FAM | Scientific Name | Pix | (*)Common Name | Number of Plants in Bloom | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/07 | 11/11 | 11/15 | 11/22 | 12/4 | 12/10 | 12/15 | 12/19 | 12/23 | 12/28 | 1/6 | 1/8 | 1/10 | 1/18 | 1/22 | |||||
| 1 | ACA | Justicia californica |  | chuparosa | 2 | 20 | 20 | 50 | 5 | 99 | 5 | 2 | 20 | 15 | 2 | ||||
| 2 | AMA | Amaranthus fimbriatus |  | fringed amaranth | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | ASC | Asclepias albicans |  | white-stemmed milkweed | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | ASC | Asclepias subulata |  | rush milkweed | 1 | 3 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | ASC | Matelea parvifolia |  | spearleaf | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 6 | AST | Adenophyllum porophylloides |  | San Felipe dogweed | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | |||||||||
| 7 | AST | Ambrosia acanthicarpa |  | bur-ragweed | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 8 | AST | Ambrosia dumosa |  | burroweed | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | AST | Baccharis salicifolia |  | mule fat | 25 | ||||||||||||||
| 10 | AST | Bebbia juncea var. aspera |  | sweetbush | 1 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | ||||
| 11 | AST | Brickellia desertorum |  | desert brickellia | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 12 | AST | Brickellia frutescens |  | shrubby brickellia | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 13 | AST | Chrysothamnus paniculatus |  | punctate rabbitbrush | 1 | 5 | 99 | 25 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 14 | AST | Conyza canadensis |  | horseweed | 99 | ||||||||||||||
| 15 | AST | Dicoria canescens |  | desert dicoria | 99 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 16 | AST | Encelia actoni |  | Acton encelia | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 17 | AST | Encelia farinosa |  | brittlebush | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 2 | ||||||||
| 18 | AST | Encelia frutescens |  | button encelia | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 19 | AST | Ericameria brachylepis |  | boundary goldenbush | 10 | 99 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 8 | |||||||||
| 20 | AST | Gnaphalium luteo-album |  | *common cudweed | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| 21 | AST | Gutierrezia californica |  | California matchweed | 2 | 99 | 30 | 11 | 15 | 3 | |||||||||
| 22 | AST | Gutierrezia sarothrae |  | matchweed | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 23 | AST | Heterotheca grandiflora |  | telegraph weed | 50 | 30 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 24 | AST | Isocoma acradenia var. acradenia |  | alkali goldenbush | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 25 | AST | Isocoma acradenia var. eremophila |  | solitary-leaved alkali goldenbush | 99 | 40 | |||||||||||||
| 26 | AST | Palafoxia arida var. arida |  | desert needle | 20 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 27 | AST | Pectis papposa var. papposa |  | chinch-weed | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 28 | AST | Senecio flaccidus var. monoensis |  | Mono ragwort | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 29 | AST | Stephanomeria exigua ssp. exigua |  | slender wreathplant | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 30 | AST | Stephanomeria pauciflora var. pauciflora |  | wire-lettuce | 3 | 3 | 20 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | |||
| 31 | AST | Viguiera parishii |  | Parish's viguiera | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 2 | ||||||
| 32 | AST | Xylorhiza orcuttii |  | Orcutt's woody-aster | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 33 | BIG | Chilopsis linearis ssp. arcuata |  | desert-willow | 15 | ||||||||||||||
| 34 | BOR | Cryptantha angustifolia |  | narrow-leaved cryptantha | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 35 | BOR | Cryptantha maritima |  | Guadalupe cryptantha | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 36 | BOR | Cryptantha racemosa |  | bushy cryptantha | 1 | 6 | |||||||||||||
| 37 | BOR | Pectocarya recurvata |  | curvenut combseed | 99 | 5 | |||||||||||||
| 38 | BOR | Plagiobothrys arizonicus |  | Arizona popcorn flower | 10 | ||||||||||||||
| 39 | BOR | Tiquilia palmeri |  | Palmer's coldenia | 10 | ||||||||||||||
| 40 | BRA | Brassica tournefortii |  | *Asian mustard | 5 | 5 | |||||||||||||
| 41 | BRA | Hirschfeldia incana |  | *shortpod mustard | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 42 | BRA | Lyrocarpa coulteri var. palmeri |  | Coulter's lyrepod | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 43 | CAC | Mammillaria dioica |  | California fish-hook cactus | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 44 | CAP | Isomeris arborea |  | bladderpod | 5 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 45 | CHE | Atriplex hymenelytra |  | desert holly | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 46 | CUS | Cuscuta californica var. papillosa |  | papillate dodder | 15 | ||||||||||||||
| 47 | EUP | Chamaesyce albomarginata |  | rattlesnake weed | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 48 | EUP | Chamaesyce melanadenia |  | red-gland spurge | 5 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 10 | ||||||||
| 49 | EUP | Chamaesyce micromera |  | Sonoran spurge | 10 | ||||||||||||||
| 50 | EUP | Chamaesyce pediculifera |  | Carrizo Mountain spurge | 20 | ||||||||||||||
| 51 | EUP | Chamaesyce polycarpa |  | small-seeded spurge | 5 | 10 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 3 | ||||||||
| 52 | EUP | Chamaesyce setiloba |  | Yuma spurge | 25 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 53 | EUP | Croton californicus |  | California croton | 10 | 1 | 10 | 10 | |||||||||||
| 54 | EUP | Ditaxis lanceolata |  | narrowleaf ditaxis | 1 | 1 | 99 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
| 55 | EUP | Ditaxis neomexicana |  | New Mexico ditaxis | 5 | 15 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| 56 | EUP | Euphorbia eriantha |  | beetle spurge | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 57 | EUP | Stillingia linearifolia |  | linear-leaved stillingia | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 58 | FAB | Astragalus crotalariae |  | Salton milk-vetch | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 59 | FAB | Caesalpinia virgata |  | wand holdback | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| 60 | FAB | Lotus rigidus |  | desert lotus | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 61 | FAB | Lotus salsuginosus var. brevivexillus |  | short-bannered coastal lotus | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 62 | FAB | Lotus scoparius var. brevialatus |  | short-winged deerweed | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 63 | FAB | Psorothamnus emoryi |  | Emory's indigo-bush | 15 | 2 | 10 | ||||||||||||
| 64 | FOU | Fouquieria splendens ssp. splendens |  | ocotillo | 50 | 20 | 5 | 40 | 99 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 7 | ||||
| 65 | GER | Erodium cicutarium |  | *redstem filaree | 20 | 35 | 10 | 30 | |||||||||||
| 66 | LAM | Hyptis emoryi |  | desert-lavender | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 50 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 14 | ||||
| 67 | LOA | Petalonyx thurberi ssp. thurberi |  | Thurber's sandpaper-plant | 99 | ||||||||||||||
| 68 | LYT | Lythrum californicum |  | California loosestrife | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 69 | MAL | Hibiscus denudatus |  | rock hibiscus | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 70 | NYC | Abronia villosa var. villosa |  | hairy sand-verbena | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 71 | NYC | Allionia incarnata |  | trailing four o'clock | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 72 | NYC | Mirabilis bigelovii var. retrorsa |  | wishbone plant | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||||
| 73 | ONA | Camissonia cardiophylla ssp. cardiophylla |  | heartleaf sun-cup | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||||
| 74 | ONA | Camissonia pallida ssp. pallida |  | pale sun-cup | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 75 | ONA | Epilobium canum ssp. latifolium |  | mountain California-fuchsia | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| 76 | POL | Eriogonum davidsonii |  | Davidson's buckwheat | 2 | 2 | 99 | 99 | 99 | 5 | 1 | ||||||||
| 77 | POL | Eriogonum deflexum var. deflexum |  | flat-topped buckwheat | RT | 5 | |||||||||||||
| 78 | POL | Eriogonum elongatum var. elongatum |  | long-stemmed buckwheat | 99 | 99 | 20 | 99 | 99 | 99 | 99 | 99 | 1 | ||||||
| 79 | POL | Eriogonum fasciculatum var. polifolium |  | California buckwheat | 2 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 80 | POL | Eriogonum gracile var. incultum |  | slender buckwheat | 15 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 81 | POL | Eriogonum inflatum |  | desert trumpet | 30 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 30 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 1 | |
| 82 | POL | Eriogonum plumatella |  | yucca buckwheat | 20 | ||||||||||||||
| 83 | POL | Eriogonum wrightii var. nodosum |  | Wright's buckwheat | 10 | 50 | 40 | 1 | 20 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 25 | 3 | ||||
| 84 | ROS | Prunus fremontii |  | desert apricot | 11 | 2 | 20 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 85 | RUT | Thamnosma montana |  | turpentine broom | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 86 | SIM | Simmondsia chinensis |  | jojoba | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 87 | SOL | Datura discolor |  | desert thornapple | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 88 | SOL | Datura wrightii |  | sacred datura | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 89 | SOL | Lycium fremontii |  | Fremont box-thorn | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 90 | SOL | Nicotiana obtusifolia |  | desert tobacco | 1 | 15 | |||||||||||||
| 91 | SOL | Physalis crassifolia |  | thick-leaved ground cherry | 1 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||
| 92 | TAM | Tamarix ramosissima |  | *saltcedar | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 93 | VIS | Phoradendron californicum |  | desert mistletoe | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 94 | ZYG | Larrea tridentata |  | creosote bush | 2 | 1 | 10 | 1 | |||||||||||
| 95 | LIL | Agave deserti |  | desert agave | 5 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 2 | ||||||||
| 96 | POA | Aristida adscensionis |  | six-weeks three-awn | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 25 | 10 | ||||||||
| 97 | POA | Aristida purpurea |  | purple three-awn | 5 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 98 | POA | Bouteloua aristidoides var. aristidoides |  | needle grama | 7 | ||||||||||||||
| 99 | POA | Cynodon dactylon |  | *Bermuda grass | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 100 | POA | Leptochloa uninervia |  | Mexican sprangletop | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 101 | POA | Pennisetum setaceum |  | *fountain grass | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 102 | POA | Pleuraphis rigida |  | big galleta | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 103 | POA | Schismus barbatus |  | *Mediterranean schismus | 5 | ||||||||||||||
Links to Other Webpages, etc. on Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Blooms
Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers: Where and When to Look and latest report (usually from Bill Sullivan) from the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association.
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park official site, with wildflower information on it. Click on the link near the bottom for the Flower Update and Map, which might be updated weekly.
DesertUSA Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Wildflower Reports For 2011
Carol Leigh's California Wildflower Hotsheet has been discontinued as of 30 March 2010, due to people harming some of the wildflower locations reported there, by trampling the wildflowers, picking them, and even lying on them. There's no better advice than what she left her readers with: Please walk gently on this earth.
Anza-Borrego Foundation and Institute Wildflowers and their Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Wildflower Hotline: (760)767-4684. "Information on this recording is updated regularly."
Theodore Payne Wildflower Hotline (Reports begin the first Friday in March 2011)