In these descriptions of the flowers blooming along the trails and roads, plants are generally only listed the first time they are seen along a given trail or road. An exception occurs for trips with significant elevation change. For those trips, the plants are repeated in each elevational section, so that one may see where each one drops out and thus obtain an elevational range, and a sense of the progression of seasons by altitude.
Single plants are listed for reference only and are not included in the Plants Blooming list or Blooms table. Plants that are just beginning to bloom are marked with (b) after the name, and those ending with (e).
The trailhead is on the Angeles Crest Highway, nearly across from the exit of Buckhorn Campground (~MM 59.05).
June 22, Old Logging road to just beyond Buckhorn Spring (~6600')
- Crest Highway to Saddle above Logging Road: wallflower (e), Grinnell's penstemon (b), golden yarrow, Indian paintbrush, silverleaf lotus, pussy paws, snow plant, (a bighorn sheep!), one lupine in bud, bloom and seed.
- Saddle above Logging Road to just beyond Buckhorn Spring: Bridge's penstemon (b), cinquefoil, granite prickly phlox.
June 19, Angeles Crest Highway, Three Points to Lightning Ridge
- Three Points to Buckhorn: snowbush, white yarrow, heart-leaved penstemon, thimbleberry, tall, bright green lupine, wallflower, scarlet columbine, scarlet bugler, milkweed, golden yarrow, Grinnell's penstemon, silverleaf lotus, snowplant, wooolstar, elderberry.
- Jarvi Vista and Islip Saddle: Indian paintbrush, yerba santa (b), California buckwheat (b), tauchsia, tall popcorn flower, prickly poppy, silvery lupine.
- Vincent Gulch Divide: flannelbush, mustard, white sweet clover.
- Grassy Hollow and Lightning Ridge: Fremont's bush mallow, apricot mallow, Phacelia curvipes, imbricate phacelia (e), sulfur buckwheat (b), gilia, poodledog bush, grape soda lupine.
June 10, 15, and 22; Angeles Crest Highway to Vetter Mountain
- from La Cañada to Charlton Flat: laurel sumac, white sage, yucca, senecio, prickly phlox, orangebush monkeyflower, Spanish broom, deerweed.
- near Vetter Mountain: silvermat lotus, yerba santa, rock buckwheat, woolstar, chamise.
May 28, San Gabriel Canyon Road to South Mt. Hawkins (7783')
- Entrance Station to the West Fork Bridge: yucca, mustard, annual (Kansas-type) sunflower, chamise, bush monkeyflower, prickly phlox, popcorn flower, cliff aster, many blue to purple to lilac phacelias covering the burned areas (giant-flowered phacelia, wild canterbury or California bells and common phacelia).
- West Fork Bridge to Crystal Lake: white sweet clover, white sage, scarlet columbine, foothill penstemon, golden yarrow, Indian paintbrush, white yerba santa, western thistle, deerweed.
- Crystal Lake to South Mt. Hawkins: grape soda lupine, many snowplant, chaparral whitethorn (e).
May 22, Big Tujunga Road, The Pines Picnic Area (3440') and Switzer's Picnic Area (3520')
- Big Tujunga Road: Spanish broom, California buckwheat, clarkia (unknown species, abundant, tall, many flowers along the stem), punchbowl clarkia, orange bush monkeyflower, yerba santa, Indian paintbrush, prickly phlox, chamise, fiddleneck, dodder (in various colors ranging from deep bright orange to light lemon yellow).
- The Pines Picnic Area: black mustard, tree poppy, Phacelia brachyloba (covering the recently burned area), purple nightshade, purplish-pink rockrose, popcorn flower (abundant in burned area), suncups (Camissonia sp. small 1/4" flowers, upright ~4-6" stems with thick wavy-edged leaves above a basal rosette of hairy, spatulate leaves), western thistle, California thistle, rock cress (e), golden yarrow.
- Switzer's Picnic Area : white rockrose, Chinese houses, mountain dandelion (Agoseris grandiflora), baby blue eyes, dark blue larkspur, woodland star.
May 17, Angeles Crest Highway to Three Points, Santa Clara Divide Road, Mt. Hillyer (6220')
- ACH from ANF boundary to Shortcut Saddle: Spanish broom, orange bush monkeyflower, yerba santa.
- ACH from Shortcut Saddle to Charlton Flats: Grinnell's penstemon, silvermat lotus, deer brush.
- Mt. Hillyer: squawbush, desert ceanothus (C. greggii), chaparral whitethorn, Phacelia curvipes (oodles and oodles), wallflower, two prostrate lupines (one very small, less than two inches, very, very hairy, with a single woody stem with red-purple flowers, not whorled, possibly Lupinus concinnus; the other silky gray-leaved, matted, with large flowers like grape soda lupine, Lupinus excubitus, but odorless), golden violet, mountain dandelion, a popcorn-like flower with green leaves and less than one inch tall, granite prickly gilia (or phlox), Linanthus parviflorus, silvermat lotus, snowplant (many), golden yarrow, Indian paintbrush, pumice hulsea.
May 15, Sunset Peak (5796') from the new trailhead 3.3 miles west of Cow Canyon Saddle at the intersection of Glendora Ridge Road and Sunset Ridge Fire Road
- Trailhead to junction with old trail from Cow Canyon Saddle: chaparral whitethorn, grape soda lupine, Indian paintbrush, short California poppies, black mustard, popcorn flower, foothill penstemon, prickly phlox, golden yarrow, white yarrow, chia, senecio, muilla (b), bush monkeyflower, buckwheat buds, purple nightshade, rock cress, showy penstemon, poodledog bush buds, deer brush, baby blue eyes, miner's lettuce, manzanita (e), imbricate phacelia buds, silvermat lotus, alumroot (coralbells), rock buckwheat (buds), Lemmon's catchfly, mountain dandelion, blue-eyed mary, gooseberry (unknown species - e), yerba santa.
- Junction with old trail to ridge trail on the fireroad: no new plants.
- Ridge trail to Sunset Peak: Phacelia curvipes, a sanicle with fernlike leaves, johnny-jump-up, morning glory.
May 1, Angeles Forest Highway, Mt. Emma Road, Big Pines Highway
- Angeles Forest Highway: Spanish broom, prickly phlox, Indian paintbrush.
- Mt. Emma Road: pine goldenbush, desert sage (Salvia dorri), Mormon tea.
- Big Pines Highway: desert ceanothus (Ceanothus greggii).
April 27, Monrovia Canyon, "Bill" Cull Trail to waterfall
- From lower parking lot along canyon wall to Nature Trail: green everlasting, wild Canterbury bells (many), black mustard, chia, stinging lupine, Coulter's lupine, white nightshade, castor bean, collar lupine, eupatory, California four o'clock, morning glory, garter snake, wild cucumber, filaree, wild sweet pea, miner's lettuce, wallflower, chickweed, orange bush monkeyflower, sow thistle, common eucrypta, bishop lotus, another small lotus with whorled yellow flowers and 5-7 clover shaped leaflets, poison hemlock, hairy ceanothus, black sage, elderberry, hollyleaf cherry (very fragrant), blue dicks, bedstraw, rigid hedge nettle, sanicle (species unknown), dodder, tree tobacco, tauschia, bidens, yellow sorrel (Oxalis corniculata), coffeeberry, gray everlasting.
- From junction with Nature Trail along canyon floor to waterfall: slimy monkeyflower, live-forever.
April 25, Millard Canyon Waterfall Trail Just before sunset after a warm and sunny day.
Parking Lot to waterfall: black locust trees by parking lot, (mule fat ended), eupatory, white nightshade.
April 25, Mt. Wilson Trail High temperature was 77° F along the trail; conditions were warm and sunny.
- Trailhead to First Switchback at fenced-off Old Trail: alyssum, black mustard, filaree (bloom and seed), black sage, chickweed, wild cucumber (ending), everlasting, hairy ceanothus, whitethorn ceanothus, California four o'clock (wishbone bush), ~1' high blue lupine in bloom and seed, pink sweet pea, chia (ending), blue dicks (lavender and purple varieties), deerweed, California poppy, pink gilia, 5" yellow wispy plant (mustard family), fringe pod (in seed and inconspicuous bloom).
- First Switchback to First Water: Indian paintbrush, miner's lettuce, baby blue eyes.
- First Water Trail to Junction of Lost Canyon: eupatory, shrub with small white flower.
- Little Santa Anita Canyon upstream of Lost Canyon: white nightshade.
- First Water Trail along Lost Canyon: purple nightshade.
- Mt. Wilson Trail from First Water Trail to Orchard Camp: dodder, sugar bush, cinquefoil (beginning), poison oak, a shrub with holly-like leaves and pink flowers, (gooseberry ended), bay leaf tree (ending), maple seeds (flowers just ended), woodland star, Chaparral Currant (ending), scrub oak, unknown yellow flower.
- Mt. Wilson Trail between upper and lower junctions with the First Water Trail: wallflower.
April 23, Angeles Crest Highway These blooms are in addition to those seen on April 7 on this route.
- SR2, near the Grizzly Flats trailhead, ~3000': thickleaf yerba santa, orange bush monkeyflower, white rockrose, spear-leaf agoseris or mountain dandelion (Agoseris retorsa), rockcress (Arabis sparsiflora var. californica).
- Barley Flats Road, 4800': scarlet bugler, pineapple weed.
- SR2, near Charlton Flats entrance, 5400': golden violet.
April 19, Mt. Wilson Toll Road High 70s; clear and calm, 3" rain previous 2 days; plants not repeated when seen higher up.
- Pinecrest Gate to Horse Trail: black mustard, white nightshade, moth mullein (Verbascum blattaria, single plant), freeway daisy, tree tobacco, red-stem filaree, gray-leaved everlasting, telegraph weed, lupine sp., wild oats, California poppy, wild sweet pea, deerweed, evening primrose, peppergrass, crab grass, stinging lupine, truncated (or collar) lupine, dodder on deerweed, rattlesnake weed, fountain grass, Spanish broom, honey locust, cliff-aster, sugar bush, windmill pink, live-forever, bedstraw (Galium aparine), Indian paintbrush.
- Horse Trail to Mile 2 Marker: blue dicks, black sage, mountain mahogany, sunflower (Helianthus annuus), castor bean, popcorn flower, dove lupine, scrub oak, wild Canterbury bells, common eucrypta, common groundsel.
- Mile 2 Marker to Henninger Flats Station: poison oak, two-color-leaved everlasting, rose clover, subpinnate lotus, lupine sp. (light lavender flower with white spot, in whorls, silky gray-green leaves, bushy, growing out of hillside, no odor), lupine sp. (blue flower with yellow spot, spaced more or less singly along stem, green leaves, bushy, also growing out of hillside, no odor).
- Henninger Flats Station to Idlehour Trailhead: green-leaved everlasting (Gnaphalium californicum), chaparral (purple) nightshade (Solanum xanti), chaparral whitethorn, Bermuda buttercup, yellow sorrel (Oxalis corniculata), mule fat, horehound, chickweed, miner's lettuce, baby blue eyes, chaparral currant, California bay tree, hillside gooseberry.
April 11, Mt. Wilson Trail High temperature was 84° F along the trail; conditions were warm and sunny.
- Trailhead to First Switchback at fenced-off Old Trail: alyssum, hairy ceanothus, wild cucumber, poison oak, a single very small manzanita, everlasting, a single white sweet pea, dodder, whitethorn ceanothus, a single pink lupine, mustard, filaree, California four o'clock (wishbone bush), sugar bush, blue dicks, rattlesnake weed, poppy, a single 8' shrub with sweet smelling yellow flowers along stem with roundish leaf with central vein along leaf.
- First Switchback to First Water: hoaryleaf ceanothus, baby blue eyes, little white belly flower, small yellow flower like that of sow thistle, bay leaf tree, chickweed, miner's lettuce, a single lotus (1" high two flowers).
- First Water to Orchard Camp: eupatory, purple nightshade, tree tobacco, chaparral currant, fuchsia-flowered gooseberry.
- First Water Trail: a single wallflower in full bloom, extensive displays of eupatory, white nightshade.
April 10, Eaton Canyon Trail Beginning where the horse trail takes off from the near end of the parking lot to the bridge. No irrigated areas. Plants approximately in order from wash to bridge. Not repeated when seen again. All right next to the trail.
- Nature Center to Bridge: Bermuda buttercup, sweet alyssum, mule fat, gray-leaved everlasting, henbit, red-stem filaree, California poppy, white nightshade, chickweed, wild cucumber, golden currant, telegraph weed, black mustard, green everlasting (Gnaphalium californicum), miniature suncups aka small-flowered evening primrose (Camissonia micrantha), peppergrass aka Virginia pepperweed, western bitter-cress, tansy mustard, tree tobacco, deerweed, suncups (Camissonia bistorta is much larger than C. micrantha; has almost stemless flower about 3/4 to 1 inch across), red maids, white popcorn flower (Cryptantha muricata), poison oak, subpinnate lotus (single, tiny, yellow pea flower, Lotus subpinnatus now called wrangelianus), oriental mustard, rattlesnake weed aka mat spurge, petty spurge, stinging lupine (single plant), castor bean, arroyo willow, prickly sow thistle, scale-broom, collar lupine aka truncated-leaf lupine (single plant), golden yarrow, purple nightshade, rose clover, eupatory.
- Meadow Trail: Additional species found on the meadow trail: California croton, tansy-leaf phacelia, dwarf nettle, shepherd's purse.
April 7, Angeles Crest Highway High temperature at Chilao 76° F, it felt warmer; sky was milky and smoggy, high inversion.
- SR2, Gould Mesa to first turnout, 2080': Bermuda buttercup (single plant), hoaryleaf ceanothus, mountain mahogany, mule fat, red-stem filaree, Southern California black walnut, tree tobacco.
- SR2, first turnout to MM 30.16, 2800': bigleaf maple, black mustard (very short plants this year), gray-leaf everlasting, hairy ceanothus, hoaryleaf ceanothus, Indian paintbrush, hill lotus (Lotus humistratus, single, tiny yellow flower; flat spreading, very small; single plant), lupine (Lupinus excubitus, strong, sweet smell; single plant), miner's lettuce, tree poppy, white sweet clover (single plant), white sweet pea, wild cucumber, wild oats.
- SR2, MM 30.16 to George's Gap, 3640': bigleaf maple, eupatory, gray-leaf everlasting, hairy ceanothus, hoaryleaf ceanothus, some Spanish broom on the edge of the road, tree poppy, white sweet pea.
- SR2, George's Gap to Ladybug Canyon (the S curve), 4200': bigberry manzanita, California sycamore, bright orange dodder on the yerba santa (different species of dodder live on different plants), eupatory, Indian paintbrush, mountain mahogany, tree poppy.
- SR2, Ladybug Canyon to Red Box, 4666': mountain mahogany only.
- At Red Box, 4666': California bay tree, Fremont cottonwood, red-stem filaree.
- SR2, Red Box to Shortcut Saddle, 4880': bigberry manzanita, bur clover (single plant), California bay tree, purple nightshade (single plant), tumble mustard (single plant).
- Charlton / Chilao Recreation Area, 5300': willow only.
- Santa Clara Divide Road, 3N17, Three Points to Alder Saddle, 5900': nothing.
- SR2 beyond Chilao: not even willow, except for one at Cloudburst Summit, 7018'.
- At Islip Saddle, 6660': a manzanita with tiny, dense clusters of pink-tipped white flowers and sepals with a dark pink dot, green, pointed leaves that are the same on both sides, and sprawling stems (also at the Buckhorn Peak Trailhead, 6920').
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Copyright © 2000 by Jane Strong and Tom Chester.
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Comments and feedback: Jane Strong | Tom Chester
Updated 7 September 2000.