BACKBONE TREK
LIST OF BLOOMING WILDFLOWERS IDENTIFIED
In the spring, the Santa Monica Mountains turns into a virtual garden of wildflowers. Visitors are often delightfully surprised at the diversity of the flora in the mountains. On the Backbone Trek, we usually count 140 to 150 species of wildflowers on the trail. For those hikers with more than a casual in interest in the wildflowers, we recommend the following guide: Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains, by Milt McAuley, 2nd Edition, 1996, Canyon Publishing Company. This book will be available for sale at the Backbone Trek at a discounted price of $10.00.
The following list of the wildflowers sighted in bloom during the Backbone Trek 2009 is typical of the species to be seen on the hike. Some years are better than others (think rain and fire). By default the list is sorted by the order the flower was first encountered on the trek. You may also sort by common name, scientific name, or the section of trail where it was first seen by selecting the option and choosing any of the column headers.
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| Date | Name | status | Native? | Genus & Species | Trail |
| Day 5 | Annual Bedstraw | Native | Y | Galium aparine | Piuma Ridge Trail |
| Day 1 | Birdfoot Trefoil | Invasive | N | Lotus corniculatus | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
| Day 1 | Black Mustard | Invasive | N | Brassica nigra | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Black Sage | Native | Y | Salvia mellifera | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Bladderpod | Native | Y | Isomeris arborea | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 6 | Blow-wives | Native | Y | Achillea mollis | Hondo Canyon Trail |
| Day 1 | Blue Dicks | Native | Y | Dichelostemma capitatum | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Blue Eyed Grass | Native | Y | Sisyrinchium bellum | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Blue Larkspur | Native | Y | Delphinium parryi | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 6 | Bristly Ox-Tongue | Invasive | N | Picris echioides | Hondo Canyon Trail |
| Day 5 | Bull Thistle | Invasive | N | Cirsium vulgare | Piuma Ridge Trail |
| Day 3 | Bur-Chervil | Invasive | N | Anthriscus caucalis | Trancas Canyon |
| Day 1 | Bush Lupine | Native | Y | Lupinus albifrons | Overlook Trail |
| Day 1 | Bush Mallow | Native | Y | Malacothamnus fasciculatus | Overlook Trail |
| Day 1 | Bush Sunflower | Native | Y | Encelia californica | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | California Black Walnut | Native | Y | Juglans californica | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 3 | California Blackberry | Native | Y | Rubus ursinus | Trancas Canyon |
| Day 1 | California Buckwheat | Native | Y | Eriogonum fasciculatum | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 6 | California Buttercup | Native | Y | Ranunculus californicus | Hondo Canyon Trail |
| Day 1 | California Everlasting | Native | Y | Gnaphalium californicum | Overlook Trail |
| Day 3 | California Poppy | Native | Y | Eschscholzia californica | Zuma Ridge Motorway |
| Day 3 | California Thistle | Native | Y | Cirsium occidentale var californium | Newton Canyon Trail |
| Day 1 | California Wild Rose | Native | Y | Rosa californica | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
| Day 1 | Canyon Sunflower | Native | Y | Venegasia carpesioides | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
| Day 3 | Canyon Sweet Pea | Native | Y | Lathyrus vestitus | Trancas Canyon |
| Day 7 | Castor Bean | Invasive | N | Ricinus communis | Rogers Road Trail |
| Day 1 | Catalina Mariposa Lily | Native | Y | Calochortus catalinae | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Caterpillar Phacelia | Native | Y | Phacelia cicutaria | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Chamise | Native | Y | Adenostoma fasciculatum | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 7 | Chaparral Broomrape | Native | Y | Orobanche bulbosa | Topanga Rogers Road |
| Day 3 | Chaparral Honeysuckle | Native | Y | Lonicera subspicata | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
| Day 2 | Chaparral Pea | Native | Y | Pickeringia montana | Chamberlain Trail |
| Day 3 | Checker Bloom | Native | Y | Sidalcea malviflora | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
| Day 1 | Cheeseweed | Invasive | N | Malva parviflora | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 1 | Chinese Houses | Native | Y | Collinsia heterophylla | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 3 | Chocolate lily | Native | Y | Fritillaria biflora | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
| Day 1 | Cliff-Aster | Native | Y | Malacothrix saxatilis | Overlook Trail |
| Day 3 | Coast Figwort | Native | Y | Scrophularia californica | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
| Day 2 | Cobweb Thistle | Native | Y | Cirsium occidentale | Chamberlain Trail |
| Day 4 | Coffeeberry | Native | Y | Rhamnus californica | Mesa Peak Motorway |
| Day 1 | Collarless California Poppy | Native | Y | Eschscholzia caespitosa | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Common Fiddleneck | Native | Y | Amsinckia intermedia | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 1 | Common Groundsel | Invasive | N | Senecio vulgaris | Overlook Trail |
| Day 3 | Common Vervain | Native | Y | Verbena lasiostachys | Trancas Canyon |
| Day 1 | Coulter's Lupine | Native | Y | Lupinus sparsiflorus | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 3 | Creek Monkey Flower | Native | Y | Mimulus guttatus | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
| Day 2 | Crimson Pitcher Sage | Native | Y | Salvia spathacea | Boney Trail |
| Day 1 | Curly Dock | Invasive | N | Rumex crispus | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 1 | Deerweed | Native | Y | Acmispon glaber | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 3 | Dove Lupine | Native | Y | Lupinus bicolor | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
| Day 1 | Elderberry | Native | Y | Sambucus nigra caerulea | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Elegant Clarkia | Native | Y | Clarkia unguiculata | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 4 | English Plantain | Invasive | N | Plantago lanceolata | Mesa Peak Motorway |
| Day 1 | Eucrypta | Native | Y | Eucrypta chrysanthemifolia | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
| Day 3 | Fairy Lantern Globe Lily | Native | Y | Calochortus albus | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
| Day 2 | Feltleaf Everlasting | Native | Y | Gnaphalium canescens | Blue Canyon |
| Day 1 | Fiesta Flower | Native | Y | Pholistoma auritum | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 3 | Foothill Penstemon | Native | Y | Penstemon heterophyllus | Trancas Canyon |
| Day 3 | Fuchsia-Flowered Gooseberry | Native | Y | Ribes speciosum | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
| Day 3 | Globe Gilia | Native | Y | Gilia capitata | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
| Day 1 | Golden Stars | Native | Y | Bloomeria crocea | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
| Day 1 | Golden Yarrow | Native | Y | Eriophyllum lanatum var.arachn. | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Goldfields | Native | Y | Lasthenia coronaria | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 3 | Greenbark Ceanothus | Native | Y | Ceanothus spinosus | Trancas Canyon |
| Day 6 | Gum Plant | Native | Y | Grindelia camporum var. bracteosum | Dead Horse Trail |
| Day 2 | Heart-Leaved Penstemon | Native | Y | Keckiella cordifolia | Boney Trail |
| Day 2 | Hedge Mustard | Invasive | N | Sisymbrium officinale | Chamberlain Trail |
| Day 6 | Hedypnois | Invasive | N | Hedypnois cretica | Musch Trail |
| Day 1 | Hollyleaf Cherry | Native | Y | Prunus ilicifolia | Overlook Trail |
| Day 1 | Horehound | Invasive | N | Marrubium vulgare | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Indian Paintbrush | Native | Y | Castilleja affins | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Indian Pink | Native | Y | Silene laciniata | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Italian Thistle | Invasive | N | Carduus pycnocephalus | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 6 | Kern Brodiaea | Native | Y | Brodiaea terrestris | Hondo Canyon Trail |
| Day 2 | Lance-Leaf Live-Forever | Native | Y | Dudleya lanceolata | Sandstone Peak Trail |
| Day 4 | Large-Flowered Lotus | Native | Y | Lotus grandiflorus | Mesa Peak Motorway |
| Day 2 | Large-Flowered Phacelia | Native | Y | Phacelia grandiflora | Boney Trail |
| Day 6 | Long-Beaked Filaree | Invasive | N | Erodium botrys | Hondo Canyon Trail |
| Day 3 | Meadow Rue | Native | Y | Thalictrum fendleri | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
| Day 5 | Milk Thistle | Invasive | N | Silybum marianum | Piuma Ridge Trail |
| Day 2 | Miner's Lettuce | Native | Y | Claytonia perfoliata | Chamberlain Trail |
| Day 2 | Minute Popcorn Flower | Native | Y | Cryptantha micromeres | Chamberlain Trail |
| Day 3 | Mountain Dandilion | Native | Y | Agoseris grandiflora | Trancas Canyon |
| Day 3 | Mountain Mahogany | Native | Y | Cercocarpus betuloides | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
| Day 1 | Mule Fat | Native | Y | Baccharis salicifolia | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 1 | Mustard Evening Primrose | Native | Y | Camissonia californica | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Narrow-leaved Bedstraw | Native | Y | Galium angustifolium | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 6 | Oyster Plant | Invasive | N | Tragopogon porrifolius | Hondo Canyon Trail |
| Day 1 | Parry's Phacelia | Native | Y | Phacelia parryi | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 2 | Peninsular Onion | Native | Y | Allium peninsulare | Chamberlain Trail |
| Day 5 | Periwinkle | Invasive | N | Vinca major | Piuma Ridge Trail |
| Day 1 | Pineapple Weed | Invasive | N | Chamomilla suaveolens | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 2 | Pitcher Sage | Native | Y | Lepechinia fragrans | Chamberlain Trail |
| Day 2 | Poison Oak | Native | Y | Toxicodendron diversilobum | Boney Trail |
| Day 1 | Prickly Phlox | Native | Y | Linanthus californicus.htm | Overlook Trail |
| Day 1 | Purple Clarkia | Native | Y | Clarkia purpurea | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 1 | Purple Nightshade | Native | Y | Solanum xanti | Overlook Trail |
| Day 2 | Purple Owl's Clover | Native | Y | Castilleja exserta | Chamberlain Trail |
| Day 1 | Purple Sage | Native | Y | Salvia leucophylla | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 3 | Red-Skinned Onion | Native | Y | Allium haematochiton | Sandstone Peak Trail |
| Day 1 | Red-Stem Filaree | Invasive | N | Erodium cicutarium | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Rigid Hedge Nettle | Native | Y | Stachys bullata | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 6 | Rock-Rose | Invasive | N | Helianthemum scoparium | Hondo Canyon Trail |
| Day 4 | Rose Snapdragon | Native | Y | Antirrhinum multiflorum | Upper Solstice Caynon Trail |
| Day 7 | Russian Thistle | Invasive | N | Salsola tragus | Will Rogers Park; Rogers Road Trail |
| Day 4 | Scarlet Bugler | Native | Y | Penstemon centranthifolius | Upper Solstice Caynon Trail |
| Day 3 | Scarlet Pimpernel | Invasive | N | Anagallis arvensis | Sandstone Peak Trail |
| Day 2 | Shiny Lomatium | Native | Y | Lomatium lucidum | Chamberlain Trail |
| Day 5 | Showy Penstemon | Native | Y | Penstemon spectabilis | Piuma Ridge Trail |
| Day 4 | Silver Lotus | Native | Y | Lotus argophyllus | Mesa Peak Motorway |
| Day 1 | Silver Puffs | Native | Y | Uropappus lindleyi | Overlook Trail |
| Day 2 | Skullcap | Native | Y | Scutellaria tuberosa | Chamberlain Trail |
| Day 3 | Slender Sunflower | Native | Y | Helianthus gracilentus | Trancas Canyon |
| Day 1 | Slender Tarweed | Native | Y | Deinandra fasciculata | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Slim Aster | Native | Y | Aster subulatus | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
| Day 4 | Small Evening Primrose | Native | Y | Camissonia micrantha | Upper Solstice Caynon Trail |
| Day 2 | Southern Tauschia | Native | Y | Tauschia arguta | Chamberlain Trail |
| Day 3 | Spanish Broom | Invasive | N | Spartium junceum | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
| Day 4 | Spanish Clover | Native | Y | Lotus purshianus | Mesa Peak Motorway |
| Day 2 | Speckled Clarkia | Native | Y | Clarkia cylindrica | Boney Trail |
| Day 5 | Spring Vetch | Invasive | N | Vicia sativa | Piuma Ridge Trail |
| Day 1 | Squaw Spurge | Native | Y | Chamaesyce melanadenia | Overlook Trail |
| Day 3 | Sticky Cinquefoil | Native | Y | Potentilla glandulosa | Trancas Canyon |
| Day 2 | Sticky Madia | Native | Y | Madia gracilis | Boney Trail |
| Day 1 | Sticky Monkey Flower | Native | Y | Mimulus aurantiacus | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 3 | Sticky Phacelia | Native | Y | Phacelia viscida | Newton Canyon Trail |
| Day 1 | Stinging Lupine | Native | Y | Lupinus hirsutissimus | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 3 | Sugar Bush | Native | Y | Rhus ovata | Trancas Canyon |
| Day 4 | Telegraph Weed | Native | Y | Heterotheca grandiflora | Mesa Peak Motorway |
| Day 6 | Tomcat Clover | Native | Y | Trifolium willdenovii | Hondo Canyon Trail |
| Day 3 | Toyon | Native | Y | Heteromeles arbutifolia | Trancas Canyon |
| Day 4 | Tree Poppy | Native | Y | Dendromecon rigida | Latigo Canyon Trail |
| Day 1 | Tree Tobacco | Invasive | N | Nicotiana glauca | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 1 | Turkish Rugging | Native | Y | Chorizanthe staticoides | Overlook Trail |
| Day 1 | Two-tone Everlasting | Native | Y | Gnaphalium bicolor | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
| Day 7 | Violet Snapdragon | Native | Y | Antirrhinum nuttallianum | Topanga Rogers Road |
| Day 1 | Virgin's Bower | Native | Y | Clematis lasiantha | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 2 | Western Virgin's Bower | Native | Y | Clematis ligusticifolia | Blue Canyon |
| Day 3 | Whispering Bells | Native | Y | Emmenanthe penduliflora | Trancas Canyon |
| Day 1 | White Pincushion | Native | Y | Chaenactis artemisiifolia | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 7 | White Snapdragon | Native | Y | Antirrhinum coulterianum | Topanga SP Musch Trail |
| Day 1 | White Yarrow | Native | Y | Achillea millefolium | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Wild Morning Glory | Native | Y | Calystegia macrostegia ssp cyclostegia | Ray Miller Trail |
| Day 1 | Wild Radish | Invasive | N | Raphanus sativus | Big Sycamore Canyon |
| Day 2 | Windmill Pink | Invasive | N | Silene gallica | Chamberlain Trail |
| Day 1 | Wishbone Bush | Native | Y | Mirabilis californica | Overlook Trail |
| Day 3 | Woodland Star | Native | Y | Lithophragma affine | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
| Day 4 | Woolly Aster | Native | Y | Corethrogyne filaginifolia | Mesa Peak Motorway |
| Day 1 | Woolly Blue Curls | Native | Y | Trichostema lanatum | Overlook Trail |
| Day 3 | Woolly Lomatium | Native | Y | Lomatium dasycarpum | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
| Day 1 | Yellow Mariposa Lily | Native | Y | Calochortus clavatus | Overlook Trail |
| Day 1 | Yellow Monkey Flower | Native | Y | Mimulus brevipes | Overlook Trail |
| Day 2 | Yellow Pincushion | Native | Y | Chaenactis glabriuscula | Sandstone Peak Trail |
| Day 1 | Yellow Star Thistle | Invasive | N | Centaurea melitensis | Overlook Trail |
| Day 1 | Yellow Sweet Clover | Invasive | N | Melilotus indica | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
| Day 4 | Yerba Santa | Native | Y | Eriodictyon crassifolium | Mesa Peak Motorway |
| Day 1 | Yucca | Native | Y | Hesperoyucca whipplei | Ray Miller Trail |
* Sequence column denotes the order and day the plant was first encountered on the Trek.
Milt McAuley's 1996 edition of Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains was the primary reference.
We listed only those plants that were blooming and left out the plants that we could not identify. Comparing the list with previous years, we can see several more flowers that we must have overlooked on 2009's trek.