A common question for rangers at Joshua Tree National Park is when will the wildflowers bloom this year? The answer is: NOW!  Remember, to maximize your enjoyment of desert wildflowers, visit a variety of sites at different elevations to get the most from seasonal progression. Stop by a park visitor center for field guides and flower books. Rangers are happy to assist with blooming locations ands identification. Don’t forget to pack the binoculars! Colorful blooms attract butterflies and birds!

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

WILDFLOWERS AND FLOWERING SHRUBS

MARCH 16, 2009

It’s mid-March and we are seeing a great variety of wildflowers in Joshua Tree National Park.

Flowering has been occurring mostly at lower elevations, as in the Pinto Basin along the main Park

road toward Cottonwood where pink Hairy Sand Verbena, white Pincushions, numerous small white

For-get-me-nots, and yellow Desert Sunflowers can be seen. Continuing further south toward

Cottonwood and down to the south entrance, Arizona Lupines, Parish’s Golden Poppy, Desert

Dandelion, Desert Star, Bigelow’s Purple Mimulus, Purple Mat, Chia, Notched-leafed Phacelia,

Heliotrope Phacelia, Sand Blazing Star, and many other species are also in bloom and carpets of

wildflowers are forming. Recently wildflowers have begun blooming along the 29 Palms north

entrance road. Joshua trees in Queen Valley, as well as in the nearby community of Yucca Valley

and up in Black Rock Campground, have come into bloom. Mojave Yuccas are also being seen with

flower stalks. Numerous buds are now showing on Beavertail and Calico Cactus. The following are

wildflowers and shrubs that have been and may be seen blooming. Scientific names being used are

those currently used in the Jepson Manual. Locations: PB=Pinto Basin, CW=Cottonwood,,

SB=South boundary, QV=Queen Valley, LHV=Lost Horse Valley, IC=Indian Cove, WC=Wilson

Canyon, BR=Black Rock, CF=Covington Flats, NEB=Northeast Boundary NE=North Entrance,

PH=Panorama Hts., 49P=49 Palms, WE=West entrance, NW = Northwest Mountains.

RED FLOWERS (INCLUDING PINK & RED-ORANGE)

Arizona lupine, Lupinus arizonicus CW, SB, PB

Chuparosa, Justicia (Beleperone) californica CW, SB, PB

Desert Calico, Loeseliastrum mathewsii PB, CW, IC

Desert Five-spot, Eremalche rotundifolia CW, SB

Desert Heron’s-bill, Erodium texanum, CW, SB

Desert Mallow, Sphaeralcea ambigua PB, CW, SB

Desert Mimulus (Purple monkeyflower), Mimulus biglovii CW, SB

Filaree/Heron's Bill, Erodium cicutarium, (Eurasian native) CW, PB, SB, IC, NE

Hairy Sand Verbena, Abronia villosa PB, NEB

Ocotillo, Fouquieria splendens PB, CW, SB

Purple Mat, Nama demissum CW, SB, IC

Spanish Needle, Palafoxia arida (linearis) PB, CW, SB

Wire lettuce (Brown plume wire lettuce), Stephanomeria pauciflora CW

BLUE FLOWERS

Chia, Salvia columbariae CW, SB, NE, IC

Canterbury Bells, Phacelia campanularia CW , SB, 49P

Desert Lavender, Hyptis emoryi PB,

Desert Rue, Thamnosma montana, NE, PB

Heliotrope Phacelia, Phacelia distans CW, PB, SB, IC, 49P

Indigo bush, Psorothamnus schottii CW

Lilac Sunbonnet, Langloisia setosissima punctata, PB

Miniature Wool Star, Eriastrum diffusum CW

Mojave Aster, Xylorhiza tortifolia CW, PB, WC, 49P

Mojave Lupine, Lupinus sparsiflorus CW , SB

Notched-leaf Phacelia, Phacelia crenulata PB, CW, IC, 49P

Paperbag Bush, Salazaria mexicana CW, IC

Parry’s Dalea, Marina parryi PB, WC

WHITE FLOWERS

Brown-eyed Primrose, Camissonia claviformes PB, CW, SB, IC, NE

California Buckwheat, Eriogonum fasciculatum CW, PB

Cheesebush, Hymenoclea salsola CW, SB

Climbing Milkweed, Sarcostemma cynanchoides SB, PB

Combseeds, Pectocarya species, including P. recurvata, SB, IC, PB , CW , NE

Desert Alyssum, Lepidium fremontii CW, IC, PB

Desert Chicory, Rafinesquia neomexicana, CW, SB, PB, IC, 49P , NE

Desert Star, Monoptilon bellioides CW, PB, SB, 49P, IC, NE

Desert Tobacco, Nicotiana obtusifolia CW, SB, PB

Dune primrose, Oenothera deltoides PB, NEB

Emory’s Rock Daisy, Perityle emoryi, PB, CW

Joshua tree, Yucca brevifolia, QV, LHV, BR

Mojave Yucca, Yucca shidigera SB , NE, WC, PB

Forget-me-nots, (Cat’s-eye) Crypthanta species)Including: C. maritima, C. angustifolia,

C. barbigera , C. pterocarya CW, SB, PB, NE, IC

Fremont’s Pincushion, Chaenactus fremontii SB, PB, CW, NE

Narrow-leaf suncup, Camissonia refracta CW, SB

Parachute Plant , Atrichoseris platyphylla CW, SB

Pebble Pincushion Chaenactis carphoclinia SB, CW, PB

Sand Blazing Star, Mentzelia involucrata CW, PB, SB , WC, 49P

Sand Fringepod, Thysanocarpus curvipes CW, PB , IC

Steve’s Pincushion, Chaenactis stevioides CW, SB

White Fiesta Flower, Pholistoma membranaceum CW

White Mallow, Eremalche exilis PB

Woody Bottle-washer, (Oenothera decorticans) Camisonnia boothii condensata SB, CW, IC

YELLOW FLOWERS

Bladder Pod, Isomeris arborea IC, NE, WC, CW, SB,

Brittlebush, Encelia farinosa SB, WC, CW

California Camissonia, Camissonia californica, SB, PB, NE

Checker Fiddleneck, Amsinckia tessellata CW, PB, IC, NE

Coreopsis, (Potentially Bigelow’s or California, minute difference), NE, WC, IC

Creosote Bush, Larrea tridentata, SB

Desert Dandelion, Malacothrix californica (glabrata) SB, PB, CW, NE, IC, 49P

Desert Fir/Pygmy Cedar, Peucephyllum schottii SB

Desert Rock Pea, Lotus rigida CW, SB, PB

Desert Senna, Senna armata PB, CW

Desert Sunflower, Geraea canescens, PB

Ghost Flower, Mohavea confertiflora CW, SB, PB

Golden Gilia, Linanthus aureus CW

Ground Cherry, Physalis rassifolia, SB, PB

Large Yellow Desert Primrose, Oenothera primiveris, NEB

Lax Flower, Baileya pauciradiata NEB

Menzies’ Fiddleneck, Amsinckia menziesii, CW, SB

Mustards, Brassica sp. (exotics incl. B. tournfortia) PB, CW, NEB

Parish’s Gold Poppy, Eschscholzia parishii CW, SB,

Prince’s Plume, Stanleya pinnata CW

San Felipe Dysodia, Adenophyllum porophylloides CW

Scale Bud, Anisocoma acaulis NE, IC

Sweetbush, Bebbia juncea CW, SB

Tansy Mustard, Descurainia pinnata CW, IC, SB, NE

Thomas’ Buckwheat, Eriogonum thomasii CW

Trixis, Trixis californica, SB, CW, PB

Viguiera, Viguiera parishii CW, PB, NE, IC

Whispering Bells, Emmenanthe penduliflora CW, SB, PB, 49P, IC

Wooly Daisy, Eriophyllum wallacei CW, IC, NE

Yellowheads, trichoptilium incisum CW, WC

Yellow Suncups Camissonia brevipes CW, SB, PB, 49P, WC

Yellow Tackstem, Calycoseris parryi, CW, 49P

SPRING 2009 WILDFLOWER SEASON