Plant Guide to Skyline Trail, San Jacinto Mountains

Introduction and Explanation of Plant Trail Guides

Introduction
Highlights of This Trail
Fieldwork Dates and Summary of List Changes With Time
Botanical Trip Reports
The Plant Guide
Comments On Specific Species

Introduction

This flora has been made from just two trips, one on 27 August 2007 by Tom Chester and Dave Stith, and one on 31 August 2012 by Tom Chester, Dave Stith and Tarja Sagar. Both trips covered just the first 1.2 miles of the trail, down to the end of the Pine Belt. No new species were found in a follow-up trip on 12 August 2021 by Tom Chester and Don Rideout.

A wilderness permit is not required for this trail.

Highlights of This Trail

The botanical highlights of this trail are:

Number of Unique Taxa On This Trail

Fieldwork Dates and Summary of List Changes With Time

The following table gives the dates the trail was walked and taxa recorded. After each visit, the table gives the total number of taxa on the list and the breakdown of the taxa without positive identification. See Explanation of Plant Trail Guides to understand the symbols below.

Visit DateVisit ## taxa# "?"# "sp"# "~"# "ssp"

Botanical Trip Reports

The Plant Guide

See also Family Order Flora of this trail and surrounding area.

Version for printing, without lines and other text on this page: html (3 pages) or pdf Clickbook booklet (1 double-sided page). (See printing instructions for an explanation of these options)

See Explanation of Plant Trail Guides for an explanation of the column headers.

MileS#id?Common NameScientific Name#Pls
Begin guide at Grubbs Notch, a saddle at the edge of Long Valley, elevation ~8420 feet (2565 m). The following 12 species are found within 60 feet of the trailhead, in alphabetic order:
0.00-1white firAbies concolor99
0.00-2curl-leaf mountain-mahoganyCercocarpus ledifolius70
0.00-3San Bernardino rubber rabbitbrushEricameria nauseosa var. bernardina99
0.00-4Parish's bedstrawGalium parishii99
0.00-5mountain sprayHolodiscus discolor var. microphyllus25
0.00-6San Jacinto Mts. keckiellaKeckiella rothrockii var. jacintensis99
0.00-7Grinnell's beardtonguePenstemon grinnellii var. grinnellii99
0.00-8San Gabriel beardtonguePenstemon labrosus1
0.00-9little-leaf mock orangePhiladelphus microphyllus99
0.00-10Jeffrey pinePinus jeffreyi5
0.00-11sugar pinePinus lambertiana99
0.00-12canyon live oakQuercus chrysolepis99
Plants are now in trail order
0.17l13goldenrodSolidago velutina ssp. californica50
0.18r14mountain California-fuchsiaEpilobium canum ssp. latifolium70
0.19lSign in distance: “Boundary state game refuge”. This area has the densest concentration of Philadelphus at SnJt.
0.20l15bush chinquapinChrysolepis sempervirens5
0.20r16Parish's campionSilene parishii8
0.20l17wide-leaved rock goldenbushEricameria cuneata var. spathulata70
0.22l18short-flowered monardellaMonardella nana99
0.22r19Martin's paintbrushCastilleja applegatei ssp. martinii10
0.25Elevation 8000 feet (2440 m)
0.26r20mountain rock-cressBoechera retrofracta X1
The following three species are at the cliff to the right of the trail:
0.27r21San Jacinto prickly phloxLinanthus jaegeri35
0.27r22western columbineAquilegia formosa2
0.27r23Watson's spike-mossSelaginella watsonii10
0.28r24granite prickly phloxLinanthus pungens10
0.32Now on ridge; view of tram tower.
0.32r25beaked penstemonPenstemon rostriflorus20
0.3226fir mistletoePhoradendron bolleanum99
0.34Trail turns right and leaves ridge. After a few more tight switchbacks, trail has a somewhat level traverse to the southeast. Elevation 7800 feet (2380 m)
0.34r27San Jacinto buckwheatEriogonum apiculatum8
0.37r28shaggy-haired alumrootHeuchera hirsutissima50
The following species is off-trail to the left:
0.41l29San Jacinto lupineLupinus hyacinthinus99
0.46r30Parish's needlegrassStipa parishii var. parishii50
0.51r31pink-bracted manzanitaArctostaphylos pringlei ssp. drupacea30
0.52r32snow-plantSarcodes sanguinea1
0.58r33wax currantRibes cereum var. cereum2
0.64End somewhat level stretch; elevation 7600 feet (2315 m)
0.70r34Wright's buckwheatEriogonum wrightii var. membranaceum99
0.71b35bristly bird's beakCordylanthus rigidus ssp. setiger99
0.71r36squirreltailElymus elymoides15
0.73Trail turns left 90° and parallels ridge
0.74r37thick-leaved yerba santaEriodictyon crassifolium var. nigrescens25
0.74r38white catch-flySilene verecunda1
0.75r39~rush blue grassPoa secunda ssp. juncifolia20
0.76r40desert Parry manzanitaArctostaphylos parryana ssp. desertica99
0.76l41Coulter pinePinus coulteri50
0.79r42chaparral yuccaHesperoyucca whipplei20
0.7943San Jacinto Mtns. bedstrawGalium angustifolium ssp. jacinticum50
0.82Pine forest is petering out here
0.82r44Parry's nolinaNolina parryi10
0.83l45bluish spike-mossSelaginella asprella1
0.88l46*downy bromeBromus tectorum20
0.88l47beady lipfernCheilanthes covillei40
0.88b48mountain whitethornCeanothus cordulatus2
0.89Elevation 7200 feet (2195 m); dense patch of pines below
0.89l49California brickellbushBrickellia californica1
0.90r50cupped-leaf ceanothusCeanothus perplexans30
0.9651slender everlastingPseudognaphalium thermale3
0.98r52white sageSalvia apiana1
0.9853birch-leaf mountain-mahoganyCercocarpus betuloides var. betuloides70
1.01r54southern honeysuckleLonicera subspicata var. denudata2
1.02r55Parish's goldenbushEricameria parishii var. parishii3
1.03r56ashy silk tasselGarrya flavescens1
1.09b57incense-cedarCalocedrus decurrens10
1.1058leafy daisyErigeron foliosus var. foliosus20
1.15Last Pinus coulteri just below this location
1.1859red shanksAdenostoma sparsifolium6
1.2260oak mistletoePhoradendron serotinum ssp. tomentosum2
1.22End plant trail guide; elevation ~6720 feet (2048 m)

Mile: 0.00 includes all mileages from 0.000 to 0.009; etc.

S: Side of trail on which the first occurrence is found: left, right, both, or center

#: Species are numbered in order of first occurrence on trail.

id?: Species without an entry in this column are positively identified. "?" means we are just guessing the identification; "sp" means the genera is probably known, but the species name is uncertain; "~" means we have 95% confidence that this is the determination, but have not yet positively identified it; "ssp" means the subspecies or variety needs to be determined.

#Pls gives the minimum number of on-trail plants of this species on this trail up to a maximum value of 99

Comments On Specific Species


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Copyright © 2012-2021 by Tom Chester, Dave Stith, and Tarja Sagar.
Permission is freely granted to reproduce any or all of this page as long as credit is given to us at this source:
http://tchester.org/sb/plants/guides/skyline_trail.html
Comments and feedback: Tom Chester
Updated 15 August 2021.