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 Date Visit # # 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.
Mile S # id? Common Name Scientific 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 - 1 white fir Abies concolor 99 0.00 - 2 curl-leaf mountain-mahogany Cercocarpus ledifolius 70 0.00 - 3 San Bernardino rubber rabbitbrush Ericameria nauseosa var. bernardina 99 0.00 - 4 Parish's bedstraw Galium parishii 99 0.00 - 5 mountain spray Holodiscus discolor var. microphyllus 25 0.00 - 6 San Jacinto Mts. keckiella Keckiella rothrockii var. jacintensis 99 0.00 - 7 Grinnell's beardtongue Penstemon grinnellii var. grinnellii 99 0.00 - 8 San Gabriel beardtongue Penstemon labrosus 1 0.00 - 9 little-leaf mock orange Philadelphus microphyllus 99 0.00 - 10 Jeffrey pine Pinus jeffreyi 5 0.00 - 11 sugar pine Pinus lambertiana 99 0.00 - 12 canyon live oak Quercus chrysolepis 99 Plants are now in trail order 0.17 l 13 goldenrod Solidago velutina ssp. californica 50 0.18 r 14 mountain California-fuchsia Epilobium canum ssp. latifolium 70 0.19 l Sign in distance: “Boundary state game refuge”. This area has the densest concentration of Philadelphus at SnJt. 0.20 l 15 bush chinquapin Chrysolepis sempervirens 5 0.20 r 16 Parish's campion Silene parishii 8 0.20 l 17 wide-leaved rock goldenbush Ericameria cuneata var. spathulata 70 0.22 l 18 short-flowered monardella Monardella nana 99 0.22 r 19 Martin's paintbrush Castilleja applegatei ssp. martinii 10 0.25 Elevation 8000 feet (2440 m) 0.26 r 20 mountain rock-cress Boechera retrofracta X 1 The following three species are at the cliff to the right of the trail: 0.27 r 21 San Jacinto prickly phlox Linanthus jaegeri 35 0.27 r 22 western columbine Aquilegia formosa 2 0.27 r 23 Watson's spike-moss Selaginella watsonii 10 0.28 r 24 granite prickly phlox Linanthus pungens 10 0.32 Now on ridge; view of tram tower. 0.32 r 25 beaked penstemon Penstemon rostriflorus 20 0.32 26 fir mistletoe Phoradendron bolleanum 99 0.34 Trail 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) 0.34 r 27 San Jacinto buckwheat Eriogonum apiculatum 8 0.37 r 28 shaggy-haired alumroot Heuchera hirsutissima 50 The following species is off-trail to the left: 0.41 l 29 San Jacinto lupine Lupinus hyacinthinus 99 0.46 r 30 Parish's needlegrass Stipa parishii var. parishii 50 0.51 r 31 pink-bracted manzanita Arctostaphylos pringlei ssp. drupacea 30 0.52 r 32 snow-plant Sarcodes sanguinea 1 0.58 r 33 wax currant Ribes cereum var. cereum 2 0.64 End somewhat level stretch; elevation 7600 feet (2315 m) 0.70 r 34 Wright's buckwheat Eriogonum wrightii var. membranaceum 99 0.71 b 35 bristly bird's beak Cordylanthus rigidus ssp. setiger 99 0.71 r 36 squirreltail Elymus elymoides 15 0.73 Trail turns left 90° and parallels ridge 0.74 r 37 thick-leaved yerba santa Eriodictyon crassifolium var. nigrescens 25 0.74 r 38 white catch-fly Silene verecunda 1 0.75 r 39 ~ rush blue grass Poa secunda ssp. juncifolia 20 0.76 r 40 desert Parry manzanita Arctostaphylos parryana ssp. desertica 99 0.76 l 41 Coulter pine Pinus coulteri 50 0.79 r 42 chaparral yucca Hesperoyucca whipplei 20 0.79 43 San Jacinto Mtns. bedstraw Galium angustifolium ssp. jacinticum 50 0.82 Pine forest is petering out here 0.82 r 44 Parry's nolina Nolina parryi 10 0.83 l 45 bluish spike-moss Selaginella asprella 1 0.88 l 46 *downy brome Bromus tectorum 20 0.88 l 47 beady lipfern Cheilanthes covillei 40 0.88 b 48 mountain whitethorn Ceanothus cordulatus 2 0.89 Elevation 7200 feet (2195 m); dense patch of pines below 0.89 l 49 California brickellbush Brickellia californica 1 0.90 r 50 cupped-leaf ceanothus Ceanothus perplexans 30 0.96 51 slender everlasting Pseudognaphalium thermale 3 0.98 r 52 white sage Salvia apiana 1 0.98 53 birch-leaf mountain-mahogany Cercocarpus betuloides var. betuloides 70 1.01 r 54 southern honeysuckle Lonicera subspicata var. denudata 2 1.02 r 55 Parish's goldenbush Ericameria parishii var. parishii 3 1.03 r 56 ashy silk tassel Garrya flavescens 1 1.09 b 57 incense-cedar Calocedrus decurrens 10 1.10 58 leafy daisy Erigeron foliosus var. foliosus 20 1.15 Last Pinus coulteri just below this location 1.18 59 red shanks Adenostoma sparsifolium 6 1.22 60 oak mistletoe Phoradendron serotinum ssp. tomentosum 2 1.22 End 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.