Flora of Fish Creek Mountains, Imperial County

Fig. 1. The Fish Creek Mountains in southwest Imperial County. The thick blue line shows the route surveyed on 19 December 2014 by the authors. The circled numbers show the number of vouchers at those locations. The small number of other vouchers generally do not have precise positions. Some of the border lines of Anza Borrego Desert State Park are marked by thin blue lines with arrow tips.
Click on the map for a larger version.

This flora is just a start at a flora of the Fish Creek Mountains, since very few locations have been surveyed or vouchered. In fact, as far as we know, there are no surveys or vouchers from anyplace except in the flattish areas at the base of the Mountains.

This flora was compiled from vouchers; from a field survey of the USG Plaster City Quarry by Scott White in June 2005; and from a field survey on 19 December 2014 by the authors.

Vouchers were searched on 20 December 2014 at the Consortium of California Herbaria for Imperial County vouchers with the words Fish Creek in their locality. The localities of all vouchers were reviewed, and ones with localities that were clearly outside the immediate area of the Fish Creek Mountains were tossed. One voucher of Salix orestera from the Fish Creek Mountains at 4500 feet was tossed, since this was likely taken from the Sierra Nevada, where that species lives. Another voucher of Eschscholzia hypecoides is almost certainly a misdetermination of E. parishii, and thus E. hypecoides was rejected from the list.

The resulting accepted voucher list contained 161 vouchers of 71 species. The dominant collectors were:

• Scott D. White (57 vouchers), some with Jennifer H. Jones and some with Michael Honer, on 3 May 2003 and on 19 April 2005; and

• Jon P. Rebman, Joan Dowd and Veronica Gallego on 19-20 April 2000 (47 vouchers).

Scott White also compiled a detailed plant checklist for the USG Plaster City Quarry in June 2005, with information on abundance and habitat of each species. That list contains 98 taxa.

The authors surveyed a 6.0 mile loop on 19 December 2014, of the alcove on the north side of the Fish Creek Mountains, of the area south of mile 4.0 to mile 6.0 on the dirt road that parallels the railroad tracks, where mile 0.0 is at Split Mountain Road. A total of 74 taxa were found.

The union of these three lists contains 149 taxa, after rectification of the combined list by assigning taxa just given to species to the subspecies, if one was given in one list.

In the following checklist, the columns are as follows:

• The column with header #V gives the number of vouchers for each taxon.

• The column with header Qry (for Quary) gives the abundance estimate from the Scott White survey of the USG Plaster City Quarry: u=uncommon or scarce; o=occasional; c= common; x= no estimate made.

• The columns with the header #Pls gives the minimum number of plants for each species observed in on the 19 December 2014 survey.

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See Information about the order in which the species are presented, and the links from the Scientific Name and Common Name.

#	Famil	Scientific Name	(*)Common Name	#V	Qry	#Pls
Ferns
1	Pteri	Cheilanthes parryi	woolly lipfern		u
Gymnosperms
2	Ephed	Ephedra sp. (2 lv'd)	2 lv'd ephedra		o
Eudicots
3	Amara	Amaranthus albus	*tumble pigweed			5
4	Amara	Amaranthus fimbriatus	fringed amaranth			30
5	Amara	Tidestromia suffruticosa var. oblongifolia	Arizona honeysweet	5		5
6	Apocy	Asclepias subulata	rush milkweed	1
7	Apocy	Funastrum hirtellum	rambling milkweed	1	o	2
8	Aster	Ambrosia dumosa	burroweed	3	c	99
9	Aster	Ambrosia salsola var. salsola	cheesebush		c	3
10	Aster	Baccharis brachyphylla	short-leaved baccharis	1
11	Aster	Baileya pauciradiata	Colorado Desert marigold	1		3
12	Aster	Bebbia juncea var. aspera	sweetbush	3	c	30
13	Aster	Calycoseris wrightii	white tackstem	5	x
14	Aster	Chaenactis carphoclinia var. carphoclinia	pebble pincushion		c
15	Aster	Dicoria canescens	desert dicoria		u
16	Aster	Encelia farinosa	brittlebush		c	30
17	Aster	Geraea canescens	hairy desert-sunflower	3	u	1
18	Aster	Gutierrezia californica	California matchweed			4
19	Aster	Malacothrix glabrata	desert dandelion		u
20	Aster	Monoptilon bellioides	desert star		o
21	Aster	Palafoxia arida var. arida	Spanish needle	1	u	10
22	Aster	Pectis papposa var. papposa	chinch-weed			99
23	Aster	Perityle emoryi	Emory's rock-daisy	1	o	5
24	Aster	Peucephyllum schottii	pygmy-cedar		c
25	Aster	Pleurocoronis pluriseta	arrow-leaf	5	u	1
26	Aster	Prenanthella exigua	bright-white	1
27	Aster	Psathyrotes ramosissima	turtleback	1
28	Aster	Rafinesquia neomexicana	desert chicory		o
29	Aster	Senecio mohavensis	Mojave ragwort	2	o
30	Aster	Sonchus oleraceus	*sow thistle	1	x
31	Aster	Stephanomeria pauciflora	wire-lettuce	3	o
32	Aster	Stylocline micropoides	desert nest straw		x
33	Aster	Trichoptilium incisum	yellow-head	1
34	Aster	Xylorhiza orcuttii	Orcutt's woody-aster	1
35	Borag	Cryptantha angustifolia	narrow-leaved cryptantha		c	1
36	Borag	Cryptantha barbigera	bearded cryptantha		o
37	Borag	Cryptantha maritima	Guadalupe cryptantha		c
38	Borag	Cryptantha racemosa	bushy cryptantha	6
39	Borag	Emmenanthe penduliflora var. penduliflora	whispering bells		x
40	Borag	Pectocarya heterocarpa	chuckwalla pectocarya		o
41	Borag	Pectocarya platycarpa	broad-fruited combseed		o
42	Borag	Pectocarya recurvata	curvenut combseed		o
43	Borag	Phacelia crenulata	heliotrope phacelia	1	c
44	Borag	Phacelia distans	common phacelia		o
45	Borag	Tiquilia palmeri	Palmer's coldenia	2	o
46	Borag	Tiquilia plicata	plicate coldenia	1		99
47	Brass	Brassica tournefortii	*Asian mustard		o	5
48	Brass	Caulanthus lasiophyllus	California mustard		o
49	Brass	Draba cuneifolia	wedge-leaved draba	1	x
50	Brass	Lepidium lasiocarpum ssp. lasiocarpum	hairy-podded pepper-grass		c	5
51	Brass	Lyrocarpa coulteri	Coulter's lyrepod	2	u	5
52	Cacta	Cylindropuntia echinocarpa	silver cholla		o	1
53	Cacta	Ferocactus cylindraceus	California barrel cactus		o	10
54	Cacta	Mammillaria tetrancistra	desert fish-hook cactus		u
55	Cacta	Opuntia basilaris var. basilaris	beavertail cactus		o	1
56	Caryo	Achyronychia cooperi	frost mat	1		1
57	Cheno	Atriplex canescens var. canescens (s.l.)	four-wing saltbush			20
58	Cheno	Atriplex hymenelytra	desert holly			20
59	Cheno	Atriplex polycarpa	cattle saltbush			99
60	Cheno	Chenopodium murale	*nettle-leaved goosefoot			1
61	Cheno	Suaeda nigra	bush seepweed	1		99
62	Convo	Cuscuta sp.	dodder		x
63	Cucur	Cucurbita palmata	coyote melon	1	u
64	Eupho	Chamaesyce abramsiana	Abrams' prostrate spurge			99
65	Eupho	Chamaesyce micromera	Sonoran spurge			99
66	Eupho	Chamaesyce polycarpa	small-seeded spurge	4	c	20
67	Eupho	Chamaesyce setiloba	starfish (Yuma) spurge	1
68	Eupho	Croton californicus	California croton	1		20
69	Eupho	Ditaxis lanceolata	narrowleaf ditaxis	7	o	20
70	Eupho	Ditaxis neomexicana	New Mexico ditaxis			5
71	Eupho	Ditaxis serrata var. serrata	Yuma ditaxis			2
72	Eupho	Stillingia spinulosa	annual stillingia	1
73	Fabac	Acmispon strigosus	strigose lotus		o	2
74	Fabac	Dalea mollissima	downy dalea	3	x	1
75	Fabac	Hoffmannseggia microphylla	wand holdback	8	o	10
76	Fabac	Lupinus arizonicus	Arizona lupine	1	o
77	Fabac	Marina parryi	Parry's marina	1
78	Fabac	Parkinsonia florida	blue palo verde		x
79	Fabac	Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana	honey mesquite	2		99
80	Fabac	Psorothamnus emoryi	Emory's indigo-bush	3	u
81	Fabac	Psorothamnus schottii	indigo bush		c
82	Fabac	Psorothamnus spinosus	smoke tree		o	15
83	Fabac	Senegalia greggii	catclaw		c	99
84	Fouqu	Fouquieria splendens ssp. splendens	ocotillo		c
85	Geran	Erodium texanum	Texas filaree			3
86	Krame	Krameria bicolor	white rhatany	2	o
87	Krame	Krameria erecta	Pima rhatany	1
88	Lamia	Hyptis emoryi	desert-lavender	2	c	30
89	Loasa	Mentzelia involucrata	bracted blazing star	3	x
90	Loasa	Petalonyx linearis	narrow-leaf sandpaper-plant		o
91	Malva	Eremalche rotundifolia	desert five-spot		o
92	Malva	Hibiscus denudatus	rock hibiscus		o
93	Malva	Sphaeralcea ambigua var. ambigua	apricot mallow			5
94	Malva	Sphaeralcea ambigua var. rugosa	desert globemallow	3
95	Malva	Sphaeralcea emoryi var. emoryi	Emory's globemallow			99
96	Nycta	Abronia villosa var. villosa	hairy sand-verbena	1		15
97	Nycta	Allionia incarnata var. incarnata	trailing four o'clock			99
98	Nycta	Boerhavia triquetra var. intermedia	fivewing spiderling			1
99	Nycta	Boerhavia wrightii	Wright's spiderling			10
100	Nycta	Mirabilis laevis var. retrorsa	Bigelow's desert four-o'clock		c
101	Nycta	Mirabilis bigelovii	Bigelow's desert four-o'clock	2		3
102	Onagr	Chylismia cardiophylla ssp. cardiophylla	heartleaf suncup	4	o	5
103	Onagr	Chylismia claviformis ssp. peirsonii	brown-eyed primrose	8	o
104	Onagr	Eremothera boothii ssp. condensata	Booth's evening primrose	1	o	99
105	Onagr	Eremothera refracta	narrow-leaf suncup		o
106	Onagr	Eulobus californicus	California suncup		o
107	Onagr	Oenothera deltoides ssp. deltoides	dune primrose			3
108	Papav	Argemone munita	prickly poppy		o	3
109	Papav	Eschscholzia minutiflora ssp. minutiflora	small-flowered poppy	1	u
110	Papav	Eschscholzia parishii	Parish's poppy	2	o
111	Phrym	Mimulus bigelovii var. bigelovii	Bigelow's monkeyflower	1	u
112	Plant	Mohavea confertiflora	ghost flower	3	u
113	Plant	Plantago ovata	desert plantain		o	99
114	Polem	Aliciella latifolia ssp. latifolia	broad-leaf gilia	1	o
115	Polem	Gilia stellata	star gilia	1
116	Polem	Loeseliastrum matthewsii	desert calico	1
117	Polem	Loeseliastrum schottii	Schott's calico	4	o
118	Polyg	Chorizanthe brevicornu var. brevicornu	brittle spineflower		o
119	Polyg	Chorizanthe corrugata	wrinkled spineflower	2	o
120	Polyg	Chorizanthe rigida	devil's spineflower		c
121	Polyg	Eriogonum deflexum var. deflexum	flat-topped buckwheat	1	o
122	Polyg	Eriogonum inflatum	desert trumpet	5	c	15
123	Polyg	Eriogonum thomasii	Thomas' buckwheat	4	o
124	Resed	Oligomeris linifolia	lineleaf whitepuff		o	20
125	Simmo	Simmondsia chinensis	jojoba	1
126	Solan	Datura discolor	desert thornapple	1	u	99
127	Solan	Datura wrightii	sacred datura			20
128	Solan	Lycium andersonii	Anderson's boxthorn	1	u
129	Solan	Lycium fremontii	Fremont's boxthorn			50
130	Solan	Nicotiana obtusifolia	desert tobacco	1	u	3
131	Solan	Physalis crassifolia	thick-leaved ground cherry	5	u	99
132	Tamar	Tamarix ramosissima	*saltcedar	1		20
133	Visca	Phoradendron californicum	desert mistletoe		o	20
134	Zygop	Fagonia laevis	California fagonia		c
135	Zygop	Fagonia pachyacantha	sticky fagonia	2	o
136	Zygop	Kallstroemia californica	California caltrop			99
137	Zygop	Larrea tridentata	creosote bush	2	c	99
138	Zygop	Tribulus terrestris	*puncture-vine			1
Monocots
139	Agava	Agave deserti var. deserti	desert agave		u
140	Poace	Aristida adscensionis	six-weeks three-awn		o	99
141	Poace	Aristida purpurea	purple three-awn		u
142	Poace	Bouteloua aristidoides var. aristidoides	needle grama			99
143	Poace	Bouteloua barbata var. barbata	six-weeks grama			99
144	Poace	Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens	*red brome		u
145	Poace	Dasyochloa pulchella	fluff grass		u	1
146	Poace	Festuca myuros	*rattail fescue		o
147	Poace	Hilaria rigida	big galleta	4	u	5
148	Poace	Muhlenbergia microsperma	littleseed muhly	1
149	Poace	Schismus barbatus	*Mediterranean schismus		o	30

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We thank Hadwig Schneck for assistance with the 19 December 2014 survey.

Voucher data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria (ucjeps.berkeley.edu/consortium/)

Go to:

• Plants of Southern California: Regional Floras