Flora of Red Butte Wash / Carey's Wash / Hayfield Area, Joshua Tree National Park

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Introduction
Location
Fieldwork Results
Procedure For Compiling The Checklist
Important Caveats
Checklist

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Introduction

This checklist is a start at the flora of the southernmost portion of the Eagle Mountains on the southeast side of Joshua Tree National Park. It was stimulated by a single day's work surveying Red Butte Wash and the neighboring wash to the west during the excellent bloom on 11 February 2008. See Wayne Armstrong's photographs of the beautiful boulders and cacti; Phacelia campanularia; and other wildflowers.

We subsequently returned on 16 February 2008 and worked on some of the species not fully identified earlier, and extended the survey to the main wash to the west, informally known as Carey's Wash.

In addition to our survey, we have compiled vouchers from a larger area surrounding these washes that is centered on the Hayfield area. The area was chosen to include all of the nearby south-facing slopes, and measures five miles north-south and 13 miles east-west.

There is considerable disagreement as to which floristic province is best associated with this area. In the Jepson Manual, as well as a National Park Service site on the Mojave Desert, this area is on the southern edge of the Desert Mountains (DMtns) portion of the Mojave Desert (DMoj) province. In contrast, the Joshua Tree National Park Map, and Turner et al (1995) Sonoran Desert Plants, consider this area part of the Sonoran Desert (DSon).

Although the whole of Joshua Tree National Park is thus fairly clearly a transition zone between the two deserts, our survey results given below show that the study area here is heavily dominated by DSon plants.

See also botanical reports from 11 February 2008 and 16 February 2008.

Location

The following large-scale map shows where the study area is located:

The study area is shown in more detail in the two maps below, one showing the western area and one showing the eastern area:

The green lines in the map below show the route of our detailed survey on 11 February 2008, and the blue lines show the additional area surveyed on 16 February 2008:

Fieldwork Results

We found 76 taxa on 11 February 2008, covering a unique linear distance of 1.25 miles in that survey. We found 20 additional taxa on 16 February 2008, covering an additional 2.1 miles, for a total of 96 taxa.

We made an estimate of the abundance of each taxon in the entire surveyed area, primarily to highlight taxa encountered with few specimens. Our estimate is of the number of individual plants, up to a maximum number of 99, and the number of areas in which we found that taxon, up to a maximum number of 9. The estimates are in the Checklist below.

The locations of the first occurrence of each species are plotted below:

Note that some species have the same location of first occurrence.

This plot shows the usual situation where many taxa are picked up at the starting point at lower right, with successively longer distances required to find new taxa until new habitats are encountered. In our survey, after picking up most of the species in the washes, significant numbers of new species began to be encountered only once we entered the canyons above the washes. Since we only surveyed the very lowermost portions of the canyons, our survey is very incomplete for species that occur in that habitat. But it should be fairly complete for species that grow in the wash habitat.

Analysis of our survey results shows that the study area here is heavily dominated by DSon plants. Of the 96 taxa found from our survey, 84 have been found in other areas of DSon by our previous surveys. Of the 12 taxa new to our surveys, only one, Descurainia pinnata ssp. glabra, has just DMoj in its Jepson Manual geographic range; one, Camissonia claviformis ssp. claviformis, is given as DMoj plus edges; and another one, Phacelia campanularia ssp. vasiformis, is given as DMoj plus n DSon.

The complete list of the 12 taxa new to our surveys is:

Family	Scientific Name	Common Name
Asteraceae	Brickellia incana	woolly brickellia
Boraginaceae	Cryptantha pterocarya	wing-nut cryptantha
Brassicaceae	Descurainia pinnata ssp. glabra	smooth western tansy-mustard
Brassicaceae	Lepidium fremontii var. fremontii	desert pepper-grass
Cactaceae	Escobaria vivipara var. alversonii	spinystar
Euphorbiaceae	Tetracoccus hallii	Hall's purple bush
Hydrophyllaceae	Phacelia campanularia ssp. vasiformis	desert bluebells
Onagraceae	Camissonia brevipes ssp. brevipes	golden sun-cup
Onagraceae	Camissonia claviformis ssp. claviformis	brown-eyed primrose
Onagraceae	Camissonia refracta	narrow-leaf sun-cup
Papaveraceae	Eschscholzia glyptosperma	desert golden poppy
Polygonaceae	Eriogonum thomasii	Thomas' buckwheat

Procedure For Compiling The Checklist

The checklist consists of the taxa found from our two days of fieldwork, augmented by vouchers from the Consortium of California Herbaria obtained from searches on 12 February 2008.

We first searched for vouchers with positions between 33.656 and 33.733° north latitude, and -115.747 and -115.518° east longitude. We augmented those vouchers by searching for vouchers in Riverside County with any of the following words in their locality: Carey, Chiriaco, Hayfield, Lost Palms or Red Butte. The localities of those vouchers were examined to make sure they were from this area, removing ones not clearly from this area. The vouchers were then merged, and duplicate vouchers eliminated.

The voucher search resulted in 304 vouchers of 165 taxa. The following plot shows the locations of the 240 georeferenced vouchers:

Note that many vouchers have the same position, and that some vouchers have georeferenced locations that do not correspond to their localities. For example, the northernmost voucher outside the study area box has a locality of Lost Palms Canyon, which is almost completely contained in the study area box.

We then combined the checklist from our fieldwork with the checklist from the voucher search.

Many vouchers were only determined to the species level alongside some vouchers, or our determinations, to the infraspecific level. In those cases, if there was no other subspecies or variety near this area, we assigned the subspecies or variety to the vouchers determined only to species. If there was a potential for another subspecies or variety to occur here, we did not alter the vouchers determined only to the species level, and the checklist below will contain both the species and an infraspecific taxon.

An example will make this clear. Mimulus bigelovii has two varieties, var. bigelovii and var. cuspidatus. Two vouchers were determined only as Mimulus bigelovii, and three vouchers, as well as a specimen we found in the field, were determined as Mimulus bigelovii var. bigelovii. Since var. cuspidatus is found only well to the north of Joshua Tree National Park, north of the latitude of the southern part of Death Valley, we assigned the two vouchers determined only to species to var. bigelovii.

In contrast, Astragalus nuttallianus has two subspecies that could occur here. One voucher is determined as var. imperfectus (the Jepson Manual says that is only in e DMoj!), and two vouchers are determined only to the species level. Since it is quite possible that var. cedrosensis (DSon) occurs here, those vouchers determined only to the species level were left at the species level. The checklist below thus contains an entry for the species as well as for one variety.

Similarly, if there were vouchers determined only to the species, but there were also vouchers for two or more subspecies or varieties, the species was retained to correctly record the number of vouchers for the species as a whole.

The resulting checklist below contains 200 taxa.

Important Caveats

Please note the following important caveats about this preliminary Checklist:

• We have not looked at any of the vouchers, so we cannot vouch for their determinations. We have checked only the names of the taxa to make sure it was not unreasonable for them to occur here.

• This is a very preliminary first draft Checklist, compiled quickly and without review by other knowledgeable botanists, and so well may contain bonehead errors.

Checklist for Red Butte Wash / Carey's Wash / Hayfield Area

We make the working list available online for two reasons. First, we know others will appreciate having such a list, even if it is preliminary. Second, we hope I will get feedback from others who find errors or omissions in this list.

Note that this area includes four springs: Lost Palms Oasis; Summit Spring; Hayfield Spring; and Hayfield Summit Spring. Most of the moisture-loving species found in those areas will not be found elsewhere in this area.

The Checklist is sorted first by category - ferns, dicots, and monocots - and then by family and scientific name. The JM Family and Scientific Name are from the Jepson Manual. An asterisk before the Common Name indicates a non-native taxon.

Species found in our two surveys have entries in the # Plants/ Areas column. Those numbers are our estimates of the number of individual plants encountered in both surveys, up to a maximum number of 99, and the number of areas in which we found that taxon, up to a maximum number of 9.

The # Vouchers is the total number of vouchers found in the entire study area.

This is a working list, about which we make no guarantees at all. Use at your own risk!

Version for printing, without lines and other text on this page: html (8 pages) or pdf Clickbook booklet (2 double-sided pages). (See printing instructions for an explanation of these options)

#	JM Family	Scientific Name	(*)Common Name	# Plants /Areas	# Vouchers
1	Pteridaceae	Adiantum capillus-veneris	maidenhair fern		1
2	Pteridaceae	Cheilanthes parryi	woolly lipfern	2/2	2
3	Pinaceae	Pinus monophylla	pinyon pine		1
4	Acanthaceae	Justicia californica	chuparosa		3
5	Anacardiaceae	Rhus trilobata	basketbush		1
6	Apiaceae	Cymopterus panamintensis var. acutifolius	Panamint Indian parsnip		5
7	Apocynaceae	Amsonia tomentosa	woolly amsonia		1
8	Asclepiadaceae	Asclepias albicans	white-stemmed milkweed	1/1	1
9	Asclepiadaceae	Sarcostemma hirtellum	rambling milkweed	2/2	1
10	Asteraceae	Adenophyllum porophylloides	San Felipe dogweed	1/1
11	Asteraceae	Ambrosia dumosa	burroweed	10/3	2
12	Asteraceae	Atrichoseris platyphylla	gravel-ghost		1
13	Asteraceae	Baccharis brachyphylla	short-leaved baccharis		1
14	Asteraceae	Bebbia juncea var. aspera	sweetbush	30/9
15	Asteraceae	Brickellia desertorum	desert brickellia		2
16	Asteraceae	Brickellia incana	woolly brickellia	3/1	3
17	Asteraceae	Calycoseris parryi	yellow tackstem		1
18	Asteraceae	Chaenactis carphoclinia var. carphoclinia	pebble pincushion	20/1
19	Asteraceae	Chaenactis fremontii	Fremont pincushion	99/9	1
20	Asteraceae	Encelia farinosa	brittlebush	99/9	2
21	Asteraceae	Eriophyllum wallacei	Wallace's woolly daisy		1
22	Asteraceae	Filago depressa	dwarf filago		2
23	Asteraceae	Hymenoclea salsola	cheesebush	99/9	2
24	Asteraceae	Lepidospartum squamatum	scale-broom		1
25	Asteraceae	Malacothrix coulteri	snake's head		2
26	Asteraceae	Malacothrix glabrata	desert dandelion	99/9
27	Asteraceae	Monoptilon bellioides	desert star	50/9	2
28	Asteraceae	Palafoxia arida var. arida	desert needle	10/5
29	Asteraceae	Perityle emoryi	Emory's rock-daisy	50/9	2
30	Asteraceae	Peucephyllum schottii	pygmy-cedar	20/4
31	Asteraceae	Pleurocoronis pluriseta	arrow-leaf	5/2	2
32	Asteraceae	Rafinesquia neomexicana	desert chicory		1
33	Asteraceae	Senecio flaccidus var. monoensis	Mono ragwort		4
34	Asteraceae	Stephanomeria pauciflora var. pauciflora	wire-lettuce	10/9
35	Asteraceae	Trichoptilium incisum	yellow-head		3
36	Asteraceae	Trixis californica var. californica	California trixis	20/9	2
37	Asteraceae	Viguiera parishii	Parish's viguiera	2/1	1
38	Asteraceae	Xylorhiza tortifolia var. tortifolia	Mojave-aster		1
39	Bignoniaceae	Chilopsis linearis ssp. arcuata	desert-willow		4
40	Boraginaceae	Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia	common fiddleneck	5/1
41	Boraginaceae	Amsinckia tessellata var. tessellata	bristly fiddleneck	30/4	2
42	Boraginaceae	Cryptantha angustifolia	narrow-leaved cryptantha	99/9	2
43	Boraginaceae	Cryptantha barbigera	bearded cryptantha	30/3	1
44	Boraginaceae	Cryptantha dumetorum	bush-loving cryptantha		1
45	Boraginaceae	Cryptantha maritima	Guadalupe cryptantha	1/1	1
46	Boraginaceae	Cryptantha pterocarya	wing-nut cryptantha	10/2
47	Boraginaceae	Cryptantha racemosa	bushy cryptantha		1
48	Boraginaceae	Pectocarya heterocarpa	chuckwalla pectocarya		1
49	Boraginaceae	Pectocarya platycarpa	broad-fruited combseed		1
50	Boraginaceae	Pectocarya recurvata	curvenut combseed	99/9	1
51	Boraginaceae	Tiquilia canescens	shrubby coldenia		1
52	Brassicaceae	Brassica tournefortii	*Asian mustard	10/5	2
53	Brassicaceae	Descurainia pinnata ssp. glabra	smooth western tansy-mustard	10/2	1
54	Brassicaceae	Guillenia lasiophylla	California mustard	1/1	2
55	Brassicaceae	Lepidium fremontii var. fremontii	desert pepper-grass	10/2	3
56	Brassicaceae	Lepidium lasiocarpum var. lasiocarpum	hairy-podded pepper-grass	5/1	5
57	Brassicaceae	Sisymbrium irio	*London rocket	30/9	3
58	Brassicaceae	Thysanocarpus curvipes	fringe-pod	1/1
59	Cactaceae	Echinocereus engelmannii	Engelmann's hedgehog cactus	5/3
60	Cactaceae	Escobaria vivipara var. alversonii	spinystar	3/3
61	Cactaceae	Ferocactus cylindraceus	California barrel cactus	30/9
62	Cactaceae	Opuntia basilaris var. basilaris	beavertail cactus	2/2
63	Cactaceae	Opuntia bigelovii	teddy-bear cholla	50/9
64	Cactaceae	Opuntia echinocarpa	silver cholla	10/9
65	Cactaceae	Opuntia ramosissima	pencil cholla	10/9
66	Campanulaceae	Nemacladus glanduliferus	glandular nemacladus		3
67	Capparaceae	Isomeris arborea	bladderpod	20/5	2
68	Caryophyllaceae	Achyronychia cooperi	frost mat		1
69	Crassulaceae	Dudleya saxosa	Panamint dudleya		1
70	Cucurbitaceae	Brandegea bigelovii	desert star-vine	50/9
71	Euphorbiaceae	Chamaesyce polycarpa	small-seeded spurge	99/9	2
72	Euphorbiaceae	Chamaesyce setiloba	Yuma spurge		2
73	Euphorbiaceae	Ditaxis californica	California ditaxis		2
74	Euphorbiaceae	Ditaxis lanceolata	narrowleaf ditaxis	20/9	2
75	Euphorbiaceae	Ditaxis neomexicana	New Mexico ditaxis		2
76	Euphorbiaceae	Euphorbia eriantha	beetle spurge		3
77	Euphorbiaceae	Stillingia linearifolia	linear-leaved stillingia		1
78	Euphorbiaceae	Tetracoccus hallii	Hall's purple bush	20/5	8
79	Fabaceae	Acacia greggii	catclaw	10/2	2
80	Fabaceae	Astragalus coccineus	scarlet milk-vetch		1
81	Fabaceae	Astragalus insularis var. harwoodii	Harwood's milk-vetch		1
82	Fabaceae	Astragalus nuttallianus	small-flowered milk-vetch		2
83	Fabaceae	Astragalus nuttallianus var. imperfectus	turkey-peas		1
84	Fabaceae	Caesalpinia virgata	narrow hoffmannseggia		1
85	Fabaceae	Cercidium floridum ssp. floridum	blue palo verde	20/9	1
86	Fabaceae	Dalea mollis	silky dalea		1
87	Fabaceae	Dalea mollissima	downy dalea		2
88	Fabaceae	Hoffmannseggia glauca	hog potato		1
89	Fabaceae	Lotus strigosus	strigose lotus	99/9	1
90	Fabaceae	Lupinus arizonicus	Arizona lupine	99/9	4
91	Fabaceae	Lupinus sparsiflorus	Coulter's lupine	1/1
92	Fabaceae	Marina parryi	Parry's marina		5
93	Fabaceae	Olneya tesota	ironwood	40/9
94	Fabaceae	Psorothamnus schottii	indigo bush	1/1	1
95	Fabaceae	Psorothamnus spinosus	smoke tree	2/2	1
96	Fabaceae	Senna armata	spiny senna		1
97	Fagaceae	Quercus turbinella	shrub live oak		1
98	Fouquieriaceae	Fouquieria splendens ssp. splendens	ocotillo	30/4
99	Geraniaceae	Erodium cicutarium	*redstem filaree	99/9	2
100	Geraniaceae	Erodium texanum	Texas filaree		2
101	Hydrophyllaceae	Emmenanthe penduliflora var. penduliflora	whispering bells	30/9	3
102	Hydrophyllaceae	Nama demissum var. demissum	purple mat	20/9	1
103	Hydrophyllaceae	Phacelia campanularia ssp. vasiformis	desert bluebells	99/9
104	Hydrophyllaceae	Phacelia crenulata	heliotrope phacelia		1
105	Hydrophyllaceae	Phacelia crenulata var. ambigua	heliotrope phacelia	2/2
106	Hydrophyllaceae	Phacelia distans	common phacelia	99/9	1
107	Hydrophyllaceae	Phacelia vallis-mortae	Death Valley phacelia		1
108	Hydrophyllaceae	Pholistoma membranaceum	white fiesta flower	20/1
109	Krameriaceae	Krameria erecta	Pima rhatany		1
110	Krameriaceae	Krameria grayi	white rhatany		1
111	Lamiaceae	Hyptis emoryi	desert-lavender	50/9
112	Lamiaceae	Salazaria mexicana	Mexican bladder sage		1
113	Lamiaceae	Salvia columbariae	chia	99/9	5
114	Lamiaceae	Salvia mohavensis	Mojave sage		2
115	Loasaceae	Mentzelia affinis	yellow blazing star	30/9
116	Loasaceae	Mentzelia involucrata	bracted blazing star	40/9	2
117	Loasaceae	Mentzelia jonesii	Jones' blazing star		2
118	Loasaceae	Petalonyx thurberi ssp. thurberi	Thurber's sandpaper-plant	1/1	1
119	Malvaceae	Eremalche exilis	white mallow		2
120	Malvaceae	Eremalche rotundifolia	desert five-spot		1
121	Malvaceae	Hibiscus denudatus	rock hibiscus	2/1	1
122	Malvaceae	Sphaeralcea ambigua var. ambigua	apricot mallow	5/4
123	Malvaceae	Sphaeralcea angustifolia	copper globemallow		2
124	Malvaceae	Sphaeralcea emoryi var. emoryi	Emory's globemallow		3
125	Martyniaceae	Proboscidea althaeifolia	desert unicorn-plant		1
126	Nyctaginaceae	Allionia incarnata	trailing four o'clock		1
127	Nyctaginaceae	Boerhavia coccinea	scarlet spiderling		1
128	Nyctaginaceae	Boerhavia coulteri	Coulter's spiderling	50/9
129	Nyctaginaceae	Boerhavia triquetra	slender spiderling		1
130	Nyctaginaceae	Boerhavia wrightii	Wright's spiderling		1
131	Nyctaginaceae	Mirabilis bigelovii var. retrorsa	wishbone plant	3/3
132	Onagraceae	Camissonia boothii	Booth's sun cup		4
133	Onagraceae	Camissonia boothii ssp. condensata	Booth's desert primrose		1
134	Onagraceae	Camissonia brevipes ssp. brevipes	golden sun-cup	10/5	2
135	Onagraceae	Camissonia cardiophylla	heartleaf sun-cup		1
136	Onagraceae	Camissonia claviformis	brown-eyed primrose		2
137	Onagraceae	Camissonia claviformis ssp. claviformis	brown-eyed primrose	99/9	1
138	Onagraceae	Camissonia pallida	pale-yellow sun-cup		2
139	Onagraceae	Camissonia refracta	narrow-leaf sun-cup	50/9	2
140	Onagraceae	Epilobium canum ssp. latifolium	mountain California-fuchsia		1
141	Onagraceae	Oenothera primiveris	yellow desert evening-primrose		2
142	Papaveraceae	Argemone corymbosa	leafy prickly-poppy		1
143	Papaveraceae	Argemone munita	prickly poppy		1
144	Papaveraceae	Eschscholzia californica	California poppy		1
145	Papaveraceae	Eschscholzia glyptosperma	desert golden poppy	50/9	1
146	Papaveraceae	Eschscholzia minutiflora ssp. minutiflora	small-flowered poppy	2/2
147	Papaveraceae	Eschscholzia parishii	Parish's poppy	99/9	3
148	Plantaginaceae	Plantago ovata	desert plantain		2
149	Polemoniaceae	Gilia scopulorum	rock gilia		1
150	Polemoniaceae	Gilia stellata	star gilia	20/9	4
151	Polemoniaceae	Linanthus jonesii	Jones' linanthus		2
152	Polemoniaceae	Loeseliastrum schottii	Schott's calico		2
153	Polygonaceae	Chorizanthe brevicornu var. brevicornu	brittle spineflower	40/9	3
154	Polygonaceae	Chorizanthe rigida	devil's spineflower		1
155	Polygonaceae	Eriogonum deflexum	flat-topped buckwheat		2
156	Polygonaceae	Eriogonum reniforme	kidney-leaf buckwheat	99/9	1
157	Polygonaceae	Eriogonum thomasii	Thomas' buckwheat	99/9	2
158	Polygonaceae	Eriogonum trichopes	little desert buckwheat		1
159	Polygonaceae	Pterostegia drymarioides	threadstem		1
160	Resedaceae	Oligomeris linifolia	narrowleaf oligomeris		1
161	Rhamnaceae	Rhamnus ilicifolia	hollyleaf redberry		3
162	Rhamnaceae	Ziziphus obtusifolia var. canescens	graythorn		2
163	Rhamnaceae	Ziziphus parryi var. parryi	lotebush		1
164	Rosaceae	Cercocarpus betuloides	birch-leaf mountain-mahogany		2
165	Rosaceae	Prunus fasciculata	desert almond		1
166	Rubiaceae	Galium stellatum var. eremicum	star-flowered bedstraw		2
167	Salicaceae	Salix exigua	narrowleaf willow		2
168	Salicaceae	Salix laevigata	red willow		2
169	Scrophulariaceae	Antirrhinum filipes	desert twining snapdragon	3/3
170	Scrophulariaceae	Mimulus bigelovii var. bigelovii	Bigelow's monkeyflower	1/1	5
171	Scrophulariaceae	Mohavea confertiflora	ghost flower	5/5
172	Scrophulariaceae	Penstemon eatonii	Eaton's penstemon		1
173	Simaroubaceae	Castela emoryi	crucifixion thorn		6
174	Simmondsiaceae	Simmondsia chinensis	jojoba	3/3	2
175	Solanaceae	Lycium andersonii	Anderson's desert-thorn	5/1	5
176	Solanaceae	Nicotiana obtusifolia	desert tobacco	2/2	1
177	Solanaceae	Physalis crassifolia	thick-leaved ground cherry	30/9	4
178	Tamaricaceae	Tamarix ramosissima	*saltcedar		1
179	Viscaceae	Phoradendron californicum	desert mistletoe	5/4	4
180	Zygophyllaceae	Fagonia laevis	California fagonia	2/2	2
181	Zygophyllaceae	Kallstroemia californica	California caltrop		1
182	Zygophyllaceae	Larrea tridentata	creosote bush	50/9
183	Zygophyllaceae	Tribulus terrestris	*puncture-vine		1
184	Juncaceae	Juncus acutus ssp. leopoldii	spiny rush		2
185	Juncaceae	Juncus xiphioides	iris-leaved rush		1
186	Liliaceae	Nolina bigelovii	Bigelow's nolina		4
187	Liliaceae	Nolina parryi	Parry's nolina		1
188	Orchidaceae	Epipactis gigantea	stream orchid		1
189	Poaceae	Aristida adscensionis	six-weeks three-awn	10/1
190	Poaceae	Aristida purpurea	purple three-awn	1/1
191	Poaceae	Aristida purpurea var. nealleyi	Nealley three-awn		1
192	Poaceae	Aristida purpurea var. parishii	Parish three-awn		1
193	Poaceae	Aristida purpurea var. purpurea	purple three-awn		1
194	Poaceae	Bothriochloa barbinodis	cane bluestem		1
195	Poaceae	Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens	*red brome	10/1	2
196	Poaceae	Hordeum murinum	*foxtail barley		2
197	Poaceae	Melica frutescens	tall melica		1
198	Poaceae	Pleuraphis rigida	big galleta	5/3
199	Poaceae	Schismus barbatus	*Mediterranean schismus	99/9	4
200	Poaceae	Tridens muticus	slim tridens		1

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