Flora of Red Butte Wash / Carey's Wash / Hayfield Area, Joshua Tree National Park
Introduction
Location
Fieldwork Results
Procedure For Compiling The Checklist
Important Caveats
Checklist
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:
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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#
Vouchers1 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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Copyright © 2008 by Tom Chester, Jane Strong, James Dillane, Wayne Armstrong, Michael Charters, Dave Stith, and Eric Baecht
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Comments and feedback: Tom Chester
Last update: 24 February 2008 (print versions added 13 January 2012)