Flora of Coyote Mountain Area

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Introduction
Checklist

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Introduction

This checklist is a start at a flora of the Coyote Mountain Area, immediately north of Borrego Springs. It consists of the species found on two plant trail guides that have been worked on for a total of six field days, plus voucher records from a number of different people.

See also Flora of Southeast Coyote Mountain Area.

The area covered by this flora is shown in the following map, along with surrounding locations:

The outlined square includes four San Diego County Plant Atlas Grid Cells: D24 (upper left quadrant), D25 (upper right quadrant), E24 (lower left quadrant), and E25 (lower right quadrant). Those squares completely cover Coyote Mountain except for a small portion of Coyote Mountain to the east of E25.

Because many of the vouchers for this area come from the Plant Atlas, it is simplest to define the area covered by this flora as those four grid cells, plus the small portions of Coyote Mountain and Clark Valley that are west of Rockhouse Canyon Road outside those grid cells.

The total area so defined is about 38 square miles, composed of roughly the following areas:

Feature	Area (square miles)	% of Total
Coyote Mountain	20.5	54%
Agriculture / Urban	8.0	21%
Coyote Wash	5.5	14%
Clark Valley	3.0	8%
Galleta Meadows Area	1.0	3%
Total	38.0	100%

The vouchers came from a search on 22 December 2007 of the Consortium of California Herbaria, and a search of the San Diego Plant Atlas and Herbarium records on 22 and 24 December 2007.

The Consortium records were searched for San Diego County specimens that contained the word coyote in the locality. Records for the following locations were removed: Los Coyotes Indian Reservation; Coyote Mountains near Ocotillo; Coyote Wells near Mountain Springs Grade; Coyote Holes in the Little San Bernardino Mountains; and locations in Coyote Creek west of the study area, identified either by coordinates or a location of Coyote Canyon. This resulted in 237 records.

Grid cells D24, D25, E24 and E25 were retrieved from the San Diego Plant Atlas and the San Diego Herbarium database, resulting in 407 records.

These two datasets were then combined. San Diego records also present in the Consortium database were identified by collector and collection numbers and removed, leaving the Consortium version since the Consortium records have more locality information. The final voucher database consisted of 472 vouchers, 237 from the Consortium records and 235 from the Plant Atlas / SD Herbarium records. (Note the huge recent increase in the total number of vouchers in this area due to the San Diego Plant Atlas Project!)

The dominant collectors in the final voucher database were Bill Sullivan, 169 vouchers; Frank Gander, 73 vouchers; and Robin Halford, 63 vouchers.

There were 197 total unique taxa from 468 of those 472 vouchers; the other four were not determined to species. None of the 197 taxa resulted from San Diego Plant Atlas vouchers not yet verified by Jon Rebman. 33 of those 197 taxa were not listed in 1985 Duffie Clemons Borrego Springs Floristic Area Checklist.

Combining just the Alcoholic Pass and Coyote Creek Wash plant trail guides yields 129 taxa. 94 of those taxa are vouchered in the collection above; an additional 30 of those taxa are vouchered in the 1985 Duffie Clemons Borrego Springs Floristic Area Checklist. Only five of the 129 taxa are not vouchered in either data set. I have vouchered one of those five taxa, but not yet turned it in.

The union of the vouchers and the plant trail guides gives the 231 taxa listed below, consisting of 198 native and 33 non-native taxa.

The effective size of this area for comparisons to the number of native taxa found elsewhere is 30 square miles, after excluding the area destroyed for agriculture / urban uses. An area of this size in most of southern California would have roughly 375 native taxa, but desert regions have somewhat fewer taxa.

The Granite Mountains in eastern San Bernardino County has 460 native taxa in an area of 107 square miles, about 85% of the number of taxa expected from an area in the CA-FP. Using that same factor of 0.85, one would expect 315 native taxa in this flora, about 60% more than is listed below. That is probably an upper limit to the number of taxa expected here, since there is not as much habitat variation in the Coyote Mountain Area as in many areas.

Interestingly, the diversity here is comparable to that of San Clemente Island, which has 233 native taxa in 57 square miles.

There is no doubt that the checklist below is incomplete. Just two plant trail surveys yielded a 17% increase in the number of native taxa over the number of taxa derived just from vouchers. It would not be unreasonable to expect that full coverage of this area would increase the number of native taxa by another 30% or so.

Checklist for Coyote Mountain Area

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

The first two columns after the Common Name indicate whether a taxon is present in the Alcoholic Pass and Coyote Creek Wash plant trail guides.

The column # Vouchers gives the number of vouchers found in this area, as detailed above.

The final column, Clemons 1985, indicates whether a taxon was present in Floristic Area #16, the extended Borrego Springs area, in Duffie Clemons' 1985 Checklist of Vascular Plants of the Anza-Borrego Desert.

See also Flora of Southeast Coyote Mountain Area.

#	Family	Scientific Name	(*)Common Name	Alco. Pass	Coyo. Wash	# Vouchers	Clemons 1985
1	Acanthaceae	Justicia californica	chuparosa			2	X
2	Amaranthaceae	Amaranthus albus	*tumble pigweed		X
3	Amaranthaceae	Amaranthus blitoides	mat amaranth			2
4	Amaranthaceae	Tidestromia oblongifolia	Arizona honeysweet		X		X
5	Asclepiadaceae	Asclepias subulata	ajamete			3	X
6	Asclepiadaceae	Sarcostemma cynanchoides ssp. hartwegii	climbing milkweed		X		X
7	Asteraceae	Ambrosia acanthicarpa	bur-ragweed		X
8	Asteraceae	Ambrosia dumosa	burroweed	X	X	3	X
9	Asteraceae	Baccharis salicifolia	mule fat			3	X
10	Asteraceae	Baileya pauciradiata	Colorado Desert marigold		X	4	X
11	Asteraceae	Bebbia juncea var. aspera	sweetbush	X	X	1	X
12	Asteraceae	Calycoseris parryi	yellow tackstem			1
13	Asteraceae	Carthamus tinctorius	*safflower			2
14	Asteraceae	Chaenactis artemisiifolia	meally white pincushion			1	X
15	Asteraceae	Chaenactis carphoclinia var. carphoclinia	pebble pincushion		X	1	X
16	Asteraceae	Chaenactis fremontii	Fremont pincushion		X	4	X
17	Asteraceae	Chaenactis stevioides	desert pincushion		X	2	X
18	Asteraceae	Chrysothamnus paniculatus	punctate rabbitbrush			1	X
19	Asteraceae	Conyza bonariensis	*little horseweed			2
20	Asteraceae	Conyza canadensis	horseweed			1
21	Asteraceae	Dicoria canescens	desert dicoria		X	6	X
22	Asteraceae	Encelia farinosa	brittlebush	X	X	6	X
23	Asteraceae	Encelia frutescens	button encelia		X		X
24	Asteraceae	Filago californica	California filago			1	X
25	Asteraceae	Geraea canescens	hairy desert-sunflower		X	6	X
26	Asteraceae	Gnaphalium luteo-album	*common cudweed			2
27	Asteraceae	Helianthus niveus ssp. canescens	gray desert sunflower		X	3	X
28	Asteraceae	Heterotheca grandiflora	telegraph weed			2
29	Asteraceae	Hymenoclea salsola var. salsola	cheesebush	X	X	3	X
30	Asteraceae	Isocoma acradenia var. eremophila	solitary-leaved alkali goldenbush			1	X
31	Asteraceae	Lactuca serriola	*prickly lettuce			2	X
32	Asteraceae	Malacothrix glabrata	desert dandelion		X	7	X
33	Asteraceae	Monoptilon bellioides	desert star		X	3	X
34	Asteraceae	Palafoxia arida var. arida	desert needle		X	5	X
35	Asteraceae	Pectis papposa var. papposa	chinch-weed			2	X
36	Asteraceae	Perityle emoryi	Emory's rock-daisy		X	7	X
37	Asteraceae	Peucephyllum schottii	desert pine		X		X
38	Asteraceae	Pluchea sericea	arrow-weed	X		2	X
39	Asteraceae	Rafinesquia neomexicana	desert chicory		X	5	X
40	Asteraceae	Senecio mohavensis	Mojave ragwort		X	3	X
41	Asteraceae	Sonchus oleraceus	*sow thistle			3
42	Asteraceae	Stephanomeria exigua ssp. exigua	slender wreathplant			2
43	Asteraceae	Stephanomeria pauciflora var. pauciflora	wire-lettuce	X		2	X
44	Asteraceae	Trichoptilium incisum	yellow-head			1	X
45	Asteraceae	Trixis californica var. californica	California trixis			2	X
46	Asteraceae	Uropappus lindleyi	silver puffs			1
47	Asteraceae	Viguiera parishii	Parish's viguiera			1	X
48	Bignoniaceae	Chilopsis linearis ssp. arcuata	desert-willow			1	X
49	Boraginaceae	Amsinckia menziesii var. intermedia	common fiddleneck			1	X
50	Boraginaceae	Cryptantha angustifolia	narrow-leaved cryptantha		X	7	X
51	Boraginaceae	Cryptantha costata	ribbed cryptantha		X	1	X
52	Boraginaceae	Cryptantha ganderi	Gander's cryptantha		X	4	X
53	Boraginaceae	Cryptantha holoptera	winged cryptantha			1	X
54	Boraginaceae	Cryptantha maritima	Guadalupe cryptantha			3	X
55	Boraginaceae	Cryptantha micrantha	purple-root cryptantha			4	X
56	Boraginaceae	Cryptantha pterocarya	wing-nut cryptantha			1	X
57	Boraginaceae	Cryptantha racemosa	bushy cryptantha			1	X
58	Boraginaceae	Heliotropium curassavicum	seaside heliotrope			2	X
59	Boraginaceae	Pectocarya heterocarpa	chuckwalla pectocarya		X	1	X
60	Boraginaceae	Pectocarya platycarpa	broad-fruited combseed			3	X
61	Boraginaceae	Pectocarya recurvata	curvenut combseed			2	X
62	Boraginaceae	Tiquilia palmeri	Palmer's coldenia	X	X	1	X
63	Boraginaceae	Tiquilia plicata	plicate coldenia		X	2	X
64	Brassicaceae	Brassica napus	*rapeseed			1
65	Brassicaceae	Brassica tournefortii	*Asian mustard		X	5	X
66	Brassicaceae	Caulanthus cooperi	Cooper's jewel-flower			1
67	Brassicaceae	Descurainia pinnata ssp. glabra	smooth western tansy-mustard			1	X
68	Brassicaceae	Dithyrea californica	spectacle-pod		X	5	X
69	Brassicaceae	Draba cuneifolia	wedge-leaved draba			1	X
70	Brassicaceae	Guillenia lasiophylla	California mustard			2	X
71	Brassicaceae	Hirschfeldia incana	*shortpod mustard			1
72	Brassicaceae	Lepidium lasiocarpum var. lasiocarpum	hairy-podded pepper-grass		X	6	X
73	Brassicaceae	Lobularia maritima	*sweet alyssum			1	X
74	Brassicaceae	Sinapis arvensis	*charlock			1
75	Brassicaceae	Sisymbrium irio	*London rocket		X	4	X
76	Brassicaceae	Streptanthella longirostris	longbeak streptanthella		X	1	X
77	Brassicaceae	Thysanocarpus curvipes	fringe-pod			1	X
78
79	Cactaceae	Echinocereus engelmannii	Engelmann's hedgehog cactus			1	X
80	Cactaceae	Ferocactus cylindraceus	California barrel cactus	X		1	X
81	Cactaceae	Mammillaria dioica	fish-hook cactus			3	X
82	Cactaceae	Opuntia basilaris var. basilaris	beavertail cactus	X	X	1	X
83	Cactaceae	Opuntia bigelovii	teddy-bear cholla	X	X	1	X
84	Cactaceae	Opuntia echinocarpa	silver cholla			1	X
85	Cactaceae	Opuntia ganderi	Gander's cholla	X	X	2	X
86	Cactaceae	Opuntia ramosissima	pencil cholla	X			X
87	Campanulaceae	Nemacladus glanduliferus var. glanduliferus	glandular nemacladus		X		X
88	Capparaceae	Isomeris arborea	bladderpod			1	X
89	Caryophyllaceae	Achyronychia cooperi	frost mat		X	4	X
90	Chenopodiaceae	Atriplex canescens ssp. canescens	four-wing saltbush		X		X
91	Chenopodiaceae	Atriplex hymenelytra	desert holly			2	X
92	Chenopodiaceae	Atriplex polycarpa	cattle saltbush		X		X
93	Chenopodiaceae	Chenopodium murale	*nettle-leaved goosefoot			3	X
94	Chenopodiaceae	Chenopodium pratericola	meadow goosefoot			1
95	Chenopodiaceae	Monolepis nuttalliana	Nuttall's poverty weed			1	X
96	Chenopodiaceae	Salsola paulsenii	*Paulsen's Russian thistle			3
97	Chenopodiaceae	Salsola tragus	*Russian thistle		X		X
98	Crassulaceae	Crassula connata	pygmy-weed		X		X
99	Cucurbitaceae	Cucurbita palmata	coyote melon			2	X
100	Cuscutaceae	Cuscuta californica var. papillosa	papillate dodder			1	X
101	Euphorbiaceae	Chamaesyce micromera	Sonoran spurge		X		X
102	Euphorbiaceae	Chamaesyce polycarpa	small-seeded spurge		X	2	X
103	Euphorbiaceae	Chamaesyce setiloba	Yuma spurge			1	X
104	Euphorbiaceae	Croton californicus	California croton		X	5	X
105	Euphorbiaceae	Ditaxis lanceolata	narrowleaf ditaxis		X	5	X
106	Euphorbiaceae	Euphorbia eriantha	beetle spurge		X		X
107	Euphorbiaceae	Stillingia linearifolia	linear-leaved stillingia			1	X
108	Euphorbiaceae	Stillingia spinulosa	annual stillingia		X		X
109	Fabaceae	Acacia greggii	catclaw	X		1	X
110	Fabaceae	Astragalus didymocarpus var. dispermus	dwarf white milk-vetch		X	5	X
111	Fabaceae	Astragalus lentiginosus var. borreganus	Borrego milk-vetch		X		X
112	Fabaceae	Astragalus palmeri	Palmer's milk-vetch			2	X
113	Fabaceae	Dalea mollis	silky dalea		X	2	X
114	Fabaceae	Dalea mollissima	downy dalea		X		X
115	Fabaceae	Lotus rigidus	desert lotus			1	X
116	Fabaceae	Lotus salsuginosus var. brevivexillus	short-bannered coastal lotus		X		X
117	Fabaceae	Lotus scoparius var. brevialatus	short-winged deerweed			1	X
118	Fabaceae	Lotus strigosus	strigose lotus		X	2	X
119	Fabaceae	Lupinus arizonicus	Arizona lupine		X	8	X
120	Fabaceae	Lupinus concinnus	bajada lupine	X	X		X
121	Fabaceae	Lupinus hirsutissimus	stinging lupine			1
122	Fabaceae	Lupinus microcarpus var. densiflorus	chick lupine			1
123	Fabaceae	Lupinus microcarpus var. microcarpus	chick lupine		X		X
124	Fabaceae	Lupinus sparsiflorus	Coulter's lupine			2	X
125	Fabaceae	Melilotus indicus	*sourclover			3	X
126	Fabaceae	Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana	honey mesquite		X	1	X
127	Fabaceae	Prosopis pubescens	screw-bean mesquite			1	X
128	Fabaceae	Psorothamnus emoryi	Emory's indigo-bush		X	7	X
129	Fabaceae	Psorothamnus schottii	indigo bush	X	X	7	X
130	Fabaceae	Psorothamnus spinosus	smoke tree	X	X	1	X
131	Fouquieriaceae	Fouquieria splendens ssp. splendens	ocotillo	X	X	2	X
132	Geraniaceae	Erodium cicutarium	*redstem filaree	X	X	2	X
133	Geraniaceae	Erodium texanum	Texas filaree			2	X
134	Hydrophyllaceae	Emmenanthe penduliflora var. penduliflora	whispering bells		X	4	X
135	Hydrophyllaceae	Eucrypta chrysanthemifolia var. bipinnatifida	eucrypta			1	X
136	Hydrophyllaceae	Nama demissum var. demissum	purple mat			1	X
137	Hydrophyllaceae	Phacelia brachyloba	short-lobed phacelia			2
138	Hydrophyllaceae	Phacelia crenulata var. minutiflora	little-flowered heliotrope phacelia		X	1	X
139	Hydrophyllaceae	Phacelia distans	common phacelia	X	X	4	X
140	Hydrophyllaceae	Phacelia minor	wild canterbury bells		X	3	X
141	Krameriaceae	Krameria erecta	Pima rhatany			1	X
142	Krameriaceae	Krameria grayi	white rhatany	X		2	X
143	Lamiaceae	Hyptis emoryi	desert lavender	X	X	4	X
144	Lamiaceae	Salvia columbariae	chia	X		2	X
145	Lamiaceae	Salvia vaseyi	Vasey's sage	X		2	X
146	Loasaceae	Mentzelia affinis	yellow blazing star		X	1	X
147	Loasaceae	Mentzelia albicaulis	white-stemmed blazing star		X
148	Loasaceae	Mentzelia involucrata	bracted blazing star		X	1	X
149	Loasaceae	Petalonyx thurberi ssp. thurberi	Thurber's sandpaper-plant		X	3	X
150	Malvaceae	Eremalche exilis	white mallow		X	1	X
151	Malvaceae	Eremalche rotundifolia	desert five-spot		X	2	X
152	Malvaceae	Hibiscus denudatus	rock hibiscus			2	X
153	Malvaceae	Malva parviflora	*cheeseweed		X	1
154	Malvaceae	Sphaeralcea ambigua var. ambigua	apricot mallow	X		2	X
155	Nyctaginaceae	Abronia villosa var. villosa	hairy sand-verbena		X	10	X
156	Nyctaginaceae	Allionia incarnata	trailing four o'clock		X	2	X
157	Nyctaginaceae	Mirabilis bigelovii var. retrorsa	wishbone plant			4	X
158	Onagraceae	Camissonia boothii ssp. condensata	Booth's desert primrose	X	X	3	X
159	Onagraceae	Camissonia californica	California suncup	X	X	5	X
160	Onagraceae	Camissonia cardiophylla ssp. cardiophylla	heartleaf sun-cup		X	2	X
161	Onagraceae	Camissonia chamaenerioides	long-fruit suncup		X		X
162	Onagraceae	Camissonia claviformis ssp. aurantiaca	brown-eyed primrose			1	X
163	Onagraceae	Camissonia claviformis ssp. peirsonii	brown-eyed primrose		X	10	X
164	Onagraceae	Camissonia pallida ssp. pallida	pale sun-cup		X	1	X
165	Onagraceae	Oenothera deltoides ssp. deltoides	dune primrose		X	2	X
166	Orobanchaceae	Orobanche cooperi	Cooper's broom-rape		X	3	X
167	Papaveraceae	Argemone munita	prickly poppy			1	X
168	Papaveraceae	Eschscholzia minutiflora ssp. minutiflora	small-flowered poppy		X	6	X
169	Papaveraceae	Eschscholzia parishii	Parish's poppy		X	2	X
170	Plantaginaceae	Plantago ovata	desert plantain	X	X	4
171	Polemoniaceae	Gilia latifolia	broad-leaf gilia			1	X
172	Polemoniaceae	Gilia scopulorum	rock gilia			1
173	Polemoniaceae	Gilia stellata	star gilia		X	3	X
174	Polemoniaceae	Langloisia setosissima ssp. setosissima	bristly langloisia			2	X
175	Polemoniaceae	Linanthus jonesii	Jones' linanthus			1	X
176	Polemoniaceae	Loeseliastrum matthewsii	desert calico			3	X
177	Polemoniaceae	Loeseliastrum schottii	Schott's calico		X		X
178	Polygonaceae	Chorizanthe brevicornu var. brevicornu	brittle spineflower		X	3	X
179	Polygonaceae	Chorizanthe rigida	devil's spineflower	X	X		X
180	Polygonaceae	Eriogonum inflatum	desert trumpet			1	X
181	Polygonaceae	Eriogonum reniforme	kidney-leaf buckwheat		X		X
182	Polygonaceae	Eriogonum thomasii	Thomas' buckwheat			3	X
183	Polygonaceae	Eriogonum trichopes var. trichopes	little desert buckwheat		X		X
184	Polygonaceae	Pterostegia drymarioides	threadstem		X	1	X
185	Portulacaceae	Calyptridium monandrum	sand cress		X	2	X
186	Rafflesiaceae	Pilostyles thurberi	Thurber's pilostyles			2	X
187	Resedaceae	Oligomeris linifolia	narrowleaf oligomeris			1	X
188	Rubiaceae	Galium stellatum var. eremicum	star-flowered bedstraw			1	X
189	Salicaceae	Salix exigua	narrowleaf willow		X	3	X
190	Scrophulariaceae	Antirrhinum coulterianum	Coulter's snapdragon			1	X
191	Scrophulariaceae	Castilleja minor ssp. spiralis	lesser paintbrush			1	X
192	Scrophulariaceae	Mimulus bigelovii var. bigelovii	Bigelow's monkeyflower			3	X
193	Scrophulariaceae	Mimulus guttatus	common monkeyflower			1
194	Scrophulariaceae	Mohavea confertiflora	ghost flower		X	1	X
195	Scrophulariaceae	Veronica anagallis-aquatica	*water speedwell			2
196	Simmondsiaceae	Simmondsia chinensis	jojoba	X		3	X
197	Solanaceae	Datura discolor	desert thornapple		X	2	X
198	Solanaceae	Datura wrightii	sacred datura		X	1	X
199	Solanaceae	Lycium andersonii	Anderson's desert-thorn			1	X
200	Solanaceae	Lycium brevipes var. brevipes	desert-thorn			2	X
201	Solanaceae	Nicotiana obtusifolia	desert tobacco			4	X
202	Solanaceae	Physalis crassifolia	thick-leaved ground cherry		X	5	X
203	Tamaricaceae	Tamarix aphylla	*athel		X		X
204	Viscaceae	Phoradendron californicum	desert mistletoe			1	X
205	Zygophyllaceae	Fagonia laevis	California fagonia	X	X	4	X
206	Zygophyllaceae	Kallstroemia californica	California caltrop			1
207	Zygophyllaceae	Larrea tridentata	creosote bush	X	X	9	X
208	Zygophyllaceae	Tribulus terrestris	*puncture-vine		X		X
209	Ephedraceae	Ephedra californica	desert tea		X		X
210	Ephedraceae	Ephedra fasciculata var. clokeyi	Clokey's ephedra			1	X
211	Ephedraceae	Ephedra nevadensis	Nevada ephedra	X		1	X
212	Liliaceae	Agave deserti	desert agave			1	X
213	Liliaceae	Hesperocallis undulata	desert lily		X	2	X
214	Poaceae	Aristida adscensionis	six-weeks three-awn		X		X
215	Poaceae	Bouteloua aristidoides var. aristidoides	needle grama		X		X
216	Poaceae	Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens	*red brome		X	1	X
217	Poaceae	Cenchrus echinatus	*southern sandbur		X
218	Poaceae	Cynodon dactylon	*Bermuda grass		X		X
219	Poaceae	Hordeum murinum ssp. glaucum	*foxtail barley		X
220	Poaceae	Leptochloa uninervia	Mexican sprangletop			1
221	Poaceae	Panicum miliaceum	*broom-corn millet			1
222	Poaceae	Pennisetum setaceum	*fountain grass			1	X
223	Poaceae	Phalaris minor	*little-seed canarygrass			1	X
224	Poaceae	Pleuraphis rigida	big galleta	X	X	6	X
225	Poaceae	Polypogon monspeliensis	*rabbits-foot grass			3
226	Poaceae	Schismus arabicus	*Mediterranean grass			1
227	Poaceae	Schismus barbatus	*Mediterranean schismus		X	6
228	Poaceae	Setaria verticillata	*hooked bristlegrass			2
229	Poaceae	Sorghum bicolor	*sorghum			1
230	Typhaceae	Typha domingensis	southern cattail			1
231	Pteridaceae	Cheilanthes parryi	woolly lipfern	X		1	X

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