Flora of Torote / Indian Canyons Area, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

This flora was compiled from:

• a voucher search on 16 January 2018;

• five different loops surveyed by Carla Hoegen and Fred Melgert;

• a very brief field survey on 31 March 2013 at the mouth of Indian Canyon by Tom Chester, Kate Harper, Adrienne Ballwey, RT Hawke, and Shaun Hawke;

• a survey of a loop consisting of Lower Torote Canyon and the canyon to the north on 17 January 2018 by Tom Chester, Nancy Accola, Walt Fidler, Jeff Field, and Jim Roberts; and

• a survey of Indian Gorge and the area to the south of the mouth of Indian Canyon on 22 January 2018 by Tom Chester, Walt Fidler, Michael Charters, and James Dillane.

• a survey of the unnamed canyon south of Canebrake, at mile marker 44.6, on 27 February 2019 by Tom Chester, Adrienne Ballwey, Walt Fidler, Kate Harper, and Joe Woods.

• a survey of lower Torote Canyon on 5 March 2019 by Tom Chester, Nancy Accola, Walt Fidler, and Don Rideout.

• a survey of Indian and Torote Canyon, and the mile marker 44.6 area, on 4 and 5 March 2019 by Walt Fidler.

For details on the Carla and Fred surveys, along with many pictures of the plant species here and plant lists that indicate which species were blooming on each of their trips, see:

• Torote Canyon Loop (6.3 unique miles)
• Indian valley - Torote canyon loop (8.4 unique miles that include 2.7 miles of the Torote Canyon Loop)
• Torote Dead Borrego Loop (4.3 unique miles)
• Canebrake South (2.0 unique miles)
• Torote Canyon - Indian Gorge loop (a different combination of some of the above hikes, so no new unique miles)

See:

• Notes on the Scientific Names Used At This Site and
• Information about the links from the Scientific Name and Common Name.

The column with header Famil gives the first five letters of the Family name.

An asterisk before the common name indicates a non-native species.

The column with label BW links to the photo gallery page for each species at Fred Melgert and Carla Hoegen's BorregoWildflowers site.

The column #V gives the number of vouchers in the Torote / Indian Canyons Area, truncated at 9 vouchers.

The column labeled #Pls gives the minimum number of plants seen in the 17 and 22 January 2018 surveys, up to a maximum of 99 plants. The 17 January survey covered 4.0 unique miles and the 22 January survey covered an additional 2.0 unique miles. An FC in this column indicates a species observed by Fred Melgert and Carla Hoegen, where no abundance estimates were made. A TC in this column gives five additional species observed by Tom Chester, Kate Harper, Adrienne Ballwey, RT Hawke, and Shaun Hawke on a brief trip near the mouth of Indian Canyon, where no abundance estimates were made. An x in this column is for the Encelia farinosa variety, which appears to be the only one here.

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#	Famil	Scientific Name Link goes to the Jepson eflora	(*) Common Name Link goes to Calphotos	BW	#V	#Pls
Lycopods
1	Selag	Selaginella eremophila	desert spike-moss	BW		99
Ferns
2	Pteri	Cheilanthes parryi	woolly lipfern	BW	7	99
3	Pteri	Cheilanthes viscida	sticky lipfern	BW	2
4	Pteri	Notholaena californica ssp. californica	California cloak fern	BW	1
Gymnosperms
5	Ephed	Ephedra aspera	Mormon tea	BW	1	99
Eudicots
6	Acant	Justicia californica	chuparosa	BW	7	99
7	Apiac	Apiastrum angustifolium	wild celery	BW	1
8	Apocy	Asclepias albicans	white-stemmed milkweed	BW	2	2
9	Apocy	Asclepias subulata	rush milkweed	BW	1	TC
10	Apocy	Funastrum cynanchoides var. hartwegii	climbing milkweed	BW	1	FC
11	Apocy	Funastrum hirtellum	rambling milkweed	BW	1	63
12	Apocy	Matelea parvifolia	spearleaf	BW		FC
13	Aster	Acamptopappus sphaerocephalus var. sphaerocephalus	goldenhead	BW	1	5
14	Aster	Adenophyllum porophylloides	San Felipe dogweed	BW	2	99
15	Aster	Ambrosia dumosa	burroweed	BW	2	99
16	Aster	Ambrosia salsola var. salsola	cheesebush	BW	4	99
17	Aster	Artemisia ludoviciana ssp. albula	white mugwort	BW	1
18	Aster	Baccharis brachyphylla	short-leaved baccharis	BW		1
19	Aster	Baccharis sergiloides	desert baccharis	BW		FC
20	Aster	Bahiopsis parishii	Parish's goldeneye	BW	4	99
21	Aster	Bebbia juncea var. aspera	sweetbush	BW	4	99
22	Aster	Brickellia atractyloides var. arguta	California spear-leaved brickellia	BW	1
23	Aster	Brickellia desertorum	desert brickellia	BW	1
24	Aster	Chaenactis carphoclinia var. carphoclinia	pebble pincushion	BW	3	99
25	Aster	Chaenactis fremontii	Fremont pincushion	BW	4	99
26	Aster	Chaenactis stevioides	desert pincushion	BW	1	99
27	Aster	Encelia farinosa	brittlebush	BW	3	99
28	Aster	Encelia farinosa var. farinosa	brittlebush	BW		x
29	Aster	Ericameria brachylepis	boundary goldenbush	BW	1	1
30	Aster	Eriophyllum ambiguum var. paleaceum	annual woolly sunflower	BW	3
31	Aster	Eriophyllum pringlei	Pringle's woolly sunflower	BW	3	FC
32	Aster	Eriophyllum wallacei var. intermediate	Wallace's woolly daisy	BW		20
33	Aster	Eriophyllum wallacei var. rubellum	Wallace's woolly daisy	BW		99
34	Aster	Eriophyllum wallacei var. wallacei	Wallace's woolly daisy	BW	4	99
35	Aster	Gutierrezia sarothrae	matchweed	BW	1
36	Aster	Leptosyne californica	California coreopsis	BW	4	8
37	Aster	Logfia arizonica	Arizona herba impia	BW		18
38	Aster	Logfia depressa	dwarf filago	BW		99
39	Aster	Logfia filaginoides	California filago	BW	1	99
40	Aster	Malacothrix glabrata	desert dandelion	BW	3	99
41	Aster	Malacothrix stebbinsii	Stebbins' malacothrix	BW		FC
42	Aster	Monoptilon bellioides	desert star	BW	1	99
43	Aster	Palafoxia arida var. arida	Spanish needle	BW	1	1
44	Aster	Pectis papposa var. papposa	chinch-weed	BW		10
45	Aster	Perityle emoryi	Emory's rock-daisy	BW	2	99
46	Aster	Pleurocoronis pluriseta	arrow-leaf	BW	2	99
47	Aster	Porophyllum gracile	odora	BW		21
48	Aster	Psathyrotes ramosissima	turtleback	BW	1	23
49	Aster	Rafinesquia californica	California chicory	BW	1
50	Aster	Rafinesquia neomexicana	desert chicory	BW	2	99
51	Aster	Senecio mohavensis	Mojave ragwort	BW	2	99
52	Aster	Stephanomeria exigua ssp. exigua	slender wreathplant	BW	2	FC
53	Aster	Stephanomeria pauciflora	wire-lettuce	BW	4	36
54	Aster	Stylocline psilocarphoides	Peck's stylocline		1
55	Aster	Trichoptilium incisum	yellow-head	BW		2
56	Aster	Trixis californica var. californica	California trixis	BW	3	99
57	Aster	Uropappus lindleyi	silver puffs	BW	1
58	Bigno	Chilopsis linearis ssp. arcuata	desert-willow	BW	4	FC
59	Borag	Amsinckia intermedia	common fiddleneck	BW	6	99
60	Borag	Amsinckia tessellata var. tessellata	bristly fiddleneck	BW		9
61	Borag	Cryptantha angustifolia	narrow-leaved cryptantha	BW	5	99
62	Borag	Cryptantha barbigera var. barbigera	bearded cryptantha	BW	8	46
63	Borag	Cryptantha decipiens	gravel cryptantha		2	1
64	Borag	Cryptantha maritima	Guadalupe cryptantha	BW	3	40
65	Borag	Cryptantha micrantha var. micrantha	red-root cryptantha	BW		99
66	Borag	Cryptantha nevadensis var. nevadensis	Nevada cryptantha	BW	2	19
67	Borag	Cryptantha pterocarya var. pterocarya	wing-nut cryptantha	BW		10
68	Borag	Cryptantha utahensis	scented cryptantha	BW	1	99
69	Borag	Emmenanthe penduliflora var. penduliflora	whispering bells	BW	7	99
70	Borag	Eriodictyon trichocalyx var. lanatum	smoothleaf yerba santa	BW	1
71	Borag	Eucrypta chrysanthemifolia var. bipinnatifida	eucrypta	BW	1	99
72	Borag	Eucrypta micrantha	desert eucrypta	BW	1	99
73	Borag	Nama demissa var. demissa	purple mat	BW	4	99
74	Borag	Pectocarya heterocarpa	chuckwalla pectocarya	BW		99
75	Borag	Pectocarya peninsularis	Baja pectocarya	BW		99
76	Borag	Pectocarya platycarpa	broad-fruited combseed	BW		FC
77	Borag	Pectocarya recurvata	curvenut combseed	BW	4	99
78	Borag	Phacelia cicutaria var. hispida	caterpillar phacelia	BW		8
79	Borag	Phacelia crenulata var. minutiflora	little-flowered heliotrope phacelia	BW	1	99
80	Borag	Phacelia cryptantha	limestone phacelia	BW	3
81	Borag	Phacelia distans	common phacelia	BW	4	99
82	Borag	Phacelia minor	wild canterbury bells	BW	2	99
83	Borag	Phacelia pedicellata	pedicellate phacelia	BW	6	99
84	Borag	Pholistoma auritum var. arizonicum	Arizona fiesta flower	BW		36
85	Borag	Pholistoma membranaceum	white fiesta flower	BW	5	34
86	Borag	Plagiobothrys arizonicus	Arizona popcorn flower	BW	1
87	Borag	Plagiobothrys jonesii	Jones' popcorn flower			~FC
88	Borag	Tiquilia plicata	plicate coldenia	BW		99
89	Brass	Boechera perennans	perennial rock-cress	BW	2
90	Brass	Brassica tournefortii	*Sahara mustard	BW	3	99
91	Brass	Caulanthus cooperi	Cooper's jewel-flower	BW		7
92	Brass	Caulanthus lasiophyllus	California mustard	BW		99
93	Brass	Descurainia pinnata	western tansy-mustard	BW	3	99
94	Brass	Dithyrea californica	spectacle-pod	BW		99
95	Brass	Draba cuneifolia	wedge-leaved draba	BW	2	99
96	Brass	Lepidium lasiocarpum ssp. lasiocarpum	hairy-podded pepper-grass	BW	2	99
97	Brass	Lyrocarpa coulteri	Coulter's lyrepod	BW	1	33
98	Brass	Sisymbrium irio	*London rocket	BW		11
99	Brass	Thysanocarpus curvipes ssp. eradiatus	fringe-pod	BW		1
100	Burse	Bursera microphylla	elephant tree	BW	7	99
101	Cacta	Cylindropuntia bigelovii	teddy-bear cholla	BW	3	99
102	Cacta	Cylindropuntia fosbergii	pink teddy-bear cholla	BW		99
103	Cacta	Cylindropuntia ganderi	Gander's cholla	BW	6	99
104	Cacta	Echinocereus engelmannii	Engelmann's hedgehog cactus	BW	6	99
105	Cacta	Ferocactus cylindraceus	California barrel cactus	BW	2	99
106	Cacta	Mammillaria dioica	California fish-hook cactus	BW	1	74
107	Cacta	Mammillaria tetrancistra	desert fish-hook cactus	BW		2
108	Cacta	Opuntia basilaris var. basilaris	beavertail cactus	BW	4	99
109	Campa	Nemacladus glanduliferus	glandular nemacladus	BW	1	5
110	Campa	Nemacladus rubescens	desert nemacladus	BW		1
111	Campa	Nemacladus sigmoideus	small-flowered nemacladus	BW		FC
112	Caryo	Achyronychia cooperi	frost mat	BW		1
113	Caryo	Loeflingia squarrosa	spreading loeflingia	BW		1
114	Cheno	Atriplex hymenelytra	desert holly	BW		2
115	Cheno	Atriplex polycarpa	cattle saltbush	BW		99
116	Cheno	Chenopodium murale	*nettle-leaved goosefoot	BW	1
117	Crass	Crassula connata	pygmy-weed	BW	2	65
118	Crass	Dudleya arizonica	Arizona chalk dudleya	BW		15
119	Cucur	Cucurbita palmata	coyote melon	BW	2	1
120	Cucur	Marah macrocarpa	wild-cucumber	BW	2
121	Eupho	Acalypha californica	California copperleaf	BW	9	99
122	Eupho	Chamaesyce melanadenia	red-gland spurge	BW	4	FC
123	Eupho	Chamaesyce pediculifera	Carrizo Mountain spurge	BW		FC
124	Eupho	Chamaesyce polycarpa	small-seeded spurge	BW	6	99
125	Eupho	Chamaesyce setiloba	starfish (Yuma) spurge	BW		50
126	Eupho	Ditaxis lanceolata	narrowleaf ditaxis	BW	7	99
127	Eupho	Ditaxis neomexicana	New Mexico ditaxis	BW		FC
128	Eupho	Euphorbia eriantha	beetle spurge	BW	1	3
129	Eupho	Stillingia linearifolia	linear-leaved stillingia	BW	3
130	Fabac	Acmispon glaber var. brevialatus	short-winged deerweed	BW	1	FC
131	Fabac	Acmispon haydonii	pygmy lotus	BW	1
132	Fabac	Acmispon maritimus var. brevivexillus	short-bannered coastal lotus	BW	2	99
133	Fabac	Acmispon rigidus	desert lotus	BW	2	21
134	Fabac	Acmispon strigosus	strigose lotus	BW	2	99
135	Fabac	Astragalus didymocarpus var. dispermus	dwarf white milk-vetch	BW	1
136	Fabac	Astragalus nuttallianus var. cedrosensis	Cedros milk-vetch	BW		12
137	Fabac	Dalea mollissima	downy dalea	BW	2
138	Fabac	Lupinus arizonicus	Arizona lupine	BW	2	99
139	Fabac	Lupinus concinnus	bajada lupine	BW		FC
140	Fabac	Lupinus excubitus var. medius	Mountain Springs bush lupine	BW	1
141	Fabac	Lupinus sparsiflorus	Coulter's lupine	BW	1
142	Fabac	Marina parryi	Parry's marina	BW		FC
143	Fabac	Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana	honey mesquite	BW	3	1
144	Fabac	Psorothamnus emoryi	Emory's indigo-bush	BW	1
145	Fabac	Psorothamnus schottii	indigo bush	BW	2	99
146	Fabac	Psorothamnus spinosus	smoke tree	BW	3	75
147	Fabac	Senegalia greggii	catclaw	BW	2	99
148	Fabac	Senna armata	spiny senna	BW	3	91
149	Fabac	Senna covesii	desert senna	BW		FC
150	Fouqu	Fouquieria splendens ssp. splendens	ocotillo	BW	2	99
151	Geran	Erodium cicutarium	*redstem filaree	BW	2	49
152	Krame	Krameria bicolor	white rhatany	BW	1	99
153	Krame	Krameria erecta	Pima rhatany	BW		52
154	Lamia	Hyptis emoryi	desert-lavender	BW	6	99
155	Lamia	Salvia apiana	white sage	BW	2
156	Lamia	Salvia columbariae	chia	BW	3	49
157	Loasa	Eucnide rupestris	rock nettle	BW	1	18
158	Loasa	Mentzelia affinis	yellow blazing star	BW	1
159	Loasa	Mentzelia albicaulis	white-stemmed blazing star	BW	1	99
160	Loasa	Mentzelia hirsutissima	hairy stickleaf	BW	2	58
161	Loasa	Mentzelia involucrata	bracted blazing star	BW	1	8
162	Loasa	Petalonyx thurberi ssp. thurberi	Thurber's sandpaper-plant	BW	2	26
163	Malva	Ayenia compacta	ayenia	BW		FC
164	Malva	Eremalche rotundifolia	desert five-spot	BW	1	TC
165	Malva	Hibiscus denudatus	rock hibiscus	BW		79
166	Malva	Horsfordia newberryi	Newberry's velvet mallow	BW	4	7
167	Malva	Sphaeralcea ambigua var. ambigua	apricot mallow	BW	1	20
168	Monti	Calyptridium monandrum	sand cress	BW	2	99
169	Nycta	Abronia villosa var. villosa	hairy sand-verbena	BW		2
170	Nycta	Allionia incarnata var. incarnata	small-flowered trailing four o'clock	BW		2
171	Nycta	Boerhavia wrightii	Wright's spiderling	BW		1
172	Nycta	Mirabilis laevis var. retrorsa	Bigelow's desert four-o'clock	BW	1	34
173	Nycta	Mirabilis tenuiloba	slender-lobed four o'clock	BW	1	99
174	Oleac	Menodora scabra var. glabrescens	broom twinberry	BW	1	FC?
175	Onagr	Camissoniopsis pallida ssp. pallida	pale suncup	BW		99
176	Onagr	Chylismia cardiophylla ssp. cardiophylla	heartleaf suncup	BW	2	20
177	Onagr	Chylismia claviformis ssp. peirsonii	brown-eyed primrose	BW	1	99
178	Onagr	Eremothera boothii ssp. condensata	Booth's evening primrose	BW		99
179	Onagr	Eremothera chamaenerioides	long-fruit suncup	BW		99
180	Onagr	Eremothera refracta	narrow-leaf suncup	BW	1	99
181	Onagr	Eulobus californicus	California suncup	BW	3	99
182	Oroba	Orobanche cooperi	Cooper's broomrape	BW		5
183	Papav	Eschscholzia minutiflora ssp. minutiflora	small-flowered poppy	BW	7	99
184	Papav	Eschscholzia parishii	Parish's poppy	BW	4	99
185	Phrym	Mimulus bigelovii var. bigelovii	Bigelow's monkeyflower	BW	9	99
186	Plant	Antirrhinum filipes	desert twining snapdragon	BW	1	46
187	Plant	Mohavea confertiflora	ghost flower	BW	6	99
188	Plant	Penstemon clevelandii var. clevelandii	Cleveland's beardtongue	BW	2
189	Plant	Plantago ovata	desert plantain	BW		99
190	Polem	Eriastrum eremicum ssp. eremicum	desert woolly-star	BW	3	25
191	Polem	Gilia stellata	star gilia	BW	2	99
192	Polem	Linanthus jonesii	Jones' linanthus	BW		99
193	Polem	Loeseliastrum matthewsii	desert calico	BW	1	10
194	Polyg	Chorizanthe brevicornu var. brevicornu	brittle spineflower	BW	1	16
195	Polyg	Chorizanthe rigida	devil's spineflower	BW		84
196	Polyg	Eriogonum fasciculatum var. polifolium	California buckwheat	BW	3	20
197	Polyg	Eriogonum inflatum	desert trumpet	BW	1	99
198	Polyg	Eriogonum maculatum	spotted buckwheat	BW	2	3
199	Polyg	Eriogonum thomasii	Thomas' buckwheat	BW	2	23
200	Polyg	Eriogonum wrightii var. nodosum	Wright's buckwheat	BW		33
201	Polyg	Pterostegia drymarioides	fairy bowties, threadstem	BW	3	48
202	Ranun	Delphinium parishii ssp. subglobosum	intermediate larkspur	BW	3	99
203	Rosac	Prunus fremontii	desert apricot	BW	6	40
204	Rubia	Galium stellatum	star-flowered bedstraw	BW	5	58
205	Simmo	Simmondsia chinensis	jojoba	BW	4	99
206	Solan	Datura discolor	desert thornapple	BW	1	16
207	Solan	Datura wrightii	sacred datura	BW		FC
208	Solan	Lycium andersonii	Anderson's boxthorn	BW	4	FC
209	Solan	Lycium fremontii	Fremont's boxthorn	BW	2	15
210	Solan	Lycium parishii	Parish's boxthorn	BW	3	20
211	Solan	Nicotiana obtusifolia	desert tobacco	BW	2	40
212	Solan	Physalis crassifolia	thick-leaved ground cherry	BW	3	56
213	Tamar	Tamarix ramosissima	*saltcedar	BW	1
214	Urtic	Parietaria hespera var. hespera	pellitory	BW	3	99
215	Visca	Phoradendron californicum	desert mistletoe	BW	1	51
216	Zygop	Fagonia laevis	California fagonia	BW	2	35
217	Zygop	Fagonia pachyacantha	sticky fagonia	BW	2	1
218	Zygop	Larrea tridentata	creosote bush	BW	4	99
Monocots
219	Agava	Agave deserti var. deserti	desert agave	BW	1	99
220	Agava	Hesperocallis undulata	desert lily	BW	1	99
221	Poace	Aristida adscensionis	six-weeks three-awn	BW	1	2
222	Poace	Bromus berteroanus	Chilean chess	BW	1
223	Poace	Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens	*red brome	BW	3	10
224	Poace	Dasyochloa pulchella	fluff grass	BW	1
225	Poace	Festuca bromoides	*brome fescue			10
226	Poace	Festuca octoflora	six-weeks fescue		1
227	Poace	Hilaria rigida	big galleta	BW	2	50
228	Poace	Melica frutescens	tall melica	BW	1
229	Poace	Muhlenbergia microsperma	littleseed muhly	BW	1	2
230	Poace	Muhlenbergia porteri	Porter's muhly	BW		21
231	Poace	Schismus barbatus	*Mediterranean schismus	BW	4	99
232	Poace	Stipa speciosa	desert needlegrass	BW		1

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

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• Plants of Southern California: Regional Floras