This is a working list, about which we make no guarantees at all until we officially release it. Use at your own risk!
Introduction and Explanation of Plant Trail Guides
Introduction
Highlights of This Trail
Fieldwork Dates and Summary of List Changes With Time
Botanical Trip Reports
The Plant Guide
Comments On Specific Species
Introduction This trail guide begins at the eastern end of the Hidden Spring Trail.
To reach the trailhead, begin at the parking lot at the main entrance to Daley Ranch, which is at the southernmost part of the property, just north of Lake Dixon at the top of La Honda Drive in Escondido. The only toilets nearby are at Lake Dixon, which have running water. It is free to walk through the Lake Dixon entrance to use them. A porta-potty is at the Ranch House at Daley Ranch.
Take the Ranch House Trail, which is the paved main road of Daley Ranch, north to the Ranch House. Continue north on the Jack Creek Meadow Loop to its signed intersection with the Hidden Spring Trail.
After completing the Hidden Spring Trail, you can return to the parking lot via the Engelmann Oak Trail, Cougar Ridge Trail and Boulder Loop Trail. The entire loop hike is ~8.5 miles with ~1100 feet of elevation gain and loss.
Highlights of This Trail Some of the botanical highlights of this trail are:
Number of Unique Taxa On This Trail
The following histogram gives the number of trails in our database that contain each taxon on this trail. There were 88 trails in our database when this histogram was made; two trails, including this one, are at Daley Ranch. A number of "1" means the taxon has only been found on this trail among the trails in our database; a number of "2" may indicate taxa found only at Daley Ranch.
Number of Trails
Containing A TaxonNumber Of Taxa
On This Trail% of Taxa
On This Trail1 2 2% 2 3 3% 3 0 0% 4 0 0% 5 3 3% 1-5 8 9% 6-10 8 9% 11-15 16 18% 16-20 8 9% 21-25 13 14% 26-30 9 10% 31-35 5 6% 36-40 9 10% 41-45 9 10% 46-50 3 3% 51-55 2 2% Total Taxa 90 100% We found 8 additional species not in the above table, since they have not been fully identified yet. The unidentified ones are marked with ?, sp or ssp in the id? column in the guide, and do not have any number given in the #all column.
Fieldwork Dates and Summary of List Changes With Time The following table gives the dates the trail was walked and taxa recorded. After each visit, the table gives the total number of taxa on the list and the breakdown of the taxa without positive identification. See Explanation of Plant Trail Guides to understand the symbols below.
Visit Date Visit # # taxa # "?" # "sp" # "~" # "ssp" 1/16/2005 1 98 2 6 12 3 We thank an anonymous friend for her help with the fieldwork on 1/16/05.
Botanical Trip Reports
The Plant Guide Version for printing, without lines and other text on this page (4 pages)
The mileages have not yet been rectified to a GPS recording of the trail, and hence may be off by as much as 10%.
Mile S # id? Common Name Latin Name #here #all 0.00 Begin Hidden Spring Trail at jct. with Jack Creek Meadow Loop Trail in grassland; elevation 1460 feet (445 m). Trail soon begins a steep climb. 0.00 r 1 coastal goldenbush Isocoma menziesii+ 5 / 1 14 0.00 r 2 California-aster Lessingia filaginifolia var. filaginifolia 20 / 9 51 0.00 r 3 ~ *smooth cat's ear Hypochaeris glabra / 28 0.00 r 4 *narrowleaf filago Filago gallica 99 / 9 42 0.00 r 5 ~ *long-beaked filaree Erodium botrys 99 / 9 6 0.00 r 6 *scarlet pimpernel Anagallis arvensis / 24 0.00 r 7 western ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya 50 / 9 33 0.00 b 8 blue-eyed grass Sisyrinchium bellum / 19 0.00 l 9 *winter vetch Vicia villosa ssp. varia 99 / 3 17 0.00 l 10 coast live oak Quercus agrifolia var. agrifolia / 42 0.00 l 11 ~ wild celery Apiastrum angustifolium 1 / 1 11 0.00 r 12 narrowleaf bedstraw Galium angustifolium ssp. angustifolium 1 / 1 42 0.00 r 13 blue dicks Dichelostemma capitatum ssp. capitatum 5 / 1 41 0.00 l 14 sticky cinquefoil Potentilla glandulosa ssp. glandulosa 2 / 2 13 0.00 l (black sage, Salvia mellifera) 0.00 l (Torrey's scrub oak, Quercus acutidens) 0.01 r 15 *shortpod mustard Hirschfeldia incana 30 / 9 50 0.01 r 16 telegraph weed Heterotheca grandiflora 20 / 2 32 0.03 r 17 dove weed Eremocarpus setigerus 10 / 1 24 r 18 sp *wild oats Avena sp. / r 19 ? Schismus? / r 20 *pink grass Petrorhagia dubia 5 / 2 1 r 21 *windmill pink Silene gallica / 28 0.06 l 22 ~ horseweed Conyza canadensis 10 / 1 28 0.06 l 23 *soft chess Bromus hordeaceus / 37 0.07 Enter chaparral 0.07 l 24 Ramona lilac Ceanothus tomentosus var. olivaceus 10 / 9 8 0.07 l 25 black sage Salvia mellifera 20 / 9 38 0.07 l 26 southern honeysuckle Lonicera subspicata var. denudata 1 / 1 39 0.07 l 27 climbing bedstraw Galium nuttallii ssp. nuttallii 2 / 2 29 0.08 l 28 Parish's purple nightshade Solanum parishii 3 / 1 17 0.08 l 29 golden yarrow Eriophyllum confertiflorum var. confertiflorum 10 / 9 51 0.08 l 30 toyon Heteromeles arbutifolia 1 / 1 43 0.08 r 31 chamise Adenostoma fasciculatum 10 / 5 36 0.08 r 32 *redstem filaree Erodium cicutarium / 49 0.08 r 33 bush monkeyflower Mimulus aurantiacus 1 / 1 40 0.08 r 34 *common groundsel Senecio vulgaris 3 / 1 15 0.08 r 35 *sow thistle Sonchus oleraceus 1 / 1 26 0.08 r 36 *tocalote Centaurea melitensis 20 / 3 42 0.08 l 37 mission manzanita Xylococcus bicolor 3 / 3 13 0.08 l 38 ~ coast-range melic Melica imperfecta 5 / 3 38 0.08 l 39 saw-toothed goldenbush Hazardia squarrosa var. grindelioides 20 / 9 33 0.08 r 40 heartleaf penstemon Keckiella cordifolia 40 / 9 25 0.08 r 41 bicolored everlasting Gnaphalium bicolor 1 / 1 28 0.09 l 42 ~ small-flowered soap plant Chlorogalum parviflorum 3 / 1 6 0.09 r 43 sugar bush Rhus ovata 2 / 2 23 0.09 l 44 laurel sumac Malosma laurina 2 / 2 39 0.09 l 45 hairyleaf redberry Rhamnus pilosa 3 / 1 2 0.09 l 46 wild-cucumber Marah macrocarpus var. macrocarpus 2 / 2 41 0.10 l 47 San Diego mountain mahogany Cercocarpus minutiflorus 10 / 3 11 0.10 l 48 threadstem Pterostegia drymarioides 10 / 2 21 0.10 l 49 goldback fern Pentagramma triangularis ssp. triangularis 2 / 2 22 0.11 r 50 Torrey's scrub oak Quercus acutidens 20 / 9 24 0.11 l 51 ? eucrypta? annual phacelia? ? 2 / 1 0.11 (California wood fern, Dryopteris arguta) 0.11 l 52 ~ coyote bush Baccharis pilularis 1 / 1 24 0.12 r 53 California sagebrush Artemisia californica 1 / 1 43 0.13 r 54 virgin's bower Clematis pauciflora 3 / 2 10 0.13 r 55 branching phacelia Phacelia ramosissima var. latifolia 1 / 1 31 0.14 r 56 Eastwood manzanita Arctostaphylos glandulosa ssp. zacaensis 1 / 1 11 0.15 l 57 hollyleaf cherry Prunus ilicifolia ssp. ilicifolia 2 / 2 11 0.15 l 58 California wood fern Dryopteris arguta 5 / 1 15 0.15 l 59 California everlasting Gnaphalium californicum 2 / 2 40 0.16 l (creeping snowberry, Symphoricarpos mollis) 0.16 r (chaparral whitethorn, Ceanothus leucodermis) 0.19 l 60 chaparral bush mallow Malacothamnus fasciculatus 1 / 1 14 0.19 l 61 ssp deerweed Lotus scoparius 20 / 5 10 0.19 l 62 fragrant everlasting Gnaphalium canescens ssp. beneolens 20 / 9 18 0.19 l 63 rush-rose Helianthemum scoparium 5 / 1 11 0.19 l 64 ~ foothill needlegrass Nassella lepida 1 / 1 19 0.20 r 65 *tall wheatgrass Elytrigia pontica ssp. pontica 1 / 1 1 0.22 (California buckwheat, Eriogonum fasciculatum var. foliolosum) 0.24 r 66 arroyo willow Salix lasiolepis 1 / 1 32 0.24 r (pampas grass, Cortaderia selloana) 0.24 l (white-flowering currant, Ribes indecorum) 0.24 r 67 Spanish clover Lotus purshianus var. purshianus 10 / 1 25 0.24 r 68 *English plantain Plantago lanceolata 3 / 2 17 0.24 l 69 Engelmann oak Quercus engelmannii 1 / 1 24 0.24 l 70 poison oak Toxicodendron diversilobum 5 / 3 42 0.24 l 71 basketbush Rhus trilobata 1 / 1 19 0.25 r 72 checkerbloom Sidalcea malviflora ssp. sparsifolia 3 / 1 26 0.25 r 73 Mariposa rush Juncus dubius 50 / 3 2 0.27 (deergrass, Muhlenbergia rigens) 0.34 74 Pacific sanicle Sanicula crassicaulis 1 / 1 18 0.40 r 75 thick-leaved yerba santa Eriodictyon crassifolium var. crassifolium 5 / 1 7 0.43 l Jct. illegal path; local high point on road; road curves right 0.46 Local low point; cross seasonally-wet drainage 0.47 Local high point 0.48 r 76 California buckwheat Eriogonum fasciculatum var. foliolosum 10 / 3 47 0.51 r 77 ~ slender tarweed Hemizonia fasciculata 5 / 1 12 0.51 r 78 ~ hooked skunkweed Navarretia hamata ssp. hamata 30 / 9 5 0.51 r 79 sp clarkia Clarkia sp. 5 / 1 0.53 r 80 California buckwheat Eriogonum fasciculatum var. polifolium 10 / 3 15 0.53 r (California bee plant, Scrophularia californica ssp. floribunda) 0.53 b 81 showy penstemon Penstemon spectabilis var. spectabilis 10 / 3 11 0.55 r 82 sp suncup Camissonia sp. / 0.56 r 83 sp popcorn flower Cryptantha sp. / 0.57 r 84 *horehound Marrubium vulgare+ 1 / 1 29 0.57 r 85 ~ common bedstraw Galium aparine 10 / 2 38 0.58 r ssp (thistle, Cirsium occidentale) 0.64 Road curves right 0.65 Cross drainage 0.67 c 86 *Bermuda grass Cynodon dactylon 1 / 1 25 0.74 l 87 collar lupine Lupinus truncatus 1 / 1 21 0.74 l 88 sp annual lotus Lotus strigosus or hamatus 5 / 1 0.79 r 89 chaparral yucca Yucca whipplei 2 / 2 28 0.82 l 90 triangular-fruit sedge Carex triquetra 2 / 2 14 0.85 Local high point 0.89 l 91 ~ prickly cryptantha Cryptantha muricata 10 / 1 14 0.89 Jct. illegal path on left; sign on right: "Sensitive habitat; keep out" 0.90 l 92 sp Filago californica or Stylocline gnaphaloides / 0.99 l 93 matchweed Gutierrezia sarothrae 10 / 1 5 1.01 l (southern tauschia, Tauschia arguta; southern Indian pink, Silene laciniata ssp. major) 1.04 Check for Juncus balticus 1.06 Local high point, then a local low point, then a steep climb 1.07 r (mule fat, Baccharis salicifolia) 1.10 l 94 giant needlegrass Achnatherum coronatum 1 / 1 22 1.11 l 95 southern tauschia Tauschia arguta 1 / 1 8 1.11 l 96 silverback fern Pentagramma triangularis ssp. viscosa 1 / 1 5 1.11 l Definite Filago californica here. 1.13 l Highest point on trail; elevation 1920 feet (585 m) 1.13 l 97 Ramona horkelia Horkelia truncata 1 / 1 2 1.13 r 98 ssp *rattail fescue Vulpia myuros 20 / 1 10 1.19 End trail at jct. with Engelmann Oak Trail
Comments On Specific Species Isocoma menziesii. In our experience, the subspecies are not separable in Southern California. See Comments on the Jepson Manual and A Flora of Southern California by Munz: Isocoma menziesii.
Marrubium vulgare. We removed the only occurrence on this trail, so we hope you don't see any specimens in the future!
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Copyright © 2005 by James Dillane, Tom Chester and Michael Charters.
Permission is freely granted to reproduce any or all of this page as long as credit is given to us at this source:
http://tchester.org/sd/plants/guides/daley_ranch/hidden_spring.html
Comments and feedback: James Dillane | Tom Chester | Michael Charters
Last update: 17 January 2005.