In these descriptions of the flowers blooming along the trails and roads, usually only the first encounter of a flower is listed, except for exceptional displays or if plants in different areas are in much different stages of bloom. If a bloom is beginning or ending it is designated with (b) or (e) after the name. Transitional cases are noted as (b-f), for beginning to full, for example.
For a narrative of general conditions at the Plateau, and other observations from these hikes, see Observations of Flowering Plants and the Main Vernal Pools on the Mesa de Colorado in 2000 - 2001.
Note the changed order. This page is now chronological, instead of reverse chronological, to match the format of the general observations page.
Observations 2001 January 7 - March 30
2001 April 1
2001 April 4
2001 April 8
2001 April 11
2001 April 14
2001 April 17
2001 April 20
2001 April 23
2001 April 26
2001 April 28
Later Observations
April 1 1:30 - 2:00 pm, conditions cool and cloudy.
- Vernal Pool Trail, Trailhead to Main Pool: cryptantha, blue dicks, mustard (b), redstem filaree (e), lomatium purple sanicle, muilla (b), goldfields, shooting stars, ground pinks, smooth cat's ear (b), sow thistle (e), yellow sanicle, johnny-jump-up (f-e), morning glory (b), checkerbloom (b), California poppy, California buttercups, the first two owl's clover blooms next to the Pool.
April 4 12:10 - 5:26 pm, conditions cold and cloudy (52° at noon!)
- Vernal Pool Trail, Trailhead to Main Pool: tall popcorn flower, mustard (b), lomatium (f-e), blue dicks, filaree (e), blennosperma (e), ground pinks, goldfields, muilla (b), yellow sanicle (f-e), checkerbloom (b), johnny-jump-up (f-e), (patches of yellow from goldfields; pink from ground pinks and shootings stars; and gold from California buttercups in the drainages), dwarf lupine (b), California buttercups, California poppies, smooth cat's ear, owl's clover, a single plant of brass buttons (b).
- Vernal Pool Trail, Main Pool to Adobes: everlasting sp., two-tone everlasting, (bush lupine buds), wild cucumber (e), wild pea (b), purple sanicle (b-f), blue dicks, fields of chocolate lilies, scrub oak, sugarbush, (white-flowering currant ended), fields of purple sanicle, fields of California buttercups, blue-eyed grass (b), fields of johnny-jump-up (f-e), pineapple weed, (manzanita hybrid at Adobes finished, with a few red berries; ceanothus hybrid has elongated buds).
- Ranch Road, Adobes to Trans Preserve Trail: (no new blooms).
- Trans Preserve Trail, Hidden Valley Road to Vernal Pool Trail: wild cucumber (e), miner's lettuce (f-e), fields of chocolate lilies, milkmaids (e), (cinquefoil bud stalks sans buds), bedstraw (b), (poison oak buds), spoked fringe pod (seed), Pacific sanicle, unknown yellow flower, smooth cat's ear.
- Los Santos Trail, Vernal Pool Trail to Hidden Valley Road: redmaids, more fields of chocolate lilies, last few blooms of milkmaids, bur-clover, wild pea (b), common phacelia (b), wild sorrel, bush lupine (b), fiddleneck (b), dwarf lupine, {large patches of shooting stars, johnny-jump-up, and ground pinks}, a single prickly pear (b), morning glory (b), purple needle grass, sow thistle.
April 8 1:30 - 5:00 pm, conditions partly cloudy and cold.
- Granite Loop Trail, South Trailhead to Waterline Road: purple nightshade, redstem filaree (e), blue dicks, lotus sp., ground pinks, popcorn flower, smooth cat's ear, goldfields, (golden yarrow buds), owl's clover (b), (hollyleaf redberry buds), wild cucumber (e), bur-clover, checkerbloom (b), yellow sanicle, johnny-jump-up, mustard (b), spoked fringe pod, wild pea (buds), baby blue eyes, locoweed (b-f), bedstraw, squaw bush (b), goldfields, pineapple weed.
- Waterline Road to Faultline Road: shepherd's purse (seeds), tall popcorn flower, coast live oak, California poppy, vetch (b), fiddleneck (e), shooting stars (e), red maids, California buttercup, Crete weed, {fields of purple sanicle, goldfields and blue dicks}.
- Faultline Road, Monument Hill Road, Waterline Road back to Vista Grande Trail: chocolate lily (last few blooms), red-skinned onion (b-f), blue-eyed grass (b), lots of Crete weed, patches of ground pinks, muilla (b-f).
- Vista Grande Trail, north of Waterline Road: miner's lettuce.
- Vernal Pool Trail, Trailhead to Main Pool: ground pinks, tall popcorn flower, goldfields, muilla (b), redstem filaree (e), yellow sanicle, blue dicks, lomatium (f-e), checkerbloom (b), blennosperma (e), johnny-jump-up (f-e), mustard (b), morning glory (b), short popcorn flower, California buttercup, dwarf lupine (b), {fields of ground pinks, shooting stars, California buttercups, goldfields, and California poppies}.
April 11 2:25 - 7:24 pm, conditions cloudy, cold, and then drizzly late.
- Vernal Pool Trail, Trailhead to Main Pool: tall popcorn flower, blue dicks, lomatium (f-e), smooth cat's ear, filaree (e), ground pinks, goldfields, owl's clover (b), muilla (b), purple sanicle, blennosperma (e), mustard (b), checkerbloom (b), yellow sanicle, johnny-jump-up, blue-eyed grass (b), California buttercup, redmaids, shooting star, California poppy, tomcat clover (b), dwarf lupine (b), short popcorn flower at Pool edge.
- Vernal Pool Trail, Main Pool to Ranch Road: common catchfly, lupine (buds), poison oak (buds), wild cucumber (e), two-tone everlasting, wild peak, miner's lettuce, scrub oak, sugarbush, bush monkeyflower (b), (cinquefoil buds), a single California peony with one bloom, chocolate lilies (e).
- Punta Mesa Trail, Ranch Road to Adobe Loop Jct.: (hybrid ceanothus at ranch - elongated buds), pineapple weed, wild sorrel, mustard (b-f), shining peppergrass (seeds), (golden yarrow buds), wild cucumber (e), purple nightshade, Pacific sanicle, checkerbloom (b), bush monkeyflower (b).
- Punta Mesa Trail, Adobe Loop Jct. to Stream Crossing: locoweed (b-f), (manzanita ended), black sage (b), hoaryleaf ceanothus (e), Ramona lilac (f), golden yarrow (b), Engelmann oak, coast live oak, milkmaids (last few flowers).
- Punta Mesa Trail, Stream Crossing to Monument Hill Road: (willow with spoon-shaped leaves - catkins), bur-clover, mule fat, Crete weed, (tall thistle - buds), lots of Pacific sanicle, tall popcorn flower, bush lupine (b), California everlasting (b), (unknown dandelion-type flower showing only buds and seedheads), johnny-jump-up (f-e), Ramona lilac (f), nice field of California poppies, purple needle-grass, sow thistle (f-e), (mule fat buds).
- Faultline Road: red maids, amazing fields of blue dicks, red-skinned onion (b), (one gully filled with beautiful white flows of red-skinned onion and yellow California buttercup) (records may be incomplete here and following due to darkness and drizzle).
- Waterline Road / Tenaja Road, Faultline Road to Oak Tree Trail: fiddleneck (e).
- Oak Tree Trail, Coyote Trail: fields of shooting stars.
- Hidden Valley Road, Los Santos Trail to Vernal Pool Trail: morning glory (b), one prickly pear (b), common phacelia.
April 14 3:47 - 7:17 pm, conditions pleasant and sunny for a change!
- Multiuse Trail, Trailhead to Bridge at Stream Crossing: mustard (b), locoweed, yellow sanicle, tall popcorn flower, hoaryleaf ceanothus (e), scrub oak, bush monkeyflower (b), black sage (b-f), wild cucumber (e), very small popcorn flower, mission manzanita (berries, b-f), yerba santa (b), sugarbush (e), chaparral yucca, blue dicks, lotus sp., purple nightshade, morning glory (b), hollyleaf redberry, (sunflower a few buds).
- Vernal Pool Trail, Trailhead to Main Pool: ground pinks (open for a change!), goldfields, blennosperma (e), muilla (b), redmaids, redstem filaree (e), short and tall popcorn flower, owl's clover (b), lomatium sp. (e plus first seeds), another lomatium with conspicuous sheath for leaves, blue dicks, yellow sanicle, blue-eyed grass (b), johnny-jump-up (e), mustard (b), dwarf lupine (b), California buttercup, shooting stars, California poppies, tomcat clover, vernal pool popcorn flower, brass buttons (b), catchfly, unknown flower - small white bloom in leaf joint.
- Los Santos Trail, Trailhead to just beyond shortcut at stream drainage: purple sanicle, chocolate lily.
April 17 11:38 am - 3:48 pm, conditions warm, sunny and pleasant.
- Vernal Pool Trail, Trailhead to Main Pool: redmaids, ground pinks, tall popcorn flower, lomatium sp., blue dicks, goldfields, purple sanicle, dwarf lupine, checkerbloom (b), redstem filaree (e), owl's clover, muilla, stunning patches of blue-eyed grass, shooting stars (e), blennosperma (e), morning glory (b), bur-clover, yellow sanicle, johnny-jump-up (e), angel's gilia(?), tomcat clover, California buttercup, California poppy, brass buttons, (unknown vernal pool plant with small yellow flower on much-branched stems), catchfly, peppergrass, purple needle grass.
- Los Santos Trail, Trailhead to about halfway to Hidden Valley Road: yellow sanicle (e), miner's lettuce, bedstraw, spoked fringe pod, unknown mustard - hedge?, more stunning patches of blue-eyed grass, chocolate lilies (e), (milkmaids complete finished), scarlet pimpernel, lotus sp., scrub oak, wild pea, chickweed, common phacelia, wild cucumber (e), wild sorrel, two-tone everlasting, wild snapdragon (b), bush lupine (b), field of California poppies, fiddleneck (e), (dudleya buds), a single prickly pear (b).
April 20 12:15 - 4:23 pm, conditions back to cloudy and cold.
- Vernal Pool Trail, Trailhead to Main Pool: tall popcorn flower, redstem filaree (e), smooth cat's ear, purple sanicle, checkerbloom (b), tomcat clover, owl's clover, goldfields, muilla, ground pinks, Douglas microseris?, redmaids, blue dicks, johnny-jump-up (e), yellow sanicle (e), lomatium sp. (e + first seeds), dwarf lupine, blennosperma (e), sow thistle, stunning patches of blue-eyed grass, mustard (b), shooting stars (e), California buttercup, (unknown small weed with small cone-shaped flowers), two fields of California poppy, patch of purple from redstem filaree, bedstraw, Engelmann oak, short popcorn flower at Pool, spike rush(?) at Pool edge, some goldfield patches around 1/6 of Pool.
- Vernal Pool Trail, Main Pool to Adobes: the first six threadleaf brodiaea flowers, (unknown very short grass with "Fuller brush" seeds), lupine (b), Crete weed, wild cucumber (e), wild pea, poison oak, common phacelia (b-f), morning glory (b), two-tone everlasting, purple sanicle (f-e), {field of California buttercup, purple sanicle and blue-eyed grass}, bush monkeyflower, scrub oak, (golden yarrow buds), sugarbush (e), Eastwood manzanita (small green berries), black sage (b), (chamise buds), a single California peony, the first bloom on cinquefoil, chocolate lily (last 5-10% of blooms), bur-clover, (first blooms on hybrid ceanothus at adobes), pineapple weed, ~20 berries on manzanita at adobes).
- Trans Preserve Trail, Hidden Valley Road to Vernal Pool Trail: bedstraw, miner's lettuce (e), {fields of blue-eyed grass and California buttercup at bottom of hill}, chocolate lilies (~50% of peak), spoked fringe-pod, (cinquefoil buds), Pacific sanicle, (unknown carrot family e), (unknown mustard - hedge?), a few last milkmaids hidden in shrubs!, fiesta flower (b), (unknown plant with 4-fold alternate linear leaves with terminal bud), purple needle grass (b).
4:55 - 6:57 pm, conditions still cloudy and even colder.
- Granite Loop Trail, North Trailhead to Vista Grande Trail to Tenaja Truck Trail: wild pea, a single redberry - f, Pacific sanicle (b), blue dicks, johnny-jump-up (e), locoweed, goldfields, angel's gilia?, spoked fringe-pod, (unknown clover), miner's lettuce (e), checkerbloom (b), scrub oak, short popcorn flower, medium popcorn flower with very small blooms, yellow sanicle (e), coast live oak, hollyleaf redberry (b), bur-clover, shepherd's purse, (unknown clover similar to tomcat clover), (poison oak buds), wild cucumber (e + fruit), bedstraw, yellow clover, mustard (b), vetch, California peony, (squawbush buds), owl's clover (b), purple nightshade, meager blue-eyed grass, (Engelmann oak buds), (redstem filaree completely finished here).
- Tenaja Truck Trail / Waterline Road to Faultline Road: California buttercup and red-skinned onion in drainage to south, common catchfly, purple sanicle.
- Faultline Road to Monument Hill Road: impressive fields of blue dicks (grasses are lessening the display now); impressive display in drainage of California buttercup and red-skinned onion, surrounded by blue dicks; muilla (f-e), California buttercup (f-e), Crete weed, purple sanicle (e), elk thistle (first flower), purple needle grass, fields of blue-eyed grass; a good patch of Ramona lilac along drainage to east of Faultline and Monument Hill Roads; redmaids, a field of California poppies, fiddleneck (e), mule fat, morning glory, California everlasting, (everlasting with spooned leaves - f), catchfly (f-e).
- Vista Grande Trail, Monument Hill Road to Waterline Road: {shooting stars all dried up here}, smooth cat's ear, a single curly dock with buds, yellow sanicle (e).
- Waterline Road, Tenaja Truck Trail to Visitor Center: pineapple weed, vetch (b), scarlet pimpernel.
April 23 pm, conditions sunny and very warm, high in the lower 80s.
- Vernal Pool Trail, Trailhead to Main Pool: tall
April 26 pm, conditions pleasant, high around 80 with a nice breeze.
- Vernal Pool Trail, Trailhead to Main Pool: tall
April 28 pm, conditions sunny, cool but pleasant, high in 60s with a nice breeze.
- Vernal Pool Trail, Trailhead to Main Pool: tall
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Copyright © 2000-2003 by Tom Chester and Jane Strong.
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Comments and feedback: Tom Chester | Jane Strong
Updated 27 January 2003.