Nolina, a yucca relative with six-foot flower stems bearing dense clusters of creamy white flowers, is blooming on trails around West Entrance and in Queen Valley. Early annuals on the low-lying Bajada in the south of the park are being replaced by brittlebush and cactus, while yellow dandelions, senna, and coreopsis brighten the roadsides in Pinto Basin and Wilson Canyon.

Trails and roadsides throughout the park, except at the highest elevations, are bright with large areas of flowers. More than 140 species have been reported in bloom. The best way to see wildflowers is to stop, park safely in a designated turn-out, get out of the car, and walk around a little. The Mastodon Peak and 49 Palms trails offer opportunities to see flowers while hiking.

This raises the question of what will be the impact of this storm on the poppy displays.  Only time will tell.  The poppy display can be called, at best, modest; a disappointing season so far.  The good news is that a large percent of the growing poppy plants are still small and have not yet put out their first blossom so there is still hope, especially with the major late season rain storm in late March helping to keep the soil moist. 

This year’s displays of owl’s clover, another favorite of Reserve visitors, have been better than most recent years.  Some mid-season plants such as chia and Fremont pincushion are now starting to blossom.  In a couple of weeks, the silver puffs should be providing carpets of their silver spherical seedheads.  The wishbone bushes are just now starting to form buds so it will also be a few weeks before these beautiful blue blossoms are showing.  To date, more than 40 different wildflowers have bloomed this spring.

Latest Poppy Reserve Research Field Notes and Observations
4-1-11: Mary Wilson

Antelope Trail North Loop
Poppies are just starting to bloom. 
Look for filaree, fiddleneck, pygmy-leaved lupine, and slender keel fruit.

Antelope Trail South Loop
Poppies just starting to bloom. 
Look for filaree, fiddleneck, pygmy-leaved lupine, and slender keel fruit. 

Lightning Bolt Trail
Poppies just starting to bloom.
Look for filaree, fiddleneck, pygmy-leaved lupine, bush lupine, slender keel fruit, lacey phacelia, red maids, forget-me-not, sun cups, hairy lotus, cream cups and rattlesnake weed.   

Poppy Trail North Loop Trail
Poppies just starting to bloom.
Look for filaree, fiddleneck, silver puff, pygmy-leaved lupine, slender keel fruit, forget-me-not, fringe pod, wild onions, red maids, sun cups, gold fields and owl’s clover.

Poppy Trail South Loop
Poppies just starting to bloom. 
Look for filaree, fiddleneck, pygmy-leaved lupine, goldfields, silver puffs and slender keel fruit.

 Tehachapi Vista Point Trail
Poppies just starting to bloom.
Look for filaree, goldfields, pygmy-leaved lupine, slender keel fruit and grape soda lupine.

Valley Vista Point
Poppies just starting to bloom. 
Look for filaree, fiddleneck, pygmy-leaved lupine, and slender keel fruit, forget-me-nots and evening snow.

Aiken Mine Road
Wallace’s woolly daisy (Eriophyllum wallacei)

Cima Dome
desert paintbrush (Castilleja angustifolia)
red-stemmed filaree (Erodium cicutarium)
turpentine broom (Thamnosma montana)
Wallace’s woolly daisy (Eriophyllum wallacei)

Devils Playground
desert dandelion (Malacothrix glabrata)
prickly poppy (Argemone corymbosa)

Old Dad Mountains (between Devils Playground and Mojave Rd)
beavertail cactus (Opuntia basilaris)

Jackass Canyon
beavertail cactus (Opuntia basilaris)
coyote melon (Cucurbita palmata)
desert chicory (Rafnesquia neomexicana)
desert dandelion (Malacothrix glabrata)

Kelso Depot Area
desert chicory (Rafnesquia neomexicana)
desert dandelion (Malacothrix glabrata)
Fremont pincushion (Chaenactis fremontii)

Kelbaker Road – south of Kelso
bladderpod (Isomeris arborea)Kelbaker Road – north of Kelso
bladderpod (Isomeris arborea)
desert dandelion (Malacothrix glabrata)
Wallace’s woolly daisy (Eriophyllum wallacei)

Brannigan Mine Road to Henry Spring
bladderpod (Isomeris arborea)
checker fiddleneck (Amsinckia tessellata)
chia (Salvia columbariae)
desert chicory (Rafnesquia neomexicana)
desert dandelion (Malacothrix glabrata)
forget-me-not (Cryptantha)
Fremont pincushion (Chaenactis fremontii)purple mat (Nama demissum)
red-stemmed filaree (Erodium cicutarium)
turpentine broom (Thamnosma montana)
Wallace’s woolly daisy (Eriophyllum wallacei)
Yellow cups (Camissonia brevipes)

Although there are many poppy plants with buds forming, there is only a handful of poppies currently in bloom. Several other wildflowers can be found blooming along the trails, but the fields are still predominantly green with yellow patches forming on some hillsides.

Sand verbena (Abronia villosa) grow among a field of desert gold (Geraea canescens).

March 14, 2011
The southern part of Death Valley is the only place in the park that shows much of a sign of spring bloom so far this season. Don’t expect the eye-popping bloom like we had in 2005. This spring is more typical of what Death Valley offers: the miracle of a few delicate wildflowers in a harsh and unforgiving landscape.

Wildflowers in the area around Ashford Mill are at their peak this week. Desert gold and sand verbena are the primary stars, but a little searching will reveal desert five-spot here and there. The bloom has spread to the alluvial fans just above Ashford Junction along Hwy 178, the site of the biggest and most photographed field of flowers in 2005. This year the desert gold are only a few inches high instead of several feet and the density of plants only a fifth of what that bumper year had. Even so, it is still worth a visit.

In Rhodes Wash, to the east of Jubilee Pass there is a lot of wildflower diversity, but other than a nice area of brittlebush, most drivers on Hwy 178 will only notice patches of roadside flowers. If you get out of your car and take a closer look, it is possible to find 20 different species of wildflowers in bloom. Bring your field guides and close-up lens to best appreciate the flowers here.