Although we were told that our original destination, the Kelso Valley, was still a bit early floristically, a juniper woodland area in Cyrus Canyon north of Lake Isabella was in amazing bloom, with many interesting species including the spectacularly beautiful and much sought-after Kelso Creek monkey-flower, Mimulus shevockii. We had hoped to make it a double treasure day by finding Mimulus pictus, but no luck on that one. I want to thank our group leader, Naomi Fraga, a botanist from Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, who is extremely knowledgeable about the flora of Kern County and the southern Sierra Nevada. An upside-down V next to the common name indicates a taxon that was new to me when I photographed it on this field trip, and an asterisk denotes a non-native species.

Argus gilia
Gilia brecciarum ssp. neglecta
Polemoniaceae

California poppy
Eschscholzia californica
Papaveraceae

Miniature lupine
Lupinus bicolor
Fabaceae

Silver puffs
Uropappus lindleyi
Asteraceae

Kern sun cup ^
Camissonia kernensis
Onagraceae

Blue dicks
Dichelostemma capitatum ssp. capitatum
Liliaceae

Palmer's sun cup ^
Camissonia palmeri
Onagraceae

Sand cress
Calyptridium monandrum
Portulacaceae

Kelso Creek monkeyflower ^
Mimulus shevockii
Scrophulariaceae
RARE SPECIES

Cushion cryptantha
Cryptantha circumscissa
Boraginaceae

Dwarf athysanus
Athysanus pusillus
Brassicaceae

Redstem filaree *
Erodium cicutarium
Geraniaceae

Lace-pod
Thysanocarpus laciniatus
Brassicaceae

Rockjasmine monkeyflower ^
Mimulus androsaceus
Scrophulariaceae

Xantus' spineflower ^
Chorizanthe xanti var. xanti
Polygonaceae

Bajada lupine
Lupinus concinnus
Fabaceae