CYRUS CANYON, KERN RIVER VALLEY
MARCH 2009 PAGE ONE
Photographs by Michael Charters
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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. |
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Argus gilia Gilia brecciarum ssp. neglecta Polemoniaceae |
California poppy Eschscholzia californica Papaveraceae |
Miniature lupine Lupinus bicolor Fabaceae |
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Silver puffs Uropappus lindleyi Asteraceae |
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Kern sun cup ^ Camissonia kernensis Onagraceae |
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Blue dicks Dichelostemma capitatum ssp. capitatum Liliaceae |
Palmer's sun cup ^ Camissonia palmeri Onagraceae |
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Evening snow Linanthus dichotomus Polemoniaceae |
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Sand cress Calyptridium monandrum Portulacaceae |
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Kelso Creek monkeyflower ^ Mimulus shevockii Scrophulariaceae RARE SPECIES |
Cushion cryptantha Cryptantha circumscissa Boraginaceae |
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Dwarf athysanus Athysanus pusillus Brassicaceae |
Redstem filaree * Erodium cicutarium Geraniaceae |
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Lace-pod Thysanocarpus laciniatus Brassicaceae |
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Rockjasmine monkeyflower ^ Mimulus androsaceus Scrophulariaceae |
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Xantus' spineflower ^ Chorizanthe xanti var. xanti Polygonaceae |
Bajada lupine Lupinus concinnus Fabaceae |
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