Pacific Crest Trail October 2008 Page One

PACIFIC CREST TRAIL, SAN JACINTO AND SANTA ROSA
MOUNTAINS NATIONAL MONUMENT OCTOBER 2008 PAGE ONE

The purpose of this trip was to see and photograph two species which I hadn't seen before, Mollugo and Selaginella asprella, both of which I knew would not be in particularly good shape given the lateness of the season, and another species, Ivesia saxosa, which I had never seen before in bloom. The Mollugo, Pectis, Lotus and Amaranthus were found in a wash at a lower elevation and farther along CA-74 than the trailhead of the Pacific Crest Trail. As with the last few Gallery pages, many of the species seen during this outing were in their winter mode and thus not especially attractive, but this is an interesting almost-flat trail with great rock exposures and, as Tom Chester aptly described it, "an amazing mixture of coastal, desert, montane, riparian, cliff-loving, sun-loving, and shade-loving plants." Whether there were many blooms in evidence or not, this gallery documents some of the species that are to be found on this trail. The Ivesia joined its fellow rock-loving species Ericameria cuneata, also very much in bloom, in occupying a habitat that would seemingly be very inimitable to plant life, cracks in almost vertical rock cliff faces. 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.