WHITEWATER CANYON
APRIL 2009
PART ONE PAGE ONE
Photographs by Michael Charters




This is a photo gallery displaying photos taken on two trips April 1st and 9th. There were four main reasons for these trips to Whitewater Canyon, first to assess the state of the bloom in general, second to further investigate the unidentified Astragalus seen on the February visit, third to photograph the fruits of Astragalus tricarinatus, and fourth to record species for the Preserve checklist. All four were accomplished. The general state of the bloom is very good as this photo gallery demonstrates, especially in the grassy canyons on the east side of the wash. The unidentified milkvetch is Astragalus douglasii var. douglasii, and the Astragalus tricarinatus was in full fruit, with its curious curling and three-ribbed fruits that give this species both its specific and common names. For those who didn't see the previous Whitewater Canyon gallery, Whitewater Canyon is north of Interstate 10 just where you begin to see the wind machines in San Gorgonio Pass, a couple of miles west of where the 62 goes off to Joshua Tree. 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, a tilde (~) indicates an uncertain identification, and an asterisk indicates a non-native taxon.


   
Woolly daisy
Eriophyllum wallacei
Asteraceae
 

Purple mat
Nama demissum var. demissum
Hydrophyllaceae

 
Desert larkspur
Delphinium parishii ssp. parishii
Ranunculaceae


 
Sacred datura
Datura wrightii
Solanaceae

       
   
Chaparral yucca
Hesperoyucca whipplei
Liliaceae
   
    Royal goldfields
Lasthenia coronaria
Asteraceae


   
Bladderpod
Isomeris arborea
Capparaceae
 
Brittlebush
Encelia farinosa
Asteraceae
 
Apricot mallow
Sphaeralcea ambigua var. ambigua
Malvaceae
   
Parish's viguiera
Bahiopsis parishii (=Viguiera parishii)
Asteraceae
Desert mistletoe
Phoradendron californicum
Viscaceae
   
Short-winged deerweed
Lotus scoparius var. brevialatus
Fabaceae
Peninsular onion
Allium peninsulare var. peninsulare
Liliaceae
   


   
California chicory
Rafinesquia californica
Asteraceae
 


   
Thick-leaved ground cherry
Physalis crassifolia
Solanaceae
 



 
Globe gilia
Gilia capitata ssp. abrotanifolia
Polemoniaceae


   
Fringepod
Thysanocarpus curvipes
Brassicaceae


 
Coulter's lupine
Lupinus sparsiflorus
Fabaceae


PHOTO GALLERIES
INDEX
CALFLORA.NET PAGE TWO
OF FIVE
CALIFORNIA PLANT NAMES: LATIN AND GREEK MEANINGS AND DERIVATIONS

Copyright © 2009 by Michael L. Charters.
The photographs contained on these web pages may not be reproduced without the express consent of the author.
Comments and/or questions may be addressed to: mmlcharters[at]gmail.com.