In the spring, the Santa Monica Mountains turns into a virtual garden of wildflowers. Visitors are often delightfully surprised at the diversity of the flora in the mountains. On the Backbone Trek, we usually count 140 to 150 species of wildflowers on the trail. For those hikers with more than a casual in interest in the wildflowers, we recommend the following guide: Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains, by Milt McAuley, 2nd Edition, 1996, Canyon Publishing Company. This book will be available for sale at the Backbone Trek at a discounted price of $10.00.
The following list of the wildflowers sighted in bloom during the Backbone Trek 2009 is typical of the species to be seen on the hike. Some years are better than others (think rain and fire). By default the list is sorted by the order the flower was first encountered on the trek. You may also sort by common name, scientific name, or the section of trail where it was first seen by selecting the option and choosing any of the column headers.
Date | Name | Native? | Genus & Species | Trail |
Day 1 | Blue Larkspur | Y | Delphinium parryi | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | California Black Walnut | Y | Juglans californica | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Cheeseweed | N | Malva parviflora | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Chinese Houses | Y | Collinsia heterophylla | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Common Fiddleneck | Y | Amsinckia intermedia | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Curly Dock | N | Rumex crispus | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Elegant Clarkia | Y | Clarkia unguiculata | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Fiesta Flower | Y | Pholistoma auritum | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Goldfields | Y | Lasthenia coronaria | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Italian Thistle | N | Carduus pycnocephalus | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Mule Fat | Y | Baccharis salicifolia | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Pineapple Weed | N | Chamomilla suaveolens | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Purple Clarkia | Y | Clarkia purpurea | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Tree Tobacco | N | Nicotiana glauca | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Virgin's Bower | Y | Clematis lasiantha | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Wild Radish | N | Raphanus sativus | Big Sycamore Canyon |
Day 1 | Bush Lupine | Y | Lupinus albifrons | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Bush Mallow | Y | Malacothamnus fasciculatus | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | California Everlasting | Y | Gnaphalium californicum | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Cliff-Aster | Y | Malacothrix saxatilis | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Common Groundsel | N | Senecio vulgaris | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Hollyleaf Cherry | Y | Prunus ilicifolia | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Prickly Phlox | Y | Linanthus californicus.htm | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Purple Nightshade | Y | Solanum xanti | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Silver Puffs | Y | Uropappus lindleyi | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Squaw Spurge | Y | Chamaesyce melanadenia | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Turkish Rugging | Y | Chorizanthe staticoides | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Wishbone Bush | Y | Mirabilis californica | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Woolly Blue Curls | Y | Trichostema lanatum | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Yellow Mariposa Lily | Y | Calochortus clavatus | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Yellow Monkey Flower | Y | Mimulus brevipes | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Yellow Star Thistle | N | Centaurea melitensis | Overlook Trail |
Day 1 | Black Mustard | N | Brassica nigra | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Black Sage | Y | Salvia mellifera | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Bladderpod | Y | Isomeris arborea | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Blue Dicks | Y | Dichelostemma capitatum | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Blue Eyed Grass | Y | Sisyrinchium bellum | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Bush Sunflower | Y | Encelia californica | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | California Buckwheat | Y | Eriogonum fasciculatum | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Catalina Mariposa Lily | Y | Calochortus catalinae | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Caterpillar Phacelia | Y | Phacelia cicutaria | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Chamise | Y | Adenostoma fasciculatum | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Collarless California Poppy | Y | Eschscholzia caespitosa | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Coulter's Lupine | Y | Lupinus sparsiflorus | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Deerweed | Y | Acmispon glaber | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Elderberry | Y | Sambucus nigra caerulea | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Golden Yarrow | Y | Eriophyllum lanatum var.arachn. | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Horehound | N | Marrubium vulgare | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Indian Paintbrush | Y | Castilleja affins | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Indian Pink | Y | Silene laciniata | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Mustard Evening Primrose | Y | Camissonia californica | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Narrow-leaved Bedstraw | Y | Galium angustifolium | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Parry's Phacelia | Y | Phacelia parryi | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Purple Sage | Y | Salvia leucophylla | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Red-Stem Filaree | N | Erodium cicutarium | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Rigid Hedge Nettle | Y | Stachys bullata | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Slender Tarweed | Y | Deinandra fasciculata | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Sticky Monkey Flower | Y | Mimulus aurantiacus | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Stinging Lupine | Y | Lupinus hirsutissimus | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | White Pincushion | Y | Chaenactis artemisiifolia | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | White Yarrow | Y | Achillea millefolium | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Wild Morning Glory | Y | Calystegia macrostegia ssp cyclostegia | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Yucca | Y | Hesperoyucca whipplei | Ray Miller Trail |
Day 1 | Birdfoot Trefoil | N | Lotus corniculatus | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
Day 1 | California Wild Rose | Y | Rosa californica | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
Day 1 | Canyon Sunflower | Y | Venegasia carpesioides | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
Day 1 | Eucrypta | Y | Eucrypta chrysanthemifolia | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
Day 1 | Golden Stars | Y | Bloomeria crocea | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
Day 1 | Slim Aster | Y | Aster subulatus | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
Day 1 | Two-tone Everlasting | Y | Gnaphalium bicolor | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
Day 1 | Yellow Sweet Clover | N | Melilotus indica | Wood Canyon Vista Trail |
Day 2 | Feltleaf Everlasting | Y | Gnaphalium canescens | Blue Canyon |
Day 2 | Western Virgin's Bower | Y | Clematis ligusticifolia | Blue Canyon |
Day 2 | Crimson Pitcher Sage | Y | Salvia spathacea | Boney Trail |
Day 2 | Heart-Leaved Penstemon | Y | Keckiella cordifolia | Boney Trail |
Day 2 | Large-Flowered Phacelia | Y | Phacelia grandiflora | Boney Trail |
Day 2 | Poison Oak | Y | Toxicodendron diversilobum | Boney Trail |
Day 2 | Speckled Clarkia | Y | Clarkia cylindrica | Boney Trail |
Day 2 | Sticky Madia | Y | Madia gracilis | Boney Trail |
Day 2 | Chaparral Pea | Y | Pickeringia montana | Chamberlain Trail |
Day 2 | Cobweb Thistle | Y | Cirsium occidentale | Chamberlain Trail |
Day 2 | Hedge Mustard | N | Sisymbrium officinale | Chamberlain Trail |
Day 2 | Miner's Lettuce | Y | Claytonia perfoliata | Chamberlain Trail |
Day 2 | Minute Popcorn Flower | Y | Cryptantha micromeres | Chamberlain Trail |
Day 2 | Peninsular Onion | Y | Allium peninsulare | Chamberlain Trail |
Day 2 | Pitcher Sage | Y | Lepechinia fragrans | Chamberlain Trail |
Day 2 | Purple Owl's Clover | Y | Castilleja exserta | Chamberlain Trail |
Day 2 | Shiny Lomatium | Y | Lomatium lucidum | Chamberlain Trail |
Day 2 | Skullcap | Y | Scutellaria tuberosa | Chamberlain Trail |
Day 2 | Southern Tauschia | Y | Tauschia arguta | Chamberlain Trail |
Day 2 | Windmill Pink | N | Silene gallica | Chamberlain Trail |
Day 2 | Lance-Leaf Live-Forever | Y | Dudleya lanceolata | Sandstone Peak Trail |
Day 2 | Yellow Pincushion | Y | Chaenactis glabriuscula | Sandstone Peak Trail |
Day 3 | California Thistle | Y | Cirsium occidentale var californium | Newton Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Sticky Phacelia | Y | Phacelia viscida | Newton Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Red-Skinned Onion | Y | Allium haematochiton | Sandstone Peak Trail |
Day 3 | Scarlet Pimpernel | N | Anagallis arvensis | Sandstone Peak Trail |
Day 3 | Bur-Chervil | N | Anthriscus caucalis | Trancas Canyon |
Day 3 | California Blackberry | Y | Rubus ursinus | Trancas Canyon |
Day 3 | Canyon Sweet Pea | Y | Lathyrus vestitus | Trancas Canyon |
Day 3 | Common Vervain | Y | Verbena lasiostachys | Trancas Canyon |
Day 3 | Foothill Penstemon | Y | Penstemon heterophyllus | Trancas Canyon |
Day 3 | Greenbark Ceanothus | Y | Ceanothus spinosus | Trancas Canyon |
Day 3 | Mountain Dandilion | Y | Agoseris grandiflora | Trancas Canyon |
Day 3 | Slender Sunflower | Y | Helianthus gracilentus | Trancas Canyon |
Day 3 | Sticky Cinquefoil | Y | Potentilla glandulosa | Trancas Canyon |
Day 3 | Sugar Bush | Y | Rhus ovata | Trancas Canyon |
Day 3 | Toyon | Y | Heteromeles arbutifolia | Trancas Canyon |
Day 3 | Whispering Bells | Y | Emmenanthe penduliflora | Trancas Canyon |
Day 3 | Chaparral Honeysuckle | Y | Lonicera subspicata | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Checker Bloom | Y | Sidalcea malviflora | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Chocolate lily | Y | Fritillaria biflora | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Coast Figwort | Y | Scrophularia californica | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Creek Monkey Flower | Y | Mimulus guttatus | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Dove Lupine | Y | Lupinus bicolor | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Fairy Lantern Globe Lily | Y | Calochortus albus | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Fuchsia-Flowered Gooseberry | Y | Ribes speciosum | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Globe Gilia | Y | Gilia capitata | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Meadow Rue | Y | Thalictrum fendleri | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Mountain Mahogany | Y | Cercocarpus betuloides | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Spanish Broom | N | Spartium junceum | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Woodland Star | Y | Lithophragma affine | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | Woolly Lomatium | Y | Lomatium dasycarpum | Upper Zuma Canyon Trail |
Day 3 | California Poppy | Y | Eschscholzia californica | Zuma Ridge Motorway |
Day 4 | Tree Poppy | Y | Dendromecon rigida | Latigo Canyon Trail |
Day 4 | Coffeeberry | Y | Rhamnus californica | Mesa Peak Motorway |
Day 4 | English Plantain | N | Plantago lanceolata | Mesa Peak Motorway |
Day 4 | Large-Flowered Lotus | Y | Lotus grandiflorus | Mesa Peak Motorway |
Day 4 | Silver Lotus | Y | Lotus argophyllus | Mesa Peak Motorway |
Day 4 | Spanish Clover | Y | Lotus purshianus | Mesa Peak Motorway |
Day 4 | Telegraph Weed | Y | Heterotheca grandiflora | Mesa Peak Motorway |
Day 4 | Woolly Aster | Y | Corethrogyne filaginifolia | Mesa Peak Motorway |
Day 4 | Yerba Santa | Y | Eriodictyon crassifolium | Mesa Peak Motorway |
Day 4 | Rose Snapdragon | Y | Antirrhinum multiflorum | Upper Solstice Caynon Trail |
Day 4 | Scarlet Bugler | Y | Penstemon centranthifolius | Upper Solstice Caynon Trail |
Day 4 | Small Evening Primrose | Y | Camissonia micrantha | Upper Solstice Caynon Trail |
Day 5 | Annual Bedstraw | Y | Galium aparine | Piuma Ridge Trail |
Day 5 | Bull Thistle | N | Cirsium vulgare | Piuma Ridge Trail |
Day 5 | Milk Thistle | N | Silybum marianum | Piuma Ridge Trail |
Day 5 | Periwinkle | N | Vinca major | Piuma Ridge Trail |
Day 5 | Showy Penstemon | Y | Penstemon spectabilis | Piuma Ridge Trail |
Day 5 | Spring Vetch | N | Vicia sativa | Piuma Ridge Trail |
Day 6 | Gum Plant | Y | Grindelia camporum var. bracteosum | Dead Horse Trail |
Day 6 | Blow-wives | Y | Achillea mollis | Hondo Canyon Trail |
Day 6 | Bristly Ox-Tongue | N | Picris echioides | Hondo Canyon Trail |
Day 6 | California Buttercup | Y | Ranunculus californicus | Hondo Canyon Trail |
Day 6 | Kern Brodiaea | Y | Brodiaea terrestris | Hondo Canyon Trail |
Day 6 | Long-Beaked Filaree | N | Erodium botrys | Hondo Canyon Trail |
Day 6 | Oyster Plant | N | Tragopogon porrifolius | Hondo Canyon Trail |
Day 6 | Rock-Rose | N | Helianthemum scoparium | Hondo Canyon Trail |
Day 6 | Tomcat Clover | Y | Trifolium willdenovii | Hondo Canyon Trail |
Day 6 | Hedypnois | N | Hedypnois cretica | Musch Trail |
Day 7 | Castor Bean | N | Ricinus communis | Rogers Road Trail |
Day 7 | Chaparral Broomrape | Y | Orobanche bulbosa | Topanga Rogers Road |
Day 7 | Violet Snapdragon | Y | Antirrhinum nuttallianum | Topanga Rogers Road |
Day 7 | White Snapdragon | Y | Antirrhinum coulterianum | Topanga SP Musch Trail |
Day 7 | Russian Thistle | N | Salsola tragus | Will Rogers Park; Rogers Road Trail |
Milt McAuley's 1996 edition of Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains was the primary reference.
We listed only those plants that were blooming and left out the plants that we could not identify. Comparing the list with previous years, we can see several more flowers that we must have overlooked on 2009's trek.