Wildflowers in Shell Ridge
March 10, 2004In spite of the recent warm spell, this is a late year, mostly because of the cool rainy weather in February. Therefore, normal blooming is about 2 to 3 weeks overdue. Yet, there are tens of millions of flowers on these hills we will walk today. The trouble is there are only a few different kinds of flowers. Our walk took us from the Sutherland entrance (off of Walnut Blvd.) to Shell Ridge, taking the road to the right past Bramhall Pond, up the hill to Ginder Gap, up the narrow footpath to the crest of Shell Ridge, along the summit, down the switchback, near Indian Valley school, down the hill to Indian Pond and back to the entrance again. This is about a four-mile walk and will take about 90 minutes. Today I saw about 22 species of wildflowers and more will come every day now. These were:
Flower | Refs. | ||
Common Name | Color | (1)(2) | Location |
Blue Dicks | Blue | 352 | Top of Shell Ridge (SR) |
Blue-eyed Grass | Blue | 350 | Near Bramhall Pond |
Wally Baskets | Blue | 352 | Near broken bench |
California Poppies | Orange | 224 | Spread around |
Red Owl's Clover | Pink | 240 | One on top of SR |
Vetch | Pink | 326 | All over - yet to bloom |
Arroyo Lupine | Purple | 376 | Top of SR |
Filaree - storksbill | Purple | 286 | Roadsides |
Geranium | Purple | 284 | Roadsides |
Shooting Stars | Purple | 246 | Top of SR |
Fremont's Camas | White | 6 | Back of Fossil Hill |
Miner's Lettace | White | 294 | Millions of blooms |
Nemophylla | White | 74 | Tousands of blooms |
Peppergrass | White | 24 | Roadsides |
Poison Oak | White | ----- | Top of SR |
Shepherd's Purse | White | 26 | Roadsides |
Wavy Leaf Soap Plant | White | 12 | All over |
Buttercups | Yellow | 154 | Spread around |
Common Butterweed | Yellow | 208 | Roadsides |
Fiddleneck | Yellow | 226 | Top of SR |
Lotus | Yellow | 180 | Roadsides |
Mule Ears | Yellow | 184 | Top of SR |
Mustard | Yellow | 140 | Spread around |
California Sage | ----- | ----- | Top of SR |