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Bishop Field Office

Wildflower Update – May 2012

May 11, 2012

Things are really starting to bloom here in the Owens Valley. While we are not getting a huge amount of color from annuals this year due to the dry winter, the shrubs are really starting to take off.

Head up Fish Slough Rd towards its junction with Chidago Canyon Rd to catch some amazing indigo bush and apricot globe mallow. For more indigo bush, head up towards the Sparkplug Mine (accessed through White Mt Ranch Road off of Highway 6), but make sure you have 4WD and high clearance because this road can get pretty tough. Also out this way is Spiny hop-sage, and stands of Prince’s plume.

Head out to the Volcanic tablelands closer to Benton Crossing Road on Casa Diablo Rd and you can spot some Bitterbrush blooming vibrant yellow, and Silver leaf lupine along the side of the road.

Farther south, head up Mazourka Canyon Rd for to see Creosote in full bloom.

Down in the Alabama Hills, nothing showy is blooming, although the white blooms of Lepidium fremontii are out. In the riparian areas of the Alabama Hills, there are more flowers, including the delicate Epipactis gigantea. But, be cautious about getting too close – these riparian areas are extremely sensitive to disturbance!

There is also Iris (Iris missouriensis) blooming in local irrigated pastures in Round Valley and off Barlow Lane at the north end of Bishop.

To see what is blooming in other areas of California visit the Theodore Payne Foundations Wildflower Hotline

 

WILDFLOWERS Now Showing in and around the Owens Valley

 

Indigobush - (Psorothamnus arborscens)

This member of the Pea family has a biting scent and deep blue flowers. You can identify it from its soft green leaflets and its white twisting branches, if there are no flowers around.

 

            Photo of Indigo Bush in bloom. 

Indigo Bush

Apricot globe-mallow – (Sphaeralea ambigua)

 

Apricot globe-mallow has distinctive orange flowers at this time of year that shoot towards the sky in spears that can be 3 feet tall. The leaves are a soft yellow-green and circular with irregular margins.

 

Photo of Apricot globe-mallow in bloom.


Apricot globe-mallow

 

Spiny hop-sage (Grayia spinosa)

This member of the Chenopodaceae family has succulent little gray-green leaves on branches tipped by bright pink ripening seeds.

 

Photo of Spiny hop-sage

Spiny hop-sage

 

Prince’s plume (Stanleya)

This majestic yellow flower can stand up to 5 feet tall

Photo of Prince's plume in bloom.

Prince's plume

 

Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata)

Bitterbrush’s dark greens are enlivened by their current raiment of yellow flowers. This member of the rose family has burst into bloom all around Mono and Inyo counties. Look at the similarities between these flowers of 5 petals and many stamen, and flowers of an apple or plum tree, or even a cultivated rose.

 

Photo of Bitterbrush in bloom.

Bitterbrush

Desert pepperweed (Lepidium fremontii)

Even when blooming, this shrub is not very showy. Its little, 4-petaled white flowers seem to disappear into its heart-shaped seed pods. The rest of the plant is a bright light-green, and while in bloom, this plant seems like a cloud sitting on a green hillside.

 Photo of Desert pepperweed in bloom.
Desert Pepperweed

Silver leafed Lupine (Lupinus argentus)
This member of the pea family has large inflorescences of purple flowers, and leaves with five palmate leaflets, covered in fine white hair.
Creosote (Larrea tridentata)
The widely spaced Creosote towers about the rest of the shrubs in its habitat. Its bright green branches are covered with yellow flowers, and in some case its puff-ball seed pods.
 
General Wildflower viewing information for the Eastern Sierra

 

Peak blooming periods for wildflowers in the Eastern Sierra and surrounding Deserts.
(PDF 201KB)

Alabama Hills in bloom, golden llinanthus in bloomThe Volcanic tablelands (PDF 101KB) can radiate swathes of yellow and fuschia from the venus blazing star and purple mat. Learn more about the many recreation opportunities and the cultural significance of the area. The Alabama Hills (PDF 85KB) are host to fragrant fields of evening snow interspersed by scarlet locoweed and golden linanthus. Learn more about the history of the Alabama Hills.

 

Along the drainages and in recently burned areas entire hillsides can be covered in blue swathes of the Inyo bush lupine which has a distinctive grape soda smell. The spring bloom can extend on a good year, from early April through the beginning of June at the lower elevations, and then start again at the 7,000 ft. level in the sagebrush communities of Mono County, where the alkali shooting star, and rare alkali ivesia begin to bloom in early to mid June. See listing of wildflowers in the Bodie Hills area, north of Mono Lake (PDF 101KB).

For more information on where to see wildflowers and what's blooming, contact the BLM Bishop Field Office botanist at (760) 872-5035.

 

   
Last updated: 05-21-2012