What the Desert Holds

So much to blog about, so little time...
The desert holds so many amazing things and I am constantly suprised. Every trip has something unexpected, like snakes! What is it with rattlesnakes this year?? I saw zero last year and this year I've already seen four, specifically three in one day last week! One (a Mohave green, Crotalus scutulatus) was just hanging out on the road. The others (perhaps Southwestern speckled rattlesnakes, Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus) were in some kind of combat near another road.

Mojave May Trips!

Mark your calendars and RSVP your spot now! Contact treasurehunt@cnps.org.

Saturday, May 7th Daytrip to Johnson Valley to search for Cymopterus multinervatus, (Purplenerve springparsley, see below) and Mimulus mohavensis, and more.

Friday to Sunday, May 13-15th Silurian Hills, Valjean Hills and Avawatz Mountains- North of Mojave Preserve, To look for Desert Bear Poppy (Arctomecon merriamii, see below), Androstephium breviflorum, Mojave Milkweed (Asclepias nyctaginifolia), Camissonia boothii and Purplenerve springparsley (Cymopterus multinervatus, see above). Join us Friday morning/night or Saturday morning for this camping trip.

Saturday and Sunday, May 21-22nd Trip lead by Duncan Bell, 2010 Grand Prize winner of the Rare Plant Treasure Hunt to the Eastern San Bernardino Mtns.

Friday to Sunday, May 27-29th Trip to Kingston and Clark Mtns and the Ivanpah Valley -to look for Mojave milkweed (Asclepias nyctaginifolia) and many others. Overnight camping trip, come Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.

More Trips

We have a few more trips on the horizon we'd like you to join. These are mostly mid-week trips, so not everyone will be able to join, but if it's your spring break, you're retired or you have time off then awesome! On Friday, April 15th Come see the Maturango Museum Wildflowershow in conjunction with the CNPS Creosote Ring subchapter, then survey with us nearby. We will most likely be going to the El Paso and Rand Mountains. Celebrate California Native Plant Week with a trip: Tuesday-Wednesday, April 19th-20th we will be surveying for Penstemon albomarginatus, the very rare White margin Penstemon among other plants along Route 66! This will be an overnight camping trip. Thursday, April 21st- Collecting for the Rancho Santa Ana Botanica Garden Wildflower Show from Yermo down to the Newberry, Rodman and Ord Mountains, just east and southeast of Barstow. This should be a lot of fun! And on Saturday, April 30th we are having a joint trip with the Sierra Club to the Juniper Flats/Ord Mountains area outside of Victorville. Join us! RSVP to treasurehunt@cnps.org for details. Above: Eriophyllum wallacei, Woolly daisy. Not rare but a relative of the rare Barstow woolly daisy.

The Latest Installment...

Our last trip out was amazing! Yes, it may have gotten cold. Yes, it was windy, but we saw astounding fields of wild flowers, impeccable petroglyphs and even a rare plant or two. Can you spot the rare cactus? I almost tripped over it. It was well camouflaged. This is Sclerocactus polyancistrus, Mojave fish hook cactus. But I think the artists of this petroglyph had seen the cactus before! Do you see a resemblance?I love the wide open spaces of the desert, we hardly saw any people for days.And the fields of shockingly yellow wildflowers was a good bonus!

Amazing Things

The Colorado Desert of California has already given us a bounty of rare blooms and plants this year!

Fairy Duster, Calliandra eriophylla, rare plant rank 2.3, a beautiful little shrub. This ones stamens aren't fully open.

Mentzelia puberula, Argus Blazing star, rare plant rank 2.2. Last documented in this area in 1941!

This is a rare find-a Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) in California! This was last spotted overhead by plane in 1984!

This Saguaro is at least 100 years old, probably older. Look how tall it is and how many arms it has!

Plants and Petroglyphs Desert Trip

Petroglyphs by Bud Walley, Google Earth

There is still time to get in on this truly unique and exciting treasure Hunt! Not only will we be looking for rare plants but we will be looking for Petroglyphs as well! This trip will be just north of Barstow, so it's not far from the LA area. We will be meeting Friday March 25th and ending the night of Sunday, March 27th (there is also the possibility of meeting us Saturday morning, if you can't join us Friday). Please RSVP to treasurehunt@cnps.org for a full itinerary.

The rare Mentzelia tridentata, Three toothed Blazing Star, rare plant rank 1B.3

We will be searching for the Blazing star pictured above, as well as the Barstow Woolly sunflower, the rare desert springparsley and others. It should be amazing trips for experts and novices alike!

Trips, Trips and More Trips

The Jacumba Mountians, Imperial County

RSVP to treasurehunt@cnps.org for more details. Space limited on some trips. If you can't come for the whole trip arrangements may be made.


Monday-Wednesday, March 7-9th: Eastern Imperial County: Alogodone Dunes and environs. Camp on the dunes, go on a night hike and look for rare plants to boot. We're hoping to find weird and wild rare plants with true desert experts.

Friday, March 11th: Coachella Valley Preserve- Meet 9 am in the Preserve Parking Lot in Thousand Palms.


Friday-Sunday, March 18-20th: Joint Trip with Habitatworks: Exploring south of Joshua Tree near the Chuckwalla Mtns, Red Cloud Canyon, and Orocopia Mtns to hunt for Coues’ Cassia, California snakebush, Ditaxis serrata var. californica, Matelea parvifolia, Ayenia compacta, Lavendar Sage, Astragalus insularis var. harwoodii and Castela emoryi. Space limited.

Friday-Monday, March 25-28th: “Plants and Petroglyphs”- Desert Survivors Club trip
Combing Black Mountain, Cuddeback Lake, Golden Valley Wilderness area, Red Mountain to find Indian petroglyphs and rare plants such as Mentzelia tridentata, Eriophyllum mohavense, Cymopterus deserticola, Mimulus mohavensis, Eschscholzia minutiflora var. twissellmannii. Space limited.

Friday-Sunday, April 1-3rd: Soda Mountains proposed wilderness area with the California Wilderness Coalition- Come explore undiscovered country!

Friday-Sunday, April 8- 10th: Desert Survivors Club Trip 2- Surveying in the Solar Energy Study Areas: Chuckwalla Valley and Iron Mtns. RSVP required, space limited.


Week of April 11th-Surveying near Ridgecrest and collecting for the Creosote Ring Wildflower Show


Week of April 18th- Collecting for RSABG Wildflower Show and surveying for Penstemon albomarginatus.


Saturday, April 30th: Sierra Club Joint Trip to Juniper Flats and the Ord Mountains in the Northern San Bernardino Mountains Foothills. Come explore the border of the mountains and the desert. We may find Cushenbury buckwheat and other limestone endemics.