Just before leaving for Paris, I was informed about a field trip in the San Gabriels which sounded interesting, and I joined a small group to check out a location I had never been to before. It was Forest Road 2N15 off the 39 highway north of Azusa, leading to a small grassy area called Chamisal Mesa. This road is also called Pigeon Ridge and is about 4 miles north of where the West Fork road goes off to Cogswell Dam. The elevation there is approximately 3000'-3500', and there was a surprising number of species in bloom along the road. I didn't have my Jepson Manual with me, so wasn't able to work out what some of the things were, but as has been my custom in the past, when I returned from Paris I went back twice on my own to do some follow-up photography and try to pin down some uncertain identifications. I have decided to concentrate almost exclusively on the San Gabriels for the next several years, and try to develop a better knowledge of the flora there since it is in a manner of speaking my back yard. Identifications shown here are in a few cases based on what taxa have been collected at this elevation in this area. The symbol ^ is for a species I had never seen before, and an asterisk is for a non-native taxon. Thanks to Tom Chester, Tommy Stoughton, and Hartmut Wisch for help with some identifications.

Small-flowered meconella, Smallflower fairypoppy
Meconella denticulata
Papaveraceae

Prickly phlox
Linanthus californicus
Polemoniaceae

Canyon sweet pea, Pacific pea
Lathyrus vestitus
Fabaceae

Wild cucumber, Chilicothe
Marah macrocarpa
Cucurbitaceae