On every previous trip to Joshua Tree National Park, I have simply walked off into the desert and explored. This was the first time I had ever hiked on an actual trail. The Lost Palms Oasis trail begins at Cottonwood Springs and travels up and down over fairly gentle albeit rocky terrain, across sandy washes, and through desert scrub some 4 miles to the oasis, which contains the largest collection of California fan palms in the park. The first part of the trail passes through what is the most floristic area at the present time, and the remainder of the trail is quite dry. This area is home to a massive number of pencil chollas and many large Nolinas. The oasis itself contains over 100 fan palms. Altogether I managed to photograph about three dozen species in bloom although most were not present in any great numbers. Unfortunately by the time I made it to the edge of Lost Palms Canyon, I had run out of time so was not able to go down into the oasis itself. It would be interesting to see what it would be like in a good year, but alas this is not going to be one of those. The symbol (~) next to the common name indicates a degree of uncertainty with regard to the identification. If anyone wants to weigh in on any of the Cryptantha/Pectocarya id's, please feel free to do so.

Bladderpod
Peritoma arborea
Cleomaceae

Apricot mallow
Sphaeralcea ambigua
Malvaceae

Desert stars
Monoptilon bellioides
Asteraceae

Yellow comet (~)
Mentzelia affinis
Loasaceae
[Named for Christian Mentzel, 1622-1701]

Bigelow's monkeyflower
Mimulus bigelovii
Phrymaceae
[Named for John Milton Bigelow. 1904-1878