It has been over 2-1/2 years since I last hiked in the Santa Monica Mountains, and I was eager to see whether there was much in the way of blooming flora at this early stage of what is likely to be a fairly dry season, so I joined my hiking companions Jerry, John and Chris to hike most of what has been referred to as the Malibu Creek Grand Tour, and then went back a few days later to hike the entire loop, which goes from the Malibu Creek State Park parking area over a ridge to Tapia Park and the Piuma Road trailhead, thence up the Backbone Trail, the Mesa Peak Motorway and the Castro Motorway to the Bulldog Motorway and back down past the M*A*S*H site, returning after 14 miles to the parking area. As this photo gallery demonstrates, there is currently a surprising number of blooming species, although most not in any profusion. It is my hope to cover this area several times to record the progression of the flora as the season goes on, although if I do it will likely be as a series of two hikes each, as I found the 14 mile distance coupled with 2000' of elevation gain to be too tiring. An asterisk next to the common name indicates a non-native species. Thanks to Hartmut Wisch for the spider identifications.

Milkmaids
Cardamine californica
Brassicaceae

Wild peony
Paeonia californica
Paeoniaceae

Purple nightshade
Solanum xanti
Solanaceae
[Named for János Xántus (de Vesey), 1825-1894]

Yellow pincushion
Chaenactis glabriuscula var. glabriuscula
Asteraceae

Large-flowered cryptantha
Cryptantha intermedia var. intermedia
Boraginaceae

White-flowering currant
Ribes indecorum
Grossulariaceae

Longstem buckwheat
Eriogonum elongatum
Polygonaceae

Golden yarrow
Eriophyllum confertiflorum var. confertiflorum
Asteraceae