The purpose of this trip was to see and photograph two species which I hadn't seen before, Mollugo and Selaginella asprella, both of which I knew would not be in particularly good shape given the lateness of the season, and another species, Ivesia saxosa, which I had never seen before in bloom. The Mollugo, Pectis, Lotus and Amaranthus were found in a wash at a lower elevation and farther along CA-74 than the trailhead of the Pacific Crest Trail. As with the last few Gallery pages, many of the species seen during this outing were in their winter mode and thus not especially attractive, but this is an interesting almost-flat trail with great rock exposures and, as Tom Chester aptly described it, "an amazing mixture of coastal, desert, montane, riparian, cliff-loving, sun-loving, and shade-loving plants." Whether there were many blooms in evidence or not, this gallery documents some of the species that are to be found on this trail. The Ivesia joined its fellow rock-loving species Ericameria cuneata, also very much in bloom, in occupying a habitat that would seemingly be very inimitable to plant life, cracks in almost vertical rock cliff faces. An upside-down V next to the common name indicates a taxon that was new to me when I photographed it on this field trip.

Chinchweed
Pectis papposa
Asteraceae

Threadstem carpetweed ^
Mollugo cerviana
Molluginaceae

Deane's wirelettuce
Stephanomeria exigua ssp. deanei
Asteraceae
[Picture on right of fasciated stm]
[Named for George Clement Deane, 1854-1930]

Fringed amaranth
Amaranthus fimbriatus
Amaranthaceae

Desert rock pea
Lotus rigidus
Fabaceae

Mexican manzanita
Arctostaphylos pungens
Ericaceae

Davidson's buckwheat
Eriogonum davidsonii
Polygonaceae
[Named for Anstruther Davidson, 1860-1932]

Torrey's scrub oak
Quercus acutidens
Fagaceae

Interior live oak
Quercus wislizeni var. frutescens
Fagaceae
[Named for Frederick Adolf Wislizenus, 1810-1889]