This was the second of my two scheduled Jepson workshops for 2009. I had been concerned that May was too early for the San Jacintos but we solved that problem by going to a variety of different habitats, environments and elevations. Places we visited included Garner Valley, Santa Rosa Peak, Indian Canyons, Hidden Lake and the Mt. Edna Road burn area, all places I had been to before but still valuable and productive locations. An extremely congenial and knowledgeable group, a terrific trip leader (Tim Krantz), a most pleasurable home base at the James Reserve, lovely meals, a trip up the mountain on the Palm Springs Aerial Tram, and an amazing variety of wildflowers especially considering the dryness of this year, all combined to make this one the best Jepson workshops I have attended and a truly memorable experience. Some of the photos displayed here were taken after leaving the Reserve on Sunday afternoon on the way down the mountain. I am including the picture of the Eustoma exaltatum which I took on the road to the Whitewater Reserve because several people expressed an interest in it and because it is a San Jacintos plant. The picture quality displayed here in some cases may be less than I had hoped and is attributable to the somewhat rushed atmosphere of a Jepson field workshop which anyone who has attended such an outing will appreciate. It is not always possible in such situations to take the extra time or care to acquire just that combination of choice of plant, composition, and lighting one might otherwise be able to arrange. This is one of the most extensive photo galleries I have ever composed, and this is partly because of the great number of species we saw, and partly because increasingly I am displaying more than one picture per species in order to show as many diagnostic features as possible. As always, 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, and an asterisk indicates a non-native species.

Heartleaf penstemon
Keckiella cordifolia
Plantaginaceae
[Named for David Daniels Keck, 1903-1995]

Bush monkeyflower
Mimulus aurantiacus
Phrymaceae

Western blue flax
Linum lewisii var. lewisii
Linaceae
[Named for Meriwether Lewis, 1774-1809]

Catchfly gentian
Eustoma exaltatum ssp. exaltatum
Gentianaceae

San Jacinto Mountains bedstraw
Galium angustifolium ssp. jacinticum
Rubiaceae

Yellow pincushion
Chaenactis glabriuscula var. glabriuscula
Asteraceae

Sapphire woolstar
Eriastrum sapphirinum
Polemoniaceae

Chicalote, Prickly poppy
Argemone munita
Papaveraceae

Adaptive coloration of mountain short-horned lizard
Phrynosoma hernandesi
Phrynosomatidae

Becker's white
Pontia beckerii
Pieridae

Scalebud
Anisocoma acaulis
Asteraceae

Desert sand verbena
Abronia villosa var. aurita
Nyctaginaceae

Beautiful hulsea
Hulsea vestita ssp. callicarpha
Asteraceae
[Named for Gilbert White Hulse, 1807-1883]

Blue larkspur
Delphinium parryi ssp. parryi
Ranunculaceae
[Named for Charles Christopher Parry, 1823-1890]