The photos in this gallery are from several visits to the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve during the spring of 2003. After many dozens of hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains, I was introduced to the Santa Rosa Plateau by Tom Chester who lives not far from here. Located at the southern end of the Santa Ana Mountains in southwestern Riverside County near the cities of Murrieta and Temecula, the Santa Rosa Plateau is as its name indicates an upland plateau with an average elevation of 2,000' and its 9,000 acres include Englemann oak woodlands, riparian wetlands, coastal sage scrub, vernal pools, and chaparral bunchgrass prairie. The Moreno and Machado Adobes are the oldest standing structures in Riverside County dating back to 1846. In 1984 the Nature Conservancy purchased 3,100 acres and the remaining acreage was acquired in the 1990s by the State of California, The Riverside County Regional Park and Open Space District, and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, are agencies that maintain separate ownership but act cooperatively to oversee the Reserve. The Visitor Center and the 40-mile trail system are managed by the Riverside County Parks Department. There are probably close to 500 species of plants that occur there, so it is a botanist's paradise. The Reserve is a wonderful, beautiful and peaceful place, and it takes many visits to feel that you really know it. Two excellent sources to help in identifying the plants found there is Tom Chester's Flora of the Greater Santa Rosa Plateau Region which lists species located both on trails and off, and Earl Lathrop and Bob Thorne's A Flora of the Santa Rosa Plateau. I have purposely avoided many non-native species, but those that are included are indicated as such by an asterisk next to the common name.

Vinegar weed
Trichostema lanceolatum
Lamiaceae

Tawny popcorn flower
Plagiobothrys fulvus var. campestris
Boraginaceae