Mescal Wildlife Sanctuary

Location:
  • The Mescal Wildlife Sanctuary is located just north of Pearblossom Highway (State Highway 138), about 5 miles northwest of the town of Pinon Hills. The legal description is as follows: a portion of the Northeast quarter of Section 34, Township 5 North, Range 8 West, S.B.B.M.

    Size:
  • 100 acres

    Elevation:
  • Ranges from 3,541 to 3,610 feet above sea level.

    Accessibility:
  • The sanctuary is accessible from State Highway 138 (Pearblossom Highway) but is very difficult to find since there are no signs along the highway.

    Plant Communities:
  • The dominant plant communities are Joshua Tree Woodland and Creosote Bush Scrub, but the location at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains allows for a few California Junipers and Whipple Yuccas to be scattered through the Sanctuary.

    Present Condition and General Observations:
    It is unfortunate that Mescal is so difficult to locate as it contains perhaps the most interesting diversity of plants and a good variety of wildlife, as evidenced by numerous tracks of large and small mammals and lizards. The wildflowers are impressive in the Spring as annuals and perennial shrubs provide quite a show.


  • Mescal Wildflowers
    Indian Rice Grass------- (Achnatherum hymenoides)
    Desert Needlegrass (Achnatherum speciosum)
    Burrobush (Ambrosia dumosa)
    Checker Fiddleneck (Amsinckia tessellata)
    Wingscale (Atriplex canescens)
    ?Allscale (Atriplex polycarpa)
    Red Brome (Bromus madritensis rubens)
    Sand-cress (Calyptridium monandrum)
    Mojave Sun Cup (Camissonia campestris)
    Pygmy Poppy (Canbya candida)
    Cooper Caulanthus (Caulanthus cooperi)
    Desert Candle (Caulanthus inflatus)
    Fremont Pincushion (Chaenactis fremontii)
    Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus)
    Bigelow Coreopsis (Coreopsis bigelovii)
    Popcornflower (Cryptantha circumcissa)
    ?Popcornflower (Cryptantha micrantha)
    ?Popcornflower (Cryptantha pterocaria)
    Parish Larkspur (Delphinium parishii)
    Tansy-Mustard (Descurainia pinnata)
    Rayless Encelia (Encelia frutescens)
    Mormon tea (Ephedra nevadensis)
    Cooper Goldenbush (Ericameria cooperi)
    Interior Goldenbush (Ericameria linearifolius)
    Flat-top Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum polifolium)
    Yellow Turban (Eriogonum pusillum)
    Pringle Eriophyllum (Eriophyllum pringlei)
    Wallace Eriophyllum (Eriophyllum wallacei)
    Filaree (Erodium cicutarium)
    Davy Gilia (Gilia latiflora davyi)
    Glyptopleura (Glyptopleura marginata)
    Hop-Sage (Grayia spinosa)
    Cheesebush (Hymenoclea salsola)
    California Juniper (Juniperus californica)
    Winter Fat (Krascheninnikovia lanata)
    Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata)
    White Layia (Layia glandulosa)
    Desert Alyssum (Lepidium fremontii)
    Scale-broom (Leptospartum squamatum)
    Parry Linanthus (Linanthus parryae)
    Desert Parsley (Lomatium mohavense)
    Royal Desert Lupine (Lupinus odoratus)
    Anderson Boxthorn (Lycium andersonii)
    Cooper Boxthorn (Lycium cooperi)
    ?Rabbit-thorn (Lycium pallidum)
    Desert Dandelion (Malocothrix glabrata)
    Blazing Star (Mentzelia affinis)
    Fremont Monkeyflower (Mimulus fremontii)
    Four O’Clock (Mirabilis bigelovii)
    Purple Mat (Nama demissuum)
    Oxytheca (Oxytheca sp.)
    Comb-bur (Pectocarya linearis)
    Fat-leaf Phacelia (Phacelia distans)
    (rare)Fremont Phacelia (Phacelia fremontii)
    Desert Almond (Prunus fasciculatum)
    Wild-Rhubarb (Rumex hymenosepalus)
    Bladder Sage (Salazaria mexicana)
    Chia (Salvia columbariae)
    Blue Sage (Salvia dorrii)
    Mediterranean Grass (Schismus barbatus)
    Cotton-Thorn (Tetradymia axillaris longispina)
    Mojave Horsebrush (Tetradymia stenolepis)
    Silver Puffs (Uropappus lindleyi)
    Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia)
    Whipple Yucca (Yucca whipplei)


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