Big Rock Wash Wildlife Sanctuary

Location:
Big Rock Wash Wildlife Sanctuary is located on East Avenue "O" one mile east of 110th Street East and 1.5 miles west of Alpine Butte Wildlife Sanctuary.

Size:
160 acres

Elevation:

Accessibility:
The area is accessible over paved East Avenue "O"

Plant Communities:
The plant community is sparse due to the fact that this is a sandy flood plane. Some Joshua Trees and Desert shrubs are found on the slope areas with many annual wildflowers in wet years after winter and spring rains.

Present Condition and General Observations:
The area is very sandy and dunes form after strong winds. In some years introduced species such as Russian Thistle (Tumbleweeds) cover the area, but even then the area has a strange romantic feel as the famous "desert" tumbleweeds blow by.


Big Rock Creek Wash Wildflowers
Indian Rice Grass ------------- (Achnatherum hymenoides)
Burrobush (Ambrosia dumosa)
Checker Fiddleneck (Amsinckia tessellata)
Locoweed (Astragalus sp.)
Wingscale (Atriplex canescens)
Red Brome (Bromus madritensis rubens)
Cheat Grass (Bromus tectorum)
Fremont Pincushion (Chaenactis fremontii)
Rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus)
Bigelow Coreopsis (Coreopsis bigelovii)
Croton (Croton californicus)
?Popcornflower (Cryptantha circumcissa)
?Popcornflower (Cryptantha micrantha)
?Popcornflower (Cryptantha pterocaria)
White Mallow (Eremalche exilis)
Interior Goldenbush (Ericameria linearifolius)
Slender Buckwheat (Eriogonum gracillimum)
Yellow Turban (Eriogonum pusillum)
Wallace Eriophyllum (Eriophyllum wallacei)
Filaree (Erodium cicutarium)
Snake Weed (Gutierrezia sp.)
Foxtail Barley (Hordeum jubatum)
Winter Fat (Krascheninnikovia lanata)
Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata)
Lessingia (Lessingia g. glandulifera)
Desert Calico (Loeseliastrum mathewsii)
Anderson Boxthorn (Lycium andersonii)
Blazing Star (Mentzelia affinis)
Desert Pennyroyal (Monardella exilis)
Dune Primrose (Oenothera deltoides)
(rare)Silver Cholla (Opuntia echinocarpa)
Russian Thistle (Salsola tragus)
Mediterranean Grass (Schismus barbatus)
Tumble-Mustard (Sisymbrium altissimum)
Wire lettuce (Stephanomeria sp.)
Coldenia (Tiquilia nuttallii)
Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia)


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