Location:
Butte Valley Wildflower Sanctuary is situated on the south side of East Avenue "I" and bounded on the west by 190th Street East and on the east by 200th Street East. The area is just one mile north of Saddleback Butte State Park. Legal description: the north half of Section 13, Township 7 North, Range 9 West, S.B.B.M.
Size:
320 acres
Elevation:
from 2,900 to 2,985 feet above sea level.
Accessibility:
Butte Valley Sanctuary is easily accessible by the paved 190th Street East, 200th Street East and East Avenue "I" . (All are paved roads.)
Plant Communities:
The dominant plant communities here are Joshua Tree Woodland and Creosote Bush Scrub. Creosote Bush Scrub is more abundant and Joshua Trees fewer at this sanctuary.
Present Condition and General Observations:
The Butte Valley Wildflower Sanctuary is currently in very natural condition with a few signs of public abuse. Some off-road use is visible and illegal dumping occurs periodically and must be removed quickly to prevent more dumping. The topography is undulating and gently sloping to the west and can almost be termed "flatland". The fallen and decaying Joshua Tree logs provide homes for such animals as the burrowing Antelope Ground Squirrel, Desert Night Lizard and Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion. (See Flora of the Sanctuaries)
Butte Valley Wildflowers:
| Goldenhead------------------ | (Acamptopappus sphaerocephalus) |
| Indian Rice Grass | (Achnatherum hymenoides) |
| Burrobush | (Ambrosia dumosa) |
| Checker Fiddleneck | (Amsinckia tessellata) |
| Locoweed | (Astragalus sp.) |
| Wingscale | (Atriplex canescens) |
| ?Mustard | (Brassica tournefortii) |
| Red Brome | (Bromus madritensis rubens) |
| Cheat Grass | (Bromus tectorum) |
| Mojave Sun Cup | (Camissonia campestris) |
| Owl's Clover | (Castilleja exserta) |
| Desert Candle | (Caulanthus inflatus) |
| Thurber Spineflower | (Centrostegia thurbrei) |
| Fremont Pincushion | (Chaenactis fremontii) |
| Spurge | (Chamaesyce sp.) |
| Rabbitbrush | (Chrysothamnus nauseosus) |
| Bigelow Coreopsis | (Coreopsis bigelovii) |
| (rare) Croton | (Croton californicus) |
| Popcornflower | (Cryptantha circumcissa) |
| ?Popcornflower | (Cryptantha micrantha) |
| ?Popcornflower | (Cryptantha pterocaria) |
| Tansy-Mustard | (Descurainia pinnata) |
| Tansy-Mustard | (Descurainia sophia) |
| Mormon tea | (Ephedra nevadensis) |
| White Mallow | (Eremalche exilis) |
| Yellow Turban | (Eriogonum pusillum) |
| Wallace Eriophyllum | (Eriophyllum wallacei) |
| Filaree | (Erodium cicutarium) |
| Little Gold Poppy | (Eschscholzia minutiflora) |
| Davy Gilia | (Gilia latiflora davyi) |
| California Mustard | (Guillenia lasiophylla) |
| Cheesebush | (Hymenoclea salsola) |
| Winter Fat | (Krascheninnikovia lanata) |
| Creosote Bush | (Larrea tridentata) |
| Goldfields | (Lasthenia californica) |
| Pepper-grass | (Lepidium flavum) |
| Desert Parsley | (Lomatium mohavense) |
| Royal Desert Lupine | (Lupinus odoratus) |
| ?Cooper Boxthorn | (Lycium cooperi) |
| Desert Dandelion | (Malocothrix glabrata) |
| Blazing Star | (Mentzelia affinis) |
| Purple Mat | (Nama demissuum) |
| Dune Primrose | (Oenothera deltoides) |
| Yellow Desert Primrose | (Oenothera primiveris) |
| (rare)Beavertail cactus | (Opuntia basilaris) |
| Silver Cholla | (Opuntia echinocarpa) |
| (rare)Pholistoma | (Pholistoma membranaceum) |
| Wild-Rhubarb | (Rumex hymenosepalus) |
| Russian Thistle | (Salsola tragus) |
| Mediterranean Grass | (Schismus barbatus) |
| ?Tumble-Mustard | (Sisymbrium altissimum) |
| Stillingia | (Stillingia paucidentata) |
| ?Long-beaked Twist-flower | (Streptanthella longirostris) |
| Mojave Horsebrush | (Tetradymia stenolepis) |
| Silver Puffs | (Uropappus lindleyi) |
| Joshua Tree | (Yucca brevifolia) |
| Desert Zygadene | (Zigadenus brevibracteatus) |
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