Blossoming Hillsides
Fire is part of the natural life cycle in the mountains, one that is destructive, yet also restorative. Hillsides blackened in the fall’s fires have sprung to life with pink, yellow, blue and purple blossoms.
These “fire followers,” a they are called, appear only after fires and have joined the usual display of wildflowers that bloom every spring.
The seeds of some plants actually need the heat of fire to germinate and can remain dormant for decades before sprouting. Scientists are also discovering that a chemical in charred wood or smoke seems to trigger germination.
Fires clear away competing plants, allowing these specialilzed wildflowers to grow. Fire followers are the showiest flowers to appear after a fire, and will predominate the next few seasons until they are crowded out by other vegetation.
Where To Go Family nature walks through Eaton Canyon are held every Saturday at 9 a.m., led by volunteer naturalists of Eaton Canyon Nature Center Associates. These walks are free. Meet in the parking lot at 1750 N. Altadena Drive, Pasadena, one block north of New York Drive. For information, call (818) 821-3246 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley conducts walks on the foundation’s Flower Hill every Saturday at 9 a.m. at 10459 Tuxford St. just east of Sunland Boulevard. A $2 donation is requested. For wildflower updates, call the foundation’s hot line (818) 768-3533.
The Santa Monica Mountain Parks Information Service provides hiking and wildflower information for the Santa Monica and Santa Susana Mountains and the Verdugo Hills from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Call (800) 533-7275.
Catalina Mariposa Lily
Calochortus catalinae
When it blooms: March-May.
Where it blooms: Grassy slopes in heavy soil, grassland and coastal sage habitats at low elevations.
Description: Mariposa means butterfly in Spanish and single two-to three inch flowers sit on delicate one-to two-foot stems. Now in bloom in the Cold Creek area of the Santa Monica Mountains between Malibu and Topanga canyons.
Foothill Lupine
Lupinus succulentus
When it blooms: February-early May.
Where it blooms: Heavy clay soil on grassy slopes, grasslands and coastal sage scrub plant communities below 1,500-foot elevations. Blooming in the Cold Creek area and off the east of Altadena Drive in the wash above the former Eaton Canyon Nature Center, which burned last fall.
Description: Stout, erect branching stems eight to 24 inches high. This lupine is thicker and fleshier than others. Other types that follow fire are Dove and Coulter’s lupine.
Parry’s Phacella
Phacelia parryi
When it blooms: March-May.
Where it blooms: Chaparral and coastal sage in western Santa Monicas and in the hills above Leo Carillo State Beach north of Malibu.
Description: Reaches two feet high with sticky, single or sparsely branched stems. Other related fire followers are large-flowered phacelia and California bells. Large-flowered phacelia is an abundant fire follower that s a lighter purple and blooms February-June.
Fire Poppy
Papaver californicum
When it blooms: April-May first season after fire. Rarely in non-fire years.
Where it blooms: Oak woodland and chaparral in central Santa Monica. Currently blooming in Cold Creek area.
Description: Slender stems reach one to two feet high. The four petals are not as satiny as the related California poppy. Other related fire followers are the wind poppy, which is darker orange-red, and the bush poppy, a short-lived shrub with yellow flowers tat germinates only after fire.
Cycle of Life
The showy rebirth of wildflowers after fire is just one link in a cycle that has been occurring for thousands of years in our mountains.
1. Fires burn hillsides in fall and winter, clearing brush and leaving a layer of ash.
2. Rains fall the following spring.
3. Ash acts as fertilizer for wildflowers, which are the first plants to bloom.
4. The following year, larger plants continue to grow. Wildflowers come back for second season.
5. Next year, woodier plants take over, smothering wildflowers.
6. Fires burn hillsides and cycle starts again.
Sources: California Native Plan Society, Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens, Theodore Payne Foundation, Occidental College, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area; Researched by JULIE SHEER and TRACY THOMAS / Los Angeles Times
