Death Valley Wildflowers: Superbloom

What a glorious year to visit Death Valley. This photo is of Desert Gold carpeting the gravely ground in the lowest elevation of the valley near Badwater.

Superbloom
This is the beginning of a Superbloom, something that happens every 10 years or so.  As we visit, the blooms are just starting and are carpeting the valley floor at the lowest elevations. Probably the blooming season will continue to later April at different elevations and with different species emerging.

A Superbloom occurs when the rainfall comes at just the right time and right amount.  Flowering plants in the harsh environment of Death Valley bloom and set seed only rarely; it is one of their adaptations to the sparse and sporadic water.  Seeds may lie dormant for many years under the soil with hard coverings preventing the seeds from sprouting when the plant will likely not survive to create the next set of seeds.

What is needed?  A heavy, gushing rain in the fall which washes off the hard coating.  Last October was such a flood year, washing out roads, some of which are still closed.  But that is not enough. There has to be enough rain in the early spring (Dec to Feb) to moisten the soil and allow the seeds to sprout. This year, big storms swept across the southwest in later December and again in early February.  One more storm would be good the rangers tell us. But the rain in October released the hard casings; the ones in Dec and Feb are enough for the flowers.  Hooray!

February 15 is usually the beginning of a wildflower season if there will be any.  It has been on  my bucket list to be here for a Superbloom.  I have made it.  What a lovely few days.  My eyes are filled with beauty.

Desert Gold
This species, Desert Gold, is the one blooming profusely just now.  It covers the ground as shown in the top photo. The flowers are about 2" across and stand 1 or 2 feet tall. It is one of the largest flowers displaying just now; the others are small to tiny.

 Brown-eyed Primrose
These white flowers are growing at various elevations. The larger one in this set is the Brown-eyed Primrose.  It is flowering abundantly just now and grows at lower elevation but is not confined to below sea-level. It is mixed in with Desert Gold and other flowers as we show here. The tiny one beside the primrose is Scented Crypthantha.  I could not get a scent but maybe because we were there during the day. Crypthantha is just beginning.  We saw many plants with buds not yet open.

These are small.  The primrose is about 1/2" across; crypthantha, maybe 1/4" if so much. They reminded me of some of the tiny flowers at the Burren in Ireland.

Most of the white flowers, including these flourish at night since they are pollinated at night. We were dismayed, at first, to realize that there were no insects.  How horrible for the plants to get the right rainfall, sprout but to be ready before the insects arrived.  But fret not!  There are several insects that work at night--a specialized bee and a fairly large moth.  Apparently that is one reason that many flowers are white, so that the insects can find them in the dark.

Gravel Ghost
Another plant just beginning is a rare one, the Gravel Ghost.  The first photo below shows one near some primroses. Much taller and larger flower--about 8-15" tall, single flower on a stalk, flower about 1.5" across.  Many will be emerging soon as we saw buds and only a few flowers.  But these only grow below sea-level and are sparsely scattered.

Desert Star
Another white flower is just emerging at low elevations. You can see how many buds are not yet flowered out.  More beauty to come.  The flower is about 1/2" across and forms mats on top of the gravel.

Pebble Pincushion
This was quite rare for us.  We found it only at the lowest elevation (-250 and below).  It might bloom elsewhere later.  Its leaves and stems are so spare we may have not recognized it without the flowers. The flower is rounded, about 1/2"across. This, too, is said to have a scent but I guess at night.

Desert Five-Spot
This is another fairly rare flower, also found at very low elevations.  We saw few plants but those we saw had many unopened buds.  The flower is about 1" across and really stands out against the gravel and white flowers.

Notch-leaf Phacelia
This was found at lower and mid elevations mixed in among other flowers.  As a cluster of purple, the flowers stand out. Each bloom is about 1/2" but the clusters can be 3-4" across.

Golden Evening-Primrose
This was the first flower we saw as we entered the valley from the east near Beatty, NV.  It was blooming from about 1000' down to almost sea-level on the east side.  We found it on the west as we left the valley later.  But it was absent at the lowest elevations unless it has bloomed and died back.  It is about 1' tall with showy yellow clusters.  It is shown above with the Phacelia and below for closer up. Many unopened buds!

Brittlebush
As we drove up the west-side highway, we found Brittlebush at mid elevations in the mountains. It is another with many buds so should be putting on a good show over the next few weeks. The bushes are about 15" tall and the flowers stand up above the bushes.  Each flower is about 1" across.

Joshua Tree
These are not blooming now and may not be blooming this year at all.  They do not live in the depth of Death Valley but are the signature plant of the Mojave Desert, of which Death Valley is part. Joshua Trees are a variety of yucca which can grow up to 15 feet tall with many branches.  They are not part of the flowering-plant cycle affected by the rains as are the other plants in this post. They flower every several years--not this year apparently.

As we climbed thousands of feet on the west-side highway, we began to see Joshua Trees in the sunset. We had seen many earlier in Nevada and will likely see more as we go south along the eastern Sierra. But it was our good-bye to the specialized eco-system that is Death Valley.

Text and photos by Julianne.
EXCEPT the great cover photo showing the carpet of gold with desert rocks in the background. Naturally, that is by Nancy.