Location: Middle Taylor Creek Prior Weather: Hot and Dry the previous 4 weeks Paticipants: Tom Jones Time of Day: Afternoon Species Seen: Hoary Zionaster, Varileaf Phacelia, Wild Onion, Yellow Sweet Clover, Ipomopsis congesta var. frutescens, Littleleaf Mountain Mahogany, Uinta Groundsel, Rattleweed milkvetch(??), Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), Fragrant Sand Verbana, Hooker's Evening Primrose, Baby's Breath mystery white #1, Taylor Creek Mystery White #2, Palmer's penstemon, Western Wallflower, False Solomon's Seal, Middle Taylor Mystery Flower #3.

July 5th, stinking hot out. I was driving back from a trip to Sacramento, decided to take a little stroll in the Kolob Canyons Section. But first... Desert Blazingstar - Mentzelia pumila But not in Zion... this was near Caliente, Nevada, though Ruth Ashton Nelson indicates possible specimens in Zion.

The sign, start of the Middle Taylor Creek hike.

Let's start our journey with: Some kinda wild onion, dissicated, but most likely Allium acuminatum, which has been popping up all over the Park this year!

A widely-dominant invasive species: Yellow Sweet Clover - Meliotus officinalis - Pea Family (Fabaceae)

A little "weed-like" flower that seemed to be doing pretty well. Once again, Derrick in Phoenix has ID'd this as Ballhead Ipomopsis (aka Ballhead Gilia) - Ipomopsis congesta var. frutescens / Phlox Family - Polemoniaceae and points out that the 4 variations in the species congesta are quite different in form. Online specimens at: The Arizona State University Herbarium.

Closeup of the flower cluster.

Your basic Hoary Zionaster - Heterotheca villosa

Zionaster doing quite well here, as it does throughout Zion.

Let's try this as Littleleaf Mountain Mahogany - Cercocarpus intricatus - Rose Family (Rosaceae)

Amazingly bad picture, just to record its presence here, the Uinta Groundsel - Senecio multilobatus - Asteraceae family