A few minutes down the trail, we came upon a huge patch of wild roses. Most of the flowers were gone, but the rose hips hung like little red Christmas ornaments. “This must be why it is called Rose Canyon,” I said. I took a bite of one. The dry fruit’s center was full of seeds. I wondered how anyone could get enough fruit to make a batch of jam from these things.

Rose Canyon was different from the other San Diego canyons. Tall Matilija poppies (Romneya trichocalyx) with big yellow centers and big white crinkly petals grew just beyond the information sign. These were followed by pink clumps of buckwheat flowers. Then came the roses.

Rose Canyon is actually named for Louis Rose who came to San Diego in the mid 19^th century. He had various business ventures, but also purchased a lot of land. At one point he owned almost 4,000 acres.[i]  Rose had various commercial ventures including mining coal in the canyon and running a tannery.[ii]  Before Rose bought the land, it had been occupied in one way or another for 7000 years.[iii] Archaeologists have found evidence of both seasonal settlements and a permanent one. When the Spanish arrived there was a large Kumeyaay village. Later Mexicans called it La Canada de las Yeguas (Canyon of the Mares)[iv].

It is easy to see why people chose to live in the canyon. It offers a cool respite from the heat of the summer, there is a creek running through (though we couldn’t get close to it until the end of the trail) and a wealth of edible and useful plants. According to the Rose Canyon brochure, the park houses “a very rare riparian habitat.”[v] This and the oak woodland habitat are “fragile, rare and mandatory for the survival of over 100 federally endangered plants and animals.”[vi] Now it is a nature preserve with a dirt path leading under live oaks, elders and sycamores. It isn’t completely quiet since the train track goes through so every now and then the Coaster or an Amtrak train passes by. However, an occasional train is much more endearing than the constant flow of traffic down a highway.

After seeing how the summer heat had decimated the elderberries in Mission Trails, I decided the summer hot season was upon us and didn’t expect to find many interesting plants since everything was probably dried up or had already gone to seed. The Rose Canyon summer is milder than other parts of San Diego. The tall oak and sycamore trees cool the area and the elderberries were still going strong.

The coastal clouds had seeped into the canyon making a comforting blanket of white. Birds chirped from where they hid above us in the tree branches. The poison oak draped itself on trees and bushes making a wall dotted with dangling white clumps of berries. At one flourishing poison oak covered elderberry tree, orioles feasted on berries inaccessible to poison oak shy people. At the base of the tree there was a bee hive. I thought it was interesting that the natural wall of poison oak did more to stop people from going into the sensitive wetland habitat area than the wooden fences with “habitat restoration” signs.

Along the edge of the trail I noticed pretty purple and yellow flowers. The purple petals were fused together so they resembled bat wings. Little green and yellow fruits dangled from stems. I guessed nightshade. It was White Horse-Nettle (Solanum elaegnifolium) which is in the nightshade family. It is nice to see that my botanical studies are starting to pay off. I also found some salt heliotropes (heliotropium curassavicum). The flowers grow on curled inflorescences which is a sign that they are of the borage family. It is native to both the mainland southwestern states and Hawaii (where it is known as Kīpūkai.)[vii]

Towards the end of the trail, the peace was broken by I-5. We stopped at a bridge to watch red crayfish (probably invasive Procambarus clarkii
(red swamp crayfish)) in a small pond, then headed back up the canyon.

Useful Information: To get to Rose Canyon, take I-5 or the 805 to 52. Exit at Genessee. Drive past the canyon and park on the street near the housing developments. When school isn’t in session you may be able to park across from the park in the high school parking lot. Rose Canyon Open Space Park: San Diego City website with pdf of trail map (and parking information). Friends of Rose Canyon: Information about Rose Canyon and conservation efforts. Including a bird list.

Sources