Greenhouse Experiments and Spectra of Desert Wildflowers found in Anza-Borrego, California, 2025-2026

The species within the Anza-Borrego, California desert are under intense evaporative stress. It is critical to study these species in order to understand their life history strategies and better assess and predict drought impacts in a time of increasingly common droughts. This project aimed to germinate 10 rare desert wildflower species found in Anza-Borrego, California: Lupinus arizonicus (Arizona Lupine), Eschscholzia minutiflora (Pygmy Gold Poppy), Oenothera deltoides (Dune Evening-Primrose), Hesperocallis undulata (Desert Lily), Chylismia claviformis (Brown-Eyed Evening-Primrose), Malacothrix glabrata (Desert Dandelion), Mimulus bigelovii (Bigelow Monkey Flower), Abronia villosa (Sand Verbena), Geraea canescens (Desert Sunflower), and Rafinesquina neomexicana (Desert Chicory). We used the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) greenhouse to conduct 4 different treatments for each species. Treatment groups included presoaking seeds in concentrations of 125 parts per million (ppm) up to 1000 ppm of gibberellic acid (GA), 4-6 week stratification periods, physically removing seed coats, and pre-soaking in water or liquid smoke. Specific treatments can be found in the Seed_treatment_groups.csv file data table linked above. Once plants began to germinate, they were moved from outdoors within a humidity dome to an indoor greenhouse to allow for more upward and outward growth. Several plants were repotted in order to provide space for their growing roots. About 3 months after planting, the plants began a weekly fertilizer treatment (Jack’s Classic All Purpose water soluble plant food with micronutrients 20-20-20) which improved growth rate as well as leaf and petal vibrancy. With this increased growth, many of the flowers became large enough to take the spectra of. The spectra of the petals, flower heads and leaves have been taken via contact probe ASD measurements and mosaics on a blackboard. This data will be used to interpret satellite imagery and contribute to our understanding of how ephemeral vegetation escapes drought and how this life history strategy compares to perennial vegetation.