For the first-time visitor to the lush green pine and oak forest covering the more than 6000-foot Mount Laguna, it can be astonishing to learn that the desert ... the shy mariposa lily, showy ...

A member of the lily family, it is commonly called the mariposa lily ... and a large plant might have dozens of blossoms. They light up the desert with yellow or bright fuchsia-pink blossoms.

No drying winds to dehydrate the plants. Unfortunately ... If the best happens: You may see orange mariposa lily, desert gold, lavender and red desert five-spot, purple weakstem mariposa lily ...

This was a wonderful conservation acquisition in the foothills region south of Apple Valley, a critical habitat of diverse plants and animals such as the desert mariposa lily, grape soda lupine ...

While photos from Southern California’s desert regions crowd our Instagram ... in studying and protecting the region’s rare plants, like the Late Flowered Mariposa and the Catalina Mariposa Lily. “A ...