Wild Lands of the West | The BLM, National Geographic Magazine: Spring Wildflowers
Checker mallow (Sidalcea calycosa) blossoms flutter on the slopes of the Carrizo Plain National Monument, where wildflowers flourish amid remnants of California’s original grasslands. The 50-mile valley covers almost 250,000 acres lying between the Temblor Mountains to the northeast and the Caliente Mountains to the southwest. The San Andreas Fault runs through it for a number of miles.