Our Plants (List)

The buttonbush is one of many California natives that range across most of the US. It grows as a bright green rounded shrub near water. In California it is native to the Central Valley and the surrounding lower foothills. The common name derives from the large spherical white flowers that…

Red bud is native to much of the mountainous regions of California. It typically grows as a rounded shrub with an open structure. There is always something attractive about its appearance. While dormant in the winter the ashen bark of the branches is exposed. Then the profusion of magenta flowers…

Mountain mahogany is common to mountainous regions throughout the state except the southeastern deserts. One encounters it in Santa Clara County to nearly the valley floor. It grows as a shrub or multi-trunked tree in a rounded to upright form. The structure is open and the branches are an attractive…

Mountain mahogany is common to mountainous regions throughout the state except the southeastern deserts. One encounters it in Santa Clara County to nearly the valley floor. It grows as a shrub or multi-trunked tree in a rounded to upright form. The structure is open and the branches are an attractive…

Mountain mahogany is widespread in California. At least one of the four species are found in nearly every county in the state. Cercocarpus betuloides is by far the most common. The blancheae variety has a narrow distribution from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles County but is most common on a…

Curl leaf mountain mahogany is one of four species of Cercocarpus found in California. All are found in our mountains and foothills. This species inhabits the taller crests of most California mountain ranges except those of the Central Coast. In these cool, dry settings it slowly grows to a remarkable…

San Diego mountain mahogany is common in the coastal regions of Orange and San Diego County. Like other mountain mahogany species it grows as a multi-trunk shrub with dark green, birch-like leaves and gray bark. It has a more rounded form than other species and is somewhat shorter at maturity….

This mountain mahogany grows naturally in a single arroyo on Santa Catalina Island off the California coast at Los Angeles. It has been rare since its discovery in the late nineteenth century, and only became more so with the introduction of goats, pigs and other animals to the island. Fortunately,…

This member of the rose family grows throughout much of the Western US. It ranges into California on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada and Cascades. It grows in rocky settings as an upright shrub to about seven feet. The aromatic leaves are lance-shaped, with numerous fine leaflets. Their…

This member of the goosefoot sub-family grows in many plant communities, mainly in the coastal mountains but also the Channel Islands, deserts and transverse ranges. The sub-family includes the genus Atriplex, the saltbushes, and several other goosefoot species. The stems emerge from a stout caudex in late winter with numerous…