Our Plants (List)

This unusual member of the beech family, fagaceae, grows in scattered locations from San Luis Obispo County to Washington. It prefers slopes and ridges from near sea level to elevations of about 5,000 feet. A few populations also occur in the central Sierra Nevada. One rarely finds large groves of…

This unusual member of the beech family, fagaceae, grows in scattered locations from San Luis Obispo County to Washington. It prefers slopes and ridges from near sea level to elevations of about 5,000 feet. A few populations also occur in the central Sierra Nevada. One rarely finds large groves of…

The cobweb thistle, Cirsium occidentale, is native to most of California and many parts of the west. It is found in several varieties. The venustum variety, the venus thistle, is widespread in the state and is common to Bay Area mountains. In its first year, the venus thistle produces a…

The chaparral clematis is easy to miss in the wild for most of the year. It tends to grow among other shrubs, winding its way through and over branches to reach the sun. The oval, deeply lobed leaves are a neutral green and easily blend in with its supportive companion…

Virgin’s bower grows in seasonally moist areas in most of California. It is excluded only by the harsh conditions of the deserts of the southeast and the Modoc Plateau in the northeast. Like its close relative the foothills clematis, Clematis lasiantha, virgin’s bower twines its way through other shrubs and…

This little mint is an occasional discovery in the Peninsular Ranges of Orange and San Diego Counties and Baja, Mexico. It grows as an open, upright perennial with round, fragrant leaves. The flowers are tubular and paper white. In appearance and fragrance it is much like its smaller and more…