Our Plants (List)

Mountain selfheal is a member of riparian plant communities in mountainous settings throughout much of California. It is called “selfheal” because the species is used widely in traditional medicine. This little perennial grows in upright stalks with deep green, lance-shaped leaves. For much of the growing season clusters of violet…

Desert peach is a plant of the eastern Sierra Nevada from Modoc to Kern Counties. It grows in a variety of settings from scrubland to woodland. It is rarely grown in the landscape, so its tolerance of low elevations is an open question. It is something of an experimental plant…

The bitter cherry is a fairly rare find in mountainous portions of western North America. Locally it is native to both the Diablo Range and the Santa Cruz Mountains. Although it may grow to thirty feet or more, it generally is found as a large shrub in an expanding, dense…

The hollyleaf cherry is an attractive and adaptable garden subject. The leaves are a shiny dark green, with spines on the margins for which this tree is named. The form is rounded and upright. Starting as a multi-trunk shrub, Hollyleaf cherry matures into a small single-trunk tree. Small white flowers…

The hollyleaf cherry is an attractive and adaptable garden subject. The leaves are a shiny dark green, with spines on the margins for which this tree is named. The form is rounded and upright. Starting as a multi-trunk shrub, Hollyleaf cherry matures into a small single-trunk tree. Small white flowers…

The western choke cherry grows in much of mountainous California, being excluded only from southeastern deserts. It seems to prefer areas of higher than average seasonal or perennial rainfall. Like many member of the genus, western choke cherry grows as a large shrub or small tree and will spread to…

California everlasting grows in open sunny areas in the coastal mountains from Washington into Baja, Mexico. It is also found on the Channel Islands and at lower elevations in the Sierra Nevada. It forms a patch of upright stems with alternating, silvery-green, lance-shaped leaves covered with downy hairs (not irritating)….