Our Plants (List)

Chamise is a common member of chaparral plant communities throughout California. It grows as an upright open shrub with small leaves somewhat like rosemary in appearance and twisted shredding bark. The flowers appear in late spring, covering the plant with a cream white display. A stand of blooming chamise can…

‘Nicolas’ chamise is a prostrate selection of this widespread native. It forms a dense mound to about three feet. It shares the qualities of the species (see the entry for Adenostoma fasciculatum) and adds the more compact size and cleaner appearance. ‘Nicolas’ is derived from cuttings taken on St Nicolas…

Red shanks grows from San Luis Obispo County south into Mexico. It grows into an open tree with shredding strips (“shanks”) on red and gray bark and feathery fronds of small leaves. The flower color is cream white as with the closely related chamise, Adenostoma fasciculatum. With careful pruning, redshanks…

While California is home to a great variety of narrow endemic plants (i.e. plants found within a very narrow geographic range), it is also home to many wide-ranging species. The five finger fern is one such plant. It ranges from Alaska to Mexico, with isolated populations even occurring in the…

Southern maiden hair is found in shady moist settings throughout the state, but is most common in southern California. It is one of our native plants that we share with many other US states and even other continents. The roots must be continually moist without being soggy or water logged….

The maiden hair genus, Adiantum, has just four representatives in California. One is the California maiden hair, Adiantum jordanii, which is common in dry shade and goes dormant in the summer. Another is the five finger fern, Adiantum aleuticum, which thrives in moist shade and goes dormant with the cold…

Our native buckeye is one of the few California members of the soapberry family, sapindaceae. California’s maple trees fill out the family. Buckeye grows as a multi-trunk, rounded little tree with silver-white bark and large compound leaves. The branch structure tends to be tortuous and quite ornate as the tree…

Our native buckeye is one of the few California members of the soapberry family, sapindaceae. California’s maple trees fill out the family. Buckeye grows as a multi-trunk, rounded little tree with silver-white bark and large compound leaves. The branch structure tends to be tortuous and quite ornate as the tree…

This hyssop is scattered in a variety of plant communities throughout the western US and southern British Columbia. One usually associates the genus agastache with the Southwest, but a couple of species occur in California. Like many members of the mint family, the giant hyssop grows with upright stems with…

Desert agave is one of about 18 species of California natives in the Agave family, which includes the Joshua tree and – somewhat surprising – soaproot. It grows naturally in California’s southeastern deserts, conspicuously populating sunny areas with sandy soil. The silvery blue leaves grow in a rosette to about…