List of California native plants

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Sebastopol meadowfoam (Limnanthes vinculans)
Native wildflower Blazing Star (Mentzelia lindleyi)

California native plants are plants that existed in California prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in the late 18th century.[1] They grow in the California Floristic Province, a geographical area that covers most of California, portions of neighboring Oregon, Nevada, and Baja California, that is regarded as a 'world hotspot' of biodiversity.[2]

Contents

[edit] Introduction

California is home to 5,862 species and 1,169 subspecies or varieties of native plants. This figure is comparable to all the species in all the other states combined. The Jepson Manual documents the state's ever changing botany statistics.[3]

Of California's total plant population, 2,153 species, subspecies, and varieties are endemic and native to California alone.[4] This botanical diversity stems not only from the size of the state, but also its diverse topographies, climates, and soils (e.g. serpentine outcrops). Numerous plant groupings exist in California, and botanists work to structure them into identifiable ecoregions, plant communities, vegetation types, and habitats, and taxonomies.[5][6]

Some California native plants have extraordinary horticultural appeal. Sometimes the appreciation was greater abroad first, such as Lupines, California Fuchsias, and California Poppies being cultivated in British and European gardens for over a century.[7][8]

[edit] Common trees

Pinus ponderosa subsp. ponderosa branch with cones

[edit] Coniferous trees

[edit] Sequoias and redwoods

[edit] Common pine trees

[edit] Other conifers

[edit] Oak trees

Valley Oak near Mount Diablo.
California is home, often in oak woodlands, to many deciduous and evergreen Oaks:

[edit] Riparian trees

In Riparian areas (streamside and moist habitats) some of the trees include:

[edit] Other trees and tree-like shrubs

[edit] Common shrubs

Fremontodendron californicum (California Flannelbush)

[edit] Desert plants

A Joshua tree in Joshua Tree National Park.

[edit] Common perennials

Eriogonum fasciculatum (California Buckwheat)

[edit] Sunny habitats

[edit] Shady habitats

[edit] California Ferns

[edit] Common bulbs

Brodiaea coronaria (California Hyacinth)

[edit] Common annuals and wildflowers

[edit] Common vines

Aristolochia californica (Dutchman's pipe)

[edit] Common grasses

Aristida purpurea (Purple Three-awn) bunch grass
Grasses:[15]
Grasslike:[16]

[edit] Succulents

[edit] Environmental challenges

Some California native plants are in rapid decline in their homeland from Urban sprawl, agriculture, overgrazing, recreational impacts, polution, and invasive non-native species (invasive exotics) colonization pressures (animals and other kingdoms of life, as well as plants). Public groups, Conservation foundations, and college programs are leading the awareness movement and actual projects for saving existing plant populations and restoring healthy habitats for present vitality and future thriving. [17]

California also has 1,023 species of non-native plants, some now problematic Invasive species such as Yellow Starthistle, that were introduced during the Spanish colonization, the California Gold Rush, and subsequent immigrations and import trading of the 18th-20th centuries.

[edit] See also

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[edit] References

  1. ^ "What is a native plant?". California Native Plant Society. http://www.cnps.org/cnps/nativeplants/. Retrieved 2009-06-02. 
  2. ^ "California Floristic Province". Biodiversity Hotspots. Conservation International. http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/california_floristic/. Retrieved 2009-06-02. 
  3. ^ "The Californian Floristic Province". http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/1270001/diversity.pdf. 
  4. ^ Hickman, J.C. (Ed.), 1993. The Jepson Manual, Higher Plants of California. University of California Press. Appendix I, Pg. 1315.
  5. ^ A California Flora and Supplement, Philip A. Munz and David D. Keck, UC Press
  6. ^ The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California, James C. Hickman (Editor), UC Press
  7. ^ California Native Plants for the Garden, Carol Bornstein, David Fross, and Bart O'Brien, Cachuma Press 2005
  8. ^ http://www.laspilitas.com Las Pilitas Nursery: interactive Plant Database website
  9. ^ Oaks of California, Bruce M. Pavlik, Pamela Muick, Sharon Johnson, Cachuma Press
  10. ^ a b Las Pilitas Nursery
  11. ^ Complete Guide to Native Shrubs of California, Glenn Keator, Chronicle Books
  12. ^ Ceanothus, David Fross and Dieter Wilken, Timber Press
  13. ^ Complete Guide to Native Perennials of California, Glenn Keator, Chronicle Books
  14. ^ http://www.theodorepayne.org Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants
  15. ^ http://www.cnga.org/index.html California Native Grasslands Association; access date: 6/9/2010
  16. ^ Grasses in California, Beecher Crampton, UC Press
  17. ^ National Audubon Society Field Guide to California, Alden, Heath, Keen, Leventer and Zomlefer, 1998

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Flora of California

[edit] Further reading

[edit] Books: Flora

  • A California Flora and Supplement, Philip A. Munz and David D. Keck, UC Press
  • Grasses in California, Beecher Crampton, UC Press
  • The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California, James C. Hickman (Editor), UC Press
  • The Jepson Desert Manual: Vascular Plants of Southeastern California, Bruce Baldwin (Editor), UC Press
  • Oaks of California, Bruce M. Pavlik, Pamela Muick, Sharon Johnson, Cachuma Press
  • Plants of the San Francisco Bay Region: Mendocino to Monterey, Linda Beidleman, Eugene Kozloff, UC Press

[edit] Books: Gardening/Landscaping

  • Landscape Plants for California Gardens, Bob Perry, Land Design Publishing
  • California Native Plants for the Garden, Carol Bornstein, David Fross, and Bart O'Brien, Cachuma Press
  • California Native Trees and Shrubs, Lee W. Lenz, Rancho Santa Ana
  • Ceanothus, David Fross and Dieter Wilken, Timber Press
  • Complete Guide to Native Perennials of California, Glenn Keator, Chronicle Books
  • Complete Guide to Native Shrubs of California, Glenn Keator, Chronicle Books
  • Designing California Native Gardens: The Plant Community Approach to Artful, Ecological Gardens, Glenn Keator and Alrie Middlebrook, UC Press
  • Growing California Native Plants, Marjorie Schmidt, UC Press
  • Native Landscaping From El Paso to L.A., Sally Wasowski and Andy Wasowski, McGraw-Hill
  • Native Plants for California Gardens, Lee W. Lenz, Day Printing Corp.
  • Native Treasures: Gardening with the Plants of California, M. Nevin Smith, UC Press
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