Learn about the many rare and beautiful native plants of the San Francisco Bay Area through this series of informative and well written articles.
Coming Soon! Checklist of the Plants of San Francisco, 3rd Edition
The global pandemic has put a serious crimp in our travel plans. In January, we were all set to begin exploring the South Pacific, […]
Common Reed (Phragmites australis)
Common Reed (Phragmites australis) by Michael Wood Yerba Buena Newsletter: December 2018 Vol. 32. No. 4 As my wife and I continue our travels, most […]
Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia)
Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia) by Michael Wood Greetings from the southern Black Forest of Germany, my wife’s Heimat. This report comes to you from the […]
CEQA and Locally Rare Plants
This article is adapted from one I wrote for the California Native Grassland Association newsletter (spring 2013). The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was enacted […]
The Extirpated Plants of San Francisco
Extinction is the loss of a species from throughout its range. Extirpation, also referred to as local extinction, is the loss of a species from […]
Hairy Woodsorrel (Oxalis pilosa)
If you garden in San Francisco, or just about anywhere in the western U.S., you’re likely familiar with Oxalis. A popular potted plant in its […]
Beach Pea (Lathyrus littoralis)
Prior to 1835, Spanish and Mexican settlements here were restricted to the areas around Mission Dolores and the Presidio, which were founded in 1776. Even […]
Annotated Checklist of the Vascular Plants of San Francisco’s Natural Areas, pt. II
In my previous column, I presented a project on which I’ve been working for several years; a compilation of plant species lists prepared over the […]
Checklist of the Extant Flora of San Francisco
San Francisco is blessed for many reasons…natural beauty, climate, being far away from Washington D.C., and, of course, a rather remarkable diversity of native plant […]
Fremont Star Lily (Toxicoscordion fremontii)
If you’ve never heard of Fremont star lily, you probably won’t be bothered by the taxonomic changes it has recently undergone. Known as Zigadenus fremontii […]
The Sand Verbenas (Abronia spp.)
This past September I had the extreme good fortune of being invited to assist with a mapping effort of the coastal dune vegetation south of […]
Coast Manroot (Marah oregana)
If you’re surprised to learn that California is host to native species of cucumbers, you’re probably in good company. The group that brings us the […]
Leafy Fleabane (Erigeron foliosus)
A lot has changed since I sat down to write for the previous newsletter. I’m referring, of course, to the release of the second edition […]
Rushes (Juncus spp.)
As you recall, the flowering vascular plants (the angiosperms [which means “enclosed seed”], Division Magnoliophyta) are divided into two groups, the dicots (plants whose seedlings […]
Creek Dogwood (Cornus sericea ssp. sericea)
If you’re a gardener or a transplant from east of the Mississippi, when you reminisce about spring, you probably think “dogwoods”. Cultivars of eastern dogwood […]
Indian Paintbrush
Even still, after all these years of exploring hills and dales, there’s one group of wildflowers of which I cannot resist stopping to photograph. Whether […]
Scarlet Monkeyflower (Mimulus cardinalis)
With blossoms reminiscent of red lipsticks on a stalk, scarlet monkeyflower is eye-catching indeed. A perennial herb found in moist to wet areas along streams […]
San Francisco Woodland Star (Lithophragma affine)
San Francisco woodland star is one of those pretty little herbs you encounter in the early spring on our coastal hillsides, along with similar beauties […]
Large-Flowered Sand-Spurrey (Spergularia macrotheca var. macrotheca)
Who doesn’t love to walk along the seashore? To gaze out over the waves toward the horizon? Maybe catch a sunset? Of course, while you’re […]
The Tarweeds
If you’ve walked through any of the Bay Area’s grasslands in the summer, you’ve no doubt notice patches of dainty daisies with small white or […]