Introduction Common Showy Flowers, Shrubs and Trees of the Santa Rosa Plateau
How To Use The Flora
The FloraIntroduction
This page gives the most common noticeable flowers, shrubs and trees found on the trails of the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve (SRPER). It is intended to help non-botanists learn the common flowers, shrubs and trees of the Reserve.
Comprehensive plant lists for an area are dominated by species found only rarely. This is very confusing to a beginner, who is usually overwhelmed by the large list in trying to identify a few plants of interest. Such beginners are much better served by a short list that is likely to contain the name of all showy, frequently-observed flowers they encounter. This is easily done by removing the large numbers of species on the list that are not likely to be encountered, as well as the ones not of interest to the beginner.
To form this list, I began with the latest Flora of the Santa Rosa Plateau, which contains 633 taxa (species, subspecies and varieties). Flora is the usual name for a plant list for an area, and I use that term interchangeably with list on this page. I first eliminated the non-showy flowers, grasses, rushes, sedges, etc., except for common noticeable species like ragweed and poison oak, and trees. I then eliminated all species not found on one of my nine plant trail guides, except for nine species which are common on at least one other trail at the SRPER. I made an exception for some flowers seen only at the Main Vernal Pool, due to the high interest in those flowers. Finally, I eliminated species that were found only in small numbers at one or two locations on those nine trails.
This produced a list of 195 species. Of those 195 species, 86 are found on only one or two trails, and 109 are found on three or more trails. Thus the beginner may wish to concentrate on learning the 109 most common species first, as defined by the number of trails on which each species occur, and then tackle the remaining 86. Once you have learned these 195 species, you will no longer be a beginner, and will be ready to tackle the rest of the species on the full plant list.
How To Use The Flora
Like most floras, this list is arranged by family. Although it is difficult for a beginner to use such a list initially, once you start to get familiar with a few families you will discover that this is absolutely the best way to present such a list. The primary benefit is that it is often fairly easy to figure out the family of an unknown plant, and then one only has to consider the much shorter list of species listed here in that family.
For example, most people can recognize members of the sunflower family, Asteraceae in Latin, by their heads composed of multiple flowers, often with separate ray and disk flowers, like a sunflower head. The pea family, Fabaceae, is another easily-recognized family, with flowers that look like a typical garden pea or sweet pea. Anyone who has grown tomatoes can recognize the nightshade family, Solanaceae, by the tomato-like flowers.
But sometimes you will have no clue as to the family of an unknown plant. In those cases, you will have to troll through the complete list. There are several aids in the list to help you narrow down the choice.
First, note what month you saw the plant blooming. The list contains the full range of possible months in which each species blooms, so you can eliminate ones that don't bloom in the month you observed a flower.
Second, note that life form of your plant. The life form is Annual herb, Biennial herb, Perennial herb, Vine, SubShrub, Shrub, or Tree, with the abbreviations being the capitals. An herb is a non-woody plant, as distinguished from a shrub or a tree, which have at least a woody base. A shrub has multiple main stems coming from the ground level; a tree usually has only a single main trunk. You then only need to consider plants of the same type in the list.
Finally, you then need to look at pictures of the ones that are possible matches. Here the advantage of a list sorted by family will become immediately apparent, since species in a given family tend to have similar flowers. For example, when you check the first species in the carrot family, Apiaceae, you will find that the flowers are in umbels (flat-topped clusters of flowers with a common single flower stem). If your unknown flower does not look like that, you can skip the rest of the ones in that family.
See California Plant Pictures and Databases for a list of resources giving pictures and information about California plants.
An asterisk (*) before the common name indicates a taxon not-native to California.
The first number in the #here/all column gives the number of the nine trails on which each species was found. The second number gives the number of trails in all of the 68 Southern California Trails for which Jane Strong and I have done plant lists. This gives you an idea of exactly how common each species is at the SRPER and elsewhere.
Thus if a species is found on three trails at the SRPER, and on three trails from all of our plant lists, that means this species was only found at the SRPER amidst all the 68 trails. For example, Blennosperma nanum var. nanum, yellow carpet, and Downingia bella, spotted downingia, both have "1/1" in the #here/all column. That means both species have only been found on a single one of our 68 trails, one at the SRPER. In this case, both are found on the Vernal Pool Trail, at the Main Pool. We have encountered no other vernal pools on the rest of our trails, which testifies to the rarity of these habitats.
The Flora
Version for printing, without the table lines and other text on this page.
# Latin Name Common Name (*)
Life
formBloom #here/all Anacardiaceae Sumac Family 1 Malosma laurina laurel sumac S 2-5 4/25 2 Rhus ovata sugar bush S 3-5 2/16 3 Rhus trilobata squawbush S 3-4 3/14 4 Toxicodendron diversilobum poison oak S 4-5 9/29 Apiaceae Carrot Family 5 Daucus pusillus rattlesnake weed A 4-6 5/11 6 Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii San Diego button-celery A/P 5-8 1/2 7 Lomatium dasycarpum ssp. dasycarpum woolly-fruited lomatium P 3-6 2/4 8 Lomatium utriculatum common lomatium P 3-4 3/4 9 Sanicula arguta sharp-toothed sanicle P 3-4 6/8 10 Sanicula bipinnatifida purple sanicle P 3-5 5/7 11 Sanicula crassicaulis Pacific sanicle P 3-5 4/9 Asclepiadaceae Milkweed Family 12 Asclepias eriocarpa Indian milkweed P 6-8 7/11 13 Asclepias fascicularis narrow-leaf milkweed P 6-8 4/4 Asteraceae Sunflower Family 14 Agoseris grandiflora grand mountain dandelion P 5-7 3/7 15 Ambrosia psilostachya western ragweed P 7-11 6/22 16 Artemisia californica California sagebrush S 8-12 4/30 17 Artemisia douglasiana mugwort P 6-10 2/21 18 Aster lanceolatus ssp. hesperius Siskiyou aster P 8-10 2/2 19 Baccharis pilularis coyote bush S 8-12 3/17 20 Baccharis salicifolia mule fat S 1-12 4/26 21 Blennosperma nanum var. nanum yellow carpet A 2-4 1/1 22 Centaurea melitensis tocalote *A 5-6 9/30 23 Chaenactis artemisiifolia meally white pincushion A 4-7 0/5 24 Chaenactis glabriuscula yellow pincushion A 3-7 0/1 25 Chamomilla suaveolens pineapple weed *A 5-9 4/12 26 Cirsium occidentale var. californicum California thistle B 4-7 1/8 27 Cirsium occidentale var. occidentale cobwebby thistle B 4-7 1/4 28 Cirsium scariosum elk thistle P 6-8 0/4 29 Cirsium vulgare bull thistle *A/B 6-9 4/9 30 Conyza canadensis horseweed A 6-9 1/18 31 Ericameria palmeri var. pachylepis Palmer's goldenbush S 8-12 2/2 32 Erigeron foliosus var. foliosus leafy daisy SS 5-7 7/27 33 Eriophyllum confertiflorum var. confertiflorum golden yarrow SS 1-7 7/35 34 Gnaphalium bicolor bicolored everlasting P 1-5 2/17 35 Gnaphalium californicum California everlasting B 1-7 5/21 36 Gnaphalium canescens ssp. microcephalum white everlasting P 7-10 6/29 37 Gutierrezia californica California matchweed SS 5-10 2/5 38 Hazardia squarrosa var. grindelioides saw-toothed goldenbush S 6-10 6/23 39 Hedypnois cretica Crete weed *A 4-5 1/12 40 Helianthus gracilentus slender sunflower P 5-10 1/7 41 Hemizonia fasciculata slender tarweed A 5-8 2/9 42 Hemizonia paniculata San Diego tarweed A 5-11 5/5 43 Heterotheca grandiflora telegraph weed A/B 1-12 2/20 44 Holocarpha virgata ssp. elongata sticky tarweed A 6-11 5/5 45 Hypochaeris glabra smooth cat's ear *A 3-6 7/20 46 Lactuca serriola prickly lettuce *A 5-9 6/20 47 Lasthenia californica goldfields A 2-6 3/5 48 Layia platyglossa common tidy-tips A 3-5 2/3 49 Lessingia filaginifolia var. filaginifolia California-aster P/SS 7-10 9/33 50 Madia gracilis slender madia A 3-8 3/7 51 Microseris douglasii ssp. douglasii Douglas' microseris A 3-4 1/1 52 Osmadenia tenella three spot A 3-8 2/6 53 Senecio vulgaris common groundsel *A 1-12 3/11 54 Solidago californica goldenrod P 7-10 6/22 55 Sonchus asper ssp. asper prickly sow thistle *A 1-12 5/12 56 Sonchus oleraceus sow thistle *A 1-12 5/20 57 Stebbinsoseris heterocarpa brown microseris A 3-5 2/2 58 Stephanomeria diegensis twiggy wreath plant A 7-10 3/6 59 Tragopogon dubius yellow salsify *B 4-6 0/3 60 Uropappus lindleyi silver puffs A 3-6 5/15 Boraginaceae Borage Family 61 Amsinckia menziesii fiddleneck A 3-6 2/8 62 Cryptantha intermedia popcorn flower A 3-7 3/17 63 Cryptantha muricata prickly cryptantha A 4-6 2/10 64 Heliotropium curassavicum seaside heliotrope P 3-10 1/6 65 Plagiobothrys fulvus var. campestris tawny popcorn flower A 2-5 2/0 66 Plagiobothrys nothofulvus rusty-haired popcorn flower A 2-5 3/4 67 Plagiobothrys undulatus hooked popcorn flower A 3-6 1/1 Brassicaceae Mustard Family 68 Cardamine californica var. californica milk maids P 2-5 3/4 69 Hirschfeldia incana shortpod mustard *A/B 1-12 9/34 70 Lepidium nitidum var. nitidum shining peppergrass A 2-5 1/3 71 Sisymbrium officinale hedge mustard *A 4-7 6/12 72 Thysanocarpus curvipes fringe-pod A 3-5 4/6 Cactaceae Cactus Family 73 Opuntia Xvaseyi Vasey's prickly pear S 4-7 7/13 Campanulaceae Bellflower Family 74 Downingia bella spotted downingia A 4-6 1/1 Caprifoliaceae Honeysuckle Family 75 Lonicera subspicata var. denudata southern honeysuckle S 4-6 8/27 76 Sambucus mexicana blue elderberry S/T 3-9 6/33 Caryophyllaceae Pink Family 77 Silene gallica windmill pink *A 2-6 6/19 78 Silene laciniata ssp. major southern Indian pink P 5-7 3/10 79 Stellaria media common chickweed *A 2-9 4/15 Cistaceae Rock-Rose Family 80 Helianthemum scoparium rockrose SS 3-6 2/7 Convolvulaceae Morning Glory Family 81 Calystegia macrostegia southern California morning-glory P/V 5-6 4/1 Crassulaceae Stonecrop Family 82 Dudleya lanceolata lanceleaf dudleya P 5-7 2/15 Cucurbitaceae Gourd Family 83 Cucurbita foetidissima stinking gourd P/V 6-8 0/4 84 Marah macrocarpus var. macrocarpus wild-cucumber P/V 1-4 8/29 Ericaceae Heath Family 85 Arctostaphylos glandulosa ssp. zacaensis Eastwood manzanita S 1-4 1/6 86 Xylococcus bicolor mission manzanita S 2-2 1/8 Euphorbiaceae Spurge Family 87 Eremocarpus setigerus dove weed A 5-10 4/10 Fabaceae Pea Family 88 Astragalus pomonensis Pomona locoweed P 2-6 6/6 89 Lathyrus vestitus var. alefeldii San Diego pea P 4-6 5/12 90 Lotus hamatus San Diego birdsfoot lotus A 3-6 4/7 91 Lotus purshianus var. purshianus Spanish clover A 5-10 6/14 92 Lotus scoparius deerweed SS/S 3-8 4/16 93 Lotus strigosus Bishop's lotus A 3-6 2/18 94 Lupinus bicolor dwarf lupine A 3-6 7/17 95 Lupinus concinnus bajada lupine A 3-5 3/6 96 Lupinus excubitus var. hallii bush lupine S 2-6 2/4 97 Lupinus microcarpus var. densiflorus white-whorled lupine A 4-5 2/3 98 Lupinus truncatus collar lupine A 3-5 3/15 99 Medicago polymorpha California burclover *A 3-6 7/25 100 Trifolium ciliolatum tree clover A 3-6 5/6 101 Trifolium depauperatum var. truncatum balloon clover A 4-6 2/3 102 Trifolium gracilentum var. gracilentum pin-point clover A 4-6 4/4 103 Trifolium microcephalum small-head field clover A 4-8 2/4 104 Trifolium willdenovii tomcat clover A 3-6 4/8 105 Vicia americana var. americana American vetch P/V 4-6 3/4 106 Vicia hassei slender vetch V 4-7 2/2 107 Vicia ludoviciana var. ludoviciana slim vetch A 4-6 3/4 108 Vicia villosa ssp. varia winter vetch *A/V 4-7 6/9 Fagaceae Oak Family 109 Quercus agrifolia var. agrifolia coast live oak T 3-4 9/29 110 Quercus berberidifolia scrub oak S 3-5 7/11 111 Quercus berberidifolia X Q. engelmannii scrub oak X Engelmann oak S 3-5 6/11 112 Quercus engelmannii Engelmann oak T 4-5 8/17 Gentianaceae Gentian Family 113 Centaurium venustum canchalagua A 5-7 2/5 Geraniaceae Geranium Family 114 Erodium brachycarpum short-fruited filaree *A 4-8 8/8 115 Erodium cicutarium redstem filaree *A 2-5 5/30 116 Geranium dissectum cut-leaved geranium *A 3-5 5/5 Grossulariaceae Gooseberry Family 117 Ribes indecorum white-flowering currant S 11-3 6/10 Hydrophyllaceae Phacelia Family 118 Eriodictyon crassifolium thick-leaved yerba santa S 4-6 1/2 119 Eucrypta chrysanthemifolia var. chrysanthemifolia eucrypta A 3-6 2/13 120 Nemophila menziesii baby blue eyes A 2-6 3/8 121 Phacelia cicutaria var. hispida caterpillar phacelia A 3-5 3/8 122 Phacelia minor wild canterbury bells A 3-6 2/12 Lamiaceae Mint Family 123 Marrubium vulgare horehound *P 5-8 1/16 124 Monardella lanceolata mustang mint A 5-8 1/3 125 Salvia apiana white sage S 4-7 4/25 126 Salvia columbariae chia A 3-6 1/15 127 Salvia mellifera black sage S 4-7 5/27 128 Trichostema lanceolatum vinegar weed A 8-10 2/2 Malvaceae Mallow Family 129 Malacothamnus fasciculatus chaparral bush mallow S 4-7 0/8 130 Malvella leprosa alkali mallow P 3-10 1/1 131 Sidalcea malviflora ssp. sparsifolia checkerbloom P 2-7 7/13 Nyctaginaceae Four-O'Clock Family 132 Mirabilis californica California four o'clock P 12-6 0/10 Onagraceae Evening Primrose Family 133 Camissonia hirtella field sun-cup A 3-5 1/1 134 Camissonia ignota Jurupa Hills sun-cups A 3-5 2/4 135 Clarkia epilobioides canyon clarkia A 3-5 2/5 136 Clarkia purpurea ssp. quadrivulnera purple clarkia A 4-7 6/12 137 Epilobium canum ssp. canum California fuchsia SS 8-10 3/10 138 Epilobium densiflorum spike primrose A 5-8 1/1 139 Oenothera elata ssp. hirsutissima Hooker's evening-primrose P 6-8 1/3 Paeoniaceae Peony Family 140 Paeonia californica California peony P 1-3 5/10 Papaveraceae Poppy Family 141 Eschscholzia californica California poppy A/P 2-9 3/18 Plantaginaceae Plantain Family 142 Plantago lanceolata English plantain *P 4-8 1/13 Platanaceae Sycamore Family 143 Platanus racemosa western sycamore T 2-4 2/16 Polemoniaceae Phlox Family 144 Gilia angelensis angel's gilia A 3-5 3/5 145 Linanthus dianthiflorus ground pink A 2-4 5/6 146 Navarretia atractyloides holly-leaf navarretia A 5-7 1/2 147 Navarretia hamata ssp. hamata hooked skunkweed A 4-6 2/3 Polygonaceae Buckwheat Family 148 Eriogonum elongatum var. elongatum long-stemmed buckwheat P 8-11 5/15 149 Eriogonum fasciculatum var. foliolosum California buckwheat S 3-10 6/35 150 Eriogonum gracile slender buckwheat A 7-10 2/2 151 Polygonum arenastrum knotweed *A 5-11 1/6 152 Rumex crispus curly dock *P 1-12 7/13 Portulacaceae Purslane Family 153 Calandrinia ciliata red maids A 2-5 4/8 154 Claytonia perfoliata miner's lettuce A 2-5 4/13 Primulaceae Primrose Family 155 Anagallis arvensis scarlet pimpernel *A 3-7 5/16 156 Dodecatheon clevelandii ssp. clevelandii shooting star P 1-4 2/3 Ranunculaceae Buttercup Family 157 Delphinium parryi ssp. parryi blue larkspur P 4-6 4/5 158 Ranunculus occidentalis western buttercup P 2-5 5/6 Rhamnaceae Buckthorn Family 159 Ceanothus crassifolius hoaryleaf ceanothus S 1-4 2/10 160 Ceanothus tomentosus var. olivaceus Ramona lilac S 3-5 0/2 161 Rhamnus crocea redberry S 3-4 4/9 162 Rhamnus ilicifolia hollyleaf redberry S 3-6 8/29 Rosaceae Rose Family 163 Adenostoma fasciculatum chamise S 5-6 8/24 164 Cercocarpus minutiflorus San Diego mountain mahogany S 3-5 2/7 165 Heteromeles arbutifolia toyon S 6-7 6/31 166 Potentilla glandulosa ssp. glandulosa sticky cinquefoil P 5-7 4/6 167 Rubus discolor Himalaya blackberry *S 5-8 1/2 Salicaceae Willow Family 168 Salix lasiolepis arroyo willow S/T 3-5 5/23 Saxifragaceae Saxifrage Family 169 Jepsonia parryi coast jepsonia P 10-1 2/8 Scrophulariaceae Snapdragon Family 170 Antirrhinum kelloggii twining snapdragon A 3-5 2/4 171 Antirrhinum nuttallianum purple snapdragon A 2-8 2/3 172 Castilleja densiflora ssp. gracilis owl's clover A 3-5 2/2 173 Castilleja exserta ssp. exserta purple owl's clover A 3-6 2/6 174 Collinsia heterophylla Chinese houses A 3-7 4/10 175 Cordylanthus rigidus ssp. setigerus bristly bird's beak A 5-8 5/18 176 Keckiella cordifolia heartleaf penstemon S 3-8 2/18 177 Linaria canadensis var. texana rough-seeded blue toad-flax A 3-5 2/4 178 Mimulus aurantiacus bush monkeyflower SS 4-7 5/27 179 Penstemon heterophyllus var. australis southern foothill penstemon P 4-7 2/2 180 Scrophularia californica ssp. floribunda California bee plant P 3-5 4/7 Solanaceae Nightshade Family 181 Solanum parishii Parish's purple nightshade SS 3-5 2/8 Violaceae Violet Family 182 Viola pedunculata johnny jump-up P 2-4 6/7 Iridaceae Iris Family 183 Sisyrinchium bellum blue-eyed grass P 3-5 4/10 Liliaceae Lily Family 184 Allium haematochiton red-skinned onion P 3-5 1/2 185 Bloomeria crocea goldenstar P 4-6 1/6 186 Brodiaea filifolia thread-leaved brodiaea P 5-6 1/1 187 Brodiaea terrestris ssp. kernensis earth brodiaea P 4-6 1/1 188 Calochortus albus white fairy lantern P 4-6 1/1 189 Calochortus splendens splendid mariposa lily P 4-7 5/11 190 Calochortus weedii var. weedii yellow mariposa lily P 5-7 2/6 191 Chlorogalum pomeridianum var. pomeridianum soap plant P 5-7 5/11 192 Dichelostemma capitatum ssp. capitatum blue dicks P 2-5 7/26 193 Fritillaria biflora var. biflora chocolate lily P 2-6 3/4 194 Muilla maritima muilla P 3-6 1/5 195 Yucca whipplei chaparral yucca S 4-5 2/14 I thank Jane Strong for her advice in pruning my original list of 238 common taxa into this page of 195 taxa and the page of the 109 most common taxa, as well as her other comments on these pages.
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