Native wildflower blazing star (Mentzelia lindleyi)
Gentiana algida in the Sierra Nevada

California native plants are plants that existed in California prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in the late 18th century.[1] California includes parts of at least three phytochoria. The largest is the California Floristic Province, a geographical area that covers most of California, portions of neighboring Oregon, Nevada, and Baja California, and is regarded as a "world hotspot" of biodiversity.[2][3]

Introduction

In 1993, The Jepson Manual estimated that California was home to 4,693 native species and 1,169 native subspecies or varieties, including 1,416 endemic species. A 2001 study by the California Native Plant Society estimated 6,300 native plants. These estimates continue to change over time.[2]

Of California's total plant population, 2,153 species, subspecies, and varieties are endemic and native to California alone, according to the 1993 Jepson Manual study.[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.[4][5]

California native plants include some that have widespread horticultural use. Sometimes the appreciation began outside of California—lupines, California fuchsias, and California poppies were first cultivated in British and European gardens for over a century.[6]

Selected trees

Coniferous trees

Sequoias and redwoods

Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)

Pine trees

Pinus ponderosa, Kings Canyon National Park

Western Cypress

Monterey cypress, Carmel

Other conifers

Oak trees

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

Riparian trees

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) in Lee Vining Canyon
In riparian areas (streamside and moist habitats) some of the trees include:

Other trees and tree-like shrubs

Selected shrubs

Fremontodendron californicum (California flannelbush)

Selected desert plants

A Joshua tree in Joshua Tree National Park
Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata)

See also: Category:Flora of the California desert regions

Selected perennials

Eriogonum fasciculatum (California buckwheat)

Sunny habitats

Shady habitats

Ferns

Selected bulbs

Brodiaea coronaria (California hyacinth)

Selected annuals and wildflowers

Selected vines

Aristolochia californica (Dutchman's pipe)

Selected grasses

Festuca californica, El Cajon
Grasses:[14]
Grasslike:[15]

Selected succulents

Coast dudleya (Dudleya caespitosa)
Dudleyas
Sedums

Environmental challenges

Some California native plants are in rapid decline in their native habitat due to urban sprawl, agriculture, overgrazing, recreational impacts, pollution, and invasive non-native species (invasive exotics) colonization pressures (animals and other kingdoms of life, as well as plants).[16]

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, 19th and 20th centuries.

See also

References

  1. ^ "What is a native plant?". California Native Plant Society. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  2. ^ a b Ornduff, Robert; Faber, Phyllis M.; Keeler-Wolf, Todd (2003). Introduction to California Plant Life. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23704-9. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  3. ^ "California Floristic Province". Biodiversity Hotspots. Conservation International. Archived from the original on 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  4. ^ a b Hickman, J.C., ed. (1993). "Appendix I". The Jepson Manual, Higher Plants of California. University of California Press. p. 1315. ISBN 9780520082557.
  5. ^ Munz, Philip Alexander; Keck, David Daniels (1 June 1973). A California Flora. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-02405-2. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  6. ^ Bornstein, Carol; Fross, David; O'Brien, Bart (1 December 2005). California native plants for the garden. Cachuma Press. ISBN 978-0-9628505-8-5. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  7. ^ Pavlik, Bruce M.; Muick, Pamela; Johnson, Sharon (1993). Oaks of California. Cachuma Press. ISBN 978-0962850516.
  8. ^ Jepson Manual Quercus agrifolia
  9. ^ Jepson Manual Salix lasiolepsis
  10. ^ Keator, Glenn (1 March 1994). Complete Garden Guide to the Native Shrubs of California. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-8118-0402-8. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  11. ^ Fross, David; Wilken, Dieter (1 February 2006). Ceanothus. Timber Press. ISBN 978-0-88192-762-7. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  12. ^ Keator, Glenn (1990). Complete Garden Guide to the Native Perennials of California. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-87701-699-1. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  13. ^ "Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants".
  14. ^ "California Native Grasslands Association". Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  15. ^ Crampton, Beecher (1974). Grasses in California. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-02507-3. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  16. ^ Alden, Peter; Heath, Fred (26 May 1998). Field Guide to California. Knopf. National Audubon Society. ISBN 978-0-679-44678-1. Retrieved 28 January 2013.

Further reading

Books: flora

Books: gardening/landscaping

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Flora of California (category)
Flora of the United States
Categories