Dedicated to the preservation of California's native plants

The mission of the California Native Plant Society is to increase understanding and appreciation of California’s native plants and to conserve them and their natural habitats through education, science, advocacy, horticulture and land stewardship.


 

SAVE THE DATE 2018 Annual CNPS Pot-Luck Banquet | Saturday January 20, 2018 5:30 to 9:30pm

NEW LOCATION Morro Bay Veterans Memorial Building, 209 Surf Street, Morro Bay | Details coming soon

HOT TOPICS

Invasive Species Report: Purple Ragwort (Senecio elegans)

Invasive Species Report: Purple Ragwort (Senecio elegans)

An attractive member of the Asteraceae (Sunflower) family Senecio elegans is an erect annual herb, up to 1 ft. tall and to 1.5 ft. wide. It is native to Southern Africa and is distributed along coastal California. In northern San Luis Obispo County there are groups at San Simeon Point and at the other end of the county in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes.

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The Morro Manzanita Chaparral Natural Community

The Morro Manzanita Chaparral Natural Community

Morro manzanita is the dominant vascular plant species of a rare natural community known as Morro manzanita chaparral, the Arctostaphylos morroensis Shrubland Alliance, as defined by the Manual of California Vegetation. This is an example of a natural community that is dominated by a listed species. Not all sensitive natural communities are.

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Meet our Social Media Intern, Kieran

Kieran Althaus joined our team last fall doing Social Media work along side Judi Young for the chapter. He is soon going to start his Masters Degree at Cal Poly in Biology with Dr. Matt Ritter and Dr. Jenn Yost. In the mean time he is staying occupied with the Plant Science Club at Cal Poly, as well as working on a variety of Botany projects.

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NEW VEGETATION COMMITTEE BEING FORMED Are you interested in vegetation sampling? Do you have a favorite plant community, alliance or association? Then please contact Melissa Mooney, chair of the newly-enlivened Vegetation/Plant Communities committee of our SLO Chapter (email: mjmoon@charter.net). We’ve been in touch with Julie Evens and Jennifer Buck of the State CNPS Vegetation Program, and will be coordinating with the folks in the East Bay Chapter who are doing similar work. First order of business will be to prioritize what communities need focus for possible assessment and mapping and lay out our goals. Serpentine communities? Morro manzanita maritime chaparral? Valley Oak Savanna? Get those ideas coming and lets do some sampling!

OTHER NEWS

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  • Flora of Fern Canyon
  • Plants that Attract Butterflies
  • California Native Plants that Attract Birds
  • Native Plants with Fragrance
  • Pine Forest Mushroom List
  • California native plant sources image
    Nurseries and Sources for Native Plants
  • submit your photo
    Opening the World through Journaling
  • Salmon Creek Trail, Cambria
  • Spring Wildflowers at La Purisima Mission
  • Honeybees and Native Plants
  • Gardening in deer-prone areas
  • Facts about Oaks
  • California Wildflower
    Layia platyglossa
  • Schoenoplectus californicus
  • Wild and Domesticated Oats (Avena spp.)
    Avena fatua & A. barbata
  • Stachys bullata
  • Atriplex watsonii
  • Beach sun cups illustration
    Camissonia cheiranthifolia
  • Monolopia lanceolata
  • Ice Plant illustration, copyright Bonnie Walters
    Carpobrotus chilensis and C. edulis
  • Penstemon heterophylla
  • Urtica dioica
  • Ramalina menziesii
  • Umbellularia californica
    Umbellularia californica
  • California Polypody illustration by Bonnie Walter
    Polypodium californicum
  • Quercus douglasii
  • Amanita phalloides
  • Asparagus asparagoides illustration by Bonnie Walters
    Asparagus asparagoides
  • Flannel Bush (Fremontodendron californicum)
    Fremontodendron californicum
  • Bush Poppy (Dendromecon rigida)
    Dendromecon rigida
  • Bermuda grass
    Cynodon dactylon
  • Arctostaphylos - manzanita
    Mystery Manzanita in the Elfin Forest
  • vernal pools illustration
    Vernal Pool with Downingia
  • Filaree illustration
    Erodium moschatum
  • Calandrinia ciliata
  • spear orache
    Atriplex patula
  • creek dogwood
    Cornus sericea
  • Oval Leaved Snapdragon (Antirrhinum ovatum)
    Antirrhinum ovatum
  • Kellogg Oak
    Quercus Kelloggii
  • Cucurbita palmata
    Cucurbita palmata
  • Oenothera deltoides
    Oenothera deltoides
  • Solidago californica
  • Ceanothus hearstiorum
    Ceanothus hearstiorum
  • Fall Color
  • The Juniper-Oak Plant Association of Caliente Mountain
  • yarrow image
    Common (White) Yarrow (Achillea millefollium)
  • Coast Live Oak sketch
    Coast Live Oak
  • common milkweed
    Common Milkweed (kotolo) Asclepias eriocarpus
  • Chorizanthe breweri
    The Sargent Cypress Botanical Reserve: A Hammock Forest
  • Viola pedunculata drawing
    Viola pedunculata (Johnny-jump-up)
  • Pismo Clarkia by Mardi Niles
    Clarkia speciosa subsp. immaculata (Pismo Clarkia)
  • Rogers Red painting by Heather Johnson
    Vitis californica (California grape)
  • Salvia spathacea (Hummingbird Sage)
  • Solanum xanti watercolor
    Solanum xanti (Blue, Purple, Chaparral, or San Diego Nightshade)
  • Calochortus (Mariposa lily, fairy lantern and star-tulip)
  • Matilija poppy, Romneya coulteri
    Matilija poppy
  • Claytonia perfoliata (Miner’s Lettuce)
  • Elegant clarkia by Mardi Niles
    Clarkia unguiculata (Elegant Clarkia)
  • Tetragonia
    Tetragonia tetragonoides (New Zealand Spinach)
  • Morro Manzanita image
    The Morro Manzanita Chaparral Natural Community

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