Regional Guides:

• San Diego County Plant Atlas, San Diego Natural History Museum 
• Guide to the Coastal Plants of San Mateo County, by Mel Preston, Point Blue Conservation Science. 
• Wildflowers of the East Bay Regional Park District: A Photographic Guide Sorted by Flower Color, 2007
•  EBRPD Park Specific Wildflower Photo Guides

Forbs

Species Spotlight: 

Narrow-leaf Milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis) 

by Emily Allen, Grasslands, Summer 2014

Santa Rosa Basalt Brodiaea (Brodiaea santarosae) A newly described grassland species from the Santa Rosa Plateau: Brodiaea santarosae, The Santa Rosa Basalt Brodiaea, by Tom Chester, Wayne Armstrong, and Kay Madore, Grasslands, Spring 2009. 

Note: California Rare Plant Rank: 1B.2 (rare, threatened, or endangered in CA and elsewhere).   CNPS Inventory

Species Spotlight: 

Dove Weed

(Croton setiger)

by Emily Allen

Grasslands, Winter 2018

Species Summary: 

California Poppy, (Eschscholzia californica)

Santa Cruz Tarplant (Holocarpha macradenia)

by Michele Hammond, Grasslands Winter 2020

Photo courtesy of Seleney Sanchez

Species Spotlight: 

Douglas Iris (Iris douglasiana), by Diana Jeffery, Grasslands, Winter 2014

Douglas' Meadowfoam (Limnanthes douglasii)

by Andrea Williams, Grasslands, Spring 2017

Species Spotlight:

Fire Poppy

(Papaver californicum)

by Tatiana Manzanillo,

Grasslands, Summer 2019

California Plantain (Plantago erecta)  by Consuelo Baez Vega

Grasslands, Summer 2024

Photo: Close-up of California plantain flower. NatureShutterbug,

• Ornamental California Native Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes for the Landscape, by Davis Amme, from Grasslands Vol 32 No 3. Summer 2022
• Forage value of some native grasses
• How to key a grass
• Anatomy of a Grass Crossword Puzzle

Squirreltail (Elymus elymoides) 

by Kendra Moseley, November 2019

Photo: Sheri Hagwood, hosted by the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

Species Spotlight: 

Fescue to the Rescue (Festuca californica, F. idahoensis, F. rubra, F. spp.) 

by Andrea Williams, Grasslands, Winter 2015

Species Spotlight: 

Small Fescue (Festuca microstachys)

by Andrew Rayburn, Grasslands Fall 2015

Red Fescue (Festuca Rubra)

From Notes on California Grasses from A to V, by David Amme, Grasslands 2004. 

Species Spotlight: 

The sweet green of narrow mannagrass (Glyceria leptostachya),by Jeffery T. Wilcox, Grasslands, Fall 2018

Species Spotlight: Hairy Orcutt Grass (Orcuttia pilosa), by  Chad Aakre. 2020. Grasslands Summer Vol 30(3): 18-20.                                   Photo by George W. Harwell. 

North Coast Semaphore Grass (Pleuropogon hooverianus)

A rare and threatened North Coast range grass, by Clare Golec, Grasslands, Summer 2009

Note: California Rare Plant Rank: 1B.2 (rare, threatened, or endangered in CA and elsewhere).   CNPS Inventory

Listed by the State of California as Threatened.

The Amazing Purple Needlegrass (Stipa pulchra)

Research Articles: 

• Grazing Nasella: Maintaining purple needlegrass in a sea of aggressive annuals. George MR, S Larson-Praplan, M Doran, KW Tate. 2013. Rangelands Vol 35. No. 2.
• Incorporating temporal dynamics to enhance grazing management outcomes for a long-lived species. Larios, L., & Hallett, L. M. (2022).Journal of Applied Ecology, 59, 2936–2946. 
• Senate Bill No.1226 making purple needlegrass  the official State Grass of California.

Grass-like Plants: Carex, Juncus, Luzula

Carex Identification

• Sedges of Marin County, California - Sedge Identification

Species Spotlight: 

Clustered Field Sedge (Carex praegracilis)

by Emily Allen, Grasslands, Spring 2015

Carex panza (Pacific Dune Sedge): The Sedge with the Other Name

By David Amme, Grasslands, Fall 2008

Species Spotlight:

Hairy Wood Rush (Luzula camosa), by Emily Allen, Grasslands Spring 2020 Vol 30 No 2.

Photo: Emily Allen