List of San Francisco Bay Area wildflowers
Encyclopedia
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
is unusual, for a major metropolitan area
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
, in having ready access to rural and wilderness areas, as well as major urban parks. Particularly in spring, these offer a rich range of wild flowers.
List scope
The native plantNative plant
Native plant is a term to describe plants endemic or naturalized to a given area in geologic time.This includes plants that have developed, occur naturally, or existed for many years in an area...
s of the San Francisco Bay Area are not always typical of other regions of California, and some species are endemic. This list covers the flowers of the Bay Area one is most likely to see within its nine counties. It starts with flowers that are (a) common and/or (b) already have an article in Wikipedia. Flowering shrubs and trees are only included if their flowers are visually significant.
Flowering herbs (forbs)
- California PoppyCalifornia poppyThe California poppy is a perennial and annual plant, native to the United States, and the official state flower of California.- Description :...
- Purple Chinese Houses
- Yellow PansyYellow PansyViola pedunculata, the Yellow Pansy, is a common and attractive wildflower of coastal regions of California and Baja California. It is also known as the California Golden Violet, or as the Johnny Jump Up, though the latter name is more usually associated with the introduced Heartsease, Viola...
- Franciscan WallflowerFranciscan wallflowerErysimum franciscanum, commonly known as the Franciscan Wallflower or San Francisco Wallflower, is a plant endemic to the northern California coast, from Sonoma to Santa Cruz Counties. It is a member of the wallflower genus in the mustard family, the Brassicaceae.The plant is a biennial or...
- Douglas IrisDouglas IrisIris douglasiana, known as the Douglas iris, is a common and attractive wildflower of the coastal regions of Northern and Central California and southern Oregon. The names Iris beecheyana and I...
- Baby Blue EyesBaby blue eyesNemophila menziesii, the Baby blue eyes is a common annual herb of California, Oregon, and Baja California. It is a spring-blooming wildflower that gets its name from the bright blue flowers of two of the three varieties that are recognised. It is also cultivated in gardens...
- HeucheraHeucheraThe genus Heuchera includes at least 50 species of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Saxifragaceae, all native to North America. Common names include alumroot and coral bells. They have palmately lobed leaves on long petioles, and a thick, woody rootstock...
spp. - coral bells - Western Blue-eyed GrassWestern Blue-eyed GrassSisyrinchium bellum is the common blue-eyed grass of California and Oregon in and west of the Sierra Nevada, its range extending south into Baja California. In parts of its range, Western Blue-eyed Grass has previously been classified as Sisyrinchium eastwoodiae, S. greenei and S...
- Calypso OrchidCalypso orchidThe Calypso orchid , also known as the fairy slipper or Venus's slipper, is a perennial member of the orchid family found in undisturbed northern and montane forests...
- FiddleneckFiddleneckA fiddleneck is a flowering plant in the genus Amsinckia. The name derives from the flower stems, bearing many small flowers, which curl over at the top in a manner reminiscent of the head of a fiddle...
s (several species) - Blue FlaxBlue flaxBlue flax is a common name of two or more species in the genus Linum :*Linum lewisii*Linum perenne...
- Cow ParsnipCow ParsnipThe Cow Parsnip is the only member of the genus Heracleum native to North America. Its classification has caused some difficulty, with recent authoritative sources referring to it variously as Heracleum maximum or Heracleum lanatum , as H. linatum, or as either a subspecies, H...
- Common Star LilyCommon Star LilyZigadenus fremontii, known as the common star lily, Frémont's deathcamas or star zigadene, is an attractive wildflower found on grassy or woody slopes, or rocky outcrops, in many lower-lying regions of California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. Like other deathcamases, Z...
- Crimson ColumbineCrimson ColumbineAquilegia formosa is a common and attractive wildflower native to western North America, from Alaska to Baja California, and eastward to Montana and Wyoming....
- Wavy-leafed Soap Plant
- ClarkiaClarkiaClarkia is a genus within the flowering plant family Onagraceae. Over 40 species are currently classified in Clarkia; almost all are native to western North America, though one species is native to South America....
spp. - Farewell to Spring
Bushes, shrubs, and climbers
- Bush LupinBush lupinBush lupin or Bush lupine is a common name applied to a number of shrubby species of lupin:*Lupinus albifrons Silver bush lupine*Lupinus arboreus Yellow bush lupine*Lupinus chamissonis Chamisso bush lupine...
- ArctostaphylosArctostaphylosArctostaphylos is a genus of plants comprised by the manzanitas and bearberries. They are shrubs or small trees.There are about 60 species of Arctostaphylos, ranging from ground-hugging arctic, coastal, and mountain species to small trees up to 6 m tall. Most are evergreen , with small oval...
spp. - Manzanitas - California wild grape
- CeanothusCeanothusCeanothus L. is a genus of about 50–60 species of shrubs or small trees in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. The genus is confined to North America, the center of its distribution in California, with some species in the eastern United States and southeast Canada, and others extending as far south...
spp. - California lilacs - Pipestem ClematisPipestem ClematisClematis lasiantha, the Pipestem Clematis, is a creamy-white flowering liana vine, belonging to subgenus Clematis of the large Clematis genus.-Distribution:...
- Rubus spectabilis - native Blackberry
- Rosa californicaRosa californicaRosa californica, the California wild rose, is a species of rose native to the U.S. states of California and Oregon and the northern part of Baja California, Mexico...
- rose - Vaccinium ovatum - Huckleberry
- California ManrootCalifornia ManrootMarah fabaceus, the California Manroot or Bigroot, is the most common of the manroot species native to California. Its range throughout the state subsumes nearly the entire ranges of all the other California native manroots species and intergrades...
- RibesRibesRibes is a genus of about 150 species of flowering plants native throughout the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually treated as the only genus in the family Grossulariaceae. Seven subgenera are recognized....
spp. - currants - Ribes malvaceumRibes malvaceumRibes malvaceum, called chaparral currant, is a member of the Grossulariaceae . It is native to California and northern Baja California, where it occurs below 1500 m in chaparral, foothill oak woodland, and closed-cone pine forest.Less than 2 meters tall, this perennial shrub lacks the...
Flowering trees
- California Buckeye
- Black elderberry
- Pacific MadronePacific MadroneArbutus menziesii, commonly known as the Pacific Madrone, is a species of Arbutus found on the west coast of North America, from British Columbia to California...
- Coast live oakCoast Live OakQuercus agrifolia, the Coast Live Oak, is an evergreen oak , native to the California Floristic Province. It grows west of the Sierra Nevada from Mendocino County, California, south to northern Baja California in Mexico. It is classified in the red oak section Quercus agrifolia, the Coast Live Oak,...
Garden escapes
Garden escapes are introduced speciesIntroduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
, plants that have established in the area - via their seeds, underground runners, or by exuberant growth - beyond the limits of gardens where planted. Some may be reproducing in the wild as invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
and noxious weeds. Because of the large population of the Bay Area and its variety of garden styles, many plant species may be encountered as garden escapes.
- Among those seen are:
- AcaciaAcaciaAcacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
spp. - BougainvilleaBougainvilleaBougainvillea is a genus of flowering plants native to South America from Brazil west to Peru and south to southern Argentina . Different authors accept between four and 18 species in the genus...
spp. - Common Broom (Spanish, French, others)
- CortaderiaCortaderiaCortaderia is a genus of 20-25 species of grasses in the family Poaceae. Members of the genus are native to South America , New Zealand and New Guinea . The name of the genus is derived from the Argentine Spanish word cortadera, which in turn refers to the sharp serrations on the leaves....
spp. (Pampas grass) - EucalyptusEucalyptusEucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
spp. - Forget-me-notForget-me-notMyosotis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae that are commonly called Forget-me-nots. Its common name was calqued from the French, "ne m'oubliez pas" and first used in English in c. 1532. Similar names and variations are found in many languages.-Description:There are...
s (Myosotis discolor and M. latifolia) - Ice plantIce plant- Plant common names :* Aizoaceae, the ice plant family* Carpobrotus chilensis* Carpobrotus edulis* Conicosia, narrow-leafed ice plants* Delosperma cooperi, Cooper's ice plant* Delosperma bosseranum...
- several genera - IvyIvyIvy, plural ivies is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and across central-southern Asia east to Japan and Taiwan.-Description:On level ground they...
- Hedera spp. - LavenderLavenderThe lavenders are a genus of 39 species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. An Old World genus, distributed from Macaronesia across Africa, the Mediterranean, South-West Asia, Arabia, Western Iran and South-East India...
- Nassella tenuissima - Mexican feather grass
- PelargoniumPelargoniumPelargonium is a genus of flowering plants which includes about 200 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly known as scented geraniums or storksbills. Confusingly, Geranium is the correct botanical name of a separate genus of related plants often called Cranesbills. Both Geranium...
spp. - Pennisetum setaceum
- Rubus armeniacusRubus armeniacusRubus armeniacus, Armenian Blackberry or Himalayan Blackberry, is a species of Rubus in the blackberry group Rubus subgenus Rubus series Discolores Focke. It is native to Armenia in southwest Asia, and widely naturalised elsewhere...
– Himalayan Blackberry - Searocket
- Vinca majorVinca majorVinca major, with the common names Bigleaf Periwinkle, Large Periwinkle, Greater Periwinkle and Blue Periwinkle, is an herbaceous, perennial, rhizomatous and stoloniferous flowering plant in the genus Vinca belonging to the family Apocynaceae.-Etymology:The genus name probably derives from the...
- Acacia
Weeds
- Purple SalsifyPurple SalsifyTragopogon porrifolius is a plant cultivated for its ornamental flower, edible root, and herbal properties. It also grows wild in many places and is one of the most widely known species of the salsify genus, Tragopogon...
- Artichoke Thistle
- Red Valerian
- Herb RobertHerb RobertGeranium robertianum, commonly known as Herb Robert, Red Robin, Death come quickly, or Robert Geranium, is a common species of cranesbill in Europe, Asia, North America, and North Africa.Geranium robertianum can grow at altitudes of up to...
- Wild radishWild radishWild Radish or Jointed Charlock, Raphanus raphanistrum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is sometimes claimed to be the ancestor of the edible radish, Raphanus sativus...
- Scarlet PimpernelScarlet pimpernelScarlet pimpernel is a low-growing annual plant found in Europe, Asia and North America...
- Pale Flax
See also
- List of California native plants
- Index: Flora of the San Francisco Bay Area