Over the past 25 years I've had the pleasure of hiking the pristine area known as the Santa Rosa Plateau, Ca. In the spring when the wildflowers began to bloom, stops were frequent as I photographed, identified and catalogued the flowers.I quickly became frustrated on trying to identify the flora as I am a , "show me a picture", person. My library of books on wildflowers were useless because they covered flowers from larger geographical areas. (e.g., Field guide of North American Wildflowers published by the Audubon Society has only a few wildflowers found at the Santa Rosa Plateau.
By trade I am a horticulturist and am aware of identifying plants by using various keys. These keys are very time consuming and one needs to be familiar with the nomenclature of plant terminology.
Most people prefer seeing pictures of the plants showing identifying characteristics. My goal is to produce pictures having prominent identifying features, thus making it easier for you to put a name on the plant. I encourage the use of natives in home landscaping and have included comments on possible usage, growth, and environmetal requirements. Further comments will include Native American usage.
What makes the Santa Rosa Plateau so unique is its variety of plant communities all in one place (i.e.: oak woodland, grassland, sage and chaparral, riparian, and vernal pools). There are over 600 species of plants which is approximately one tenth the total number of varieties in California.
I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. I will continue to add more photos and eventually incorporate a search system. All comments are welcome and thank you for logging on, Keith Haworth keith@california-natives.com