Serpentine Soil Communities of Marin County

Cystopteris fragilis is a species of fern known by the common names brittle bladderfern and common fragile fern. It can be found worldwide, generally in shady, moist areas. The leaves are up to 30 or 40 centimeters long and are borne on fleshy petioles. Each leaf is divided into many pairs of leaflets, each of which is subdivided into lobed segments. The underside of the leaf has many rounded sori containing the sporangia. less ↑

Polystichum californicum is a species of fern known by the common name California sword fern. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California, where it occurs in the coastal mountain ranges and the Cascade Range through the Sierra Nevada. Its habitat includes forest understory and open rocky slopes. This fern produces several arching or erect leaves up to a meter long. Each lance-shaped leaf is made up of many sharp-toothed segments. The... less ↑

Polystichum munitum (Western Sword Fern) is an evergreen fern native to western North America, where it is one of the most abundant ferns. It occurs along the Pacific coast from southwest Washington to southern California, and also inland east to southeastern British Columbia, northern Idaho and western Montana, with isolated populations in interior northern British Columbia, the Black Hills in South Dakota, and on Guadalupe Island off Baja California. less ↑

Polypodium glycyrrhiza, commonly known as licorice fern, many-footed fern, and sweet root, is an evergreen fern native to western North America, primarily in a narrow strip in southern Alaska, southwestern Yukon Territory, western British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California, though two highly disjunct populations are known from Idaho and Arizona. It thrives in a humid climate, prevailing in areas with cool and moist summers and warm and wet winters. P. glycyrrhiza can often be found growing... less ↑

Cupressus sargentii is a species of conifer in the Cupressaceae family known by the common name Sargent's cypress. It is endemic to California, where it is known from Mendocino county southwards to Santa Barbara county. This taxon is limited to the Coast Range mountains. It grows in forests with other conifers, as well as chaparral and other local mountain habitat, usually in pure stands on serpentine soils. It generally grows 10 to 15 meters tall, but... less ↑

Sequoia sempervirens /sɨˈkɔɪ.ə sɛmpərˈvaɪərənz/ is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, California redwood, and giant redwood. It is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living 1200–1800 years or more. This species includes the tallest trees living now on Earth, reaching up to 379 feet (115.5 m) in height (without the roots) and up to 26 feet (7.9 m) in diameter at breast height.... less ↑

Cupressus sargentii is a species of conifer in the Cupressaceae family known by the common name Sargent's cypress. It is endemic to California, where it is known from Mendocino county southwards to Santa Barbara county. This taxon is limited to the Coast Range mountains. It grows in forests with other conifers, as well as chaparral and other local mountain habitat, usually in pure stands on serpentine soils. It generally grows 10 to 15 meters tall, but... less ↑

Douglas fir, with the scientific name Pseudotsuga menziesii, also known as Oregon pine or Douglas spruce, is an evergreen conifer species native to western North America. The common name is misleading since it is not a true fir, i.e., not a member of the genus Abies. For this reason the name is often written as Douglas-fir (a name also used for the genus Pseudotsuga as a whole). less ↑

Douglas fir, with the scientific name Pseudotsuga menziesii, also known as Oregon pine or Douglas spruce, is an evergreen conifer species native to western North America. The common name is misleading since it is not a true fir, i.e., not a member of the genus Abies. For this reason the name is often written as Douglas-fir (a name also used for the genus Pseudotsuga as a whole). less ↑

Selaginella wallacei is a species of spikemoss known by the common name Wallace's spikemoss. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Montana, where it can be found in many types of habitat, including open and shaded areas, and wet to dry environments. This lycophyte is variable in appearance, its form depending on the habitat it grows in. It can be spreading with many narrow branches, or a small, dense mat.... less ↑

Lupinus albifrons, Silver lupine, white-leaf bush lupine, or evergreen lupine, is a species of lupine (lupin). It is native to California and Oregon, where it grows along the coast and in dry and open meadows, prairies and forest clearings. It is a member of several plant communities, including coastal sage scrub, chaparral, northern coastal scrub, foothill woodland, and yellow pine forest. less ↑

Lupinus bicolor is a species of lupine known as the miniature lupine, Lindley's annual lupine, or bicolor lupine. It is a showy flowering plant native to western North America from California to British Columbia. It is an annual lupine which often shares a habitat with the California poppy. It has a short, hairy stem and thin, palmately-arranged leaves. The inflorescence is short for a lupine at up to 8 centimeters tall. As its name suggests the... less ↑

Cytisus scoparius, the common broom or Scotch broom, syn. Sarothamnus scoparius, is a perennial leguminous shrub native to western and central Europe. In Britain and Ireland, the standard name is broom, but this name is also used generically for other related species (see broom), and the term common broom is sometimes used for clarification. In other English-speaking countries, the most prevalent common name is Scotch broom (or Scot's broom); English broom is also occasionally used. less ↑

Lathyrus vestitus is a species of wild pea known by the common name Pacific pea. It is native to western North America, where it is mostly found in the forests, woodlands, and chaparral of California. The ranges of some subspecies extend into Oregon and Baja California. This is a perennial pea vine which varies in appearance across subspecies. Leaves are made up of several leaflets of various shapes up to 4 or 5 centimeters long. The... less ↑

Vicia sativa, known as the common vetch, tare or simply "the vetch", is a nitrogen fixing leguminous plant. Although considered a weed when found growing in a cultivated grainfield, this hardy plant is often grown as green manure or livestock fodder. There is no firm evidence that this is the same as the "tare" in some English translations of the Bible (as in the "Parable of the Tares") – ryegrass (Lolium) is another candidate. less ↑

Medicago polymorpha is a plant species of the genus Medicago. It is native to the Mediterranean basin but is found throughout the world. It forms a symbiotic relationship with the bacterium Sinorhizobium medicae, which is capable of nitrogen fixation. Common names include California burclover, toothed bur clover, toothed medick and burr medic. less ↑

Pickeringia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. Its only species is Pickeringia montana, which is known by the common name chaparral pea. It is endemic to California in the United States, where its distribution extends along the Coast Ranges to the Peninsular Ranges, as well as along the Sierra Nevada foothills. It is also known from Santa Cruz Island. less ↑

Acmispon glaber (previously Lotus scoparius) (Common Deerweed, Deer Weed, Deervetch, California Broom or Western Bird's-Foot Trefoil) is a perennial subshrub in the family Fabaceae (pea family). The plant is a pioneer species found in dry areas of California, Arizona, and Mexico. It is commonly found in many areas including chaparral, coastal sand and roadsides at elevations below 1500 m. less ↑

Acmispon glaber (previously Lotus scoparius) (Common Deerweed, Deer Weed, Deervetch, California Broom or Western Bird's-Foot Trefoil) is a perennial subshrub in the family Fabaceae (pea family). The plant is a pioneer species found in dry areas of California, Arizona, and Mexico. It is commonly found in many areas including chaparral, coastal sand and roadsides at elevations below 1500 m. less ↑

Polygala californica is a species of flowering plant in the milkwort family known by the common name California milkwort. It is native to southwestern Oregon and northern and central California, where it grows in the coastal mountain ranges in local habitat types such as chaparral and forest. It is a perennial herb producing spreading stems, generally decumbent in form, up to about 35 centimeters in maximum length, lined with narrow oval leaves each a few centimeter... less ↑

Rubus ursinus is a species of blackberry or dewberry known by the common names California blackberry, California dewberry, Douglas berry, Pacific blackberry or Pacific dewberry and trailing blackberry. It is native to western North America. This is a wide, spreading shrub or vine-bearing bush with prickly branches that can tip layer to spread vegetatively. Its white flowers may be distinguished from those of other blackberries by their narrow petals. The species is dioeocious, with male and... less ↑

Heuchera micrantha is a species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family known by the common name crevice alumroot. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California, where it grows on rocky slopes and cliffs. This plant is quite variable in appearance. There are a number of wild and cultivated varieties. The leaves are lobed and usually coated in glandular hairs. They are green to reddish-green or purple-green in color and may... less ↑

Lithophragma affine is a species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family known by the common name San Francisco woodland star. It is native to the coast of western North America from Oregon to Baja California, where it grows in open habitat on mountain slopes, hills, and canyonsides. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb growing erect or leaning with a tall naked flowering stem. The leaves are located on the lower part of the stem, each... less ↑

Tellima grandiflora (fringecups, bigflower tellima) is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Saxifragaceae. It has rounded leaves that emerge from a rootstock, and reach heights of 30 cm. It is evergreen in mild winters. Flowers are borne in spring and early summer, on spikes up to 60 cm high. The green calyx is 6–8 mm long; the five flower petals are greenish-white to purple, pinnately divided and spreading. The petals are deeply fringed. less ↑

Dodecatheon hendersonii is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to western North America, from California north to southern British Columbia and Idaho. In California, it occurs in the northwest (except the north coast), the Cascade Range, the Sierra Nevada foothills, the Central Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area, the north Inner South Coast Ranges, and the San Bernardino Mountains. It is generally found in open woodlands, from sea level in British Columbia,... less ↑

Navarretia rosulata is a rare species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names Marin County pincushionplant and San Anselmo navarretia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from only about 20 occurrences in Marin and Napa Counties. This plant was considered a subspecies of Navarretia heterodoxa until 1993, when it was separated and named a distinct species. It grows in coastal mountain ranges, usually in serpentine soils. It is... less ↑

Navarretia squarrosa (skunkweed, California stinkweed ) is a spreading annual plant from North America which is noted for its skunk-like odour. It grows to between 10 and 60 cm in height and has tubular lilac pink to deep blue flowers up to 12 mm in diameter in dense terminal heads, encircled by a spiny sepals and bracts. The leaves are pinnately lobed and spiny. less ↑

Microsteris is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the phlox family containing the single species Microsteris gracilis, known by the common name slender phlox. The segregation of this species into a genus of its own is controversial, and many botanists continue to include the plant in genus Phlox. Genetic analysis is continuing. The plant is native to western North America from northwestern Canada to the American Midwest to Mexico, as well as parts of South... less ↑

Scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis; also known as red pimpernel, red chickweed, poorman's barometer, poor man's weather-glass,shepherd's weather glass or shepherd's clock) is a low-growing annual plant. The native range of the species is Europe and Western and North Africa. The species has been distributed widely by humans, either deliberately as an ornamental flower or accidentally.A. arvensis is now naturalised almost worldwide, with a range that encompasses The Americas, Central and East Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, Malesia,... less ↑

Sherardia is a monotypic genus containing a single species, Sherardia arvensis (or Field Madder), which is a flowering plant in the Rubiaceae family. It is native to Europe, northern Africa and southwest Asia. Sherardia arvensis is closely related to the bedstraws (genus Galium). It is mainly noted as a weed but has sometimes found use as a dye plant. less ↑

Galium porrigens is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family known by the common names graceful bedstraw and climbing bedstraw. It is native to the west coast of North America from Oregon to Baja California. It can be found in many habitats from forest to coastal shrubland, and is often a member of the chaparral plant community. This is a small, woody perennial herb with climbing stems. It is covered in tiny prickly hairs... less ↑

Stellaria media, chickweed, is a cool-season annual plant native to Europe, which is often eaten by chickens. It is sometimes called common chickweed to distinguish it from other plants called chickweed. Other common names include chickenwort, craches, maruns, winterweed. The plant germinates in fall or late winter, then forms large mats of foliage. Flowers are small and white, followed quickly by the seed pods. This plant flowers and sets seed at the same time. less ↑