A guide to the common flowering plants (Magnoliophyta) of Tilden Nature Area and Tilden Regional Park.
If a species isn't on this guide, document it!
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 ...more ↓
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 ...more ↓
Genista monspessulana (syn. Cytisus monspessulanus or Teline monspessulana) also known as French broom, Cape broom and Montpellier broom, is a woody perennial shrub and a legume. The species is native to the Mediterranean region, and is considered an invasive plant in most places where it has been introduced.
Lathyrus latifolius, the perennial peavine, perennial pea, or everlasting sweet pea, is a flowering plant of the genus Lathyrus in the legume family Fabaceae. It is native to Europe but is present on other continents, such as North America and Australia, where it is an introduced species.
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 ...more ↓
Fragaria vesca, commonly called wild strawberry, woodland strawberry, Alpine strawberry, European strawberry, or fraise des bois, is a perennial herbaceous plant that grows naturally throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, and that produces edible fruits.
Potentilla indica (formerly Duchesnea indica), also called mock strawberry, Gurbir, Indian strawberry or false strawberry, has foliage and an aggregate accessory fruit similar to true strawberry, though it is classified in a different genus, and has yellow flowers, unlike the white or slightly pink flowers of true strawberries. It is native to ...more ↓
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 ...more ↓
Micranthes californica is a species of saxifrage known by the common name California saxifrage. It is native to much of California west of the deserts, as well as adjacent sections of southern Oregon and northern Baja California. It grows in many types of moist habitat from the coast to the mountains. It is a perennial herb producing a small gray-green basal rosette of ...more ↓
Urtica dioica, often called common nettle or stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting), is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant, native to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and North America, and is the best-known member of the nettle genus Urtica. The species is divided into six subspecies, five of which have many hollow stinging hairs ...more ↓
Trientalis latifolia (Starflower, Pacific Starflower) is a low-growing (5 to 30 cm (2.0 to 12 in)) perennial with 2.5 to 9 cm (0.98 to 3.5 in) leaves distributed levelly in a single group.
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 ...more ↓
Eriogonum nudum is a perennial shrub of the wild buckwheat genus which is known by the common name Naked buckwheat.
Claytonia perfoliata (miner's lettuce, winter purslane, or Indian lettuce; syn. Montia perfoliata) is a fleshy annual plant native to the western mountain and coastal regions of North America from southernmost Alaska and central British Columbia south to Central America, but most common in California in the Sacramento and northern San Joaquin ...more ↓
Centaurea melitensis (called Maltese star thistle in Europe, tocalote or tocolote in western North America) is an annual plant of the Asteraceae, 1- 11 dm high, with resin-dotted leaves and spine-tipped phyllaries. This plant is native to the Mediterranean region of Europe and Africa. It was introduced to North America in the 18th Century; the first ...more ↓
Centaurea solstitialis, yellow star-thistle, is a member of the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin region. The plant is also known as golden starthistle, yellow cockspur and St. Barnaby's thistle (or Barnaby thistle) The plant is a thorny winter annual species in the knapweed genus.
Wyethia helenioides is a species of flowering plants in the sunflower family commonly referred to as gray mule's ears.
Solidago velutina, the Velvety goldenrod or Three-nerved goldenrod, is a plant species native to Mexico and to the western United States. It is classified as a member of Subsection Nemorales.
Bellis perennis is a common European species of daisy, of the Asteraceae family, often considered the archetypal species of that name. Many related plants also share the name "daisy", so to distinguish this species from other daisies it is sometimes qualified as common daisy, lawn daisy or English daisy. Historically, it has also been commonly known as ...more ↓
The cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), also called the artichoke thistle, cardone, cardoni, carduni or cardi, is a thistle-like plant in the family Asteraceae. It is the naturally occurring form of the same species as the globe artichoke, and has many cultivated varieties. It is native to the western and central Mediterranean region, where it was ...more ↓
Heterotheca sessiliflora is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name sessileflower false goldenaster. It is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in many types of habitat. This is a perennial herb which is quite variable in appearance, particularly across its four subspecies. It may be a small clumping or mat-forming ...more ↓
Helminthotheca echioides, bristly ox-tongue, is a stiff annual or biennial herb native to Europe and North Africa. It was traditionally used as an antihelminthic treatment.
Oxalis oregana (redwood sorrel, Oregon oxalis) is a species of the wood sorrel family, Oxalidaceae, native to moist Douglas-fir and coast redwood forests of western North America from southwestern British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California.
Oxalis pes-caprae (Bermuda buttercup, African wood-sorrel, Bermuda sorrel, Buttercup oxalis, Cape sorrel, English weed, Goat's-foot, Sourgrass, Soursob and Soursop; (Afrikaans: Suring) ) is a species of tristylous flowering plant in the wood sorrel family Oxalidaceae. Oxalis cernua is a less ...more ↓
Toxicodendron diversilobum, commonly named Pacific poison oak or western poison oak (syn. Rhus diversiloba), is in the Anacardiaceae family (the sumac family).
Clarkia rubicunda is a flowering plant endemic to California. It is found mostly on the Central Coast part of the state. The plant is known by the common names ruby chalice clarkia and farewell to spring.
Clarkia unguiculata is a species of wildflower known by the common name elegant clarkia or mountain garland. This plant is endemic to California, where it is found in many woodland habitats. Specifically it is common on the forest floor of many oak woodlands, along with typical understory wildflowers that include Calochortus luteus, Cynoglossum grande ...more ↓
Cynoglossum grande is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name Pacific hound's tongue. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California, where it grows in shady areas in woodland and chaparral. On the forest floor of California oak woodlands typical plant associates are Calochortus luteus, Delphinium ...more ↓
Myosotis latifolia is a species of forget-me-not known by the common name broadleaf forget-me-not. It is native to northwestern Africa, and it is known elsewhere as an introduced species, including the west coast of the United States. It grows in many types of habitat, including moist, shaded, disturbed areas. It is a perennial herb sometimes exceeding half a meter in ...more ↓
Amsinckia menziesii is a species of plant in the Boraginaceae family, the Borage or Forget-me-not family.
Phacelia californica is a species of phacelia known by the common names California phacelia and California scorpionweed. It is native to coastal northern California and Oregon, where it grows in chaparral, woodland, and coastal bluffs and grassland.
Nemophila menziesii, known commonly as baby blue eyes, is an annual herb native to California, Oregon, and Baja California. It is a spring wildflower with three varieties, two of which bear blue flowers. It is also cultivated in gardens. It can occasionally be found outside its native range as an introduced species, in Alaska, for example.
Scrophularia californica is a flowering plant in the figwort family which is known by the common names California figwort and California bee plant.
Salvia mellifera (Black sage) is a small, highly aromatic, evergreen shrub of the genus Salvia (the sages) native to California, and Baja California, Mexico. It is common in the coastal sage scrub of Southern California and northern Baja California. Black sage has a dark appearance, especially during drought.
Monardella villosa is a plant in the mint family which is known by the common name coyote mint.
Plantago erecta, in the Plantain family, is known variously as California Plantain, Foothill Plantain, Dot-seed Plantain, English Plantain, and Dwarf Plantain.
Plantago lanceolata is a species of genus Plantago known by the common names ribwort plantain, English plantain, buckhorn plantain, narrowleaf plantain, ribleaf and lamb's tongue. It is a common weed of cultivated land.
Linaria maroccana is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common name Moroccan toadflax. It is native to Morocco, but it can be found elsewhere growing wild as an introduced species, such as California. It is a readily available ornamental plant for the flower garden. This is an annual herb growing erect to approach half a meter in maximum ...more ↓
Mimulus aurantiacus, the sticky monkey-flower or orange bush monkey-flower, is a flowering plant that grows in a subshrub form, native to southwestern North America from southwestern Oregon south through most of California. It is treated by some botanists in a separate genus from other Mimulus as Diplacus aurantiacus.
Eschscholzia californica (California poppy, golden poppy, California sunlight, cup of gold) is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae, native to the United States and Mexico, and the official state flower of California.
Dicentra formosa (western, wild or Pacific bleeding heart) is a species of flowering plant in the family Fumariaceae, native to moist woodland in the western United States, from California to British Columbia. It is an herbaceous rhizomatous perennial growing to 45 cm (18 in) tall by 60 cm (24 in) wide, with deeply divided grey-green leaves and racemes of ...more ↓
Mahonia pinnata (syn. Berberis pinnata) is a species of shrub in the barberry family. Common names include California barberry, wavyleaf barberry, and shinyleaf mahonia. It is similar to the Oregon-grape (Mahonia aquifolium), and is sometimes called the California Oregon-grape.
Symphoricarpos albus is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common name common snowberry. It is native to North America, where it occurs across much of Canada and the northern United States. It grows in shady and moist mountain and forest habitat, in woodlands and on floodplains and riverbanks. It can grow in a wide variety of habitat ...more ↓
The perennial vine Lonicera hispidula is a species of honeysuckle known as pink honeysuckle and, less often, California honeysuckle. It is a low-elevation woodlands shrub or vine found on the West Coast of the United States.
Lonicera involucrata (Bearberry Honeysuckle, Bracted Honeysuckle, Twinberry Honeysuckle, Twin-berry, Black Twinberry) is a species of honeysuckle native to northern and western North America, from southern Alaska east across boreal Canada to Quebec, and south through the western United States to California, and to Chihuahua in northwestern ...more ↓
Dipsacus fullonum, syn. Dipsacus sylvestris, is a species of flowering plant known by the common names Fuller's teasel and wild teasel. It is native to Eurasia and North Africa, but it is known in the Americas, southern Africa, Australia and New Zealand as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. The inflorescence is a cylindrical array of lavender ...more ↓
Scabiosa atropurpurea (sweet scabious) is an ornamental plant of Scabiosa genus in the Dipsacaceae family.
Conium (/koʊˈnaɪ.əm/ or /ˈkoʊniəm/) is a genus of one or two species of highly poisonous perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to Europe and the Mediterranean region as Conium maculatum (known popularly as Hemlock), and to southern Africa as Conium chaerophylloides.
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum (treated as the sole species in the genus by most botanists). It is a member of the family Apiaceae (formerly the Umbelliferae). It is a hardy, perennial, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely ...more ↓
Sanicula crassicaulis is a species of flowering plant in the parsley family known by the common names Pacific sanicle and Pacific blacksnakeroot. It is native to the west coast of North America from British Columbia to Baja California, where it can be found in many types of habitat, including mountain slopes, grassland, and woodlands. It is a perennial herb ...more ↓
Scandix pecten-veneris (shepherd's-needle, Venus' comb, Venus's needle) is a plant species in the parsley family. It is native to Eurasia and it is known widely elsewhere as an introduced species and sometimes a weed. It is named for its long fruit, which has a thickened body up to 1.5 centimeters long and a beak which can measure up to 7 centimeters long ...more ↓
Sidalcea malviflora is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common name dwarf checkerbloom, or dwarf checkermallow.
Euphorbia peplus (petty spurge,radium weed,cancer weed, or milkweed) is a species of Euphorbia, native to most of Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, where it typically grows in cultivated arable land, gardens, and other disturbed land.
Cardamine californica (Milkmaids) (also Dentaria californica) is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae, native to western North America from Washington to California and Baja California. It is common in a variety of habitats including shady slopes, open woodlands, chaparral and grasslands in the winter and early spring. In the San Francisco Bay Area, it is ...more ↓
Marah 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. Hybrids between California manroot and the other species are common.
Typha angustifolia L., ( also lesser bulrush or narrowleaf cattail or lesser reedmace), is a perennial herbaceous plant of genus Typha. This cattail is an "obligate wetland" species that is commonly found in the northern hemisphere in brackish locations. The plant's leaves are flat, very narrow (¼"-½" wide), and 3'-6' tall when mature; 12-16 leaves ...more ↓
Corallorhiza, the coralroot orchids, is a genus of flowers in the orchid family. Most species are leafless, relying entirely upon symbiotic fungi within their coral-shaped roots for sustenance. Because of this dependence on myco-heterotrophy within their mycorrhizae, they cannot be successfully cultivated.
Piperia elegans is a species of orchid known by several common names, including elegant piperia, coast piperia, hillside rein orchid, and hillside bogorchid. This is a showy flowering plant native to western North America. It grows from a caudex tuber and sends up a thick stem just under a meter in maximum height. The stem is topped with a cylindrical ...more ↓
Epipactis helleborine (Broad-leaved Helleborine) is a Palearctic orchid that has been introduced to several regions of North America. Its nodding flowers vary from greenish pink to purple, and it prefers shaded woodland environments.
Maianthemum stellatum (star-flowered, starry, or little false Solomon's seal, or simply false Solomon's seal; starry false lily-of-the-valley; syn. Smilacina stellata) is a species of flowering plant, native across North America generally from Alaska to California in the west and from Newfoundland to the central Appalachian Mountains in ...more ↓
Iris douglasiana (Douglas iris, syn. I. beechiana, I. watsonia) is a common wildflower of the coastal regions of Northern and Central California and southern Oregon in the USA. The Douglas Iris was first described by 19th century botanist David Douglas in Monterey, California. It grows mainly at lower elevations, below 100 meters (330 ft), though it is ...more ↓
Sisyrinchium bellum (Western Blue-eyed Grass, Californian Blue-eyed Grass) 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. ...more ↓
Chlorogalum pomeridianum, the wavy-leafed soap plant, California soaproot, or Amole, is the most common and most widely distributed of the soap plants, soaproots or amoles, which make up the genus Chlorogalum of flowering plants. It is occasionally known as the "wild potato", but given the plant's lack of either resemblance or relationship to the ...more ↓
Dichelostemma capitatum (syn. D. pulchellum), called Blue dicks, Purplehead and Brodiaea (alternate spellings, Brodiea, Brodeia) occur in Arizona, California, Oregon, Utah, New Mexico, and northern Mexico.
Triteleia laxa (previously Brodiaea laxa) is a triplet lily known by several common names, including Ithuriel's spear and grassnut. It is native to California where it is a common wildflower, and it is occasionally found in Oregon. It bears a tall, naked stem topped with a spray of smaller stalks, each ending in a purple or blue flower. The flower is ...more ↓
Brodiaea elegans is a species of flowering plant in the cluster-lily genus known by the common names harvest brodiaea, elegant brodiaea, and elegant cluster-lily.
Calochortus venustus is a species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common name butterfly mariposa lily. It is endemic to California, where it can be found in the sandy soils of a number of habitats in the mountains and foothills in the central part of the state.
Prosartes hookeri, formerly Disporum hookeri, is a species of flowering plant in the Liliaceae known by the common names drops of gold and Hooker's fairy bells.
Trillium chloropetalum is a spring-flowering perennial plant native to the west and north-west coast of the United States. Common names: Common Trillium, Giant Trillium, Giant Wake Robin, and Sessile Trillium.