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Plants of CoastalSan Luis Obispo County Michael Walgren A non-profit publication of: © 2017

Table of ContentsIntroduction.......................................................................................2Lycophytes…………......................................................................32Ferns…………................................................................................33Gymnosperms.................................................................................44Angiosperms...................................................................................47 Eudicots............................................................................48 Monocots........................................................................362Index.............................................................................................442 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements are due to contributors without whose help this guidewould not have been completed. Thanks are due to the California Department ofParks and Recreation, Dr. David J. Keil, Lisa Andreano, Aaron Sims, and BillMaslach for manuscript review and general consulting. The Morro Bay National Estuary Program provided financial assistance onan earlier predecessor project, “The Flora of Estero Bay.” Under a grant awarded tothis author, the main contributors were Jeremy Beaulieu and Lisa Andreano. LisaAndreano’s community descriptions were included in the predecessor project and aremodified here. Resources Used One indispensable resource is the The Vascular Flora of San Luis ObispoCounty, California (1970), written by the late Dr. Robert F. Hoover, a formerCalifornia Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo professor (1913-1970). Dr,Hoover’s work pioneered the documentation of the San Luis Obispo County flora.Dr. Hoover’s flora was followed by Addenda to the Vascular Flora of San LuisObispo County, California (Keil, et al. Madrono Vol 32. No 4, pp. 214-224, 1985);this paper documented 76 new species for the county and 3 other species notincluded in the original flora, despite collections. Plant locations were summarized from Dr. Hoover’s flora, the onlineCalifornia Consortium of Herbaria (CCH), and from specimens at the Robert F. Dr.Hoover Herbarium at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo(abbreviated as OBI). Grass distribution information relied heavily on the followingunpublished report: Michael Curto, 1993, Grasses of San Luis Obispo County,California, which can be accessed through the Robert F. Dr. Hoover Herbarium atCalifornia Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Plant descriptions were developed from information in The Jepson Manual:Vascular Plants of California, Second Edition (Baldwin, Goldman, Keil, Patterson(eds.) 2012), Dr. Hoover’s flora, the online version of the The Flora of NorthAmerica (http://www.floranorthamerica.org), informal discussions with Dr. Keil, andpersonal observations. The Jepson Manual is sometimes referred to herein “ JM2.” Introduction The San Luis Obispo County coast is a special place due to the conservationof much of the coastline. From the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National WildlifeRefuge to the State Parks of Morro Bay, and the United States Forest Service landsof the Santa Lucia Mountains, the vast majority of our coast is open space. Land 2 

conservation is only one of the challenges in conservation, however. Exotic plantinvasions, off-road vehicles, cattle grazing, and fire suppression are some of theforces that threaten our local flora. This guide is intended to be a useful field guide for naturalists, not ascholarly flora. Therefore, this guide aims to simply help in the identification of thenative and non-native plants along the San Luis Obispo County coastline. The guideis the culmination of field surveys and over 500 specimen vouchers, and builds upondocumented species lists and other publications. Other useful books for our coastal area include the following: CentralCoast Wildflowers: Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties ofCalifornia (Coffeen 1993), Dune Mother Wildflower Guide: Dunes of Coastal SanLuis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties, California (McCleod 2001), and NativeFlora of Estero Bay (Walgren, Beaulieu, Andreano 2006). More detailedinformation on individual plants can be found in A California Flora (Munz 1959)and Supplement (1968 Munz). Plants are presented in alphabetic order according to family, with scientificnames, common names, short descriptions, and ranges included. Plants officiallyrecognized as rare or invasive are followed by their respective rare status listing orinvasive listing. Flowering times are included for some plants based on localobservations in recent years; more inclusive flowering times can be found in JM2. Area Covered The area covered in this guide was defined artificially. In general, thisproject studied all coastal areas open to the public, extending from the Pacific Oceanto the first ridgeline. Below is a map showing the area covered in this guide. Thearea covered is shown in Figure 1 and includes the steep Santa Lucia Mountains ofthe extreme north county, the coastal bluffs and hills from the San Simeon coastlineto Cayucos, the Morro Bay area, the Irish Hills (or the San Luis Range) from thecoast to the Perfumo/See Canyon roads (including the Diablo Canyon Nuclear PowerPlant area), San Luis Creek from Highway 101 to Avila, the bluffs, hills, and dunesfrom Shell Beach to Pismo Beach, and the expanse of dunes from Oceano to theNipomo Mesa as far as Highway 101 and to the southern county line. Except on thenorth coast, this study area does not include the more interior Santa Lucia Mountains 3 

Figure 1. This map shows the area covered in this project as a cross-hatched orangearea. This map was created by modifying open source digital images, including a1916 State Mining Bureau map. Plant Taxonomy This guide is arranged taxonomically. The major plant groups are dividedinto the non-flowering plants (lycophytes and ferns, or spore-bearers, , and thegymnosperms, known as cone-bearers), and the flowering plants (the angiosperms).A brief taxonomic and evolutionary overview of these groups is described below.Within these groups, plants are organized alphabetically by families, genera andspecies according to The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California, SecondEdition (2012), as well as the associated Revision/Supplement I (July 2013), II(December 2014), III (December 2015) and IV (December 2016). Changes intaxonomy are occurring rapidly, especially in the light of genetic analysis. Thesechanges can be viewed online through the Jepson Herbarium Interchange(http://www.ucjeps.berkeley.edu/ interchange/). In order to avoid confusion relatingto name changes, both newer names and the most recent older names are included. The lycophytes and ferns are two of the oldest living vascular plant groupsand are believed to be the first vascular plant groups to colonize terrestrial habitats,following the lichens (an algal-fungal relationship). These ancient spore-bearerswere once the dominant plant group and reached their peak diversity and dominanceduring the Jurassic period. Local examples of lycophytes and ferns include the ferns,quillworts, spike-moss, and horsetails. 4 

The gymnosperms, or cone-bearers, have flowers that produce seeds incones, as opposed to flowers that produce seeds in fruits as in the angiosperms. Thegymnosperms evolved after the lycophytes and ferns approximately 300 millionyears ago. Local examples of gymnosperms include pines, cypress, and redwoods. The evolutionarily youngest and currently most diverse plant group is theangiosperms. They are the flowering plants that bear seeds in fruits. The oldestangiosperm fossils are approximately 130 million years old. Before the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, approximately 85 million years ago, the angiosperms underwent amassive diversification and have since become the most varied and widespread of allplant groups. Angiosperm taxonomy has recently changed from two groups (monocotsand dicots) to include eight separate groups (including Ceratophyllales, Magnoliids,Nymphaeales, eudicots and monocots). The Ceratophyllales include a single familyof submerged aquatic plants, the Magnoliids are terrestrial plants, and theNymphaeales are aquatic plants from rhizomes. The monocots are plants that produce 1 cotyledon (embryonic or primaryleaf) when the seed first germinates. Monocots typically have flower parts in threes,parallel veined leaves, and scattered vascular bundles. Local examples of monocotsare grasses, sedges, rushes, irises, lilies, orchids, and yucca. The majority of angiosperms are dicots. Dicots are plants that have twocotyledons and flower parts in fours or fives, netted or webbed veined leaves, andhighly organized vascular bundles. The dicots are what we typically associate withflowering plants, as the flowers are typically showy and visible to the naked eye. Sensitive Species Status ListingsCRPR The California Native Plant Society, in conjunction with the CaliforniaDepartment of Fish and Wildlife, maintains the California Rare Plant Ranking(CRPR) system for special-status species. The CRPR system is utilized andrecognized by resource agencies in California. A list 1B plant is considered rare,threatened, or endangered in California and elsewhere. A list 2 plant is consideredrare, threatened, or endangered in California but is more common elsewhere. A list 3plant is a species for which the CRPR lacks necessary information to determinewhether or not it should be assigned to a higher list. A list 4 plant is a species ofconcern to be monitored but is considered at low risk.SE/ST/SR/SSC The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) maintainslists of state protected plants. State Endangered (SE), State Threatened (ST), andState Rare (SR) are all protected under state law.FT/FE/FSC The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) maintains a list offederally protected plants. A Federally Endangered (FE) plant is considered indanger of becoming extinct throughout all or a significant portion of its range. AFederally Threatened (FT) plant is likely to become endangered within theforeseeable future. Sensitive species status listings are presented here as follows: CRPRstatus/state status/federal status. An example is “1B/ST/FT,” which means CRPR1B/State Threatened/Federally Threatened. 5 

Introduced Species Introduced species, or exotic or non-native species, are those that havearrived at a given location only through the assistance of humans, whetherintentional or not. While the first peoples certainly transported species, the focus ofintroduced species is on post-Western colonization of the Americas, since at thispoint species introductions began to greatly accelerate. Introduced species are included here if they have become naturalized (ableto sustain themselves in the wild versus ephemeral). These plants have their nameswritten in red and, if applicable, are followed by a ranking from the CaliforniaInvasive Plant Council (CAL-IPC). CAL-IPC ranks the most invasive species basedon their impact to the ecosystem as follows: High, Moderate, and Low. Non-invasive, but naturalized introduced species, are not ranked. Plants Covered Dozens of plants encountered in the field are not included in this guide;excluded plants include ephemeral occurrences (waifs), homestead ornamentals, andspecies that are only associated with human developments and not found outside ofthese developments. In addition, many plants of open spaces will inevitably havebeen overlooked. Diversity According to the Jepson Online Interchange, an online resource associatedwith the Jepson Manual, the flora of California (as of 5/13/16) includes 5275 nativespecies and 1090 naturalized species. When varieties and subspecies are included,the numbers rise to 6527 native taxa and 1115 naturalized taxa. The state flora (as of5/13/16) includes 188 families, 1375 genera, and 2274 endemic taxa (species,varieties, and subspecies). According to Dr. Keil’s work, there are roughly 2000 species in San LuisObispo County, with about 2139 when lower taxa (subspecies and varieties) areincluded. The Plants of Coastal San Luis Obispo County includes 1,152 species,subspecies, and varieties (Table 1) in 101 families (78 dicot, 23 monocot); of thesetaxa, 347 are introduced (including 68 of the 122 grasses). Rosaceae is the largestdicot family in the study area (28 taxa), while Poaceae is the largest family overall(122 taxa). 6 

Total Plants (1,152) Native 805 Introduced 347FERNS & Native 26LYCOPHYTES (26) Introduced 0GYMNOSPERMS (6) Native 4 Introduced 2ANGIOSPERMSEudicots (769) Native 567 Introduced 202All Monocots (229) Native 154 Introduced 75Grasses Only (122) Native 54 Introduced 68Table 1. Total numbers of plant taxa documented in this coastal study, as defined inthe previous map and the section “Area Covered.” Plant totals are divided bytaxonomy and native or introduced status. Genetic Integrity Native plants are generally defined as those taxa that occur free of humanintervention, whether prehistoric or modern. Within native taxa are subspecies,varieties, forms, and local populations. The genetic integrity of local populations canbe lost as a result of human-assisted transport of non-local plant stock into an area.Locally, we have several examples of inappropriate introductions by governmentagencies, conservation groups and consultants. On the Morro Bay sandpit, and along the Embarcadero leading out to MorroRock, large-flowered beach evening primrose (Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia subsp.cheiranthifolia) has been introduced into areas of small-flowered plants. AlongHighway 1 in several areas the yellow-flowered bush lupine (Lupinus arboreus) hasbeen planted where blue-flowered plants occur. Red-flowered sticky monkeyflower(Mimulus aurantiacus) has been planted where orange-flowered plants occur, etc. The end result of misguided restoration efforts is the dilution of the uniquegenetic varieties that occur in any given area, ultimately potentially interfering withthe evolutionary path toward distinct taxa. The protection of genetic integrity is asimportant as the protection of native species. 7 

Plant Communities Lisa Andreano and Michael WalgrenMonterey Pine Forest The Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) has closed cones that are somewhat fire-dependent (semi-serotinous). The leaves are typically three per fascicle (or bundle)and the bark is dark with deep grooves or fissures. Monterey pine forests can have anopen or a closed canopy, depending on stand density and health. These forests areadapted to a natural fire cycle with periodic fires every 20-50 years causing totalstand replacement. For this reason, stands are usually single age; however, in warmerclimates young trees can be found in the understory as the cones may open up anddrop seed in periods of prolonged heat. As of 2015, drought and pine pitch cankercombined to kill the senescing older crop of trees in the Pico Creek watershed andelsewhere around Cambria. Monterey pines are highly susceptible to the pine pitch canker disease, afungal pathogen transmitted incidentally by pine boring beetles, and thus nativestands are in peril. In order to maintain healthy stands of the Monterey pine, fires areneeded to clear the under story, remove unhealthy individuals, open the canopy, andkill pathogens. Plantings in residential areas, combined with fire suppression, havecontributed to sick Monterey pine populations in the county that are infected by thepine pitch canker disease. Locally, in residential areas, sick trees are cut down andmulched. The mulch is then spread on site or hauled off and spread elsewhere,dispersing the contaminated mulch and spreading the disease. Native Monterey pine forests are found in four disjunct populations: selectislands off the coast of Baja, the Cambria and San Simeon areas (San Luis ObispoCounty), the Monterey Peninsula (Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties), and at AnaNuevo (San Mateo County). Outside of these areas, Monterey pines have beenplanted as ornamental and crop trees and therefore appear to be much morewidespread than their natural native range. Monterey pine forests create vegetation mosaics with chaparral, oakwoodlands, grasslands, and mixed evergreen forests. Typically, the ecotones betweenthe pine forests and the adjacent communities are the richest zones, as there is littlespecies diversity in the Monterey pine forest itself relative to other native plantcommunities. Common native understory species in the native Monterey pine forestinclude toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), hedge nettle (Stachys bullata), blackberry 8 

(Rubus ursinus), yerba buena (Clinopodium douglasii), wood fern (Dryopterisarguta), braken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), melic grass (Melica spp.), and poisonoak (Toxicodendron diversilobum). Common non-native understory species include rattlesnake grass (Brizamaxima), little quaking grass (B. minor), and broom (Genista monspessulana).Bishop Pine Forest Bishop pines (Pinus muricata) are relict species, remnants of ancient forestsfrom the late tertiary period (Barbour & Major 1977). Bishop pines occur indiscontinuous stands along the California coast from Santa Barbara to HumboldtCounties, with scattered isolated populations in Baja California. These pinesusually prefer shallow, acidic and poorly drained soils (Barbour & Major 1977), andare typically found on shale and granitic parent material. Bishop pines mostcommonly occupy north facing slopes where they can maximize fog condensation,precipitation and moisture retention (Bakker 1977; Holland and Keil 1995). These pines are fire-dependent, with closed (serotinous) cones. Duringprolonged hot and dry weather, or, more typically during a fire, the heat causes thecones to open. In the case of fire, the seeds are exposed to soil that has been beingnewly fertilized. Most Bishop pines exhibit high fire mortality, and often, forestshave total stand replacement. As a result, Bishop pine forests form very dense singleage stands, eventually thinning out after 10-20 years. This plant community requiresfire to reproduce and replace the older, diseased, and dying individuals; without fire,older trees become vulnerable to diseases, and eventually die. Following a fire, thereis typically high post-fire species diversity and recruitment of Bishop pine seedlings. Locally, Bishop pines occur in small scattered locations, with oneexception; a large population extends from a north facing slope near Coon Creek andinto the Irish Hills. Bishop pine forests form ecotones with grasslands, coastal sagescrub, maritime chaparral, and oak woodlands. Associated species in our Bishoppine forest include madrone (Arbutus menziesii), coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia),and tanbark oak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus). Dominant understory speciesinclude manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.), California huckleberry (Vacciniumovatum), wild blackberry (Rubus ursinus), and giant chinquapin (Chrysolepischrysophylla). 9 

Intertidal Marine intertidal communities are exposed to a variety of environmentalextremes that include constant wave action, periodic exposure to the atmosphere,direct sunlight, and variable salinity on a diurnal as well as a seasonal basis. Thealgae and angiosperms in the intertidal zones are partitioned throughout thiscommunity based on their tolerance to the above factors. The two marine aquaticangiosperm genera found within the local intertidal communities are surf-grass(Phyllospadix spp.) and eel-grass (Zostera spp.). Competition pressures in theintertidal zones are as prevalent as in terrestrial plant communities. Competition forspace, light, and available substrate for attachment are major factors. Often, theentire surface of the rock is covered by intricate patterns of red, brown and greenalgae. There are epiphytic algae as well, which are able to make their homes on thethallus (vegetative “body”) of other algae or on the shells of intertidal invertebrates. The macrophytic (large, visible) algae and angiosperms must be wellanchored to the rocky substrate to withstand the constant onslaught of the waves(especially during storms), high tides, and large swells. The Phyllospadix spp. aremuch more tolerant of high wave action than are Zostera spp., which are morecommon in calmer protected waters below the mean low tide.Estuaries and Coastal Salt Marshes Estuaries are protective bays where fresh and salt water converge and aretherefore found at the bottom of the watershed. Located within estuaries are eel-grass beds, open water, salt marsh, and mud-flat habitats. This mix of estuaryhabitats creates a favored stopover for migrating birds as well as a permanent homefor many other organisms. Over time, many estuaries and lagoons of California have 1 0