East Bay Regional Park District

Here in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, we have access to thousands of acres of undeveloped land, which is under the stewardship of the East Bay Regional Park District. The Park District provides oversight for multiple parks throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The parks preserve open land and watersheds in a growing urban area, for our enjoyment now, and for future generations.

Most of the plant communities associated with regional microclimates are represented in their holdings, including oak woodland, chaparral, coastal scrub, grassland, redwood forest, mixed evergreen forest, coastal dune, coastal strand, riparian, and so forth. This commitment to preserving some pristine land is a treasure for anyone interested in native plants, hiking, or getting back to nature.

East Bay Regional Park District provides stewardship
for many parks and open spaces

I have enjoyed hikes and events with family and friends in Briones, Temescal, Tilden, Leona Canyon, Redwood, Huckleberry, Roberts, Sibley, and Crown Beach, to name a few. I’ve also helped remove invasive plant species in several parks. To learn more about the East Bay Regional Park District: http://www.ebparks.org; about individual parks: http://www.ebparks.org/parks; and for plant checklists: https://www.ebparks.org/natural-resources/biodiversity/plants-checklist  (select by district, or specific park).

Plant Identification Resource

One of my favorite resources is the book Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the East Bay Municipal District (known as EBMUD by locals). The book is filled with beautiful, glossy photographs, information, and illustrations.

A great resource for identifying plants
in the San Francisco Bay Area

A main feature is the Plant Catalog, which includes about 200 pages of plant photographs. The information is sorted alphabetically by the scientific plant name [the binomial name, which includes the family and genus, such as Eschscholzia californica (California poppy)]. The plants are not all natives, but those that do well in the Mediterranean climate and are not invasive.

I have spent many happy hours reviewing its glossy pictures to identify a tree, shrub, or flower I’ve seen. But the book is more than pictures; it includes great information about local climates, plant communities, garden designs for the summer-dry garden, and plant lists sorted by type.


Native Plants of Leona Canyon

I know more about Mediterranean and desert plants than I know about the local plants in the San Francisco East Bay. I plan to change that, and hope the change works its way into my shady, woodland, Oakland Hills garden.

A great local resource is the East Bay Regional Park’s network of parks and open space preserves. These parks enable you to see plants in their natural regional environments, such as oak woodland, chaparral, coastal scrub, grassland, and redwood and mixed evergreen forests. I learned to identify a few of the local plants at the Leona Canyon Preserve in the Oakland Hills.

Lupine	Sticky Monkey Flower
California Blackberry	Coastal Sage Brush

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Preserves located close to population centers frequently include non-native plants introduced intentionally, or naturally from their proximity to personal gardens. This makes it tricky for the newbie to distinguish between native and non-native plants. The East Bay Regional Park District runs an ongoing volunteer program to remove invasive, non-native species from the parks and preserves.

Invasive French Broom provides beautiful
color, but forces out native plants.

The Teacher’s Trail Guide publication for Leona Canyon includes a great write-up of native plants: https://www.ebparks.org/parks/leona-canyon. The park-specific write-up for Leona Canyon also provides information about its native species. For more plant lists see the Wild Plant Checklists.

Special thanks to Quackit for use of the HTML table generator: Quackit Webmaster Tutorials