San Diego Native Plants Recognition

This is to help you identify native plants in the field! Please try to learn appearance, general facts, range, scientific and common name, and bloom period.

California Bush Sunflower/ California Brittlebush

(Encilia Californica)

Stretches along coastal regions from Santa Barbara down to Baja California Mexico. Common in Coastal Sage Scrub plant community. Brown disc florets. Typical bloom season is February-June.

Sea Dahlia (Leptosyne maritima)

Native only to San Diego and Baja California, Mexico. Prefers coastal regions below 400 ft of elevation and often grows along rocky bluffs. Considered part of the coastal sage scrub plant community. Yellow disc florets.Typical bloom season is March-May.

California Flattop Buckwheat/ Mojave Desert Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)

Grows across Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. This species is a common member of the Chaparral and Coastal Sage Scrub plant communties. Before the flowers are pollinated they are white with pink tepals. Once they are pollinated their seeds ripen into a deep rust color. This adaptation supports reproduction because bees, some of this plants most frequent pollinators, cannot see the color red. You can remember the scientific name because its flowers are fasiculated, “ tight clusters or bundles of blossoms that grow closely together from a shared point or crowded area on a plant stem.” Typical bloom season is March-October

Coastal Goldenbush/Menzies Goldenbush (Isocoma menziesii)

Ranges from San Francisco down to Baja California, Mexico (including the Channel Islands). A member of the Coastal Sage Scrub, Chaparral, and Coastal Bluff Scrub plant communities. This plant is in the same family as the California Bush Sunflower and the Sea Dahlia (Asteraceae). Typical bloom season is June-November.

Golden Yarrow (Eriophyllum confertiflorum)

This plant is native to most of California + Baja California, Mexico. Its is common in many plant communities including Coastal Sage Scrub, Chaparral, Southern Oak Woodlands, Valley Grasslands, and more.

Golden Yarrow is also part of the family Asteraceae. The typical bloom period is from December- August.

San Diego Sunflower (Bahiopsis laciniata)

Native primarily only to San Diego, but can span further North. It tends to prefer dry slopes. It has vertical yellow/orange disc florets. Typical bloom period is February-June. Found on rocky slopes in coastal sage scrub habitat/