California buckeye blossom | Five-fingered fern | Goldfields with valley oaks
Photos © 1995 Brother Eric Vogel, St. Mary's College

California has one of the most diverse floras on earth. A wealth of distinct habitats, varied soils, and microclimates, in combination with millions of years of semi-isolation by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the rugged mountains and deserts to the east, have produced a terrestrial vascular flora estimated to contain more than 5,000 native species- over one-third of which are found nowhere else on Earth- and 1,000 introduced species. In addition, nutrient-rich ocean currents along the coast support a diverse marine flora of about 670 species.

Information about California's Plantlife

California Wildflower Photos, a huge searchable archive from the St. Mary's College and the UC Berkeley Digital Library Project

Why Rare Species?, by Susan Cochrane

Plant Lists by National Park

California Natural Diversity Database

Distribution of Forests in California

For More Information:

CERES Theme: Plants

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