The study and science of plants.

Gone with the Wind

July 1, 2007 •  by

The old adage says the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but that’s really just the beginning of the story from the tree’s point of view. The real excitement starts when animals&mdashbirds, deer, people—come along and carry the apples … Read more

Marsh Gumplant

July 1, 2007 •  by

Defining the edge of a shifting body of water like San Francisco Bay, whose exact extent changes with every tide, every season, every storm, can be tricky business. In our region the regulators sometimes fall back on a botanical criterion. … Read more

Mount Sutro’s Untold Understory

July 1, 2007 •  by

It’s almost impossible to miss Sutro Tower, the lanky broadcast antenna that looms 977 feet above the summit of one of San Francisco’s tallest hills, itself over 900 feet tall. However, few people know that underneath that landmark sit 61 … Read more

Native Plant Garden Tours

April 1, 2007 •  by

It’s no longer a secret to readers of this magazine that native plant gardens can look as beautiful as those stocked with showy exotics, while at the same time providing habitat for native insects and birds and conserving water and … Read more

Botanic Magic

January 1, 2007 •  by

On just ten acres in the Berkeley hills, there’s an enchanting garden that hosts much of California’s vast botanic diversity. The Regional Parks Botanic Garden—Northern California’s only public garden focused on our state’s native plants—is a center for conservation, research, and public education. Rare and endangered plants from around the state have found a refuge here. And thousands of children and adults alike have walked the garden’s paths, under the spell of our native flora.

Rare and Endangered Mosses

January 1, 2007 •  by

January-March 2007 WEB EXTRA: Rare and Endangered Mosses Many of us go through life barely noticing mosses and their cousins, liverworts and hornworts. It’s easy to miss bryophytes—the collective name for mosses, liverworts, and hornworts—painted on a tree trunk, growing … Read more

Visiting the Regional Parks Botanic Garden

January 1, 2007 •  by

The Regional Parks Botanic Garden, in Tilden Regional Park, is a 10-acre landscape of plants native to California. The garden includes ten sections corresponding to ten geographic regions of the state, all woven into a beautiful naturalistic landscape of trees, … Read more

The Invasive Yellow Star Thistle

October 1, 2006 •  by

When yellow star thistle hitched a ride to California on alfalfa seed in the mid-1800s, it found fertile soil, a temperate climate, and no natural enemies. In its native Mediterranean home, yellow star thistle is kept in check by a … Read more