Look closely on a spring day, and you will find an emerald gleam on ubiquitous coyote brush.
The study and science of plants.
Stitching Nature Together
The project, says artist Liz Harvey, “draws on the past to navigate toward an uncertain but yet hopeful future.”
Sex and Poison May Explain California Death Cap Invasion
Local mycologists suspect death caps—huge and abundant in the Bay Area—may be competing with chanterelles underground.
Winter 2024 Almanac: Manroots, Skinks, and Avocets
You didn’t imagine it. That was a tiny blue tail you saw wriggling through the damp leaves and brush. Illustrations by Jane Kim.
Bay Nature’s Hall of Botanical Horrors
For those who dare—meet the Bay Area’s spookiest plants (and two freaky fungi).
Naturalist’s Notebook: How Salt Marsh Plants Cope With All the Salt
Meet the Salt Marsh 3, a trio of marsh plants specially adapted to live in the brine.
A Jewel of the South Bay’s Serpentine Grasslands Is Now Protected (and Open to the Public)
The 1,800-acre Máyyan ‘Ooyákma–Coyote Ridge Open Space Preserve is home to 13 endangered or threatened species. Volunteers played a major role in making it accessible to the public.
These Fabulous Flowers Are Spring’s Final Encore
When other plants start hunkering down, clarkias send up a dazzling array of purples and pinks.
How the DNA We Leave Behind Can Help Conservation
Bits of DNA linger on the forest floor, in the ocean, and even in the air—and these strands have stories to tell, back at the lab. Here’s how environmental DNA (aka ‘eDNA’) is starting to transform how ecologists work in the Bay Area and beyond.
Wildflower Lands Now Open in the East Bay Hills
Explore 20 miles of new trails and over 2,800 acres of serene hills and woodlands, now added to the East Bay’s Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park.