Coast Bluff Scrub Community

Will Elder, NPS

 

The coast bluff scrub community is dominated by low shrubs and prostrate herbaceous species found on steep, exposed bluffs above the bay and ocean. Vegetative cover may be dense or sparse depending on slope steepness. The bluff scrub community may grow on either sandy or serpentine soils - it mostly occupies serpentine soils at the Presidio. The species composition is very similar to and intergraddes into the coastal scrub community, but differs in containing species better adapted to the extreme wind, salt spray, and steep slopes of the bluffs.

Typical Sites at the Presidio: Best developed on the coastal bluffs between the north end of Baker Beach and Fort Point. Also found on bluffs above bay near Fort Point.

Common Native Plants

Common Name	Scientific Name	Family
California coast phacelia	Phacelia californica	Hydrophyllaceae
Coast angelica	Angelica hendersonii	Apiaceae
Coast buckwheat	Eriogonum latifolium	Polygonaceae
Douglas iris	Iris douglasiana	Iridaceae
Green rein orchid; coast piperia	Piperia elegans	Orchidaceae
Live-forever	Dudleya farinosa	Crassulaceae
Pearly everlasting	Anaphalis margaritacea	Asteraceae
Red fescue	Festuca rubra	Poaceae
Sea plaintain	Plantago maritima	Plantaginaceae
Seaside daisy	Erigeron glaucus	Asteraceae

Rare or Endangered Plants

Common Name	Scientific Name	Family
Coast rock cress	Arabis blepharophylla	Brassicaceae
San Francisco wallflower	Erysimum franciscanum	Brassicaceae

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