• East view from Crissy Field overlook with old Coast Guard station on left and city on right

    Presidio of San Francisco

    California

Freshwater Seep Community

Freshwater Seep Community
Will Elder, NPS
 

The freshwater seep: This community is composed of herbaceous plants that inhabit areas having seasonal or perennial soil saturation due to groundwater seepage. This community is dominated by rushes and sedges.

Typical Sites at the Presidio: Freshwater seeps occur in areas primarily underlain by serpentinite rock and are found scattered through the coastal bluffs, bluffs above Crissy Field, near Inspiration Point, and at Presidio Hills.

Common Native Plants

Common Name Scientific Name Family
Water parsley Oenanthe sarmentosa Apiaceae
Sedge Carex subbracteata Cyperaceae
Bulrush Scirpus cernuus Cyperaceae
Coast clover Trifolium wormskioldii Fabaceae
Rush Juncus effusius var. brunneus Juncaceae
Rush Juncus falcatus Juncaceae
Rush Juncus phaeocephalus Juncaceae
Plantain Plantago subnuda Plantaginaceae
Seep monkey flower Mimulus guttatus Scrophulariaceae
Silverweed Potentilla anserina ssp. pacifica Rosaceae

Rare or Endangered Plants

Common Name Scientific Name Family
Franciscan thistle Cirsium andrewsii Asteraceae

Did You Know?

Albert Sidney Johnston

Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston, commander of the Pacific branch of the army, prepared the defenses of the San Francisco Bay and ordered the first garrison of Fort Point. Kentucky-born Johnston then resigned his commission to join the Confederate Army; he was killed at the battle of Shiloh in 1862.