Plants from Near and Far

Tidy tips and goldfields are native grassland species.

Native plant communities are necessary to maintain a healthy ecosystem. Invasive species, in other words plants that are introduced by humans either intentionally or unintentionally, pose a major threat to native species and their communities. Invasives have a tendency to form monocultures, large colonies of a single species, that limit resources and space for native species. Unchecked, this means fewer native species, disrupted plant communities and the native animals that depend on them.

Many of the invasive plants along coastal California come from either South Africa or Australia, where the climate is similar to here. These invasives have not co-evolved with local species that might control their abundance, so many of the locals can't compete with them.

Here are a few native and non-native species you may see at Mori Point.