Special Status Plants of Coyote Ridge

This area contains at least fifteen plants identified by the California Native Plant Society as rare or endangered. Five of these are on a federal listing of endangered plants:  the Santa Clara Valley dudleya, the coyote ceanothus, the Tiburon Indian paintbrush, the Mt. Hamilton thistle, and the Metcalf Canyon jewelflower.

Botanical Research on Coyote Ridge

• Erlich, Paul R., and I. Hanski, 2004, On the Wings of Checkerspots, A Model System for Population Biology, Oxford University Press
• Evens, Julie, and S. San, 2004, Vegetation Associations of a Serpentine Area: Coyote Ridge, Santa Clara County, California. California Native Plant Society
• Green, Allison R., 2004, Effects of Exotic Species and Soil Type on a Rare Annual Jewelflower (Streptanthus albidus var. peramoenus) in the Serpentine Grasslands of Santa Clara County, CA, .MA Thesis, San Jose State University, 2004
• Hooper, D. I. and P. I, Vitousek, 1998, "Effect of plant composition and diversity on nutrient cycling" in Ecological Monographs 68:121-149
• Hillman, Jannell 2006, Mount Hamilton Thistle (Cirsium fontinale var campylon) 2006, MA Thesis, San Jose State University
• Safford, Hugh D, J.H. Viers and S. P Harrison 2005, "Serpentine endemism in the California Flora" in Madrono 52(4):222-257
• Weiss, Stuart B. 1999, "Cars, cows, and checkerspot butterflies: nitrogen disposition and grassland management for a threatened species" in Conservation Biology 13:1476-1486
• Whittall, Justen B. 2010 "The Metcalf Canyon Jewelflower (Streptanthus albidus var albidus) -Still a mystery" research ongoing, Santa Clara University

Seeds of Hope for San Mateo Thornmint

Edgewood Park in San Mateo County is a very special place, as shown by over 20 years of preservation and restoration work by our chapter.  But did you know there’s a plant found only at Edgewood?  In fact, discovery of the federally endangered San Mateo thornmint (Acanthomintha duttonii) helped save Edgewood from becoming a golf course, providing critical evidence the site was worth preserving.

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