Native Plants

We live in a botanical treasure trove!

Over 2000 species of plants grow in the area encompassed by Placer and Nevada Counties. That’s over one third the number of species that grow in the entire state of California. We have a unique position in the state. The elevation differences across our transect of the Sierra Nevada result in a great diversity of habitats and the organisms that fill them. We often find ourselves as the southernmost range for plants commonly known from the Cascade and Klamath ranges. We often find ourselves as the northernmost range  for plants known only in the southern part of the Sierra. And we have some disjunct populations of coastal species as well, a relic of past geographic distributions.

The Redbud Chapter has researched, written and published two books covering over 700 wildflowers, shrubs and trees of Nevada and Placer Counties. A second edition of our Wildflowers book was published in Spring 2017. Those can be purchased from the CNPS store using the following links: Trees and Shrubs of Nevada and Placer Counties and Wildflowers of Nevada and Placer Counties.

The resources here will help local folks get better acquainted with the environment around them and inform the curious located elsewhere.