Hermosa & Redondo Back Dune Plant List

In Hermosa Beach and other local beach cities, most of the built space resides upon old back dunes.  Back dune refers to established dunes in a coastal setting that are detached from the shoreline by other dunes referred to as foredunes.  The soil tends to be sandy and well-draining and the shapes of the local landforms may still appear as dunes. Given the proximity to the marine environment, the terrestrial climate in the region is greatly affected by the marine influences and as a result, summer fog is common.

Hermosa Valley School and adjacent Marineland Trailer Park, both located on our local back dunes, have both been beneficiaries of Conze Grants over the years.

This document, published online by the City of Hermosa Beach, has the following to say about dune plant communities for the area in vicinity to Hermosa Valley School and Marineland Trailer Park:

…Historic accounts of vegetation communities within the proposed Project area indicate the presence of both coastal sage scrub and southern coastal scrub communities. Generally, these communities are composed of low-growing, drought-tolerant shrubs with herbs and grasses located in the understory. The scrub communities that were historically present in the region provide a high-value habitat for wildlife and are structurally diverse. However, the scrub and other naturally occurring vegetation communities that were present within the City have been almost entirely removed to allow for urban development, and as a result the City is largely built-out (City of Hermosa Beach, 2014). The City maintains several open-space areas including the beach, the Hermosa Valley Greenbelt (Veterans Parkway), a hillside west of the Marine Land Mobile Home Park, and several large parks. These open space areas largely consist of landscaping and ornamental plants with little native vegetation remaining.

Remaining dune remnants are therefore valuable for restoration.  Additionally, homeowners who have similarly-sited property may benefit from selecting plants from this list for growing in their yard, since the plants should be well-adapted to the area.  The Bay Foundation has more to say about local dunes.

The plant list here details plants originally native to the Hermosa Beach & Redondo Beach area and has a special section for the the area in vicinity to Hermosa Valley School and Marineland Mobile Home Park.

Download a pdf file of the list below: Redondo and Hermosa Bluffs and Dunes-Baker-2021

Plants for Redondo/Hermosa Bluff and Dune Restoration

SHRUBS

Acmispon (Lotus) glaber                                                 Deerweed                                                          Dune

Ambrosia chamissonis                                                   Beach-bur                                                           Dune

Artemisia californica                                                       Coastal Sagebrush                                           Bluff

Atriplex lentiformis                                                          Coastal Salt Bush                                              Dune/Bluff

Croton californicus                                                           California Croton                                              Dune

Encelia californica                                                            Bush Sunflower                                                Dune/Bluff

Ericameria ericoides                                                        Mock Heather                                                   Dune

Eriogonum cinereum                                                       Ashyleaf Buckwheat                                       Bluff

Eriogonum parvifolium                                                  Coastal Buckwheat                                          Dune/Bluff

Galium angustifolium                                                    Narrow-leaved Bedstraw                              Dune/Bluff

Isocoma menziesii ssp. vernonoides                          Coast Golden Bush                                          Dune/Bluff

Lupinus chamissonis                                                       Dune Lupine                                                       Dune

Peritoma (Isomeris) arborea                                        Bladderpod                                                        Dune/Bluff

Phacelia ramosissima                                                     Branching Phacelia                                          Dune

Rhus integrifolia                                                               Lemonadeberry                                                Bluff

Salvia mellifera                                                                 Black Sage                                                           Bluff

PERENNIAL/BIENNIAL

Abronia umbellata                                                           Sand Verbena                                                   Dune

Asclepius fascicularis                                                      Narrowleaf Milkweed                                    Bluff

Astragalus trichopodus ssp. lonchus                         Rattlepod/Milk Vetch                                     Bluff

Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia                                    Dune Evening Primrose                                 Dune

Corethrogyne filaginifolia                                             Cudweed Aster                                                 Dune/Bluff

Datura wrightii                                                                  Sacred Datura/Toloache                                Dune

Dichelostemma capitatum                                           Blue Dicks (bulb)                                              Dune

Dudleya virens ssp. insularis                                         Island Green Dudleya                                     Bluff

Erysimum suffrutescens                                                Dune Wallflower                                              Dune

Eschscholzia californica var. maritima                     Coastal California Poppy                               Dune/Bluff

Heliotropium curassavicum var. occulatum           Seaside Heliotrope                                          Dune

Horkelia cuneata                                                              Wedge Leaf Horkelia                                       Dune

Leptosyne (Coreopsis) maritima                                 Sea Dahlia                                                          Dune

Malacothrix saxatilis                                                      Cliff Aster                                                            Dune/Bluff

Pseudognaphalium biolens                                          Two-tone Everlasting                                     Dune/Bluff

Pseudognaphalium californicum                                 California Everlasting                                      Dune/Bluff

Pseudognaphalium canescens                                    Felt Leaf Everlasting                                        Dune/Bluff

Rumex hymenosepalus                                                  Sand Dock/Wild Rhubarb                              Dune

Senecio flaccidus var. douglasii                                  Groundsel/Butterweed                                 Dune

ANNUALS

Amsinckia intermedia                                     Common Fiddleneck

Calandrinia menziesii                                     Red Maids

Camissoniopsis bistora                                    Southern Sun Cups

Camissoniopsis micrantha                              Small Flowered Primrose

Chaenactis glabriuscula                                                Yellow Pincushion

Clarkia purpurea                                                              Purple Farewell to Spring

Croton setiger                                                                    Turkey Mullein/Doveweed

Cryptantha/Plagiobothrys species                            Popcorn Flower

Deinandra fasciculata                                                    Slender Tarweed

Descurainia pinnata                                                        Tansy Mustard

Eriogonum gracile                                                            Slender Buckwheat

Gilia capitata                                                                     Blue Field Gilia

Heterotheca grandiflora                                                Telegraph Weed

Lasthenia californica                                                       Goldfields

Lepidium lasiocarpum                                                    Dune Peppergrass

Layia platyglossa                                                             Tidy-tips

Linanthus dianthiflorus                                                 Ground Pink

Lupinus bicolor                                                                                  Miniature Lupine

Lupinus succulentus                                                        Arroyo Lupine

Lupinus truncatus                                                            Collared Lupine

Mentzelia affinis                                                               Blazing Star

Nuttallanthus Canadensis                                            Blue Toadflax

Phacelia distans                                                                 Common Phacelia

Phacelia stellaris                                                               Brand’s Star Phacelia

Plantago erecta                                                                Dwarf/Dotseed Plantain

Playstemon californicus                                                Cream Cups

Rafinesquia californica                                                  California Chicory

Salvia carduacea                                                              Thistle Sage

Salvia columbariae                                                          Chia Sage

Stephanomeria exigua                                                   Wreath Plant

This list compiled by Tony Baker is an informal list not meant to be a complete list of all plants recorded.

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Local native plants for vicinity of Hermosa Valley School and Marineland Mobile Home Park

Sand Verbena                                                                   Abronia umbellata                                                                         

Deerweed/Deer Vetch                                                  Acmispon glaber

Coast Salt Bush                                                                 Atriplex lentiformis

Dune Primrose                                                                  Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia

Farewell to Spring                                                            Clarkia purpurea

California Croton                                                              Croton californicus

Bush Sunflower                                                                Encelia californica

Mock Heather                                                                   Ericameria ericoides

Ashyleaf Buckwheat                                                       Eriogonum cinereum

Dune Buckwheat                                                              Eriogonum parvifolium

Dune Wallflower                                                              Erysimum suffrutescens

Coastal California Poppy                                               Eschscholzia californica var. maritima

Seaside Heliotrope                                                          Heliotropium curassavicum

Wedge Leaf Horkelia                                                       Horkelia cuneata

Coast Golden Bush                                                          Isocoma menziesii ssp. vernonoides

Sea Dahlia                                                                            Leptosyne maritima

Miniature Lupine                                                             Lupinus bicolor

Dune Lupine                                                                       Lupinus chamissonis

Arroyo Lupine                                                                    Lupinus succulentus

Bladderpod                                                                        Peritoma arboreus

Branching Phacelia                                                          Phacelia ramosissima

Everlasting species                                                          Pseudognaphalium species

Sand Dock/Wild Rhubarb                                              Rumex hymenosepalus

This is a list of plants that would have been historically found on this back slope of the natural dunes of the area.  It is not a complete list, but are plants that may be available from native nurseries.   Ideally the plants will be grown from locally sourced seeds when possible.