Native Plants of Famosa Slough

 

Listed are some of the many plants native to wetlands areas, all of which can now be found at Famosa Slough. Areas restored with native plants become a food source for birds and insects and return the slough to a more natural condition.

The plants are grouped according to the location they naturally prefer. Within and along the edges of the water live salt marsh plants that tolerate high salinity and being submerged by salt water. There are almost no non-native plants that live in this region of the Slough.

At a higher level or upland area live the typical coastal sage scrub plants-sage and buckwheat predominating. To accommodate the low water of our climate, upland plants are adapted to be dormant in summer and often look as if they were not living. However, the first rains in fall bring them back into leaf. Within the runoff ponds plants that can tolerate having roots constantly under brackish water live such as reed, sedges, and willows. Many of these plants attract insects and have seeds eaten by birds.

Trees that afford nesting areas for perching birds include native willows, Laurel Sumacs & Elderberry as well as the cottonwoods around the south parking lot.

Fifteen years ago, the upland areas of the slough and channel contained almost no native plants. The plants along the west side of the slough and around the treatment ponds have been selected for planting because they are native to the area and probably lived there before the development of Point Loma. Over 80% of the plants along the paths are now natives.  Follow link to see observations of plants found at Famosa Slough  iNaturalist plant link.

Salt Marsh Plants

Alkali heath Frankenia salinia Arrow grass Triglochin concinna Cordgrass Spartina foliosa Dodder Cuscuta salina Glasswort Salicornia subterminalis Pickleweed Salicornia virginica Saltwort Batis maritima Sea lavender, San Diego rosemary Limonium californicum Seaside daisy, jaumea Jaumea carnosa Shoregrass Monanthochloe littoralis Spiny rush Juncus acutus

Coastal Sage Scrub (Upland) Plants

Alkali weed Cressa truxillensis Bladderpod Peritoma arborea Bluff buckwheat Eriogonum parvifolium Box thorn Lycium californicum California buckwheat Eriogonum fasciculatum California fuchsia Epilobium canum California sagebrush Artemesia californica California rose Rosa californica California saltbush Atriplex californica Coyote Brush Baccharis pilularis Coastal goldenbush Isocoma menziesii Encelia, California sunflower Encelia californica Flannel Bush Fremontodendron californicum Halberd-leaf saltbush Atriplex patula Iva Iva haysianna Lady fingers Dudleya edulis Lemonadeberry Rhus integrifolia Saltgrass Distichlis spicata San Diego sunflower Bahiopsis laciniata Sea blite Suaeda taxifolia

Trees/Bushes

Arroyo willow Salix lasiolepis Black willow Salix gooddingii Cottonwood Populus fremontii Laurel Sumac Malosma Laurina Mexican elderberry Sambucus mexicana Mulefat Baccharis salisifolia Sandbar willow Salix hindsiana Toyon Heteromeles arbutifolia

Freshwater Marsh Plants

California bulrush Scirpus californicus Cattail Typha latifolia Prairie bulrush Scirpus robustus Yerba mansa Anemopsis californica