Introduction to 



CALIFORNIA PLANT LIFE 



It is fascinating to learn to identify plants, but it is 

 even more challenging to find out how they fit into 

 the various plant communities. This convenient 

 pocket guide describes the plant communities of 

 California and tells how environmental influences 

 affect the nature and distribution of these commu- 

 nities. It deals with the adaptations that Califomi;: 

 plants have to the diverse climates and soils of the 

 state, and how plants respond to forest and chapar- 

 ral fires, floods, and other environmental factors. 

 The book also discusses how the plants we know 

 came to comprise ihe California flora — beginning 

 with the remote geological past and continuing 

 through the introduction of plants from elsewhere by 

 man. ^he book is scientifically accurate, but tech- 

 nical terminology is kept to a mimmum. 



ROBERT ORNDUFF is Professor of Botany and 

 Director of the Jepson Herbarium and the Botanical 

 Garden at the University of Califjomia, Berkeley. 

 He was formerly president of the California Native 

 Plants Society. 



' \l^ f '<Sn Y OF CALIFORNIA PRESS 

 Berkeh /, Calilornia 94720 



