Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Low tide reveals diverse inter-tidal life.
Today, drought-tolerant plants still thrive on arid slopes, moisture-loving species
grow along creeks and rivers, and shade-seeking plants retreat to the deep canyons
and ravines. To categorize these patterns, botanists devised the concept of plant com-
munities. A plant community is a group of species that grow together in a particular
environment. Although it's possible to break these down into more detailed divisions,
following is a basic breakdown of Big Sur's primary plant communities and their res-
ident animals:
Coastal Scrub
Coastal scrub communities extend along the entire California coast and are divided in-
to two major types: northern coastal scrub and southern coastal scrub. Although Point
Sur is considered the loose boundary between the two types, northern and southern
species intermingle along the Big Sur coast.
Common coastal shrubs include coyote brush (
Baccharis pilularis
), California
lilac (
Ceanothus thyrsiflorus
), California coffeeberry (
Rhamnus californica
), and
poison oak (
Toxicodendron diversilobum
). Headlands and bluffs feature such fragrant
shrubs and herbs as California sagebrush (
Artemisia californica
), black sage (
Salvia
