Those of us who attended Janet Gawthrop’s recent Plant Hike for Trail Trekkers learned an amazing amount about the plants of the Hillside, both native and non-native.
Janet, a member of the California Native Plant Society, also discussed the various online resources that people interested in the topic can read to learn more. She asked Trekkers to post some links on our website. Learn more about the Hillside Natural Area’s native plants and pollinators.
Janet writes:
“About plants and food, you can try “Bringing Native Foods Home,” which you can find in publications at https://www.cnps.org/publications/flora . All the past Flora issues can be read at the CNPS website. “Concerning sudden oak death, aka Phytopthora ramorum the best information is always at https://www.suddenoakdeath.org, which has both the updated pathogen survey map for download, but also a lot of useful information on prevention of disease spread. “There were also a lot of pollinator questions, so you might also direct folks to Art Schapiro’s website https://butterfly.ucdavis.edu. If you click the butterfly tab on the homepage ‘dashboard’ it will take you to an illustrated species list, with both common and Latin names. “Finally for folks who want to experiment with ‘foraging,’ may I strongly recommend restricting collections to exotica, or garden native plants at home? There are two books on edible plants: “Edible & Useful Plants of California, by Charlotte Bringle Clark, published in the UC Press California Natural History Series, and “The Flavors of Home, by Margit Roos-Collins, published by Heyday Press in 2016. The earlier edition is out of print." |
The heart of El Cerrito’s open space, the Hillside Natural Area is approximately 90 acres of woods, grasslands and creeks. In 2014 Trail Trekkers, working with Trust for Public Land, the El Cerrito High School Mountain Biking Club, and the city, helped expand the natural area by acquiring the 80-acre Madera Open Space.
Today we are working to acquire the 15-acres Fairview Open Space, which is just to the north of the city owned property. We are also working to acquire easements on other smaller private parcels of open space that are adjacent to the Hillside Natural Area. |
Hillside Natural Area Resources
El Cerrito Hillside Natural Area Guide (pdf)
El Cerrito Hillside Natural Area – 15 page (pdf)
Trees of Hillside Natural Area, El Cerrito, CA (pdf) by the El Cerrito Tree Committee
Trail map of the El Cerrito Hillside Natural Area (Friends of Five Creeks)
What lives in the El Cerrito Hillside Natural Area (iNaturalist.org and Friends of Five Creeks)
El Cerrito Hillside Yahoo Group
El Cerrito Hillside Natural Area on FACEBOOK
El Cerrito’s Wilderness Park Has Never Received the Love It Deserves
El Cerrito Hillside Natural Area – 15 page (pdf)
Trees of Hillside Natural Area, El Cerrito, CA (pdf) by the El Cerrito Tree Committee
Trail map of the El Cerrito Hillside Natural Area (Friends of Five Creeks)
What lives in the El Cerrito Hillside Natural Area (iNaturalist.org and Friends of Five Creeks)
El Cerrito Hillside Yahoo Group
El Cerrito Hillside Natural Area on FACEBOOK
El Cerrito’s Wilderness Park Has Never Received the Love It Deserves
Please help maintain and improve the Hillside Natural Area. Trail Trekkers is dedicated to helping the city maintain this wonderful area, to improve its natural habitat, to remove dangerous overgrowth to prevents fires, and to improve access. Please donate here to this effort. All funds help improve and maintain the Hillside Natural Area. Donations are tax deductible, as provided by law.