Elkhorn Slough Reserve, California

Flora (Plant Life)

The largest wetland habitats in Elkhorn Slough are covered with salt marsh plants. Pickleweed accounts for over 90 percent of the plant cover. Other salt marsh plants common to the slough are salt grass, alkali heath, the succulent janmea and fat hen. Macroalgae is also prevalent in the salt marsh. Dense mats of green algae often cover the upper mudflats at the end of the pickleweed marsh, forming a green band from spring to early fall.

There are only small patches of eel grass near the mouth of the slough. Before the harbor opened, eel grass covered large areas of the slough around the mouth and inland along the channel, where the water was clear and shallow. Longtime residents recall that dense beds of eel grass or related species were present even at the head of the slough. Much of the upper slough is covered with pickleweed, salt grass, mixed winter grasses and willow trees. Willow is the only common tree in the reserve's riparian habitats. Near the upper edge of the salt marsh, there are small patches of cattails, rush and sedges. Coast live oak is the most common tree in the upland habitats around the slough. Hemlock, thistle, wild mustard, harding grass and many other non-native species dominate the upland areas, living testimony to cultural imparts on the habitat. On thin soiled ridge tops oak forest is replaced by chaparral assemblages that are dominated by manzanita.

Site Description

Back

Next