Jughandle State Reserve, Caspar, Mendocino County, California
Photographs of plants taken February and March, 2002 by John Malpas
 

A windswept hedge of coast silk tassle (Garrya elliptica) grows right down to the beach.

 

Pacific wax-myrtle (Myrica californica) sticks up through the hedge.

 

Salal (Gaultheria shallon) covers a shady cliff.

 

There is a knoll overlooking the beach covered with Bishop Pine (Pinus muricata), Grand Fir (Abies grandis), and Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis).

 
 

The understory contains pink-flowering currants (Ribes sanguineum)

 

Blueblossom (Ceanothus thyrsiflorus)

and twinberry (Lonicera involucrata).

 

Red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) pokes up through a break in the trees.

 


 Red alders (Alnus rubra) grow on a tiny beach on the north side of the creek.