List

Palo Alto Baylands Marsh-Front Trail

(11 plants)

Pacific Coast Dodder

The Palo Alto Baylands is a special place. It hosts huge numbers of birds during the fall and winter migration, many miles of prime walking and bike trails, and a marshland ecology that is quite different from nearby upland areas.

This guide describes the plants you'll likely notice as you walk on the Marsh Front Trail from the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center to the sail station 1500 feet to the south.

Thanks to Lynn Hori for much of the information in this guide.

Have fun!


Underwater most of the day
California Cordgrass Spartina foliosa Local CA Bloom Jun - Nov Found in coastal salt marshes and mud flats, especially on San Francisco Bay. Grows to 5 feet tall. Grows successfully in areas frequently covered by salt water tide, but needs to be out of the water in most low tides. This native plant fills the same niche as the non-native Salt Water Cord Grass (see below). CA native	Hollow stems grow to 5 feet long. Leaves grow to 2 feet long.	Flowers grow in a narrow, dense spike on one side of the stalk.	Widespread in salt marshes and mudflats, especially on San Francisco Bay.
Saltwater Cordgrass Spartina alterniflora CA Bloom May - Jun Introduced to San Francisco Bay in the 1970s because it is quick growing and helps to stabilize soil. This Cordgrass spreads more pollen than native California Cordgrass, and despite efforts to remove it, may eventually cross pollinate all of the native species. Not CA native. Cal-IPC rating: High	Smooth, hollow stems to 5 feet tall, are 1/2 inch wide at their base and then taper to a bent-over tip.	Many tiny flowers are yellow-green, turning brown in the winter.	Grows more thickly than the native California Cordgrass, providing poorer animal habitat than native California Cordgrass.
Grows just above the high tide mark
Pickleweed Salicornia pacifica CA Bloom Jul - Nov Stems are broken into segments. Excess salt is pushed to the end segments, which then can break off, riding the plant of excess salt. Found in coastal salt-marsh. Pickleweed can tolerate being covered by tidal salt water. Grows to about 15 inches long. CA native	Succulent stems are broken into sections.	Tiny pale flowers around the end of stems.	Red-tipped Pickleweed is easy to spot, and grows in large colonies in tidal mudflats.
Salt Grass Distichlis spicata CA Bloom Jul - Aug Stands erect to a bit over 1 foot tall, with flowers at the top of the stem. Leaves grow to about 4 inches and have glands that excrete excess salt. Found in salty areas, including salt-marshes and alkali soils. Widespread in California. Often found slightly uphill from Pickleweed. CA native	Leaves excrete excess salt.	Flowers are in bunches at the end of stems.	Stands erect, about a foot tall, often dominating an area.
Grows higher up
Australian Saltbush Atriplex semibaccata CA Bloom Apr - Dec Grows to 4 feet tall, with branches. Alternate leaves have strongly-marked veins and can excrete salt. Does well in salty environments, but doesn't tolerate being covered by salt water. Found both in wetlands and salty arid areas. Not CA native Moderately Invasive	Leaves are able to excrete salt, making it more tolerant of salty environments.	Red fruits nestle in leaf nodes.	Veins stick out from leaf. Leaf edges are generally smooth.
Wayside Pepper Grass Lepidium pinnatifidum CA Bloom May - Jun Flower is a spike of tiny four-petaled white flowers, growing to about 20 inches above a floret of basal leaves. Not CA native	Single erect stem grows to 20 inches tall.	Basal leaves	Seeds are tiny and notched.
Horehound Marrubium vulgare CA Bloom May - Aug This member of the Mint Family has a somewhat square stem but no minty smell. Small, elegant white mint flowers attract butterflies and bees. Horehound tea is famous for treating colds. Abundant and widespread in California. Not CA native Somewhat Invasive	Little white mint flowers grow in whorls above a cluster of spines. The spines protect the delicate flowers from herbivores.	Opposite leaves are pale and fuzzy, with a deeply wrinkled surface	Horehound grows erect in clumps in disturbed soil, often at the side of trails.
Sweet Fennel Foeniculum vulgare CA Bloom May - Sep Grows to about 6 feet Very finely divided leaves smell like licorice when crushed. Found in disturbed areas Not CA native Moderately Invasive	Carrot-top umbrella-shaped flowers.	Finely divided leaves	Often found beside pathways and roads.
Pacific Coast Dodder Cuscuta pacifica var. pacifica CA Bloom Jul - Oct A thin-stemmed orange vine - easy to spot on the green plants it grows on. A parasite, often associated with Pickleweed. Both plants are salt tolerant. Small 5-petaled white flower Found in coastal salt marshes. CA native	A parasite, this plant connects to green plants to get photosynthetic sugars created by them.	Tiny white 5-petaled flower.	A slender-stemmed orange vine that wraps tightly around other plants.
Marsh Gumplant Grindelia stricta var. angustifolia CA Bloom May - Oct Many large yellow petals. Gumplant has a glossy, gummy liquid on flower buds before they open. This gum used to be made into chewing gum and an adhesive. Sticky, bumpy spherical base to the flower. Alternate leaves Found in coastal salt marshes above the high-tide line. CA native	Lots of large petals and central flowers.	Base of the flower is a sticky, bumpy sphere.	Flowers grow at the end of stems, up to 6 feet tall.
Alkali Heath Frankenia salina CA Bloom May - Oct Small pink 5-petaled trumpet flowers with pointed petals grow from leaf nodes. Opposite leaves Found in coastal salt-marsh, it can excrete salt through its leaves. CA native	Tiny 5-petaled white or pink flowers.	Leaves are opposite, have a strong central vein, smooth edges, and a pointed tip.	Can grow to 18 inches, often prostrate.