Mount Diablo is well known for its commanding presence in the Bay Area landscape. Even more importantly, it is home to hundreds of native plants. More than 150 species are considered rare, threatened, or endangered, and 13 are endemic (found only in the Mount Diablo region).

In 1944, Dr. Mary Leolin Bowerman, botanist and co-founder of Save Mount Diablo, first described these unique plants in The Flowering Plants and Ferns of Mount Diablo (updated by Mary Bowerman and Barbara Ertter in 2002). Non-native species have been introduced in recent times and, unfortunately, some have become invasive.

Explore some of our favorite natives below, as well as a few invasives. Then hit a trail and see how many you can find!

Filter Plants

Plant Type

Flower Colors

Blue oak

Quercus douglasii, Native

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Bristly goldenaster

Heterotheca sessiliflora ssp. echioides, Native

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Bull thistle

Cirsium vulgare, Non-native, Invasive

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Bush monkey flower

Diplacus aurantiacus, Native

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California aster

Symphyotrichum chilense, Native

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California bee plant

Scrophularia californica, Native

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California coffeeberry

Frangula californica, Native

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California fescue

Festuca californica, Native

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California fuchsia

Epilobium canum, Native

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California milkweed

Asclepias californica, Native

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California poppy

Eschscholzia californica, Native

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Doveweed

Croton setiger, Native

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Hospital Canyon larkspur

Delphinium californicum ssp. interius, Native

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Narrowleaf milkweed

Asclepias fascicularis, Native

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Pitcher sage

Lepichinia calycina, Native

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Poison oak

Toxicodendron diversilobum, Native

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Purple needlegrass

Stipa pulchra, Native

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Rosilla

Helenium puberulum, Native

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Scarlet monkeyflower

Erythranthe cardinalis, Native

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Short spike hedge nettle

Stachys pycnantha, Native

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Western goldenrod

Euthamia occidentalis, Native

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Wild radish

Raphanus sativus, Non-native, Invasive

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Wild teasel

Dipsacus fullonum, Non-native, Invasive

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Yellow mariposa lily

Calochortus luteus, Native

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Yellow star-thistle

Centaurea solstitialis, Non-native, Invasive

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