In mild climates, more exotic flowering hedges are formed, using Ceanothus, Hibiscus, Camellia, orange jessamine (Murraya paniculata), or lillypilly (Syzygium species).
The forest surrounding the cave entrance is dominated by large ponderosa pine trees with sagebrush, manzanita, bitterbrush, snowbrush, and chokecherries as the main ground cover.
Off-trail travel can be extremely difficult due to the steep, unstable terrain, and dense vegetation, like Madrone, manzanita, and Ceanothus.
Among the shrub species that characterize this community, prominent in the Verdugos are laurel sumac (Malosma laurina), toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum), chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum) and two species of California-lilac (Ceanothus crassifolius and C. oliganthus).
Ceanothus | Ceanothus leucodermis | Ceanothus spinosus | Ceanothus cyaneus |
Ceanothus cyaneus, the San Diego buckbrush or lakeside ceanothus, a flowering plant species found in California and Baja California
Ceanothus spinosus, the greenbark ceanothus or redheart, a plant species native to southern California and northern Baja California
The caterpillars of Erynnis pacuvius, the buckthorn duskywing, feed on this plant and other species of Ceanothus.
porrectus (Mt. Vision ceanothus) - rare variety endemic to Marin County in the vicinity of Point Reyes