I wrote Plants of San Luis Obispo to impart the story of the area’s botanical wonders in the format of an easy-to-read natural history guidebook. This part of California boasts an impressive diversity of plants, with more than 1,300 different native species (more than in the entire state of Alaska) and countless other introduced weeds and horticultural plants. This book vividly portrays the beauty, diversity, and history of the abundant and widespread wild and weedy plants in the area surrounding the county of San Luis Obispo and western portions of the California Central Coast. There are over 150 full-color pages that describe the habitat, botany, ecology, edible or medicinal properties, uses by Native Americans, etymology, and gardening uses of more than 200 plants. Encyclopedic in scope and full of interesting facts and stories, this comprehensive naturalist’s guide is a wonderful overview of a historically and botanically rich area.

Sadly, this book is out of print.