Join the California Center for Natural History for an easy hike learning about the grasslands of Knowland Park.

Californian grasslands contain incredible native plant diversity, but are also some of the most extensively altered ecosystems in our state. Knowland Park is home to a now-rare assemblage of native grass species, as well as their forb associates.

On our afternoon walk, we will discuss some of the technical details of what it means to be a grass, and also how to identify members of this complex and diverse plant family. Here we can see many interesting California native grass species blooming, such as Purple needlegrass, California oat grass and Blue wild rye. We can also compare and contrast the grasses with their monocot relatives, the sedges and rushes.

Our walk leader will be Claire Brown… who is a perpetual admirer of grasses, Claire developed a taste for Restoration Ecology while earning a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Tennessee. Since moving to California in 2009 she has relished in getting to know the amazing California native flora. Transplanting for the Watershed Nursery is a great opportunity to know the plants even better. Claire is proud to participate in the production of plants that will heal vital ecosystems in the Bay Area, and has been since August 2012.

Suggested Donation - $20, no one turned away