Shrubs evergreen or sometimes semievergreen; branchlets and pedicels not setose. Leaf blade adaxially glabrous; corolla creamy yellow, lined and flushed rose on outside. Fl. May–Jun.
The dominant plants are sages (Lamiaceae) and evergreen oaks and, in drier areas, chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens), and species of Ceanothus.
Large trees nourish smaller shaded ones until they are tall enough to reach sunlight, and trees that stay green all year round share nutrients with trees that lose their leaves in winter-helping them through the season.
The split-rail fence around the kitchen garden had been demolished and the once orderly rows of green plants had suffered the same treatment as those at Tara.
The California nutmeg (Torreya californica), a handsome evergreen belonging to the yew family, forms small groves near the cascades a mile or two below the foot of the Valley.
Moreover, the white-flowered Douglas spiraea and dwarf evergreen oak form graceful fringes along the narrower seams, wherever the slightest hold can be effected.
Known technically as gymnosperms, they have needle-like leaves which are almost always evergreen and reproduce through exposed seeds nestled within cones.