The dominant plants are sages (Lamiaceae) and evergreen oaks and, in drier areas, chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), manzanita (Arctostaphylos pungens), and species of Ceanothus.
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.
Known technically as gymnosperms, they have needle-like leaves which are almost always evergreen and reproduce through exposed seeds nestled within cones.
Moreover, the white-flowered Douglas spiraea and dwarf evergreen oak form graceful fringes along the narrower seams, wherever the slightest hold can be effected.