California's unique plants range in size from the stately Coast Redwoods to the minute belly plants of the southern deserts and in age from the four-thousand year-old Bristlecone Pines to ephemeral annuals whose life span can be counted in weeks. Available at last in a thoroughly updated and revised edition, this popular book is the only concise overview of the state's remarkable flora, its plant communities, and the environmental factors that shape them.
* 188 color photographs illustrate plants and typical plant communities around the state
* New chapters give expanded discussions...

From sunny beaches where thousands escape the summer s heat to wild and isolated rocky cliffs, California boasts one of the most spectacular and diverse shorelines in the world. Accompanied by numerous color photographs, diagrams, and maps, this guide explains why California s Pacific Coast looks and works the way it does. Gary Griggs explores the dynamic forces that have created beaches and the coastline through lively discussions of tectonics, the formation of waves, rain and wind, changing climates and sea levels, human impacts, and coastal erosion. The guide answers such questions as:...