California Native Plants for High-Desert Landscaping
0The following plant list represents the most reliable, garden-worthy and relatively available native plants indigenous to the High Deserts of California:
Common Name / Botanical Name

Desert Catalpa
Trees
- Desert willow, Desert catalpa / Chilopsis linearis
- Honey mesquite / Prosopis glandulosa
- Pinyon pine / Pinus monophylla
- Scrub oak / Quercus dumosa/turbinella
Shrubs
- Bigberry manzanita / Arctostaphylos glauca
- Brittlebush / Encelia farinosa
- Bladder pod / Isomeris arborea
- Catclaw acacia / Acacia greggii
- California buckwheat / Erogonum fasciculatum
- Creosote bush / Larrea tridentata
- Desert saltbush / Atriplex polycarpa
- Desert sage / Salvia dorrii
- Desert senna / Senna armata
- Four-winged saltbush / Atriplex canescens
- Green, California, and Nevada Mormon tea / Ephedra viridis, E. californica, E. nevadensis
- Hollyleaf cherry / Prunus ilicifolia
- Hollyleaf redberry / Rhamnus ilicifolia
- Jojoba / Simmondsia chinensis
- Rabbitbrush / Chrysothamnus nauseosus
- Sugarbush / Rhus ovata
- White sage / Salvia apiana
Subshrubs/Perennial Flowers
- Bush monkeyflower / Mimulus aurantiacus
- California fuchsia / Epilobium canum (Zauschneria californicum)
- Desert four-o’clock or Wishbone bush/Mirabilis laevis
- Desert mallow / Sphaeralcea ambigua
- Desert marigold/Baileya multiradiata

Parry Nolinas in bloom
Succulents
- Beavertail / Opuntia basilaris
- Hedgehog cactus / Enchinocerus engelmanii
- Joshua tree / Yucca brevifolia
- Mojave yucca / Yucca schidigera
- Parry nolina, Parry beargrass / Nolina parryi
- Red barrel cactus / Ferocactus acanthodes
Grass
- Deer grass / Muhlenbergia rigens
Inviting Native Plants into Your Yard
Tips on Planting Native Plants
Comments