Sutro Heights Park
Map SatelliteIn the southern portion of this city park is a remnant of the extensive dunes which once covered most of the western portion of San Francisco. Where the south side of the cliff above the Great Highway drops off abruptly, the bedrock is covered with a stabilized sand dune. The stabilizing vegetation is typical coastal strand including beach sagebrush, Artemisia pycnocephala, beach-bur, Franseria chamissonis, yellow sand-verbena, Abronia latifolia, yellow beach lupine, Lupinus arboreus, blue beach lupine, Lupinus chamissonis, beach primrose, Camissonia cheiranthifolia, beach strawberry, Fragaria chiloensis, mock heather, Ericameria ericoides, and the non-native sea fig, Carpobrotus chilensis. Here, too, is one of the few known sites where the rare tansy, Tanacetum camphoratum, is found.
The bedrock is of the Colma Formation which lies on sandstone. The orange clayey sand of the Colma Formation dates from the late Pleistocene and is marine in origin.
Integrity: The area is a city park and portions are developed for park use.
Use: Observation, educational, research.
Ref: McClintock, Elizabeth, 1973. Rare and Endangered--The Story of San Francisco's Dune Tansy. Fremontia Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 8-10.
September 1975
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman
