Santa Lucia Wilderness
Map SatelliteSeveral plant communities occur in this wilderness. The canyon slopes frequently are covered by a mixed evergreen forest which includes coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, and California bay, Umbellularia californica, with sycamore, Platanus racemosa, near the perennial or intermittent watercourses. Chaparral, with Ceanothus spp., Arctostaphylos spp., chamise, Adenostoma fasciculatum, scrub and leather oak, Quercus sp. and Quercus durata, covers the sunnier and drier slopes.
On the western ridges and slopes there are extensive stands of knobcone pine, Pinus attenuata. Aside from two or three tiny populations 32 kilometers (20 miles) or less distant, these are the only stands between Monterey and San Bernardino Counties.
There is some coastal sage scrub, with Salvia spp., Eriodictyon traskiae, and Eriophyllum confertiflorum, as well as some grassland in the area. Two threatened plants occur here, Arctostaphylos luciana and Lupinus cervinus.
Geologically, most of the area is underlain by Monterey formation sedimentaries of mid-Miocene marine origin.
Integrity: The area is essentially undisturbed, save for trails.
Use: Research, educational, observational, present.
February 1980
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman
