The San Mateo Coast extends 60 miles along the Pacific Ocean south of San Francisco, with acres of public land in over 25 parks and state beaches. Fresh water from watersheds of the surrounding Santa Cruz Mountains settles on the mostly flat coastal bluff, replenishing the groundwater before draining to the ocean. This leads to diverse wetland habitats including seasonal freshwater wetlands, saltwater and brackish marshes, riparian (creek, stream, and river) wetlands, wet gullies, ditches and ponds that support many plants and animals.
Toni Corelli is a botanist and author of several books on the local flora of San Mateo and Santa Clara County. For the last 20 years Toni and two State Park volunteers have surveyed the public lands of the San Mateo Coast identifying over 700 different species of plants occurring there. Join her for an exploration of some of these diverse and amazing wetland plants.
