Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows low over an area of ground, which protects the topsoil from erosion and drought. In a terrestrial ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as the herbaceous layer, and provides habitats and concealments for terrestrial fauna. The most widespread ground covers are grasses of various types.
Carpobrotus edulis is a ground-creeping plant with succulent leaves in the genus Carpobrotus, native to South Africa. Its common names include hottentot-fig, sour fig, ice plant, highway ice plant, or vygie.
In horticulture, the term is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than two years. The term is also loosely used to distinguish plants with little or no woody growth from trees and shrubs, which are also technically perennials. Notably, it is estimated that 94% of plant species fall under the category of perennials, underscoring the prevalence of plants with lifespans exceeding two years in the botanical world.
Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert located in California, United States, and Baja California, Mexico. It encompasses approximately 7 million acres, including the heavily irrigated Coachella, Imperial and Mexicali valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna.
Dudleya, commonly known as liveforevers is a genus of rosette-forming succulent plants in the stonecrop family, Crassulaceae, consisting of about 68 taxa in southwestern North America and Guadalupe Island. The species come in many forms, some large and evergreen, others geophytic and deciduous. Yet, despite their dramatic variations in appearance, most species readily hybridize. The flowers of Dudleya have parts numbered in fives, with the petals arranged in tubular, star-shaped, and bell-shaped forms and, when fruiting, are filled with tiny, ovoid-crescent-shaped seeds.
Adenostoma fasciculatum, commonly known as chamise or greasewood, is a flowering plant native to California and Baja California. This shrub is one of the most widespread plants of the California chaparral ecoregion. Chamise produces a specialized lignotuber underground and at the base of the stem, known as a burl, that allow it to resprout after fire has off burned its stems. It is noted for its greasy, resinous foliage, and its status as one of California's most iconic chaparral shrubs.
Artemisia californica, also known as California sagebrush, is a species of western North American shrub in the sunflower family.
Vinca major, with the common names bigleaf periwinkle, large periwinkle, greater periwinkle and blue periwinkle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae, native to the western Mediterranean. Growing to 25 cm (10 in) tall and spreading indefinitely, it is an evergreen perennial, frequently used in cultivation as groundcover.
Graptopetalum bellum is a species of flowering plant in the stonecrop family Crassulaceae, native to northern Mexico. It was discovered by Alfred Lau in 1972 in the states of Chihuahua and Sonora, at an altitude of 1,460 m (4,800 ft).
Pachysandra terminalis, the Japanese pachysandra, carpet box or Japanese spurge, is a species of flowering plant in the boxwood family Buxaceae, native to Japan, Korea and China and introduced to eastern North America. It is a slow-growing, spreading evergreen perennial growing to 10 cm (4 in) tall by 60 cm (24 in) broad, with alternate, simple, glossy leaves, and creeping stems. The leaves may yellow in direct sunlight or in winter. When growing in a spreading mass of many plants, a dense cover is formed.
Bursera microphylla, known by the common name elephant tree in English or 'torote' in Spanish, is a tree in the genus Bursera. It grows into a distinctive sculptural form, with a thickened, water-storing or caudiciform trunk. It is found in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.
Dudleya edulis is a species of perennial, succulent flowering plant of the Crassulaceae, known by the common names fingertips, lady-fingers, mission lettuce, or simply the San Diego dudleya. The common name "fingertips" denotes the finger-like shape of the leaves; the specific epithet edulis refers to the Kumeyaay people's traditional foraging and consumption of the plant's young scapes. Dudleya edulis is native to the dry, coastal cliffs and chaparral hills of Southern California and northern Baja California, where it has adapted to absorb as much moisture as possible from the nightly fog and marine layer which forms over the Pacific Ocean and gradually moves slightly inland, typically covering all plants and stationary objects in dew. In addition to its inherent drought-tolerance and xeric qualities, this species is also highly salt-tolerant, as it grows almost exclusively facing the ocean, often in exposed settings where it is subjected to regular periods of extreme wind and weather. The species may be found growing on rocky hillsides, sandstone sea cliffs, chaparral habitat, arid canyons, or rooted between exposed, bare rock crevices.
Euphorbia misera is a semi-succulent shrub in the genus Euphorbia commonly known as the cliff spurge or coast spurge. A drought-deciduous shrub, it is typically found as a gnarled, straggly plant occupying seashore bluffs, hills and deserts. Like other members of its genus, it has a milky sap, which can be found exuding out of the light gray bark when damaged. The alternately-arranged leaves are round and folded in the middle, with small hairs on them. The "flowers" can be found blooming year-round, and are colored maroon or yellow in the center with 5 white to light-yellow petal-like appendages attached outside. This species is native to the Baja California peninsula and Sonora in Mexico, and the coast of Southern California in the United States, where it is a rare species. It is threatened in some localities by the development of its coastal habitat, which tends to be prime locations for high-end residential and commercial developments.
Liriope spicata is a species of low, herbaceous flowering plant from East Asia. Common names include creeping lilyturf, creeping liriope, lilyturf, and monkey grass. This perennial has grass-like evergreen foliage and is commonly used in landscaping in temperate climates as groundcover. Creeping lilyturf has white to lavender flowers which produce single-seeded berries on a spike in the fall. It is one of the most popular groundcovers in the southeastern United States and areas with a similar climate.
Wildfires consume live and dead fuels, destabilize physical and ecological landscapes, and impact human social and economic systems. Post-fire seeding was initially used to stabilize soils. More recently it is being used to recover post wildfire plant species, manage invasive non-native plant populations and establish valued vegetation compositions.
Sedum albomarginatum is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae known by the common name Feather River stonecrop. It is endemic to California where it is known from fewer than 20 occurrences along the Feather River in Plumas and Butte Counties. It grows on steep cliffs and mountain slopes in rocky serpentine substrates.
Kalanchoe longiflora, also known as tugela cliff-kalanchoe or long-flower kalanchoe, is a species of the succulent genus Kalanchoe, in the family Crassulaceae. An obscure shrub native to South Africa, it is known for its multi-coloured foliage and yellow flowers, which bloom in autumn to winter.
Carpobrotus modestus, commonly known as inland pigface, is a succulent perennial of the family Aizoaceae, native to Australia. It produces purple flowers which mature into fruits and is mainly used as a groundcover succulent or as a drought tolerant plant.
Dudleya campanulata is a species of perennial succulent plant known by the common name as the Punta Banda liveforever, native to Baja California and endemic to the Punta Banda peninsula, a promontory south of Ensenada that encloses the southern limit of the Bahía de Todos Santos, a deepwater bay. One of many species of Dudleya native to the peninsula and surrounding islands, it is distinguished by its campanulate flowers and its occupation of a narrow habitat that consists of ocean bluffs on the southern end of the Punta Banda, near the well-known blowhole La Bufadora.
Ibervillea sonorae is a tuberous perennial plant in the Cucurbitaceae family known by the common names wereke, wareque, guarequi, and coyote melon. It is a highly variable species characterized by a large, succulent tuberous root, which in the dry sand of its native habitat resembles a gray, dust-covered boulder. Emerging from the root yearly are long, flexible liana-like shoots, which reach a length of three or more meters. This species is native to northwestern Mexico, being found in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora and Sinaloa.
