Veronica scutellata is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common names marsh speedwell, grassleaf speedwell, and skullcap speedwell. It is native to northern North America, including most of Canada and the northern half of the United States. It occurs in moist and wet habitat, such as ponds, marshes, and other wetlands. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing a decumbent or upright stem 40 to 60 centimeters in maximum height. It is mostly hairless in texture. The purple-green or reddish leaves are oppositely arranged in pairs about the stem, the blades lance-shaped and smooth-edged. The inflorescence is an open array of several flowers on thin, straight pedicels. The flower is up to a centimeter wide with four lobes, the upper lobe being largest. It is white, blue, or purplish with purple veining. It yields a flat, notched capsule a few millimeters wide.

Veronica wormskjoldii is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common name American alpine speedwell. It is native to much of northern and western North America, including the western United States and northern Canada, from where it grows in moist alpine habitat, such as mountain forest understory. It has a wide subarctic distribution from Alaska to Greenland. This is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing a decumbent to erect, mostly unbranched stem up to 25 to 40 centimeters tall and coated in long hairs. The oppositely arranged leaves are 2 to 4 centimeters long and lack petioles. The flower cluster is a hairy, hairy raceme of flowers at the tip of the stem. Each flower has hairy, lance-shaped sepals and a blue corolla up to a centimeter wide. The fruit is a capsule around half a centimeter long which contains tiny flattened seeds.

Dog Violet (Viola adunca) is a hairy, compact plant with nodding purple flowers blooming from spring through summer. With dark green heart-shaped fragrant leaves spreading via rhizomes (horizontal underground stems), Dog Violet makes a low mat that covers the ground.

Dog Violet grows in shade or part sun, prefers well-drained soil and needs watering year round. Dog Violet hosts moths and butterflies. Native to meadows and forests, Dog Violet makes a great mat groundcover for woodland and meadow gardens.

Viola glabella, also known as Stream Violet or Pioneer Violet, occurs along streams or in moist woods in northeastern Asia and northwestern North America. Its petals are yellow on both sides, with the exception of dark purple nectar guides on the front of the lower three petals. The flowers arise from the same stems as the leaves; the plant is deciduous and dies back completely to its roots in the autumn.

Viola hallii is a species of violet known by the common names Oregon violet and Hall's violet. It is native to southwestern Oregon and northwestern California, where it occurs in open areas in the forests and chaparral of the coastal mountain ranges, on gravelly soils, often of serpentine origin. This rhizomatous herb produces a cluster of hairless stems reaching a maximum height of about 22 centimeters. The leaves are each divided into three fleshy leaflets which are deeply divided into lance-shaped lobes and borne on a short petioles very similar to Viola beckwithii. A solitary flower is borne on a long, upright stem. It has five petals, the lower three cream-colored with yellow bases and red veining and the upper two dark red or purplish.

Small White Violet (Viola macloskeyi) is a native perennial herb that grows in northern, southern and central California. It is moderately fast growing and short-lived. It grows in a rounded form to a height of 0.5 feet, with active growth during the spring and summer. Flowers are white and striking, and bloom in the early spring. Leaves are medium green and deciduous. It tends to grow in , at elevations from 3300-11200 feet.

Viola palustris (marsh violet or alpine marsh violet) is a perennial forb of the genus Viola. It inhabits moist meadows, marshes, and streambanks in northern parts of North America and Eurasia. Viola palustris is a 5 to 22 cm, glabrous herb with petioles and peduncles from slender rhizomes. The cordate to reniform leaves are 2. 5 to 3. 5 cm wide with coarse, shallow, blunt teeth. Petioles are 2 to 17 cm. The white to lilac flowers are 10 to 13 mm long. Peduncles are about the same length as petioles. The lower three petals have purple lines. The lateral pair are lightly bearded.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden by Cal Flora Nursery from possible hybrid found growing near the Russian River.

Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Selected for the garden by Nevin smith.

Desert Wild Grape is a native vine or shrub that grows in southern California. It tends to grow in streamsides, at elevations from 0-4100 feet, but it is found in more arid areas than its close cousin, Vitis californica. It grows in southern oak woodlands, coastal sage scrub, pinyon-juniper woodland, joshua tree woodland, and riparian habitats. In the wild it tends to climb over other plants with stems reaching up to 50 ft. In the garden it can be trained to climb up a trellis, fence or wall. It is deciduous and is leafless for several months every year. The flowers are inconspicuous, followed by the edible fruits which attract many birds. It may not fruit reliably if too close to the coast.

Fan palm (Washingtonia filifera) is a tree in the Palm family (Arecaceae). Commonly called desert fan palm or California fan palm, it is the only palm native to the western United States and is the country's largest native palm. It is an evergreen monocot with large sprays of creamy white flowers, up to 15 feet (5 meters) long, appear in summer, followed by abundant clusters of small, pea-sized black fruits.

Primarily found in Creosote Bush Scrub and Desert Riparian habitats such as rivers, seeps and springs, this palm is a keystone species in Desert Oases, and supports desert species of wildlife, such as the Western Yellow Bat, the Hooded Oriole and the Palm Flower Moth. 

Although Fan Palm grows near springs, it is actually quite drought-adapted in gardens. Place in well-drained soil in full sun. It is not necessary to prune dead leaves; however, this can be done by cutting them off close to the trunk. Remove these carefully in order to protect any bats or birds that may get crushed by the heavy leaves.

Wislizenia refracta, common names jackass-clover or spectacle fruit, is one of three recognized species in its genus Wislizenia, although some authors have suggested considering them as subspecies. Wislizenia refracta is native to northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It has been reported from Chihuahua, Sonora, trans-Pecos Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and from California (Riverside, Kern and San Bernardino Counties). The species occurs in sandy flats, in desert scrub, and on disturbed sites such as roadsides. Wislizenia refracta is an annual herb up to 200 cm (78. 5 in) tall. Leaves are trifoliate, the leaflets ovate (egg-shaped), up to 5 cm (2 in) long. Flowers are yellow.

Wolffia borealis is a species of flowering plant known by the common name northern watermeal. It is native to North America including sections of Canada and the United States. It grows in mats on the surface of calm water bodies, such as ponds. It is a very tiny plant with no leaves, stems, or roots. The green part is up to 1. 2 millimeters long with one rounded end and one pointed end. On the flattened top of the plant is a single stamen and pistil. Like other Wolffia, it is edible and makes a nutritious food.

Wolffia columbiana (Columbian watermeal) is a perennial aquatic plant in the Duckweed family (Lemnaceae). This plant is distributed widely throughout North, Central, and South America, and also occurs in Curaçao.

Wolffia globosa is a species of flowering plant known by the common name Asian watermeal. It is native to Asia and is found in parts of the Americas, where it may be native or naturalized. It grows in mats on the surface of calm, freshwater bodies, such as ponds, lakes, and marshes. It is a very tiny, oval-shaped plant with no leaves, stems, or roots. The body of the plant, a transparent green frond, is less than a millimeter wide. Like other Wolffia, the plant is edible and makes a nutritious food.

Wolffiella lingulata is a species of flowering plant known by the common names tongueshape bogmat and tongueshape mud-midget. It is native to the Americas, where it is widely distributed and grows in calm water bodies such as ponds. It is a tiny plant made up a green frond measuring 3 to 9 millimeters wide. It often takes the form of a mother-daughter pair of fronds as it undergoes vegetative reproduction by budding. It may also undergo sexual reproduction by producing minute, microscopic flowers.

Xanthium strumarium (rough cocklebur, clotbur, common cocklebur, large cocklebur, woolgarie bur) is a species of annual plants belonging to the Asteraceae family. It probably originates in North America and has been extensively naturalized elsewhere.

Zannichellia palustris, the horned pondweed, is a plant found in fresh to brackish waters in the United States (especially in the Chesapeake Bay), Europe, Asia, Australasia, and South America. It is recognizable by its long, thread like leaves, and "stringy" appearance. Its roots are also long and tendril-like, and its seeds bear a distinctive horned shape, hence the common name. Chromosome number was confirmed as 2n = 24 in Japan.

Centaurium davyi is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family known by the common name Davy's centaury. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the coastline around the San Francisco Bay Area and areas north, as well as from Santa Cruz Island, one of the Channel Islands. It grows in moist coastal habitat, such as bluffs, dunes, and forest. It is an annual herb not exceeding about 25 centimeters in height, with oval leaves under 2 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a small, open array of flowers, some on very short pedicels. Each flower has generally five overlapping corolla lobes, each only a few millimeters in length, usually pink or partially pink in color.

Zeltnera muehlenbergii is a species of annual herb commonly known as Muhlenberg's centaury. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California and Nevada, where it commonly grows in forests and other moist places. This is an annual herb growing thin, erect, branching stems to heights anywhere between 10 centimeters and one meter. Oval-shaped leaves are arranged oppositely on the stem and are up to 2 or 3 centimeters long. The branching inflorescence bears many flowers, each with small bracts at its base. The flower has five oval-shaped petallike lobes each a few millimeters long.

Zeltnera namophila (syn. Centaurium namophilum), known by the common name spring-loving centaury, is a rare species of flowering plant in the gentian family. It is endemic to the Amargosa Valley, in Nye County, southwestern Nevada. The plant is endemic to Ash Meadows, in the Amargosa Desert directly east of Death Valley National Park. It has been recorded as being present in California in 1978, but no occurrences have been recently confirmed there. The plant grows in moist and wet soils in the Ash Meadows wetlands. The soil has a high clay content and a high pH, with salts remaining as water is evaporated in the desert air. The plant occurs in meadows of saltgrass (Distichlis spicata) and next to streams, springs, and seeps. Other plants in the area include Ash Meadows gumplant (Grindelia fraxino-pratensis), Emory baccharis (Baccharis emoryi), and Tecopa bird's beak (Cordylanthus tecopensis). Zeltnera namophila is an annual herb producing a branching stem up to 45 centimeters tall. The plant blooms during the heat of summer, from July to September. The flower is roughly a centimeter wide with a deep pink corolla tinged yellow in the throat. The fruit is a capsule containing about 50 seeds, and each plant can produce many capsules. It is thought to be a ruderal species, producing many tiny seeds that spread about and sprout up in disturbed habitat in a weedlike manner. The seeds probably also persist for a long time in the soil seed bank.

Zostera marina is a species of seagrass known by the common names common eelgrass and seawrack. It is an aquatic plant native to marine environments on the coastlines of mostly northern sections of North America and Eurasia. This species is the most wide-ranging marine flowering plant in the Northern Hemisphere. It lives in cooler ocean waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, and in the warmer southern parts of its range it dies off during warmer seasons. It grows in the Arctic region and endures several months of ice cover per year. It is the only seagrass known from Iceland. It can be found in bays, lagoons, estuaries, on beaches, and in other coastal habitat. This Zostera grows in muddy and sandy shores only at and below spring tides. This plant is an important member of the coastal ecosystem in many areas because it helps to physically form the habitat and it plays a crucial role for many other species. For example, it provides a sheltered spawning ground for the Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii).