Mt. Davidson Park Wildflowers
To save Inspiration Point, the original site of the annual Easter Sunrise cross and service, former Mayor Rossi successfully convinced the City to purchase seven more acres for Mount Davidson Park in 1941. On the eastern slope of the hill, the grassland was once owned by Leland Stanford, who planned to build a dense residential development high above San Francisco called Stanford Heights.
1894 Map with Stanford Heights Street Plan.
Protected from the prevailing western winds and fog by the historic forest created by Adolph Sutro, it is now home to a variety of spring wildflowers and shrubs amidst a sea of non-native grasses.
Aerial View of Mt. Davidson Park 1948
These are scans of photo slides taken by the Photochrome Club of San Francisco who visited the park three times from the end of February to mid-April in 1988. Photo subjects were identified by Susan Smith and are courtesy of the Miraloma Park Improvement Club.
View of the eastern slope of the park:
Close-ups of individual species:
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- CA Morning Glory
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- Sticky Monkey Flower
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- Blue Dick
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- Footsteps-of-Spring
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- Bladder Parsnip
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- Checker Bloom
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- Wood Mint
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- CA Morning Glory
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- Yellow Violet
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- Lomatium
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- Coast Buckwheat
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- Muilla Maritima
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- Buff Lettuce
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- Checker Bllom
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- CA Buttercup
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- Golden Aster
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- Narrow Leaf Mule Ears
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- Lupine Varicolor
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- CA Poppy
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- SF Campion
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- Shooting Star
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- Coast Angelica
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- Coast Iris
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- Evergreen Huckleberry
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- Nootka Reedgrass
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- Milk Maids
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- Checker Lily
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- Ladies Tresses
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- Coast Red Currant
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- White Flowered Service Berry
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- Pacific Pea
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- Coast Rock Cress
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- Goldfields
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- Lizard Tail
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- Northeast Chert
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- Mt. Davidson Cross
Download a trail map here.