[pct-l] plant guides

[CMountainDave at aol.com (CMountainDave@xxxxxxx)]

Don't really know of any plant guides, but I can say that as a botanist you 
are in for a real treat on the PCT. Wait until you get a look at a Coulter Pine 
pine cone! I found the Chaparral to be fascinating -- imagine, plants that 
WANT to burn ? I played a tree ID game as I hiked trying to recognize different 
conifers first by their cones (easy after a while) then their needles (not as 
easy) and finally by their bark  (difficult, for me anyway) Then there was all 
kinds of different oaks (live, scrub, black, white, blue) cacti (prickly 
pear, beaver tail, hedgehog, barrel),  wildflowers galore, and an occasional real 
odd ball like the Pitcher plant. The flora is definitely one of the highlights 
of the trail. My favorite plant had to be the Foxtail pine. They were like 
snowflakes, no two alike