Agavaceae

Agave americana

Century Plant

Look for: 
- A basal rosette of large, succulent, blue-gray leaves,
- "shark teeth" spines along the leaf margins,
- long, needlelike spines at the leaf tips.

Agavaceae

Phormium tenax

New Zealand flax

Look for: 
- Linear, sword-shaped leaves with parallel veins,
- foliage that is tightly held together at the base and spreads out to form a fan,
- the upper surface of the leaf closes in on itself toward the base.

Agavaceae

Sansevieria trifasciata

Snake Plant

Look for:
- flat, vertical leaves ending in a sharp point, 
- a smooth, waxy leaf surface,
- alternating horizontal bands of dark and light green.

Agavaceae

Yucca spp.

Yucca

Look for: 
- Rosettes of stiff, sword-like leaves that (often) end in spine tips,
- tough, fibrous foliage that is hard to tear,
- showy inflorescences with large, creamy-white flowers.

Arecaceae

Chamaerops humilis

European fan palm

Look for: 
- A small, multi-trunked palm,
- trunk(s) often curved,
- petioles have slender, sharp spines pointing toward the leaf tips,
- petiole "stumps" arch out directly from the trunk

Arecaceae

Phoenix canariensis

Canary Island date palm

Look for: 
- Long, arching, pinnatifid leaves,
- a stout, single, vertical trunk,
- diamond patterns on the bark (from where the petioles have been cut off).

Arecaceae

Trachycarpus fortunei

Windmill palm

Look for: 
- A fan-leaved palm with reverse tapered trunk,
- a wrapping similar to burlap around the upper part of the trunk,
- leaves that are dark green above and gray-green below,
- fine serrations on the edge of the petioles. 

Arecaceae

Washingtonia filifera

California fan palm

Look for: 
- A palm tree with large, palmately lobed leaves,
- a single wide, vertical, and very thick trunk,
- a canopy of green leaves that spreads fairly wide (for a palm tree).

Arecaceae

Washingtonia robusta

Mexican fan palm

Look for: 
- A very tall fan-leaved palm tree,
- a single skinny trunk that can be slightly curved,
- a small, spherical canopy of leaves with short petioles.

Cyperaceae

Carex spissa

San Diego sedge

Look for: 
- A "grasslike" clump of green, linear leaves,
- leaf surfaces that are dark green on top and blue-green below,
- leaf margins with tiny serrations,
- large flower clusters (spikelets) that are drying to brown in the fall, 
- flowering stalks that are triangular in cross-section.

Cyperaceae

Cyperus alternifolius

Umbrella plant

Look for: 
- A dense clump of vertical green stems,
- a whorl of 14-22 narrow, stiff bracts radiating out from the top of each stem, 
- small green or brown flower clusters on short stalks (rays) above each bract.

Juncaceae

Juncus spp.

Rush

Look for: 
- Many thin green cylinders ("knitting needles") coming out of the ground,
- small clusters of brown flowers.

Liliaceae

Asparagus densiflorus

Asparagus fern

Look for: 
- A mounding or hanging plant with airy, light green foliage,
- slender, stiff spines on the stems,
- spherical fruit that ripen in the fall from green to bright red,
- small white flowers with 3 sepals, 3 petals, 1 pistil, and 6 stamens.

Liliaceae

Ruscus aculeatus

Butcher's broom

Look for: 
- stiff green plants about knee-high,
- spiny-tipped, ovate cladophylls.

Poaceae

Muhlenbergia rigens

Deer grass

Look for: 
- A large clumping grass,
- very narrow flowering stalks that point out in all directions,
- long, linear leaves that are flat on the upper surface,

- have about 10 ridges on the underside.