Take a walk through Presidio Tunnel Tops and you’ll see that things are beginning to take root. Throughout the GGNRA, you’ll find native plants blossoming and while the Presidio Tunnel Tops plants are just beginning their long lives in the parks, there’s plenty to know about what you can find sprouting there. 

Starting from Crissy Field and up to the Main Parade Lawn, the plants proceed in a natural gradient that takes you from the super-native Crissy Marsh to the more manicured lawn of the Presidio Promenade. 

Of the 200,000 plants that grow at Presidio Tunnel Tops, half of them were grown in our native plant nurseries and occupy the lower part of the park up to the Bluff Walk. On your journey through Presidio Tunnel Tops, you’ll notice familiar plants, like Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), the lavender and yellow flowers of Seaside Daisy (Erigeron glaucus), and some not-so-familiar plants. As the plants continue to grow in, they will complement the natural landscape of the Presidio’s northern waterfront and will support pollinators and other wildlife.

At the Outpost, the primary vegetation that you’ll find are grasses. In particular, you’ll find hardy grasses that can withstand the footsteps of playing children, like Dune Knotweed (Polygonum paronychia), a flowering plant that grows in sandy coastal habitats. You’ll also find grasses like California’s State Grass, Purple Needle Grass (Stipa pulchra), and Pacific Reedgrass (Calamagrostis nutkaensis), a bunchgrass that is prominently found here and forms large tussocks. Once established, this grass will add a natural feel to the playscape. 

Up the stairs on the west end of the Outpost, at the Overlook and leading up to the lawn, Lance Leaf Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris ssp. lanceolata), a dark green, purple-flowered, water-loving native plant absorbs excess irrigation runoff that comes down the slope. In contrast, many of the other plants you’ll see in these bluffs have silvery fuzz coating their leaves. These adaptations are crucial to plants survival in the unique climate of the Presidio: reflecting the sun’s rays and collecting fog for moisture. 

Clustered in sort-of drifts above and below the Bluff Walk, the plants you’ll see here were chosen to eventually blend together like in other areas of the California coastal bluff ecosystem. The fuzzy leaves on plants like Dune Tansy (Tanacetum bipinnatum) here help them trap and absorb water droplets from the early morning fog. At the top of the bluffs, silvery plants like Coastal Sagewort (Artemisia pycnocephala), a member of the sagebrush family which grows low, prolifically and briefly blooms with tiny yellow flowers, reflect light helping these plants withstand the bright light there. Bonus: Keep an eye out for Dune Bush Lupine (Lupinus chamissonis), a bushy scrub plant with pea-pod like seed pods—when the conditions are right, it spreads quickly.

Drop in and watch these plants bloom—they will grow up with the park!