Earth Discovery Institute

Bushrue ( Cneoridium dumosum )🌸🍂 Bushrue is an aromatic, sprawling shrub native to the coastal bluffs of Southern California and Baja California. During the dry summer months, its green leaves turn a brilliant orange, often painting entire hillsides in warm tones. After the first rains, the leaves return to green and the plant produces small clusters of white flowers. Bushrue is considered the only native citrus relative in Southern California. Like many native plants, it was traditionally...

Volunteer Heroes Making a BIG Impact This month, we had dozens of passionate people help us install HUNDREDS of native plants at El Monte, reaching a milestone of over 2,500 native plants in the ground at El Monte this year! We know what you're thinking...our highlight email early this month said over 1,000 plants  this year, but we were totally mistaken - everyone put in hard work in the spring too, so we installed more than double that amount!! We are so impressed by all the team members,...

Toad-ally Exciting Encounter During one of our habitat restoration events this month, we spotted a native Western Spadefoot toad (a threatened species) and we were so excited! Whenever we have encounters like these, it is a perfect reminder of why all our hard work matters and why we are so grateful for our volunteer heroes who help us make an impact in San Diego's wild spaces. We have two more habitat restoration events at El Monte coming up before the end of 2025! If you'd like to give back...