Not until 1933 did the classification of Amador's flowering plants appeal to him as a project for future study. In that year, he had his first class in Taxonomic Botany at the University of California. Collecting hin this territory was a definite advantage to him as his acquaintance with the land owners enabled him to trespass and collect without question. HIs acquaintance with the territory also made it possible for him to know where many specimens of infrequent occurrence were to be found. Had he been unfamiliar with the territory certainly many of these would have been missed. This thesis represents the fulfillment of an idea almost ten years old. Its completion is largely a result of the timely counsel, inspiration and encouragement extended by Dr. E. E. Stanford, Professor of Botany at the College of the Pacific. The specimens collected have been contributed to the College of the Pacific Herbarium, of which it forms a permanent part. It is his hope that this collection may be of value to the college. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM The purpose of this study was to collect and classify all the flowering plants, grasses excluded, that occur in the Plymouth-Bridgeport Area of Amador and El Dorado Counties, California. Data are presented as to location, habitat, elevation, collection date, and economic importance because of use by the populace of that area. TERRITORY The territory covered extends from the Amador-Sacramento County line at an elevation of 220 feet to a point fifteen miles east of Plymouth at an elevation of 3000 feet. Collections were made in both Amador and El Dorado Counties. Trips extended up the Cosumne River, boundary line of Amador and El Dorado Counties, covering adjoining territory to a distance of five miles north and south of the river. Hence, the territory covered in this study includes a strip of land ten miles wide and thirty miles long, the Cosumne River running from east to west down through the center of the area. COLLECTION DATES Collection dates extended February to July, 1942. The author covered the territory at frequent intervals in an effort to make the specimen collection as complete as possible. LIFE ZONES The Life-Zones covered in this study includes the Valley Sonoran, Upper Sonoran, and Sierra Transitions. These will be discussed in the order mentioned. REFERENCE In this study the key to plant families was adapted from Willis Linn Jepson's Manuel of the Flowering Plants of California. (Hereafter referred to as Jepson.) This reference was used for the classification of all specimens collected in this study. SPECIMEN ARRANGEMENT In this study the families and genera and species within the families were arranged alphabetically rather than according to Jepson. This was done for convenience in working with and referring to the specimens collected.

Plant indicator species and longitudinal paleobotanical data were used as independent measures to document the human ecological record of the contact period in southern Marin County, California. These data suggest that archaeological and documentary records are insufficient for examining changes in land management and use during the contact period. Prior to A.D. 1579, Western Miwok peoples had not encountered Europeans face to face. This early phase of the contact period is marked the possible introduction of New World species through passive cultural vectors. Two brief encounters occurred between the Miwok and Europeans between A.D. 1579 and 1775. Introduced and weedy plant species from fossil samples appear to confirm these encuentros and confirm the archeological evidence for intermittent contact during the second phase of the contact period. Modern and fossil pollen samples suggest that the intensity of human disturbance is geographically stratified and related to exploration, procurement, and management of specific resources. Coastal prairie, the redwood forest, and Bay salt marshes were the most affected by the second phase of the contact period. Shifts in vegetation diversity and increases in the numbers of introduced and weedy species were compared between ruderal and undisturbed contexts. These data were used as analogs to monitor the final phase of contact between A.D. 1775 to 1817. Hypotheses derived from ethnohistoric and ethnographic sources that suggest rapid shifts in land management practices and changes in plant representation were corroborated by some pollen data. Specifically, the ecological responses to the suppression of anthropogenic burning, changes in land tenure and parcelization, and the initiation of grazing and logging practices were examined. The cumulative impacts of introduced plants, shifts in land management from Miwok to Euroamerican-dominated resource procurement and subsistence practices, and ecological responses of plant species suggests that the contact period might better be defined on ecological terms rather than by purely material cultural or ethnographic definitions. In southern Marin, paleobotanical data provide a measurable indication of the ecological character of the pre-contact landscape and the cultural processes that effectively altered its character during the contact period.

The series Californicae is a natural grouping of Iris species native to Oregon, Washington and California. Natural and experimental hybridization is characteristic of the series which has led to confusing taxonomies for some species. Populations of species belonging to this series and found on the northwestern slopes of the Siskiyou Mountains cf southwestern Oregon and adjacent California were investigated. Methods used were numerical classification techniques for morphological characters including both discriminant and K-means cluster analyses and a chemotaxonomi c analysis of flavonoid pigments using thin layer chromatography.

Today a good deal is known about the general nature and flora of vernal pools. Nevertheless, there is very limited information or actual documentation in the scientific literature. Vernal pools need to be studied more extensively. and they still offer unlimited opportunities for such research (Holland and Griggs 1976). The purpose of this investigation was to enumerate and compare the vascular plant species occurring at three vernal pools in the San Joaquin Valley of California.

The flora of California has been studied as a whole, but with the exception of Yosemite Valley few specific areas in Tuolumne County have been investigated. The area chosen for this investigation was approximately forty acres of the lava flow known as Table Mountain. This forty acres is located in the southeast portion of the Omega Mine near Rawhide Flat, Tuolumne County, California. The decision to use this area for study was based on its relative freedom from man's influence and its accessibility. The Omega Vine belongs to the author and its use was restricted during the period of investigation