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California Floristic Province


The California Floristic Province (CFP) is a floristic province with a Mediterranean-type climate located on the Pacific Coast of North America with a distinctive flora similar to other regions with a winter rainfall and summer drought climate like the Mediterranean Basin. This biodiversity hotspot is known for being the home of the Sierran giant sequoia tree and its close relative the coast redwood. In 1996, the Province was designated as a biodiversity hotspot allowing it to join ranks among 33 other areas in the world with a large number of endemic species. To be named a biodiversity hotspot, an area has to contain species and plant life that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The California Floristic Province is home to over 3,000 species of vascular plants, 60% of which are endemic to the province.

The California Floristic Province belongs to the Madrean Region of the Holarctic (or Boreal) Floristic Kingdom. As part of the Madrean Region, it is bordered on its east by the Great Basin Floristic Province, and to the south and southwest by the Sonoran Province (which includes the Mojave, Colorado, Sonoran, and Baja California Deserts). To the north, the region is bordered by the Vancouverian Province of the Rocky Mountain Region, and much of coastal and mountain Northern California and southwestern Oregon are defined as falling into either province depending on a given author's delimitations.


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