One of the striking features of Coast Range vegetation in California is the great physiognomic diversity in many very circumscribed areas. There is a wealth of such areas in the coastal portion of the San Luis Obispo quadrangle, situated about midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Here, grasslands, shrublands and forests of various types form sharply defined mosaic patterns in great variety. In a panoramic view of the quadrangle, a very general relationship between vegetation pattern and physiography is seen to exist; grassland covers the valleys, with woody vegetation on the hilly to mountainous uplands. But such a simple panoramic view breaks down on closer inspection since grassland may extend to slopes and summits of the mountains, and non-riparian shrubland and forest extend to restricted portions of the lowlands.