Recommended books to identify plants in the San Luis Obispo County area.
A beautiful introduction to the area is Wildflowers of San Luis Obispo, California, Edited by David J. Keil, PH.D. which is an excellent modern book with great color photos, and was "a cooperative project of the City of San Luis Obispo and the San Luis Obispo Chapter of the California Native Plant Society." (page 5) Any book by the CNPS is very good, by the way. They are a good organization, with a respected history, and dedicated to preserving and cataloging California natives, and watching invasives.
Central Coast Wildflowers, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara Counties of California by Mary Coffeen is also very good, with nice descriptions, and color plates. A little older, so check for scientific name updates online, perhaps by searching Calflora, but also the Jepson online should have a history of changes.
For the dunes, try Dune Mother's Wildflower Guide, Dunes of Coastal San Luis Obispo & Santa Barbara Counties, California, by Malcolm McLeod, California Native Plant Society. Excellent.
For the keys, use the Jepson online.
