Ellwood Mesa is a two mile long stretch of ocean front land which was recently saved from private development and turned into a protected area known as the Spalding Preserve.  While the eucalyptus groves are famous as a sanctuary for migrating Monarch Butterfly populations, the area is also rich with open grassland which is relied upon by numerous birds, insects and small mammals. Growing Solutions has been collecting seed from thriving sections for use in the restoration of other, previously altered, places within the Preserve.  Important plant species include Nasella pulchra (Purple Needle grass), Sisyrinchium bellum (Blue-Eyed grass), Eschscholzia californica (CA Poppy), and both Hordeum brachyuantherum subsp. brachyuantherum and Hordeum bracyuantherum calfiornicum (Meadow Barley).   The relatively uncommon species, Stachys ajugoides var. ajugoides (Ajuga wooodmint), is also found here.