Education Department Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
Outline of Topics for a General Tour revised spring 2015
Mission Statement The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden fosters the conservation of California's native plants through our gardens, education, and research, and serves as a role model of sustainable practices. Vision Statement The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden envisions a world where society understands the interdependency between people and plants, and acts to preserve the natural world.
Introduction
Garden docents become familiar with twelve principal topics, in addition to Garden Basics. Several topics together might serve as background material for a well-rounded Garden walk. A good rule of thumb is to be prepared to discuss three plants for each topic that you select. The purpose of the tour is to use individual plants to explain and illustrate the topics, and to emphasize our mission: to foster the conservation of California’s native plants, not merely identify the flora.
For each topic in this guide, we provide examples of plants you might choose to show people on walks. It is also effective to natural items such as pinecones, seeds and fruits, leaves, and other plant materials, with you on your tours; many docents carry a personalized bag of ‘props’ on tours. The Education Department can supply props, or you can pick them up on the trails as you go. A hand lens can be useful for examining small flower parts, leaf surfaces, or insects. We have enough for tours participants, field guides, and even a small field microscope that can be checked out. The Education Department also maintains a circulating library for Education Department volunteers.
The nature of your walk will be determined by a combination of your individual style and the level of interest of your audience. Remain adaptable, and sensitive to your audience’s engagement. Draw on what you learn in docent training, California Naturalist and other classes, conversations with horticulturalists and botanists, and personal observation in developing your own ‘package’ of tours.
NOTE: Any passages in grey are supplemental material that may be useful to docents, but is not necessary to include on a public tour.
Contents
Garden Tour Basics
Topic #1 California Native Plants
Topic #2 Biodiversity
Topic #3 Plant Communities
Topic #4 Plant Adaptation
Topic #5 Fire in the Garden
Topic #6 Conservation
Topic #7 Geology
Topic #8 Native Plant Horticulture
Topic #9 Mission Dam
Topic #10 Chumash Uses of Plants
Topic #11 Teahouse
Topic #12 Garden History
More topics may be added in future revisions. If you would like to contribute a topic, or add to an existing topic, please contact the Education Department. We highly encourage docents to assist in the development of our interpretative guides, training, and other programs.
Garden Tour Basics
-Introduce yourself, and welcome tour participants -Ask participants to briefly introduce themselves and say where they are from -Share the following facts, which you may incorporate into parts of your tour:
• The Garden . . .
o is dedicated to the conservation of California's native flora o is a private, non-profit scientific and educational institution. o relies largely on memberships, donations, and grants for support. o was established in 1926 by Anna Dorinda Blaksley Bliss, who wished to preserve this special place for all to enjoy.
o has 78 acres of land and several miles of trails. o is a living museum collection that preserves plant biodiversity. o grows display gardens of California natives to inspire to stewardship. o provides a broad diversity of educational programs in the areas of conservation, plant science, horticulture and sustainable landscape practices, natural history, local field trips and travel, botanical arts and letters, family programs and special events.
o participates in restoration of degraded wild landscapes. o specializes in the California Channel Islands and island biogeography. o conducts research on the flora of California and related floras of the world. • 70% of the Garden was burned or scorched in the Jesusita fire in May, 2009. • Mention current changes that are happening in the Garden, such as garden renovations, progress in the Meadow, and construction.
-At the end of the tour • tell them about areas of the Garden you have not visited on the tour, and orient visitors on the map. • point people to the Garden Shop and Nursery • Thank them for joining us and wish them a good visit in the Garden!
Topic #1 California Native Plants
A California native plant is one that 1) was present in California prior to the immigration of European settlers, and 2) grows in the wild without cultivation in California.
Examples of native plants: Manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.), California Sycamore (Platanus racemosa), Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia), and Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum).
Examples of non-native plants: "California" Pepper Tree (Schinus molle), a native of Peru; Eucalyptus sp., native to Australia; Common Oleander (Nerium oleander), native to the Mediterranean; and Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima), native to Europe.
Although many trees, shrubs, and flowers from all over the world thrive in Santa Barbara only California native plants are we grown in the Garden.
There are almost 5000 species (the exact number in the 2013 Jepson Manual is 4976) of native plants in California. More than a quarter of the 17,000 native plants in the United States are found in California.
There are many threats to California native plants: • population growth and development • habitat loss and habitat fragmentation • invasive species • pollution of land, air, and water • climate change (dry lands become drier, bringing fire and pests) • wind and solar projects, especially in the desert
There are 35 designated HOT SPOTS in the world. The California Floristic Province is one of three in the United States. The others in the U.S. are Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and pine oak woodlands of New Mexico and Arizona. Hotspots refer to regions with a high degree of endemism (plants that grow no where else in the world accompanied by much habitat loss. Those areas are especially deserving of protection.
Topic #2 Biodiversity
We use the expression "species diversity" or “biodiversity” to describe the richness of species – the number of species in a given area. There is a complex interdependence between all species of living organisms, plants and the animals that depend on them. All animal life on the planet depends on plants, either directly or indirectly, for survival. Loss of a single species can have effects that ripple an entire ecosystem.
Species of plants are gathered into groups called genera (singular, genus), and related genera are grouped into families. A species may be defined as a group of related plants that closely resemble one another and breed only with each other or, if they hybridize, the offspring of the hybrids are not fertile. Since reproduction between individual species results in fertile offspring, the species are said to "share the same gene pool."
To illustrate the reasons for the remarkable diversity of plants in California, go to the kiosk as you begin your walk, and point out the different areas on the California map.
The great diversity of plants native to California depends on five key factors.
1. Elevational Range. Climate, particularly temperature and rainfall, vary with elevation. Generally rainfall increases with elevation while temperature decreases. The elevational range in California extends from -282' at Badwater in Death Valley to 14,495' on the top of Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada.
2. Latitude. California covers over 1000 miles from north to south. California's northern border with Oregon is roughly at the same latitude as Boston, Massachusetts. California's southern border with Mexico is roughly the same latitude as Savannah, Georgia. Vegetation varies from north to south.
3. Geology. There is great diversity of rock and soil types in California including Sierra Nevada granites, Cascades volcanics, Klamath region metamorphics, and the sedimentary and serpentine rocks of the Santa Barbara area. 95% of the rock in the Santa Barbara region is sedimentary. The mineral composition of these different California rocks and soils affect the plant life of any given area.
4. Mediterranean Climate. Santa Barbara has a Mediterranean climate, named for the similar climate of the European Mediterranean region, with mild rainy winters and warm dry summers. The prolonged summer drought may last for six months or more. The five Mediterranean climate zones are all found on the western ends of continents. In addition to California and Mediterranean Europe, they include central Chile, the western Cape of South Africa, and western and southern Australia. Mediterranean climates occur on less than 2% of the world's total land area.
Most plants grow during the warm, wet months of the year, but in California the warm months are also dry months, and growth takes place in winter and spring after the rain arrives. Plants that have survived through the millennia in California often have special features that enable them to endure severe annual drought. Some, such as the Sages (Salvia spp.) and California Sagebrush (Artemisia californica) become almost dormant in the long dry summer, and only the arrival of rain in the late fall and winter stimulates these plants to produce new growth and flowers.
5. Habitat Diversity. California's terrain is extremely varied. It encompasses: • Four major mountain ranges, the Sierra Nevada, Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges. • Two great river systems, the San Joaquin and Sacramento. • Three distinct desert regions, Colorado/Sonoran, Mojave, and Great Basin. • over one thousand miles of coastline. • eight offshore islands.
California has a dynamic landscape in which mountains rise directly out of the ocean, drop down to wide plains and valleys, and rise gradually again to high peaks that trap moisture-laden storms from the Pacific Ocean, and then drops away abruptly eastward and southward to vast deserts.
When the varied topography of California is combined with its unique climate, and many soil types, the result is a wide variety of possible habitats and a great number of often plant species often unique to particular habitats. In the Garden we have examples of different plant associations, such as Coastal Sage Scrub, Chaparral, Redwood Forest, Riparian, Oak Woodland, and Desert.
As plants evolved in California, they developed adaptations to the widely varied environment in which they were found, resulting not only in high species richness, but in a large number of endemic plants (those found no where else in the world). Over 30% of California's native plants are endemic. If plants of the Great Basin region, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada, are excluded, 50% of California's plants are found only in this state. In contrast, only 13% of the plants from Maine to Washington, D.C., in the northeastern United States, are endemic to that region.
Many examples of California endemic plants can be seen in the Garden; a few include Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana), Valley Oak (Quercus lobata), California Buckeye (Aesculus californica), Hummingbird Sage (Salvia spathacea), Tree Anemone (Carpenteria californica), Pipevine (Aristolochia californica), and the symbol of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Cruz Island Ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus subsp. Asplenifolius).
In addition to the high number of endemic species in California, there is great diversity habit and form, such as ephemeral desert annuals, water-retaining cacti, and long-lived trees such as Bristlecones and Giant Sequoias.
Santa Barbara County is home to a particularly rich flora due to the unique confluence of mountain ranges and climates found in the region. • There are approximately 1400 plant species in Santa Barbara County, almost one third of the flora of California. • 10% of the 1400 native species in Santa Barbara County are endemic to the County.
Santa Barbara is at latitude 34, between typical subtropical and temperate climate zones of the world. The geographical position of Santa Barbara County contributes to the confluence of climates. Nestled at the base of the south-facing Santa Ynez mountains, Santa Barbara is situated on the longest section of south-facing coast in the state, creating a ‘solar collector’ that moderates temperatures in both summer and winter. Annual rainfall in the city of Santa Barbara averages 18 inches, but this may vary widely in the surrounding mountainous region.
The cold ocean current flowing south from Alaska, and the warmer counter-current flowing north from Baja California meet in Santa Barbara's offshore waters on either side of the Channel Islands, and contribute to the great diversity of marine and terrestrial plant life in the Santa Barbara coastal region. Organisms that normally live in warmer ocean waters to the south, or colder ocean waters to the north, are brought together in the Santa Barbara region by these two currents. Because elements of northern, southern, maritime, and interior climates are present in the Santa Barbara region, there is an unusually rich diversity of native plants here, even within a state renowned for its biodiversity.
"Northern" species found in Santa Barbara County include Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum), Huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), and Madrone (Arbutus menziesii).
“Southern” species found in Santa Barbara County include Sugar Bush and Lemonade Berry (Rhus spp.),
“Coastal species” include White Sage (Salvia apiana), Ashy-leaved Buckwheat (Eriogonum cinereum), and Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) are typically coastal.
Santa Barbara County endemic plants include species of Buckwheat (Eriogonum) and Live-forever (Dudleya).
Topic #3 Plant Communities
Plants that grow together in similar habitats are grouped into plant communities, which are assemblages of plants, animals, bacteria, fungi and other organisms, that live in a given environment and interact with one another.
One of the original purposes of the establishment of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden was to provide a place for the study of plant communities. Portions of the Garden are planted to represent California's natural plant communities.
• The Redwood Forest plant community occurs naturally near the coast from Monterey to the Oregon border but not as far south as Santa Barbara. It is dependent on the moisture from fog drip (from 10" to 20") it receives in those northern coastal locations. Fog, combined with the shade provided by the canopy of towering trees, creates a cool, damp environment. The Redwood Section of the Garden, which was planted in 1928 and must be sustained by an irrigation system, includes the following species characteristic of the northern Redwood Forest plant community: Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens); Redwood Sorrel (Oxalis oregona); Sword fern (Polystichium munitum); and California Rose-bay (Rhododendron macrophyllum).
• The Chaparral plant community occurs naturally in many foothill areas of California. It is the most common plant community in Santa Barbara County. Characterized by dense stands of leathery-leaved, evergreen shrubs from 15' to 20' tall, it is dependent on fire for regeneration and growth. Typical chaparral shrubs, which can be found on the Pritchett Trail in the Garden, include Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), Greenbark Ceanothus (Ceanothus spinosus), Holly-leaf Cherry (Prunus ilicifolia), and Mountain Magogany (Cercocarpus betuloides). There are also scattered examples of chaparral plants, such as Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), Ceanothus, and Manzanita, on both the Campbell Trail and the trail leading down to the Redwoods.
• Desert plant communities in California include the Colorado/Sonoran Desert, the Mojave Desert, and the Great Basin Desert. The Desert Section of the Garden includes plants from all three desert communities, including Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) of the Colorado Desert, Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia) of the Mojave Desert, and Great Basin Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata).
• Riparian means "along a riverbank," and the term is used to refer to streamside environments. Typical riparian plants grow along Mission Creek in the Garden: California Sycamore (Platanus racemosa), White Alder (Alnus rhombifolia), Big Leaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum), Willow (Salix spp.), and Poison Oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum).
A one-hour tour on plant communities could include examples of three plants from each of the communities above as well as plants in the Meadow Section. Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) and the crucial role of Oak Woodlands in California should be included in any tour of California plant communities. Learning about three species for each community is a minimum for Garden docents. There are many opportunities to increase your knowledge of California flora. We hold occasional workshops, invite expert speakers to the monthly docent meeting, maintain a circulating library in the Education Department, and offer relevant classes at a discount to interpretive volunteers in the Education Department.
Topic #4 Plant Adaptations
An adaptation is an inherited characteristic that enables survival in a given environment. In California, with its extremes of elevation, topography, soils, and rainfall, there are numerous examples of adaptations to harsh conditions. In Southern California, with its extended summer drought, the most obvious adaptations are to dry conditions. Many adaptations to drought may be observed in the Garden:
• Drought evaders. Annual plants, such as those that carpet the desert in a "good year," grow during the rainy season, and flower and set seed before the summer drought, surviving the dry season as seeds. 40% of the flora of the Colorado Desert is invisible most of the time!
• Succulent stems and leaves that store water for later use; examples include Live Forever (Dudleya spp.), Prickly Pear (Opuntia spp.)
• Vertically oriented leaves; Examples include Manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.), Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis).
• White-reflective hairs on leaves; examples include Conejo Buckwheat (Eriogonum crocatum) and Desert Lavender (Hyptis emoryi).
• Deep roots; for example Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata).
• Drought deciduous plants that drop most of their leaves in periods of drought; examples include Black Sage (Salvia mellifera), Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens).
• Tiny leaves; examples include California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) and Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum).
Topic #5 Fire In The Garden
The Garden is located in Mission Canyon, a front country area within the urban-wildland interface. Fire is a naturally occurring process in this chaparral landscape, and the native plant communities include Ceanothus, Toyon, Chamise, and other evergreen shrubs that are adapted to survive after fires. There aretwo key mechanisms for survival. One adaptive reproductive strategy is to resprout from ground level basal burls, while the other strategy is dependence on fire's heat or smoke to activate the dormant seeds in the soil.
The chaparral slopes that surround our now urban plains have historically burned, on a 30 to 75 year cycle, ignited by lightning, prior to human suppression of fire. Natural local conditions such as the lack of summer rain, and steep slopes covered with dry evergreen chaparral bushes, set the stage for periodic fires. When dry conditions are catalyzed by sundowner winds blowing down the mountains and sparks and ignition from people, destructive fires can result.
One of the key current threats to the Southern California chaparral ecosystem is the frequency of human caused fires. When chaparral fires burn on an artificially shortened 5 to 15 year cycle, conversion to invasive grasslands and weeds occurs, and this unique and rare chaparral landscape is lost. The seed bank has not had enough time to replenish and the burl food storage is insufficient for plant regeneration.
Two major fires have burned through the Garden during the last 50 years, despite modern fire fighting resources. The 1964 Coyote fire burned 67,000 acres, and the recent Jesusita fire, in May 2009, burned almost 9000 acres. The Jesusita fire swept through 60 of the Garden’s 78 acres, moving into the Garden from the west.
Jesusita Fire Impacts on the Garden:
• Lost many large specimen cypress and pine trees, and left behind extensive burned and seemingly desolate areas • Lost several structures, including the 100 + year old craftsman Gane house and the Director’s residence • Native plantings were resilient, most of the 100 to 200 year old Coast Live Oaks were scorched but survived and soon regenerated with new growth from the limbs. Other plants resprouted from burls/stumps (Bay Laurel and Toyon) or from long dormant seeds (Green Bark Ceanothus and Flannel Bush). • Opened up impressive views of the ocean and the Channel Islands, and new sunlight corridors. The nutrient rich ash fertilized new growth and the heat from the fire reduced soil pathogens. • The Jesusita fire has presented a special opportunity to improve the Gardens look and expand our native plant mission with additional planting zones. The former Gane house site will be the home for the new Pritzlaff Conservation Center, on the promontory above the Porter trail.
Fire and Humans
Native Americans in California such as the local Chumash regularly used small scale fires as a management tool to improve food and basketry plant production and vigor. Ground fires were also used in the Oak woodlands to clear soil floor litter and aid in collecting acorns. Chumash native fires were set on regular 1 - 3 year intervals, but typically did not generate intense crown fires.
In the last 200 years of European settlement, the increased development pressures in the urban-wildland interface and a host of man made ignition sources have produced more frequent and large crown fires in our SB front country. Fire is an inevitable and even necessary process to recycle nutrients in our dry climate, but modern society is still learning to cope with these potentially catastrophic events.
Fire Science and Social Issues
* The "fire problem" in the SoCal chaparral environment differs from western pine and conifer forests. Major fires in the chaparral are driven primarily by fire weather: low fuel moisture in the fall after a long absence of rain and accelerated by high velocity Santa Ana and Sundowner winds.
* Prescribed burning, other than for small scale defensible spaces, is generally not appropriate for chaparral plant communities. Also, mechanical removal of mature shrubs is a poor strategy to limit fire spread and destroys a diverse and rich ecosystem that protects our watershed.
Topic #6 Conservation Why conserve them: -Each plant species has its own niche, and its own role to play. By conserving all of our different species, we are making sure that all of those roles continue to be filled, and that together this biodiversity can continue to provide for us important benefits such as clean air and water, soil retention, and habitat for animals. It’s also habitat for us, as we like to live and recreate in beautiful places with a lot of different things to see. -Each year the weather is a little bit different, and there are different disturbances and stressors such as fire and drought, and species respond in various ways. By conserving all of the different species, we make sure that something will always do well, that our ecosystems are resilient to change, and that the biodiversity and benefits mentioned above continue to keep us and other creatures healthy and happy. -Even rare species have something to offer. Today’s rare species may be the dominant of tomorrow. Or it may be the source of medicine (like willows and aspirin) or the source of food (like our native strawberry which is the ancestor of the strawberries we grow to eat), or so many other uses, like fiber, cosmetics, etc. It would be foolish to let any of these pieces go. -Many of them are just downright beautiful.
Why grow them: -Plants native to our local region are pre-adapted to its climate and soil, so they do well without a lot of input from us, such as water, fertilizer, soil amendments, and pesticides. So growing them is more sustainable. While plants from other dry regions may also require low water use, they might not be as well adapted to the local soil types. -Natives go BEYOND drought tolerant plants that evolved elsewhere, though, by providing better habitat for native insects, birds, and other wildlife. (Frederique wrote a nice article for the Fall 2014 Ironwood about this, which goes into more detail). -They are also part of our heritage. They are something that we can uniquely call Californian – just as Texas native plants are uniquely Texan, or Chilean plants are uniquely Chilean. Native Californians ate them, used them for medicine, vessels, etc. When Spanish explorers trekked through the state, they saw our unique trees and wildflowers for the first time. When the Ranchos were being delineated, the native trees were used as boundaries. These plants have evolved here, and seen its changes, and are an important part of its story. -Again, many of them are just downright beautiful.
Topic #7 Geology
Soil: It all begins with rocks, which are basically just clusters of minerals. Rocks exposed at the earth’s surface eventually break down into soil. This forms the substrate in which most plants grow. Different soils contain different proportions and quantities of minerals and organic matter, as well as soil pH, and all of these have a profound effect on plant life. For example, many plants are restricted to soils with specific drainage patterns. Some plants, such as members of the Heather Family, are found only in acid soils. Other plants, such as Leather Oak (Quercus durata) are restricted to serpentine soils.
Weather: Plants also differ by their location on a mountainside. As we know, temperature decreases as elevation increases. As moisture-laden clouds travel inland from the ocean and meet mountains, they are forced upwards. As these clouds ascend, their temperature cools, causing precipitation.
For example, in our north-south trending Coastal Ranges, clouds reaching the highest peaks have dropped most of their moisture on the western slopes and on the plants living there. As the clouds continue to travel inland and down the eastern side of the mountains, they have little moisture left. Thus, the eastern sides of the Coastal Ranges receive very little rain and are said to be in the rain shadow. Plants found on the rain shadow side of the mountains are often different from those on the western side and can survive with very little water.
Topography: Santa Barbara County has two major mountain ranges: the Coastal Ranges running north-south, and the Transverse Ranges running almost directly east- west. The Santa Ynez Mountain range, whose cliffs are seen from the Botanic Garden, runs parallel to the coast and is part of the Transverse Ranges.
Age: Rocks in the Santa Ynez Mountains are relatively young with respect to geologic time. The major sandstone formations seen from the Garden are dated at 56 million years, while the oldest rocks in California are over 540 million years old.
Elevation: The Santa Ynez Mountains rise about 4,000 feet above sea level. Farther inland, the summit of Mount Pinos reaches almost 9000 feet high and marks the easternmost edge of the Transverse Ranges. The peak you see from the Meadow Section of the Garden is Cathedral Peak (elevation 3,333 feet) with La Cumbre Peak rising behind it. La Cumbre Peak is among the highest in the Santa Ynez range, with an elevation of 3,985 feet. It is an important site for communications equipment.
Boulders: The large boulders found in the Garden have not been brought in by man. They have eroded (washed) downhill in catastrophic mudflows during the torrential storms of the Ice Ages. The huge Blaksley Boulder sits beside the meadow and is an excellent example of eroded sandstone that originated from the peaks above.
Migration Corridors: Mountain range directions create migration corridors for plants. Along the coast above our region lie the north-south trending Coast Ranges. These serve as a migration corridor that brings plants common to the north as far south as Santa Barbara County, e.g. Tanbark Oak (Nololithocarpus densiflorus) and Salal (Gaultheria shallon).
On the other hand, the Transverse Ranges are linked to the desert regions to the south, and desert plants such as Matchweed (Gutierrezia californica) and Great Basin Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) migrate to the northwest? part of the county. The Transverse Ranges also intersect the Tehachapis and thence the Sierra Nevada to the northeast, enabling such plants as Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana) to become established in appropriate habitats. Thus, Santa Barbara County contains a fascinating mixture of native plants.
Watershed: The Garden is located in the Mission Creek watershed, one of three that flow into downtown Santa Barbara. The creek originates at the crest of the Santa Ynez Mountains and flows through the Garden. Downstream it is joined by its tributary Rattlesnake Creek. From there it flows past the Museum of Natural History into downtown Santa Barbara, and finally into the ocean near Stearns Wharf. In dry seasons, water from Gibraltar Dam flows through a tunnel under the mountains to upper Mission Creek, so there is always some flow in the Garden.
Topic #8 Horticulture
Topic #9 Mission Dam
The Mission Dam
The first reservoir at the Mission was constructed in 1806, followed by the Mission Dam in 1807 and a second dam in Rattlesnake Canyon in 1808. Construction took 7 years. Mission Dam was built 1.5 miles from the Mission at 750 feet elevation. Utilizing an ingenious design created by Franciscan padres, Native American laborers from the Barbareno Chumash crafted a water system that incorporated several technologies. The Mission Dam is made with lime mortar (probably from a kiln in what is now Hope Ranch) and alternating layers of small and large unmodified river cobbles collected from the creek. The padres selected stable, protruding sandstone bedrock for placement of the dam. A look at the surrounding slopes gives testimony to their wisdom, as most of the canyon walls consist of lose boulders, rocks and soil. The dam has never been damaged in an earthquake. The surface of the dam is covered with fired red clay tiles (ladrillos). The 60-foot by 10-foot masonry extension of the dam to the northwest was designed to prevent water from cutting too deeply into the hillside at the end of the dam. By placing wooden slats in grooves at the floodgate, water was impounded upstream.
Aqueduct
Water moved downhill by gravity form the two dams through aqueducts to the Mission. The aqueducts required constant maintenance to be kept free of debris and sediment. Flowing at a depth of 3.5 inches (20% capacity), the Mission Canyon Aqueduct would deliver 485 gallons per minute or 698,400 gallons per day.
The Mission Dam’s roll in founding the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden (one of several versions noted by Mary Carroll)
“Dr. Bissell stated that he and Mrs. Bissell were in the habit of picnicking with Mrs. Bliss at the site of the Mission Dam and that on one of these occasions they observed surveying stakes which tended to confirm a report that Dr. Bissell had heard regarding the development of the area as an allotment. Dr. Bissell stated that these circumstances led to the purchase of the land by Mrs. Bliss for the purpose of preserving a historical site and their favorite picnic ground; and that following this purchase consideration was given to the uses to which the land might be put; and that it was in this way that the cooperation with the Carnegie Institution arose.”
Acquisition of the Mission Dam
In 1940 the Garden purchased twelve acres of Mission lands owned by the Franciscan padres. This narrow strip extended from the southern boundary of the Garden up the creek, encompassing the Mission Dam and adjacent aqueduct.
Campbell Trail and Bridge
Funding for construction of the Campbell Trail and Bridge was provided by Mrs. Therese Campbell, in memory of her husband, John Campbell. This new trail would link the oak woodland property of the west side of Mission Creed with the central part of the Garden for the first time. The trail and bridge were completed in 1941, and in 1942 a beautiful stone bench overlooking the creek was designed by Lockwood de Forest.
Pritchett Trail
A second trail was funded in 1940 to provide access to the newly acquired wooded slopes west of Mission Creek. Mrs. Henry S. (Eva) Pritchett provided the donation to honor her late husband. She stipulated that Lockwood de Forest design the trail and bench, as well as oversee its ongoing planting and maintenance. Work commenced in 1940,, and de Forest incorporated the layout of this trail into part of a class project for a Garden Design course he was teaching at Santa Barbara State College.
Topic #10 Chumash Uses Of Plants
California Bay (Umbellularia californica) LAURACEAE • burls used to make wooden bowls • leaves boiled in water to make medicinal remedies for diarrhea • used to cure headache • used to repel fleas • as flavoring for food • in northern California, the fruits were eaten and the seeds roasted and ground into flour
Cattail (Typha sp.) TYPHACEAE • bread made from powdered dried cattail rhizomes; balls of dough baked in hot ashes • boiled cattail spikes like corn • made thin uncooked mush from pollen • stems and leaves used like tule for thatching
Chia Sage (Salvia columbariae) LAMIACEAE • seeds harvested for food, toasted and ground, water was added and people drank the mixture • seeds used to clear the eyes • seeds used as a poultice for wounds
Coffeeberry (Frangula californica) RHAMNACEAE • bark for laxative • leaves for poison oak remedy
Cottonwood SALICACEAE (Fremont Cottonwood = Populus fremontii) (Black Cottonwood = Populus trichocarpa) • poles for house construction • wood used to make bowls • cottonwood fiber to make skirts • bark and leaves used to make medicinal teas and washes
Blue Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) ADOXACEAE • branches used to make musical instruments: clapper sticks and flutes • fruit used for food • flowers for medicinal uses • Note: most parts of this plant are toxic • bows to hunt small animals
Giant Wild-Rye (Leymus condensatus) POACEAE • dried stems for arrow shafts for birds and small game • used for smoking tobacco • stems cut and sharpened for cane knives • handles for paintbrushes • for house thatching
Horsetail, Scouring Rush (Equisetum sp.) EQUISETACEAE • rough stems have high silica content • Chumash used dry stems to polish wooden bowls • other California Indian groups used Equisetum sp. to polish arrows and woodwork • medicinal use
Indian-Hemp (Apocynum cannabinum) APOCYNACEAE • the most important fiber of the Chumash • used for fishing lines and nets • to lash plank canoes • to make carrying nets and bags
Santa Cruz Island Ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus subsp. aspleniifolius) ROSACEAE • strong wood used for harpoons • wood preferred for canoe paddle shafts
Lemonade Berry and Sugar Bush (Rhus sp.) ANACARDIACEAE • Berries were pounded, dried in the sun and eaten without cooking • Other California Native Americans soaked fruits in water to make a beverage (e.g., Cahuilla)
Manzanita (Arctostaphylos sp.) ERICACEAE • berries were dried, ground and eaten as a coarse meal • fruits and branch tips were used to make a drink • some Indian groups used berries and leaves for medicine • some groups used the wood for pipes and in construction
Milkweed (Asclepias sp.) APOCYNACEAE • to make cordage, but not as strong as that from Indian Hemp • cordage used for carrying nets and tumplines • some chewed congealed sap as a bitter chewing gum
Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) FAGACEAE • acorns for food • acorns for necklaces • acorns rubbed into hair to make it grow well • acorn paste to prevent sunburn • wood for firewood
Valley Oak (Quercus lobata) FAGACEAE • acorns for food • not considered good for firewood
Pinyon Pine (Pinus monophylla) PINACEAE • coastal Chumash traveled inland annually to harvest pinyon seeds • bows made from the wood • pine pitch used for plank canoe building and other uses • pine soot was used for face painting
Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) CUPRESSACEAE • preferred wood for plank canoes (tomols) • found in driftwood that floats down the coast from the north • used bone wedges and hammer-stones to split planks from the logs • paddle blades made of redwood • mortuary poles
Sycamore (Platanus racemosa) PLATANACEAE • wooden bowls from burls • poles for construction • bread wrapped in sycamore leaves (Ohlone)
Soap Plant, Amole (Chlorogalum pomeridianum) AGAVACEAE • bulb used to make soap • crushed bulbs stirred into small f.w. pools stupefied fish which floated; hence collected and eaten • fibers surrounding bulb used to make brushes
Toyon, Christmas Berry, California Holly (Heteromeles arbutifolia) ROSACEAE • toyon berries were either roasted or left in the sun for a few days and mashed before eating • the hard wood was used to make a variety of tools • fish hooks, harpoons, fish spears, pestles, bowls, digging sticks, arrow foreshafts etc. were made from toyon wood • wood was burned for fuel • ceremonial offertory poles decorated with feathers were made from toyon
Tule, Southern Bulrush (Scirpus californicus) CYPERACEAE • thatching material for ap • to make sleeping mats • to make boats for use on calm inland waters
Southern California Black Walnut (Juglans californica) JUGLANDACEAE • Chumash ate the tasty nut meats • walnut shells were used to make dice with tar from the beaches and abalone shell pieces. • bark used in basketry
Willow (Salix sp.) SALICACEAE • branches very flexible and used to make frame for Ap • to make poles for ramadas • to make ladders • dugout canoes • thatching needles and other tools • musical instruments • firewood for sweathouses • baskets • bark strips used to make belts, sandals, skirts
Yerba Buena (Clinopodiun douglasii) LAMIACEAE • medicinal (for the stomach)
Yucca (Hesperoyucca whipplei) AGAVACEAE • Yucca crown was roasted in a pit and eaten • fishing lines, (possibly) nets, men’s belts made from Yucca string • sandals made from fibers • dried yucca flower stalks used as tinder to start fires
Important References: Smith, C. 1998. A Flora of the Santa Barbara Region, California. Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and Capra Press. Timbrook, J. 2007. Chumash Ethnobotany: Plant Knowledge Among the Chumash People of Southern California. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and Heyday Books. Baldwin et al., 2012. The Jepson Manual. 2nd Edition. University California Press.
Revised 3/10/14 2/9/10
Topic #11. Teahouse
ShinKanAn Teahouse – The “Look Through the Heart Teahouse”
• Our Teahouse is unique on the Central Coast. It is perhaps the only traditional Japanese Teahouse in the Central Coast, and the only one in California using California natives in an intentional Japanese style.
• It was originally built in Kyoto during the postwar period. The Teahouse was a gift from a Japanese businessman to a local resident as an expression of appreciation for assistance after the war, evidence of the renewal the ties of friendship between former wartime adversaries. It was donated to the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in 1998
• In 2000, it was given the name ShinKanAn , meaning “Look Through the Heart” by the 15th Grandmaster of the Urasenke Tea school, an unusual event. This teahouse is being used and maintained in a manner authentic to the tradition of Cha-do, the Way of Tea.
• The tearoom is a simple 4 1/2 mat room with an adjoining 3-mat waiting room and a cold-water preparation room.
• The original roof was a wood shingle, low-angle roof, which we plan to restore using a fine, durable slate.
• Many of the stones in the tea garden have specific names and functions: Notice the hand-washing water basin, the stones leading up to the teahouse, carefully selected.
• Gardens attached to teahouses are designed to fully integrate with the surrounding natural environment, becoming the visitors’ gate to a world of beauty and serenity. “…the appearance of artificiality is avoided as much as possible so that the visitor feels the closeness to nature." There is little evidence of pruning and shaping. We have the opportunity to appreciate California natives through an Asian cultural lens
• Note: Port Orford Cedar & Manzanita. Evergreens: Coffeeberry, Madrone and ferns such as wood fern and giant chain fern. Flashy blooms are avoided in preference for white blooming plants: bush anemone, ‘Inverness White’ currant, strawberry, and ninebark. Iris: especially Iris ‘Canyon Snow’, a white selection made by the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.
• To see a demonstration of the tea ceremony, you are welcome to watch when the students are practicing their lessons, most Tuesdays from 11:30 – 2:00 & generally on the second Saturday of each month. (always open for visitors from 11 AM to 2 PM on the second Saturday of each month)
• If you are interested in supporting the teahouse through donations, volunteering, and/or taking lessons, please inquire at the Kiosk. By becoming a member of the Garden, you will be the first to learn about upcoming events at the teahouse.
Topic #12. Garden History
A Condensed History of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
• The Garden was founded March 16, 1926 as part of the SBMNH. • Anna Dorinda Blaksley Bliss donated $16,000 to purchase the original 13 acres at $13,100 and to administer the new Garden. She requested it be named the Blaksley Botanic Garden in memory of her father. • 1926, Dr. Frederick Clements was acting Director for six months. It was his vision that materialized into a botanic garden in Mission Canyon. • 1926-36, Dr. Elmer Bissell was Director and his wife, Ervanna became Assistant Director. In Sept.1926 the SBMNH reported, “Instead of planting a heterogeneous mass of exotic material, a definite plan has been thought out by Dr. Clements and is now being carried out by Dr. Bissell, showing the native California plants in their natural association”. • 1927, the Garden was planted with eight communities. • 1930, Ervanna Bissell “…its object is to show the beauty of native plants and their adaptability for use in private gardens; and its slogan is Back to the Soil- with native plants. Back to California’s soil- not with thirsty exotics- but with California’s drought resistant plants which conserve the state’s water supply.” • 1928, Lockwood de Forest, Jr. was named the Garden botanist. • 1934, the Bissells hired Maunsell Van Rennselar as an assistant. • 1936-50, Van Rennselar was Director, after the Bissells retired. He spoke to community groups and schools regarding native plants and started the first evening classes. He also developed a shared interest with UCSB. • He developed a close relationship with Beatrix Farrand whose husband was then Director of the Huntingdon Library. She was well known on the east coast as a designer of gardens at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the White House and Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown. She was involved with the Garden from 1938-50. She and Lockwood de Forest Jr. worked on the design of the Garden. Farrand’s background was eastern traditional and she saw landscape as an extension of buildings with lines and axis. De Forest, having lived his life in California, embraced natural design, eschewing the straight line in favor of the meandering paths. • 1937, De Forest designed the kiosk by the pond. • 1939, the Garden split from the SBMNH and was incorporated as the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, a non- profit educational institution with its own Board of Trustees. • 1941, Lutah Maria Riggs designed the library. • 1950-73, Dr. Katherine Muller was Director. She was known for her efficiency and ability to work well with all those involved in the Garden. She increased membership and interest in natives, enlarged the horticulture unit, initiated the building of a herbarium, supported research, had a weekly radio program, increased classes, started the Garden’s involvement in the annual SB flower show and developed printed trail guides. In 1970, she initiated the docent program. • 1973-87, Dr. Ralph Philbrick, Director, focused on island research. The Garden Growers group started in 1974. • 1988-91, Dr. David Young, Director, started admission fees and hired the first volunteer coordinator. He increased offerings of classes, tours and school programs. He helped establish the Master Gardener program. • 1992-2009, Dr. Edward Schneider, Director. implemented a number of initiatives to enhance the level of scholarship at the Garden, working with UCSB researchers and bringing the Garden national recognition. • 2010-current, Dr. Steve Windhager is Director. He came to the Garden from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center where he was Director of Landscape Restoration.
Reference: Noticias, Vol.L, No.4/Vol. LI, No. 1, Winter2004/Spring 2005
Thanks to Topic #1-4 Cathy Rose Topic #5 Rick Zelazny Topic #6 Denise Knapp Topic #7 Susie Bartz Topic #8 Karin Hodin Topic #9 Bill Lewis Topic #10 Diana Kennett (reviewed by Karen Oslund) Topic #11 Alice Esbenshade Topic #12 Ann Brinker