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VOL. 35, NO. 3 • SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA JOURNAL OF THE NATIVE SOCIETY

PLANT DIVERSITY IN THE HALLI MASON—NEW CNPS FELLOW REVISITING GUADALUPE ISLAND ANCIENT SUGAR PINES OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY

REMEMBERINGVOLUME 35:3, SUMMER NATALIE 2007 HOPKINS CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY FREMONTIA CNPS, 2707 K Street, Suite 1; Sacramento, CA 95816-5113 Phone: (916) 447-CNPS (2677) Fax: (916) 447-2727 VOL. 35, NO. 3, SUMMER 2007 Web site: www.cnps.org Email: [email protected] Copyright © 2007 MEMBERSHIP California Native Plant Society Membership form located on inside back cover; Bart O’Brien, Editor dues include subscriptions to Fremontia and the Bulletin Bob Hass, Copy Editor Mariposa Lily ...... $1,500 Family or Group ...... $75 Benefactor ...... $600 International ...... $75 Beth Hansen-Winter, Designer Patron ...... $300 Individual or Library ...... $45 Kathryn Blassey, Editorial Assistant Plant Lover ...... $100 Student/Retired/Limited Income . $25 Brad Jenkins and Jake Sigg, Proofreaders STAFF CHAPTER COUNCIL Sacramento Office: Jim Bishop (Chair), Larry Levine (Vice CALIFORNIA NATIVE Executive Director . Amanda Jorgenson Chair), Sarah Jayne (Secretary) PLANT SOCIETY Development Director . Melissa Cirone Alta Peak (Tulare) . . . . Joan Stewart Finance & Administration Manager . Bristlecone (Inyo-Mono) ...... Dedicated to the Preservation of Cari Porter Sherryl Taylor the California Native Flora Membership & Sales Coordinator . . . Channel Islands . . . . David Magney The California Native Plant Society Stacey Flowerdew Dorothy King Young (Mendocino/ (CNPS) is a statewide nonprofit organi- At Large: Sonoma Coast) . . . . . Lori Hubbart zation dedicated to increasing the un- Fremontia Editor . . . . . Bart O’Brien East Bay ...... Delia Taylor derstanding and appreciation of Califor- El Dorado ...... Amy Hoffman nia’s native , and to preserving Senior Conservation Botanist ...... Kern County ...... Lucy Clark them and their natural habitats for fu- position open ture generations. Rare Plant Botanist . . . . Kristi Lazar Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mtns . . . CNPS carries out its mission through Senior Vegetation Ecologist . . . Julie Betsey Landis science, conservation advocacy, educa- Evens Marin County ...... Bob Soost tion, and horticulture at the local, state, Vegetation Ecologist . . . . Anne Klein Milo Baker (Sonoma County) . . . . . and federal levels. It monitors rare and East Bay Conservation Analyst . . . . . Liz Parsons endangered plants and habitats; acts to Lech Naumovich Mojave Desert ...... Tim Thomas save endangered areas through public- Legislative Advocate . Vern Goehring Monterey Bay . . . . Rosemary Foster ity, persuasion, and on occasion, legal Legal Advisor ...... Sandy McCoy Mount Lassen ...... Catie Bishop action; provides expert testimony to Napa Valley ...... John Pitt government bodies; supports the estab- Website Coordinator . . Mark Naftzger lishment of native plant preserves; spon- CNPS Bulletin Editor ...... Bob Hass North Coast ...... Larry Levine sors workdays to remove invasive plants; North San Joaquin . . James Brugger and offers a range of educational activi- BOARD OF DIRECTORS Orange County ...... Sarah Jayne ties including speaker programs, field Brad Jenkins (President), Sue Britting Redbud (Grass Valley/Auburn) . . . . trips, native plant sales, horticultural (Vice President), Steve Hartman (Trea- Marie Bain workshops, and demonstration gardens. surer), Lynn Houser (Secretary). At Riverside/San Bernardino counties . . Since its founding in 1965, the tradi- Katie Barrows tional strength of CNPS has been its Large: Charli Danielsen, Dave Flietner, Diana Hickson, Arvind Kumar, David . . Diana Hickson dedicated volunteers. CNPS activities San Diego ...... Dave Flietner are organized at the local chapter level Magney, Spence McIntyre where members’ varied interests influ- San Gabriel Mtns . . . Gabi McLean ence what is done. Volunteers from the PROGRAM DIRECTORS San Luis Obispo . . . Lauren Brown 33 CNPS chapters annually contribute CNPS Press ...... Holly Forbes Sanhedrin (Ukiah) ...... Vishnu in excess of 87,000 hours (equivalent Conservation ...... position open Santa Clara Valley . . . Kevin Bryant to 42 full-time employees). Horticulture ...... Peigi Duvall Santa Cruz County . . . . Brett Hall CNPS membership is open to all. Posters ...... Bertha McKinley (Fresno) . . . . . Peggy Jones Members receive the quarterly journal, Shasta . . . . . Susan Libonati-Barnes Fremontia, the quarterly statewide Bul- and Wilma Follette Rare Plants ...... position open Sierra Foothills (Tuolumne, Cala- letin, and newsletters from their local veras, Mariposa) . . . Patrick Stone CNPS chapter. Vegetation ...... Todd Keeler- South Coast (Palos Verdes) ...... MATERIALS FOR PUBLICATION Barbara Sattler DISCLAIMER: Tahoe ...... Michael Hogan The views expressed by authors published CNPS members and others are wel- come to contribute materials for publi- Willis L. Jepson (Solano) ...... in this journal do not necessarily reflect Mary Frances Kelly Poh established policy or procedure of CNPS, cation in Fremontia. See the inside back and their publication in this journal should cover for manuscript submission in- Yerba Buena (San Francisco) . . . . . not be interpreted as an organizational structions. Jo-Ann Ordano endorsement—in part or in whole—of their ideas, statements, or opinions. Printed by Premier Graphics: www.premiergraphics.biz

FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 CONTENTS

WHY ARE THE KLAMATH MOUNTAINS AND ADJACENT NORTH COAST FLORISTICALLY DIVERSE? by John O. Sawyer ...... 3 The Klamath Mountains of northwestern California and southwestern have long been recognized for their exceptionally diverse floral heritage. By telling the stories of the endemic, rare, and unusual plants of this region, John Sawyer provides an accessible and in-depth discussion of the reasons behind this phenomena.

NEW CNPS FELLOW: HALLI MASON by Jo Kitz and Steven L. Hartman ...... 12 Halli Mason became a CNPS fellow in 2005. Her contributions to the Society run the gamut from fund raising, weed whacking, plant sales, and educational efforts, to statewide chapter relations management. She has managed the gathering and production of the annual reports from all CNPS chapters for many years. Halli has been instrumental in providing expertise and outreach to diverse groups, often well beyond the Society’s typical conservation and gardening constituencies.

THE RESTORATION OF GUADALUPE ISLAND, REVISITED by Luciana Luna Mendoza, Alfonso Aguirre, Bradford Keitt, Steve Junak, and Bill Henry ...... 14 Our photo essay revisits and provides an update on Guadalupe Island’s remarkable floral recovery. There is still a long way to go to restore the island’s vegetation but, with the successful eradication of goats from the island, the future looks increasingly bright. The photographs document successful regeneration of a number of Guadalupe’s most notable endemic including the rarely seen or photographed Mimulus latifolius.

LOSS OF 500-YEAR-OLD SUGAR PINES DURING OCTOBER 2003 FIRE STORMS by Thomas Oberbauer ...... 18 Tom Oberbauer has studied the sugar pines of San Diego County for decades. In this article he documents their presence on the higher peaks in the region and provides a personal account of their fate during the fire storms of 2003. These ancient specimens are a remarkable feature of the coniferous forests of Southern California. The remaining venerable warrant special consideration in planning and management activities.

IN MEMORIAM: NATALIE HOPKINS by Suzanne Schettler ...... 24 Natalie Ames Hopkins became a professional botanist later in life, after her children were grown. She received both her Bachelor of Arts degree in and her Master of Arts degree in biology at San Jose State University. After the death of Carl Sharsmith in 1994, she served as curator of the Sharsmith Herbarium at San Jose State until her retirement in 2000. She was a founding member and the second president (1973–1974) of the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of CNPS.

BOOK REVIEWS ...... 24

BOOKS BRIEFLY ...... 28

THE COVER: The Klamath Mountains seen from South Fork Mountain. The are on the horizon. Photograph by J. Sawyer.

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA 1 EDITORIAL: A CALL FOR NAMES USEFUL WEBSITES AND CONTACT The Need for a Standardized List of Common Names for California’s Native Plants INFORMATION any years ago, when I was in college, I was told that one of the California Native Plant reasons for botanical nomenclature was the stability of these Latin Society (CNPS): M names. That hardly seems the point these days with the radical www.cnps.org, with links to changes to the system wrought by molecular systematists. Don’t get me conservation issues, chapters, wrong—I am endlessly fascinated to know the latest interpretation of our publications, policies, etc. flora. Learning what new lines of evidence have to tell us about the origins For updates on and relationships amongst California’s flora is a never-ending process. Un- conservation issues: fortunately, the results of new information can lead to a plethora of name changes. Many of these will be incorporated into the upcoming new (2008) Audubon Society www.audubon.org edition of The Jepson Manual. A surprising number of these name changes are at the level. Some Center for Biological Diversity of our former Rhamnus are now recognized as species of Frangula. California www.sw-center.org will no longer have any native Coreopsis species as these have all been Native Plant Conservation transferred to the genus Leptosyne. Our palo verdes are no longer in the Campaign www.plantsocieties.org genus Cercidium as they have been incorporated into the genus Parkinsonia. Natural Resources Defense It appears likely that we will no longer have any native species left in the Council genus Leptodactylon as California’s are almost certainly moving into the www.nrdc.org genus Linanthus—and a number of Linanthus species are moving into the Sierra Club genus Leptosiphon. Some of our native species, including the well www.sierraclub.org known A. chilensis, have been moved to the genus Symphyotrichum, another Wilderness Society Aster species goes to Almutaster, and still others are now recognized as www.wilderness.org species of Eurybia, Oreostemma, Eucephalus, and Ionactis. There are also cases where formerly familiar genera that had been done For voting information: away with in the current edition of The Jepson Manual but will be making a League of Women Voters comeback in the next edition. Examples include Benitoa and Munzothamnus. www.lwv.org, includes online It’s enough to make even the most dedicated field botanist’s head spin! voter guide with state-specific nonpartisan election and Faced with the ever-evolving nature of scientific nomenclature, birders candidate information. decided that it would be beneficial to create a standardized list of common names that generally will not change with the latest updates of scientific US Senate researchers. Yes, these common names are tied to scientific names. Yes, the www.senate.gov system seems to be working. With the changes in the scientific names of plants US House of Representatives coming at us at such an astonishing rate, I think it is time that CNPS lead the www.house.gov way for the plant-interested public. Create a list of the accepted common name California State Senate for every plant native to the state of California. It will be an interesting task, as www.sen.ca.gov some of our plants have no readily accepted common name while others have California State Assembly dozens. It will be an exercise for both public relations—common names make www.assembly.ca.gov a plant more accessible and provide a point of reference to the vast majority of people that need to know more about our natural world—and to correct some To write letters: of the oft-repeated yet silly “common names” that are anything but common. President George W. Bush Examples of uncommon common names include: changeable phacelia (Phacelia The White House mutabilis), and crisp monardella (Monardella crispa). There will be challenges: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW evergreen currant or Catalina perfume for the delightful Ribes viburnifolium? , DC 20500 And what of Tolmeia menziesii—the plant with over 25 recorded common Senator Barbara Boxer names? If CNPS were to take on this task, we would provide a service and a or Senator Dianne Feinstein steadying force in the face of rapid change—one that all Californians who seek US Senate Washington, DC 20510 to know our native plants could appreciate. CNPS has already accomplished significant work on this topic with the publication of common names for all of Your CA Representative the plants listed in our Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants. Let’s finish this US House of Representatives job for the rest of our flora. Washington, DC 20515 Bart O’Brien, Fremontia Editor

2 FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 The Duck Lakes area in the , home of the first known stand of subalpine fir () in California. Little Duck Lake is in the foreground. All photographs by the author unless otherwise specified. WHY ARE THE KLAMATH MOUNTAINS AND ADJACENT NORTH COAST FLORISTICALLY DIVERSE? by John O. Sawyer

The following is adapted from the bined. Only one other region of the state, but still forest fragmenta- ideas of the chapter “Beyond the An- roughly equivalent size in the na- tion, invasive plants, and habitat loss cient Meeting Ground” in Northwest tion, the southern Appalachian are important conservation issues California, a Natural History pub- Mountains, has a comparably diverse in the Klamath Mountains and adja- lished in 2006 by University Califor- flora. Robert Whittaker, an influen- cent North Coast. nia Press. tial plant ecologist of ecological theory, explained this diversity al- most 50 years ago by noting that our THE CONTINUITY OF NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA, mountains are a great meeting MOUNTAIN RANGES THE GREAT MEETING ground. The region’s central loca- GROUND tion along the Pacific Coast, its con- You can easily see the region’s tinuity with other mountain systems, central location along the Pacific he flora of the Klamath Moun- its diverse climate, geology, and to- Coast on national maps, but its con- tains and adjacent North pography, and its long geological tinuity with other mountain systems Coast is diverse in many ways. history led to the development of a is less evident. Most people think of It is the home of 3,540 both complex and diverse flora. The title the Rocky Mountains, the Cascades, Tnative and naturalized of David Rains Wallace’s The Kla- the Sierra , and the Klamath taxa (species, subspecies, and vari- math Knot encapsulates the argu- Mountains as separate ranges, but eties), more than grow in New En- ment well. Threats to the region’s they actually comprise an uninter- gland and adjacent com- rich flora are less than other parts of rupted mountain system that geolo-

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA 3 gists call the western cordillera. The plants. Was it in the Santa Cruz area region has been greatly aided by these Cascades are volcanic and the Trin- where you met redwood (Sequoia land connections. ity Mountains are not, but their sempervirens); in the heights of ranges are continuous at mid-eleva- when you tions, and they share many plant first encountered whitebark pine A WIDE RANGE OF species. Within the Klamath Ranges, () and its partner, the HABITATS the are continu- Clark’s nutcracker (Nucifraga colum- ous with the Scott, Salmon, and biana); in southern California the Beyond the physical continuity, Marble mountains. The Klamath birch mountain mahogany (Cer- the multitude of habitats in north- River separates the Marbles and the cocarpus betuloides); in Nevada the west California offers suitable envi- , which are con- desert mountain mahogany (Cerco- ronmental conditions for a myriad tinuous with the Cascades in Or- carpus ledifolius); in the fields of species. Granitic, metamorphic, egon. The Yolla Bolly Mountains at Mount Rainier the red heather sedimentary, and serpentine sub- connect South Fork Mountain with ( empetriformis); in Alaska strates, including limestone, exist at the northern Coast Ranges. the crowberry (Empetrum nigrum)? all elevations. The cool, foggy cli- One way to appreciate the sig- All these plants grow in the Klamath mate of the coast contrasts with the nificance of this meeting place is to Mountains and adjacent North Coast. sun-baked interior. Annual precipi- recall where you first learned your Plant migration into and out of the tation exceeds 120 inches in the west side watershed in the Jeffrey pine () growing on serpentine substrates in the Scott Mountains. This Siskiyou Mountains but is a modest pine is commonly found in California. 18 inches in the Stony Creek water- shed in the northern Coast Ranges. Scott Valley’s winter temperatures are often well below freezing, and snow is long lasting. On the coast, winters are mild, and snow is a fleet- ing event occurring only about once a decade. The maze of mountain ranges and complicated river systems make for many local climates in the rug- ged terrain, even within a single watershed. The variable and patchy structure of the vegetation itself adds to this microclimatic variability. Patches of open woodlands with fil- tered light, well-lighted chaparral, and dark coniferous forests mingle on a single mountain slope along the watershed east of the Trinity Mountains. In the cur- rent jargon of ecology, “environmen- tal heterogeneity is high at all scales.”

AN ANCIENT LAND The region’s flora is a rich col- lection of long, enduring lineages mixed with more recently evolved ones. Its lands have been available to flowering plants since the Ceno- zoic (65 million years ago). During this time, volcanism created the Cas- cades to the east and the hills in the Clear Lake area to the south, but the

4 FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 arbutus, to San Diego County, where it is madroño. Much of northwest California’s floristic richness comes from these generalists.

PLANTS WITH ANCIENT LINEAGES

Large areas of the Klamath Mountains and adjacent North Coast were well above sea level during the last 65 million years and were there- fore available to terrestrial plant The serpentine substrates of Swift Creek in the foreground contrast with granitic substrates growth. With this kind of geological of Stewart Fork in the background in the Trinity Alps. history, we might expect to find relicts—plants surviving after extinc- region has no volcanic deposits. Gla- two-thirds of the oaks (Quercus spp.), tion of related groups, or once wide- ciers were not regionally extensive, and two-thirds of the gooseberries spread populations now persisting and in many mountain ranges, the (Ribes spp.) here. Genera of herba- in isolated localities––in our flora. glaciers were spotty. With this geo- ceous plants show the same pattern. Coast redwood (Sequoia semper- logical history, we should expect to Three-fourths of the state’s sedges virens) is our most famous example. hold onto ancestors and yet allow (Carex spp.) occur in northwest Cali- Its ancestry is a venerable one. We these residents and new immigrants fornia, as do 21 of the 24 wild peas can trace the of Sequoia back to evolve to meet new environmen- in the genus Lathyrus. to the 200 million years ago, tal situations. Many of the region’s species grow and ones with the overall appear- Indeed, our flora may be rich be- throughout California and the rest ance of the species to the Paleocene cause it responds quickly to environ- of the West. Ponderosa pine (Pinus 60 million years ago. As many as mental change. Helen Constantine- ponderosa) ranges from South Da- half of the modern genera of woody Shull, who received her Masters de- kota to Mexico and throughout west- plants that grow in the Klamath gree from Humboldt State Univer- ern mountain ranges. Virgin’s-bower Ranges and adjacent North Coast sity (HSU) in 2000, surveyed the (Clematis ligusticifolia) has a simi- existed in the Middle 45 mil- flora of the San Joaquin Roadless lar range. Canyon live oak (Quercus lion years ago (Table 1). Area, just north of the town of Mam- chrysolepis), green leaf manzanita Comparing modern and moth. She found that, unlike most (Arctostaphylos patula), and tobacco floras is not the only way to evaluate of the , volcanic rock brush ( velutinus) also re- the idea that northwest California’s and ash buried this area in recent side in the Rocky Mountains. Many geological time. Some eruptions oc- species whose distribution is cen- Green leaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos pa- curred only 650 years ago. Yet, in tered in the Pacific Northwest have tula), a common in the mountains of this very short period, a new flora ranges that extend south into north- northwest California and elsewhere in the West. has developed that is similar to that west California. Mountain alder of the central Sierra Nevada as a (Alnus incana ssp. tenuifolia), Pacific whole. Gordon Leppig, who received yew (Taxus brevifolia), wild ginger his Masters degree from HSU in (Asarum caudatum), and yellow 2002, came to the same conclusion pond lily (Nuphar polysepala) grow when he studied fens in northern from Alaska to the Sierra Nevada. California. We see a southern pattern with the California poppy (Eschscholzia cali- PLANT GENERALISTS fornica) and sugar pine (Pinus lam- bertiana), which range from south- A surprisingly high proportion ern California to central Oregon. of species in California’s larger gen- Other species have extensive ranges. era grow in the Klamath Mountains For example, madrone (Arbutus and adjacent North Coast. We find menziesii) ranges from British Co- half of California’s pines (Pinus spp.), lumbia, where its common name is

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA 5 flora is rife with these ancient lin- are widespread in California. Today eages. Plant geographers also study the genus ranges from California and distributional patterns of modern Arizona to eastern , taxa to understand the history of Europe, Iran, and . plant groups. They consider plants includes the familiar that that share many characteristics, even grows in , the when found in very different parts Pacific Northwest, and the Rocky of the world to be closely related. Mountains. Other Pseudotsuga spe- Settlers of New England came upon cies and close relatives grow in beech (Fagus), oak (Quercus), and southern California, Mexico, Japan, pine (Pinus) trees that were nearly and China. Our California spicebush False bugbane (Trautvetteria carolinensis) identical to those in Britain and Eu- growing on the western slopes of North ( occidentalis) is closely rope. Gold miners were using oak Trinity Mountain in the Trinity Alps. related to Chinese sweetshrub (Sino- and pine from northwest California’s Photograph by M. Mesler. calycanthus chinensis) from China, forests in their mines. When they eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) of saw the of the local chinqua- era in the Japanese flora were simi- New England has cones that are pin (Chrysolepis chrysophylla), they lar to those he knew from eastern nearly identical to those of western recalled the chestnuts (Castanea) of North America. In his 1858 paper, white pine (Pinus monticola) of Cali- Europe. “Observations Upon the Relations fornia. Hazel (Corylus cornuta) has By the middle of the 1800s, bota- of the Japanese Flora to That of two subspecies—the western ssp. nists had cataloged many regions of North America,” Gray offered an ex- californica with broadly elliptical the world. It was at this time that planation: These genera were relicts, and the eastern ssp. cornuta Asa Gray, the foremost authority on he believed, surviving in eastern with narrowly elliptical leaves. False the North American flora, received North America and in eastern , bugbane (Trautvetteria carolinensis), a copy of Carl Thunberg’s Flora two areas of similar climate and geo- grows with little morphological dif- Japonica. To Gray’s surprise, he dis- logical history, but continents apart. ference in three, isolated parts of the covered that maples (Acer), colum- Californian relicts with close : the Pacific Northwest, bines (Aquilegia), bleeding hearts relatives in eastern North America the southern Rocky Mountains, and (Dicentra), mock oranges (Philadel- and elsewhere are easy to identify in the South. phus), plum yews (Torreya), wist- using current distribution informa- erias (Wisteria), and many other gen- tion. Fossils of sycamore (Platanus) RECENT IMMIGRATION OF The Klamath Mountains seen from South Fork Mountain. Smoke from the Pigeon Point SPECIES fire covers the lands of Trinity River Canyon. The Trinity Alps are on the horizon. Photo- graph by M. Mesler. Today plant geographers have new methods to ascertain relation- ships among disparate populations. In 1969, in the Klamath Mountains, Dale Thornburgh, Professor of For- estry at HSU, and I discovered a population of subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) in the Klamath Moun- tains of California. It is a common in the Rocky Mountains. Was this a relict population far out of range, or was it the result of a re- cent immigration? Ed Cope, who received his Masters degree from HSU in 1983, worked with us to compare the chemical makeup (monoterpenes) of fir needles among California, Oregon, and populations. The results showed that the needles from the southern Cascades of Oregon and

6 FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 cismontane California (west of the TABLE 1. The fossil record from northern California fossil locations: Cascade–Sierra Nevada–Peninsular Paleogene list for California,4 or Early list from the Range crest) and northwestern Baja Weaverville flora,1 Middle Miocene list from Upper Cedarville locality in California. James P. Smith, Profes- 2 3 the Warner Mountains, and list from a locality near Santa Rosa. sor of Botany at HSU, reports that the California Floristic Province has TERTIARY RECORD 3,092 endemic taxa excluding Baja PALEOGENE MIDDLE MIOCENE California. Additionally, an area in- Cycads Bay tree (Umbellularia) cluding just northwest California and Ficus-like fig Chestnut (Castanea) southwest Oregon has 225. These Palms Ginkgo (Ginkgo) numbers are very high in compari- -like Hickory (Carya) son to other areas of comparable size Tree ferns Maple (Acer) Nutmeg (Torreya) in temperate North America. OLIGOCENE OR EARLY MIOCENE Ponderosa-like pine (Pinus cf. ponde- Bald cypress () rosa) ANCIENT ENDEMICS Cattail (Typha) Red-like fir (Abies cf. magnifica) Elm (Ulmus) Redbud (Cercis) The late Ledyard Stebbins, Pro- Spice bush (Lindera) Redwood () fessor of Genetics at the University Sycamore (Platanus) White cedar () of California and one of the founders Tupelo (Nyssa) of CNPS, and the late Jack Major, Walnut (Juglans) PLIOCENE (Salix) Avocado (Persea) Brewer (Picea breweriana) growing Elm (Ulmus) at Bear Basin Butte in the Siskiyou Moun- Fir (Abies) tains. Hemlock (Tsuga) Holly (Ilex) Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) Spruce (Picea)

1. MacGinitie, H.D. 1937. The flora of the Weaverville beds of Trinity County, California, with descriptions of the plant-bearing beds. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publi- cations 465(3):131. 2. Millar, C.I. 1996. Tertiary vegetation history. In Sierra Nevada ecosystem project: final report to Congress, volume II, assessments and scientific basis of management options. Center of Water and Wildland Resources. University of California, Davis. 3. Noss, R.F., ed. 2000. The redwood forest: history, ecology, and conservation of the coast redwoods. Island Press. Covelo, California. Chapter 2. 4. Wilken, D.H. 1993. California’s changing climates and flora. Pages 59–88. In J.C. Hickman, ed. The Jepson manual. University of California Press. the Klamath Mountains were simi- in the Trinity Mountains. These are lar but that they differed greatly good examples of narrowly restricted from the Colorado needles. Such endemics. Botanists use the term for evidence indicates that this subal- different taxonomic levels and larger pine fir population is the result of a areas as well. The diverse and wide- recent immigration. spread genus Penstemon is endemic to North America; giant sequoia ENDEMICS NEW AND OLD ( giganteum) and val- ley oak (Quercus lobata) are endemic Botanists use the term endemic to California; Brewer spruce (Picea for plants with restricted ranges. The breweriana) is endemic to the Kla- two-flowered pea (Lathyrus biflora) math Mountains. exists only at the Lassics, a set of California’s flora is particularly high peaks in the North Coast high in the number of endemic taxa. Ranges, and the hare- The California Floristic Province (see bell (Campanula shetleri) exists only map in The Jepson Manual) includes on north-facing granodiorite cliffs southwestern Oregon and parts of

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA 7 TABLE 2. A selection of neoendemics of the Klamath Mountains and adjacent North Coast (Smith and Sawyer, 2007). Some species are widespread in California, but their subspecies or varieties are endemic; some endemic species have several subspecies or varieties; some species are restricted to specific mountain ranges or special habitats.

I. Endemic forms of widespread species A. Widespread in the region ’s penstemon (Penstemon newberryi var. berryi) Great red Indian paintbrush (Castilleja miniata ssp. elata) Oregon bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa ssp. oregana) B. Scattered throughout the region Mendocino tarweed (Hemizonia congesta ssp. calyculata) Tracy’s pea (Lathyrus lanszwertii var. tracyi) Tracy’s tarweed (Hemizonia congesta ssp. tracyi) C. Restricted in the region or habitat 1. Siskiyou Mountains Vollmer’s lily (Lilium pardalinum ssp. vollmeri) Wiggin’s lily (Lilium pardalinum ssp. wigginsii) 2. Salmon Mountains Salmon Mountain wake robin (Trillium ovatum ssp. oettingeri) 3. Scott Mountains Scott Mountain bedstraw (Galium serpenticum ssp. scotticum) 4. Red Mountain in Mendocino County Red Mountain catchfly (Silene campanulata ssp. campanulata) 5. Humboldt Bay Dunes Humboldt Bay wallflower ( menziesii ssp. eurekense) 6. Serpentine substrates of the northwestern Klamath Mountains Koehler’s rock cress (Arabis koehleri var. koehleri) Stipitate rock cress (Arabis koehleri var. stipitata) Yellow-tubered toothwort ( nuttallii var. gemmata) 7. Serpentine substrates of the southern Klamath Mountains Mount Tedoc brush-gilia (Linanthus nuttallii ssp. howellii) 8. Coastal bluffs Whitney’s farewell to spring (Clarkia amoena ssp. whitneyi) 9. Serpentine substrates at Kneeland Prairie Kneeland pennycress (Noccaea fendleri ssp. californica) II. Local forms of endemic species A. Scattered throughout the region Pale-yellow stonecrop ( laxum ssp. flavidum) Pale-yellow stonecrop ( ssp. heckneri) Pale-yellow stonecrop (Sedum laxum ssp. laxum) B. Restricted within region 1. Scott Mountains Scott Mountain fawn lily (Erythronium citrinum var. roderickii) 2. Trinity Mountains Trinity Mountains triteleia (Triteleia crocea var. modesta) 3. Serpentine substrates in northwest Klamath Mountains Serpentine pink (Silene serpentinicola) 4. Klamath and Trinity River canyons Howell’s lewisia (Lewisia cotyledon var. howellii) III. Species endemic to mountain ranges A. Klamath Mountains1 1. Marble, Scott, and Trinity mountains Copeland’s speedwell (Veronica copelandii) 2. Trinity Alps, Scott, Siskiyou, Trinity mountains (Draba carnosula) Siskiyou fireweed ( siskiyouense) Siskiyou phacelia (Placelia leonis) 3. Trinity Alps, Scott, and Trinity mountains Mount Eddy lupine ( croceus) Trinity phacelia (Phacelia dalesiana) 4. Scott and Trinity mountains Klamath manzanita (Arctostaphylos klamathensis) Showy raillardella (Raillardella pringlei) Siskiyou buckwheat ( siskiyouense) 5. Trinity Alps Canyon Creek stonecrop (Sedum paradisum) Tracy’s penstemon (Penstemon tracyi) 6. Scott Mountains Nelson’s sandwort ( stolonifera) Scott Valley phacelia (Phacelia greenei) Silky ivesia () 7. Trinity Mountains Serpentine () Thread-leaved penstemon (Penstemon filiformis) Trinity buckwheat ()

8 FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 8. Castle Crags2 Castle Crags ivesia () Castle Crags harebell (Campanula shetleri) 9. Greenhorn Mountains Siskiyou mariposa lily (Calochortus persistens) Yreka (Phlox hirsuta) 10.Siskiyou Mountains Klamath Mountains buckwheat (Eriogonum hirtellum) Applegate’s stonecrop (Sedum oblanceolatum) B. North Coast Ranges 1. South Fork Mountain and North Yolly Bolly Mountains Elmer’s lupine (Lupinus elmeri) Yolly Bolly Mountains trefoil (Lotus yollabolliensis) 2. Lassics1 Lassics lupine (Lupinus constancei) Lassics sandwort (Minuartia decumbens) Two-flowered pea (Lathyrus biflorus) 3. Red Mountain in Mendocino County1 Kellogg’s buckwheat (Eriogonum kelloggii) Red Mountain stonecrop () McDonald’s rock cress (Arabis macdonaldiana3) IV. Habitat endemics A. Serpentine substrates 1. Serpentines of the northwestern Klamath Mountains Del Norte willow (Salix delnortensis) Brook wake robin (Pseudotrillium rivale) Siskiyou inside-out flower () 2. Serpentines of the southern Klamath Mountains Dubakella buckwheat (Eriogonum libertini) Stebbins’ tarweed (Harmonia stebbinsii) Niles’ tarweed (Harmonia doris-nilesiae) B. Other substrates 1. canyon Siskiyou mountain mint (Monardella siskiyouensis) Marble Mountains (Silene marmorensis) 2. Sacramento River limestones Shasta ageratina (Ageratina shastense) Shasta snow-wreath (Neviusia cliftonii) 3. Coastal bluffs Mendocino Coast paintbrush (Castilleja mendocinensis) 4. Alkali seeps Howell’s alkali grass (Puccinellia howellii) 5. High elevation habitats a. Gravelly slopes Heller’s lupine (Lupinus lapidicola) Stebbins’ lewisia (Lewisia stebbinsii) b. Forest openings Tracy’s lupine (Lupinus tracyi) 6. Creek beds and disturbed areas Dimorphic snapdragon (Antirrhinum subcordatum) 7. Recently disturbed forest sites Humboldt milk-vetch (Astragalus agnicidus) Tracy’s sanicle (Sanicula tracyi) 1. Many mountain endemics, also serpentine substrate endemics 2. Also, granite substrate endemics 3. Also, grows in northwestern Klamath Mountains

Professor of Botany at the Univer- ocene deposits in Oregon and Ne- tives. The closest relative of the lime- sity of California, in their 1965 ar- vada 15 million years ago. Today it stone-loving snow-wreath (Neviusia ticle, Endemism in the California only grows naturally in the Klamath cliftonii), found around Lake Shasta, Flora, recognized two classifications Mountains. Engelmann spruce (Pi- lives in the southeastern United of plants: paleoendemics, plants that cea engelmannii) and Sitka spruce States. These plants fit the very spe- come from ancient stock, and neo- (Picea sitchensis) are distant relatives cial category of being both relicts endemics, plants that are recently of Brewer spruce. Both grow near and paleoendemics. evolved. Relicts represent a special Brewer spruce in the Klamath Moun- Paleoendemics are variously subset of an area’s paleoendemics, tains. Brewer spruce’s closest rela- distributed in the rest of the Cali- in that their occurrences are now tives are two highly restricted spe- fornia Floristic Province: redwood highly limited. For example, Brewer cies in the Mexican highlands. Sadler (Sequoia sempervirens), California bay spruce probably originated some- oak (Quercus sadleriana), only grows (Umbellularia californica), California where other than in northwest Cali- in the Klamath Mountains, and looks nutmeg (Torreya californica), Califor- fornia, since fossils exist in the Mi- to distant Japan for its closest rela- nia sycamore (Platanus racemosa),

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA 9 closely related taxa because of this ongoing speciation process. Geographic isolation and/or habitat isolation can be responsible for speciation. The following are ex- amples of this phenomenon: Berry’s penstemon (Penstemon newberryi var. berryi) and Oregon bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa ssp. oregana) are local versions of species that are widespread in the western moun- tains of California. Henderson’s horkelia (Horkelia hendersonii), a member of a moderately large ge- nus, grows only on granite talus slopes high in the Siskiyou Moun- tains. Geographic isolation is a likely explanation. Yellow-tubered tooth- wort (Cardamine nuttallii var. gem- mata) grows only on serpentine sub- Cobra lily (Darlingtonia californica) growing in the Scott Mountains. strates in the upper Smith River wa- tershed. Other toothwort species Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia), sto- species expands, different popula- grow on many substrates through- rax ( redivivus), and western tions come under distinctive selec- out the region’s mountains. Shasta burning bush ( occidentalis) tion pressures due to slight differ- eupatorium (Ageratina shastense), a are all paleoendemics of the prov- ences in their environments. Plants member of a widespread genus, ex- ince. Populations of Sierra bladder- in these distinct populations may ists on limestone in the Sacramento (Staphylea bolanderi), spicebush eventually establish detectable dif- River watershed. Habitat isolation is (), and cobra ferences. Botanists then categorize the probable reason. Kneeland pen- lily (Darlingtonia californica), a plant these distinct entities by recogniz- nycress (Noccaea fendleri ssp. cali- most botanists associate solely with ing them as subspecies or varieties fornica) thrives on only two local the Klamath Mountains, also grows within the species. If the popula- slices of serpentine in the North in the Sierra Nevada. Western leath- tions are sufficiently distinct, bota- Coast, far from other serpentine out- erwood (Dirca occidentalis) grows in nists may recognize them as new crops and other Noccaea species. the hills around San Francisco Bay; species. If the process has occurred Geographic and habitat isolation are Sierra sweet-bay ( hartwegii) recently, the taxa will have small probable factors. occurs only in the central Sierra ranges. The Klamath Mountains and Another interesting example is Nevada. Northwest California is not adjacent North Coast have many the Del Norte race of lodgepole pine distinct in the California (Pinus contorta) that grows Floristic Province in having Serpentine pink (Silene serpentinicola), a recently described on serpentine substrates in paleoendemics. endemic from the Smith River watershed. the Siskiyou Mountains. Specimens do not key to any NEW ENDEMICS one of lodgepole pine’s four subspecies. Mignonne Bivin While relicts and paleo- and Jim Oliphant, who re- endemics have a special ceived their Masters degrees place in the hearts of bota- from HSU in 1986 and 1992, nists, most of the endemic found the trees to be inter- taxa from the California Flo- mediate in both morphologi- ristic Province are, in fact, cal and allozyme characteris- of recent origin at the spe- tics. Surprisingly, Del Norte cies level. Botanists argue specimens have more traits that relatives of newly in common with the Rocky evolved taxa often live Mountain subspecies than nearby. As the range of a they do with either the Sierra

10 FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 Nevada subspecies or with the still others favor temporary environ- North American. Symposia at XI In- coastal subspecies. They hypoth- mental conditions following fires and ternational Botanical Congress and esized that Quaternary events over logging. Most of the endemics in the Japan-United States Cooperative the last million years, the many gla- northwestern California are at the Science Program 1969. Elsevier Pub- cial epochs—the last one, the Little species, subspecies, or variety levels lishing Co. New York, New York. Introduces Asa Gray’s papers to to- Ice Age, ending just 150 years ago— with their close relatives growing day’s readers. alternating with periods of warmth, nearby. This ancient, environmen- Noss, R.F., ed. 2000. The redwood for- allowed long-isolated populations to tally diverse land is an area of active est: history, ecology, and conserva- mingle in the western Klamath adaptive radiation at this time. tion of the coast redwoods. Island Mountains. A future lodgepole pine Press. Covelo, California. Chapter 2 taxon may be the result. These re- reviews the geological history of red- cently evolved taxa are most numer- CONSERVATION . ous on the region’s serpentine out- IMPERATIVE Raven, P.H. and D.I. Axelrod. 1978. crops. The chemical composition Origin and relationships of the Cali- makes serpentine a very difficult sub- Northwest California’s flora is a fornia flora. University of California strate for plant growth. The nutri- great treasure trove worthy of the Publications in Botany 71:1–134. Smith, J.P. and J.O. Sawyer. 1988. En- ents needed for growth (nitrogen, focused attention and efforts of the demic vascular plants of northwest- phosphorus, and potassium) are in members of the California Native ern California and southwestern low supply and heavy metals (mag- Plant Society; we have a good chance Oregon. 1988. Madroño 35:54–69. nesium, iron, chromium, and nickel) of preserving it. The Klamath Moun- Emphasizes the high number of are at high, or even toxic levels. tains and much of the North Coast newly-evolved plants in the Klamath Soils tend to be thin and dry quickly. now comprise one of the largest in- Mountains. Over time, some plant populations tact forest habitats in the nation. Smith, J.P. and J.O. Sawyer. 2007. A have evolved to take advantage of Working with the California Wil- checklist of the vascular plants of this habitat. The 70 endemics grow- derness Coalition, Save-the-Red- northwestern California. Miscella- ing only on serpentine substrates in League, and other conserva- neous Publication No. 2, 21st edi- the Siskiyou Mountains outnumber tion organizations to keep the Kla- tion. Humboldt State University Her- barium. Arcata, California. The 18th endemics on any other serpentine math Mountains and adjacent North edition (2002) of this list is currently outcrop in North America. The ma- Coast wildlands roadless will go a available at the Humboldt State Her- jority come from only a handful long way in preserving the floristic barium website. of families that have solved the evo- diversity of these grand forests. Stebbins, G.L. and J. Major. 1965. En- lutionary problems posed by these Other local conservation issues demism in the California flora. Eco- inhospitable substrates: mustard include saving the heritage of the logical Monographs 35:1–35. The family (), the genera area’s coastal dunes, oak woodlands, classical statement on the topic. Arabis and Streptanthus; buckwheat prairies, salt marshes, and other Stuckey, R.L., ed. 1978. Essays on family (), the genus more localized habitats through res- North American plant geography Eriogonum; parsley family (Apia- toration, active monitoring, and con- from the nineteenth century. Arno ceae), mostly in the genera Loma- tinued care. Press, New York. A reprint of nine essays 1840–1879 on temperate for- tium and Perideridia; and waterleaf This beautiful wildland and its est geography by Asa Gray. family (Hydrophyllaceae), the genus rich flora are unique and irreplace- Wallace, D.R. 1983. The Klamath knot: Phacelia. able. I am confident that after even explorations of myth and evolution. However, not all newly evolved one visit you will be hooked, and Sierra Club Books. San Francisco, plants in northwest California inhabit that you will come back many times. California. A 20-year anniversary serpentine substrates. We find them Ancient and newly-evolved plants edition was published in 2003 by on different substrates and in differ- await your visit. University of California Press. ent habitats including alkali seeps, I wish to thank and acknowl- Whittaker, R.H. 1961. Vegetation of the canyon walls, coastal bluffs, and sea- edge my colleagues and graduate Pacific Coast states and the central sonal dry creek beds (Table 2). Some students for their helping me to bet- significance of the Klamath region. are widespread in the region, and ter understand the natural history Madroño 16:5–23. Wolfe, J.A. 1969. Neogene floristic and others occur in scattered localities. northwest California. vegetation history of the Pacific Both endemic species and subspe- Northwest. Madroño 20:83–110. The cies are restricted to mountain ranges. SELECTED READINGS list of Neogene taxa is extensive. Each serpentine outcrop has its own rarities. Some of these plants occupy Graham, A., ed. 1972. Floristics and John O. Sawyer, 3673 McMillan Drive, granitic and sedimentary substrates; paleofloristics of Asia and eastern Arcata, CA 95521. [email protected]

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA 11 NEW CNPS FELLOW: HALLI MASON by Jo Kitz and Steven L. Hartman

riting, hiking, guid- ter, answering countless email ques- goals of CNPS. Mason shouldered ing, teaching, fund- tions and requests from residents of this responsibility, delivering Los An- raising, organizing, this vast urban area. Mason has geles-area presentations herself. Fur- plant-selling, weed- served as Chair of the chapter’s ther, she arranged for other CNPS Wwhacking, phoning, emailing, edu- Nominating Committee since 1991 members in the San Diego and Sac- cating, and advocating, since 1987 and has been a tireless ongoing mem- ramento areas to handle presenta- Halli Mason’s contributions have ad- ber of several state-wide commit- tions there, a feat of phone and time vanced the protection of natural ar- tees: State Chapter Support, Fund- juggling. At the height of the ESC eas, appreciation of native plants by raising, Membership, and the Fel- campaigns, under her leadership, the public, and the efficiency and lows Committee, plus overseeing the there were two to three CNPS pre- financial fitness of the California Na- timely preparation of the LA/SMM sentations per week. This daunting tive Plant Society both locally and at Chapter’s Annual Report for the effort paid off, with over ten thou- the state level. CNPS State Board. sand dollars per year coming to CNPS A member of Los Angeles/Santa Mason is highly effective at rais- through the generosity of individual Monica Mountains (LA/SMM) Chap- ing funds for native plant programs. employees at participating compa- ter of CNPS, Mason’s activism runs Her primary commitment for more nies. Beyond presentations at ESC- the gamut from the grassroots than ten years has been spearhead- affiliated companies, Mason worked level—in her case weed roots level— ing CNPS participation in Earth to secure several new participating to fund-raising and state offices. Share of California (ESC). (Earth companies, ensuring that CNPS re- Halli’s childhood, in an idyllic Share, representing mostly environ- ceived a percentage of that company’s town in northern Germany’s Harz mental not-for-profit groups, such undesignated donations. Mountains, provided a rich natural as CNPS, conducts workplace-giv- Mason was the key CNPS player environment that stimulated her in- ing campaigns.) As Earth Share liai- in the recent Aveda promotion of terest in flora. Her mother was a son for CNPS for the past decade, CNPS, again donating countless powerful influence. As Halli recalls, she attended meetings and volun- hours to the cause. Aveda, an inter- “When my mother was rested teered countless hours making Earth national personal care products cor- enough to deal with me, our pas- Share presentations to potential do- poration, uses native plants grown time consisted of exploring beyond nors. ESC member groups are re- specifically for use in their beauty the boundaries of the little town, quired to give presentations to em- products. Aveda invited CNPS to with my mother naming every green ployees at their job sites to explain partner with them for their Earth growing thing she saw. How did she ESC and to promote the mission and Month campaign in Southern Cali- know, I often wondered. But she fornia. The first year’s success led to was my authority. I accepted what Halli Mason in Caballero Canyon in the an invitation for a second year. Ma- she said. And she would test me on Santa Monica Mountains. Halli became a son co-conducted the campaign for our next exploration to see what I CNPS Fellow in 2005. Photograph by M. the first year; the second year Ma- Mason. had retained.” son was on her own, devoting an Halli and her friends, in turn, incredible amount of computer, made a game of devising their own phone, and personal appearance names for grasses and wildflowers, time to schedule many presentations then checking their memories in this by numerous CNPS volunteers to name game. After settling in Los talk to Aveda’s professional salon Angeles, it didn’t take long for Halli staff and also to give visual and ver- to develop an interest in California’s bal presentations at their Aveda re- native plants. gional meetings. First tackling chapter plant sale Many visual props and promo- responsibilities in 1987, Mason tional materials were developed ex- moved to the role of Corresponding pressly for the Aveda campaign. Secretary to what was then the Ex- Under Mason’s direction, CNPS pub- ecutive Council in 1989. She has lications showing off California’s continued in that role for the chap- beauty were shipped to Aveda sa-

12 FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 lons and spas for their personnel to importance in the chain of life. The share with their clientele. These in- CCC crews were fascinated—as cluded “Wildflowers of California,” much by the presenter as the sub- “The Best Spring Ever,” and “Flow- ject matter. ering Plants of the Santa Monica Mason takes an active role in re- Mountains.” Her efforts generated claiming natural sites from invasive over $100,000 for CNPS during this species. For more than fifteen years, two-year collaboration. she has been involved in weed- A major interest of Mason’s is whacking in the Santa Monica Moun- public outreach. She passionately tains. The first weed wars were believes that a strong visual compo- started in the area at the request of nent of any education or outreach Superintendent Getty, to remove program is paramount to winning milk thistle in Big Sycamore Canyon public support. Mason comments, of Point Mugu. Mason, armed with a “When doing presentations, be it in weed whip, chopped the six-foot an elementary school classroom, the stalks to the ground. This was the boardroom of a corporation, a lun- training ground for the later assault cheon gathering for a regional meet- on the milk thistle of Solstice Can- Halli Mason in Caballero Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains, site of one of the ing, or talking to employees with yon, where pet goats had destroyed Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mountains many different backgrounds, graphic most of the native vegetation. Chapter’s ongoing weed eradication pro- props are essential. Audiences re- Mason went on to destroying jects. Photograph by F. Cookler. spond to beautiful pictures. Showing weeds in Caballero Canyon. She the diversity of California’s topogra- makes weekly treks into the canyon environmental groups to provide phy from the desert to the sea, show- to monitor and, of course, weed. educational booths, invites vendors, ing the many different landscapes She has recruited dedicated friends deals with publicity, coordinates the California has to offer, showing off who help with trail maintenance. selection and delivery of plants, and the uniqueness of the Golden State, Working at the advocacy level, Ma- of course helps with set-up, oper- it is absolutely essential to have those son secured a grant in 2004 from ates the cash register, and helps with ‘props.’ You are essentially acquaint- the California Wildlands Grassroots cleanup. Mason always assembles ing groups of people with the con- Fund of the Tides Foundation for a strong crew for the big plant sale cept of California native plants and removal of invasive weeds in Cabal- event, supervises a fast set up, and the importance of their preservation lero Canyon. a smoothly-run, successful event. and protection in their habitat.” An avid hiker, Mason has led the Mason has contributed ten ar- She creates visual montages that Thursday morning “Chaparral Chat- ticles to the Toyon, the chapter’s both display the work of CNPS and ter Hike” through the Cold Creek monthly newsletter. These articles teach the public about the beauty Preserve Loop in Calabasas. She has cover subjects from “Making Your and function of native plants in the guided these hikes, now offered in Yard Less Toxic” to “Prescribed Fire wild and in the garden. Mason has Caballero Canyon, almost every in Southern California,” several pitched in for native plants wher- month for the past ten years. pieces on wildflowers, and wrap- ever CNPS has been invited to make Mason leads the Easter weekend ups of the chapter’s annual plant a presentation, be it convention cen- walks at Malibu Bluffs Park, show- sale. ter, zoo, environmental education ing visitors fifty-plus species of wild- For over twenty years, Halli fair, college, or Earth Day event. in the park. She is one of Mason has brought expertise and A teacher in the field, Mason several leaders from the LA/SMM enthusiasm to every aspect of her was there when, for four weeks, a Chapter who lead monthly walks in work for the benefit of her chapter crew from the Camarillo-based Cali- the park for the public, which the and of native plants of California. fornia Conservation Corps (CCC) chapter initiated in June 2003 as a As her chapter colleague, Steven battled milk thistle (Silybum mari- way to increase public awareness of L. Hartman, stated, “Words aren’t anum) in Point Mugu State Park. In this incredible site. enough to describe Halli’s impor- exchange for CCC’s pro bono work, Since 1987, Mason has chaired tance to CNPS!” CNPS agreed to provide an element or co-chaired the annual two-day of environmental education for the plant sale, volunteering for that Jo Kitz, 6223 Lubao Avenue, Woodland Hills, crew. Halli is an excellent teacher, important role shortly after joining CA 91367. [email protected]; and presented lessons on the parts the chapter. She organizes volun- Steven L. Hartman, 6117 Reseda Blvd., Ste. of a plant, their functions, and their teers, arranges for participation by H, Reseda, CA 91335. [email protected]

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA 13 THE RESTORATION OF GUADALUPE ISLAND, REVISITED by Luciana Luna Mendoza, Alfonso Aguirre, Bradford Keitt, Steve Junak, and Bill Henry

uadalupe is a large (26,000 ha) oceanic island off the Pacific Coast of Baja California, Mexico. It is home to over 200 native plant species of which 34 are endemics, found nowhere else on Earth. Guadalupe’s floral affinities are greater to Southern California and the Channel GIslands than to other Mexican islands, making the island an important remnant of the highly threatened Southern California coastal flora. However, goats were introduced to the island over 100 years ago by sealers, likely to provide an alternative food source for their long sea voyages and while hunting seals on the island. The devastation of the Guadalupe ecosystem by the goats is a familiar event played out on thousands of islands worldwide, where damaging non-native mammals wreak havoc on islands with native species that have lost their defenses to predation and herbivory. Fortunately, damaging invasive mammals can be removed from islands, and islands can recover. Mexico is a world leader in island restoration and the Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas (GECI) together with its partners1 has removed damaging invasive mammals from 28 islands in northwestern Mexico. Guadalupe Island is the largest and most important project undertaken in Mexico to date. In order to develop support for the removal of goats from Guadalupe and learn what to expect from the plants in their absence, 12 fenced exclosures were built across the island to keep goats out of sensitive areas. The dramatic events inside those exclosures are more fully discussed in an earlier article in Fremontia, by Keitt et al. (2005). In 2004 the eradication of the goats was begun and it is believed the last of the goats were removed in early 2007. GECI will continue to monitor the island for several years to make certain that no goats remain. With the goats gone, the island continues its dramatic recovery, but, no longer restrained within the fenced exclosures, recovery is occurring across the island. Once again young pines, cypresses, oaks, and palms are sprouting, promising to restore the forests to the grandeur described by the first botanical visitors to the island. Beneath these trees and out in the barren exposed rock, numerous species are thriving, stopping the inexorable erosion of years past, creating soil where there was once only rock and initiating the cycle of recovery that will enable the plants and the native and insects that rely on them to persist. In these photos, and their captions, we attempt to share some of the spectacular recovery of Guadalupe Island. To learn more about Guadalupe Island we recommend the following reading: Moran 1996, Moran 1998, Keitt et al. 2005, Jehl and Everett 1985. To learn more about the Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas and Island Conservation please refer to the sidebar for contact information and website address. 1 Island Conservation, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, The Nature Conservancy, Conserva- tion International, Secretaria Marina, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Seacology.

14 FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 ABOVE: Toro Islet, also known as Adentro or Inner Islet. This massive rock lies just off the south end of the main island and its sheer cliffs make it accessible only by helicopter. • INSET, UPPER LEFT: Cistanthe guadalupensis on Afuera Islet; named the “pride of Gudalupe” by Reid Moran, this species was thought restricted to the offshore islets, though we recently encountered a specimen on the south end of the main island adjacent to the offshore islets. INSET, UPPER RIGHT: North ridge Guadalupe Island. A Conservacion de Islas biologist hikes up the steep north ridge underneath the island oaks (Quercus tomentella) and pines that thrive in these frequently wind blown and cloud draped cliffs. Only about 250 pine trees and 50 oaks remained on the island. All three top photographs by B. Henry. • BOTTOM ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: Mimulus latifolius. Rarely reported by Moran and other botanists, we encountered a small population of this beautiful plant in flower inside the cypress forest in 2004. • Reid Moran encountered Senecio palmeri only a few times during his 40 years of visiting Guadalupe, yet the earliest botanical visitors described this “white sage” as incredibly abundant. We found a small population thriving on an inaccessible cliff. • Senecio palmeri in the cypress forest. Now that the goats are gone, thousands of these plants have sprouted across the north end of the island. • Island snapdragon (Galvezia speciosa), previously confined to cliff faces on the main island and the offshore islets, is now spreading to flat areas on the main island. Its stems can be brittle and were easily broken by goats. All photographs by GECI staff unless otherwise noted.

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA 15 THIS PAGE, TOP: The endemic Guadalupe Island fan palm (Brahea edulis) is a popular landscaping tree in Southern California. Adult trees are still fairly common on the island although seedlings like the one pictured in the foreground were extremely rare until the goats were removed. • RIGHT: Fenced exclosures were built to see how plants would respond in the absence of goats. The answer: rapidly. In the six years since the fences were built we have counted more than 9,000 pine seedlings, such as those pictured here. Now that goats have been removed, pine seedlings are beginning to appear outside the fences. • OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP: Cypress seedling. It was odd to walk in the cypress forest on Guadalupe Island and see only large trees and the skeletons of dead trees that have fallen, it was a forest in decline with no regeneration. However, in the last three years we have seen an estimated 50,000 cypress seedlings with some reaching 20 feet in height. • BOTTOM: Senecio palmeri. • RIGHT: The endemic Deinandra frutescens (a perennial tarweed), once confined to steep cliffs, is starting to colonize flats on the island, often in association with the rare San Clemente Island hazardia (Hazardia cana) and Phacelia phyllomanica (a perennial phacelia that is endemic to Guadalupe Island).

16 FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 YOU CAN HELP rupo de Ecología y Conservación de GIslas (GECI, Mexico) and Island Con- servation (IC, USA) are non-governmental organizations working together to restore Guadalupe Island by removing feral goats. Together GECI and IC, in partnership with the Mexican Government, Mexican Navy, and local fishing cooperatives, have removed damaging invasive mammals from 28 islands in northwestern Mexico, helping to protect 30 taxa of seabirds, 48 endemic taxa of terrestrial mammals, and 29 taxa of endemic plants from the threat of . You can learn more about GECI and IC at www.islandconservation. org. IC is a US 501(c)3 not-for-profit and you can make tax deductible contribu- tions to the Guadalupe Island project or other worthy projects by contacting Brad Keitt or visiting the website listed above. In Mexico you can contact Alfonso Aguirre at [email protected].

REFERENCES Jehl, J.R. and W.T. Everett. 1985. History and sta- tus of the avifauna of Isla Guadalupe, Mexico. Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 20:313–336. Keitt, B., S. Junak, L. Mendoza, and A. Aguirre. 2005. The restoration of Guadalupe Island. Fre- montia 33:20–25. Moran, R. 1996. The flora of Guadalupe Island, Mex- ico. California Academy of Sciences, San Fran- cisco, CA. Moran, R. 1998. Guadalupe Island and its flora. Fremontia 26:3–12.

Luciana Luna Mendoza, luciana.luna@conservacion deislas.org; Alfonso Aguirre, alfonso.aguirre@ conservaciondeislas.org; Bradford Keitt, brad.keitt@ islandconservation.org; Steve Junak, sjunak@sbbg. org; Bill Henry, [email protected]

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA 17 Burned forest on Middle Peak, Cuyamaca Mountains. All photographs by the author unless otherwise specified. LOSS OF 500-YEAR-OLD SUGAR PINES DURING OCTOBER 2003 FIRE STORMS by Thomas Oberbauer

ugar pine, , known to shatter car windshields. ate growth charts, and measure the is known for extreme size: It This five-needle member of the white height of the trees by triangulation. is the largest growing mem- pine group has relatives in Asia and In San Diego County, Griffin and ber of the pine genus, and a long fossil history (Critchfield, Critchfield (1976) generally mapped Ssupports one of the largest cones of 1986). But when I first studied this a population on the Cuyamaca any pine. The cones up to a foot- tree in college, at San Diego State Mountains in central San Diego and-a-half (45 cm) long, dangling University, I had never seen one in County, including Cuyamaca Peak, from the branch tips are familiar to San Diego County. Middle Peak, and some near Japacha anyone who has visited Yosemite or That changed quickly, as my Peak, as well as Hot Springs Moun- Sequoia National Parks. I recall a project was to draw a detailed map tain above Warner Springs in the park ranger stating that unopened of the species’ distribution, use an northeastern portion of the county. cones heavy with sap have been increment borer to measure age, cre- Their maps were the basis for my

18 FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 explorations. The Cuyamaca and tation, has been described in the and the cones are roughly half the Hot Springs Mountains contain the gymnosperm database as 760 or 800 length of those from the more north- highest peaks in San Diego County years by in his Mountains ern trees. There they grow in a cli- and are over 6,500 feet (1,964 m) in of California and by Carder (1995). mate with an estimated 28-30 inches elevation. The largest tree currently growing is (710-760mm) of rainfall at most, A fire road traverses Middle Peak, ten feet (352 cm) in diameter near high on the rocky ridges up to nearly and after a climb of several hundred the general store in Dorrington, Cali- 10,000 feet (3,000 m). It has been feet in elevation, I encountered the fornia, and the tallest, at nearly 250 suggested by the gymnosperm data- first sugar pines of a few dozen years feet (81 m), is near Hogden Meadow base that some of them could be of in age. Further up, enormous pines in Yosemite National Park. great age because the rocky peaks grew that were greater than six feet protect them from fire. (182 cm) in diameter and 150 feet BAJA PINES (45 meters) tall. In an effort to de- DENSITY PROBLEM termine the lower limit of sugar Sugar pines in the southern limit pines, I walked down the north slope of the range, in the Sierra de San Over the years, I have lead groups of Middle Peak encountering more Pedro Martir of northwestern Baja of the California Native Plant Soci- enormous sugar pines. What is more California, are quite a bit smaller, ety San Diego Chapter, and other important, I found a stump of a tree generally less than 100 feet (30 m) interested parties, on hikes up to that was five and a half feet in diam- in height and half the diameter of see the big trees on Middle Peak as eter, approaching the size of the six- the big trees in San Diego County, the forest grew more dense. Shade- foot trees. I carefully counted 475 growth rings. These huge trees grew Lake Arrowhead sugar pine section. In the photographs, please note that on the southern fringes of the spe- the author is six-feet-eight-inches tall. cies’ range, within sight of the desert in an area that receives between 30 and 40 inches (760 and 1,000 mm) of rainfall. The six-foot trees had been growing at the time that Juan Cabrillo landed in San Diego Bay in 1542. Of course, compared to the giant sequoias in the Sierra Nevada, they were not of such great signifi- cance, but these grew in San Diego County mountains far from their tra- ditional forest strongholds. It was truly remarkable that such old trees flourished in the southern reaches of their range.

RECORD HOLDERS Even larger sugar pines were de- scribed in old newpaper accounts for Cuyamaca Peak in the first half of the 1900s. There, some were esti- mated at 180 feet (54 m) tall prior to the Conejos fire in 1950 when flames were visible from San Diego, 40 miles (66 km) away. The Boul- der Creek fire in September of 1970 burned part of that area again, fur- ther reducing the population of sugar pines. The record age for sugar pines, without much supporting documen-

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA 19 ern California, especially the San Ber- nardino, San Jacinto and San Diego County mountains. Cuyamaca Lake receives on average—over a record of more than 110 years—36 inches (910 mm) of precipitation at its 4,600 foot (1,390 m) elevation. During this period there was a cumulative deficit of 90 to 100 inches (2,200 to 2,540 mm) of precipitation that created a critical level of stress for the trees. (The 2001-2002 season was the dri- est, with only 10.8 inches (274 mm) including a 1.5 inch (38 mm) thun- der-storm.) Two factors, this drought stress and overly dense forest growth, caused a major loss of trees with many of the young and a few of the moderately aged trees dying.

FIRE PROBLEM In the summer of 2002, a fire, started by a National Guard heli- copter clipping a power line, burned 60,000 acres (24,000 hectares) in a strip up and down the east side of the San Diego County mountains, including forests on Volcan Moun- tain. One of the major concerns was that the fire might burn the Cuyamaca Mountains, with their standing dead trees, but the fire was stopped before that happened. With the rainfall level of the 2002-2003 season closer to average, though still below, there was hope by fire agen- Surviving 500-year-old sugar pine on Cuyamaca Peak. cies and local conservationists that the worst had passed even though a tolerant incense-cedar ( by the State Park in cooperation with large number of dead trees remained decurrens) and white fir (Abies California Department of Forestry in the forests. concolor) were encroaching in the staff. The concern about overly dense under-story openings. In some loca- forests is that they are unnaturally FIRE OCTOBER 2003 tions, young sugar pines were able vulnerable to fires. During fire events, to grow in the mix. Because of this small dense trees become burning The third week of October 2003 increasing density there also were fuel that carries flames into the up- began with predictions that a hot proposals by Cuyamaca Rancho State per portions of mature trees result- Santa Ana wind condition would be- Park (Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, ing in mature tree-killing crown fires gin by the weekend. There were terms 1983) to conduct controlled burns rather than low-burning ground fires. such as “the hottest days of the year” in the State Park. Though attempts and “red flag alert” bantered about in were made that encountered local RAIN PROBLEM the media. Comments were made at resistance, lawsuits, and funding is- the end of the day on Friday that we sues, some of the first of these were For six years, from 1998 to fall would all see one another on Mon- initiated during the summer of 2003 2004, rainfall was far below normal day if the county does not burn down on the East Mesa portion of the park in the mountainous regions of South- over the weekend.

20 FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 OCTOBER 25, SATURDAY OCTOBER 26, LATER IN THE EVENING Saturday dawned foggy and The larger fire burned more than moist along the coast, and when it 10,000 acres an hour at its peak, was still foggy on Saturday night, I spreading toward my mother’s home checked the weather report on the in eastern San Diego County. It local page of the National Weather burned community after community Service. I hoped that the weather on its way: Wildcat Canyon, service might be over-predicting a Harbison Canyon, Crest, as well as a Santa Ana wind as they often over- number of suburbs of San Diego, predict rain in winter. One line in Poway, and El Cajon. After my the weather report, however, caught mother was warned by the sheriff to my attention. It stated, “A small fire evacuate the home of my childhood, has been observed near Cuyamaca.” I made an apocalyptic-like late evening drive toward the creeping OCTOBER 26, SUNDAY line of flames to evacuate my mother The next morning, Sunday, Oc- to stay with my family in Point Loma. tober 26, 2003, there was a heavy haze in the sky. Ash was falling. At SUGAR PINES BURN first, it seemed this could be ash from several blazes already burning OCTOBER 28, TUESDAY in the San Bernardino National For- The fire continued and a day est. However, a quick check on the later, a quick shot from one of the news indicated a fire was racing news helicopters showed a line of through central San Diego County smoke creeping up a familiar moun- carried by 50-60 mph winds and tain range from the west: the humidity below nine percent. At my Cuyamacas. That day, Tuesday the home in Point Loma, wind was 28th, the wind shifted back west- gentle from the east, but it was very ward from the coast, which pushed dry, very warm, and especially, very the fire faster to Middle Peak. The smoky. evening newscast showed footage of Middle Peak consumed in a raging, TECATE CYPRESS towering firestorm. The distinct twisted-branch outlines of the sugar Another fire that had just bro- pines were visible protruding above ken out on Otay Mountain on Sun- the forest canopy in front of a creep- day morning was also visible. Otay ing wall of swirling flames reaching Mountain is home to the world’s hundreds of feet in the air. It was a largest stand of Tecate cypress vision of Dante’s inferno combined ( forbesii). Tecate cypress needs fire to heat its cones and open CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: Ancient sugar them to release , but the trees pine in 1985 on Middle Peak, Cuyamaca need to be 30 to 50 years old before Mountains (inset). • The same sugar pine in 2004, after the catastrophic fires of 2003. they are large enough to produce • Burned 1,000-year-old sugar pine. • Base enough cones for reproduction. of an ancient sugar pine near Lake Arrow- Much of Otay Mountain burned head. twice already since 1977 with the last time only seven years ago. These trees were too young to benefit from fire. Rather, another fire could cause the elimination of the cypress on portions of the mountain. The en- tire mountain burned in a matter of a few hours. It consumed roughly two-thirds of the Tecate cypress on the mountain.

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA 21 year-old trees were gone, along with hundreds of homes. The Cedar fire, named for the Cedar Creek location where it started, had turned into the largest California fire in over a century (280,000 acres) and took the lives of 14 people including a Northern California fire fighter.

EXPLODED TREE Six weeks later, I had the oppor- tunity to travel with State Park personnel to view Middle Peak, Cuyamaca Peak, West Mesa, and East Mesa within Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. We slowly drove the old fire road up Middle Peak, which had supported, at a minimum, sev- eral dozen trees of great age. We stopped at some of the old familiar trees and confirmed that they were indeed killed by the fire. We then walked to a small cluster of old growth trees. Near the center was a tree of awesome size that had also been killed by the fire. It appeared to have exploded. All that remained was a fire-hollowed 25 foot high base that brought to mind one of the sequoias that one could drive a car through. The 100-foot top por-

1,000-year-old tree before the fires. Photo- graph by G. Reece.

Post-fire base of 1,000-year-old sugar pine, November 2003. with the surface of the sun. The Pine Valley to the north and east of ramifications of the devastation from the Cuyamaca Mountains. County this forest fire were very clear. field crews reported that no green- ery of any kind remained in the area OCTOBER 29, WEDNESDAY around Cuyamaca Lake and very few By the next day, the fire had structures remained in Cuyamaca already moved toward Pine Hills and village as well. That meant the 500-

22 FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 Sugar Pine Ages tion of this tree had been blown found by Brett Goforth on Palo- off and lay in pieces up the slope. mar Mountain. Brett Goforth, a student at Uni- On Cuyamaca Peak, the one versity of California, Riverside, large remaining tree and several had studied and photographed other sugar pines greater than four the tree before the fire and mea- DBH (Inches) feet in diameter seem to be surviv- sured it at 107 inches in diam- ing now even with the continued eter. Based on my old growth drought. Following the wet sea- charts for sugar pines, in which son of 2005, cones have formed the number of rings per inch of Years on the ends of branches for the diameter increases as the trees Correlation of diameter at breast height (DBH) first time in a number of years. age, this tree would have been measured in inches and age measured in years for The California State Park staff has approaching 1,000 years old. It sugar pines in San Diego County. indicated that there will likely be may have been the oldest sugar a need to reestablish some nodes pine in existence and was only 14 Mountains, near Lake Arrowhead, of in their former growth inches smaller than the largest sur- the drought-caused loss of conifers areas. The State Park personnel have viving sugar pine on record. has been extreme. More than 60% also worked on creating a more ag- to 70% of the trees have been killed, gressive controlled burn program as REMAINING TREES including one very large sugar pine. well as a program for thinning some This sugar pine was more than six of the trees in Palomar Mountain Later we traveled up the fire feet in diameter with a wider base. State Park. In an era of drought and lookout road to the top of Cuyamaca In August 2004, sections of its trunk potential climate change, aggressive Peak. For some reason, possibly a remained. I counted 562 annual action will be necessary to provide small wind change due to topo- growth rings. for the survival of old growth coni- graphic position, some of the forest fers in Southern California. on the east side of Cuyamaca peak SITUATION IN 2007 In October 2007, once again was not killed by the fire. There, at major fires raged in San Diego least one old growth sugar pine re- I have revisited the peaks more County mountains. Fortunately, few mained. At 74 inches in diameter, it than once since the fire, recently of the forested areas were heavily must be well over 500 years old. Its hiking up the familiar road on affected. However, a previously un- lower trunk was slightly scorched Middle Peak and up to the top of known six-foot-plus DBH incense and a small sugar pine sapling near Cuyamaca Peak. Around the edges cedar () on its base was killed by the fire, but of Middle Peak, new growth is vis- Palomar Mountain was extensively now it and its immediate surround- ible. Here and there California black damaged by the fire and had to be ing represent the remaining old oak (), and canyon cut down for safety purposes. growth forest in the Cuyamaca live oak (), have Mountains. That same day, we also resprouted from their bases. How- REFERENCES observed where the recently con- ever, in the center of the former ducted controlled burns contributed forest, seedlings including Carder, A.C. 1995. Forest giants of the to stopping the spread of the fire. sugar pines appear to be totally world: past and present. Fitzhenry Unfortunately, these trees are absent and are replaced by thickets and Whiteside. 208 pp. not the only old growth trees in San of chaparral consisting of Palmer’s Critchfield, W.B. 1986. Hybridization Diego County to succumb to the ceanothus (Ceanothus palmeri). The and classification of the white pines drought and excessively high tree bark has begun peeling away from (Pinus section strobus). Taxon 35: density. On Palomar Mountain, the dead trees, hanging loose, with 647–656. Griffin, J.R. and W.B. Critchfield 1976. white fir, four-and-a-half feet in di- white wood exposed like bleached The distribution of forest trees in ameter, have been killed outright bones. The sweet scent of sugar California. Research paper PSW-82. by the drought, though one old in- pine wood carries through the air. USDA, Forest Service, Pacific South- cense-cedar, 7.1 feet in diameter, The old sugar pines still stand in west Research Station, Berkeley, CA. still survives as a grizzled old mon- death but intact for now and the Muir, John. 1894. The mountains of arch. It is noteworthy that this tree hollow shell of the nine-foot tree California. Many editions available, is certainly older than the 542 years serves as a reminder of this former from various publishers. listed as the oldest recorded incense- glory. cedar in the Forest Service’s Silvics On a positive note, a very small Thomas Oberbauer, 3437 Trumbull Street, Manual. In the San Bernardino grove of sugar pines was recently San Diego, CA 92106. [email protected]

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA 23 IN MEMORIAM: NATALIE HOPKINS

atalie Hopkins passed Herbarium. Dr. Sharsmith had been away on April 15 after a her mentor and after his death she brief illness. She was 87. was named curator of the herbarium I met her in the early at San Jose State. She was also a N1970s when she was the second major volunteer in the project to president of the Santa Clara Valley publish the first edition of The Jepson Chapter and I was a new member. Manual and was its newsletter edi- She was the person who got me ac- tor in 1987 and 1988. On her retire- tive in CNPS, when she asked me to Natalie Hopkins in the Galápagos Islands ment she moved to Pacific Grove, be Vice-President with the under- last year with her son Tom and a Galápagos where she was active at Point Lobos standing that VP was a training po- tortoise. Photograph by D.C. Powell. as a docent (even after a total knee sition for President. She actually replacement) and worked to curate came to my workplace (at that time, deep love of the natural world and the herbarium there. Yerba Buena Nursery) to broach the its plant life in particular. She was plucky and forward- subject. I was so flattered that this After her children were grown, thinking beneath a native New En- handsome woman whom I admired she entered the Bachelors program gland reserve. She saw what she had gone out of her way to ask me, in botany at San Jose State Univer- needed to do, researched it, went that it never occurred to me to de- sity and then the Masters program about it quietly, and never spoke cline. Such is the value of personal in biology. She had an inquiring about herself. She was a violinist contact when recruiting new people mind and was an early fan of Lynn who loved orchestral and chamber to take on CNPS roles! Margulis’ ideas on microbial biol- music. Her long-time friend and fel- Natalie was born in Wellesley, ogy, including symbiogenesis—the low botanist Sally Casey taught mu- Massachusetts, one of four sisters. merging of organisms into new col- sic for years, but Natalie never men- Her mother was a homemaker and lectives as a major source of evolu- tioned to her music-teacher friend her father was engaged in educa- tionary change on earth. Her thesis that she herself was a musician. tion and social work. She graduated on the endomycorrhizae of Plantago That’s the kind of person Natalie from Oberlin College in 1940 with erecta, a native plantain of serpen- was. She was a woman who had a a BA degree in English Literature. tine grasslands and the principal host gracious ability to implement talent Later that year she married Mark of the threatened Bay Checkerspot and conviction within an under- Hopkins, and after several wartime Butterfly (Euphydryas editha ssp. stated exterior. relocations they raised their son and bayensis), was published in the Ca- An endowed scholarship is be- daughter in San Jose, near her nadian Journal of Botany. ing established in her honor for rare husband’s family home. Natalie was During the time of her Masters plant research by women. Further active as a social work volunteer studies, the internet was in its early information is available from her and served on the boards of a non- stages. Natalie foresaw the impor- daughter-in-law, Julie Anne Hopkins, profit orphanage and other youth tance of online access to botanical 585 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA service organizations. Family vaca- resources, so when she completed 95060, or from the author. tions included several weeks each her graduate work she stayed on to summer in the northern Sierra Ne- digitally catalogue the 15,000 sheets Suzanne Schettler, P.O. Box 277, Ben vada, where Natalie developed a of specimens in the Carl Sharsmith Lomond, CA 95005. [email protected]

BOOK REVIEWS

Northwest California: A Natural His- corner of the state of California is in- this complexity together. Author John tory. John O. Sawyer. University of ordinately complex is widely known Sawyer fits the bill. His insights are California Press. 2006. 264 Pages, 73 to CNPS members. further sharpened by being the “go-to- illustrations. $75.00 hardcover. You have to be a long-time resi- guy” among the Humboldt State Uni- That the ecology of the northwest dent in order to even begin to piece versity natural sciences faculty. Now

24 FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 those insights are captured in book contrast there are localized areas with manifest deep knowledge of natural form by the University of California specialized environmental conditions processes. Merely assembling the ma- Press. I doubt if there is anyone else that are so much a part of the region’s terials, California native plants reflect- who could have written this book with diversity. ing the regions where the baskets were such vision. Drawing on parallel descriptions made, required a long history of tend- Noting that natural history books of the Sierra Nevada, Sawyer takes us ing the land, and continuous collect- are always overflowing with facts, Saw- through elevation belts from low el- ing, curating, and preparing, for which yer points out that “. . . the real natural evation to subalpine and through west- understanding of natural history and history of northwest California is in ern to eastern portions of the Klamath attention to seasons, rainfall, animal- the field, bring this book along on a and Siskiyou mountains including plant interactions, and plant produc- visit, and get to know the region first- places like the Trinity Alps, Marble tivity were fundamental and indispens- hand.” Mountains, and the watersheds of the able prerequisites. In your own outdoor ramblings, major rivers such as the Smith, Kla- California basketry, certainly the how many times have you asked your- math, and Trinity rivers. pinnacle of achievements in native self, “Why does this area look the way Although in varying degrees of Californian material culture, is argu- it does?” And, how many years of re- condition, he says that, “A great bio- ably the world’s most magnificent. This visits has it taken you to satisfactorily logical treasure trove still exists in book does full justice to this tradition. answer that question? In Sawyer’s case northwest California, even after nearly Based on more than 30 years of bas- it has been forty years or more, and two centuries of mining, logging, graz- ketry research, Ralph and Lisa are emi- you are the beneficiary. The book runs ing, changes in fire regimes, and dam nently qualified to provide the com- the gamut from natural history to hu- building. Many aspects are not greatly prehensive treatment lovers of Cali- man history and interactions between different from those at the time of [early fornia basketry have been longing for. the two. explorer] Jedehiah Smith. Nearly all of Beginning with the collection at the It starts with a landscape point-of- the plant and animal species remain, University of California, Berkeley, they view, laying the groundwork for the as do the original patterns. Those that traveled the world to record baskets ecological point-of-view. He describes have been degraded can be restored. that had been dispersed around the the regions and the sub-regions from a We can save not only fragments of globe since the early days of European geologic and topographic perspective, natural tapestries but make them com- conquest. baskets are a case in setting the scene for the climatic and plete again.” point. Very few survived the early and soil parent-material perspective, which, For those who want further detail rapid destruction of indigenous cul- of course, sets the scene for the vegeta- on specific points, there is an exten- ture in the , tion, which in turn sets the scene for sive list of selected further reading. and those that did survive ended up the animal communities. Norden H. (Dan) Cheatham all over the map: the Smithsonian In- His chapter called “Agents of East Bay Chapter stitution in Washington, D.C., the Change” provides historical insights Peabody Museum at Harvard, the into natural as well as human impacts Indian Baskets of Central California: American Museum of Natural History at various locations. These insights Art, Culture, and History. Native in New York, the British Museum, la help you answer the above question American Basketry from San Fran- Musée de l’Homme in Paris, and sev- of why an area looks the way it does cisco and Monterey Bay North to eral collections around California. by recounting the sequence of histori- Mendocino and East to the Sierras. Ralph and Lisa pursued them. cal events. Ralph Shanks and Lisa Woo Shanks. Most residents of the Bay Area Starting on page 116 is an articu- Novato, Costano Books in association late discussion of the process of stand with Miwok Archaeological Preserve dynamics. If you have already partici- of Marin (MAPOM publication no. 8), pated in basic ecology classes, you will distributed by University of Washing- find this an interesting and easy-to- ton Press. 2006. 176 pages. Lavishly follow alternative discussion on the illustrated. $45.00 hardcover. concept of plant succession. You will Basketry is more than an art form find his perspective interesting and or survival technique. It is a way of life probably, from time to time, nod your that the Indians of California lived to head up and down in agreement. the fullest in ancient times and con- The combination of photographs tinue to live today. Baskets tradition- and the chapter “Looking for Patterns ally were an integral part of daily life, in Vegetation” do a good job of de- from cradle to grave. They were and scribing the ecological variety of the are made with exacting attention to region. Starting at the broadest level, detail, exceptional mastery of tech- we learn of the forests with closed nique, and exquisite design. Though canopies growing on well-developed perishable, California baskets express soils and having high colonizing abili- on multiple levels an imperishable rev- ties and wide ecological tolerances. By erence for the natural world and they

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA 25 today have never seen a basket made complexity, creative technical features Mendocino and from the coast to the by people who lived by the bay before and design techniques, the U- western Sierra. Within that region European contact. The photos and de- shaped…walaheen winnower is per- we encounter the famous feathered scriptions provided by the authors re- haps the most amazing basket in Cali- baskets of the (but also rugged veal Ohlone baskets, sometimes in- fornia…” and “one of the most subtle utilitarian forms like the plunge trap, tensely decorated with Olivella shell artistic creations ever made.” It is en- used for catching one fish at a time in beads and woodpecker feathers, to be couraging to learn that contemporary shallow water), feast baskets distinctive and stunningly beautiful. Ohlone weavers have revived the art with matchless redbud (Cercis occi- Especially striking are “walaheen” win- of walaheens. dentalis) designs, coiled masterpieces nowers in which visual designs (dia- Ralph Shanks writes in a compact, of the Patwin, baskets that not only monds, contrasting bands) are made precise, economical style in which not inspire but take one’s breath away. not with the usual overlay, but by a word is wasted and energy is stored Page after page presents baskets of changes in twining techniques, all in a up for moving historical accounts and surpassing beauty—beauty of form, single color. According to the authors, fascinating descriptions. Photographer entrancing weave, or splendid deco- “Three different design techniques can Lisa Woo Shanks captures with great ration. A Maidu conical twined bur- sometimes be found in an area as small skill the fine detail and sumptuous den basket is decorated with broad as two square inches…This density of beauty of the full range of basketry concentric bands of yellow beargrass pattern and technical variation…is traditions and types. (Xerophyllum tenax) overlay on brown unparalleled in all of North Indian Baskets of Central Califor- conifer root. A Hill Patwin coiled bowl America…” and “In terms of design nia covers an area from Monterey to basket is lavishly adorned with feath-

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To find out more on these giving opportunities, contact:

Amanda Jorgenson or Melissa Cirone Executive Director of CNPS Development Director of CNPS phone: (916) 447-2677 x 12 phone: (916) 447-2677 x 15 fax: (916) 447-2727 fax: (916) 447-2727 email: [email protected] email: [email protected]

26 FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 ers—red of woodpecker, dark green of mallard, blue of bluebird—and clamshell disc beads and abalone pen- dants. Readers are likely to linger over each page, taking time to savor a bas- ket or to read the text a second time, not because it is difficult but because it is so interesting. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, a cottage industry made baskets avail- able to Europeans, but refined and elegantly decorated basketry is an an- cient tradition. Such baskets have much to say of the care with which First Peoples tended the environment, and the respect they had for the earth, living things, and each other. This subject may easily lead one to flights of fantasy, but the baskets afford firm grounding. All their materials, except- ing a few trade beads that came in late, are of California native plants (and some from animals). The plants were carefully tended through diverse Clockwise from the upper left: This Mountain Maidu burden basket from the Sierra management practices, including features designs of bracken fern root on a background of beargrass. (California Academy coppicing and fire, in a landscape in- of Sciences) • The Coast Miwok people of Marin and Sonoma decorated their baskets with habited by rocks, winds, streams, olivella shell disc beads and abalone pendants. The baskets themselves were made of springs, birds, rabbits, deer, an infi- sedge root wefts on a willow foundation. (Peter the Great Museum, Russia) • This conical nite community of beings First Pomo -gathering basket is a beautiful symbol of the central importance native plant Peoples considered to be intelligent resources played in Native American life. From Mendocino or Lake County, it is made of redbud, sedge root, and willow. (Private collection) • A huge Maidu feast basket such as persons in their own rights, deserv- this one required four men to lift it when filled with acorn mush. Plant materials favored ing, often commanding, intelligent in making such baskets included redbud, maple, and other shoot material. (Pacific Grove respect. Museum of Natural History) Photographs by L.W. Shanks. Indian Baskets offers more than pic-

Fremontia back issues are available at the following rates:

ny issue starting with Volume 28 (the year 2000) to date is $5.00 per issue or you may A order any 3 issues from this time period for $10.00. Issues prior to Volume 28 are available at $2.50 each or you may order any 3 issues from this time period for $6.00. Prices do not include shipping.

Contact Stacey Flowerdew at CNPS to determine shipping costs: [email protected] or at 916-447-2677.

Address your orders (payable to CNPS) to: Attn: Fremontia Back Issues California Native Plant Society 2707 K Street, Suite 1 Sacramento, CA 95816-5113

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA 27 tures and elegant descriptions. Its treat- ment of basketry styles, weaves, mate- rials, techniques, variations, and his- tory surpasses any other available work and does so in thoroughly accessible fashion. And it is full of “Ahas!”… an outstanding example is the simple Advertise in cross sections it provides of coiled bas- ketry foundations, that make it clear exactly how people were able to make strong structural elements (by bun- Fremontia! dling them) from seemingly flimsy Journal of the California Native Plant Society items like the culms of basket grass (Muhlenbergia rigens). January 1, 2008 Advertising Rates The book is also enriched with Full Page $900 1/3 Page $350 history and lore that only someone Half Page $500 Quarter Page $300 steeped in a venerable academic tradi- tion would know, for example a story 1/8 Page $150 involving Alfred Kroeber: For Sales and Information Contact: At the beginning of the last class he taught at the University of Cali- Fremontia Editor: [email protected] fornia, Berkeley, Professor Kroeber OR brought a large Pomo basket into class and filled it with water. He then cov- California Native Plant Society ered it with glass and there it sat in Attn: Fremontia Advertising front of the class week after week. On 2707 K Street, Suite 1 the final day of his last class, Dr. Sacramento, CA 95816 Kroeber lifted up the glass and the (916) 447-2677 water was still there. It was a graphic (916) 447-2727 fax illustration of the magnificent weav- ing abilities of California Indian For actual ad sizes, see: women. It was the final point the “Dean http://www.cnps.org/cnps/publications/pdf/FREMONTIA_0901_AD_SIZES.PDF

of American Anthropologists” wanted book seems to absorb refinement and to make to his students. attention to detail from the originals. Indian Baskets of Central Califor- Put simply, it is a beautiful book that nia is indeed the basketry book we celebrates a beautiful tradition well. have all been waiting for—so long! In Stephen W. Edwards, its own way resembling a basket, the East Bay Chapter

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28 FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 Join Today! CNPS member gifts allow us to promote and protect California’s native plants and their habitats. Gifts are tax-deductible minus the $12 of the total gift which goes toward publication of Fremontia.

❏ $1,500 Mariposa Lily ❏ $600 Benefactor ❏ $300 Patron ❏ $100 Plant Lover ❏ $75 Family or Group ❏ $75 International ❏ $45 Individual or Library ❏ $25 Limited Income

NAME

ADDRESS

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❏ Enclosed is a check made payable to CNPS Membership gift: ❏ Charge my gift to ❏ Mastercard ❏ Visa Added donation of:

Card Number TOTAL ENCLOSED: Exp. date Signature ❏ Enclosed is a matching gift form provided by my employer Phone ❏ I would like information on planned giving Email Please make your check payable to “CNPS” and send to: California Native Plant Society, 2707 K Street, Suite 1, Sacra- mento, CA 95816-5113. Phone: (916) 447-2677; Fax: (916) 447-2727; Web site: www.cnps.org.; Email: [email protected]

(CONTRIBUTORS: continued from back cover) John O. Sawyer is a longtime member and Fellow (in 1995) of CNPS. A co- MATERIALS FOR founder of the North Coast Chapter, past president, and Conservation Commit- PUBLICATION tee chair of the Society, John continues to be active with his work on the Vegeta- Members and others are invited tion Committee. to submit material for publica- Suzanne Schettler is a former State President of CNPS and is currently a member tion in Fremontia. Instructions of the Santa Cruz Chapter. She is engaged in restoration projects as principal of for contributors can be found Greening Associates. on the CNPS website, www.cnps. org, or can be requested from CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Fremontia Editor, Bart O’Brien at [email protected] or c/o Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gar- Faith Cookler is a hiking friend of Halli Mason’s. She took this photo in Caballero Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains, a major CNPS weed eradication project. den, 1500 N. College Ave., Claremont, CA 91711. Mel Mason is Halli Mason’s husband and regular hiking companion. Michael Mesler is a botany professor in the biological sciences department at Humboldt State University. His current research focus is pollination biology with FREMONTIA EDITORIAL an emphasis on the interactions between native plants and . ADVISORY BOARD AND REVIEWERS David C. Powell is a marine biologist and retired Director of Live Exhibit Devel- opment at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He is the author of A Fascination for Fish: Susan D’Alcamo, Ellen Dean, Adventures of an Underwater Pioneer. Kathleen Dickey, Phyllis M. Gary Reece is a fire specialist with the California State Parks system. He is re- Faber, Holly Forbes, Pam Muick, sponsible for saving much of Palomar Mountain State Park from burning in Octo- ber 2007. John Sawyer, Jim Shevock, Jake Lisa Woo Shanks is an area resource conservationist for the USDA Natural Re- Sigg, M. Nevin Smith, Linda Ann source Conservation Service. Her images appear in many books and articles. Vorobik, Carol W. Witham

VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007 FREMONTIA FROM THE EDITOR

he Klamath Mountains are one the Los Angeles/Santa Monica Moun- monarchs of San Diego’s highest of the most beautiful and bo- tains Chapter and statewide. mountain ranges. Ttanically rewarding areas of For this issue’s photo essay, we We also acknowledge and mourn California to explore. In this issue, revisit Guadalupe Island for a beauti- the passing of botanist Natalie our guide is none other than John ful and optimistic update on the re- Hopkins, a long-time CNPS member Sawyer whose incomparable knowl- covery of the flora now that the ravag- and former Santa Clara Valley Chapter edge of this region is legendary. John ing goats have been eliminated. president. explains why this spectacular region Tom Oberbauer takes us on a jour- Stephen Edwards closes out this is such a center of . His ney to the southern end of the state, to issue with an insightful review of the wonderful new book, Northwest Cali- San Diego—the home of the most di- outstanding new book, Indian Baskets fornia: A Natural History, is reviewed verse county flora in the country. He of Central California: Art, Culture, and by Dan Cheatham. tells the story of the ancient sugar History. Native American Basketry from CNPS would not exist without pines found in the local mountains, San Francisco and Monterey Bay North dedicated volunteers. In this issue we and provides a personal account of to Mendocino and East to the Sierras, by celebrate another such stalwart, Halli their fate in the fires of 2003. The Ralph Shanks and Lisa Woo Shanks. Mason, who became a CNPS Fellow in ever-changing nature of California’s The diversity of materials used to cre- 2005. Halli continues to be an integral landscapes appears to have caught up ate these works of art is astounding. part of CNPS’s infrastructure for both and indeed overtaken many of these Bart O’Brien

CONTRIBUTORS

Alfonso Aguirre is director of the Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas (Mexico). He is also leading the effort to protect Bahia San Quintin by promoting the first munici-

pal coastal protected area in Mexico’s history.

Address Service Requested Service Address

Sacramento, CA 95816-5113 CA Sacramento,

2707 K Street, Suite 1 Suite Street, K 2707 California Native Plant Society Plant Native California Norden H. (Dan) Cheatham is well known for the Cheatham & Haller vegetation classification system from the 1970s that was originally developed for the UC Natural Reserves System. Stephen W. Edwards is Director of the Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Regional Park in the Berkeley Hills. He is a widely recognized author in field botany, paleobotany, anthropology, geology, and horticulture. Steven L. Hartman is an active member of the Los Angeles / Santa Monica Mountains Chapter of CNPS, and serves as treasurer for the CNPS state board. He is also on the board of the Theodore Payne Foundation. Bill Henry is a Ph.D. student at UC Santa Cruz. He has used his broad background in ecology and restoration to assist in studies of the flora and fauna of Guadalupe Island. Steve Junak is Curator of the Herbarium at the Santa Bar- bara Botanic Garden. He has over 30 years of experience in floristics of the Pacific islands of California and Baja. Bradford Keitt is a program director for the not-for-profit organization Island Conservation and Ecology Group. Jo Kitz became a CNPS Fellow in 1995. Due to her many conservation accomplishments, she was named 2004 Woman of the Year by Assemblywoman Fran Pavley.

Luciana Luna Mendoza is the Guadalupe Island Project Di- Postage U.S.

rector with Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas Org. Nonprofit A.M.S. (Mexico). She leads restoration activities on the island. PAID Thomas Oberbauer is the Chief Land Use Planner for the San Diego County Department of Planning and Land Use. Tom is a long-time member of CNPS and has a deep interest in the flora of San Diego County, California’s Channel Is- lands, and Baja California, Mexico.

(continued on inside back cover) VOLUME 35:3, SUMMER 2007