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VOL. 41, NO. 2 • MAY 2013 FREMONTIA JOURNAL OF THE CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY

SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS HISTORICAL STUDY PARRY AND THE PINES SPREAD OF CHEATGRASS INTO EASTERN SIERRA CALIFORNIA’S FIRSTFIRST FLORAFLORA ‘ELLAVOL. 41, NELSON’S NO. 2, MAY 2013 YELLOW’ BUCKWHEAT FREMONTIA CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY CNPS, 2707 K Street, Suite 1; Sacramento, CA 95816-5130 FREMONTIA Phone: (916) 447-CNPS (2677) Fax: (916) 447-2727 Web site: www.cnps.org Email: [email protected] VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 MEMBERSHIP Copyright © 2013 Membership form located on inside back cover; California Native Plant Society dues include subscriptions to Fremontia and the CNPS Bulletin Bob Hass, Editor Mariposa Lily ...... $1,500 Family or Group ...... $75 Benefactor ...... $600 International or Library ...... $75 Beth Hansen-Winter, Designer Patron ...... $300 Individual ...... $45 Brad Jenkins, Cynthia Powell, and Plant Lover ...... $100 Student/Retired/Limited Income . $25 Mary Ann Showers, Proofreaders CORPORATE/ORGANIZATIONAL + CALIFORNIA NATIVE 10 Employees ...... $2,500 4-6 Employees ...... $500 7-10 Employees ...... $1,000 1-3 Employees ...... $150 PLANT SOCIETY STAFF – SACRAMENTO CHAPTER COUNCIL Dedicated to the Preservation of Executive Director: Dan Gluesenkamp David Magney (Chair); Larry Levine the California Native Flora Finance and Administration (Vice Chair); Marty Foltyn (Secretary) Manager: Cari Porter Alta Peak (Tulare): Joan Stewart The California Native Plant Society Membership and Development Bristlecone (Inyo-Mono): (CNPS) is a statewide nonprofit organi- Coordinator: Stacey Flowerdew Steve McLaughlin Conservation Program Director: zation dedicated to increasing the Channel Islands: David Magney Greg Suba understanding and appreciation of Dorothy King Young (Mendocino/ California’s native plants, and to pre- Rare Plant Botanist: Aaron Sims Vegetation Program Director: Sonoma Coast): Nancy Morin serving them and their natural habitats Julie Evens East Bay: Bill Hunt for future generations. Vegetation Ecologists: El Dorado: Sue Britting CNPS carries out its mission through Jennifer Buck-Diaz, Kendra Sikes Kern County: Dorie Giragosian science, conservation advocacy, educa- Education Program Director: Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mtns: tion, and horticulture at the local, state, Josie Crawford Betsey Landis Marin County: Carolyn Longstreth and federal levels. It monitors rare and Administrative Asst: Marcy Millett Milo Baker (Sonoma County): endangered plants and habitats; acts to Sales/Chapter Horticulture Coordinator: Caroline Garland Lisa Giambastiani save endangered areas through public- Mojave Desert: Tim Thomas STAFF – AT LARGE ity, persuasion, and on occasion, legal Monterey Bay: Brian LeNeve action; provides expert testimony to Fremontia and CNPS Bulletin Editor: Mount Lassen: Catie Bishop government bodies; supports the estab- Bob Hass Napa Valley: Gerald Tomboc Legislative Consultant: lishment of native plant preserves; spon- North Coast: Larry Levine Vern Goehring North San Joaquin: Alan Miller sors workdays to remove invasive plants; East Bay Conservation Analyst: Orange County: Nancy Heuler and offers a range of educational activi- Mack Casterman Redbud (Grass Valley/Auburn): ties including speaker programs, field Development Consultant: Joan Jernegan trips, native plant sales, horticultural Sandy McCoy Website Coordinator: Mark Naftzger Riverside/San Bernardino: Katie workshops, and demonstration gardens. Barrows Since its founding in 1965, the tradi- PROGRAM ADVISORS Sacramento Valley: Glen Holstein tional strength of CNPS has been its Rare Plant Program Senior Advisor: San Diego: David Varner dedicated volunteers. CNPS activities Jim Andre San Gabriel Mountains: Orchid Black are organized at the local chapter level Vegetation Program Senior Advisor: San Luis Obispo: Kristie Haydu where members’ varied interests influ- Todd Keeler-Wolf Sanhedrin (Ukiah): Geri Hulse- Horticulture Program Chair: Stephens ence what is done. Volunteers from the Laura Camp 33 CNPS chapters annually contribute Santa Clara Valley: Judy Fenerty CNPS Press Director: Nancy Morin Santa Cruz County: Deanna Giuliano in excess of 97,000 hours (equivalent Poster Program: Bertha McKinley, Sequoia (Fresno): Paul Mitchell to 46.5 full-time employees). Wilma Follett Shasta: Ken Kilborn CNPS membership is open to all. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sierra Foothills (Tuolome/Calaveras/ Members receive the journal Fremontia Brett Hall (President); David Bigham Mariposa): Robert Brown three times a year, the quarterly state- (Vice President); Laura Camp (Secre- South Coast (Palos Verdes): wide CNPS Bulletin, and newsletters tary); Nancy Morin (Treasurer); At- David Berman from their local CNPS chapter. Large: Bill Hunt, Brian LeNeve, Vince Tahoe: Michael Hogan Scheidt, Alison Shilling, David Willis L. Jepson (Solano): Varner, Steve Windhager; Chapter Mary Frances Kelly-Poh Disclaimer: Council Representatives: Orchid Yerba Buena (San Francisco): The views expressed by authors published Black, Steve Hartman Ellen Edelson in this journal do not necessarily reflect established policy or procedure of CNPS, MATERIALS FOR PUBLICATION and their publication in this journal should CNPS members and others are welcome to contribute materials for publication not be interpreted as an organizational in Fremontia. See the inside back cover for submission instructions. endorsement—in part or in whole—of their Staff and board listings are as of February 2013. ideas, statements, or opinions. Printed by Premier Graphics: www.premiergraphics.biz

FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 CONTENTS

A HISTORICAL COMPARISON OF HABITAT AND PLANT POPULATIONS IN THE MID-RANGE SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS by Jane Tirrell, Walter Fidler, Jane Strong, and Graham Bothwell ...... 2 In a high elevation region of the San Gabriel Mountains, CNPS members compared plant populations and flowering times in 2011 with similar data from 1981. They also documented changes brought about by a 2002 fire.

THE SPREAD OF CHEATGRASS INTO THE EASTERN SIERRA by Amy Concillo ...... 10 Although ubiquitous throughout the Great Basin Desert, cheatgrass has had little impact at higher elevations thus far. Can we stop its spread before it rises to new heights?

PARRY AND THE PINES by Elizabeth Adelman ...... 14 A brief saga of Charles Christopher Parry, famous 19th century US botanist, his travels in early California, and his contributions to the state’s flora and to protecting the Torrey pines.

THE GARDEN INTRODUCTION OF ERIOGONUM NUDUM ‘ELLA NELSON’S YELLOW’ by Eric Nelson ...... 20 As climate conditions become warmer and drier, this colorful new buckwheat cultivar, selected from a seldom-used species, is a good choice for home gardeners.

THE BOTANY OF CALIFORNIA: CALIFORNIA’S FIRST FLORA by James P. Smith ...... 22 European botanists first collected in California in the late 18th century, but it was almost a hundred years later that our first comprehensive state flora was published.

BOOK REVIEW ...... 28

THE COVER: A Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana subsp. torreyana) in Torrey Pines State Reserve, La Jolla, California. Photograph by Patrick Lee. Story on page 14.

VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA 1 LEFT: 1981 view of the east boundary of the Lily Spring study site from a turnout on the Angeles Crest Highway. Photograph by Wayne Sawyer. RIGHT: 2011 view of the same landscape. The area from Lily Spring down to the highway is the small portion of the study site that did not burn in 2002. Many dead trees line the steep meadow in the left side of the picture. The most striking difference between the 1981 and 2011 views is on the slope between the meadow and Mt. Hawkins which was deforested in several places (see corresponding red area on the map, page 5). Photograph by Jane Tirrell. A HISTORICAL COMPARISON OF HABITAT AND PLANT POPULATIONS IN THE MID-RANGE SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS by Jane Tirrell, Walter Fidler, Jane Strong, and Graham Bothwell

henology—the timing of bio- San Gabriel Mountains centered reports and photographs on the logical events such as flower- around Lily Spring (Sawyer 1987). chapter website (www.cnps-sgm. ing, breeding, and migration— Gary suggested that a chapter project org/lilyspring). We spent 2010 learn- provides information about repeating the survey 30 years later ing the identities and locations of Phow well animals and plants are would provide an excellent means the plants in the study site, con- adapting to changing conditions. of documenting changes in plant ducted the survey of flowering times Interest in phenology has been in- populations and flowering times. in 2011, and collected vouchers (re- creasing among botanists and oth- Flowering phenology was impor- tained in the herbarium at Rancho ers concerned with conserving na- tant to Sawyer because of his inter- Santa Ana Botanic Garden) in 2012. tive plant communities as the threat est in competition among insect pol- of climate change has become more linators (Sawyer 1985). In addition apparent. to listing flowering dates, his Crosso- COMPLICATIONS OF In January 2010, the San Gabriel soma article described the study site, REPEATING A 30-YEAR- Mountains Chapter of the Califor- approximately a 360-acre region OLD SURVEY nia Native Plant Society was pre- above the Angeles Crest Highway in sented with a unique opportunity the San Gabriel Mountains between As we began surveying the study to contribute to the growing body Little Jimmy Spring and Throop site in 2010, we were aware that the of phenology information. Gary Peak. The site is accessible from the Curve Fire had burned the area in Wallace, a chapter member, discov- Pacific Crest Trail as well as from 2002. However, we did not appreci- ered a Crossosoma article written by the highway. ate the extent of the habitat loss un- the late Wayne E. Sawyer in 1981 A small group formed of chapter til we examined a US Forest Service that presented flowering dates for members conducted the survey over map of the fire (page 5). It showed 95 insect-pollinated plants in the the next three years and posted field that all the area within the site had

2 FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO.2, MAY 2013 pine (Pinus flexilis); and 5) exposed Curve Fire, we encountered another ridges. In 2012, a decade after the complication in conducting our sur- Curve Fire, our photo comparisons vey. We had few details about how showed the yellow pine forest and Sawyer had conducted his study; forested ridges contained stands of these protocol ambiguities could af- dead and fallen trees, and the mon- fect our findings depending on how tane chaparral had expanded over we interpreted his statements. The previously forested slopes. We be- flowering criteria used by Sawyer lieve only the montane meadows and were subjective. He stated “a species exposed ridges were similar to the was in flower if a few individuals way they were in 1981. each bore many open flowers or In addition to the landscape many individuals each bore a few changes brought about by the 2002 open flowers.” We also used subjec-

been burned except for a small por- tion due north of Lily Spring. The map shows the fire area superim- posed on a US Geological Survey map of the study site and indicates the severity of the fire conditions. Even after examining the fire map, the full impact of the Curve Fire on the site was not apparent until fall 2011 when Helen W. Nyerges, regional park superinten- dent of the Eaton Canyon Natural Area, loaned us Sawyer’s slide collec- tion. When we saw the robust mixed conifer forest in Sawyer’s 1981 pho- tographs, we realized how devastat- ing the fire had been. We then knew that we were exploring a sunnier, less forested site than the one Wayne Sawyer surveyed, and that this major event would complicate our attempts at interpreting the findings. In 1981 Sawyer described five different habitats: 1) moist yellow- pine forest characterized by Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), white fir (Abies concolor), and sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana); 2) montane chaparral dominated by chinquapin (Chryso- lepis sempervirens); 3) montane mead- TOP: 1981 view from the Angeles Crest Highway of the drainage at mile marker 66.82 ows at Little Jimmy Spring and Lily showing a forest alliance of Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) with a well developed shrub layer. Photograph by Wayne Sawyer. BOTTOM: 2012 view of the same landscape showing the Spring; 4) forested ridges character- almost completely deforested hillside due to the 2002 Curve Fire (see the corresponding ized by lodgepole pine (Pinus con- red area on the map, page 5). The landscape has become a shrubland alliance dominated torta subsp. murrayana) and limber by mountain whitethorn (Ceanothus cordulatus). Photograph by Graham Bothwell.

VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA 3 Parish’s oxytheca (Acanthoscyphus parishii var. parishii), CRPR 4.3, is an herb rare in un- burned areas adjacent to the study site. Following the fire it appeared in the millions on a burned hillside above the Angeles Crest Highway. Photograph by Jane Tirrell.

tive flowering criteria, however. We defined flowering as three individu- als with three open flowers in more than one location. We made excep- tions for species that occurred in only one location, and for species characterized by having only one or two flowers per individual. Another protocol question in- volved whether Sawyer had observed plants in the same locations each week when he said a species was flowering, or whether he observed that particular species throughout the study site. We decided a species was flowering if our criteria were met anywhere within the site, but should run Saturday through Friday realized that noting a species was and therefore grouped our observa- flowering in different habitats could tions accordingly, assigning our ob- lead to an increase in observed flow- servations to particular weeks, e.g., ering durations. M1-M4 for weeks 1 through 4 of We also had to decide how we May, J1-J4 for weeks 1 through 4 of should organize the timing of our June, etc., as Sawyer had done. We observations. Sawyer had recorded understood that this manner of as- his observations by the week, ending signing dates in 2011 into weeks as on Friday but had not given the ac- compared with the dates of those tual dates. We assumed the weeks weeks in 1981 introduced about a

Members of the San Gabriel Mountains Chapter who participated in the Lily Spring Survey found that many rare plant species were present in great numbers, and attribute this to the 2002 Curve Fire. The following rare plants are just a few of those that were found. ABOVE LEFT, MIDDLE: Ewan’s cinquefoil (Drymocallis cuneifolia var. ewanii) CRPR 1B.3, grew in large mats on moist, sunny slopes throughout the site. Photograph by Graham Bothwell. • ABOVE LEFT, BOTTOM: Mojave phacelia (Phacelia mohavensis), CRPR 4.3, turned the hillsides white near Lily Spring where sunlight filtered through dead trees. Photograph by Jane Tirrell.

ABOVE RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM: Johnston’s monkeyflower (Mimulus johnstonii), CRPR 4.3, occurred in the hundreds on a badly burned, previously forested, north-facing slope along the Pacific Crest Trail. • Close-up of Mojave phacelia. • Close-up of Parish’s oxytheca. • Silky lupine (Lupinus elatus), CRPR 4.3, was present in large numbers throughout the site. All photographs in this group by Graham Bothwell.

4 FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO.2, MAY 2013 half week of uncertainty into the data. season was longer than Sawyer’s, MAP OF 2002 CURVE FIRE SUPER- (The actual dates of our observations it is important to note that our IMPOSED ON LILY SPRING SURVEY AREA. are available on the CNPS website phenology comparison, includ- under Rare Plant Science/Rare Plant ing flowering duration, is for the Forums/Rare Plant Phenology.) same period of time, the first Sawyer also stated that “plant week of May through the sec- populations accessible by hiking ond week of September. trails were observed.” By this, we were unsure whether he had con- fined his observations to regions near FLOWERING TIMES IN the Angeles Crest Highway, the crests 1981 AND 2011 of the ridges, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the discontinued trail to Lily For the set of 95 species as a Spring, or whether he also had hiked whole, flowering onset occurred to less accessible parts of the site. In at about the same time, with a our comparison of 2011 and 1981 similar number of species flow- flowering phenology, therefore, we ering earlier (32) in 2011 as decided only to include observations flowered at the same time (31) of plants in the more accessible or later (32). However, the spe- areas, although we had volunteers cies that flowered earlier in 2011 scout more remote areas as well. tended to be early-season Ironically, many of the species bloomers (April and May), and US Geological Survey map of the Lily Spring we observed that had not been de- the species that flowered later study site, outlined in blue, as shown in Sawyer scribed in 1981 occurred in less eas- tended to be late-season (1987), superimposed on the corresponding ily reached areas. Other new species bloomers (July, August, and Sep- portion of the US Forest Service map of the 2002 were found along the study site tember). Table 1 lists our obser- Curve Fire. The fire boundary is shown by a boundary, the actual location of vations of the change in flower- wide dark gray line. The bright green and red areas within the fire boundary indicate post-fire which was somewhat approximate ing times for species flowering forested and deforested conditions, respectively. based on Sawyer’s map. Thus it is during various months of the The fire stopped at the Angeles Crest Highway, likely we were able to observe new season. the northern boundary of the study site. The species because we had more ob- Flowering phenology is af- area due north of Lily Spring was not burned. servers exploring a greater extent of fected by multiple factors that Source: US Geological Survey; US Forest Service; and Sawyer, W.E. 1987. A list of high elevation the study site, and perhaps also be- include temperature, precipita- angiosperms and their phenology in the San cause we slightly extended the site’s tion, day length, and availability Gabriel Mountains, Los Angeles County, Cali- boundaries. of nutrients. A quick calculation fornia. Crossosoma 13(1): 5-10. We also observed a few species using the annual average tem- not described in 1981 by starting perature for Mt. Wilson in the San Climate Center 2012). Based on other our observations earlier in the sea- Gabriel Mountains showed that the phenology studies (Ahas et al. 2002; son (April 5) and ending consider- period 1991–2011 was warmer by Fitter and Fitter 2002; Miller-Rush- ably later (November 4). Sawyer about 1.5 degrees Celsius (almost ing and Primack 2008; Tooke and started on May 2 and ended Septem- three degrees Fahrenheit) than the Battey 2010), we would expect some ber 11. Although our observation period 1961–1981 (Western Regional plants to flower earlier, and that is what we observed. How- ever, we also observed un- TABLE 1. CHANGE IN FLOWERING TIMES OBSERVED BY SAWYER IN 1981 changed and delayed flow- IN LILY SPRING SURVEY AREA. ering, as did several of these Month of Flowering Onset in 2011 Change in Flowering Onset studies. As noted above, de- (average number of weeks earlier or later) layed flowering appears to be more commonly ob- April and May 1.5 weeks earlier served for plants that June 0.4 weeks earlier flower late in the season July 0.3 weeks later (Sherry et al. 2007; Dunnell August and September 2.1 weeks later and Travers 2011). Source: Lily Spring Area Survey, San Gabriel Mountains Chapter, California Native Plant Society, 2012. We recorded substan- tially longer flowering du-

VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA 5 TABLE 2. 2011 FLOWERING TIMES AT LILY SPRING AS COMPARED TO 1981.

FLOWERED EARLIER IN 2011 NO. FLOWERED AT THE SAME TIME FLOWERED LATER IN 2011 NO. WKS. (NO. WKS. = 0) WKS. Parish’s oxytheca** 1 Greenleaf manzanita† California brickellbush 3 (Acanthoscyphus parishii (Arctostaphylos patula) (Brickellia californica) var. parishii) Burlew’s onion 2 Curlleaf mountain mahogany† Littleleaf brickellbush 1 (Allium burlewii) (Cercocarpus ledifolius) (Brickellia microphylla) San Bernardino mountain 2 Arroyo willow† Mountain whitethorn 1 onion (Salix lasiolepis) (Ceanothus cordulatus) (Allium monticola) Prickly poppy 1 Nevada birdsfoot trefoil Chinquapin 1 (Argemone munita) (Acmispon nevadensis var. (Chrysolepis sempervirens) davidsonii) Broad-seeded rockcress 1 Western columbine Sierra larkspur 1 (Boechera platysperma) (Aquilegia formosa) (Delphinium glaucum) Yosemite rockcress 2 Plain mariposa lily Fragrant shootingstar 1 (Boechera repanda) (Calochortus invenustus) (Dodecatheon redolens) One-seeded pussypaws 3 Claspingleaf wild cabbage Smooth willowherb 1 (Calyptridium monospermum) (Caulanthus amplexicaulis) (Epilobium glaberrimum) Giant red paintbrush 1 Santolina pincushion Rubber rabbitbrush 2 (Castilleja miniata) (Chaenactis santolinoides) (Ericameria nauseosa) Prickly popcorn flower 1 Virgin’s bower Leafy daisy 1 (Cryptantha muricata) (Clematis ligusticifolia) (Erigeron foliosus) Showy cycladenia 2 Blue-eyed Mary Naked buckwheat 1 (Cycladenia humilis var. venusta) (Collinsia torreyi var. wrightii) (Eriogonum nudum var. pauciflorum) Ewan’s cinquefoil* 2 Slender draba Rock buckwheat 1 (Drymocallis cuneifolia var. (Draba albertina) (Eriogonum saxatile) ewanii) Fringed willowherb 1 Southern California draba Sierra hoary coffeeberry 1 (Epilobium ciliatum) (Draba corrugata) (Frangula californica subsp. cuspidata) San Jacinto mountain daisy** 2 Sticky cinquefoil Lowland cudweed 1 (Erigeron breweri var. jacinteus) (Drymocallis glandulosa var. (Gnaphalium palustre) reflexa) Davidson’s buckwheat 2 California fuschia Nevada bitterroot 1 (Eriogonum davidsonii) (Epilobium canum) (Lewisia nevadensis) Parish’s buckwheat 2 Yerba santa Lemon lily* 1 (Eriogonum parishii) (Eriodictyon trichocalyx (Lilium parryi) var. trichocalyx) Alpine sulfur flower buckwheat** 1 Wright’s buckwheat Silky lupine** 1 (Eriogonum umbellatum var. minus) (Eriogonum wrightii var. (Lupinus elatus) subscaposum) Pinewoods fritillary** 2 Twinleaf bedstraw Suksdorf’s monkeyflower 3 (Fritillaria pinetorum) (Galium bifolium) (Mimulus suksdorfii) rations in 2011 (8.9 weeks) than in if we observed three flowers on three within the area and flowered at dif- 1981 (5.4 weeks). One factor con- individuals anywhere within the ferent times in different places. An- tributing to this difference was our study area. Many species occurred at other factor was the precipitation criterion that a species was in flower multiple locations and elevations pattern during the summer. Online

6 FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO.2, MAY 2013 °

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° servations indicated the fire that THE MYSTERY OF THE RED-STEMMED MONKEYFLOWER opened up the study site allowed sun-loving species to grow prolifi- y the end of 2011 we had found all but three of the species Sawyer cally. In contrast, many of these spe- B described in his Crossosoma article. The missing species were cies, some of which were CNPS rare, Parry’s pussypaws (Calyptridium parryi), spotted coralroot (Coral- threatened, or endangered plants lorhiza maculata), and red-stemmed monkeyflower (Mimulus rubellus). were absent from the unburned, for- An odd thing about the red-stemmed monkeyflower was that ested area above Dawson’s Saddle Sawyer reported it had purple and yellow forms that flowered at just outside the eastern border of different times. The yellow form, identified from our photograph by the study site. Examples of some of Naomi Fraga, a conservation botanist at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic the rare plants we believe are present Garden whose research interests include monkeyflowers, turned out in increased numbers are shown on to be a different species. It was Suksdorf’s monkeyflower (M. suks- page 4. dorfii), which we had found in 2010 and 2011 at Lily Spring. We did In addition to those pictured, not find the purple form in either year, so we wondered if Sawyer had other rare plants seen in both 1981 mistaken a third species, Brewer’s monkeyflower (M. breweri), for the and 2011 were San Jacinto moun- red-stemmed monkeyflower. tain daisy (Erigeron breweri var. Brewer’s monkeyflower is similar in size and color to red-stemmed jacinteus), California Rare Plant monkeyflower and we had found many of these plants at Lily Spring. Rank (CRPR) 4.3; alpine sulfur- By June 2012 we had almost given up hope of finding the real red- flowered buckwheat (Eriogonum um- stemmed monkeyflower when CNPS member Walt Fidler decided to bellatum var. minus), CRPR 4.3; pine- do a more thorough search. Walt’s persistence woods fritillary (Fritillaria pinetor- paid off. He found 8 to 12 individuals of this um), CRPR 4.3; urn-flowered alum- plant that we could see was different from root (Heuchera caespitosa), CRPR Brewer’s monkeyflower. 4.3; lemon lily (Lilium parryi), CRPR As of 2012 we still have not found Parry’s 1B.2; gray monardella (Monardella pussypaws and spotted coralroot anywhere australis subsp. cinerea), CRPR 4.3; within the Lily Spring study site. woolly mountain parsley (Oreonana vestita), CRPR 1B.3; Tehachapi rag- The suspect lineup wort (Packera ionophylla), CRPR 4.3; regarding the red- and gray-leafed pine violet (Viola stemmed monkey- pinetorum subsp. grisea), CRPR 1B.3. flower mystery. CLOCK- WISE FROM UPPER LEFT: Brewer’s monkeyflower (Mimulus breweri), ADDITIONAL SPECIES Suksdorf’s monkey- flower (Mimulus suks- OBSERVED 2010–2012 dorfii), and red- stemmed monkey- One of the things we expected flower (Mimulus rubel- to find from this survey was that lus). All three photo- species present in 1981 had been graphs by Jane Tirrell. lost from the site. Of the species Sawyer included in his phenology study (in addition to the 95, he men- tioned five that were already in fruit herbaceous perennials. Greater num- tion are on the phenology page of the when he observed them), we found bers of plants meant flowering was CNPS website (mentioned earlier). all but two: Parry’s pussypaws (Cal- easier to observe and probably con- yptridium parryi) and spotted coral- tributed to our findings of both ear- root (Corallorhiza maculata). lier flowering onsets and longer flow- FIRE INCREASES We found 40 plant species not ering durations. ABUNDANCE OF SEVERAL listed in 1981. This was probably Lists of the species observed with RARE PLANTS because we explored the site both flowering times, photographs, and earlier and later in the season, and trip reports are available at www. We have no information about because we had more observers, cnps-sgm.org/lilyspring, and dates of the relative abundance of the plants which enabled us to cover more of observations with flowering informa- Sawyer observed in 1981. Our ob- the site. There were wind-pollinated

8 FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO.2, MAY 2013 British plants. Science 296: 1689- 1691. MesoWest. Weather conditions for BPNC1. http://mesowest.utah.edu/ cgi-bin/droman/meso_base.cgi? stn=BPNC1. Accessed January 1, 2013. Miller-Rushing, A.J., and R.B. Primack. 2008. Global warming and flower- ing times in Thoreau’s Concord: A community perspective. Ecology 89(2): 332-341. Sawyer, J.O., et al. 2009. A Manual of California Vegetation. 2d. ed. Califor- nia Native Plant Society Press, Sac- ramento, CA. Sawyer, W.E. 1987. A list of high el- evation angiosperms and their phe- An additional 40 species that had not been listed in 1981 were observed during the Lily nology in the San Gabriel Mountains, Spring Survey. Three of these species are shown above, with possible reasons they were Los Angeles County, California. not seen in 1981. CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: California broomrape (Orobanche californica subsp. Crossosoma 13(1): 5-10. feudgei), not seen every year, only appeared in late September, past the time Sawyer could Sawyer, W.E. 1985. “Competition for have observed it in 1981, since his survey ended on September 11. It is shown growing Pollination and Floral Diversity.” with Wright’s buckwheat (Eriogonum wrightii var. subscaposum). • San Gabriel linanthus Master’s thesis, California State Poly- (Linanthus concinnus), CRPR 1B.2, was found in 2012 on a highway cut on the north side technic University, Pomona. of the Angeles Crest Highway. • Peirson’s spring beauty (Claytonia lanceolata var. peirsonii), Sherry, R.A., et al. 2007. Divergence of CRPR 3.1, is an ephemeral herb that usually emerges right after snow melts, but only lasts reproductive phenology under cli- for about two weeks. It was seen for the first time in this region of the San Gabriel Mountains in 2012. All three photographs by Jane Tirrell. mate warming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104: 198-202. species (excluding grasses) that may ering phenology in this community Tooke, F., and N.H. Battey. 2010. Tem- have been present earlier but were is being affected by climate change. perate flowering phenology. Journal not listed due to Sawyer’s interest Our study was complicated by of Experimental Botany 61(11): 2853- in insect pollination. We found fire the dramatic change in the land- 2862. followers that appeared after the scape caused by the 2002 Curve US Forest Service, Pacific Southwest 2002 fire. There were tiny or ephem- Fire. To understand the effects of Region. Curve Fire 2002, http:// eral species, species that did not the fire on flowering phenology, ad- www.fs.fed.us/r5/rsl/projects/ flower every year, species found in ditional studies are needed, such as postfirecondition/2002/index.shtml less accessible areas or near the site recording flowering behavior of the #Curve (accessed October 2, 2010). boundary, and others which may same species in similar habitats in Western Regional Climate Center. have been new to the site. We also burned and unburned areas. While Monthly average temperature, Mt. Wilson No. 2, California. http:// found many non-natives (excluding we presently have no plans for fur- www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/ grasses) that were not reported as ther studies at Lily Spring, we will cliMAIN.pl?ca6006. Accessed Octo- being present earlier, and may have continue to monitor the plants in ber 1, 2012. appeared partly because of the fire the area. ——Monthly total precipitation, Big and also due to an increase in visi- Pines Park FC83B, CA. http://www. tors to the Angeles National Forest REFERENCES wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl? where Lily Spring is located. ca0779. Accessed October 1, 2012. Ahas, R., et al. 2002. Changes in Euro- pean spring phenology. International CONCLUSION Jane Tirrell, 714 Arden Road, Pasadena, Journal of Climatology 22: 1727- CA 91106, [email protected]; Walter 1738. Thirty years after the initial study Fidler, 124 Melrose Avenue, Monrovia, Dunnell, K.L., and S.E. Travers. 2011. by Sawyer, the plants in the Lily CA 91016, [email protected]; Shifts in the flowering phenology of Spring study site are thriving with the Northern Great Plains: Patterns Jane Strong, 317 Montechico Drive, little loss of species diversity. How- over 100 years. American Journal of Monterey Park, CA 91754, zelicaon@ ever, future surveys are needed at Botany 98(6): 935-945. yahoo.com; Graham Bothwell, 1710 regular intervals before we can de- Fitter, A.H., and R.S.R. Fitter. 2002. Knollwood Drive, Pasadena, CA 91103, termine definitively whether flow- Rapid changes in flowering time in [email protected]

VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA 9 The eastern Sierra Nevada is a land of extremes in climate and topography. Although the region has remained relatively pristine, it faces new challenges with climate change and invasive species encroachment. All photographs by the author unless otherwise noted. THE SPREAD OF CHEATGRASS INTO THE EASTERN SIERRA by Amy Concillo

[Author’s Note: Amy Concillo was a ent of the eastern Sierra Nevada es- suited to capitalize on these chang- recipient of an educational research carpment. It can differ by as much ing conditions due to their high rates grant from CNPS, which helped to as 25o F from the ridge tops to valley of seed dispersal and establishment. support the restoration component of floor and gives rise to a range of In the eastern Sierra Nevada, of her doctoral work.] different plant communities. Climate particular concern is the spread of change models predict that tempera- the invasive annual grass, Bromus he Sierra Nevada drops ture will increase significantly in the tectorum, commonly known as sharply along its eastern es- Sierra Nevada over the next cen- cheatgrass or downy brome. Al- carpment from peaks over tury, which is likely to cause species though ubiquitous throughout the 14,000 feet in elevation to to move to higher elevations. Inva- Great Basin, cheatgrass growth is theT Owens Valley 10,000 feet be- sive species may be particularly well- patchy at high elevation, most likely low, providing dramatic, breathtak- due to cold winter temperatures and ing views eastward to the White Snow fences have been used to manipulate deep snowpack (Chambers et al. Mountains. This extreme environ- snow depth and study the effects of climate 2007, Griffith and Loik 2010). ment has protected native plants and change on cheatgrass spread in the eastern Cheatgrass gains dominance Sierra Nevada. animals at upper elevations from dis- over native plants by increasing the turbances such as development, frequency of fire. It germinates in roads, traffic, and cattle grazing, leav- the fall if there is sufficient soil mois- ing ecosystems in a relatively pris- ture, overwinters as a seedling, com- tine condition. However, montane pletes its life cycle by early spring, regions face new challenges from and then dries out, thereby creating climate change and invasive species a fuel load ripe for ignition. Native (Pauchard 2009). bunchgrasses and shrubs are poor Temperature drops markedly competitors with cheatgrass at the along the steep topographic gradi- seedling stage, so more fire promotes

10 FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO.2, MAY 2013 more cheatgrass. Although cheat- grass exists in the eastern Sierra Ne- vada, it has not yet reached the den- sities necessary to transform the fire cycle. Its impacts have, therefore, been minimal in California com- pared to those in other parts of the Great Basin. But how might climate change affect its spread?

CHEATGRASS RANGE EXPANSION In the most dense cheatgrass infestations, native forb diversity is markedly reduced. Some species that are often missing from these sites include (LEFT TO RIGHT): desert paintbrush Changing temperatures due to (Castilleja angustifolia), Wilcox’s eriastrum (Eriastrum wilcoxii), and sandcorn (Toxico- climate change may affect plants scordion paniculatum). It is not yet clear whether cheatgrass invasion is leading to reduced directly by increasing (or decreas- biodiversity, or whether areas of high biodiversity are less likely to be invaded by cheatgrass. ing) the potential area where they could grow (due to physiological snow and rain events. Alden Griffith search plots (out of 54 plots total, limitations), or indirectly through and Michael Loik (2010) measured each two square meters in size), their effect on precipitation. In an cheatgrass population growth in re- cheatgrass cover is now over 50%. arid region like the Great Basin, pre- sponse to increased and decreased This is above the threshold (45%) at cipitation matters a lot! Total pre- snowpack. They used snow fences which fire danger reaches a maxi- cipitation is not the only critical fac- to create different snow pack depths mum in eastern Washington (Link tor—the type of precipitation, as to mimic the potential impacts of et al. 2006). Although the natural snow or rainfall, and timing are also climate change. They found that de- fire flash point for fuels is likely to important. creased snow was associated with differ between eastern California and Rainwater often falls during the decreased cheatgrass population Washington, this dramatic increase hotter times of the year due to mon- growth, which was attributed to ear- in cover is still alarming. soon rains, can evaporate quickly lier onset of drought. However, re- Coincident with higher cheat- from the dry soil surface, and pro- search at the same site with an ex- grass cover, we measured a decrease vides water primarily for shallow- perimental increase in springtime in species diversity (calculated with rooted species. On the other hand, rainfall suggests that a shift from both Shannon-Weiner and Simpson water from snowmelt percolates into snow to rain may be more likely to indices), although it is not yet clear the soil, recharges the groundwater, facilitate cheatgrass range expansion whether cheatgrass invasion is af- and provides a more consistent sup- at high elevation, depending on the fecting biodiversity or biodiversity ply that deep-rooted species are able timing of rainfall events (Concilio is affecting cheatgrass invasion. to tap into throughout the long, dry et al. 2013). Based on this data, we can expect summer. The dominant native Cheatgrass already appears to be increased impacts if these infesta- shrubs and bunchgrasses of the Great spreading at higher elevations. In tions are left unchecked. Based on Basin are perennial species that get 2000, Bruce Orr and Ann Howald current climatic conditions, cheat- most of their water from snowmelt. surveyed plant communities of the grass has not yet altered the fire cycle. A shift from snow to rain, likely with Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Consequently, there are still oppor- temperature increases, may favor Laboratory, located 10 miles south tunities for restoration of invaded short-lived annual plants, including of Mammoth Lakes, CA at about sites and conservation of uninvaded cheatgrass. Another consequence of 6,500 feet in elevation. They de- sites in the eastern Sierra Nevada. increasing temperature will be a shift scribed cheatgrass as being “occa- toward earlier snowmelt dates, which sional in disturbed areas.” We have could mean prolonged drought for been monitoring the plant commu- OPPORTUNITIES FOR the area. Coincident with these nity at the same site in permanent CHEATGRASS CONTROL changes, we expect to see shifts in plots since 2007 and found a 150% plant community composition. increase in cheatgrass cover over the For widespread invasive weeds Recent research suggests that last five years (Concilio and Loik such as cheatgrass, control can be cheatgrass expansion at high eleva- forthcoming). incredibly costly. Therefore contain- tion may depend on the timing of In the five most disturbed re- ment—limiting the invasion to a

VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA 11 WHAT IS CHEATGRASS? Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) originated in south- ern Europe and adjacent regions of Asia and Af- rica, and was introduced to the US in the mid- 1800s, probably through ballast water from ships and contaminated grain seed. It is now present in most states, but is particularly problematic in the Intermountain West (between the Rocky Moun- tains on the east and the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada on the west) where it is the dominant annual grass on sagebrush rangelands. Cheatgrass At upper elevations in the eastern Sierra germinates early and grows rapidly, depletes soil Nevada, cheatgrass only exists along road- moisture down to low levels, and can outcompete sides (as shown here) and in other native plants at the seedling stage. It dies each year in the spring, disturbed areas likely because its growth and spread are limited by cold winter leaving a carpet-like cover of dry grass ripe for ignition. temperatures and deep snowpack. These Historically, sagebrush ecosystems of the Intermountain West are infestations are prime candidates for estimated to have experienced fire at intervals of about 50 to 300 control measures that could reduce spread years. However, where cheatgrass cover is dense, fire frequency can to adjacent sites. decrease to as little as two to three years, and because cheatgrass is so competitive at the seedling stage, it can easily come to dominate the core area and eradicating outlier post-fire plant community. patches to stop its spread—may be a In addition to its impacts on native plant communities, cheatgrass better option. In the western Sierra also increases costs of fire fighting, decreases the abundance of Nevada, the California Department important forage species, and its awns can penetrate an animal’s skin of Food and Agriculture and part- and cause painful abscesses. It is a prolific seed producer with a ner agencies are using this strategy potential output of more than 300 seeds per single individual, and to contain the spread of yellow can build up large soil seed banks. Once dominant, cheatgrass is very starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) at difficult to control. the leading edge of its invaded range. (For more information, see “Yellow Cheatgrass when green, and after it has dried out by summer. Photographs by Star Thistle Leading Edge Program,” Jason Willand (TOP) and Steve Dewey, Utah State University, Bugwood.org (BOTTOM). http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/ipc/ ystmapping/ystmapping_hp.htm.) Similarly, cheatgrass infestations at on how to control or eradicate these chemical weed control methods for high elevation along the eastern Si- types of infestations in the Mammoth reducing cheatgrass infestations at erra Nevada could be prime candi- Lakes region (from 6,500 to 8,000 high elevation, including soil solar- dates for this type of management. feet). Although herbicides are the ization, hand pulling, mulching, and Above about 7,000 feet in eleva- most common approach for control- reseeding native forbs and bunch- tion, cheatgrass occurs only along ling small patches of invasive weeds grasses. roadsides and other disturbed areas such as cheatgrass, it is not always Results from this work were whereas native sagebrush steppe possible to do so for regulatory, eco- promising. Soil solarization and habitat is still relatively pristine. My nomic, or social reasons. I experi- mulching dramatically reduced (by dissertation research focused in part mented with non-technical, non- 99%), and sometimes eliminated,

Soil solarization is one method that has been tested to reduce or eradicate cheatgrass patches. The method involves saturating the soil (left) and covering the area with an airtight tarp (middle) during the hot summer months. The soil heats up to such a degree that nearly the entire seed bank is killed (right). The area would have to be revegetated with native species to avoid reinfestation by cheatgrass.

12 FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO.2, MAY 2013 cheatgrass from plots with control measures as soon just a single treatment. as they spot incipient in- The drawback was that festations. This need will these two methods were become increasingly non-specific and also urgent as new challenges killed native forbs; follow- arise from climate up revegetation with na- change and invasive spe- tive plants would be nec- cies encroachment into essary. Unfortunately, our new areas. reseeding trials were com- pletely ineffective, likely REFERENCES due to dry conditions, and so we now think direct The 2010 Constantia Fire that burned 1,369 acres in Long Valley, Chambers, J.C., et al. California very likely started in cheatgrass. Fighting such fires drains 2007. What makes Great planting of seedling plugs public coffers. Twelve hand crews, seven engines, one dozer, three Basin sagebrush ecosys- would be preferable. water tenders, seven helicopters, and a crew of 452 firefighters were Although tedious and involved. Photograph by Nolan Preece, www.nolanpreece.net. tems invasible by Bromus time consuming, hand tectorum? Ecological Mono- pulling was also effective at dra- (For more information, see http:// graphs 77:117-145. Concilio, A.L. 2012. Bromus tectorum matically reducing cheatgrass cover www.fs.fed.us/rm/grassland- invasion and global change: Likeli- (by 94% after just 2 years) without shrubland-desert/research/projects/ hood of spread and feasibility of con- any negative effects on native plants. cheatgrass-biocontrol/.) trol. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Each of these techniques could be California, Santa Cruz, CA. used with volunteer groups and Concilio, A.L., and M.E. Loik. Forth- would greatly reduce costs. Since CHALLENGES TO coming. Elevated nitrogen effects on funding for invasive plant removal CONSERVATION Bromus tectorum dominance and na- is often not available, this could tive plant diversity in an arid, mon- be a feasible approach for small Although opportunities exist to tane ecosystem. Applied Vegetation infestations. reduce the spread of cheatgrass, their Science. However, cheatgrass also exists practical implementation is ham- Concilio, A.L., M.E. Loik, and J. as low-density widespread infesta- pered by a host of economic, regula- Belnap. 2013. Global change effects on Bromus tectorum L. (Poaceae) at tions in the region (at about 4,000 tory, and cultural barriers (see its high-elevation range margin. Glo- to 7,000 feet). In this case, complete Concilio 2012 for a complete dis- bal Change Biology 19:161-172. removal would be impractical, but a cussion). Land managers at the BLM Griffith, A.B., and M.E. Loik. 2010. Ef- reduction in cheatgrass fuel loads and US Forest Service are faced with fects of climate and snow depth on could help reduce its impact and tightening budgets, and rely on vol- Bromus tectorum population dynam- prevent the transition to a grass-fire unteer support to help with weed ics at high elevation. Oecologia 164: cycle. One way to manage fuel loads control work. These factors make it 821-832. is through timed grazing. The difficult to use methods that require Link, S.O., et al. 2006. Bromus tectorum Bishop, CA Bureau of Land Man- technical training. State agencies and cover mapping and fire risk. Inter- agement (BLM) field office con- the Weed Management Areas also national Journal of Wildland Fire ducted an experiment at two sites struggle to maintain adequate fund- 15:113-119. near Coleville, CA, to determine ing for weed control projects, as there Orr, B.K., and A.M. Howald. 2000. A Flora of Valentine Eastern Sierra Re- whether or not grazing sheep in the is no stable long-term source of fund- serve. Part II. Sierra Nevada Aquatic early spring would effectively reduce ing that has been allocated toward Research Laboratory. University of cheatgrass biomass and conse- weed control. The resources that do California, Santa Barbara, CA. quently its capacity for carrying fire. exist are prioritized for those species Pauchard, A., et al. 2009. Ain’t no At one site, grazing led to a 30% on state or federal noxious weed lists mountain high enough: Plant inva- reduction in fine fuel loads (pounds (which are mainly agricultural pests sions reaching new elevations. Fron- per acre), but no difference was mea- and exclude cheatgrass). tiers in Ecology and the Environment sured at the other site. Other re- Of course these issues are not 7: 479-486. searchers have been experimenting unique to the eastern Sierra Nevada, with a fungus that specifically tar- nor are they unique to cheatgrass. Amy Concilio, The Institute for Arctic gets and kills cheatgrass seeds, which Invasive species control in Califor- and Alpine Research, 1560 30th Street, could be an effective way to reduce nia needs stable sources of funding University of Colorado, Boulder, CO or maintain low cheatgrass density. and trained personnel to implement 80303, [email protected]

VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA 13 Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana) on north facing slope of Santa Rosa Island, at top of the main grove above Becher’s Bay, 2013. Photograph by Sangeet Khalsa. PARRY AND THE PINES by Elizabeth Adelman

n his first visit to Cali- (1823–1890) discovered a new pine Mississippi, and camping in parched fornia in 1850 as a just north of San Diego. After that deserts—all to hunt plants. Later he botanist on the US- trip he went about crossing the returned time and again to the Pa- Mexican Boundary Plain’s vast prairies, clambering up cific coast’s “Land of Wonders” (En- OSurvey, Charles Christopher Parry every mountain range west of the gelmann 1874).

14 FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO.2, MAY 2013 With his devotion to finding Parry hunted plants and studied the plants in the untamed wilderness, neighboring Yuma Indians. He sent one might be baffled by Parry’s en- his plant collections with Whipple, thusiasm for westward expansion. destined for Torrey in New York, In his younger years, Parry envi- but the specimens never arrived. His sioned the West as a place for com- collections may have been destroyed merce to develop natural resources. by fire while in Panama. (Before the He later came to see the need to construction of the Panama Canal, protect vanishing natural resources, travel between the Atlantic to the including the Torrey pine. Pacific meant sailing to Panama, crossing the isthmus overland, then PARRY’S BACKGROUND Charles Christopher Parry. Image courtesy waiting for another sailboat, which of the University and Jepson Herbaria, sometimes took months.) Born in Gloucestershire, En- University of California, Berkeley. Parry returned to San Diego from gland, and then raised in upstate the Sonoran Desert. While he waited New York, Parry attended Union US ROLE IN US-MEXICAN for the Survey to continue, never College in Schenectady, New York. BOUNDARY SURVEY content to sit, he hunted plants for a Parry’s enthusiasm for plants started year, searching north to Monterey, during medical school at Columbia Under the Treaty of Guadalupe- San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Santa College in New York where Dr. John Hidalgo at the end of the Mexican- Barbara, San Juan Bautista, and then Torrey taught. Torrey (1796–1873), American war, Mexico formally back again. His friend, entomologist a physician by training and a bota- ceded 525,000 square miles of John LeConte, told him about a cu- nist by avocation and profession, Mexico to the US, and relinquished rious pine just north of San Diego. later became one of America’s fore- all claims to Texas for another Parry found the pine and identified most taxonomists, internationally 389,166 square miles, for a total of it as a new species which he named regarded scholars, and promoters of 914,166 square miles. The Treaty Torrey’s pine (Pinus torreyana subsp. botany. Parry described Torrey as ordered surveyors to designate the torreyana). Parry wrote: “a good friend whose considerable boundary line from San Diego to A new species of pine is peculiar kindness for many years has en- the mouth of the Rio Bravo del to the district . . . . It occu- deared him to me like a father . . . ” Norte at the Gulf of Mexico. Parry pies an arid tract near the For millennia plants made up the eagerly joined as a botanist to the ocean beach, about twelve world’s medicine, so many physi- US-Mexican Boundary Survey. cians were also botanists. Parry stayed with what was left RIGHT: Torrey pine seed cone from After medical school, Parry of the Survey team after many aban- Forest Trees of the Pacific Slope moved to Davenport, Iowa to start doned it to mine for gold. He joined by George B. Sudworth. USDA, 1907. BELOW: Seed cones from a a medical practice, but quit only Lieutenant Emil Whipple on the Torrey pine, Santa Rosa Island, California, months later to pursue his first love, most dangerous route across the Cali- 2007. Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia botany. Initially, he worked on gov- fornia desert, from San Diego to the Commons. ernment surveys. The US conducted junction of the Gila and Colorado military surveys to locate boundaries, Rivers. Temperatures hit 120º F. By and to find routes for new roads, night they crossed the desert, “bar- canals, and railroads in the vast, un- ren and desolate in the extreme,” as developed areas of the country. Sci- Parry described it. Dead animals lay entists, including botanists, often in and near the salty water at Carrizo took part in the surveys to find, col- Creek. The dehydrated men and lect, and catalog the vegetation. horses trudged on further without Parry first worked as a botanist water. They desperately dug for wa- on a federal survey of central Iowa ter with no success. Unexpectedly, in 1847. Then, as the botanist for storm clouds appeared in the east- the Northwest Territory Survey, he ern sky. After a maelstrom of sand collected plants in Minnesota and hit with gale force, rain poured down, Wisconsin, and authored a highly turning to hail and then floods. acclaimed report on the plants of They reached the Colorado River the Territory that identified and 20 days after leaving San Diego. For described 727 taxa. three months they camped, and

VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA 15 CHARLES CHRISTOPHER PARRY’S RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER WELL-KNOWN US BOTANISTS

George Engelmann (1809–1884) sonian Institution (1904–1915). Greene and Parry be- Shortly after he moved to Iowa, Parry travelled to St. came very close personal friends. Parry, 20 years older Louis to meet a giant in US botanical chronicles, than Greene, sometimes whimsically referred to Greene George Engelmann, and they soon became friends as “son.” and collaborators. Born and educated in Ger- John Gill Lemmon many, Engelmann immi- (1832–1908) grated to the St. Louis Lemmon called himself area where he set up a an “amateur botanist, medical practice and en- collector in natural his- gaged in his passion, tory, and dealer in botany. He inspired and seeds, bulbs, and roots mentored others to of rare California search out plants, which plants.” He started col- he then identified or sent lecting plants while re- on to Asa Gray at Harvard cuperating in California for identification. Engel- John Gill Lemmon. Image cour- after his release from a mann specialized in cacti tesy of the University and Jepson Confederate prisoner- and conifers of the West Herbaria, University of California, of-war camp, and dis- Berkeley. and Southwest. To rem- covered many new spe- edy Engelmann’s despon- cies in California and Arizona. Lemmon and his wife, dency after the death of Sara Plummer Lemmon, also a plant collector, nick- his wife, Parry invited George Englemann. Image named one another “Lemmonia” and “Amabilis.” They him to go botanizing in courtesy of the Missouri became very close personal friends of the Parrys. Botanical Garden Archives. California on a trip.

Edward Lee Greene (1843–1915) John Muir (1838–1914) Greene collected plants during his service in the Author, botanist, consummate advocate for nature, and Thirteenth Wisconsin infantry of the Union Army. “patron saint of the American wilderness,” John Muir Moving to Colorado, where he first met Parry, he had more popular influence on preservation than possi- explored the Rocky Mountains, then the Southwest bly any other American. He helped create Yosemite and Mexico before migrating to Berkeley as an Epis- Valley National Park and helped save Sequoia National copal priest and botanist. He served for a couple of Park. His writings and speeches inspired untold num- years as curator of the herbarium bers of people. Muir founded the Sierra Club, which at California Academy of Sciences, continues the fight to preserve nature today. Before but then left in 1855 to become UC phones and before the Internet, people wrote letters. Berkeley’s first professor of botany. America’s two most respected scholarly botanists of the He resigned his professorship at day, Harvard University’s Asa Gray and Columbia Berkeley after a dispute with the University’s John Torrey, each wrote letters to their University’s president over nomen- friend John Muir describing visits with Parry in a rickety clature reform, and moved to cabin in the Colorado Rockies, painting a scene that Catholic University in Washington Muir would prize. Once in California, Parry wrote to (1895–1904). Later he worked as Muir and invited him to lunch. They became close botanical associate at the Smith- personal friends and occasionally stayed at each other’s homes. Muir penned Parry’s eulogy in a letter to mutual Edward Lee Greene. Image courtesy of the Hunt Institute for Botanical Docu- friends. “It seems as if all the good flower people, at once mentation, Carnegie Mellon University, great and good, have died now that Parry has gone . . . ” Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Muir 1890).

16 FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO.2, MAY 2013 miles north of San Diego, at the entrance to Soledad Valley. In this locality (the only one in which it Edward Palmer (1821–1911) has been found) it forms a small-sized tree, with As the US Department of Agriculture’s botanist, Parry rather open foliage. It is particularly distinguished worked with Edward Palmer, who collected plants for by its long fascicles of leaves, which are in fives, the Department. Malaria and its rather ponderous cones. This species . . . I nearly killed Palmer more have ventured to designate, in compliment to a than once, but being an distinguished American botanist, as Pinus Torrey- obsessive collector, he ana (Torrey 1859). never ceased collecting. Dr. Torrey undertook the monumental task of Included among his identifying all of the plants that had been collected “finds” were an estimated during the Survey and writing a report. Parry 1,200 new species of authored the introduction to the report by de- plants, as well as animals, scribing the area’s ecosystems. The Report of the insects, corals, mollusks, Botany, as it was titled, “must be ranked as the newspaper clippings, most important publication of the kind that has coins, Indian artifacts, ever appeared,” declared Asa Gray. Indian skeletons, and Parry returned to Davenport, Iowa where he Edward Palmer. Image courtesy chips off old buildings. He of the National Anthropolog- remained for the next six years and retired from collected in Paraguay, ical Archives, Smithsonian Insti- botany. During the hiatus he married, had a daugh- Mexico, and much of the tution. ter, and both wife and daughter died. He remar- US, including all parts of ried a widow, Emily Preston, nicknaming her California. He was also a botanist for the Geological “Goodness.” Parry then returned to the field and Survey of California. collected in the Colorado Rockies on four trips, earning him the sobriquet “King of Colorado Samuel Bonsall Parish (1838–1928) Botany.” William Fletcher Parish (1840–1918) These two brothers RETURN TO CALIFORNIA served in the Union Army, mined in Utah The dream of a transcontinental railroad link- and Arizona, and then ing the Atlantic to the Pacific became a national settled down to make a obsession. To construct this railroad required find- vineyard and orchard ing a route. Parry returned to California as bota- near the banks of the nist on the Kansas Pacific Railroad Survey. Start- Santa Ana River in San ing at Needles, the survey party crossed the Sierra Bernardino. Curiosity Nevada at Tehachapi Pass, and then marched about local flora led through the Tulare and San Joaquin Valleys to San them to Lemmon who, Francisco. always in need of After a stint as the US Department of Agricul- money, charged them ture’s first botanist and collecting plants in Wyo- 50 cents (a sizeable sum ming and Utah, Parry opined that he might “drift back then) for each on to California sometime” but not to botanize in plant name he pointed “that well worked field” (Parry 1874). out in their flower gar- After the transcontinental railroad was com- Samuel Bonsall Parish. Image cour- den. The brothers then pleted, Parry obtained free railroad passes that tesy of the University and Jepson enabled him and Mrs. Parry to make several trips Herbaria Archives, University of met Parry, who freely California, Berkeley. introduced them to na- to California and also spend a few years there. tive plants. Enthusias- During the winter of 1875 in San Bernardino, tically they sought out native plants in Southern Cali- Parry remarked how very pleased he was having fornia, built up a large botany library and herbarium, access both to the mountains by lumber roads and collected professionally for herbaria and arboreta, wrote to the desert by railroad. He decided thereafter for local journals, and advised Willis Jepson. Both broth- that California was “where his chief [botanical] ers were devoted to Parry. interest lies . . . ” (Parry 1885). Botanists roamed and collected together, stud- ied specimens together, and when they weren’t

VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA 17 Torrey pine grove in Channel Islands National Park, Santa Rosa Island. Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. together, wrote each other with re- little time to look. Parry preferred seums, and private collectors pur- ports of where they were and what “to select a good location, rather chased them. His specimens were they were doing. Parry befriended varied, but not too extensive and sought after, because they contained some of the plant powerhouses of work it up thoroughly.” Parry liked all the parts of each plant, rendering the day. He explored and collected his usual outfit of a tent and pickax them more valuable. Acquiring all with Edward Palmer, John Gill rather than the “big dinners and wine the plant parts was an ambitious Lemmon, Edward Lee Greene, John sipping, at fashionable hotels” (Parry undertaking, however, and required Muir, the Parish brothers, and Dr. 1881). a collector to return to each location George Engelmann. (See sidebar on Undoubtedly Parry encountered to harvest both flower and fruit. For pages 16 and 17.) He spent weeks hardships tramping outdoors in the Parry this was a labor of love, and he and sometimes months studying mountains, valleys, and deserts of is known to have valued the unin- plant specimens in the herbarium at California, but he looked on the terrupted time he spent in his “den” the California Academy of Sciences bright side of things. In the Mojave engaging in all these tasks. in San Francisco. He enjoyed rela- Desert one February he camped on He also collected seeds and bulbs tionships nurtured there and de- ice an inch thick. Instead of com- to sell. In some cases this required spaired when conflicts arose between plaining, he reasoned that the ice inordinate patience and stamina, botanists. would be water for the plants in such as when he was “awfully busy Parry valued collecting in pairs spring. Parry’s enthusiasm for bota- watching seeds of conifer, almost and in ensembles but sometimes he nizing seemed limitless, and he afraid to sleep lest they should open preferred going it alone. When trav- trekked over all parts of California and fall out” (Parry 1872). Some of eling with Arnold Arboretum’s in search of new plants. (Some of the trees that populated the new Charles Sprague Sargent and George his discoveries are listed in Table 1.) Stanford University in the 1880s Engelmann, he engineered “an ami- Parry dried, pressed, and labeled came from Parry’s seeds, acquired able arrangement for separation,” all the plants he collected, with help by Leland Stanford, founder of the feeling that Sargent rushed, leaving from Mrs. Parry, and herbaria, mu- university.

18 FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO.2, MAY 2013 SAVING THE TORREY PINES TABLE 1. A SAMPLE OF PLANTS DISCOVERED Parry returned to San Diego in BY C.C. PARRY IN CALIFORNIA. 1883 and revisited the Torrey pines that he had discovered 33 years ear- Napa Range near Calistoga: lier. He knew this was the rarest Whiteleaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita) pine in America and saw that it was Wavyleaf ceanothus (Ceanothus foliosus) in jeopardy of extinction due to de- Parry ceanothus (Ceanothus parryi) velopment pressures and vandalism. Monterey County: Parry sounded the alarm and wrote Parry’s mallow (Eremalche parryi) a historical and scientific account of San Bernardino Mountains: the pines, explaining the importance Parry’s blue-eyed Mary (Collinsia parryi) of preserving them. He then pre- Desert East of San Bernardino: sented it to the San Diego Society of Parry’s beargrass (Nolina parryi) Natural History. In 1885 the San San Diego Area: Diego County Board of Supervisors California barrel cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus) ordered that signs be posted offer- Parry’s phacelia (Phacelia parryi) ing a $100 reward for information leading to the arrest of Torrey pine San Gorgonio Pass: vandals. Then in 1888, Parry’s friend Lemon lily (Lilium parryi) J.G. Lemmon urged more ordinances San Felipe Area: be enacted to protect the trees. Fi- Engelmann’s hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii) nally in 1899,’after more trees had been cut, the City of San Diego es- tablished a public park on more than grating birds. Parry is honored by August 2, 1880, February 18, 1881, 350 acres where many of the Torrey the Parry Grove Trail at the Reserve. John and Sarah Lemmon Papers. pines were located. The pine is still the rarest in Amer- University and Jepson Herbaria Ar- Although Parry died the follow- ica. More details about the story can chives, University of California, Ber- ing year, the work he had started to be found at www.torreypine.org/his- keley, CA. protect the Torrey pines continued. tory/history.html. Parry, C.C. Letters to E.L. Greene, Sep- tember 16, 1872, February 26, 1874, Around 1910 philanthropist Ellen and November 11, 1885. Copied, Browning Scripps bought more land REFERENCES validated, and arranged by Willis adjacent to the park to prevent pro- Linn Jepson, 1929. University and posed development. She donated it Beidleman, R.G. 2006. California’s Jepson Herbaria Archives, University to San Diego under the stipulation Frontier Naturalists. University of of California, Berkeley, CA. that it became part of the park. In California Press, Berkeley, CA. Preston, C.H. 1893. Biographical 1924 the City added more land to Parry, C.C. 1870. Botany of the region sketch of Dr. C.C. Parry. the park, increasing the area to al- along the route of the Kansas Pacific Proceedings of the Davenport Academy most 1,000 acres, again with the in- Railway, through Kansas, Colorado, of Science 6: 35-45. New Mexico, Arizona, and Califor- tention of protecting the Torrey Rodgers, A.D. III. 1942. John Torrey, A nia. In New Tracks in North America, Story of North American Botany. pines. In the 1950s, following a spe- 2d. ed., ed. W.A. Bell, 521-533. Princeton University Press, Prince- cial city election, the City turned Chapman & Hall, London. ton, NJ. park ownership over to the State, Engelmann, G. George Engelmann to Torrey, John. 1859. Report on the United which then established it as a state C.C. Parry, February 5, 1874. Univer- States and Mexican Boundary Survey. reserve. The new status afforded it sity and Jepson Herbaria Archives, Vol. II. C. Wendell, Washington, DC. greater legal authority to protect the University of California, Berkeley, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, endangered trees. CA. www.torreypine.org Torrey Pines State Natural Re- Parry, C.C. 1881-1888. Historic Letters Weber, W. 1997. The King of Colorado serve remains today as one of the of C.C. Parry. Archives of the Gray Botany Charles Christopher Parry, Herbarium, Harvard University, Cam- wildest stretches of land on the 1823-1890. University Press of Colo- bridge, MA. rado, Niwot, CO. Southern California coast, and en- Muir, J. Letter to General and Mrs. compasses 2,000 acres of chaparral, Anne Bidwell, April 19, 1890, the the rare and elegant Torrey pines, Bancroft Library, University of Cali- Elizabeth Adelman, Heritage Flower miles of unspoiled beaches, and a fornia, Berkeley, CA. Farm, 33725 County Road L, Mukwo- lagoon that is vital habitat for mi- Parry, C.C. C.C. Parry to J.G. Lemmon, nago, WI 53149, [email protected]

VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA 19 View of the author’s garden in May with a yellow form of naked buckwheat (Eriogonum nudum ‘Ella Nelson’s Yellow’) in profuse bloom. Note the slope of the garden, which provides good drainage, a requirement of most buckwheats. All photographs by the author. THE GARDEN INTRODUCTION OF ERIOGONUM NUDUM ‘ELLA NELSON’S YELLOW’ by Eric Nelson

riogonum nudum ‘Ella Nelson’s does the plant easily survive harsh I have dedicated the horticul- Yellow’ is a seed strain I have summer conditions without water, tural use of this naked buckwheat to named and introduced but it continues to bloom over a my late grandmother, Ella Nelson, through California Flora long period of time. who was a lover of plants and an ENursery in Sonoma County. The Plants produced from this seed avid gardener well into her nineties. species is commonly known as na- strain have performed admirably in She and my grandfather, Elmer ked or nude buckwheat. It is a wide- my relatively low-elevation Sonoma Nelson, helped raise me and pro- spread and drought-tolerant Cali- County garden when afforded abun- vided my initial exposure to the gar- fornia native perennial. ‘Ella Nelson’s dant sun and well-drained soil. This den use of native plants at a young Yellow’ naked buckwheat features seed strain is from a population age. Their El Cerrito, California sulfur-yellow pom-pom flower clus- located near the Trinity-Humboldt backyard contained many plants re- ters atop several naked stems that County border in northwest Cali- flective of the northwestern Califor- reach up to three feet tall. Not only fornia. nia campgrounds they visited every

20 FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO.2, MAY 2013 summer. The focal point of the yard tering. Planting in loose hillside soil was provided by two large redwood or atop slight mounds will provide trees propagated from cuttings by optimal conditions for this buck- my grandfather. Beneath the shade wheat. Groupings of at least three of these trees, my grandmother plants located about one foot apart planted sword fern and redwood will enhance the flower display. oxalis. My grandmother remained a New plants in the garden should garden enthusiast for nearly the en- only need periodic watering until es- tire 72 years she lived in her East tablished. Established plants require Bay home. In 2008, at the age of 97, little or no summer water. Too much she moved to Santa Rosa. water can weaken or kill the plant. Leaves tend to shrivel during the hot- PLANT DESCRIPTION test months of summer, particularly on those plants receiving maximum This buckwheat’s bright yellow flower The one- to two-inch spooned- sun. The basal clump of leaves will clusters have an airy appearance. shaped gray-green leaves of ‘Ella rejuvenate during the winter. Nelson’s Yellow’ naked buckwheat The plant requires little, if any, ing of the three color forms of naked form a basal mound six to ten inches maintenance. Brown stems and buckwheat I have grown. However, wide. The non-descript foliage be- flower heads can be removed to im- there are likely other forms of Erio- lies the large rootstock that extends prove the appearance of the plant as gonum nudum to be discovered in deep into the ground below it. The the dry season wears on. Although the wild which will prove welcome moisture-conserving foliage and the this buckwheat is a relatively short- additions to native plant gardens. tough, moisture-seeking roots com- lived perennial, volunteer seedlings bine to allow the plant’s survival are common on well-drained bare through the extreme drought condi- ground if the spent flower heads are GARDENING FOR A tions in the open gravelly areas where allowed to remain on the plant. WARMING CLIMATE the plant tends to make its home. Gardeners should take special As spring arrives, several one- to note that many buckwheats readily As climate conditions continue three-foot tall naked stems appear. hybridize. To preserve and protect to become warmer and drier, the Beginning around mid-May, a profu- local genetic strains, ‘Ella Nelson’s many species of available native sion of bright sulfur-yellow flower Yellow’ should not be planted in the buckwheats, including the seldom- clusters adorn the tips of the plant’s vicinity of wild populations of naked used Eriogonum nudum, can provide green stems. Once the heat of sum- buckwheat (Eriogonum nudum) or a wide array of very drought toler- mer intensifies and lingers, most of other hybrid-compatible buckwheats ant and attractive subjects for the the spring flowers dry to a golden such as seaside buckwheat (E. lati- water-wise garden. Lester Rowntree brown. However, there is some spo- folium) and red-flowered buckwheat (1879–1979), pioneering California radic bloom during the later summer (E. grande var. rubescens). botanist, adventurer, writer, and lec- months when other native plant color turer, wrote the following about a is lacking in the garden. Another yellow form of Eriogonum nudum in show of blooms, albeit not nearly as OTHER NAKED her book Hardy Californians: A striking as the spring show, may ap- BUCKWHEATS Woman’s Life With Native Plants: pear when the early fall heat fades. “This grows in northern California These sparser blooms may last deep Other naked buckwheat color and covers bare banks of sandy soil into the fall. As with all buckwheats, selections I have grown in my gar- with its dark green, three-foot stems ‘Ella Nelson’s Yellow’ attracts many den have proved equally as hardy as and branching sprays of light or pollinators and other beneficial in- the yellow form, but have not come bright yellow flowers. This buck- sects, and therefore is also a terrific close to providing the same color wheat should make a hit with gar- plant for a habitat garden. intensity. A white form from Sonoma deners.” The colorful Eriogonum nu- County looked interesting in the dum ‘Ella Nelson’s Yellow’ has many CULTURE light of a full moon. A pink form fine qualities that will attract gar- from Lake County approached its deners to the use of this beautiful Like most buckwheats, Eriogo- bloom period with a flush of deep and hardy buckwheat species. num nudum needs well-drained soil red, but flower clusters opened to a and abundant sun, although it can light dusty pink. No garden-worthy Eric Nelson, 5619 Monte Verde Dr., tolerate light shade and periodic wa- offspring arose from the crossbreed- Santa Rosa, CA 95409, [email protected]

VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA 21 CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE, THESE TWO PAGES: Cover with embossed emblem of the California Geological Survey, title page of Volume 1, and book spines, all from the first flora of California. THE BOTANY OF CALIFORNIA: CALIFORNIA’S FIRST FLORA by James P. Smith, Jr.

[Editor’s Note: This is a botanical com- donations and book sales to sub- new phase with the arrival of explor- panion piece to a historically oriented scribers. The books are now rare ers and scientific parties from France, article on the same subject that ap- and rather expensive in the out-of- Spain, and Russia. In 1786, Jean- peared in Fremontia 40.1/40.2, Janu- print market, but readily available Nicolas Colligon of the Jardin du Roi ary and May 2012.] in reprint editions. was a botanist on the La Pérouse expedition to the South Seas. He sent magine two books bound in green three seed packets back to France with embossed gold leaf images EARLY BOTANICAL from his ten days of botanizing at on their covers. The spines bear EXPLORATION OF Monterey. They yielded plants of a the words “Geological Survey of CALIFORNIA new species, described by Jean- ICalifornia Botany, Vol. I and Vol Baptiste Lamarck as Abronia umbel- II.” Together they number 1,187 Let’s put this flora in some con- lata (pink sand verbena). It would be pages with detailed descriptions of text. Native Americans had named the first new plant described from about 3,400 plants. This work is the and classified California plants for west of the Mississippi River. first comprehensive flora of Califor- thousands of years. Their activities In September 1791, the Descu- nia. Volume I, written by William had a very practical basis—some bierta, commanded by Alessandro Henry Brewer, Sereno Watson, and plants were edible, others were not; Malaspina landed at Monterey Bay. Asa Gray, was published in 1876. A some were poisonous, while others On board were two botanists, Luis second edition, with no substantive had curative powers. Some of that Née and Thaddeus Haenke; the lat- changes, appeared in 1880, along knowledge has come down to us ter would make the first scientific with Volume II, authored solely by through oral tradition, but much of collections of western North Ameri- Watson. The publication of this first it has been lost. can plants. By this I mean pressed flora was made possible by private The study of our flora entered a and dried plant specimens that

22 FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO.2, MAY 2013 would be deposited in a herbarium. these works provide specimen-based He collected a “red cypress,” what accounts, neither was intended nor we now call coast redwood (Sequoia should be seen as comprehensive. sempervirens). Haekne’s plants were initially described and published by Karel Presl (1825–1835). CALIFORNIA GEOLOGICAL In 1816, the Rurick, under the SURVEY AND ITS CHARGE command of Otto von Kotzebue, en- tered San Francisco Bay. On board A critical event in our story oc- were Adelbert Ludwig von Chamisso curred in 1860. The California leg- and Johann Friedrich Eschscholtz. islature created an Office of State Von Chamisso would name one of Geologist, named Joseph Dwight the plants they found, Eschscholzia Whitney to fill the position, and then californica (California poppy), and authorized a geological survey to in- in 1903 it would become our offi- clude a “full and scientific descrip- cial state flower. In the next few tion of its botanical productions.” decades, numerous botanists from Whitney chose William Henry around the world and from the east- 1828 voyage of H.M.S. Blossom, Brewer to be chief botanist. They ern United States came to study and under the command of Captain estimated that the flora of California collect the flora of the Pacific coast. Frederick Beechey. It contained two would contain about 2,000 plants, Archibald Menzies, David Douglas, catalogues of California plants, the and that identifying and describing Thomas Coulter, Thomas Nuttall, first reporting 51 families, 128 gen- them could take up to two years. William Gambel, Charles Geyer, era, and 183 species. In 1840–1841 That number, by the way, was con- Karl Hartweg, Charles C. Parry, John they published a supplement to the siderably higher than other estimates Jeffrey, George Engelman, John California flora. Hundreds of plants of the time. Frémont, John Torrey, and Asa Gray were listed. For the most part, these Much of the actual naming of are names familiar to students of plants were not collected by Lay and the specimens was done by Asa Gray botanical history. Every one of them Collie, but by David Douglas, at Harvard University. Major con- is honored in the scientific names of Archibald Menzies, and others. To tributions were made by George California plants. They collected add to the confusion, some of the Engelmann (oaks, pines, dodders, thousands of specimens that were plants they list were not collected in and mistletoes), Michael S. Bebb often sent to world-renowned plant California, but from as far away as (willows), Daniel Eaton (ferns and taxonomists at Harvard, Kew, Paris, present day Wyoming. mosses), and George Thurber and Berlin for determination or de- The account of the United States (grasses). Brewer’s collections of scription as a new genus, species, or Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842, 1860 to 1864, along with those of variety. under the command of Charles Henry Bolander from the Sierra Ne- What was missing was some way Wilkes, contains a major inventory vada and the northern Coast Ranges, of organizing this knowledge and of the vascular plants of the Wash- would later form the basis of the making it available to the scientific ington Territory, Oregon, and Cali- University Herbarium at Berkeley, community and to the public. Her- fornia written by John Torrey founded in 1895. barium specimens of California (1874). He listed 78 families, 249 plants had been made, but almost genera, and 347 species as occur- all of them resided in collections ring in California. Although both of THE FORMAT OF THE back east or in Europe. There were BOTANY OF CALIFORNIA dairies, collection notes, and frag- mentary lists of collections in scien- When we page through these two tific journals, but nothing that pur- volumes, what do we find? They are ported to be even a rudimentary flora in English. Be grateful. Slightly older of California. works were written in Latin, the lan- The most extensive compilation guage of science and scholarship of to date had been published by Will- the period. Although the commen- iam J. Hooker and G. Arnott Walker tary in the Torrey (1874) flora is in in their account of the plants col- English, all of the plant descriptions lected by Tradescant Lay and are in Latin. A typical page in the Alexander Collie during the 1825– Botany of California is very similar

VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA 23 While many family concepts have changed little, if any, since the publication of the Botany of California, others have undergone dramatic revisions. For example, the geranium family (Geraniaceae) of 1800 includes many species that we now place in the touch-me-not family (Balsaminaceae), meadow foam family (Limnanthaceae), nasturtium family (Tropaeolaceae), and sorrel family (Oxalidaceae). Above are to that of a modern flora. There are “thithers” and “thences.” Plants were nunculaceae), continues through the descriptions of families, genera, and said to “exhale an agreeable aroma.” treatment of the plantains (Plan- species, but no photographs or il- They were “homely weeds,” “strik- taginaceae), and ends with ten pages lustrations. ingly handsome,” “unpleasantly of additions and corrections. The On closer inspection you will rank,” or “modest and unpreten- sequence of families follows earlier notice that what the authors call tious, but peculiar.” They had “de- works by Gray and John Torrey, orders we now call families. Many mulcent properties” or were “wholly where plants are “arranged accord- of these names are very familiar to inert” and sometimes “occur in mul- ing to the natural system.” us. There are minor differences in tifarious forms.” Fruits were “inno- Volume II continues the treat- spelling of family and plant names, cent and aromatic.” Plants were “pe- ment of flowering plants, beginning and in terminations of specific epi- culiar” to an area, or “not met with,” with the four o’clock family (Nycta- thets. There was no international but “will doubtless be detected.” Spe- ginaceae) and ending at the mistle- set of rules dealing with such mat- cies concepts were “presently re- toes (Loranthaceae), the last dicot ters at the time. There are keys, but ceived,” but sometimes “con- family. Next you would expect to many of them are not in the format founded” with one another. Some launch into a treatment of the mono- of modern dichotomous keys. Mea- plants were “exceedingly tenacious cots, but prepare to be shocked—it’s surements are in feet, inches, spans, of life.” They noted that “Nature the gymnosperms. This was stan- and lines. (A span is the distance furnishes several varieties and art dard at the time because many gym- from the tip of the little finger to the has produced many more.” nosperms had two cotyledons and tip of the thumb when the hand is The title of our first real flora, their reproductive structures were fully extended, or about 9” (23 cm). Botany of California, is not quite ac- routinely referred to as flowers. Next A line equals 2.25 mm.) curate. Plants from southern Oregon, come the monocot families, begin- In 1880 Rutherford B. Hayes was Arizona, and northern Nevada are ning with the water weeds (Hydro- president and Victoria sat on the included, as are those that are “no charitaceae) and ending with the throne of England. The two volumes doubt here” and “to be expected.” grasses (Gramineae). reflect the now wonderfully archaic Some entries have no location infor- After the flowering plants were language of that time. Financial mation; in others a place is cited, what the authors call “flowerless backers, among them Leland but it is difficult to find it on mod- plants:” ferns and mosses. The origi- Stanford and Charles Crocker, were ern maps. This complicates making nal flora would have included liver- thanked for providing “the neces- a quick tally of plants. worts, lichens, and fungi, but they sary pecuniary means” and for their Volume I begins with the treat- were insufficiently known and as “munificent act[s].” There are many ment of the buttercup family (Ra- Watson noted, “inasmuch as they

24 FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO.2, MAY 2013 illustrations of a few of these species that have changed families since the original flora was published. All illustrations are by Walter Sydoriak except the one of red sorrel, which is by Suzanne Cogen. LEFT TO RIGHT: Long-beaked filaree (Erodium botrys); white meadowfoam (Limnanthes alba); yellow sorrel (Oxalis corniculata); Biknell’s geranium (Geranium carolinianum); Richardson’s geranium (G. richardsonii); and redwood sorrel (Oxalis oregana). would be of no use to the many and the bur-reeds (Sparganium) in the weeds, escaped crops, and ornamen- could be of little good to any, they cattail family (Typhaceae). The tals from around the world, and that have been wholly omitted.” The re- greenbriars were placed in their are now well established in our state. mainder of Volume II consists of an own family (Smilacaceae). Tamarisk Their persistence has been docu- extensive list of additions and cor- or salt-cedar had not been reported mented in California floras subse- rections to Volume I (“rendered nec- for the state, but the family (Tamari- quent to the Botany of California. essary by fresh discoveries made by caceae) appeared. It contained the Our evolving concept of the lim- various zealous collectors in the ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), now its of families, genera, and species is field”), a glossary, and a fascinating in its own family. an important factor in explaining the and useful list of the principal col- change and in confounding what lectors of our flora compiled by might otherwise be a straightforward Brewer. SIZE OF OUR FLORA, THEN comparison between the first flora Those familiar with Munz AND NOW and the new Jepson Manual. The (1959), Hickman (1993), or Baldwin change from 117 to 165 families et al. (2012), will feel reasonably A comparison of our flora as re- could suggest that flowering plants comfortable with many of the family flected in the Botany of California belonging to 48 unreported families concepts in the Botany of California. of 1880 and as it is treated in the have made their way into California A few names, such as Cupuliferae new edition of The Jepson Manual since 1880. What those numbers hide and Ficoideae, are no longer used, (Baldwin et al. 2012) is revealing is that more recent research has led although their modern equivalents, (Table 1): a 239% increase in the to the merging of some closely re- Fagaceae and Aizoaceae, are imme- current flora over what was known lated genera and species with one diately evident. Similarly, joint-fir or in 1880 is certainly dramatic. What another, while in other cases to rec- Mormon tea (Ephedra spp.) and accounts for this? Many decades of ognizing new entities from within yerba mansa (Anemopsis californica) field work documented that hun- the spectrum of variation of existing were placed in the Gnetaceae and dreds of previously described native genera and species. The Boraginaceae Piperaceae, respectively. plants from outside California now of 1880 did not include the Hydro- On the other hand, the Botany were found growing in California. phyllaceae, as it does today; nor did was ahead of its time in taking a Those same efforts also yielded hun- the Apocynaceae include the Ascle- broader view of the heath family dreds of native plants that were new piadaceae. The Liliaceae of 1880 is (Ericaceae), by including the maples both to California and to science in now distributed among 13 families. and horse chestnut in the soapberry general. A third component was the Plants of the Scrophulariaceae of family (Sapindaceae), and placing influx of hundreds of species of 1880 now find themselves in three

VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA 25 families. Genera have suffered a Sereno Watson in his introduction similar fate. The Aster of 1880 is to the second volume of the Botany now nine smaller genera, none of of California provide us guidance: them Aster; Haplopappus has been There still remains ample opportu- dismembered into 11 genera; nity for good botanical work at al- Polygonum into five; and Scirpus most any locality among the moun- into six. This might be termed a tains, hills, and valleys of the State, taxonomic version of putting old to which it is hoped that these vol- wines in new bottles. umes may prove both an incentive The publication of the Botany and an aid. of California and a series of local and regional floras had a curious and unintended consequence. REFERENCES They created the impression in Abrams, L.R. 1923-1960. An Illustrated some that our knowledge of the Flora of the Pacific States: Washing- flora of California was now es- ton, Oregon, and California. Stanford sentially complete. Plants that University Press, Stanford, CA. Four could not be identified in a di- volumes. chotomous key should be dis- Baldwin, B.G., et al., eds. 2012. The carded. They were considered Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of “not to be of much moment,” oth- California. University of California erwise they would have appeared Press, Berkeley, CA. in these authoritative works. Brewer, W.H., S. Watson, and A. Gray. Marcus E. Jones, an eccentric and 1880. Geological Survey of Califor- sharp-tongued figure of the time, nia, Botany. 2d ed. Volume I. Little, is reported to have felt sorry for Brown, & Company, Boston, MA. future botanists because all of the Hickman, J.C., ed. 1993. The Jepson plants in the western United States Manual of Higher Plants of Califor- had been named. What was left nia. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. for them to do? Hooker, W.J., and G.A. Walker Arnott. As it turned out, much more 1841. The Botany of Captain Beechey’s indeed. In 1909, Willis Linn Jepson Voyage (1841). Henry G. Bohn, Lon- published the first volume of his don, UK. Flora of California, which began Jepson, W.L. 1909-1939. A Flora of on page 33 with the gymnosperms California. Cunningham, Curtiss & and was never completed. In 1923, Welch, San Francisco, CA and the LeRoy Abrams published the first Associated Students Store, Univer- volume of his monumental Illus- sity of California, Berkeley. Three trated Flora of the Pacific States, volumes, incomplete. which hastened the appearance in Jepson, W.L. 1925. Manual of the Flow- the following year of Jepson’s ering Plants of California. University Manual of the Flowering Plants of of California Press, Berkeley, CA. California. In 1959, Philip Munz pub- Munz, P. A. 1959. A California Flora. Changes in botanical nomenclature are University of California Press, Ber- continually occurring—the two illustra- lished A California Flora, followed keley, CA. tions here are of species that have been by a major supplement in 1968. In reclassified in the new Jepson Manual, 2nd 1993, we saw the appearance of the Presl, K.B. 1825-1835. Reliquiae Haenkeanae, seu descriptiones et edition. They include Santa Cruz cypress first edition of The Jepson Manual of (Cupressus Abramsiana) that was renamed icones plantarum, quas in America Hesperocyparis abramsiana, and tanoak Higher Plants of California, edited by meridionali et boreali, in insulis (Lithocarpus densiflorus), which is now James Hickman. A second edition Philippinis et Marianis collegit Notholithocarpus densiflorus. Both illus- was published in 2012, edited by Thaddaeus Haenke. J.G. Calve, Praha, trations are by Maria Cecilia Freeman, Bruce Baldwin and others. Czech Republic. http://www.mcf-art.com. (The first may be Lest we fall prey to the notion familiar to Fremontia readers, because she Torrey, J. 1874. Phanerogamia of Pa- won first prize for it at the 2009 CNPS that now, at last, we really do know cific North America. In United States Conservation Conference Botanical Art all there is to be known about the Exploring Expedition, During the Show.) flora of California, the words of Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842,

26 FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO.2, MAY 2013 TABLE 1. COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO CALIFORNIA FLORAS.

Botany of California The Jepson Manual (2nd ed.) Number of families: Ferns and allies 11 16 Gymnosperms 5 4 Flowering plants 117 165 Total 133 185 Number of genera: Ferns and allies 22 35 Gymnosperms 14 16 Flowering plants 739 1269 Total 775 1320 Number of species: Ferns and allies 53 111 Gymnosperms 38 62 Flowering plants 2733 6145 Total 2824 6318 Number of taxa: Ferns and allies 62 116 Gymnosperms 45 71 Flowering plants 3063 7392 Total 3170 7579 Five largest families in terms of genera Sunflower (128) Sunflower (234) Grass (61) Grass (100) Lily (31) Mustard (64) Mustard (30) Legume (50) Rose (28) Rose (45) Five largest families in terms of species Sunflower (474) Sunflower (901) Legume (179) Grass (447) Grass (171) Legume (394) Figwort (139) Borage (315) Lily (116) Mustard (294) Five largest families in terms of taxa Sunflower (543) Sunflower (1106) Legume (200) Legume (521) Grass (181) Grass (482) Figwort (156) Borage (370) Lily (132) Buckwheat (349) Five largest genera in terms of species Carex (76) Carex (136) Eriogonum (51) Eriogonum (118) Gilia (42) Astragalus (96) Lupinus (42) Phacelia (95) Astragalus (41) Lupinus (73) Phacelia (37) Five largest genera in terms of taxa Carex (88) Eriogonum (214) Eriogonum (58) Astragalus (144) Gilia (52) Carex (141) Lupinus (49) Lupinus (104) Astragalus (44) Phacelia (106)

Under the Command of Charles Watson, S. 1880. Geological Survey of James P. Smith, Jr., Department of Bio- Wilkes, U.S.N., ed. A. Gray. Vol. XVII. California. Botany. Volume II. Little, logical Sciences, Humboldt State Univer- Botany. Sherman & Company, Phila- Brown, & Company, Boston, MA. sity, Arcata, CA 95521, jps2@humboldt. delphia, PA. edu

VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA 27 BOOK REVIEWS

The California Native Landscape, The Chapter 1, The California Envi- and photographs of actual native plant Homeowner’s Design Guide to Restoring ronment, describes the rich diversity gardens based on these themes. its Beauty and Balance by Greg Rubin of native species found in natural ar- The last five chapters contain the and Lucy Warren. 2013. Timber Press, eas of our state. The second chapter, nuts and bolts of landscaping: Instal- Portland, OR. 372 pages, $25.79, hard- Human Impact on the Landscape, cor- lation (Chapter 7), Care and Mainte- cover. ISBN #978-1-60469-232-7. rects some of the misinformation about nance (Chapter 8), Pests and Disease what makes a landscape truly “na- (Chapter 9), Weeds (Chapter 10), and In their first collaboration, Greg tive,” and how the concept of lawns, Fire (Chapter 11). As a biologist, my Ruben and Lucy Warren have put to- greenspaces, and ornamental plants work is focused largely on habitat res- gether a colorful and information-filled has changed the way many Califor- toration, which in most ways is a form new treatment on native plant land- nians see nature. This fascinating sec- of native plant landscaping. So I was scaping. Sure, there are lots of how-to tion discusses the countless changes particularly interested in the discus- books out there devoted to the use of that humans have brought to the sion in Chapter 7 about irrigation, since native plants in the natural world, and how very few areas overwatering is a leading cause of habi- garden. But the au- remain in California that are not tat restoration failure and is known to thors have created a marred with non-native invasive spe- shorten the life of many native spe- different and very cies such as Saharan mustard (Bras- cies, particularly California lilac (Cea- functional guide to sica tournefortii) and cheatgrass (Bro- nothus spp.). The authors acknowl- the design, selection, mus tectorum). edge this and are careful to explain and planting of na- Chapter 3 examines the often un- how irrigation, if overused or used tive species ranging derappreciated relationship between at the wrong time, can ruin native from ground covers soil (particularly soil microorganisms) landscapes. to large trees and ev- and native plants. Chapters 4 and 5 The last chapter, which is about erything in between. delve into landscape design and gar- fire, is a fascinating discussion of how Much of this den style. These two chapters are native landscaping integrates (or book is based on a “must reads” for anybody looking to should integrate) into California fire tried-and-true meth- design a new landscape project or who management. The chapter dispels a odology. Greg was wants to significantly modify an exist- number of myths about the “fuel” that formally trained as an aerospace engi- ing one. Elements such as plant struc- our native plants supposedly accumu- neer. He made the big career switch to ture, massing, color and texture, the late which then creates a fire hazard. native plant landscaping when land- use of paths, garden furniture, stones The book ends with a vision for scaping his parents’ home in Los An- and boulders, etc. are discussed at California that many readers will share. geles many years ago. Lucy, a master length in Chapter 4, providing pre- To quote the authors, this vision is gardener and gifted writer, loves all cisely what is needed for success. I one of a better approach to landscap- things that are plant-related, but had particularly valued the discussion of ing throughout the state, one that is never specifically focused on native contrasts and the use of the landscape “much more purposeful, healthier, and species. Each of the authors brings a design elements in an integrated fash- sustainable . . . full of color, fragrance, unique approach to the subject. ion to create mood. Yes, I know that and wildlife.” The book is divided into eleven this is Landscape 101, but it is won- So should you own this book? You chapters. The important middle chap- derfully presented in this chapter. can bet that I do! For anyone with an ter (Chapter 6) on plant selection Chapter 5, Garden Style, presents interest in doing their own native plant stands out. It is printed on orange and five distinct types: Formal, Contempo- landscaping or planting natives in gen- yellow-edged paper, which flags it for rary, Mediterranean, Desert, and Asian. eral, the answer is a resounding “Ab- easy reference. The first five chapters Each contains a one-page description, solutely!” provide background. followed by an exemplary illustration —Vince Scheidt

28 FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO.2, MAY 2013 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.

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SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS CNPS members and others are invited to submit articles for pub- lication in Fremontia. If inter- ested, please first send a short summary or outline of what you’d like to cover in your ar- ticle to Fremontia editor, Bob Hass, at [email protected]. Instruc- tions for contributors can be found on the CNPS website, www.cnps.org, under Publica- Telos Rare Bulbs tions/Fremontia. Fremontia Editorial Advisory The most complete offering of bulbs native to the Board western USA available anywhere, our stock is Susan D’Alcamo, Jim Andre, propagated at the nursery, with seed and plants Ellen Dean, Phyllis M. Faber, from legitimate sources only. Holly Forbes, Dan Gluesenkamp, Brett Hall, Todd Keeler-Wolf, David Keil, Pam Muick, Bart Telos Rare Bulbs O’Brien, Roger Raiche, Teresa P.O. Box 1067, Ferndale, CA 95536 Sholars, Greg Suba, Dick Turner, www.telosrarebulbs.com Mike Vasey, Carol Witham

VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA California Native Plant Society Nonprofit Org. 2707 K Street, Suite 1 Sacramento, CA 95816-5130 U.S. Postage PAID A.M.S.

CONTRIBUTORS FROM THE EDITOR

n recent years I’ve found myself wondering what leads Elizabeth Adelman is the owner of Heritage Flower Farm, some people to care about the natural world and want to a nursery devoted to finding, growing, and preserving or- I protect it. My theory is it has to do with things experi- namental heirloom plants. She spends winters searching for enced during one’s early years. stories of intrepid plant hunters in North America. In my case, at the age of nine my bedroom was cluttered with plants I had started from seeds, and also where I raised Graham Bothwell, Walter Fidler, Jane Strong, and Jane brine shrimp for the inhabitants of my fish tank. I took care Tirrell are members of the San Gabriel Mountains Chapter of our small backyard garden, where I got to witness close- up rabbits, squirrels, and cardinals. Who knows why a child of the California Native Plant Society, and volunteers with is drawn to certain things, but these were my passions. the Lily Spring Area Survey. In contrast, my neighbors’ four-year-old, Sidney, seems to be acquiring a love for the outdoors for entirely different Amy Concilio is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Uni- reasons. Her family spends weekends camping every chance versity of Colorado, Boulder, and is working on research in they get. She has also lived with two dogs and a cat since she climate change and invasive species. was born, so having animals nearby is natural to her. Even at home, her family spends much of its time outdoors, and Eric Nelson has a degree in environmental studies and lives she doesn’t own lots of electronic gadgets to distract her and in Santa Rosa, California, where he incorporates a wide va- her playmates. riety of California native plants into his garden. The 24-year-old Patrick Lee who took this issue’s strik- ing cover photo, says his appreciation of nature developed James P. Smith, Jr. is professor emeritus of botany at during high school when he came across beautiful land- Humboldt State University. He served as president of the scape photos on the Internet. They inspired him to buy a camera and take his own photos of nature. He also ended up California Native Plant Society from 1977–1978, and was majoring in biology at UCSD. an editor of three editions of the CNPS Rare Plant Inventory. Everyone has a different story. If you are motivated to share yours, send a brief (150-word) summary of what Vince Scheidt is a CEQA biologist based in San Diego who shaped your love for nature to [email protected], and it might specializes in floristic studies and herpetology. He has also get published in a future issue of Fremontia. landscaped his own yard with over 200 kinds of native plants. —Bob Hass

FREMONTIA (continued on inside back cover) VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013