$5.00 (Free to Members) Vol. 32, No. 1 January 2004 FREMONTIA A JOURNAL OF THE CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY IN THIS ISSUE: SEAWEEDS TELL THEIR STORIES by Paul C. Silva 3 CALIFORNIA’S NON–NATIVE SEAWEEDS by Kathy Ann Miller 10 CALIFORNIA SEAWEED INDUSTRY by Paul C. Silva 16 DISTRIBUTION OF CALIFORNIA SEAWEEDS by Paul C. Silva 18 INTERTIDAL MONITORING OF CALIFORNIA SEAWEEDS by Kathleen Dickey 27 VOLUME 32:1, JANUARY 2004 SPECIAL ISSUE: SEAWEEDS CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY FREMONTIA CNPS, 2707 K Street, Suite 1; Sacramento, CA 95816-5113 (916) 447-CNPS (2677) Fax: (916) 447-2727 VOL. 32, NO. 1, JANUARY 2004 [email protected] Copyright © 2004 MEMBERSHIP California Native Plant Society Membership form located on inside back cover; dues include subscriptions to Fremontia and the Bulletin Distributed in June 2004 Mariposa Lily . $1,000 Supporting . $75 Linda Ann Vorobik, Editor Benefactor . $500 Family, Group, International . $45 Katheen Dickey, Convening Editor Patron . $250 Individual or Library . $35 Bob Hass, Proofreader Plant Lover . $100 Student/Retired/Limited Income . $20 Susan Cotterel, Designer STAFF CHAPTER COUNCIL CALIFORNIA NATIVE Sacramento Office: Alta Peak (Tulare) . Joan Stewart PLANT SOCIETY Executive Director . Pamela C. Bristlecone (Inyo-Mono) . Muick, PhD Sherryl Taylor Channel Islands . Lynne Kada Development Director . Michael Dedicated to the Preservation of Dorothy King Young (Mendocino/ Tomlinson the California Native Flora Sonoma Coast) . Jon Thompson Membership Coordinator . Marin The California Native Plant Society East Bay . Tony Morosco Lemieux El Dorado . Amy Hoffman (CNPS) is a statewide nonprofit orga- Sales Manager . Paul Maas Kern County . Laura Stockton nization dedicated to increasing the Bookkeeper . Lois Cunningham Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mtns . understanding and appreciation of Betsey Landis California’s native plants, and to pre- At Large: Marin County . Bob Soost serving them and their natural habi- Fremontia Editor . Linda Ann Milo Baker (Sonoma County) . tats for future generations. Vorobik, PhD Reny Parker CNPS carries out its mission Sr. Policy Analyst . Emily Mojave Desert . Tim Thomas through science, conservation advo- Monterey Bay . Roberson, PhD cacy, education, and horticulture at Julie Anne Delgado So. California Regional Botanist . the local, state, and federal levels. It Mount Lassen . Jim Bishop Ileene Anderson monitors rare and endangered plants Napa Valley . Marcie Danner Interim Rare Plant Botanist . and habitats; acts to save endangered North Coast . Larry Levine Misa Ward areas through publicity, persuasion, North San Joaquin . Gail Clark Vegetation Ecologist . Julie Evens Orange County . Sarah Jayne and on occasion, legal action; pro- Redbud (Grass Valley/Auburn) . vides expert testimony to government Vegetation Ecologist . Anne Klein San Bruno Mtn. Project Coordinator Richard Hanes bodies; supports the establishment of Riverside/San Bernardino counties . native plant preserves; sponsors work- Joe Cannon Legislative Advocate .Vern Goehring Katie Barrows days to remove invasive plants; and Sacramento Valley . Diana Hickson Legal Advisor . Sandy McCoy offers a range of educational activities San Diego . Dave Flietner including speaker programs, field trips, Website Coordinator . San Gabriel Mtns . Lyn McAfee native plant sales, horticultural work- John Donaghue San Luis Obispo . Dirk Walters shops, and demonstration gardens. Bulletin Editor . Michael Tomlinson Sanhedrin (Ukiah) . Chuck Williams Since its founding in 1965, the tra- Santa Clara Valley . Georgia Stigall ditional strength of CNPS has been Santa Cruz County . Janell Hillman BOARD OF DIRECTORS its dedicated volunteers. CNPS ac- Sequoia (Fresno) . Warren Shaw tivities are organized at the local chap- Carol Baird, Jim Bishop, Vern Shasta . Dave DuBose Sierra Foothills (Tuolumne, Cala- ter level where members’ varied in- Goerhing, Steve Hartman, Diana veras, Mariposa) . Patrick Stone Hickson, Lynn Houser, Lynne Kada, terests influence what is done. Volun- South Coast (Palos Verdes) . teers from the 33 CNPS chapters an- David L. Magney, Sandy McCoy, J. Barbara Sattler nually contribute in excess of 87,000 Spence McIntyre, Carol Witham Tahoe . Michael Hogan hours (equivalent to 42 full-time em- (President) Willis L. Jepson (Solano) . ployees). Allison Fleck CNPS membership is open to all. PROGRAM DIRECTORS Yerba Buena (San Francisco) . Members receive the quarterly jour- Mark Heath nal, Fremontia, the quarterly statewide CNPS Press . Holly Forbes and Gail Milliken MATERIALS FOR Bulletin, and newsletters from their PUBLICATION local CNPS chapter. Conservation. David Chipping Horticulture. Peigi Duvall CNPS members and others are wel- Fremontia logo (by L.A. Vorobik) re- Posters . Bertha McKinley come to contribute materials for pub- printed from The Jepson Manual, J. and Wilma Follette lication in Fremontia. See the inside Hickman, Ed., 1993, with permission Rare Plants. Ann Howald back cover for manuscript submission fromthe Jepson Herbarium, UC. © Re- Vegetation . Todd Keeler-Wolf instructions. gents of the University of California. Prepress by ScanArt / Printed by Craftsman Trade Press VOLUME 32:1, JANUARY 2004 CONTENTS GUEST EDITORIAL ............................................................................................. 2 SEAWEEDS TELL THEIR STORIES by Paul C. Silva ........................3 For every seaweed there are stories, such as those for two Pacific coast kelps, the sea palm (Postelsia palmaeformis) and the ephemeral laminaria (Laminaria ephemera). Paul Silva relates the tales of their discovery and naming by Russian and Swedish explorers, keen-eyed Victorians, and resourceful Midwesterners. CALIFORNIA’S NON–NATIVE SEAWEEDS by Kathy Ann Miller.................................................................................... 10 It is well known that our terrestrial flora has numerous introduced species, some of which are especially noxious. Less well known are the weeds of the seashore flora. Several of these are discussed, in particular Caulerpa taxifolia, which can be extremely damaging to seaweed habitats. CALIFORNIA SEAWEED INDUSTRY by Paul C. Silva ................... 16 Many of us are familiar with the red alga “nori,” which wraps around the rice in sushi. Few of us, however, realize that seaweed products are used extensively in numerous industries, including the preparation of foods and beverages, the manufacture of cosmetics, pharmaceuti- cals, and ink, and in textile sizing. DISTRIBUTION OF CALIFORNIA SEAWEEDS by Paul C. Silva.............................................................................................. 18 Seaweeds are restricted vertically by the availability of light in deep water and by their ability to withstand desiccation in the intertidal zone. Each species has an optimal temperature range which determines its geographic distribution. The role of Point Conception in separating cold- temperate and warm-temperate floras is explained in detail. INTERTIDAL MONITORING OF CALIFORNIA SEAWEEDS by Kathleen Dickey ....................................................................................... 27 Marine biologists have documented the California intertidal for more than a century, but there remains much to decipher. Threats to the intertidal, both natural and man-made, have intensified efforts to monitor and further understand this fascinating ecosystem. SEAWEED RESOURCES ..................................................................................... 30 HARVESTING AND COLLECTING SEAWEEDS ............................................. 31 NOTES AND COMMENTS ................................................................................ 31 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ............................................................................... 32 BOOK REVIEW ................................................................................................... 32 THE COVER: Fronds and floats of Macrocystis pyrifera, the giant kelp, sometimes referred to as the “sequoia of the sea.” An individual kelp plant can grow up to two feet per day. Kelp forests provide habitat and food for a wide range of life in central and southern California nearshore communities. Photograph courtesy of J. and J. Mondragon (www.mondragonphotos.com). VOLUME 32:1, JANUARY 2004 FREMONTIA 1 GUEST EDITORIAL USEFUL WEBSITES AND CONTACT ur world is both challenging and inspiring, with moments of urgency INFORMATION O juxtaposed with those of riveting beauty. The world of seaweeds is no exception. Last fall there was news of yet another old oil tanker off the coast of Seaweed websites: Spain that was in danger of breaking and spilling its cargo. To add insult to See “Seaweed Resources,” p. 30 injury, this occurred along the same stretch of coast that had been inundated California Native Plant with oil just the year before. A request went out around the world via the Algae Society (CNPS): Listserv (www.seaweed.ie) for baseline data and for assistance with tackling the www.cnps.org, with links to formidable task of remediation. Despite continuous wake-up calls, we still seem conservation issues, chapters, to be “asleep at the wheel” with respect to protecting the intertidal regions of publications, policy, etc. the world and preventing these disasters from recurring. To sign up for “NPCC News,” Fortunately, the scientific community has been “waking up” for nearly half e-mail news on native plant a century and is beginning to compile and synthesize long-term data sets that science and conservation,