Plants For Chaparral. A description and list of California native plants that live in the chaparral plant community. Chaparral. Chaparral, Santa Ynez Mountains, near Santa Barbara, California Introduction[edit] In its natural regime, chaparral is characterized by infrequent fires, with intervals ranging between 10–15 years to over a hundred years. Mature chaparral (stands that have been allowed greater intervals between fires) is characterized by nearly impenetrable, dense thickets (except the more open chaparral of the desert). These plants are highly flammable. They grow as woody shrubs with hard and small leaves; are non-leaf dropping (non-deciduous); and are drought tolerant. After the first rains following a fire, the landscape is dominated by soft-leaved non-woody annual plants, known as fire followers, which die back with the summer dry period.
Conservation International and other conservation organizations consider the chaparral to be a biodiversity hotspot[2]- a biological community with a large number of different species - that are under threat by human activity. California chaparral[edit] Salvia officinalis. Salvia officinalis flower closeup Names[edit] S. officinalis has numerous common names. Some of the best-known are sage, common sage, garden sage, golden sage, kitchen sage, true sage, culinary sage, Dalmatian sage, and broadleaf sage. Cultivated forms include purple sage and red sage.
The specific epithet officinalis refers to plants with a well-established medicinal or culinary value.[1] Taxonomy[edit] S. officinalis was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The second most commonly used species of sage is Salvia lavandulaefolia, which shares a similar composition with Salvia officinalis, with the exception that lavandulaefolia contains very little of the potentially toxic GABAA receptor-antagonizing monoterpenoid thujone.[5] Description[edit] Cultivars are quite variable in size, leaf and flower color, and foliage pattern, with many variegated leaf types.
History[edit] Painting from Koehler's Medicinal Plants (1887) Uses[edit] Culinary use[edit] A pot of salvia officinalis Essential oil[edit] Prunus fremontii. Prunus fremontii is a shrub or small tree reaching up to five meters in height, known by the common name desert apricot. It takes its scientific name from John C. Frémont.[1] It is found in southwestern North America in north and western Baja California especially, mostly Pacific and western, and the adjacent area of Southern California. It also occurs in northern Baja California Sur. The fruits were an important food for Native American groups, such as the Cahuilla.[2] References[edit] External links[edit] Apricot. An apricot is a fruit or the tree that bears the fruit. Usually, an apricot tree is from the tree species Prunus armeniaca, but the species Prunus brigantina, Prunus mandshurica, Prunus mume, and Prunus sibirica are closely related, have similar fruit, and are also called apricots.[1] Description[edit] Apricot flowers in the village of Benhama, Kashmir The apricot is a small tree, 8–12 m (26–39 ft) tall, with a trunk up to 40 cm (16 in) in diameter and a dense, spreading canopy.
The leaves are ovate, 5–9 cm (2.0–3.5 in) long and 4–8 cm (1.6–3.1 in) wide, with a rounded base, a pointed tip and a finely serrated margin. The flowers are 2–4.5 cm (0.8–1.8 in) in diameter, with five white to pinkish petals; they are produced singly or in pairs in early spring before the leaves. Apricot and its cross-section Cultivation and uses[edit] History of cultivation[edit] Apricots drying on the ground in Turkey The origin of the apricot is disputed. Cultivation[edit] Fresh apricots on display Kernels[edit] Prunus fasciculata. Prunus fasciculata, also known as wild almond, desert almond, or desert peach[2] is a spiny and woody shrub producing wild almonds, native to the deserts of Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.[1] Prunus fasciculata lives many years (is perennial), and drops its leaves (deciduous).[1][3][4] It prefers sandy or rocky soil on dry slopes and washes up to an altitude of about 2200 m. (7500 feet).
Description[edit] Desert Almond leaves, fruit and flower Uses[edit] The plant is not cultivated. Classification[edit] The plant was first classified as Emplectocladus fasciculata in an 1853 paper by John Torrey based on a collection of the plants of California acquired during the third expedition of John C. "... a top so densely branched, angled and interlocked as to well merit the name Emplectocladus (Greek, "woven branch"), signifying interlocked branches ....
" According to George Bentham and Joseph Dalton Hooker[11] the name fasciculata means that the leaves are in fascicles, or little bundles: Almond. Description[edit] Tree[edit] Almonds begin bearing an economic crop in the third year after planting. Trees reach full bearing five to six years after planting. The fruit matures in the autumn, 7–8 months after flowering.[3][4] Drupe[edit] 'Fitas' almonds from Ibiza Unshelled (left) and shelled (right) almonds Origin and history[edit] The almond is native to the Mediterranean climate region of the Middle East, eastward as far as the Indus.[6] In India, it is known as badam.
A grove of almond trees in central California The wild form of domesticated almond grows in parts of the Levant; almonds must first have been taken into cultivation in this region. Almond is considered to be one of the earliest domesticated tree nuts. Etymology and names[edit] The adjective "amygdaloid" (literally "like an almond") is used to describe objects which are roughly almond-shaped, particularly a shape which is part way between a triangle and an ellipse. Production[edit] Pollination[edit] Young almond fruit. Agave deserti. Agave deserti (Desert Agave, Mescal, Century Plant or Maguey) is an agave native to desert regions in southern California, Arizona, and Baja California. Its tall yellow flower stalks dot dry rocky slopes and washes throughout the spring.
A mass of flowers on an Agave deserti inflorescence Agave deserti in cultivation It forms a rosette of fleshy gray-green leaves 20–70 cm long and 4.5–10 cm broad, with sharp spines along the edges and at the tips. It flowers at maturity (20-40 yrs[1]), sending up an inflorescence 2–6 m tall. Agave deserti var. deserti. Cultivation and uses[edit] The Desert Agave is drought tolerant but requires good drainage. The desert dwelling Native Americans used fibers from the leaves to make cloth, bowstrings, and rope.[1] Young flower stalks (roasted), buds, and hearts of plants (also roasted) were eaten.[1] Natives of southern California commonly harvested the "heads" using a specialized digging stick and roasted the leaves and heart alike. References[edit]
Agave attenuata. Agave attenuata - MHNT Agave attenuata Salm-Dyck is a species of agave sometimes known as the "lion's tail," "swan's neck," or "foxtail" for its development of a curved stem, unusual among agaves. Native to the plateau of the State of Jalisco in central Mexico, as one of the unarmed agaves, it is popular as an ornamental plant in gardens in many other places. It is reportedly naturalized in Madeira and Libya.[1] The stems typically range from 50 to 150 cm (20–60 in) in length, and eventually old leaves fall off, leaving them visible. The leaves are ovate-accuminate, 50–70 cm (20–28 in) long and 12–16 cm (5–6 in) wide, pale in color, ranging from a light gray to a light yellowish green.
In cultivation, Agave attenuata is said to prefer relatively moist loamy soil, although it can cope with poor soil and dry conditions. A specimen leaning as the stem grows References[edit] External links[edit] Achillea millefolium californica Yarrow. Western Yarrow is a small perennial that spreads by rhizomes. It varies by locale from 1-4'.
The cream-colored (off-white?) Flowers are in 3- 4"clusters. It's native to the western U.S. and is drought tolerant, swamp tolerant., somewhat alkali tolerant. Yarrow is native on the nursery property growing in the shade of Quercus douglasii, with Lonicera interrupta and Stipa lepida (Nassella lepida) in sandy loam to clay, north slope to south slope. Achillea millefolium californica tolerates alkaline soil, sand, clay, seasonal flooding, high traffic(people walking on it) and deer. Communities for Achillea millefolium californica:Alkali Sink, Chaparral, Coastal Sage Scrub, Coastal Strand, Valley Grassland, Coastal Prairie, Redwood Forest, Yellow Pine Forest and Central Oak Woodland. What does all this mean!?! Achillea millefolium.
Description[edit] Yarrow leaves Achillea millefolium is an erect herbaceous perennial plant that produces one to several stems 0.2–1 metre (0.66–3.28 ft) in height, and has a spreading rhizomatous growth form. Leaves are evenly distributed along the stem, with the leaves near the middle and bottom of the stem being the largest. The leaves have varying degrees of hairiness (pubescence). The inflorescence has 4 to 9 phyllaries and contains ray and disk flowers which are white to pink.
The plant has a strong, sweet scent, similar to chrysanthemums.[1] Distribution[edit] Yarrow grows from sea level to 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) in elevation. In North America, both native and introduced genotypes, and both diploid and polyploid plants are found.[4] It is found in every habitat throughout California, except the Colorado and Mojave Deserts.[5][6] common yarrow produces an average yield of 43,000 plants per acre, with a total dry weight of 10,500 ibs.[7] Pink flowers Varieties[edit] Uses[edit] Budding.