From the Redwood Forests....
I've been on hiatus the past week or so. The annual conference of the American Public Garden Association took me to sunny San Francisco, CA. I've been going to this annual meeting (which is held in a different city each year) since 2000, and I must say that this year's was the very best yet. The sessions and speakers were outstanding, the food delicious, the field trips to other gardens amazing, and the company exceptional.
This was my first trip to the West Coast, and I must admit I was completely bowled over by the plant material. The moderate climate affords them to cultivate an enormous diversity of plants from not only other Mediterranean climates, but also temperate and subtropical ones. The vast majority of species I encountered (both in the wild and in the various gardens) were completely foreign to me, at least outside of books. In fact, the first thing I did once I got there was purchase a fieldguide to the trees of the Bay area.
Of course one of the most distinguishing native trees is the coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, which reaches heights of over 350 feet. Standing in their presence not only gave me goosebumps, but made me appreciate the role of fog in the ecophysiology of trees such as these. The Bay area experiences a complete summer drought, which would normally severely compromise the growth of arboreal specimens like the coast redwood. However, as the daily fog blanket rolls in from the ocean, the tree canopies intercept the moisture which then drips along the branches and trunk, reaching the soil below and mitigating the lack of precipitation. The photo below was taken mid-morning in Muir Woods, just as the fog was lifting.
Another California native is Cupressus macrocarpa (the Monterey cypress). This species' native range is actually limited to two small populations in CA, however it is widely cultivated as an ornamental and as a timber tree (and has become weedy in the eyes of some). It is instantly recognized by its flat-topped, picturesque form, as can be seen in this silhouette photo from the expertly curated San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum.
And then things get weird... By that I mean those crazy plants from the Southern Hemisphere. It is very safe to say that here in the Northeastern US, we cannot cultivate anything out of doors from the Southern Hemisphere -- at least not over a winter. Thus, it was a dazzling treat to experience the wide array of South African plants, including the red and yellow pincushion proteas (Leucospermum cordifolium) growing in the University of California, Santa Cruz Arboretum. The fist-sized flowers are brilliantly colored, and very tactile, with stiff styles (female organs) that feel like hairbrush bristles.
Perhaps the most amazing part of the trip was a visit to Quarryhill Botanic Garden, about an hour's drive north of San Francisco. I think I am still speechless. All of the plant material in the garden has been collected from the wild in Asia, and nothing in the garden is older than 16 years. Despite the young age, the garden is lush with sizeable and maturing specimens. I've visited many plant collections before, but nothing like this. Already, it represents one of the finest collections of Asian plants in the world -- I cannot wait to see how it develops in the future. Plant conservation is an integral part of the work at Quarryhill, and one of their rarest species is the maple, Acer pentaphyllum (below). Only a few plants remain in the wild (SW Sichuan), and because of human impact, their future does not look bright. However because of the efforts of Quarryhill, the National Geographic Society has recently funded a project to protect the plants before they are completely extirpated. Kudos for Botanic Gardens!
California was amazing, introducing me to her own native flora as well as a vast array of other plants that make up an incredibly rich palette. Now, if only I could remember 5% of what I saw growing there!
I've been on hiatus the past week or so. The annual conference of the American Public Garden Association took me to sunny San Francisco, CA. I've been going to this annual meeting (which is held in a different city each year) since 2000, and I must say that this year's was the very best yet. The sessions and speakers were outstanding, the food delicious, the field trips to other gardens amazing, and the company exceptional.
This was my first trip to the West Coast, and I must admit I was completely bowled over by the plant material. The moderate climate affords them to cultivate an enormous diversity of plants from not only other Mediterranean climates, but also temperate and subtropical ones. The vast majority of species I encountered (both in the wild and in the various gardens) were completely foreign to me, at least outside of books. In fact, the first thing I did once I got there was purchase a fieldguide to the trees of the Bay area.
Of course one of the most distinguishing native trees is the coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, which reaches heights of over 350 feet. Standing in their presence not only gave me goosebumps, but made me appreciate the role of fog in the ecophysiology of trees such as these. The Bay area experiences a complete summer drought, which would normally severely compromise the growth of arboreal specimens like the coast redwood. However, as the daily fog blanket rolls in from the ocean, the tree canopies intercept the moisture which then drips along the branches and trunk, reaching the soil below and mitigating the lack of precipitation. The photo below was taken mid-morning in Muir Woods, just as the fog was lifting.
Another California native is Cupressus macrocarpa (the Monterey cypress). This species' native range is actually limited to two small populations in CA, however it is widely cultivated as an ornamental and as a timber tree (and has become weedy in the eyes of some). It is instantly recognized by its flat-topped, picturesque form, as can be seen in this silhouette photo from the expertly curated San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum.
And then things get weird... By that I mean those crazy plants from the Southern Hemisphere. It is very safe to say that here in the Northeastern US, we cannot cultivate anything out of doors from the Southern Hemisphere -- at least not over a winter. Thus, it was a dazzling treat to experience the wide array of South African plants, including the red and yellow pincushion proteas (Leucospermum cordifolium) growing in the University of California, Santa Cruz Arboretum. The fist-sized flowers are brilliantly colored, and very tactile, with stiff styles (female organs) that feel like hairbrush bristles.
Perhaps the most amazing part of the trip was a visit to Quarryhill Botanic Garden, about an hour's drive north of San Francisco. I think I am still speechless. All of the plant material in the garden has been collected from the wild in Asia, and nothing in the garden is older than 16 years. Despite the young age, the garden is lush with sizeable and maturing specimens. I've visited many plant collections before, but nothing like this. Already, it represents one of the finest collections of Asian plants in the world -- I cannot wait to see how it develops in the future. Plant conservation is an integral part of the work at Quarryhill, and one of their rarest species is the maple, Acer pentaphyllum (below). Only a few plants remain in the wild (SW Sichuan), and because of human impact, their future does not look bright. However because of the efforts of Quarryhill, the National Geographic Society has recently funded a project to protect the plants before they are completely extirpated. Kudos for Botanic Gardens!
California was amazing, introducing me to her own native flora as well as a vast array of other plants that make up an incredibly rich palette. Now, if only I could remember 5% of what I saw growing there!
posted by guy among the trees at 7:35 PM
4 Comments:
m.
i found it! anyway i liked your CA entry. yhea fog is a big deal in san fran, I always wonder what it does in terms of particulate or chemical deposition onto vegetation. Do the trees that benifit from the moisture also get a dose of SO4 or NOx
jm
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Fascinating question, JM! There was a study conducted on some mires of Hokkaido, Japan a few years ago (Iyobe et al. 2003. Ecol. Res. 18:587-597). They monitored the chemical properties of fog and precipitation, as well as bulk flow and found some fascinating interactions between high- and low-fog events, precipitation, and various ions that originated from the ocean. They didn't look at SO4 or NOx, but my guess is that fog would act as a scavenger of these as well. Under high fog periods, throughfall would have very low concentrations of the chemicals. Yet, when fog is minimized, the vegetation would be loaded with the chemicals, which could be very high in throughfall/stem flow. I wonder if anybody has looked into it specifically, though?
MD,
Your entry makes me homesick! I love the redwoods!
And, I don't have any sort of scientific response to your's and JM's comments on pollution, though we in the Central Valley know that much of it from the Bay Area blows east anyway in the delta breezes. It's a sad but true state of affairs, and the Valley suffers with some of the worst air quality in the country as a result.
Post a Comment
<< Home