THE SHRUBS OF CALIFORNIA. -]> 



THE SHRUBS OF CALIFORNIA. 



BY ALICE EASTWOOD. 



Everywhere throughout California are great tracts of country cov- 

 ered with brush, extending from the hills of the Coast and Sierra Nevada 

 Mountains to the deserts and the plains. When seen from the distance 

 on the slopes of hills this brush looks like a carpet of moss, changing 

 in color with the seasons, but always green. In this tangle through 

 which the traveler finds it almost impossible to make his way, where 

 there are no trails, a great many species and almost all the characteristic 

 genera of the Pacific Coast find their home. All are beautiful, espe- 

 cially when in flower, and all are worthy of cultivation. Plants which 

 the European gardeners regard as their greatest treasures here grow 

 under our eyes continually without most of us knowing them by any 

 other name than brush, chaparral, or chamisal. It would be difficult 

 to discriminate among these beautiful shrubs, since all have peculiar 

 qualities which endear them to the lovers of flowers and nature. 



When one begins to think of what these gardens of brush contain, 

 the impression is of a wonderfully rich flora, suggesting the most inter- 

 esting and perplexing problems. Nowhere do plants show so many ways 

 of resisting drought, fires, and destruction through the agency of man 

 and beast. The spiny or thorny stems that result from inability to pro- 

 duce abundant foliage, the viscid and woolly coverings which keep the 

 moisture from evaporating too rapidly, the matted roots which prevent 

 the water from all running down the hills at once in the heavy storms, 

 the protection which the united and intricately-connected stems cover- 

 ing vast areas, give to the moisture-laden earth, preventing too rapid 

 evaporation these are all instances of adaptation to environment and 

 working together for the common good. 



Perhaps the best way to untangle this brush heap is to take up the 

 different groups of plants according to families, with reference to their 

 abundance and importance in the landscape rather than the latest 

 systematic arrangement. 



Six species of scrub oaks* abound in California, and are generally 

 spoken of as chaparral. Only onef of these is found exclusively in the 

 Sierra Nevada, and all except two become trees in more favored locali- 

 ties. On open, grassy hills near the seacoast, where the ocean winds 

 sweep with force, these oaks form mats, often covering the ground 



*Q. AVislixeni A. DC.; Q. chrysolepis Liebin; Q. dumosa Nutt; Q. dum'osa 

 var bullata Engelm. 



fQ. Breweri Engelm; Q. Morehus Kellogg; Q. agrifolia Nee. 



