appears more like pale blue oil, the kelp looks alive. All that can 

 be seen is a serpentine mass of heaving shiny things, like billions 

 of giant snakes, out beyond the surf 



The bed is composed of huge ribbons of a firm brown stuff 

 that looks and feels like wel nibber but breaks like a stiff jelly. 

 These ribbons are altadicd to firmer fibrous stems that are often 

 tens of feet long and end in a small cone of branching roots that 

 may grip small pebbles and other material on the bottom. These 

 obviously vegetable things are seaweeds of the group known 

 technically as Fucales. or commonly as Brown Algae (The huge 

 algae group is conveniently divided into four great subgroups — 

 the green, blue-green, red. and brown ) 



Now. there is something rather special about these Brown 

 .•\lgae or seaweeds. A prominent and highly respected scientist 

 recently put forward the staggering suggestion that we and all 

 other animals are descended from the same ancestors as these 

 dull vegetable things This is to say. both all other animals and 

 ourselves are but aniniated "vegetables." and part of one great 

 kingdom of life on this small planet. I find this theory-even if 

 it be merely a theory — fascinating, and 1 found it most significant 

 when sitting on a cliff top on this coast watdiing the endless 

 mass of apparently insensate vegetation heaving up and down 

 on the Pacific swell 



The kelp has other strange connotations. Its large "leaves" 

 just float upon the surface whereas its stems are andiored on 

 this comparatively shallow sea bottom, but its stems can be 

 measured in the hundreds of feet. Actually, the lengths given for 

 species found in the Antarctic sound fantastic and would, if 

 accurate, make them by far the largest living things on earth, 

 surpassing the greatest trees by hundreds of times in length (that 

 is. height) and perhaps even in bulk. 



In this province you must sooner or later become aware of 

 the kelp; either you find it cast ashore on the beaches or you 

 see it floating out to sea. If you are an angler, you will come to 

 know of its use as cover for all manner of desirable fish, and if 

 you are a sailor, you will come to curse it both in darkness and 

 in fog for its clinging qualities. On the other hand, if you are a 

 commercial fisherman, you will bless it for the home it provides 

 for just what you want. 



EXOTIC PLANTS 



This province is notable as the home of a large number of exotic 

 plants of various groups and kinds. First, it is the principal 

 habitat of a fine palm known as Washingtonia, which, because it 

 is the only palm indigenous to the area, is often erroneously said 

 to be the only palm that was in this country before the coming 

 of the white man. This is not so. as vast areas of the Southeast 

 are covered with various palmetto palms; and there are other 

 species in Florida, the most odd being the Paurotis. which grows 

 only along a narrow belt between the fresh and salt-water 

 marshes. The Sabal or Cabbage Palm is also indigenous to that 

 area. A large number of other palms have now been introduced 

 to this province and flourish there. These have been brought from 

 all over the world and include both subtropical and many true 

 tropical species 



Another tree that is now widespread throughout the valleys 

 of this province and also grows over much of lowland California 

 and in many other states today is a eucalyptus. This was brought 



from Australia about the middle of the lost century by the 

 builders of the Santa Fe Railroad, who needed timber for tics In 

 treeless areas of the West The particular eucalyptus chosen— for 

 there are hundreds of species in Australia— is a hardy, fast- 

 growing type that is able to thrive under a minimum rainfall 

 and to survive long periods of drought. It is also a parkland 

 species and can grow isolated or in copses even in very arid 

 soils, while it also grows among other trees and even in deep 

 shade and under a high rainfall It has taken hold vigorously in 

 the Southwest without, it seems, unduly upsetting the natural 

 vegetation. It is interesting to note that several Australian park- 

 land trees and shrubs, including such as the mimosas, are readily 

 adaptable to this northern hemisphere province Not only is the 

 general climate equivalent in the two countries but the two belts 

 where these plants are now found correspond in their basic 

 vegetational form. The eucalyptuses have been welcomed by 

 the indigenous fauna, particularly by the hummingbirds, which 

 may be seen feeding on and around them in clouds at certain 

 times of the year. 



Eucalyptuses belong to the myrtle family (Myrtaceae) of 

 which there are over four thousand known species in Australia 

 but only one in Europe, whereas in North America they are rep- 

 resented by a small group of shrubs or very small trees, often called 

 lilacs. One on the eastern seaboard used to be called the New 

 Jersey tea bush. Most true eucalyptuses produce in their leaves 

 fragrant oils such as eucalyptol and geraniol. These are highly 

 volatile and inflammable, so that fires in eucalyptus forests are 

 the most furious known. Not only do the flames leap along faster 

 than anything can move over the ground below, but they can 

 jump canyons and even wide valleys by means of great fireballs 

 of flaming oil particles so fine as to create a mist or gas cloud 

 which may suddenly burst into flame in mid-air. Another 

 peculiarity of many eucalyptuses is that they produce one oil for 

 part of the year and another kind during the remaining months, 

 and that one of these oils may be highly toxic to certain animals. 

 The little "Teddy Bear" or Koala of Australia is one of these, and 

 if it is feeding in a grove of such trees when they make the 

 change-over, it must come to the ground and trek off in search 

 of other species that do not so diange and are then suitable to 

 them. Incidentally, the right species of eucalyptus for these 

 fascinating animals have now been planted in this province, so 

 that they can for the first time be exhibited alive in this country. 



Apart from the many introduced exotic plants, the most 

 notable feature of the indigenous flora is what are collectively 

 called "succulents." These do not form a special family of plants 

 but are examples of many families which grow in a particular 

 way. Unlike ordinary herbs, or woody shrubs and trees with 

 leaves, they are either fleshy throughout both stem and leaf or 

 in the leaf only; or they may not even show any distinction 

 between leaves, branches, and stems. Like cactuses, they can store 

 water, so they may live in arid regions marked by long droughts 

 between rains. Also, there are forms that can grow where there 

 is excessive salinity, as on salt flats or on coastal beaches bathed 

 in spray. These plants manage to survive because of the very 

 high concentration of salt in their own bodies. Many people, 

 especially in California, make a hobby of collecting succulents 

 and maintain a wide variety of both indigenous and imponed 

 varieties in their gardens or in their homes. These plants may be 

 propagated from small random cuttings, and they form a fas- 

 cinating study. 



