THE INDIGENOUS SHRUBS OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY. 



BY PROF. H. C. FORD. 



WHILE no extensive areas of this region were 

 covered by forest growths at the advent of 

 the Franciscan Fathers and the first settlement of the 

 land, our mountain slopes, hillsides and a portion of 

 the valleys were clothed with a pleasing variety of 

 shrubs, whose numerous species and novelty must have 

 greatly interested the early botanists who visited this 

 coast. The varied conditions of soil and exposure 

 found from the sea level to an elevation of 7000 feet 

 on the main land, and 2500 feet on the mountainous 

 islands of the Channel, renders the neighborhood well 

 fitted for a wide range of plant life and presents a fas- 

 cinating field for scientific investigation. Mountain 

 ^.fires and the clearing of the land for agricultural pur 

 poses has not prevented a perpetuation of the original 

 species. Fires rarely destroy the vitality of the roots 

 of shrubs, and a few years repairs the damage. 



The mountainous district of the north eastern por- 

 tion of the county is yet imperfectly examined and will 

 no doubt yield many species not yet credited to this re- 

 gion. 



The flora of the Channel Islands contains many spe- 

 cies common to the main land, while many others are 

 also found upon the more southern islands or their ad- 

 jacent shores, and several have no other habitat. 



I have included in the enumeration many herbace- 

 ous plants with tall stems, woody at the base, that are 

 ranked as shrubs, and others that in favorable condi- 

 tions become small trees. 



Berberis repens, Lindl., mountain slopes. 



Berberis aquifolium, Pursh, Santa Ynez and San Rafael Mountains. 

 Berberis pinnata, Lagasca, main land and Santa Cruz Islands. 

 Romneya Coulteri, Hcu~v., Santa Ynez and San Rafael Mountains. 

 Dendromecon Handfordii, Kdlogg, confined to Santa Rosa Island. 

 Dendromecon Californica, Cham., mountain ranges. 



