![\"A](\"https:\/\/dev-clm-blog.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/IMG_0960.jpg\")
<\/a>A trail through the chaparral at Pine Hill Preserve<\/p><\/div>\n
Three plants are considered characteristic of California\u2019s chaparral, and are very common in the Pine Hill Preserve where I\u2019ve been working \u2013 Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum<\/em>), Manzanitas (Arctostaphylos spp.<\/em>), and Ceanothus (Ceanothus spp<\/em>.). These plants are all characterized by extensive root systems that travel far and wide in search of water. These root systems hold the soil in place on steep hillsides. The species are well-adapted to fire, readily producing new shoots after a fire destroys their above-ground portions. In a stand of chaparral, most shrubs will be roughly the same height and age, dating back to the last fire. In the first few years after a burn, herbaceous plants take advantage of the abundant sunlight and emerge in great numbers. Some of these plants even have seeds that are activated by fire. This is of special interest at the Pine Hill Preserve \u2013 herbaceous rare plants have been noted to flourish after burns, both prescribed and accidental.<\/p>\n Layne\u2019s butterweed (Packera layneae<\/em>), a rare aster found in Pine Hill Preserve<\/p><\/div>\n In my first few weeks of exploration, I found two plants to be particularly exciting. The leaves of Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon californicum<\/em>), as my mentor Graciela explained, are medicinal and can be brewed into a tea or chewed raw. When chewed, the initial taste is bitter, but slowly begins to have a cooling and sweet taste and a thirst-quenching effect. This has earned it the nickname of \u201cmountain gum\u201d, and after a few chews I was sold.<\/p>\n Eriodictyon californicum<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n The second great discovery was a small, deep purple plant roughly shaped like a Christmas-tree \u2013 a native broomrape (Orobanche bulbosa<\/em>). Its otherworldly appearance results from an aggressive survival strategy. It’s a parasite that\u00a0doesn\u2019t produce chlorophyll, instead relying on nutrients and water siphoned from the roots of neighboring plants.<\/p>\n Orbohanche bulbosa<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019ve never ventured into a chaparral forest \u2013 as I hadn\u2019t just a few weeks ago \u2013 it might be hard to get a good mental picture. The name is derived from chapparo, a Spanish scrub-oak resembling some of … Continue reading <\/a><\/a><\/a>