Sarcodes sanguinea

Family: Ericaceae

Description:
The Snow Plant is a perennial mycoparasitic plant found growing at elevations of between 4000-8000 feet. The Snow Plant does not photosynthesize, instead relying on mycorrhizal relationship with it's conifer host.

Range:
South western Oregon to northern Baja

Propagation: N/A

Acer macrophyllum

Family: Aceraceae

Description:
A deciduous tree to 100 ft. Found along canyon bottoms and steams. Fast growing. Sun/Shade.

Range: N. Baja to Alaska, except: Central Valley

Propagation: Gather fresh seeds (samaras) in the fall. Drench with diluted hydrogen peroxide to remove contaminants, rinse with clean water. Seal cleaned moistened seeds in a zip-loc bag and refrigerate for 45-60 days or until sprouts appear. Sow entire batch in flats, transplant to 1 gallon containers when seedlings have first set of true leaves.

Dudleya cymosa

Description:
A perennial succulent found in rock crevices. The leaves are succulent and in a basal rosette. Leaves vary from compact ovals to long and strap like depending on the exposure. D. cymosa flowers (red to yellow) in the spring to early summer - March thru June.

Range: North Coastal ranges to Transverse Ranges, except Central Coast.

Propagation:
Sow seeds on a moist and porous mix: 2/3 sand 1/3 sifted peat, barely cover with same, mist as needed. Germination 10-14 days @65-72 F.

Brachychiton... Brachychiton

This past Sunday the 29th we participated in the Theodore Payne Native Plant Garden Tour. The garden survived the ordeal with only a few broken stems. That's not bad considering the garden had a total of 238 visitors.

The comments were all very positive. The funny thing is how many questions were fielded concerning the Brachychitons. The Brachychitons are not even California natives, but apparently many of the visitors found them very interesting. I find it strange that a tree that goes deciduous in June and drops all of it's leaves in two week period and then displays it's weird branch structure would be something you would consider planting in your yard. It's roots are pushing up the street and it's really unattractive when its limbs are bare. I guess if you only see the tree when it's in full leaf out then it kind of does look like a really majestic Acer.

Of the two Brachychitons the smaller one follows the usual pattern in that it flowers really heavily after it drops it's leaves, the big one does not flower nearly as much, somewhere around 10% of the little ones. When the little one is in full flower it's really pretty but then when all the flowers hit the walkway it's pretty treacherous.

Before last Sunday the big Brachychiton was going to be removed so we could put in a garage. Now however it's been given a reprieve, temporarily anyway.

A correction must be noted: The ID on the Brachychitons that the arborist gave me was incorrect. In researching the trees today I find that they must be a hybrids. They have leaves like the Brachychiton acerifolius, but the flowers resemble the Brachychiton discolor. The seedling trees when they do pop up look like the Brachychiton discolor.