October 1982 FREMONTIA A Journal of the California Native Plant Society HiW$K*£.-^ra /J1*. , -„#/,,S^ .. %;><. ^:*»v-i»w>f*vJ^,f*J ^v^^^^;^^*^^^&BS5J^^'¦.¦,i¦¦',*'l,', FREMONTIA Vol. 10 No. 3 October 1982 Copyright © 1982 California Native Plant Society Margedant Hayakawa, Editor Laurence J. Hyman, Art Director MATERIALS FOR PUBLICATION Members and others are invited to submit material for publication in Fremontia and the Bulletin. All time-value material should be addressed to theBulletin. Fremontia is ajournal for laymen about California plants. It hopes to be both readable and scientifically accurate. Technical botanical articles should be directed to other more scholarly journals. Please double-space copy, using wide margins and fresh typewriter ribbon, on 814-by-ll paper, and include name, address, and phone number on the MS. As a general rule, in the interest of consistency, botanical nomenclature will conform to Munz, A California Flora. Please identify each plant referred to by its botanical name and, if there is one, by its common name. Photographs should be black-and-white glossy prints, preferably 8-by-10 size or accompanied by negatives. THE COVER: The photograph of Owens Valley was taken from the Inyo Mountains by Mary De Decker, who with David Gaines writes about water issues in Owens Valley and Mono Lake. This article, together with a presentation of views from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, was too extensive for Fremontia's Special Water Issue in January. In the picture, Mt. Williamson, Shepherd Pass, and Univer- sity Peak appear in the Sierra. The town of Independence and the dry bed of the Owens River can be seen at the right on the valley floor. California Native Plant Society Dedicated to the Preservation of the California Native Flora The California Native Plant Society is an organization of laymen and professionals united by an interest in the plants of California. It is open to all. Its principal aims are to preserve the native flora and to add to the knowledge of members and the public at large. It seeks to accomplish the former goal in a number of ways; by monitoring rare and endangered plants throughout the State; by acting to save endan- gered areas through publicity, persuasion, and, on occasion, legal action; by providing expert testimony to governmental bodies; and by supporting financially and otherwise the establishment of native plant preserves. Much of this work is done through CNPS Chapters throughout the State. The Society's educational work includes: publication of a quarterly journal, Fremontia, and a quarterly Bulletin which gives news and announcements of Society events and conservation issues. Chapters hold meetings, field trips, and plant sales. Non-members are welcome to attend. The work of the Society is done by volunteers. Money is provided by the dues of members and by funds raised by chapter plant sales. Additional donations, bequests, and memorial gifts from friends of the Society can assist greatly in carrying forward the work of the Society. Dues and donations are tax-deductible. MEMBERSHIP Dues include subscriptions to Fremontia and the Bulletin. Individual $ 12 Groups $ 18 Couple 18 Supporting 30 Retired Person 8 Life Member: Individual 350 Student 8 Life Member: Couple 400 ADDRESSES Memberships; Address Changes; Officers; General Society In- quiries; Conservation Trust Fund: CNPS, Suite D, 2380 Ellsworth St., Berkeley, CA 94704. (415) 841-5575 Fremontia (Editorial): Margedant Hayakawa, Editor, P.O. Box 100, Mill Valley, CA 94942. (415) 388-4776 Fremontia (Advertising): Nancy Dale, Rancho Santa Paula #7, 500 W. Santa Maria, Santa Paula, CA 93060. (805) 525-6319 Bulletin: Jeanne Hawkins, Editor, c/o Hanley, 712 Santa Victoria, Solana Beach, CA 92075. (714) 436-2805 CNPS Botanist, Data Base: Rick York, 1416 9th St., Rm. 1225, Sacramento, CA 95814. (916) 322-2493 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL President................................... Jonathan Libby Vice President............................... Michael Evans Recording Secretary ........................ Virginia Rumble Corresponding Secretary .......................... John Lane Treasurer................................... John Danielsen Elected Members......... Suzanne Schettler, James P. Smith, Jr. DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE Jenny Fleming, Joseph L. Medeiros, Jeffrey Prouty, John O. Sawyer, Suzanne Schettler, Fred T. Sproul CHAPTER PRESIDENTS (AND DIRECTORS) Bristlecone (Inyo-Mono)....................... Vincent Yoder Channel Islands............................... Ruth Krasner Dorothy King Young (Gualala)................... Mary Rhyne Kern County................................... Ty Stillman Marin ....................................... Richard Sims Milo Baker (Sonoma County) ................. Phil Van Soelen Monterey Bay.......................... Mary Ann Matthews Mount Lassen.............................. Mary Merryman Napa ..................................... Cindy LaMaster North Coast ................................ Dwain Goforth Northern San Joaquin Valley (Modesto) ........... Roy Schmidt Sacramento Valley............................. Kay Antunez San Diego.................................. Tom Oberbauer San Francisco Bay.......................... Charli Danielsen Sanhedrin (Ukiah)......................... Lucille McKinney San Luis Obispo............................ Eileen Pritchard Santa Clara Valley............................ Robert V. Will Santa Cruz.................................. Laurie Kiguchi Santa Monica Mountains.................... Robin Smith-Cox Sequoia (Fresno)......................... Michele Prestegard Southern California............................. June Latting COMMITTEES AND SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS Conservation Co-ordinator .................. Suzanne Schettler Eastern Sierra Conservation Representative Mary DeDecker Northern California Conservation Rep........John O. Sawyer Southern California Conservation Rep...........June Latting CNACC Representative....................... Leslie Hood Public Lands Representative.....................Jean Jenny Coastal Representative ....................... Phyllis Faber Conservation Trust Fund ........................ Alice Meyer Escaped Exotics Committee ............. Elizabeth McClintock Fellows Committee .......... Lawrence Heckard, Marian Reeve Horticultural Adviser......................... James B. Roof Legal and By-Laws Committee.................. Scott Fleming Legislative Committee................. Jo Smith, Kay Antunez Member Records Committee ...................... Joyce Burr Mini-Grants Committee ..................... Virginia Rumble Personnel Management Committee............ Charli Danielsen Public Information Committee .......... R. Mitchel Beauchamp Poster Subcommittee........................ Wilma Follette Publications Committee........................ Harlan Kessel Editor, Fremontia.................... Margedant Hayakawa Editor, Bulletin........................... Jeanne Hawkins Rare Plant Scientific Advisory Committee .... James P. Smith, Jr. Mono Lake appears between the snowy Sierra on the west and the White Mountains on the east in this 1977 NASA satellite photograph. The Owens River can be seen flowing from Long Valley and Crowley Reservoir (center) south through the northern part of Owens Valley (lower right). Photograph courtesy of the U.S Geological Survey. OWENS VALLEY AND MONO LAKE I. DYING OF THIRST by David Gaines and Mary DeDecker In the Owens Valley and Mono Lake regions of eastern California, the export of water to the city of Los Angeles is devastating vegetation and endangering wildlife. In Owens Valley, stream diversions and groundwater pump- ing have dried up springs and marshes, have killed trees, shrubs and grasses, are extirpating the Owens Valley mallow (Sidalcea covillei), and are turning Owens Lake into a barren expanse of alkali. To the north, in the vicinity of Mono Lake, stream diversions have destroyed marshes, meadows, and riparian woodlands. Mono Lake itself is shrinking in size and increasing in salinity, threat- ening a biologically unique ecosystem and millions of nesting and migratory birds. Unless a larger share of water is secured for Owens Valley and Mono Lake very soon, the serious environmental damage will become irreversible. Pristine Conditions: Owens Valley The Owens Valley occupies a deep, narrow trough one hundred miles in length between the precipitous Sierra Nevada and the Inyo-White Range. From the valley's level floor (3,400 to 4,100 feet), one looks up six to ten thousand feet to the summits of the peaks above. The lofty Sierra Nevada wrings most of the moisture 3 from Pacific storms, leaving both the Owens Valley and the Inyo-White Range in a rain-shadow. Barely five inches of average rainfall occurs annually on most of the valley floor. Extremes of weather and a paucity of rain- fall, combined with heavy, alkaline soils in some areas, would hardly seem to encourage a diverse and abundant flora. Historically, however, the Owens Valley supported marshes, meadows, and a luxuriant cover of grasses and shrubs, all of which require water. The answer to this paradox lies in the well-watered Sierra Nevada. With the spring snow-melt, numerous streams cascade down the steep eastern escarpment, flowing over immense alluvial fans that stretch down to the valley floor. Water percolates through the uncom- pacted alluvium and into underground aquifers and groundwater basins. Along the base of the alluvial fans, where the downward-percolating water is obstructed by clay-pans deposited in ice-age Lake Owens, free-flowing artesian wells and springs supply marshes, sloughs, meadows, and other moist habitats. Capillary action wicks groundwater toward the surface, where evapora- tion leaves clay slicks and deposits of alkali. Over most of the valley floor, the water table ranges from the surface to less than fifteen feet in depth, i.e., within the root zone of grasses and shrubs. In the early 1900s, the water table was less than four feet deep over 46% of the valley floor. But that was before the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began extensive groundwater pumping. The Plants of Owens Valley Owens Valley plant communities do not fit the usual plant associations. Because of this, Mary DeDecker has classified them into the following seven groups, listed in order of their approximate sensitivity to water withdrawal (with indicator species): • Riparian. Various rushes and sedges (Juncus and Carex spp.), common reed (Phragmites australis), creep- ing wild rye (Elymus triticoides), cattail (Jypha doming- Looking toward the snowy Sierra Nevada from Mono Lake's south shore with tufa formations in the foreground. Photograph by David Gaines. ensis) and willows (Salix spp.). Dense growths occur along the Owens River, tributary streams, ponds, and springs, providing important habitat for wildlife, water- fowl, and the endangered Owens pupfish. • Saltgrass Meadow. Saltgrass (Distichlis spicata) and, on wetter sites, wiregrass (Juncus balticus). Saltgrass grows luxuriantly where groundwater is within a foot or two of the surface. Associated with this community are the endangered Owens Valley mallow (Sidalcea covillei), and alkali mariposa (Calochortus excavatus), along with the more common Owens Valley milkvetch (Astragalus lentiginosus var. albifolius) and wand aster (Haplo- pappus racemosus subsp. glomeratus). • Large Saltbush Scrub. Nevada saltbush (Atriplex torreyi), four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens), and allscale or cattle spinach (Atriplex polycarpa). Nevada saltbush requires the most water and is the most tolerant of alkali; allscale requires the least water and is the least tolerant of alkali. Rabbit-brush (Chrysothamnus spp.) is also common, but is highly sensitive to water withdrawal. • Alkali Sink. Picklebush (Allenrolfea occidentalis), ink- weed (Suaeda torreyana), Parry saltbush (Atriplex parryl), alkali bird's-beak (Cordylanthus maritimus subsp. canescens), and alkali weed (Cressa depressa). These plants have the highest tolerance for alkali and require water near the surface. • Sagebrush Scrub. Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata). While this community is scarce on the valley floor, it does appear where soils are deep and dependable subsurface water is available. • Greasewood Scrub. Greasewood (Sarcobatus vermicu- latus), desert horsebrush (Tetradymia glabrata), and shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia). This is the most exten- sive community on the valley floor. Roots of greasewood penetrate hard clay slicks to reach groundwater and can go deeper than other shrubs. Accompanying shrubs and grasses vary, depending on the depth to water. • Shadscale Scrub. Shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia), burro-bush (Ambrosia dumosa), bud-sage (Artemisia spinescens), and Nevada ephedra (Ephedra nevadensis). This community is found on or near the bases of alluvial fans where conditions are dry. It does not normally depend on groundwater, so probably subsists on surface runoff. Pristine Conditions: Mono Lake The Mono Lake watershed — the Mono Basin — lies immediately to the north of the Owens Valley drainage and east of Yosemite National Park. About twenty-five miles across, it is a bathtub-shaped depression cupped by glacier-sculpted mountains and spectacular volcanoes. Mono Lake stretches thirteen miles east to west by nine miles north to south and lies at about 6,400 feet, over a mile below the Sierran peaks that give rise to its tributary streams. Like the Owens Valley, Mono Lake lies in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada. The lake and its shoreline 4 vegetation are largely dependent on riparian and under- ground water derived from the snowfields of the Sierra Nevada. Mono's hydrology is similar to that of Owens Valley, but its plant communities are adapted to colder winters and a shorter growing season. Born approximately one million years ago, Mono is among the oldest and most unusual lakes in the world. Because it lacks an outlet, salts and minerals collect in its water, where they are concentrated as the fresh water evaporates. Over millenia, the lake has become saltier than seawater. In chemical composition, however, Mono differs radically from the ocean and other saline lakes in containing not just chlorides (table salt), but exceptional concentrations of carbonates, sulfates, and other sub- stances as well. Carbonates are responsible for the strange but delicate mineral formations, called tufa, that form where calcium-bearing springs bubble up through Mono's carbonated brine. Although too salty for fish, Mono Lake is teeming with life. Algae grow and multiply in its nutrient-rich waters. The algae are fed upon by vast numbers of half-inch-long brine shrimp and harmless brine flies. These, in turn, nourish innumerable birds. Over eighty species of water birds, just about every North American shorebird, duck, grebe, and gull, visit Mono's shores. About 50,000 Cali- fornia gulls, 95% of the state's breeding population, raise their young on Mono's islands. As many as 700,000 eared grebes and 100,000 Wilson's phalaropes have been tallied on Mono's waters at one time. The abundance of food is of critical importance to birds; nearby freshwater lakes simply cannot provide the same bounty and are sterile in comparison. The Los Angeles Aqueduct "There it is, take it!" roared William Mulholland at the opening of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913. The Irish immigrant and self-taught engineer who had risen from a ditch-tender to head of the Los Angeles waterworks, was witnessing the completion of the most ambitious water project ever undertaken: a 240-mile-long aqueduct that would tap Owens River and eventually Owens Valley's groundwater and the streams feeding Mono Lake. Mul- holland's "ditch" was the key to growth, prosperity, and profits in the southland, and by 1930 the population of Los Angeles had increased from 200,000 to 1,200,000, and was still growing. In that year the city's voters approved bonds to finance the extension of the aqueduct northward from the Owens Valley into the Mono Basin. Unknow- ingly they had also signed the death warrant for a lake few had heard of and fewer still had ever visited. The men who backed and built the aqueduct cared little for the Owens Valley, Mono Basin, or the people who lived there. In their eyes, the aqueduct served "the greatest good for the greatest number," and justified not only the destruction of lakes, vegetation, and wildlife, but the subjugation of farmers, ranchers, and towns. During the 1920s, the unquenchable growth of Los Angeles led to a bitter, sometimes violent, and devious struggle over water rights. To secure the water, the city Progressive shrinking of Mono Lake is seen in the three pictures above showing the same tufa towers. Top picture was taken in 1962; center 1968; bottom 1978. The level of the water has fallen forty-six feet. Upper photographs by Eben McMillan; lower by Jim Stroup. 5 A pump, just east of Independence, in Owens Valley, one of many drawing off the groundwater supply. The site was once known as the Spring Field because of seasonal flows. As much as a foot of topsoil has been blown away since the vegetation has died. Photograph by Wm. E. Busby. purchased nearly all the private land, including the towns of Bishop, Big Pine, Independence, and Lone Pine. Whole communities were displaced and the economy suffered a near-fatal blow. It was not until the develop- ment of modern highways and automobile travel that a tourist economy began to flourish and the future looked promising once again. In the Mono Basin, Los Angeles brought suits to con- demn property and water rights, a maneuver calculated to force farmers to sell for lower prices. For six years a work force of up to 1,800 men battled steam, noxious gases, and cave-ins to drive a tunnel under the Mono Craters, connecting the basin with the Owens Valley watershed. In 1941 the first water was diverted from Mono Lake's tributary streams into the Owens River, thereby extending the system to an intake 338 miles from Los Angeles, farther north than San Francisco. But for Owens Valley and Mono Lake, worse was yet to come. In 1963 the Los Angeles Department of Water (DWP) began construction of a second aqueduct for, as they put it, "further utilization of the groundwater resources of the Owens Valley by increased pumping" and "salvage of the water in Mono Basin being lost into the saline water of Mono Lake." In the Owens Valley groundwater pumping increased approximately fifteen times to an average of 100,000 acre-feet per year after 1970. (An acre-foot is enough water to flood one acre of ground one foot deep.) In the Mono Basin diversions from Mono Lake's tributary streams increased approximately 50% to an average of about 100,000 acre-feet per year. The two Los Angeles aqueducts are marvels of engi- neering efficiency. The water flows by gravity through tunnels and siphons all the way to Los Angeles, gen- erating a small amount of hydroelectric power en route. But it doesn't come free. At the northern end of the pipes, Owens Valley and Mono Lake are dying. Impacts in the Owens Valley In 1913, with the completion of the original Los Angeles Aqueduct, the Owens River was diverted about fifteen miles below Big Pine. South of this point, tributary streams and springs were also diverted. As a result, the forty miles of Owens River between the aqueduct intake and Owens Lake became a dry bed. Only remnants are left of the woodlands, marshes, and meadows that once lined its banks. By 1928, deprived of water, Owens Lake had turned into glaring white alkali. Looking across its parched bed, clouds of dust rising from its surface, it is difficult to imagine steamboats plying its waters or millions of birds feasting along its shores. Until the 1970s, however, the high water table and numerous springs preserved some of the native vegeta- tion and wildlife on the Owens Valley floor. Large areas of Los Angeles-owned land remained undeveloped and open to public recreational access, which benefitted the local tourist-based economy. The deep resentment of Owens Valley residents toward Los Angeles gradually mellowed. Then, with the completion of a second aqueduct and the increase in groundwater pumping, the "Owens Valley water war" flared again. The DWP had assured local resi- dents that the second aqueduct would tap only "surplus" water. Groundwater pumping would average about 64,000 acre-feet of water per year. But once the aqueduct was completed, DWP announced its intention of pumping an average of 130,000 acre-feet per year and up to 272,000 acre-feet in dry years. Water considered surplus by the DWP was the Owens Valley's life blood. DWP viewed every spring and moist place, every grass, shrub, and tree as a useless waster of water that should be flowing to Los Angeles. Powerful pumps poured rivers of water into the aqueduct, lowering the water table and causing springs, seeps, and artesian wells to dry up. Artesian wells near Independence, for instance, ceased flowing, and the vibrant plant and animal community at Little Black Rock Spring was utterly destroyed. Dis- mayed by dessicated springs, dying vegetation, and a gradual increase in the frequency and intensity of dust storms, the people of Owens Valley went to court, charg- ing DWP with failing to prepare an environmental impact statement. Since 1970, over 24,000 acres of Owens Valley vegeta- tion have been harmed by the pumping (Griepentrog 1981). On 10% of this land, less than 20% of the original cover remains alive. Aerial photographs show vast areas of dead shrubs and barren land in the vicinity of the well fields. (An exception was the wet year of 1979, when above-average precipitation caused the germination of a green growth of tansy-mustard (Descurainia pinnata), 6 ' >¦!//¦ .-.-, ¦ . J v» ' ¦¦» 5*- Rush Creek, Mono Lake's largest tributary stream, before diversions, ca. 1920. Photograph courtesy of Enid Larson. After: Rush Creek in 1981. Water diversions have turned the creek into a dry wash. Riparian woodlands, marshes, and meadows are gone. Photograph by David Strelnick. which dried early in the season.) Moreover the vegetation is unlikely to recover in our lifetimes, for even with ade- quate groundwater most of the plants require exception- ally favorable climatic conditions for seed germination and seedling survival. Saltgrass meadows particularly have been destroyed, persisting only around seeps from the Owens River, the aqueducts, and irrigated pastures. Since diversions began in the 1940s, the riparian wood- lands, marshes, and meadows along the lower reaches of Mono Lake's major tributary streams have gradually died. Stumps and snags are all that remain of the aspens and pines that once lined lower Rush and Lee Vining creeks, Mono Lake's largest tributary streams. Marshes and wet meadows have vanished entirely. 7 THOSE DWP SHOWPLACES The practice of using pictures to "prove" that no damage has occurred is commonly used by the DWP. These may be beautiful Sierra scenes used in glossy brochures or presentations at hearings. Photographs taken on the Manzanar Road at the aqueduct bridge are typical. This is a site well away from the impact of pumping. In fact it must have taken some searching to find a site so well suited to prove their point. The growth in the foreground lies between the pavement of the abandoned Manzanar airport and the Los Angeles aqueduct. It is largely willow and rose bushes, supported by lateral seep- age from the adjoining aqueduct. Another practice that galls the local people is DWP's use of Mammoth and West Bishop as show- places when both are outside the DWP's sphere of control. DWP brings tour buses of people up to see the beauty at Mammoth, then to West Bishop (where the Hillside Decree in the 1930s forbade DWP ever to pump or interfere with water rights on the Bishop Cone) to show them the beautiful homes there with duck ponds and water flowing through the gardens. Of course no stops are made in the southern part of the valley where their pump- ing and water diversions have killed thousands of acres of trees and shrubs, or the towns of Inde- pendence and Lone Pine, where people are having to let their trees and lawns die because they can't afford to pay DWP's water rates. A percentage of these rates helps pay for the scenic brochures and the luxurious field trips to Mammoth and West Bishop. M.D. Mono Lake itself has fallen forty-six vertical feet. Its volume has been halved, its salinity had doubled, and 17,000 acres of alkali-encrusted shoreline have been exposed to the sun and the wind. At present diversion rates, the lake is projected to drop another fifty feet before it stabilizes at one-third its natural surface area and less than one-fifth its natural volume. As Mono Lake shrinks, its carbonates, sulfates, chlo- rides, and other solutes become ever more concentrated. Unless diversions are reduced, salinity will triple by the turn of the century and quadruple by the year 2015. Mono's shrimp, flies, algae, and birds can thrive in saline, alkaline water up to a critical point, but not beyond. Long before the lake stabilizes, if it ever does, that point will be passed and Mono will become a chemical sump. It's beginning to happen already. Numbers of first- generation brine shrimp declined by approximately 50% in 1980 and by 85 to 95% in 1981. This paucity of shrimp came at a time when gull chicks were clamoring for food. As a consequence, 25,000 chicks — approximately 95% of the 1981 hatch — perished of starvation. In place of verdant vegetation and flocks of birds, there will be clouds of dust billowing off dry lake beds and barren ground. Dust from the Owens Lake bed already reaches disastrous proportions. It fills thousands of square miles with a dense chemical smog that creeps into the canyons of the adjacent mountains. It is affecting pine trees and afflicting local residents with respiratory ail- ments. Fugitive dust from increasing areas of barren land is adding to the problem. According to the Inyo County Health Systems Agency, the DWP has failed to address the potentially serious effects on human health. The Air Pollution Control Board, in its concern over the increas- ing dust pollution in Owens Valley, has requested the DWP to apply for permits on all water diversions, along with reports on the environmental consequences. The DWP denies any adverse effects and has refused to comply. At a recent hearing on Inyo County's EIR on its groundwater ordinance, two scientists from the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake expressed disappoint- ment that the air pollution problem had not been given enough emphasis. Otherwise, they had high praise for the EIR. Dust blowing off the dry bed of Mono Lake bodes even worse. It contains ten times the sulfates of the Owens dust, as well as other substances suspected to be toxic to plants, animals, and humans. The minute size of the dust particles aggravates the hazard, for they can be drawn deep into the sensitive regions of the lower lungs. At the very least Owens-Mono dust will pollute the eastern Sierran air, plague visitors and residents, and jeopardize the local, tourist-based economy — for who will want to vacation in a dustbowl? At worst it could spread a swath of desolation over hundreds of square miles — killing trees, shrubs, and grasses, sickening humans and wildlife, and leaving the land barely habit- able. In particular jeopardy are numerous endemic species of plants, including the flask buckwheat (Eriogonum ampullaceum), the pumice lupine (Lupinus duranii), and the Mono milkvetch (Astragalus monoensis). Owens Valley Fights Back In 1973, in response to Inyo County's complaint, the court ordered DWP to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the operation of their second aqueduct. The court imposed a limit of 108,000 acre-feet annual average on DWP's pumping operations. The destruction of vegetation and wetland habitats has continued under this pumping limit, but it is obvious that the higher pump- ing rates sought by DWP would have wrought even more severe damage. Independent hydrologists retained by Inyo County have determined that pumping should be limited to 70,000 acre-feet per year to prevent further loss of vegetation (Groeneveld 1981). DWP's EIR proved a travesty. The court, ruling in 1977, declared the EIR legally inadequate and chastized DWP's misrepresentation of the effects of pumping as "serious," "wishful," and "egregious." In 1981 a second EIR was likewise judged inadequate by the court. 8 DWP seems unwilling to acknowledge the devastating impacts of their water-gathering operations. In 1980, the conflict took a new turn. Inyo County prepared an ordinance to prevent the overdraft of Owens Valley's groundwater basins and placed it on the ballot. Despite DWP's efforts to defeat it, the ordinance passed with a three-to-one margin. The DWP then went to court with the claim that an EIR should have been prepared before placing the matter on the ballot. The judge con- curred with Inyo County that it was right and proper to prepare the EIR after the ordinance was approved. Another suit by the DWP is still pending, in which they claim that the ordinance would interfere with the munici- pal affairs of the City of Los Angeles. The county is pushing to resolve the legal roadblocks, complete a groundwater management plan, and require pumping permits as soon as possible. The first drafts of the EIR and the management plan have been completed. Com- ments by the various state agencies have been compli- mentary, but the DWP turned in two hundred pages of nitpicking. Owens Valley residents seek, not to shut down the aqueduct, but to limit groundwater pumping to levels consistent with environmental protection. DWP has retaliated by subjecting the Owens Valley towns of Lone Pine, Independence, Big Pine, and Laws to Los Angeles water rates. DWP owns the water systems and much of the property in these towns. No matter that the towns are at the source of the water. No matter that Owens Valley yards and gardens, subject to desert heat and aridity, require many times more water than those in coastal Los Angeles. Unable to afford the exorbitant water rates, many Owens Valley residents have been forced to let their lawns and trees wither and die. The Save Mono Lake Campaign During the 1970s the plight of Mono Lake began to attract national concern. In 1978 a newly formed citizens group, the Mono Lake Committee, began to battle for the lake's survival. In 1979 the committee joined the National Audubon Society, Los Angeles Aubudon Society, Friends of the Earth, and Mono Basin land- owners in filing suit, charging DWP with violating the "public trust." In the same year the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Coun- cil also went to court, arguing that the federal govern- ment should assert rights to sufficient water to maintain the lake. DWP's delaying tactics, however, have thus far stifled legal action. In 1978 the California Department of Water Resources convened the Interagency Mono Lake Task Force. Com- posed of representatives from federal, state, and local agencies, the Task Force was charged with developing "a plan of action to preserve and protect the natural resources of the Mono Basin, considering economic and social factors." The Task Force recommended a compromise. They would not end diversions or restore Mono Lake to pristine conditions, but would raise the lake to its 1970 elevation of 6,388 feet — high enough to safeguard bird rookeries and reduce, but not eliminate, dust pollution. Until the lake attained that elevation, they would cut diversions by an average of 85,000 acre-feet per year. Los Angeles would replace the water — l/500th of the total consumed by Californians annually — through a modest program of water conservation and wastewater reclamation. The program would require no change in people's water-use habits, would save energy, and cost Los Angeles resi- dents 540 per person per year — about a penny per week. But DWP stifled all attempts to implement the Task Force recommendations. In 1980, at hearings before the California legislature, they claimed that "there is no scientific evidence whatsoever that the use by the City of Los Angeles of Mono Lake water is highly detrimental to Mono Lake" and that "the reliction of the lake does not destroy its beauty." Even with 25,000 dead gull LATEST DEVELOPMENTS Owens Valley 1. The Los Angeles DWP has yet to provide an adequate EIR, acceptable to the court, on ground- water pumping. 2. Inyo County is now pushing for a decision on the jurisdictional case in which the DWP claims that the groundwater ordinance would be interfering with the municipal affairs of the City of Los Angeles. 3. Efforts to negotiate an agreement between Inyo County and the Los Angeles DWP on other issues have failed. Inyo County has refused to negotiate on the groundwater ordinance or to delay its imple- mentation which is the chief objective of the DWP. Otherwise Inyo is leaving the door open to com- munication. Mono Lake 1. A hearing was held before the State of California Supreme Court on May 5 to determine whether the public trust doctrine could be used to affect existing water rights. A decision is expected in early fall. 2. A hearing on National Monument status for Mono Lake was held May 18 before the House Sub- committee on Public Lands and National Parks in Washington, D.C. 3. Mayor Tom Bradley of Los Angeles has an- nounced that because of above-normal runoff Los Angeles will stabilize Mono Lake for this year at the January 1 level. This is in response to a request signed by forty-nine state senators and assembly- men. It is an encouraging step, but the January 1 level is still about seventeen feet lower than the safe level recommended by the Mono Lake Task Force. M.D. and D.G. .' , ' T ,."r - Looking north towards Owens Valley and the Owens Lake bed on a calm day, above; below, on a windy day with the air filled with alkali dust. Photographs courtesy of China Lake Naval Weapons Center. ticed common-sense water use, farmers as well as urban dwellers, San Franciscans as weB as Angelenos, we could cut California's thirst by enough to save Owens Valley and Mono Lake many times over. The plight of Owens Valley and Mono Lake exempli- fies the inevitable impact of water projects on native plant-and-animal communities. Boosters of more water development continue to complain of water "wasted" into the sea, lakes, rivers, and marshes, or "consumed" by native vegetation. This sort of attitude manifests our human chauvinism. From a biotic perspective, there is no such thing as "wasted" water, unless we reckon that being squandered by our own thoughtless consumption. The defenders of Owens and Mono are battling the the largest unregulated utility in the United States, a utility with an annual budget of over $2 billion. They cannot match DWP's legal, public relations, and lobbying budgets, nor counter all its distortions and half-truths. Yet despite these handicaps, Owens Valley and Mono Lake may prevail. For people are beginning to realize that we need to readjust our habits and foster water poli- cies that balance human needs with those of ecological communities. We must become watershed housekeepers, responsive to the land from which we draw our sustenance and health. To find out how you can help, please contact the following non-profit citizens organizations: Concerned Citizens of Owens Valley, P.O. Box 617, Lone Pine, CA 93545; Mono Lake Committee, P.O. Box 29, Lee Vining, CA 93541, (714) 647-6386. References California Department of Water Resources, Southern District. 1979. Report of the Interagency Task Force on Mono Lake. Gaines, David. 1981. Mono Lake Guidebook. Mono Lake Committee. Kutsavi Books. $5.70 postpaid from the Mono Lake Committee (California residents add 300 sales tax). Griepentrog, Thomas E. and David P. Groeneveld. December 1981. Owens Valley Management Re- port. County of Inyo. Hoffman, Abraham. 1981. Vision or Villainy — Origins of the Owens Valley-Los Angeles Water Contro- versy. Texas A&M Press. Kahrl, William L. 1976. "The Politics of California Water: Owens Valley and the Los Angeles Aqueduct 1900- 1927." California Historical Society Quarterly 55: 2-25, 98-120. chicks littering Mono's islands, they continue to deny all responsibility. Despite the Task Force, Mono Lake continues to die. Owens Valley and Mono Lake are being needlessly devastated. California has more than enough water, if only we learn to use existing supplies wisely and effi- ciently. If every California community adopted the Task Force Plan, the savings would exceed 800,000 acre- feet per year. California agriculture, by conserving only 5%, could save another million acre-feet. If we all prac- 1982. Water and Power. University of California Press. Smith, Genny S. 1978. Deepest Valley. William Kaufman Inc. Winkler, David, ed. 1977. An Ecological Study of Mono Lake. University of California Davis Institute of Ecology Pub. 12. Reprinted by the Mono Lake Committee with update, 1980. Available from the Mono Lake Committee for $8.60 postpaid (Calif, residents add 450 sales tax). 10 OWENS VALLEY AND MONO LAKE II. THE PERSPECTIVE FROM LOS ANGELES by Eric Bock Recently much attention has been focused on the environmental consequences of Los Angeles' ground- water pumping in the Owens Valley and its water diver- sions from the Mono Basin. The water exported to Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Aqueduct provides the city with about 80% of its water and 6% of its yearly electric power needs. Since Southern California imports 71% of its water, and water planning for the region is based on Los Angeles's continuing to receive its full supply from the Los Angeles Aqueduct, decisions based on these environmental issues have a far reaching impact. Background In 1905 the city of Los Angeles, pursuant to state law, acquired water rights to use 724,000 acre-feet per year (AF/Yr.) of Owens River water in Los Angeles. By 1913 the city had constructed a 233-mile long aqueduct to inter- cept the water of that river before it flowed into highly saline Owens Lake. During the 1920s, when the city expe- rienced continued unprecedented growth and several years of below-normal precipitation in the eastern Sierra, the city constructed wells in the Owens Valley to supple- ment the flow of the Owens River. Further growth resulted in the city's applying to the State Water Rights Board in 1934 for permission to divert 145,000 AF/Yr. from freshwater streams tributary to saline Mono Lake for use in Los Angeles. A permit was issued in 1940 after the city extended its aqueduct system into the Mono Basin, and a license confirming the amount of reasonable beneficial use was issued by the State in 1974. In 1970 the second aqueduct was completed at a cost of $90 million to deliver approximately 50% more water to Los Angeles. The additional water came from increased utilization of groundwater in the Owens Valley, changes in the amount of water used on city-owned land in Mono and Inyo counties, and utilization of the balance of the water previously authorized by the state from streams in Mono Basin. Prior to 1970 the city diverted only about two-thirds of the authorized amount from the Mono Basin. Along with its construction of the aqueduct system, the city purchased 307,000 acres of watershed lands in the Owens Valley and Mono Basin, including all private lands bordering Mono Lake, to develop and protect its water rights. In addition, several executive orders and Congres- sional acts withdrew federal lands from entry in support of the city. Today Los Angeles receives 80% of its water supply from the Los Angeles Aqueduct System: 100,000 AF/Yr. from the Mono Basin, or roughly one-sixth of the city's total water supply, and 382,000 AF/Yr. from the Owens Valley watershed. Because the aqueduct system is gravity-flow, nine hydroelectric power plants were placed along its length to generate electrical energy totaling about 6% of the city's annual power demands. Another 17% of the city's water supply is pumped from local groundwater basins in Los Angeles County, with the remaining supply purchased from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). The MWD im- ports water through its Colorado River Aqueduct and receives water from the State Water Project. When the Second Aqueduct was authorized in 1963, Los Angeles's goal was to maintain the valley's level of agricultural productivity while filling both aqueducts to their intended capacity. The city's plan was to pump 64,400 AF/Yr. from the region's groundwater basin and use a portion of that water to provide a firm supply to a smaller but higher yielding acreage. However, by June 1970, with the completion of the second aqueduct, the city had agreed to irrigate more lands in the Owens Valley and Mono Basin than planned. Further, after 1970, the city agreed to make water available for recreation, fish-and- The Los Angeles Aqueduct under construction, ca. 1910. The Mono Basin extension was completed in 1941. Photograph courtesy of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. 11 wildlife-enhancement projects, and fish hatcheries in the region. The result was that the city had to increase its average pumping to 112,000 AF/Yr. In 1972 Inyo County officials sued the city, seeking an environmental impact report (EIR) on increased pumping for export based on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which was passed in November 1970. The suit, which is still pending, alleges that vegetation on the valley floor was being damaged by the pumping. Addi- tional issues raised were the side effects of such damage on recreation, wildlife habitats, flows of springs, and air quality if declines in vegetation result in increased dust occurrences. In 1976 the city issued an EIR as mandated by the Appellate Court. The EIR project was defined as the incremental pumping above 64,400 AF/Yr. required to meet Owens Valley needs arising after the passage of CEQA in 1970. In 1977, however, the District Appellate Court ruled that all city groundwater pumping in the Owens Valley should be considered in the EIR. A second city EIR, issued in 1979, on all groundwater pumping was nevertheless ruled inadequate by the court in 1981. The court ordered that another EIR should be prepared using an expanded project definition which includes surface water diversions. Pending acceptance of an EIR by the court, the city's groundwater pumping in Owens Valley has been restricted. None of the court's decisions has supported Inyo's contentions that the city's EIRs contains inadequate environmental assessments. Vegetation Changes Much of the Owens Valley floor, which receives less than six inches of rain a year, has always been largely desert. Riparian growth does exist along the Owens River Three of a series of pictures taken approximately September 1 of each year along Manzanar Road at the Los Angeles Aqueduct Bridge, looking westerly. The photo site is within the zone of projected impact from pumping in the Independence well field. The dates, top to bottom, are 1973, 1975, and 1981. W-' ^JVjf^^h >n »;ys^! «p3K »(»- and its tributary streams. Dominant, however, are broad areas of hardy, salt-tolerant vegetation which utilizes, in varying degrees, the shallow groundwater. The appear- ance of this vegetation, as well as Owens Valley vegeta- tion in general, is greatly affected by the season of the year and the timing and amount of precipitation. Current- ly, groundwater levels throughout much of the Owens Valley, after more than ten years of pumping at a rate very near the planned long-term average, are virtually un- changed from those existing before increased pumping began. Consequently, photos taken annually since 1975 demonstrate that no significant overall impact on valley vegetation has occurred. It now appears that the ultimate vegetation changes and related environmental impacts described in the city's EIR have been overstated. The main reason that the vegetation was not affected is because city wells generally tap the deep aquifers that are separated by layers of clay from the shallower aquifer. These clay barriers delay and decrease changes in water levels in the shallow zones on which the vegetation depends. In addition, the city pumps only about one-third of the average annual recharge of 300,000 AF/Yr. to the groundwater basin. In 1980 Inyo County passed a groundwater pumping ordinance in order to limit Los Angeles's use of ground- water from the Owens Valley based on alleged adverse environmental impacts. The city successfully obtained a court order requiring the county to prepare an EIR before implementation of the ordinance. In a pending second lawsuit, the city has sued Inyo County claiming the county has neither the need nor the power to enact such an ordi- nance, that it amounts to an unconstitutional taking of the city's water supply, and violates the California Constitu- tion requiring water to be put to beneficial use. As a result of the city's diversions of four freshwater streams that normally feed Mono Lake, the lake's sur- face is gradually declining. In eighty to one hundred years the lake will stabilize at about forty feet lower than its present elevation, at which time it will have a surface area of nearly forty square miles and a salt content of about 21%. The lake's present salt content is about 9% (almost triple the salinity of the ocean), which limits its aquatic life to brine shrimp and algae. The current campaign to restrict Los Angeles's use of Mono Basin water and stabilize the lake has focused on the loss of some of the California gulls' nesting islands at the lake, the possibility that increasing lake salinity will elim- inate the brine shrimp that provide food for the gulls and migratory birds, and that the exposed shoreline is a source of dust which degrades air quality in the region. No Immediate Threat Scientific data indicates that the timing and magnitude of possible changes have been exaggerated. The facts are that a substantial number of California gulls continue to nest at Mono Lake. The number of nesting adults during the last two years was considerably higher than historic records. In July 1982, several scientists conducting a gull census reported 5,000 gull chicks on the islets, all appear- i Svo ~- w, Fm ira iiso raeT Estimated number of breeding adult California gulls at Mono Lake. ing to be in good health. Most of these chicks are expected to survive to maturity, in contrast to 1981, when unusually hot weather contributed to a 90% chick mortality rate. Salinity was not considered to be a factor because the lake level was approximately the same as in 1980. Research at ponds adjacent to Mono Lake has shown that the brine shrimp thrive in a salinity of approximately 15% salt, which will not be reached at Mono Lake for more than thirty years. There is no conclusive evidence that the brine shrimp will not adapt to the ultimate salinity of Mono Lake. Studies in the Mono Basin indicate that the principally inhabited area on the west side experiences no violations of any federal air quality standards. During almost six hundred days of an ongoing study by Los Angeles, less than 5% of the days had moderate dust occurrences, while 95% of the days had air which was clear or had dust which was barely discernible. In order to restrict the city's diversion of Mono Basin waters, a lawsuit was filed against the city in May 1979 by the Audubon Society, which alleges that a public trust doctrine exists to protect Mono Lake from degradation with a higher priority than the state's water-rights system on which the city's rights are based. A Superior Court ruling that the public trust doctrine is part of the state's water-rights system and that a challenge to the city's water rights must first be brought before the State Water Re- sources Control Board, was appealed to the State Supreme Court in December 1981. 13 Another lawsuit filed in 1980 by the Sierra Club against the Secretary of the Interior seeks to compel him to exer- cise his authority to prevent environmental changes at Mono Lake on the basis that federal interests in the area are adversely impacted. The case, which is still pending, is being heard by a Federal District Court judge in Sacra- mento. A bill, supported by the city, was passed by the Cali- fornia legislature and enacted into law in January 1982 to create a state reserve to protect the tufa towers on the shores of Mono Lake. In addition, two Congressional bills were proposed in 1981. HR 5424, which would establish a Mono Lake National Monument, is opposed by the city, however, because it seriously threatens Los Angeles's continuing use of fresh water from streams tributary to Mono Lake and is unnecessary in view of state and local activities, such as the Tufa Reserve. The other bill, HR 4403, supported by Los Angeles, would reaffirm the rights and interests granted to the city by Congress in 1931 and 1936, and would appropriate $500,000 for a coopera- tive study with the city on the effect of continued water export on the Mono Basin. Conservation Suggestions have been made that the people of Los Angeles could reduce export from the Owens Valley and Mono Basin by simply conserving water. Although water conservation is necessary, it is not the total answer. The State Resources Agency published a report (Bulletin 76) that recognizes that by the turn of the century, Southern Californians will need all of their existing supplies (includ- ing waters delivered by the Los Angeles Aqueduct Sys- tem), even with substantial water conservation. Los Angeles already has a very active and comprehen- sive long-range conservation program which includes metering, leak detection, school education programs, commercial and industrial conservation awards programs, a residential irrigation program, and an ordinance that is activated during droughts to mandate appropriate levels of rationing depending on the water-supply conditions. The ordinance was in effect during the drought in 1977. In addition, Los Angeles in June, 1981, distributed water A substantial number of gulls continue to nest at Mono Lake. MFj-jii,-..¦¦ ¦ . .. ¦ -.»«ssic*"£;7Ai*5 =s^**a; ^¦:-.:.:.y>.',: ^'^.v'^L*'-*arf»£- :rt conservation kits to each household within the city at a total cost of nearly $1 million. Despite these measures, per capita water use in Los Angeles has risen to pre-drought levels. A 20% reduction in water consumption can be achieved only by mandating rationing. Per capita water use in Los Angeles compares favorably with other urban areas in the state, as shown in the table below. WATER USE IN CALIFORNIA CITIES (Gallons Per Person Per Day*) Calendar Years 1980 City 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1981 Fresno 241 240 194 215 244 230 226 Los Angeles 170 174 149 147 159 163 170 Marin Municipal 143 109 49 98 113 122 127 Modesto 345 330 293 304 332 327 358 Riverside 222 258 197 204 224 222 233 Sacramento 279 306 258 276 289 309 310 San Diego 178 193 180 173 175 185 192 *Information supplied by listed agencies based on total water sales and total population served. A cutback of all or part of the Los Angeles Aqueduct supply would aggravate the water-supply shortages ex- pected to occur in Southern California after 1985. By that year the Central Arizona Project will be completed and the supply of water available to the Southern California coastal plain from the Colorado River will be reduced by as much as 60% during dry periods, or the equivalent of roughly one-fifth of the total water used by the region's twelve million residents. It was the Colorado River supply that saved Southern California from widespread water shortages during the 1976-77 drought. Clearly, Colorado River water could not be used to replace any cutback in the Los Angeles Aqueduct supply. The only feasible replacement supply for the foreseeable future is the State Water Project (SWP), which collects and transports Feather River water, but is only a little more than one-half completed. After 1985, when losses of water to Arizona will result in more demands on the SWP, it will not be able to supply all the water needed until additional facili- ties are constructed. The defeat of Proposition 9 (Periph- eral Canal) in June 1982 makes the future water supply to Southern California even more precarious. Even assuming that water were available to replace a cutback in the city's aqueduct supply, the cost would be considerable. The Mono Basin water supply alone an- nually generates hydroelectric energy equivalent to burn- ing 500,000 barrels of fuel oil. Replacing this lost energy would cost at least $17 million per year. Further, to deliver the same amount of water to Southern California via the SWP requires the consumption of the equivalent of 500,000 barrels of fuel oil. Thus, to replace the Mono Basin water supply would require the costly burning of one million barrels of fuel oil per year for energy replace- ment and water pumping requirements. Apart from the cost of the lost energy, the cost of replacement water would be an additional $14 million per year. Replacement of Owens Valley groundwater and related hydroelectric energy would cost additional millions of dollars. It is clear that a reduction or elimination of the Los Angeles aqueduct supply would adversely affect the economic vitality and future health of our entire state. Consequently, the need to support environmental con- WATER INITIATIVE ON BALLOT National observers have called the two most important environmental issues before the nation's voters this year the referendum on the Peripheral Canal and the Water Resources Conservation and Efficiency initiative, both on the California ballot. The Peripheral Canal was de- feated in June. Water Conservation will be Proposition 13 in the November elections. The CNPS board voted in March to support the Water Initiative, which is widely regarded as a moderate move to shift California water policy toward greater efficiency rather than just expensive new development. Special interests benefiting from inexpensive, subsidized water have effectively kept reform legislation from passing the legislature in recent years. California lags behind most western states in effective water management. Proposition 13 is supported by prominent figures in both political parties, by major newspapers in the South and the North, by commercial and recreational fishermen's groups, numerous environmental groups, scientists, civic officials, senior citizens groups, and other opinion leaders. Harrison Dunning's in-depth discussion of the present confused state of California water law and the need for reform appeared in the April issue of Fremontia on water and was reprinted by California Tomorrow and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. The initiative promotes water conservation through economic incentives and reduction of pricing subsidies. It adds to beneficial uses of water the instream flows needed for commercial and sport fisheries, water quality, recreation, and wildlife. It responds to the critically over- drafted condition of several major groundwater basins in the state, especially in the San Joaquin Valley, by requiring locally developed groundwater management programs. Despite the recent debate over the Peripheral Canal, public ignorance of some aspects of water issues remains high. Most people do not realize that California agricul- ture uses about 85% of developed water. Very modest improvements in the efficiency of its use would make large amounts of water available for domestic needs. Estimates of possible savings range from five to as much as fifty percent, the latter figure from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the General Accounting Office. A ten percent savings would be three times the yield of the Peripheral Canal. Passage of Proposition 13 will increase amounts of cerns with sound scientific data is greatly emphasized. Only then can a realistic and equitable balance be struck between the environmental, water, and energy needs of all of California's people. water available for residents of the South and thus provide protection against the next drought. At the same time it will protect the rivers of the North and their important fisheries from pressures to develop and divert them, too. Before ballot arguments went to the printer in mid- summer, both those for and against Proposition 13 chal- lenged the language in the ballot arguments of the other side. The court ruled almost entirely in favor of the sup- porters of the proposition, thereby compelling elimination of several charges in the arguments offered against it and in certain characterizations of it in the analysis. SMALL HYDROPOWER A THREAT A new threat to the welfare of native plants has arisen as a result of the current boom in small hydropower facili- ties stimulated by the 1978 federal Public Utilities Regula- tory Policies Act. Chapters should be on the alert for mail marked "small hydro" forwarded from the CNPS state- wide office. Provisions guaranteeing a market for power from these facilities at the "avoided cost" rate, generally based on oil (unless this feature is struck down by the Supreme Court), and with a 21% tax credit, have brought a rush to file on sites that is inundating both state and federal regulatory agencies. Municipalities, federal, state, and local water districts, as well as private individuals (mostly through investment companies) are chasing the new "liquid gold." Municipalities have priority over private applicants, and, since applications are publicly recorded, this has led to wholescale copying by the former of applications filed by the latter, which are then filed on behalf of the governmental body. Moreover, nothing says that a district must operate only within its own territory and, for example, the Modesto Irrigation District has filed on sites as far away as Trinity and Inyo counties. There is little environmental concern at retrofitting existing dams, canals, and pipelines to generate small amounts of power and it is desirable to do so rather than build new facilities. But new dams and diversions, even though relatively small, can have incrementally devas- tating effects on fisheries and, if much land is to be inundated, on plants, including rare species. Once an application is filed, protests must be filed within sixty days with brief mention of the grounds (e.g., "environ- mental" or "public interest"). As of April, the State Water Board was receiving forty applications a month, had a backlog of two hundred, and was expecting over six hundred in the upper San Joaquin River alone. CONSERVATION BRIEFS by Alice Q. Howard 15 DUCKWEEDS, CALIFORNIA'S SMALLEST WILDFLOWERS by Wayne P. Armstrong During the past 135 million years, flowering plants have colonized practically every conceivable habitat on the islands and continents of earth, from salt marshes, meadows, and tropical forests to arid deserts and rocky alpine summits. They have evolved an enormous diversity of flower shapes, colors, and sizes, from minute flowers barely visible to the unaided eye to giant blossoms of Rafflesia arnoldii over one meter across. The range in size of entire plants is even more astonishing, from minute aquatics only one millimeter long to massive eucalyptus nearly 100 meters tall. Miniature wildflowers can be found just about every- where, from inconspicuous weeds in your garden to charming little "belly flowers" of rocky desert bajadas and alpine plateaus. Although they are easily overlooked, the smallest blossoms are often very beautiful when viewed through a magnifying lens. One might conclude that plants of diminished size often grow in dry, barren habitats; however, the smallest known flowering plants are tiny floating aquatics of the Duckweed family (Lemna- ceae). They often occur at the surface of quiet streams and ponds, and their floral parts are so reduced that they are barely recognizable without magnification. The Duckweed Family The Duckweed family is well represented in California with four genera, Lemna, Wolffia, Wolffiella, and Spiro- dela, and at least twelve different species. Some authori- ties recognize two additional genera native to tropical Africa and America, Pseudowolffia and Wolffiopsis. All the California representatives can be distinguished rather easily, with the possible exception of a few species of Lemna. To appreciate the obvious differences in these unique genera you must compare them, preferably through a binocular dissecting microscope. Most authorities refer to the plant body, which is not differentiated into a typical stem or leaf, as a frond. "Daughter fronds" are produced from meristematic tissue (dividing cells) inside reproduc- tive pouches located along the lateral margin or basal end of the parent frond. Duckweeds reproduce vegetatively (a process sometimes called budding) by daughter fronds at an amazing exponential rate. Under optimal conditions a spoonful of duckweeds can literally cover the surface of an aquarium tank in a matter of weeks. All the genera produce flowers, although they are rarely observed. This is either because flowering is indeed a rare occurrence in some species, or because it is infrequently observed by botanists. Plants of the Lemnaceae are considered mono- ecious with one or two male flowers, each reduced to a stamen, and a female flower reduced to a single pistil, occurring on a single plant. The fruit is called a utricle and typically contains one or several small seeds depend- ing on the species. Members of the Duckweed family are widespread in temperate and tropical regions of the world. In California they appear to thrive in sluggish streams and ponds during the warm summer months, particularly in water rich in organic nutrients. The World's Smallest Wildflower The world's smallest known flowering plants belong to the genus Wolffia. Wolffia is named after a German botanist and physician of the late 1700s, Johann Friedrich Wolff. There are at least eight known species of Wolffia distributed throughout the world. The individual plants of all species are generally only one millimeter long and con- sist of a globose or oval frond that floats at the surface of quiet streams and ponds. They have no roots, stems, or leaves, and look like green, mealy particles — rather like green Malto-Meal. An appropriate common name for the genus is water meal. You can often tell if wolffia is present in a handful of duckweeds by its distinctive feel- ing of granularity or mealiness. Two species of Wolffia are known from California. Wolffia columbiana is clearly distinguished by its globose frond, which is minutely roughened but not flattened on the dorsal (upper) surface. The fronds generally float just The heavy rains in southern California during the late 1970s filled Lake Hodges to overflowing. During the summer of 1980 a massive green layer of duckweed (Lemna gibba) covered the water surface. Photographs by the author. A green pond at the base of Lake Hodges Dam covered with a dense layer of Lemna gibba, Wolffia punctata, and W. columbiana. This is the first record of Wolffia in southern California. below the surface, often with only a small portion of the frond rising above the water. Fronds of W. punctata are distinctly flattened on the dorsal surface and float with the entire dorsal surface above the water. The fronds of W. punctata are noticeably punctate (dotted) under a micro- scope, and old, transparent fronds are often dotted with numerous brown pigmented cells. Wolffia columbiana appears darker green than W. punctata, particularly when viewed through a microscope. To get a rough idea of how small our native California wolffias really are, a bouquet of one dozen plants will easily fit on the head of an ordinary straight pin, and at least 5,000 could be packed into a thimble. I attempted to weigh them on a Sartorius balance and came up with an average weight of approximately 150 micrograms per plant. In other words, it would take about 190,000 wolffia plants to weigh one ounce! In fact, the entire plant is smaller than the seeds of most other flowering plants. Exactly which species of Wolffia is the world's smallest is debatable. Daubs (1965) gives the smallest dimensions for W. microscopica, a species native to ponds and lakes of India. I recently received flowering specimens of W. microscopica from Dr. Jitendra Khurana at the Uni- versity of Delhi, India. The fronds of this remarkable species are polygonal to roundish in outline, with a pecu- liar ventral root-like protuberance that extends down into the water. They resemble minute flat-topped golf tees floating on the water surface. The fronds of W. micro- scopica appear larger than W. punctata or W. colum- biana, particularly during flowering when the ventral protuberance is most pronounced. The smallest fronds I have observed are W. punctata, although there may indeed be other tropical species with smaller fronds. Wolffia microscopica may not be the smallest species of Wolffia, but it may have one of the fastest reproductive rates. According to Dr. Khurana (personal communica- tion), under optimum conditions of light, temperature, and nutrients a plant may reproduce every thirty hours. A single frond could theoretically give rise to more than one hundred trillion plants in about two months. This would be enough wolffia plants to fill twenty billion thimbles, with a total weight of nearly 167,000 tons (not counting the weight of the thimbles)! When wolffia fronds are dried in a plant press they look like tiny pepper grains. They may be stored in an envelope attached to the herbarium sheet; ideally they should be accompanied with a good, clear photomicrograph or de- tailed description of their shape. The fronds retain their characteristic shape in 70% ethanol, although they usually become colorless. The brown pigment cells of W. punc- tata are clearly discernible even though the rest of the frond is transparent. If loose, dried fronds are examined, one must be careful not to sneeze over the herbarium sheet or inhale the fronds in your nostrils. During the spring and summer of 1980 I discovered Wolffia punctata and W. columbiana in the San Dieguito River, San Diego County, just below the Lake Hodges Dam. In several ponds they were so numerous that the entire surface of the water was covered with a green layer several centimeters thick. When a plant the size of wolffia can completely cover a pond ten meters across with a 17 Dense population of Wolffia columbiana floating just below the water surface. Some fronds have produced daughter fronds (budding). dense layer over two centimeters thick in only two months, it must have a tremendous reproductive poten- tial. Wolffia and other genera of duckweeds provide an important source of food for some waterfowl. They also provide the habitats for numerous protozoans, insects, rotifers, and microcrustaceans which provide the vital links for other members of the freshwater food web. Because of duckweeds' astronomical population growth, scientists are experimenting with fresh and dried duckweeds as a high-protein food source for fish, poultry, cattle, and people. These plants also may prove useful in waste-water reclamation by shading out algae and absorb- ing excess nutrients from the water. A local aquaculture laboratory in Encinitas, California is growing our native species of Lemna and Wolffia in large vats. Apparently fresh duckweed makes an excellent substitute for alfalfa sprouts in a sandwich or salad. I have several buckets of duckweeds at my home and they make an excellent garden mulch. The gourmet possibilities here are endless, including duckweed soup, wolffia-avocado dip, and bacon, wolffia, and tomato sandwiches. Wolffia fronds can be converted into protein powder with very little pro- cessing. Who knows, dried wolffia powder may become as popular as the alga Spirulina that is commonly sold in natural food stores. The Ultimate Reduction of a Flower The heavy rains and floods of the late 1970s in southern California caused Lake Hodges to overflow, filling numerous shallow ponds with nutrient-rich water. And the hot summers of 1980 and 1981 produced a veritable wolffia population explosion. During this time I made many collection trips to the green ponds along the San Dieguito River, but I never found a single wolffia frond in flower. In the past two decades a number of excellent studies have been made on the physiology and experi- mental control of flowering in duckweeds, including Hillman (1959), Oota (1975), and others. Professor S.C. Maheshwari and Dr. Jitendra Khurana at the University of Delhi, India, have successfully induced flowering in several genera, including Wolffia and Spirodela. They have produced abundant flowering in duckweed cultures containing salicylic acid, and they have even induced flowering with ordinary aspirin! I attempted to induce flowering by growing Wolffia columbiana and W. punc- tata in various enriched hydroponic solutions containing Hoagland's Solution, Knop's Solution, and fish emulsion. I also tried a number of solutions containing different kinds and concentrations of auxins and gibberellins. One colleague suggested growing them in an airtight container with a ripe apple as an ethylene source. This method apparently can induce flowering in ornamental brome- liads. I also tried growing them under carefully timed daily intervals of ultraviolet light and in a growth chamber under long-day conditions and constant warm tempera- tures. Flowers were never produced in any of my rather simplistic experiments. Finally in September 1981 I returned to the San Dieguito River and found virtually every sample from the green ponds contained hundreds of W. punctata in flower. According to Daubs (1965), flowering has never been reported for W. punctata, so it was especially exciting to find it in full bloom. My only conclusions about the natural flowering of Wolffia species is that it appears to occur under optimum growth San Diego County. The darker, more spherical fronds are W. columbiana (A). The lighter fronds with a flat-topped, pitted (punctate) dorsal surface are W. punctata (B). Some fronds are reproduced by budding. The scale bar is one mm. 18 w % A duckweed (Lemna gibba) in full bloom. Two stamens and a style emerge from a tiny reproductive pouch near the edge of the frond. The stamens and pistil separate male and female flowers. conditions of full sunlight, warm weather, and quiet, almost stagnant, water with abundant organic nutrients. To examine the minute flowers of Wolffia punctata in detail requires a magnification of at least forty power. For optimum viewing I prefer substage lighting and a bright high-intensity beam from above. A microscopic opening develops on the dorsal surface of the frond. Inside the tiny cavity below the opening is a single stamen and a single pistil. The stamen consists of a minute fila- ment and an oval anther that often shows a longitudinal pigmented line of dehiscence. The pistil consists of a globuse ovary, a short style, and a circular, concave stigma. The flowers are proterogynous, that is the stigma matures and shrivels before the anther releases pollen. Maturation of the sex organs at different times would presumably favor cross pollination, but how this is accom- plished is not certain. According to Howard Clark of the University of Georgia Institute of Ecology (personal communication), pollination by water is unlikely because the stigmas are above water when receptive, and wind pollination is unlikely because the pollen grains are sticky. According to Mason (1938), when the stigma of Wolffiella is receptive a small globule of liquid is exuded which may serve to trap insect or wind-borne pollen. I have observed these same stigmatic secretions in Wolffia punctata. According to F. van der Plas, writing in Flora Malesiana (1976), some duckweeds may be pollinated by contact pollination. Species of Lemna produce flowers along the edges of their fronds, and pollination is possible by con- tact between the stamens of one plant with the stigma of another. However, van der Plas admits that the mecha- nism of pollination in species with dorsal floral cavities, such as Wolffia, is unknown. At the time of flowering in the San Dieguito River the fronds were packed together with more than 1700 to a cubic centimeter. You could literally scoop handsful of wolffias from the water surface. Perhaps they are pollinated by virtue of their extremely close spacial relationship during peak population densi- ties. The fronds make convenient landing surfaces for honeybees collecting water for their nests, and possibly the bees could inadvertently pollinate a few fronds. I have also observed dragonflies, damselflies, and other insects resting on carpets of wolffia and lemna. There are cer- tainly no colorful petals or any of the showy parts of typical flowers. In fact, without a microscope or good hand lens you wouldn't even know the plants are bloom- ing. This is the ultimate in reduction of a flower, in effect a "no frills" sexual reproduction. Other Genera in California The generic name Wolffiella is misleading because it is the diminutive of Wolffia. The mature fronds of our native species Wolffiella are actually much larger than Wolffia, about the same size as Lemna. However, unlike Lemna, Wolffiella has no roots and the fronds are thinner Wolffia punctata in full bloom. The frond in center has an oval cavity containing a circular, concave stigma (appearing like a tiny donut) and a minute anther just above it. The entire frond is less than one mm. long. Drawing of Wolffia punctata in flower. The upper (dorsal) surface of the frond is flattened. Note the pigmented line of dehiscence on the anther and the circular stigma. The stamen and pistil are separate male and female flowers. (Illustration by author.) 19 Comparison of Genera of Lemnaceae Fronds flattened with one or several roots on the lower surface; margin of frond with 2 lateral, slitlike vegetative reproductive pouches bearing daughter fronds; inflorescence of 3 unisexual flowers (2 stamens & 1 pistil) enclosed in a membranous saclike spathe. Fronds without roots; base of frond with single vegetative reproductive cavity or pouch bearing daughter frond; inflorescence of 2 unisexual flowers (1 stamen & 1 pistil) not enclosed in a spathe. Frond generally less than 5 mm long with a single root (L. trisulca up to 10 mm long). Lemna L. gibba L. minor L. minuta L. obscura L. perpusilla L. trisulca L. valdiviana Frond thallus-like, flattened, 5-10 mm long and up to 5 mm wide; the ends often curved downward in the water. Wolffiella W. lingulata Frond generally more than 5 mm long with several roots. Spirodela 5. polyrhiza S. punctata (naturalized) Frond globose or ovoid (flattened on dorsal surface in W. punctata); one mm long or less. Wolffia W. columbiana W. punctata Comparison of genera of Lemnaceae (listing species occurring in California). Nomenclature follows Kartesz and Kartesz (1980). and more thallus-like. In W. lingulata the free ends of the parent and daughter fronds are curved downward below the water surface. Some references list W. oblonga for California, but all the fronds I have observed, particu- larly the broad vegetative fronds, appear to be W. lingu- lata. Like Wolffia, Wolffiella has rarely been observed in flower. According to Daubs (1965), the infrequency of flower and seed production in Wolffiella and its lack of any specialized overwintering form probably account for its limited distribution. Wolffia fronds have survived relatively mild winters in buckets at my home in Escon- dido, and have formed dense populations the following spring. On several nights the ambient air temperature dropped to freezing. Although most of the populations die and disintegrate in cold weather, I have found Wolffia fronds in the San Dieguito River during winter. Fronds may overwinter in protected sites among rocks or boulders, among thickets of Scirpus, Cyperus, and Typha species and other marsh vegetation, and even tangled in masses of damp filamentous algae, mud, and debris. With its enormous vegetative growth rate, it doesn't take too many fronds to repopulate completely the ponds the next season. The Overwintering Turions of Spirodela Spirodela polyrhiza, another member of the Lemna- ceae, sometimes called greater duckweed because of its larger size, produces small, dense, starch-filled, rootless fronds, called turions, which sink to the bottom during adverse conditions of temperature and drought. The turions are dark green and resemble miniature lima bean seeds when examined through a dissecting microscope. When they have been on the bottom for several months they turn brownish-green. According to Jacobs (1947), when environmental conditions become favorable the turion expels a small bubble of gas that carries it to the surface. The turions produce regular daughter fronds and the population starts again. According to Daubs (1965), flowering is rare in the genus Spirodela, and the produc- tion of turions in S. polyrhiza may account for its wide- spread distribution. All four genera of the Duckweed family occur through- out freshwater marsh areas of California. Spirodela polyrhiza and several species of Lemna grow in other states where rivers and ponds freeze, and may be found at elevations up to and above 1500 meters in the moun- tains of California. The range of tolerance to freezing winters may be related to seed production in Lemna and prolific turion production in Spirodela. Wolffia and Wolffiella generally occur at lower elevations along the coast and inland where winter temperatures are less severe. Recorded in Guinness For several years the Guinness Book of World Records has listed artillery plant {Pilea microphylla) as the world's smallest flowering plant. Pilea microphylla is sometimes grown in hanging baskets and has bright green foliage that superficially resembles a fern. The unusual common name is derived from its anthers which explode and fire pollen into the air. Granted that the flowers are minute, but the plant may grow to over thirty centimeters and is hardly the world's smallest. After more than a year of correspondence, Guinness Superlatives Limited in England finally were persuaded to bestow the title of world's smallest flowering plant on Wolffia. In fact, my picture of Wolffia punctata next to the point of a sewing needle appears in the 1982 United Kingdom color edition. For some reason, however, the picture of the displaced contender, Pilea microphylla, was retained in the 1982 American edition. Other California native plants have also made the Guinness Book of World Records: Arctostaphylos hookeri subsp. ravenii (rarest); Pinus longaeva and Larrea tridentata (oldest); Sequoiadendron giganteum (most massive); and Sequoia sempervirens (tallest). The Duckweed family is common and widespread in California. Wolffia and Wolffiella have undoubtedly been overlooked many times and are probably more widespread than their documented locations seem to indicate. They are certainly abundant in other parts of the world, particularly wetlands of the southeastern 20 Top: A single Wolffia punctata plant with daughter frond next to the point of a sewing needle. The tiny oval cavity in center contains a minute anther (right) and a minute pistil (left). This is the ultimate in reduction of a flowering plant. Middle: Fronds of Spirodela polyrhiza with smaller turions on their lateral margins. The turions are produced in the fall and overwinter at the bottom of quiet streams and ponds. Above: The turions of Spirodela polyrhiza look like lima bean seeds when magnified through a dissecting microscope (20X). Each turion is approximately two mm. long. Top: Wolffiella lingulata floats among the smaller fronds of Wolffia spp., mostly W. columbiana, a few W. punctata. Note the thin daughter frond arising from a triangular reproductive pouch. The larger frond is curved downward in the water. Middle: A population of duckweeds in the Mojave River near Victorville. The larger fronds are Spirodela polyrhiza and the smaller fronds are Lemna minor. The large flower is Ludwigia peploides, an aquatic member of the Evening-primrose family. Above: A Spirodela turion (left) producing a new daughter frond in early spring. 21 United States and in Central and South America. Mem- bers of the Duckweed family are structurally the simplest, and in the case of Wolffia the smallest of flowering plants, and yet they play a significant role in the ecology of freshwater food webs. In addition to their promising future in aquaculture and waste-water reclamation, they offer some challenging and intriguing research projects in the fields of physiology and population ecology. References Clark, H.L., and J.W. Thieret. 1968. "The Duckweeds of Minnesota." The Michigan Botanist 7:67-76. Clark, H.L. 1979. Lemnaceae. Pages 464-476 in R.K. Godfrey and J.W. Wooten. Aquatic and Wetland Plants of the Southeastern United States. Mono- cotyledons. University of Georgia Press, Athens. Correll, D.S., and H.B. Correll. 1975. Aquatic and Wet- land Plants of Southwestern United States. Vol. 1. Stanford University Press. 856 pp. Daubs, E.H. 1965. A Monograph of Lemnaceae. Illinois Biological Monographs 34. University of Illinois Press, Urbana. 118 pp. Hicks, L.E. 1932. "Flower Production in the Lemna- ceae." Ohio Journal of Science 32: 115-131. Roaming on foot through the American deserts from the Mexican line to the borders of Death Valley in quest of botanical specimens at the age of seventy, climbing Mt. San Jacinto on burro-back at over eighty years of age to collect alpine plants — those are some of the accom- plishments I remember of Mary F. Spencer, who was a frequent visitor to Palm Springs, where I was living in 1919. Mary Spencer was not connected with any institution. She was a graduate of Oberlin College, and in all her many collecting days she always sent a set of her plants to the Oberlin Herbarium. The specimens she sent must have numbered in the thousands. She was one of California's able, if minor, taxonomic botanists and a remarkably assiduous collector. Her specimens are found in many other herbaria besides Oberlin — Kew Gardens, Berlin, Paris, Copenhagen, Harvard, and especially Munich and Washington. Before World War I, Mary Spencer was a long-time resident of Munich, where she won recognition for her botanical work. Her first collecting was done in Germany. On later collecting trips she climbed the Caucasus, the lofty Taurus Mountains of Asia Minor, and the Atlas Mountains of north Africa. She once told me of times when she was called "dog," was spat upon as a Christian, and was derided for being a woman. Undaunted she went on her way adding to her store of plants. She wrote no 22 Hillman, W.S. 1959. "Experimental Control of Flowering in Lemna." I. General Methods. Photoperiodism inL. perpusilla 6746. American Journal of Botany 46: 466-473. Jacobs, D.L. 1947. "An Ecological Life-History of Spiro- dela polyrhiza (Greater Duckweed) With Emphasis on the Turion Phase." Ecological Monographs 17: 437-469. Kartesz, J.T., and R. Kartesz. 1980. A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. Vol. II. Univer- sity of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. 498 pp. Khurana, J.P., and S.C. Maheshwari. 1980. "Some Effects of Salicylic Acid on Growth and Flowering in Spirodela polyrhiza SP20." Plant and Cell Physiology 21: 923-927. Mason, H.L. 1938. "The Flowering of Wolffiella lingulata (Hegelm.) Hegelm." Madrono 4: 241-251. Oota, Y. 1975. "Photoperiodic Requirements for Flower- ing of the Long-Day Duckweed, Lemna gibba G3." Plant and Cell Physiology 16: 885-894. Saeger, A. 1929. "The Flowering of Lemnaceae." Bulle- tin of the Torrey Botanical Club 56: 351-358. Sculthorpe, CD. 1967. The Biology of Aquatic Vascular Plants. St. Martin's Press, New York. 610 pp. books, but her correspondence with other botanists was large. Mrs. Spencer came to America and on to California just before World War I, which she sensed was coming. I met Mary Spencer first in San Bernardino at the home of Samuel B. Parish, Southern California botanist of the early days. She had come with a bundle of plants for his aid in identification. She was a small, well-muscled, white- Mary Spencer in the field. Photograph by the author. THE UMBRELLA LADY MEMORIES OF MARY SPENCER, DESERT BOTANIST by Edmund C. Jaeger haired woman dressed as a European, with white, red- circled stockings and custom-made high, buttoned shoes. I noted immediately in her a very interesting person, deeply interested in her plants. These she had collected in the back country of San Diego. From San Diego where she lived for many years she traveled by train to many parts of Southern California. The Santa Fe Railroad had presented her a free pass on its lines. When I was living in Palm Springs in 1919 she came often to my primitive home. Together we went collecting in the surrounding desert. Residents of Palm Springs at that time long remembered seeing Mrs. Spencer in the very early morning, plant press and umbrella in hand, walking up along what is now Palm Canyon Drive on her way to the nearby flower fields. She was a woman short in stature but long in endurance, and often she walked five or six miles before breakfast. She was always an early riser and was up and on her botanical excursions by five o'clock in the morning. "The early hours are the best part of the day and the best is none too good for me," I often heard her say. The umbrella she carried for mul- tiple reasons: with it she could get not only shelter from the hot sun; it was also good to kill snakes with; and if her plant press became too full of specimens she could always put the excess plants in the folds of her umbrella. Several times we went by train to gather plants on the Mohave Desert near Barstow. We stayed at the old Miller Hotel, taking our meals at the Harvey House. One evening after a day's collecting I visited her and found her seated on a straight-backed chair reading, her feet dangling, with a great bundle of plants placed between sheets of news- paper, beneath her. "It's the best way to press my plants," she said with a chuckle, "especially the thorny ones." In the field she carried, in addition to a vasculum, a metal plant press. This she had carried as she traveled in Europe, Asia Minor, and Africa. It consisted of a metal frame with cross-wires in two directions. It was a very efficient press, and when afterward she gave two such to me I used them too. They were light, used little space, and could be hung up in a tree or bush to dry the specimens further. I have not seen any other like them. In her earlier days Mary Spencer's father had sent her to Europe because of ill health. In Munich she took up the study of botany as a diversion. She often attended grand opera, for she was always interested in music and was herself an accomplished pianist. Even when she was in her eighties she still walked to and from her home on Golden Hill in San Diego to the music hall during the opera season. All her life she was very fond of walking. When she was eighty-two years old she wanted to go once more to the highlands among the pines and insisted that I take her to Tacquitz Valley 6000 feet in the San Jacinto Mountains. We left from the hotel in Idlewild, she riding on my burro. I had induced two trained nurses to accom- pany us. I think, however, she stood the strenuous trip better than the two young nurses on that steep, unim- proved trail, called the Devil's Slide, really only a cattle trail. When she got to the high country she lay down on a bed of pine needles for a while; this done, she got up and with her press in hand collected some of the alpine plants near Plant collectors Mary Spencer and Edmund C. Jaeger. at hand. In the evening when we returned the nurses ad- monished her to lie abed late the next morning. "We will call at your hotel room about 11 a.m. to give you a massage to ease your tired muscles." To the surprise of all, Mary Spencer was up and at the hotel dining room ordering her breakfast at 7 a.m. Mary Spencer was born in 1841 and died in 1940. Her maiden name was Mary Clapp Fisher. As a young girl she attended the Boston Music School, where she studied between 1862 and 1874 and later taught there. She went to Europe and in 1878 was married to James W. Spencer, a Harvard graduate whom she met in Munich where he was studying chemistry. While in Munich she became ill and then took up the study of botany. Her husband was a mountain climber. Mrs. Spencer loved walking and moun- tain climbing too. She taught botany to her husband. She never lost her interest in music. In the winter while in Europe she stayed in Munich but in summer went to the Bay of Naples, to Corsica, or the Alps, all the time collecting plants. In spite of weak eyes she was a great reader, particularly of taxonomic botany, botanical history, and exploration. California botanists can be proud of having had such an enthusiastic, capable woman among their number. 23 NATIVES FOR YOUR GARDEN by Marjorie G. Schmidt Ceanothus 'Julia Phelps' and C. 'Dark Star' Family: Rhamnaceae Habit: Ceanothus 'Julia Phelps' is a compact, bushy, evergreen shrub with a dark appearance because of its foliage color. It ranges from four to seven feet in height and to as much as ten feet in breadth. Plants branch freely from the base, with slightly arching branches above and rigid branchlets. Foliage: The very dark green leaves are closely spaced in clusters (fascicled). They are oval, wrinkled on the sur- face (rugose), and about one-half inch long. Flowers: The indigo-blue flowers occur in rounded inflo- rescences clustered at the ends of the branchlets. They are freely produced over the whole shrub and are spec- tacular when in full bloom. Origin: Ceanothus 'Julia Phelps' was chosen from a flat of C. roweanus seedlings as a distinct variant. These were being grown at the Morgan Hill propagating grounds of the Leonard Coates Nursery in 1945. To better test its out- Ceanothus 'Julia Phelps' Drawing by Nancy Baron 24 standing traits this seedling was given to Dudley Phelps, then propagator for the Saratoga Experimental Gardens. In his garden this seedling continued to flourish and to bloom each year with increasing vigor. Because of its compact habit and abundance of flowers it was propa- gated and introduced in 1951. It was dedicated to Mrs. Dudley Phelps and became known as Ceanothus 'Julia Phelps'. Culture: Ceanothus 'Julia Phelps' is propagated from cuttings taken any time except during the flowering period. Eight to ten months are required to produce gallon-sized plants, and these are best set out in autumn. A strong bloomer, this ceanothus is apt to begin to flower the second year of growth. It provides rich color from mid-March into April. Full sun, well drained soil, and moderate amounts of water until plants are well estab- lished are essential requirements. Near the coast and in sandy soil it appears to be especially long lived. Else- where, under dry conditions it may persist for ten years or more. If pruning is necessary it should be done during the warm months to avoid an attack of water-borne fungus. As long as its requirements are met this ceano- thus is useful in home gardens as well as in large-scale landscaping. Its compact form makes it a useful fore- ground subject with drought-tolerant shrubs and trees. It can be used as an untrimmed hedge along a country driveway forming a spectacular dark blue edging. Com- bined with the smooth, heart-shaped leaves of Cercis occidentalis, or the open framework of a Cercocarpus, it affords a sharp contrast in foliage color and texture. Estimate of Garden Value: Ceanothus 'Julia Phelps' is one of the very first of the ceanothus cultivars — those selected forms of which we now have a wide assortment. Because of its superior traits it has remained one of the most popular. Aside from its lively flower color, it has an early period of interest during flower-bud formation. The buds at first are dark green, enclosed by thin, rose-tinted bracts, and finally dark blue as the buds break and bits of color begin to show. Another attractive feature is its dependable, compact form in a genus where rampant ten- dencies are frequently exhibited. Ceanothus 'Dark Star' is very similar and was devel- oped by nurseryman Kenneth Taylor from seeds of C. papillosus var. roweanus purchased from a commer- cial source in 1968. Subsequent seedlings showed charac- teristics of C. impressus, of C. papillosus, with a few having leaf forms suggesting also the influence of C. oli- ganthus. Seedling plants were carefully evaluated for out- standing traits; one of the choices was named Ceanothus 'Dark Star' and was introduced to the trade in 1971. This cultivar is a dense plant six or more feet tall and up to twelve feet broad. Lateral branches arch outward and many smaller ones give it its compact appearance. Foliage is abundant and closely spaced, the individual leaves of dark green are narrowly oblong to narrowly oval and less than one-half inch long. Prior to the February flowering period the emerging flower buds give the entire plant a pinkish cast. The small clusters of dark, vibrant blue flowers are borne in profusion, almost hiding the foliage, and the plant is described by Mr. Taylor as a shimmering mound of deep blue. Ceanothus 'Dark Star' is propa- gated from firm, partially hardened shoots taken in the autumn. The four- to six-inch cuttings may be dipped in a mild hormone before planting. This cultivar may be set out after one to two years of growth. Its requirements for satisfactory growth are the same as for C. 'Julia Phelps': full sun, one or two waterings a year until plants are well established, and well-drained soil. Although these two cultivars are similar in size and structure, with comparable foliage and flowers, C. 'Dark Star' is considered to be more floriferous and somewhat more disease resistant. A listing of commercial sources of native plants was last published in Fremontia in July 1977. The suggestion that it is time for a new compilation grew out of meetings of the chapter presidents. Organizers of plant sales, planners of revegetation projects and public-area plantings, as well as home gardeners, may find this updating useful. Most suppliers were queried directly. Information in- cludes the percentage of natives to the total stock carried, whether a price-list is available, the name of a contact, and how plants are acquired or propagated. A few less complete listings are taken from the list of the Soil Con- servation Society or were recommended by Chapter presidents. Commercial sources are listed alphabetically. A list of plant sales by chapters and other organizations follows. Nurseries and Seed Suppliers Angeli's Nursery. 42120 Palm Ave., Fremont, CA. (415) 657-4563. Albert L. Angeli. Wholesale and retail. Retail hours 9:30-4:30, closed Wednesday and Sunday. A large stock of native ferns. They specialize in ferns and in plants for fish ponds. Price sheets for wholesale dealers. C.H. Baccus. 900 Boynton Ave., San Jose, CA 95117. (408) 244-2923. C.H. Baccus. Native bulbs propagated from seed. Appointment only. Price list for fall. Berkeley Horticultural Nursery. 1310 McGee Ave., Berke- ley, CA 94703. (415) 526-4704. Victor Yool, Paul Doty, Janet Farina, Peggy Donaldson. Unusual plant materials; less than 10% natives. Blue Oak Nursery. 2731 Mountain Oak Lane, Rescue, CA 95672. (916) 933-6692. Robert L. Beegle, Jr., Eileen Beegle. Specializing in natives and a few other selected plants. All grown from seed or cuttings. Price list avail- able. The Bovees Nursery. 1737 S.W. Coranado, Portland, OR 97219. They carry Stagecoach Hill Azaleas. Cal Forest. 76500 Short Creek Rd., Covelo, CA 95428. (707) 983-6435. Tom Jopson. Primarily a wholesale nur- sery with 95% natives, specializing in Douglas fir and pon- References Van Rensselaer, Maunsell, "A New Ceanothus," Journal of the California Horticultural Society, XIII-1, January 1952, p. 20. Taylor, Kenneth, "Two Ceanothus Hybrids," California Horticultural Journal, 36-3, July 1975, p. 114. Smith, Michael Nevin, "Ceanothus of California: A Gar- deners Guide," Pacific Horticulture, 46-3, Fall, 1979, p. 36. derosa pine for reforestation. Material grown from seed collected from local area. Price list available, wholesale. Rt. 1, Box 44B, Covelo, CA 95428. California Flora, A Native Plants Nursery. 2990 Sommers Ave., Fulton, CA 95439. (707) 528-8813. Phil Van Soelen, Sherrie Althouse. Wide selection of native plants for land- scaping and revegetation. List available on request. Carman's Nursery. 16201 Mozart, Los Gatos, CA 95030. (408) 356-0119. Ed Carman. Perennials, rock plants, bon- sai, and herbs. About 5% natives, cutting grown. No price list at present. Carter's Seeds. P.O. Box 4006, Sylmar, CA 91342. Native tree and shrub seed. Ceanothus Nursery. P.O. Box 757, Healdsburg, CA 95448. (707) 255-8271, 433-2944. Richard Weston. 100% natives, mostly trees and shrubs grown from seeds and cuttings. Wholesale, retail by appointment. Introduction of local interior coast range varieties to the trade. Christensen's. 935 Old County Rd., Belmont, CA 94002, (415) 593-7893, retail. 16000 Sanborn Rd., Saratoga, CA 95070, (408) 867-4181, wholesale. Jack L. Christensen. About 10% natives, trees and shrubs. Grown in Saratoga from seeds and cuttings. Wholesale catalog only. Clyde Robin Seed Co. Box 2855, Castro Valley, CA 94546. (415) 581-3467. Steve Atwood, V.P. Seeds, 98% natives. $2 for 80-page catalog. Coates. See Leonard Coates. County Landscape and Supply. P.O. Box 30433, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. (805) 962-3253. Owen E. Dell, owner. Open by appointment only. Landscaping service in Santa Barbara area. Catalog available. Elfinwood Nurseries. 405 Sylvan Rd., Colfax, CA 95713. (916) 389-2318. Carol Barry. 95% California natives. Quaking aspen and montane species a specialty. Grown from their cutting stock. Price list available. Environmental Restoration Nursery. 9619 Old Redwood Hwy., Windsor, CA 95492. (707) 838-6641. Briar Rayne, Ellie Rilla. Revegetation, reforestry, and erosion control. SOURCES OF NATIVE PLANTS: NURSERIES, SEEDS, AND SALES by Charlice W. Danielsen 25 About 90% native species. Material collected from Sonoma, Mendocino, Napa, and Marin counties is propa- gated in greenhouses in Windsor. Catalog and price list available. Environmental Seed Producers, Inc. Box 5904, El Monte, CA 91734. (213) 442-3330. Laura Quatrochi, Nancy Wheeler. Wildflower seed, 30% natives, field grown. Price list available. Far West Nursery. 2669 Mattison Lane, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. (408) 476-8865. Wholesale. George Tucker, Alison Markiewicz. Specializing in general nursery stock suitable to coastal climate. 20% natives, propagated from seed or cuttings. Price list available. Flower Garden Nursery. 3645 Main St., Soquel, CA 95073. Forestfarm. 990 Tetherow Road, Williams, OR 97544. (503) 846-6963 (keep trying). Ray and Peg Prag. Hardy Western natives; multiple use plants (bird & wildlife, bee, dye, wild fruit); unusual ornameiltals. 50% natives. Propa- gation by cuttings and seeds. Mail order list (actually a packet of interesting reading) available for 750. Phone first when visiting. Forest Seeds of California. P.O. Box 561, Davis, CA 95616. Native tree and shrub seed. G & N Nursery. Walnut Creek, CA 94595. (415) 934-5471. George & Nancy Leite. Only native trees, shrubs, peren- nials, grown from seed or cuttings, field grown. No price list or catalog. Plants shown by appointment. G Seed Co. Box 95, Rutherford, CA 94573. Wildflower seeds, species or mixes. Price list available, send first class stamp. Gerd Schneider. P.O. Box 474, Aptos. (408) 722-1829. Gerd Schneider. Lining-out stock, wholesale. No mail order. Closed Sundays, open 7:30 to 4:30. Garden Center, Santa Cruz Lumber. 235 River St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060. (408) 423-3882. Popular natives make up 5 to 10% of stock. Greenhouse Garden Center. 2450 S. Curry, Carson City, NV 89701. Dr. Robert Ruf, Ann Nummemaker, or Susan Stead. A small percentage, but large assortment are Sierra natives acquired by purchase or grown from seed. Hardy stock for Northern Nevada area is specialty. H-H Forest Tree Nursery, Inc. 2915 Old Gravenstein Hwy. S., Sebastopol. (707) 823-7023. John Black, Gene Thorn- ton. Bare-root coniferous seedlings of major varieties; about 85% natives. Propagated by seed and acquired from customers and seed companies. A price list is available. Howlett's Coastal Zone Nursery. 31427 W. Pacific Coast Hwy., Malibu, CA 90265. (213) 457-3343. This wholesale grower has 3% of twelve acres in natives and is willing to increase as demand rises. Specializing in specimen trees. Plants are from seed, cuttings, container stock. Price list available. J. L. Hudson, Seedsman. P.O. Box 1058, Redwood City, CA 94064. Huge selection of seeds, about 5% of which are natives. Seed is from growers, or wild stands only if abun- dant. Catalog and price list are available for one dollar. K. M. Nursery, Inc. P.O. Box 840; 5154 Foothill Rd., Carpinteria, CA 93013. (805) 684-2318. Wholesale, small percentage of California natives. Price list available to the trade. Las Pilitas Nursery. Star Route Box 23X, Santa Margarita, CA 93453. (805) 438-5992. Bert & Celeste Wilson. 100% natives. Seeds and pots for shipping. One and five gallon stock available only at nursery. Price list available. Sup- pliers for Santa Monica Mountains Chapter Plant Sale. Lawson Valley Nursery. 3616 Rudnick Dr., Jamul, CA 92035. (714) 445-2934. Ann B. or Clyde F. Wahl. 50% natives, and increasing. Drought resistant trees and shrubs, grown from seed and cuttings of local stock. Open Fridays through Sundays. Price list available. Leonard Coates. 400 Casserly Rd., Watsonville, CA 95076. Jim Marshall, Welby Clinton. Wholesale, 25-30% Cali- fornia natives, garden selections. Price list available only to the trade. Lone Pine. 6450 Lone Pine Rd., Sebastopol, CA 95472. (707) 823-5024. Ian Price. Retail and wholesale. Some native trees and shrubs of bonsai and landscape value, general nursery. Specializes in cactus and succulents. 90% of stock propagated at nursery from seeds, cuttings. Los Osos Valley Nursery. 301 Los Osos Valley Road, Los Osos, CA 93402. Tish Finley. Complete retail nursery with a good selection of natives. McLaughlin's Seeds. P.O. Box 550, Mead, WA 99021. (509) 466-0230. Ray Nelson, Manager. Seeds of species native to the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains: hardy perennials, especially alpine and drought-resistant species. Request Wild Westerners catalog for 500. Miller Farms Nursery. 1828 Central Ave., McKinleyville, CA 95521. (707) 839-1571. Denise Kelly. Quantity land- scape stock for north coast area, about 25% natives. Price list available upon request. Monrovia Nursery Co. 10331 E. Foothill Blvd., Azusa, CA 91703. (213) 334-9321. Wholesale only. Native Plants. 9180 So. Wasatch Blvd., Sandy, Utah 84092. (801) 943-3288. Claire Gabriel, Seed Division. Western native plants and seeds. Catalog available. Mini- mum plant order 100 plants. Claire will buy seed; write for specifics. Many Western native grasses are available, especially Agropyron. Native Plants catalog is a must for anyone interested in re vegetation. Native Sons Wholesale Nursery. 379 West El Campo Rd., Arroyo Grande, CA 93420. (805) 481-5996. Paul C. Hertel, David C. Fross. Drought-tolerant trees and shrubs; about 50% natives. Propagated by seeds, cuttings, and division. Price list available. Nielsen's Nursery. Woodland, CA. Northwoods Nursery. 295 E St., Areata, CA 95521. (707) 822-2576. Ernie Wasson. Full-range nursery with about 26 10% natives. Some purchased, some grown at nursery. No price list available. Oleander Garden Shop. 8 Pilot Rd., Carmel Valley, CA 93924. (408) 659-2058. Many natives, although only 5% of stock. Demonstration garden using natives. Orchard Nursery. 4010 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette, CA 94549. (415) 284-4474. General retail nursery with some natives. Otto Quast. P.O. Box 14, Pt. Reyes, CA 94956. Quantity contracts only! Pacific Southwest Nursery. 2560 Ridgeway Dr., National City, CA 92050. P.O. Box 985, National City. (714) 475- 3657. Mitch Beauchamp. M-F 7:30-5, Sat. 8-12. Specializ- ing in drought-tolerant trees, shrubs, and groundcovers for Mediterranean climates. Stock is currently 80% Cali- fornia natives. Propagation on site by seed and cuttings. Price list of plants and seeds 500. Seed by mail order. No plant shipments. Pacific Tree Farms. 4301 Lynwood Dr., Chula Vista, CA 92010. (714) 422-2400. William L. Nelson. Drought-toler- ant plants, fruit and nut trees, and conifers a specialty; about 25% natives. Seed- and cutting-grown from selected cultivars. List available in fall. Payne. See Theodore Payne Foundation. Plants of the Southwest. 1570 Pacheco St., Santa Fe, NM 87501. (505) 983-1548. Gail Haggard, Cheryl Garing. Native plants of the Southwest United States. California natives are acquired from California seed companies and private collectors, propagated at the nursery 20 miles south of Santa Fe. 75-page catalog. Quast. See Otto Quast. Redwood Barn Nursery. 5th St., Davis, CA. Redwood City Seed Co. P.O. Box 361, Redwood City, CA 94064. (415) 325-7333. Craig Dremann, proprietor. Seeds in packets. A few tree and shrub seeds in bulk. Seed col- lected from wild stands in Santa Cruz Mountains. Grass seed should be available in the future. Native Plant Cata- log is available for 500. Redwood Nursery. 2752 El Rancho Dr., Santa Cruz, CA 95060. Robin. See Clyde Robin Seed Co. Ron Lutsko, Jr. Lafayette, CA 94549. (415) 283-5112. Ron Lutsko. Perennials, rock garden and alpine plants, dwarf shrubs; about 50% natives. Landscape architect special- izing in rock gardens and climate-appropriate plant mate- rial. No price list, phone for appointment. S&S Seeds. 382 Arboleda Rd., Santa Barbara, CA 93110. Native grass, wildflower, tree and shrub seed. Saratoga Horticultural Foundation. P.O. Box 308, Sara- toga, CA 95070. (408) 867-3214. Martha Haselhuhn. De- voted to the selection, evaluation, and introduction of superior landscape plants; sales are wholesale. Special sale days for foundation members. Price list is available. The foundation also puts out informative publications, including a source book of natives. Schneider. See Gerd Schneider. Shooting Star. 9950 O'Connell Rd., Sebastopol. (707) 823-2605. Nancy Hargreaves, Dan Jennison. Wholesale growers of liner stock only. 30% California natives. Propa- gation from seed and cuttings. Contract growing. The Shop in the Sierra. Box 1, Midpines, CA 95245. Carl D. Stephens. 100% California natives. Seeds purchased from Mistletoe Sales, Theodore Payne, Tilden Botanic Garden. Plants from growers or raised from cuttings of stock plants. Price list available at $1.50 per copy. Shrub Growers Nursery. 1965 Portola Rd., P.O. Box 4105, Woodside, CA 94062. (415) 851-7685. Heather Robinson. Specializing in native California plants; arctostaphylos, ceanothus, and oaks are featured; 75% natives. Grown from seed and cuttings. Availability list, wholesale. (Also known as Woodside Gardens.) Siskiyou Rare Plant Nursery. 2825 Cummings Rd., Med- ford, OR 97501. (503) 772-6846. J. Cobb Colley, Baldas- sare Mineo. Alpine plants and other wildflowers grown from seeds and cuttings; about 10% California natives. Catalog is available for $1. Skylark Wholesale Nursery. 6735 Sonoma Highway, Santa Rosa, CA 95405. (707) 539-1565. James MacNair. About 25% natives of wide adaptability and commercial value. Asexual propagation from botanic gardens or nursery selection. Price list available to wholesale accounts only. Theodore Payne Foundation. 10459 Tuxford St., Sun Valley, CA 91352. (213) 768-1802. Mira Lighthart. 100% California natives. Plants sold only at nursery in San Fer- nando Valley. Seeds are available mail order. New plant and seed price lists each fall. Send a stamped, self ad- dressed long envelope. Nursery closed Sun., Mon., holi- days. Tiedemann Nursery. 4835 Cherry vale Ave., Soquel, CA 95073. (408) 475-5163. Jon Beard, Gen. Manager. 30-40% natives, propagated from seed and cuttings. Price list for 1982. Tree of Life. P.O. Box 736, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92693. (714) 496-4124. Mike Evans, Jeff Bohn. 100% Cali- fornia natives from nursery production. Price list avail- able, newsletter. Villager Nursery. P.O. Box 1273, Truckee, CA 95734. (916) 587-4973. Sarah Ross. Gateway Shopping Center on Donner Pass Road. Revegetation and erosion-control plants. Natives about 50%. Consulting, planning, retail sales. Sources are plants grown there and at Forest Farm Native Plant Nursery. Wapumne Native Plant Nursery. 8305 Cedar Crest Way, Sacramento, CA 95826. (916) 383-5154. Everett Butts. 100% California natives, propagated by all legal means. Price list available. Weber Nursery. 237 Seeman Dr., Encinitas, CA 92024. (714) 753-1661. B.J. Weber. 90% of stock is native. 27 Drought-tolerant plants the specialty. Price list sometimes available. Western Hills Nursery. 16250 Coleman Valley Rd., Occi- dental, CA 95465. (707) 874-3731. A wealth of plant mate- rial from all over the world. Drought tolerant and native plants included. Wildwood Farm. 10300 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood, CA 95452. (707) 833-1161. Ricardo Monte. Hardy perennials, 60% native, emphasis on drought tolerant plants from all parts of the world. Propagation by division, layering. Catalog available in Spring. Yerba Buena Nursery. 19500 Skyline Blvd., Woodside, CA 94062. (415) 851-1668. Gerda, Cathy, Judith, Wendy or Ricki. California natives of all types, ferns of all kinds. Most field grown from own stock. Plant list available. Plant Sales East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden. Tilden Park, Berkeley, CA 94708. (415) 841-8732. 100% California natives. Seed sales year round, fall list. Spring plant sale each year. Friends of U.C. Botanic Garden. University of California, Berkeley. (415) 642-3343. Sale second week each May includes a native section. Friends of U.C. Davis Arboretum. University of California, Davis. (916) 752-2498. Sale held each fall, first weekend after classes begin. 15% native shrubs and trees. Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. Claremont, CA. Annual Fall sale of natives. Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. 1212 Mission Canyon Rd., Santa Barbara. (805) 682-4726. 70% natives at annual Oc- tober sale. Seeds and publications available year round. Plants for sale on Tues., Thurs. 10-3, Sun. 11-4. Strybing Arboretum Society. Hall of Flowers, 9th Ave. at Lincoln Way, San Francisco. (415) 661-0822. Annual Spring Sale includes a native section. CNPS Chapter Sales Kern County Chapter. Spring and November Sales. Marin Chapter. Richardson Bay Wildlife Refuge. Annual May Sale. Milo Baker Chapter. Vet's Memorial Bldg., Santa Rosa. Annual October Sale. October 2, 1982. Monterey Bay Chapter. Pacific Grove Museum, Carmel High School. Two sales annually; with Spring Wildflower Show, mid-October. Napa Valley Chapter. First Sunday each October. Sacramento Valley Chapter. Sacramento State. Fall Sale, October. San Diego Chapter. Balboa Park, San Diego. Annual Fall Sale, October, 1982. San Francisco Bay Chapter. Merritt College, Oakland. Annual Fall Sale, October 9, 1982. A plant sale of the Bay Area Chapter. Photograph by Erwin Strohmaier. San Luis Obispo Chapter. First Interstate Bank, Madonna Rd. Plaza, San Luis Obispo. Annual Fall Sale, first Satur- day in November. Santa Clara Valley Chapter. Foothill College. Annual Spring Sale with Wildflower Show. Santa Cruz Chapter. Santa Cruz City Museum, Deer Park Shopping Center, Aptos. Two sales annually; Wildflower Show and Spring Sale; September 26, 1982. Santa Monica Mountains Chapter. Annual Spring Sale. Southern California Chapter. San Bernardino County Mu- seum, Redlands. Annual October Sale, October 23, 1982. Material to update this list may be sent to Charli Daniel- sen, 10 Kerr Ave., Kensington, CA 94707. (415) 525-9076. OBITUARY Helen Chamlee 1908-1982 Helen Vallejo Chamlee, of San Diego, well known in Southern California for her writing and conservation activities on behalf of native plants, died August 6 of cancer at the age of seventy-five. Helen Chamlee, who was known as Helen Witham during a middle period of her life, was a descendant of the Vallejo family of Spanish days. She was formerly Associate Curator of the Depart- ment of Botany, and later Associate for Educational Activities, at the San Diego Museum of Natural History. She was the author of Ferns of San Diego County, a member of the editorial board of California Garden, and author of a newspaper column on native plants. A former member of the State Board of CNPS and a founder and president of the San Diego Chapter, she was active in the development of Florida Canyon as a native-plant section of Balboa Park. Her garden, Canyon Trails, was planted with native trees, shrubs, and perennials and was periodically open to the public. Two of Helen Chamlee's favorite causes were the Conservation Trust Fund of the California Native Plant Society and the Nature Conser- vancy, to which her friends may wish to make memorial gifts. 28 BOOK REVIEWS A Book To Be Avoided The Pine Tree Book, by Russell Peterson, illustrated with drawings by Patricia Wynne. 1980.144 pages. Brandywine Press, NY. Paper $7.95. Here is a shiny, attractive book, appealingly illustrated by an artist whose work deserves to be seen in better company. The book is so appallingly full of error of fact and typography that unsuspecting buyers should be warned against it. There are at least two dozen errors in the frontispiece, a pictorial chart of conifer relationships, and that is fairly typical. Other errors throughout are "merely" misspellings of Latin names, but, more impor- tantly, there are many examples of misinformation that enter the realm of irresponsibility. On one page Peterson claims that eastern white pine is the largest pine in the United States next to sugar pine, but contradicts himself later when he correctly writes that western white pine is "larger and more robust" than eastern white pine. (For the record, there are many western pines that achieve larger size than eastern white pine.) Internal inconsistency is a minor problem compared to the unredeemed igno- rance displayed throughout the text. For Mr. Peterson's information, bristlecone pine does not grow in the Sierra Nevada, nor does limber pine grow "east to Sioux City, Nebraska" [sic!]. Neither does lodgepole pine get to be two hundred feet high. And on and on. I doubt that there is a page that does not have an error in geography or botanical description. And this book is described by the publisher as "a definitive volume on the pine tree"! Such a rip-off is particularly deplorable since many good books on trees are available. One example is Elbert L. Little's Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees (1980, Knopf), which has good photographs and authori- tative text. And technical accuracy need not be sacrificed to poetry; e.g., the text of The Tree (1979, Little, Brown) by John Fowles, author of The French Lieutenant's Woman, reveals not only its author's art but a sound biological background. I hope to see more of Patricia Wynne's work, but she should leave out the little birds and animals cavorting in the branches, and steer clear of authors who have doubt- ful knowledge of their subject. F. Thomas Ledig A New Classic Mushrooms Demystified, by David Arora. Illustrated with colored and black and white photographs. 1979. 668 pages. Ten Speed Press, 900 Modoc, Berkeley 94707. Paperback $11.95. Hardcover $18.75. It has been many years since a book of this magnitude has been written on the subject of mushrooms and related FREMONTIA BACK ISSUES Complete Your Collection or Add Special Issues Almost ten years of FREMONTIA. An invaluable collection of articles, bibliog- raphies, plant lists, and guides to the ob- servation, preservation, and cultivation of native plants in California. Special issues on topics of lasting importance. Some early issues are now quite scarce. Each copy, $1.50 (CNPS pays postage and handling). Vol. 1, No. 1 (April 1973) through current issues (4 per year) available from CNPS office, 2380 Ellsworth Street, Suite D, Berkeley, CA 94704. Of Special Interest: April '82, Water April '81, Grasses January '80, BLM Desert Plan October '78, Desert January '78, Rare Plants January '76, January '77, and July '77, Lester Rowntree's "Sierra Wildflowers" in three parts April '77, Annuals October '76, Vernal Pools April '76, Oaks October 75, Perennials Index Issues: Vol. 3, No. 2 (index to Vols. 1 and 2) Vol. 5, No. 2 (Vols. 3,4) Vol. 7, No. 2 (Vols. 5,6) Vol. 9, No. 2 (Vols. 7, 8) K^r 29 fungi. In fact, since Orson Miller produced his treatise on the mushrooms of North America, no other recent book has made the kind of contribution to the subject that Arora's book now adds. Mushrooms Demystified is clearly designed with the beginner in mind. The book offers a refreshing and reason- ably thorough discussion of mushroom distribution by habitat; simplified family and generic keys; illustrations that help define terms used in the keys; abundant black and white photos for the species described in detail; and a section on mushroom cookery and toxicity. Even expe- rienced mycophiles find the book extremely valuable since it clarifies the identification of many complex and difficult groups. The author's humor and wit sneaks in from time to time and lightens a normally heavy text. Amusingly, he draws comparisons between himself and certain species of fungi. Nearly every mushroom key that I have ever used has been flawed by omissions and errors in the key that either lead you in the wrong direction or frustrate your efforts to identify a species. There are so many considerations and variable field characters that perhaps it is impossible to have a perfect, functioning key. Thus Arora's key has some minor flaws which make the identification of species like Leucopaxillus albissimus nearly impossible. Some of the distinctions between species of the genus Agaricus in the key are not clear enough to identify easily various forms within species. The predominance of black and 30 white photos with a smattering of color plates is an impor- tant drawback since no color reference chart is provided. Finally, the sheer bulk of the paperback format does not make it a practical guide for field use. With regular use, the corners become dog-eared and the jacket binding weakens. Nevertheless, these few shortcomings do not signifi- cantly detract from the overall usefulness of Arora's con- tribution. The book's applicability extends well beyond the self-imposed range of central California. Mushrooms Demystified certainly deserves a place on every mush- room hunter's library shelf. It surely competes with other classic works that are essential for anyone interested in hunting for elusive and tasty fungi. ^on russo BOOKS RECEIVED The Cacti of the United States and Canada, by Lyman Benson. Illustrated with maps, drawings, and photo- graphs in color and black and white. 1982. 1044 pages. Stanford University Press. $85. Common Wetland Plants of Coastal California: A Field Guide for the Layman, by Phyllis M. Faber. Illustrated with photocopies of plants. 1982. 110 pages. Pickleweed Press, 212 Del Casa, Mill Valley, CA 94941. Large paper- back. $12. Introductory Plant Biology, by Kingsley R. Stern. Illus- trated with photographs and drawings. Second edition. 1982. 493 pages plus appendices. Wm. C. Brown Co., Dubuque, Iowa. Paperback. Flowering Plants in the Landscape, edited by Mildred E. Mathias. Illustrated with photographs in color by Ralph D. Cornell and others. 1982. 254 pages. University of California Press. Hardcover. $16.95. Don't Scratch: The Book About Poison Oak, by Daliel Leite. Illustrated with drawings. 1982. 61 pages. Weather- vane Books, P.O. Box 2157. Walnut Creek, CA 94595. Paperback. $3.95. A Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Death Valley National Monument, by Larry L. Norris. 1982. 35 pages. Death Valley Natural History Association, Box 188, Death Valley, CA 92328. $1. Then and Now: A Photographic History of Vegetation Change in the Central Great Basin Desert, by Garry F. Rogers. 1982. 152 pages. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, UT 94112. $15. Flowers and Their Ancestors, by Viola L. Anderson. Illus- trated with silhouette drawings. 1980. 150 pages. Nature- web Publications, P.O. Box 1954, Los Gatos, CA 95031. Paperback. $7.95. Endangerment Status of Lupinus Dedeckerae on the Inyo National Forest, California, by Dean William Taylor. 1981. 75 pages. A rare-species status report produced under contract to the White Mountains Ranger District, U.S. Forest Service. Contribution #4, Mono Basin Research Group, P.O. Box 66, Lee Vining, CA 93541. Paperback. $3.25. Eco-Centralist Design, a set of three booklets on sustain- able communities. 1982. 64,21, and 15 pages. Planet Drum Foundation, P.O. Box 31251, San Francisco, CA 94131. Paperback. $10. CLASSIFIED ADS Classified ad rate: 50$ per word, minimum $12; payment in ad- vance. Address advertising inquires and copy to: Nancy Dale, 500 W. Santa Maria #7, Santa Paula, CA 93060. Seeds, Bulbs, Plants WILDFLOWER SEEDS are available in packets or bulk from a selection of 30 species plus 10 mixtures. For a full color chart with cultivation notes send a legal SASE (200) to Moon Mountain, Box 34, Morro Bay. CA 93442. Retail/Wholesale. CALIFORNIA NATIVES SEED. Many unusual annuals, peren- nials from desert, mountains, coast. Send SASE for list. Earth- side, c/o V. Connelly, 138 El Dorado, Arcadia, CA 91006. NATIVE PLANT SALE. Saturday, October 23, 1982, 1-4 p.m. Select from a wide assortment of California native trees, shrubs, bulbs, and herbaceous material. New and used botanical and horticultural books will also be for sale. Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, 93105. Nurseries CALOCHORTUS, FRITILLARIA, BRODIAEA Fall Sales. Please call ahead. C.H. Baccus, 900 Boynton Ave., San Jose, CA 95117. Phone (408) 244-2923. G & N NATIVE PLANT NURSERY (near Walnut Creek). Ground covers, shrubs, trees. 1-5-15 gallon sizes. Discounts to landscapers & CNPS members. Appt. only. (415) 934-5471. PACIFIC SOUTHWEST NURSERY, 2560 Ridgeway Dr., National City (1-805 & Sweetwater Road). Drought-tolerant California and other Mediterranean climate plants. Open M-F 8-5, (714) 475-3657. YERBA BUENA NURSERY, 19500 Skyline, Woodside, Cali- fornia 94062. (415) 851-1668. Specializes in California native plants and native and exotic ferns. Open every day exept holi- days, 9-5. Owner Gerda Isenberg. Publications A TREAT FOR PLANT LOVERS and people who love to read about plants, Pacific Horticulture is the West's own garden maga- zine, featuring articles on natives, Australian, South African, and other Mediterranean-climate plants for California's summer-dry climate. Handsomely printed, excellent color photographs. Quar- terly $10. P.O. Box 485, Berkeley, CA 94701. Eighth Winter Study Weekend Western Chapter American Rock Garden Society Villa Hotel, San Mateo, CA • Feb. 25-27, 1983 The focus this year is on rock garden plants of the Mediterranean, The Southwest, and areas of similar climates. Presentations: ROCK GARDEN PLANTS OF TURKEY, Chris Brickell, Dr. of Royal Hort. Soc. Garden, Wisley; DRY GARDENING IN THE GREAT BASIN & NATIVE IRIS, Roy Davidson; JEWELS OF THE DESERT MOUNTAINS, Mary Dedecker; SMALL CACTI FOR ROCK GARDENS, Steve Edwards; CALIFORNIA BULBS, Dara Emory; CALOCHORTUS-A NEGLECTED GENUS, Stan Farwig; HOT-AND-DRY ROCK GARDENING, Bill Folkman; AUSTRALIAN ROCK GARDEN PLANTS, Lester Hawkins; BUILDING ON A DIFFICULT SITE, Harland Hand; DESERT FERNS, Don McNeal; A MEDITERRANEAN ROCK GARDEN, Victor Reiter; ALPINES OF NEW ZEALAND, Gladys Smith; DWARF DIPLACUS HYBRIDS, David Verity; ERIOGONUMS AND LEWISIAS, Margaret Williams; MINIATURE DAFFODILS, Nancy Wilson. Registration (including banquet) $60. (After Feb. 1, 1983, $75.) Optional half-day tour of UC Santa Cruz Arboretum (includes box lunch) $18. For additional info and registration, write: Wayne Roderick 166 Canon Drive, Orinda, CA 94563 (415) 254-0912. 1982/1983 Nature Tours ORINOCO: 14 day Sunline Cruises from San Juan with excursion to Angel Falls. 6 cruises between December 22 and March 4. Rich in tropical flora and fauna. SPAIN: Ouesters April 1983 trip for botany and birds. MALAYSIA & BORNEO: Swan's special interest tours, September 1982, March 1983. AUSTRALIA: 3 & 6 day floral tours north and south of Perth during August-October. 728 Montgomery Street, (3rd Floor-Belli Building) San Francisco, CA94111 (415) 981-6640 Susan M. Smith Joan Curry 31 TABLE OF CONTENTS Owens Valley and Mono Lake I. Dying of Thirst 3 by David Gaines and Mary DeDecker II. The Perspective from Los Angeles 11 by Eric Bock Conservation Briefs: The Water Initiative 15 by Alice Q. Howard Duckweeds, California's Smallest Wildflowers 16 by Wayne P. Armstrong Mary Spencer, Desert Botanist 22 by Edmund C. Jaeger Natives for Your Garden: Ceanothus 'Julia Phelps' 24 by Marjorie G. Schmidt Sources of Native Plants 25 by Charlice W. Danielsen Obituary: Helen Chamlee ' 28 Book Reviews 29 NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS Wayne P. Armstrong teaches general botany and biology at Palomar College. His writings and pictures have appeared in Environment Southwest, Pacific Discovery, California Garden, wad Desert. Nancy Baron studied art at U.C. Berkeley. She lives in San Francisco. Eric Bock is an Associate Hydrologic Engineer with the Department of Water and Power of the City of Los Angeles. William E. Busby is a consulting engineer who lives in Mill Valley and whose hobby is photography. Charlice W. Danielsen is President of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. Mary DeDecker has been a resident of the Owens Valley since 1935 and is "dedicated to achieving reasonable solutions to the Owens Valley water issues." She has received awards from the Bureau of Land Management and American Motors for her botanical and conservation work. She is a Fellow of CNPS. Eben McMillan, a rancher and naturalist of San Luis Obispo and Kern counties, worked on the California condor studies. Ronald A. Russo is a Naturalist with East Bay Regional Parks, Oakland. His special interests include mushrooms and plant galls. Marjorie G. Schmidt is a gardener and writer with wide experience in growing native plants. David Strelnick is a high school student in Lee Vining. Erwin Strohmeier, a longtime member of CNPS, is the His torian of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. Michael Dressier is a free-lance photographer. David Gaines is a biologist who participated in the first in- depth ecological study of Mono Lake in 1976 and stayed on to dedicate himself to saving the lake. He is a key member of the Mono Lake Committee. Alice Q. Howard edited the Special Water Issue of Fremontia in April. She heads the National Alliance for Plants. Edmund C. Jaeger, the distinguished authority on American deserts, is the author and illustrator of many books. Now ninety-five years old, he lives in Riverside. F. Thomas Ledig is Project Leader of the research unit on the genetics of forest trees at the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station in Berkeley. He is also Director of the Institute of Forest Genetics, Placer- ville. Malcolm McLeod teaches botany at California State Univer- sity at San Luis Obispo and is an active member of the local CNPS Chapter. Printed on 100% Recycled Paper /'Tm-'foJ>v a v\ ft^i ¦*/ 73 B5lf fl etu n c & 5_ a: =: ^ c^ n ™»» 3 n o •v O c/> " k; a< age n w -, O c O m < 01 -i = fO &1 3 inte 5'| 2 n ^D -i 3 Q. it Sc th S 470 *>• q- o 8 a ~ -< ft n C Z o -t -* 3 jr V 3 -• 2. ¦o ' « ** n ¦ > -o 3 Z;< — Or: ? r D ?L " t£ b> Si O V4 r-