The Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni is one of the red oaks, living mostly in the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada. The leaves are oval and toothed and the flowers are catkins that hang down from the branch tips. The evergreen leaves last a long time on the ground and locals say they never break down, so don’t walk barefoot under them! Don’t plant or irrigate within ten feet of them to prevent death from over watering. They are often shrubby and when cut down, will regrow thickly from the base. Trim all branches ten foot up for fire safety. In April the catkins drop powdery yellow dust over all things near it and can cause allergies. Also in April the oak worms spin webs all through the branches, reflecting the sun.
Gray Pine, Pinus sabineana, is easy to identify, having a forked trunk and a grey green color. The cones are large, sharp and heavy and look like they could pop a tire. They can. You know you’re between 2000 and 4000 feet in the foothills if you see this pine, also known as Bull Pine, Ghost Pine, Digger pine or Foothill Pine.
Sticky Whiteleaf Manzanita,Arctostaphylos viscida
Manzanita is the most stylized structural tree in the foothills. Identifiable by most anyone, it has distinctive red bark and sage green leaves. Whiteleaf manzanita has tiny clusters of vase-shaped pink flowers. Growing 15-20 feet tall, they grow in groves, covering large areas of the hillsides. They are also well known for their twisted branches, used as perches in large bird cages, and by interior decorators in large vases! Manzanita have a toxin, coumarin, which acts as a natural weed killer preventing plant competition. Not much can grow under them, so once you remove any weeds and leaf litter around them, they become lovely sculptural accents in the garden. You’ll see an example in the slideshow.
Yerba Santa, Eriodictyon crassifolium
A neighbor and former Park Service employee identified the Yerba Santa, meaning “sacred herb” in Spanish and grows everywhere in the Oakhurst and North Fork area. Eriodictyon crassifolium, or thick-leaved Yerba Santa is native to California, where it grows freely in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Growing three to six feet tall, the shiny, wavy edged leaves are 4 or 5 inches long, gray-green and toothed along the edges, with clusters of bell-shaped lavender flowers in June. In the garden, it looks its best when trimmed to the ground sometime after blooming.
Hall’s Mule’s Ears, Wyethia elata
Our native wild sunflowers, Hall’s Mule’s Ears are wonderful sunny flowers to encourage in the garden or anywhere on your property. They grow, distinctively, in patches 6 to 8 feet wide, spreading with underground roots, and die if watered. The leaves are furry and grey-green and the flowers look like small yellow sunflowers. If you have these in your garden, don’t water near them, let them dry naturally after they bloom and rake up the dry leaves in the Fall. New sprouts appear in late winter or early spring.
It's fun to be able to identify and encourage the easy care California native plants in our area of Madera County.
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