Volume 26, Number 4 Published by the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BOTANICAL GARDEN at Berkeley Fall 2001

BU N I V E R S I T Y o f C A L I F O R N I A

N E W S L E T T E R

OTANICALGARDEN

water levels in the region. Since water essentially “drives”many other key cycles in this ecosystem, the loss of the red-wood trees and the water they help to capture from fog hasan impact on the entire ecosystem’s function.

In addition to creating fog drip, fog also contributesdirectly to the redwood water supply. Redwood canopies candirectly absorb fog, which raises many questions about howthis water source influences the growth and carbon relationsof this tree species. For example, is this one reason they grow so tall? Another question is whether direct absorption ofwater by leaves indirectly influences their nutrient relations.Why? Because there are significant amounts of nutrients dis-solved in the fog, such as nitrogen, and so an importantquestion we hope to answer is, can redwood foliage absorb

Anyone taking a trip to the central or northern Californiacoast is in for one of nature’s real treats—standing

among the world’s tallest tree species—coast redwood,Sequoia sempervirens. The experience of the redwood forest ismemorable for everyone not only because of being able to seethe massive size of this tree, but to also enjoy the cool, moistenvirons of the redwood forest embedded within what is gen-erally considered a hot and dry Mediterranean climatic zone.It is this very experience as well as the fact that only 3-4% ofthe original coast redwood forest remains today that hasmotivated our ecological research on redwood trees and theforests they compose.

Many researchers have noted that redwoods occupy a nar-row strip along the California coast, rarely straying far fromthe fog belt. One overall goal of our research is to understandthe role of fog and of climatic variation (El Niño-La Niñacycles) in the water, carbon and nutrient relations of thesemassive trees and the forests they inhabit. Work we havealready published shows that fog can comprise 30-40+% ofthe total annual water used by redwoods. Fog drip from red-wood canopies contributes between 40-100% of the waterused by the understory plants in summer such as the red-wood sorrel, Oxalis oregana and the sword fern, Polystichummunitum.

You may have been drenched by “rain” under redwoodson a foggy morning. This “fog drip” occurs because wateraccumulates on redwood needles as they are impacted by fogdroplets. It turns out that redwoods are excellent fog-inter-ception surfaces. We found that removing the trees from anarea can cause a 50 percent or greater decline in water inputsfrom fog. This loss of water input during the critical summermonths can lead to much lower stream flow and ground

Giants in the MistResearching the coast redwood and its unique distribution in the coastal fog belt of California

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Organizations such as the Save-the-Redwoods-League (1917) werefounded to save old growth redwood forests from unchecked logging.

2 University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley

Stable Isotope Analysis of Water and Redwood Research.

(continued from page 1)nutrients too?

To answer these and other questions pertinent to waterrelations theory, postdoctoral researcher Dr. Steve Burgessand I are using sapflow, stable isotope analyses (see side bar)and other physiological measurements to document the roleof fog in the redwood’s functional ecology. This work is run-ning in parallel to work being done by Drs. Steve Sillet ofHumboldt State University and George Koch of NorthernArizona University on what leads to dieback in large red-wood canopies. Along a second front, we are extending ourwork on fog water inputs to the ecosystem scale and askinghow these inputs and the nutrients contained in them areinfluencing the ways in which water, carbon and nitrogencycle within the redwood forest. Here we are looking atinputs, fluxes and fates of water, carbon and nitrogen along anatural coast-to-inland fog gradient. This research is beingdone in collaboration with Professor Mary Firestone in theEcosystem Science Division at UC Berkeley and Drs. KathieWeathers at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, N.Y. andStefania Mambelli at the Center for Stable IsotopeBiogeochemistry, UC Berkeley. We also hope to be able to

manipulate inputs in field and glass house experiments. Ibelieve our work has clear conservation and forest manage-ment implications.

We are also analyzing variation in tree-ring dimensionsand stable oxygen-isotope composition to reconstruct thegrowth and physiological histories of individual redwoodtrees. These data also yield information about past climaticchanges, especially the El Niño-La Niña cycles within coastalCalifornia. This work is being done with Professor JohnRoden at Southern Oregon University and Jim Johnstone, agraduate student at UC Berkeley.

Linked to the tree ring research above is a keen interestwithin my research group in understanding why all of thetaxa of the redwood family (Taxodiaceae) have undergonesuch dramatic reductions in their current biogeographicalranges when once they covered vast areas of North America,Asia, and both northern and central Europe. As already men-tioned, today coast redwood is restricted to a narrow bandfrom the California-Oregon border to the southern SantaLucia Mountains. However, fossil data show that it was onceabundant and dominant through out much of the westernUnited States and Asia. Interestingly, this kind of range

Isotopes are atoms of the sameelement with different masses. Theirmasses differ because they have dif-ferent numbers of neutrons in theirnuclei. Atoms are classified as thesame element when their atomicnuclei have the same number of pro-tons. Naturally occurring isotopescome in two flavors: stable andunstable (radioactive). You haveprobably heard a lot about unstableisotopes. That is because atoms ofunstable isotopes decay by losing pro-tons, and loose protons wreak havocwith biological molecules such asDNA, making radioactive emissionsbiologically hazardous. Stable iso-topes, on the other hand, do notdecay and are therefore not radioac-tive. The non-radioactive isotopes ofeach element are less notorious, butfar more abundant and important tolife on earth. Indeed, we are all com-

posed of various combinations of sta-ble isotopes of different elementssuch as hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen,oxygen, and phosphorus.

In the center for Stable IsotopeBiogeochemistry, housed in theValley Life Sciences Building on theUC Berkeley campus, we can mea-sure the ratio of the natural abun-dance of the heavy and light stableisotopes in water (as either hydrogen[2H/H] or oxygen [18O/16O]).These measurements made on anygiven sample (e.g., rain water, fogdrip, ground water) provide us with apowerful tool for identifying the ori-gin of that water source. For thecoastal redwood forest system, it hasproven useful for our work to knowthat fog and rainfall have very differ-ent H or O isotope ratios. These canbe thought of almost like a “finger-print”. Because plants do not change

(fractionate) the isotope ratios ofwater during the uptake process, ifone characterizes the isotopic “finger-print” in waters that might be usedby plants and then also measures theisotope ratio in the water extractedfrom the plant’s sap, one can deter-mine the water sources used by thevegetation. For our purposes, this haspermitted us to not only determinethat plants in fact use fog drip as awater source, but to quantify howmuch. Our studies indicate that red-wood trees get between 8–43% oftheir water from fog drip. Understoryplants get, on average, about 66% oftheir water in summer from fog dripbut in the drier, El Niño years, thiscan increase to 100%. These dataindicate that fog is not only animportant water input, but a criticalwater source for the plants of thecoastal redwood forest.

Fall 2001 3

Sequoiadendron giganteum drawing by UCBG horticulturist Judith Finn.

DIRECTOR’S COLUMNI go to nature to be soothed and healed, and tohave my senses put in order.

—John Burroughs

On September 11th, 2001, American's perception of theworld underwent a seismic shift. Theworld now seems much smaller, as we joinmuch of the rest of humanity who pos-sess the tired wisdom of long hav-ing known terrorism in their owncountries. These recent nationaland global events have led manyAmericans to greater introspec-tion and fostered a desire forconnection—with home, family,friends, and neighbors.

At times like this, our gardens take ongreater meaning as places for rest andpeaceful reflection. Perhaps it was thisrenewed interest in gardening, as a way toconnect with our homes and loved ones, thatled to record attendance at the Garden's FallPlant Sale the last weekend in September. Asthe gates opened, over 100 people surged for-ward into the sale. Yet, despite the stronginterest and enthusiasm for the plant mater-ial, customers were exceptionally friendlyand courteous to staff and volunteers aswell as to each other. In an exchange typicalof UCBG plant sales - which are always aboutthe plants and the people before all else - I heard avolunteer reassuring one potential customer that theplant that had been trampled in her garden may still beliving beneath the soil, and recommended that she wait

before purchasing a replacement. The friendly talk of gardensand plants prevailed and provided an atmosphere of calm

that emphasized to me the rightful order of the nat-ural world.

Autumn at the UC Botanical Garden offers amedley of textures and moods. In the California,

South America, and Mediterranean sections, manyplants are dormant, but there is still abundantlife. Jays are consuming California bay fruits;spreading the skins about. Mixed flocks of fallmigrating birds are moving through tree

canopies and woodpeckers probe the bole ofa dead oak that fell in a winter storm. InAsia and Eastern North America the earlyfall provides provide serene greens, but asbright warm days and cool crisp nights

stimulate senescence, these give wayto vivid leaf displays that rival thenative range. However, by far the most

colorful and lively section of the Garden inautumn is the Mexican/Central Americanarea. It is full of fearless hummingbirds

zipping around defending valuable territo-ries of profusely blooming salvias and penstemons.

We all share the same terrible knowledge of thefragility of life. It is reassuring to focus on the miracle of a seedling, or a tender sprout arising

from a long buried root, to see life spring from the seeminglylifeless soil. We hope soon to see renewal in the coming ofthe precious rains that will again coax life from our seasonal-

ly verdant valleys and hills. Let us hope that peace, too,comes soon. Meanwhile, let us all seek solace and reflec-tion in gardens.

—Ellen Simms

reduction is also seen today in both the dawn redwood(Metasequoia glyptostroboides), and the sierra big tree or giantsequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum). We would like to knowwhy these species once had such broad ecological ranges butare much more restricted in where they live today. To answerthis question we are involved in a comparative investigationof the living Taxodiaceae. The aim here is to better under-stand the link between their unique physiology and theircurrent and past ecological distributions. We are therefore

addressing how physiology may have or have not changed asthis very ancient group has ‘seen’ major climatic shifts duringits long history on Earth. We hope this information will lendsome insight into interpreting how changes through time maybe linked to changes in climate, physiology and distribution.

—Todd E. Dawson, Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley; Director,

Center for Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry, UC Berkeley

University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley4

coast redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens (Bed #248), andgiant sequoias, Sequoiadendron giganteum (Bed #245D),had been planted to provide moist conditions by thecreek for rhododendrons. Though only 56 years old,

these trees are quite impressive, and look as if theyhave always been in the canyon. Giant sequoias arerelict in isolated groves on the western slope of the

Sierra Nevada; coast redwoods are limited to the fogbelt of northern California and southern Oregon. Herein the Redwood Circle you can compare these twoCalifornia species with the dawn redwood and see simi-lar structures and shapes, especially in the cones and

needles.The five other members of theTaxodiaceae in the Garden have fea-

tures that also show taxonomicrelationship. From the south-eastern U.S. comes the baldcypress, Taxodium distichum

(Bed #302), deciduous like thedawn redwood, that prefers almost water-logged soil. We also have a specimen of

Chinese water pine, Glyptostrobus pensilis(Bed #245D), a close relative with

cones of different shape and size.These, like the bald cypress, grow

in up to a foot of water and do wellin roadside drainage channels.

Taiwania cryptomerioides (Bed #245C) andCryptomeria japonica (Bed #246) have quite sim-ilar scale-like foliage when mature but theircones differ. Cryptomeria or Japanese cedar is an

important lumber tree in Japan and is widely plant-ed there. Here in California stands of Cryptomeria havebeen selected for forest restoration projects because oftheir similarity to coast redwoods and their long tap-root. Probably the most unusual-looking member of thegroup is the Japanese umbrella tree, Sciadopitys verticillata(Bed #246), with its whorled leaves that resemble theribs of an umbrella.

—Stephanie Kaza (with edits by Janet Williams)Excerpted from, The Redwood Family Tree,

UCBG Newsletter Summer 1988

The History of Redwoods in the UCBG Collection

Famous Evolutionary LinkThe dawn redwood,

Metasequoia glyptostroboides (Bed#245A), is a "living fossil" link tothe evolutionary past. For manyyears the fossil redwoods fromaround the Northern Hemispherewere thought to be sequoias, closelyrelated to the coast redwood. But in1941 Dr. Shigeru Miki noted thatfossils from Japan, previously consid-ered to be sequoia samples, had oppo-site rather than alternate needles, and sohe named this Metasequoia. Three yearslater, a Chinese forester, T. Wang, made ahistoric botanical discovery.

At this time the Szechwan area inChina was quite isolated and overrunwith bandits. To improve wartimecommunication with the provincialcapital, a road was built into thearea. Wang followed this road to aformerly isolated village and cameupon an enormous tree. On closecomparison, the tree turned out tomatch exactly the fossils of Metasequoia.

Botanists were thrilled with this dramatic dis-covery and soon Dr. Ralph Chaney of University ofCalifornia, Berkeley, organized an expedition to seethese amazing trees. After flying across the Pacific,traveling down river by boat, and walking across threemountain ranges, he found the dawn redwoods in asandstone soil valley about 40 miles southeast of theYangtze River. He collected seeds and seedlings: only thethird set to be returned to the United States for propa-gation. Fifty-four years after this pilgrimage into thebackcountry of China, we now have five healthy trees,elegant in leaf and form, a fitting centerpiece to theRedwood Circle.

Local and Exotic RedwoodsBut the dawn redwoods were not the first trees to

form the Redwood Circle. A few years earlier our local

Sequoia sempervirens drawing by UCBG horticulturist Judith Finn.

Fall 2001 5

BOOK REVIEWCoast Redwood: A Natural andCultural History, ed. by John Evartsand Marjorie Popper; written byMichael Barbour, Sandy Lydon, MarkBorchert, Marjorie Popper, ValerieWhitworth and John Evarts; CachumaPress, Los Olivos, CA, ©2001; b/w &color photos; drawings; map; appen-dices; bibliography; index; 240 pp.;cloth, $36.95, paper $25.95.

There is no better time than thebeginning of the second millennium topublish a book about the natural andcultural history of a tree with an individ-ual life span of over 2,000 years and anextensive family history going back to itsearliest ancestors in the Cretaceous peri-od 135 to 65 million years ago. CoastRedwood: A Natural and Cultural Historyis a comprehensive and beautifully illus-trated survey of the botany, ecology andconservation of these famous trees andtheir place in California today.

The coast redwood is one of over600 species of conifers worldwide. Itbelongs to the Taxodiaceae family whosemembers are characterized by large,long-lived, fast growing trees with red-dish trunks and thick, fibrous bark.Taxodiaceae contains 10 genera and 17species, all of which, with the exceptionof Tasmanian cedar, are scattered overthe northern hemisphere. Each genusappears on only one continent and con-tains one to three species.

The coast redwood written recordsbegan only 232 years ago. Father Juan

Crespi, travelling from San Diego toMonterey Bay in1769, wrote about the'palo colorado'—red wood—discoverednear the Santa Cruz mountains. It was55 years later when, from specimens inArchibald Menzies' collection, (see BookReview Summer 2001) redwoodreceived Taxodium sempervirens as itsbotanical name. Finally, in 1847, it wasclassified as Sequoia sempervirens.

California statehood and rapid com-mercial development were fueled by theGold Rush and the wealth (“SequoiaGold”) of a seemingly unlimited supplyof lumber from the redwood forests.Until the end of the 19th century, tim-ber harvesting was done by hand withthe aid of oxen and horses. The adventof steam engines and the railroad com-pletely revolutionized the industry. Inthe 20th century chain saws, caterpillar

tractors and then, more recently, heli-copters, made it possible to log treesfaster than the following second growthforest could regenerate to viable size.

The history of the conservationmovement in the United States closelyparallels the development of the modernredwood timber industry. Before 1900far-sighted individuals, observing thechaos following timber harvesting, wereworking to preserve pristine old growthstands in the Santa Cruz mountains.The Sempervirens Club, founded in1901, and the Save-the-Redwoods-League, founded in 1917, were formedto save outstanding redwood grovesfrom logging. It is believed that therewere 1.6 to 1.9 million acres of virginredwood forest in 1800.

Today only 75,000 acres, less than5%, remain. This survey concludes witha view to the future. We have preservedall that we can of the remaining oldgrowth forests. Our job now is to find away to improve, conserve, and use wise-ly the forests in private and public care.

The six authors of Coast Redwood: ANatural and Cultural History have divid-ed their material into chapters they eachknow most about. This division leadsinevitably to some repetition in back-ground exposition, however, not enoughcan be said about the breadth and depthof the authors' research. It makes thisbook a reliable resource as well as a plea-sure to read.

— Elly Bade

■ Conifers of California, by Ronald M. Lanner; illus. byEugene O. Murman; Cachuma Press, Los Olivos, CA,©1999; color photos; maps; appendices; bibliography;274pp.; paper, $24.95.

■ Discovered Alive, The Story of the Chinese Redwood, byWilliam Gittlen; Pierside Publications, Berkeley, CA,©1998; b/w photos; drawings; map; bibliography;167pp.; paper, $14.95.

Additional Reading on Redwoods

University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley6

Metasequoia glyptostroboides drawing by UCBG horticulturist Judith Finn.

Diseases of Redwoods

A search reveals that there are a number of diseases foundon redwoods. However, most of those are diseases found inthe native habitats of the trees. There are not many diseasesfound in cultivated redwoods and this may be due in part tothe fact that because of the eventual size of the trees, they arenot commonly used as landscape plants.

The most common problem in redwoods under cultiva-tion results from infections by the fungus Botryosphaeriadothidea. This results in the death of scattered branchesthrough the tree. These sometimes are called "flags". Theproblem is very common on giant sequoia though it hasbeen recorded on coast redwoods. In giant sequoia, the prob-lem has to do with the effect of higher temperatures on thetrees resulting in attack by the fungus. In the Bay Area, it iscommon and does not do much damage, but giant sequoiacannot be grown in the arboretum at Davis because of thisproblem. It is of interest to note that trees vary considerablyin their response to temperature and the resulting damagedone by the fungus. As you approach the two largegiant sequoias just across the bridge on the mainpath toward the Conference Center in the Garden,the tree on the left has quite a few "flags", whilethe tree on the right has very few. Though prun-ing the "flags" will improve things aesthetically, itwill not control the prob-lem and other brancheseventually will becomeinfected.

A less serious problemoccurs only on coast red-woods when individual treesdevelop galls on thebranches and twigs.These can vary in sizefrom very small toswellings 6 to 8 inchesor larger in size. The problemcan be seen in a tree found ina group of redwoods alongthe creek just west ofHaviland Hall on the campus. Italso has been found on trees inMount Tamalpais and Aptos.These galls do not seem to bedamaging to the trees, and inexperiments by a UC plant patholo-gist, it was not possible to find any disease-producingorganisms in the galls nor was it possible to transmit any

gall-producing entity to other plants. The fact that the treeon the campus with the most galls is in a cluster of otherredwoods but none of the others show galls, suggests thatthe problem is not infectious. Galls should not be confusedwith burls, which are very large swellings, usually on thelower portions of main trunks.

Both redwoods are susceptible to Armillaria mellea, com-monly called the oak root fungus. This name is slightly mis-leading for it suggests that the fungus is a problem on oaks.It is true that it is commonly found in the roots of oak tree,but it rarely damages them unless they are mistreated bypoor cultural practices. A main problem is that the fungusprefers dead wood to living wood, so once oak trees or anyothers that have the fungus in the roots are cut down, thefungus moves through the whole dead root system. The fun-gus does not grow through the soil and infection can takeplace only by the root of a susceptible plant contacting a

root in which the fungus is active. Once this happens, thefungus will girdle the tree and kill it. Control is noteasy and though removal of infected root systems will

help, this is difficult for large established trees withextensive root systems.

Bleeding cankers sometimes arefound, more commonly on coast red-

woods. Sometimes a wound inthe trunk or a branch is such

that it does not dry.When this occurs,organisms such as bac-

teria, fungi andyeasts, grow in the

sap that collects.In the process,

materials areformed which pre-

vent the cambium fromhealing so the process

continues. They are best controlled by cut-ting open such cankers to the good cambi-

um, so they drain and so that water cannotaccumulate in them. It is of interest that much of

this has been seen in the last few years. A possi-ble explanation is that because of seven years

of drought, wood growth was very slow andthen an exceptionally wet year resulted in a

lot of growth, causing the bark to split.—Robert D. Raabe

Fall 2001 7

The Garden and larger botanical community were deeplysaddened to learn of the death of Dr. Lincoln Constance, ahighly respected botanist and administrative leader at theUniversity of California, Berkeley. Aged 92, he died in Juneat Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley.

Dr. Constance was a long-term fixture of our Gardencommunity. He kept many plants in the Garden’s researchgreenhouses, which made him a familiar sight in the Garden,strolling through the collections, satchel of research instru-ments at his side, on his way to work on his plants. Healways had a kind word for the staff and a ready willingnessto help with identifications in the parsley family (Apiaceae).Several accessions in the Garden were gifts from his researchcollection, especially in the genus Eryngium. A number ofrare Californian plant species were named in his honor,including Arabis constancei (Constance’s rock cress),Eryngium constancei (Loch Lomond button-celery), Lupinusconstancei (the Lassics lupine) and the genus Constancea(Constancea nivenii, Nevin’s woolly sunflower, can be foundin the Garden’s California Area–Channel Islands beds). Heserved as acting director of the Garden when Dr. RobertOrnduff was on his many trips abroad. He published Botanyat Berkeley, the First Hundred Years in 1978, and in 1990 hewrote a three-part history of the Garden for this Newsletter.

Born in Eugene, Oregon, on Feb. 16, 1909, Dr.Constance graduated from the University of Oregon in 1930and entered UC Berkeley as a graduate student in botany.He studied under Willis Linn Jepson, the author of the firstsystematic survey of California plants.

After obtaining his PhD in botany in 1934, Dr.Constance served as herbarium director at Washington StateCollege (now Washington State University), before returningto UC Berkeley in 1937. He served as Director of theUniversity Herbarium from 1963 to 1975. An inaugural

trustee of the Jepson Herbarium from 1960 until his death,Dr. Constance helped oversee the new edition of Jepson's1925 Manual of the Flowering Plants of California, when itwas republished in 1993 as The Jepson Manual, Higher Plantsof California. Dr. Constance was also the Dean of theCollege of Letters & Science from 1955 to 1962, and servedas Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs from 1962 to 1965—coinciding with the turbulent free speech years.

After retiring in 1976, Lincoln Constance was an activeprofessor emeritus of Botany; particularly as an expert onplants of the Apiaceae, an economically important groupthat includes carrots, parsley, fennel and poison hemlock.Throughout his career he contributed to numerous plantmanuals, including compendia of the plants of Nevada,Arizona, Texas, Panama, Venezuela and Peru.

A memorial service was held in late October. LincolnConstance's family requests that donations in his memory besent to the UC Botanical Garden or the UniversityHerbarium.

This obituary was taken from a University of California,Berkeley, press release, dated June 11, 2001, written by RobertSanders, and edited by Holly Forbes.

In Memoriam

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We are feeling the loss of volunteer Leonard Skinner, whopassed away in September. Leonard completed DocentTraining in 1987, after he retired from his accounting career,and was available for anything and everything in the tourrepertoire from that point forward. We often referred to him as “Mr. Docent 100%” because, in addition to taking on end-less touring commitments, he volunteered for a myriad ofcommittee duties, including identifying and labeling obscureslides, giving talks for local seniors and garden groups, and serving as Docent Chair. He seemed to know every plant in

Lincoln Constance

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8 University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley

RICHARD HENDERSON joined the UCBG team asAssociate Director in October.

The Garden is very pleased indeed to welcome RichardHenderson, newly appointed Associate Director. Richard hasa longstanding knowledge of the Garden having attendedmany events here while serving as the InformationTechnology Director for the Haas School of Business in theearly and mid-’90s. Most recently, he has been AssociateProvost at the University of the South in Tennessee where hewas active in the Herbarium, Landscape Analysis Laboratoryand in museum planning programs. Richard’s early exposureto the botanical world took place in the “biological paradise”of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in NorthCarolina and Tennessee. This grounding taught him to takedelight in native plants in their habitat. His attendance atCalifornia Native Plant Society meetings in the past willserve him well in his current personal horticultural pursuit:to mix California natives into his home garden. Such plant-ings to be organized, of course, in his trademark style:according to a prioritized, efficiently organized scheme!Richard plans to put his interest in both plants and systemorganization to work for the Garden; in addition to hismany other duties here, he will be leading the master plan-ning process and institutional capacity building efforts.Welcome Richard!

KIM KASO joined the UCBG staff as Volunteer andProgram Coordinator in September.

Kim is one of the world's most versatile people! She hasworked in many different careers—including the US Navy -and lived in many different locations—all over the US andthree years residing in the UK. After a college degree major-ing in Speech, Drama and English she held several jobsbefore joining the Navy, where she worked in communica-tions, cryptology, training, recruiting and teaching EnglishLiterature. After leaving the Navy she began a career focusedon various aspects of volunteerism. All along the way Kimhas pursued a love of plants and gardening learned "at hermother's knee" and while roaming the wild woods with herfriends as a child. Kim has used her love of gardening as aneffective strategy in coping with moving throughout theyears, she notes "It is interesting to see the different terrain,and what plants thrive and what plants people try andimpose to remake their memories of home. My establishinga garden or maintaining and adding to the one that wasalready there was always a very important part of our makinga home in each new place." She is still adjusting to the dif-ferent feeling of the seasons here and is enjoying experiment-ing with her new garden to see what thrives. Kim is excitedto join the Garden team and looks forward to working withall of the wonderful people here, staff and volunteers alike;especially helping to create new opportunities for people toshare in the Garden. Welcome Kim!

KIM KASO, Volunteer and Program Coordinator

RICHARD HENDERSON, Associate Director

UCBG Welcomes New Staff Members

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Fall 2001 9

EDUCATION AT THE GARDENThe single largest public outreach by the Garden each

year is our rich and growing tour program to northernCalifornia school children and to adults from around theworld. Seventy-five dedicated, trained docent volunteersshare their enthusiasm and rich storehouse of information toalmost 10,000 individuals each year. The Garden’s docentslead more than 20 different tours, ranging from “First Lookat Plants” for kindergarteners, to “Plants through Time” forhigh school students, to tours for the general visitor.

This year, through the extra effort of docent BonnieMackenzie, we undertook a review of who we are servingwith our tours for school children. Where do they come from?Is the demand growing? What tours are most in demand?

During the past six school years, docents conducted toursfor 23,707 school children, or about 4,000 students each year.Students came from 249 different schools in 58 cities, withthe largest number coming from Oakland (74 differentschools) and Berkeley (34 schools). The average school cameto the Garden three times during the six year period of review.

The most popular tours were Five Senses (4,163 students), Native American Usesof Plants (3,282 students), FlowerWalk (3,155 students), andCalifornia Habitats (2,596 stu-dents). One new tour begun inSpring 1998, Foods of the

Americas, drew 1,999 students during the past three years.In addition to Garden tours, docents travel to local ele-

mentary schools to present “Grocery Store Botany”, a one-hour interactive demonstration. In this presentation, docentsuse vegetables and fruits from the grocery store to teach basicbotany and the role of plants in everyday life. Over 4,000students in 14 Bay Area cities saw this presentation duringthe six years studied.

In addition to tours for school children, docent tours foradults are increasing. A primary difference between tours forschool aged children and adults is that children’s tours usual-ly are selected from a list while adult tours are tailored on thespot to fit the interests of the group requesting the tour ordrop in for Thursday and weekend free tours. However, dur-ing the past three years specialized tours have been developedfor adult groups, including “Plants of the Bible”.

The demand for tours is increasing. In an effort to moreevenly space out when teachers bring their children to theGarden we advertised tours that are especially effective in ourcollection in the fall. The result is that we are totally booked

for school tours for this Novemberand December. This response againdemonstrates the value local educa-tors place on docent led tours at the Garden.

—Jennifer Meux White

BRIDGET LAMP joined the Garden’s horticultural team inJune .

While receiving a Master’s degree in Science inHorticulture and Agronomy at UC Davis, Bridget internedat Filoli and Lotusland Gardens, gaining diverse and valuablepractical experience to complement her degree. Bridget’sinterest in plants developed as a result of her mother’s love ofplants and gardening. Family trips to Descanso Gardens dur-ing lilac blossom time and being allowed to choose plants atthe local nursery for the family’s home garden remain forBridget as key plant experiences in her youth. Bridget hasbeen particularly interested in drought tolerant plants andespecially enjoys California natives. However, she is fast find-ing an appreciation for the diverse flora of the Mediterraneanarea which is one aspect of her gardening responsibility hereat UCBG. In addition, she is responsible for the EasternNorth America area and is enjoying making the acquaintanceof new plants in that section too as she prunes and weeds,and repairs irrigation leaks and roads in her sections. Bridget

BRIDGET LAMP, Horticulturist

professes enthusiasm for the “Museum Scientist” aspect ofher new job—the processes and record keeping associatedwith collection development here—providing a whole newmulti-tasking aspect to her performance as a well-roundedhorticulturist. Welcome Bridget!

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University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley10

Research in The Garden

Dr. John E. Casida, UC Berkeley, Department ofEnvironmental Science, Policy, and Management, and disser-tation student Eric Haux, received samples of Datura andPhysalis. They are conducting research on the mechanism bywhich a plant growth regulator changes the growth charac-teristics of plants.

Dr. Joe Di Tomaso, UC Davis, is working on a textinvestigating weeds in California. He visited the Garden thissummer to photograph several species for the book. His visitserved a reminder that what may remain in check in one partof the world can be a weed in another.

Dr. Michael Freeling, UC Berkeley, via laboratory assis-tant Zoya Akulova-Barlow, received several samples of grassspecies for a morphological study of ligules.

Dr. Eric Knox, Rutgers University, visited to collect sev-eral samples of the Lobeliaceae family. He was able to pro-vide some species identifications for the Garden.

Dr. Susana Magallon-Puebla, UC Davis, post-doc withProfs. Michael Sanderson and James Doyle, received sam-ples of several species for their study of seed plant phylogeny,the age of angiosperms, and the evolution of pentameryamong basal eudicots.

Ms. Jodi McGraw, dissertation student with Prof. WayneSousa, in Integrative Biology, began a new soil seed bankstudy in the Garden’s research greenhouse.

Dr. Jeffrey Mitton, University of Colorado, Boulder,received a sample of Fitzroya cupressoides (alercé). He hadextracted DNA from Fitzroya cupressoides wood that is45,000 years old and wished to compare two cpDNAsequences with contemporary individuals.

Dr. J. Michael Moldowan, Stanford University, and colleagues, received a variety of species for their study of achemical signature of flowering plants found in ancient fossil-bearing rocks. The chemicals, called oleanenes, workagainst insects, fungi and various microbes.

Dr. Jorge Santiago-Blay, Roanoke College, VA, visitedthe Garden this summer to collect resins. He and a colleagueare studying the chemical fingerprint of resins (recent andancient). They are especially interested in samples of ancientambers as well as of recent plant resins

Dr. Alan Smith, UC Berkeley and dissertation studentRaymond Cranfill, sampled several species of ferns for theirstudy of evolutionary relationships.

Dr. Joe Williams, University of Colorado at Boulder,returned to the Garden for more samples of Schisandra,Kadsura and Illicium for his study of primitive angiosperms.

The Garden was credited for providing some of the manyresearch materials which resulted in the following papers:

Sangtae Kim, Chong-Wook Park, Young-Dong Kim,and Youngbae Suh of Seoul National University and HallymUniversity in Korea: Phylogenetic relationships in familyMagnoliaceae inferred from ndhF sequences, published in theAmerican Journal of Botany (Am. J. Bot. 88:717-728. 2001).The cover of this issue is comprised of a colorful assortmentof Magnoliaceae flowers, including Magnolia sharpii, photocredit to Holly Forbes.

Wendy B. Zomlefer, Norris H. Williams, W. MarkWhitten and Walter S. Judd: Generic circumscription andrelationships in the tribe Melanthieae (Liliales, Melanthiaceae),with emphasis on Zigadenus: evidence from ITS and trnL-Fsequence data1, published in the American Journal of Botany(Am. J. Bot. 88:1657-1669. 2001). The Garden providedmaterial in the genera Zigadenus (death-camas) andXerophyllum (beargrass).

Susana Magallon, Patrick S. Herendeen, and Peter R.Crane: Androdecidua endressii gen. et. sp. nov., From theLate Cretaceous of Georgia (United States): Further FloralDiversity in Hamamelidoideae (Hamamelidaceae), Int. J. PlantSci. 162(4):963-983. 2001. The Garden is acknowledged forproviding plant material used for comparative purposes.

Research materials were provided to the following:Prof. David D. Ackerly, Stanford University, again visited

to collect many species in the Rosaceae. He is looking at theevolution of the “evergreen sclero-

phyll” strategy in California chap-arral. The strategy is to exam-

ine each of the major taxain comparison with theirclose relatives from non-chaparral habitats,employing a phylogenetic

approach where possible. Dr. Robert P. Adams,

Baylor University receivedsamples of Calocedrus decur-rents (incense cedar) for

comparison with a new conifer fromVietnam. He and his colleagues areattempting to see where it fits within the

Cupressaceae (cypress family).

11Fall 2001

GARDEN STAFF

Dr. Ellen Simms, Garden DirectorRichard Henderson, Associate Garden Director

ADMINISTRATIONAfrooz Navid, Administrative Assistant

Margaret Richardson, Tour & Rentals CoordinatorMichael Rimar, Administrative Assistant

Candice Schott, Business Operations SupervisorKim Kaso, Volunteer Services & Program CoordinatorJanet Williams, Marketing & Development Officer

Leslie Wozniak, Visitor Services Specialist

COLLECTIONS & HORTICULTUREDr. Christopher Carmichael,

Manager of Collections and HorticultureHolly Forbes, Curator

Barbara Keller, Curatorial AssistantAnthony Garza,

Supervisor of Horticulture and GroundsJohn Domzalski, PropagatorJudith Finn, Horticulturist

Peter Klement, HorticulturistBridget Lamp, HorticulturistLawrence Lee, HorticulturistJerry Parsons, Horticulturist

Dr. Robert Raabe, Garden PathologistRoger Raiche, HorticulturistEric Schulz, Horticulturist

Elaine Sedlack, HorticulturistNathan Smith, Horticulturist

Gerald Ford, Building and Grounds Maintenance

EDUCATIONDr. Jennifer White, Associate Director for Education

Christine Manoux, Program Assistant

FACULTY ADVISORY COMMITTEEDr. Todd Dawson, Integrative Biology

Dr. Lewis Feldman, Plant BiologyDr. Joe McBride, Environmental Science,

Policy, & ManagementDr. Brent Mishler, Integrative Biology

Dr. Vincent Resh, Environmental Science, Policy, & Management

Dr. Alan Smith, Herbarium

NEWSLETTERJanet Williams, Editor

Administration 642-0849Development 643-2937

Director’s Office 643-8999Education 495-2805

Entrance Kiosk 643-2755The Garden Shop 642-3343Plant Collections 643-8040

Tours/Rentals 642-3352Volunteers 643-1924

Fax 642-5045E-mail: garden@uclink4.berkeley.edu

Web Site: http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden/

The Newsletter is published by the University ofCalifornia Botanical Garden with support from

memberships. © UC Regents 2001Articles may be reprinted with credit to the

authors and the UC Botanical Garden.

GARDEN NOTESBOTANICAL GARDENS ANNUAL MEETING…Manager of Collections &Horticulture Chris Carmichael, Curator Holly Forbes, and Associate Director forEducation Jennifer White attended the annual meeting of the AmericanAssociation of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta, held July 3-7 in Denver. Hollygave a presentation on the value of documentation in botanical gardens.

SEED EXCHANGE…Curator Holly Forbes and horticultur-ists Roger Raiche & Nathan Smith spent five days in the

Shasta-Trinity and Klamath National Forests collectingseeds of various species for the Garden’s biennial seedexchange program. They were able to collect nearly 100species. Roger & Nathan tested their tree-climbingskills to retrieve precious pine and fir cones for thisprogram. The seed exchange list is made exclusivelyavailable to other botanical gardens and researchinstitutions all over the world.

PLANT CONSERVATION MEETING…Holly Forbesrepresented the Garden at the annual meeting of the Center for PlantConservation, this year hosted by the New England Wildflower Society inFramingham, MA. The CPC is a network of 33 gardens across the continentalUnited States and Hawaii. The weather cooperated to provide the peak of the fallfoliage display by the end of the meeting. Holly returned with the latest thinkingon several conservation techniques. This year Holly and Curatorial AssistantBarbara Keller began a demographic study of Delphinium bakeri (Baker’sLarkspur) in Marin County in collaboration with Dr. Jason Koontz, Center forBiodiversity of the Illinois Natural History Survey (and expert on the genus) andthe California Department of Fish & Game with funding from the GeneticResources Conservation Program at UC Davis. Information learned during thisstudy will help determine future conservation efforts for this state listed rare andfederally listed endangered species.

Leonard Skinner(continued from page 7)the Garden and backed up his knowledge with stories or demonstrations of weirdflower structures or pollination strategies, which made him enormously popularwith children.

Leonard was a Master Gardener too, and for years was a regular presence atDr. Raabe’s Sick Plant Clinic, working as part of the team, but especially workingwith UC entomologist Dr. Nick Mills; he delighted in learning about Gardenpests. He was also the mastermind who constructed the shaded Hold Area at vir-tually every Garden plant sale for a decade. Leonard has left a huge gap in ourdocent forces that will be tough to fill.

—Nancy Swearengen

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Plants are for sale at The Garden Shop all year. Call 510-642-3343

Nonprofit Org.

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PAIDUniversity of California

Address Service Requested

ROSE PRUNINGExpert Garden Horticulturist, Peter Klement, will once again offer hispopular workshop on rose pruning. Saturday, January 19, 9:30 am–noonSaturday January 26, 9:30 am–noonFee $20 Members, $28 Non-members. Reservation required

SCHOOL GARDEN CONFERENCE: Sharing Successes and BestPracticesSaturday March 2. Call (510) 495-2805 for further detailsFee $10. Reservation required.

UNSELT BOTANICAL LECTUREWorldwide traveler and expert ethnobotanist, Dr. Tom Carlson willpresent the second annual Unselt lecture on the topic: “Plants andPeople in Polynesia: Ethnobiology in the Pacific Region” Sunday, March 10 at 2 pmFree. Reservation required—please register early.

University of California Botanical Garden

200 Centennial Drive, #5045

Berkeley, California 94720-5045

Do Your Holiday Shopping at

The Garden ShopBooks Plants Gifts

Posters T-Shirts Cards

Discount for Garden members!

don’t know what to give? a ucbg gift certificate is the perfect gift!

GARDEN HOURS: Open 9 am to 5 pm. Closed first Tuesday of each month. Closed December 25th.SUMMER HOURS: Memorial Day to Labor Day: 9 am to 7 pm. THURSDAYS ARE FREE. Garden Shop is open from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm.

BEGINNING BIRDWATCHINGLearn the basics of finding and identifying birds with our long-timeinstructor, Dennis WolffTuesdays, April 9, 16, 23, 30 9:30 am–noonFee $50 Members, $65 Non-members

FIBRE & DYE EXHIBITFeel the fibres and delight in the plant dyes used to make the world’sfabrics.Saturday April 13–Sunday April 28Free with Garden admission.

SPRING PLANT SALEA wonderful array of plants—many available only here at the Gardenplant sales!Members Only SaleFriday April 26, 5 - 7:30 pmPublic Plant SaleSaturday April 27, 10 am–2 pm

UNSELT BIRDING BREAKFAST Join bird-watchers extraordinaire Chris Carmichael and Dennis Wolfffor an early morning stroll in the Garden, followed by coffee and deli-cious breakfast eats!Saturday, May 11, 8 amFree. Reservation required, numbers very limited—please register early.

MOTHER’S DAY TEACelebrate Mom’s special day with tea and delicacies, music and a strollin the Garden in its glory!Sunday, May 12, seatings on the hour at 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm.Fee $10 Members, $15 Non-members, children under 12 $5.Reservation required.

SICK PLANT CLINICUC plant pathologist Dr. Robert Raabe, UC entomologist Dr. NickMills, and their team of experts, will diagnose what ails your plants.First Saturday of each month, 9:00 am–noon.Free. No reservations required.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT: • Walks around the Garden led by our expert horticulturists!• The 3rd Annual Garden Party!

To register for any program or event call 510-643-2755.