15. Berberidaceae

Nandina is a common ornamental shrub in California that does very little for me emotionally. Not that there's anything wrong with it, apart from being ugly and poisonous; it's just that nothing about this plant really knocks my socks off. It is however the species of this family that has been the most "in my face". 

Even though it is not related to bamboo, its common names are heavenly bamboo and sacred bamboo. Probably if I saw it in its natural habitat in Asia, it would appear to me more heavenly.

Be that as it may, Nandina is not the flagship species of the Berberidaceae family. That distinction goes to the better known Barberry, Berberis vulgaris. Barberry is a shrub with small, bright red-orange berries that has also been in my face, although more from a distance, for most of my life.

Berberidaceae is a small family comprised of 15 genera and less than 600 species. Along with Nandina and Berberis, another notable genus is Vancouveria, also known as inside-out flower. Look it up, the flowers really are inside-out.

14. Balsaminaceae

 

This striking flower, Impatiens capensis, was introduced to me by my mother while taking a walk in Old Westbury, where it grows abundantly along the dirt roads. Among its common names are Orange Jewelweed and Spotted Touch-me-not. Balsaminaceae is a small family with less than 900 species, almost all of which are Impatiens. This particular species is the only one that has entered into my life in any meaningful way.

13. Asteraceae

One of the largest plant families of all, Asteraceae has over 23,000 species grouped into a dozen subfamilies and 1620 genera. The list of familiar and commercially important species is long, including artichokes, sunflowers, marigolds, dandelions and Echinacea - to name a few. Many species are familiar to us as flowers, herbs, thistles and shrubs - as opposed to trees.

Two species that are near and dear to me are chicory (Cichorium intybus) and stevia (Stevia rebaudiana). Chicory root was famously used as a coffee substitute in Napoleonic France, its colonies and occupied Europe when the British blockaded the established shipping routes for coffee beans. A blend of coffee and chicory can still be enjoyed in certain coffee products from New Orleans, such as the 'Cafe du Monde' and 'French Market' brands. Stevia, on the other hand, is a great natural sugar substitute. As a man who loves his coffee and is very particular about it, I have had my share of stevia-sweetened, chicory-blended coffee.

There is another interesting species called Guayule (Parthenium argentatum) which has been grown at various times as a source of rubber - one such time being World War 2 when Asian rubber sources were blockaded by the Japanese. I have never seen this plant, but do know that it was grown in the Salinas Valley.

Many species are considered weeds, and in my work as a weed eradicator I have dealt with several exotic thistles: yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) and the closely-related purple starthistle (Centaurea calcitrapa); also Scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthium). All of these are native to Europe and, left unchecked, could spread throughout California.

Finally, I will mention the ubiquitous coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis), which anyone who has spent time staring at California roadsides has seen, whether they know it or not.

12. Asparagaceae

If you went out on a limb and ventured to guess that asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) is a member of the Asparagaceae family, you would be correct. But to suspect that it belongs to the same family as the Joshua tree (Yucca brevolia) is not so obvious. And yet, Asparagus and Yucca are two out of over a hundred genera that comprise the family.

With numbers like this, botany can be a bit mind boggling. Apparently the size of the Asparagaceae family has fluctuated over the years. In the past decade the APG debated just how inclusive it should or should not be, with inclusiveness winning out. This resulted in seven subfamilies and 118 genera. Don't ask me how many species. It's safe to say there's a lot.

One genus that came into the early years of my life is Hosta (although which of the 23 to 45 species I do not know). Hosta is a low-growing ornamental with broad leaves that is sometimes called plantain lily. I remember it from my summer job at Old Westbury Gardens - I think I was asked to remove chickweed growing around the Hosta. It's funny how a thirty year old memory such as this can be retained with such seeming clarity. I say "seeming" because I know for certain that memories become distorted over time. But it is also certain that the Hosta and the chickweed were real and not imagined.

This is where cameras come in handy. The above photo of the Joshua tree was taken while on a road trip in 2011, somewhere in the Mojave desert. There is no risk that I imagined this Joshua tree, or that the information will distort over time. Its classification may change, but the fact of the tree will always remain.

11. Arecaceae

The Arecaceae family consists of palm trees. I've always been drawn to palm trees, symbol of the tropics, and may have first encountered them on a childhood trip to Florida and Everglades National Park. Actually, I was obsessed with Florida before even going there, poring over maps and photographs in the Encyclopedia Britannica. I think I twisted my parents' arms into taking that family vacation, a trip that left a huge impression on me.

So huge an impression that I returned to the Everglades some twenty years later and spent a winter working at the National Park. It was great to re-experience the place as an adult. Among the plants that made an impression on me was saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). I liked the low-growing palm aesthetically, and was also intrigued at the claim that it helped prostate and urinary problems.

It was interesting to learn that the western states have only one native palm, Washingtonia filifera. In nature they are found growing in narrow canyons and near desert springs. Out of nature they are found everywhere - streets, shopping centers, golf courses. The leaves are fan-shaped, as opposed to the more prevalent feather-shaped, imported species that also fill California streets. I will always be amused by this enormous palm growing right though the lobby of a motel in King City, CA (above).