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.
No comments:
Post a Comment