California’s official state plants 
Presented by Steve Staiger: 

Steve, the historian, may have been the only one or us who realized we were meeting on Admissions Day. To celebrate California’s admission as a state on September 9, 1850, he brought samples of our botanically related state symbols. In 1903, the legislature voted Golden Poppy, Eschscholzia (no species designation), to be the state flower. This was after it had trounced Matilija Poppy and Mariposa Lily in an 1890 popularity vote. California redwood was voted our state tree in 1937. Since the legislature used a common name that doesn’t distinguish between Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and Giant Redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum), we are the only state with two state trees. Nassella pulchra, Purple Needlegrass, was selected as the state grass in 2004. The California State Library website has the entire, interesting list of our state symbols. You can also hear the official state song, which I had never heard before and maybe you haven’t either.

	Golden Poppy, Eschscholzia	Nassella pulchra, Purple Needlegrass

Betula sp. (BETULACEAE) Birch
Grown by Barbara Worl in Menlo Park:
In 1954, Barbara planted a trio of birches of unknown species in a 5’ x 5’ x 5’ hole filled with pure leaf mold. They must have liked it since they are now 3 times the height of her house and reward her with golden fall color which she loves. She shared some of their seedlings with us via the raffle table.

Helianthus maximiliani (ASTERACEAE) Maximilian Sunflower
Grown by Liz Calhoon in Los Altos Hills
This is a spreading, perennial sunflower that’s native to our central prairie states. The large, 4” flower heads have bright yellow rays and dark golden disks and sort of spiral up the top half of the stems which can grow 4’ to 8’ tall. The leaves are long and narrow and tend to fold upward along the midvein. White hairs cover the leaves and stems and make the whole plant appear gray. It comes back every year from its rhizomatous roots and, over time, forms a colony. It’s easy to grow in any soil in full sun. Many sources say it tolerates low water, but Liz finds that it does prefer irrigation. This fits well with reports that, when found in low rainfall areas, it’s primarily near wet depressions and along streams and moist ditches. It is a great food source for birds, bees, and butterflies.

Magnolia coco, M. pumila (MAGNOLIACEAE) Coconut Magnolia
Grown by Daxin Liu in Mountain View: 
This beautiful, little Magnolia is a tropical shrub from the most southern province of China and only grows about 6’ tall. It’s not reliably hardy for us, but it’s easy to grow as a houseplant thanks to its small size, slow growth, and tolerance for shade. It will even bloom indoors. From spring to fall, it produces slightly nodding, round buds that reminded somebody of tiny coconuts without their shells. Around dusk, the buds open to intensely fragrant, 1-2” wide, ivory flowers with green sepals; and, sometime the next morning, the whole thing falls apart. Its attractive, glossy, deeply veined leaves are a nice bonus. As an indoor container plant it may top out around 3’ tall. Give it good light and regular water.

Oxalis magellanica ‘Nelson’ (OXALIDACEAE) White Rose Clover, Dwarf Sorrel
Grown by Kerry Barrs in Woodside:
This cute, little, evergreen Oxalis forms a mat about 1” high. Its little leaflets are heart-shaped and often flushed or margined with purple. White, fully double flowers are held just above the foliage in summer. It grows best in all day or afternoon shade and moist, humus-rich soil. It does spread but may not be aggressive about it. The regular, single-flowered form is native to southern Australia, the Falklands, and South America from the southern tip up to Bolivia. ‘Nelson’ (syn. ‘Flore-Pleno’), with double flowers, is native to the Falklands.

Penstemon heterophyllus (SCROPHULARIACEAE) Foothill Penstemon
Grown by Liz Calhoon: 
Foothill penstemon grows naturally in dry places from the coast ranges to the Sierra Nevada and is a beautiful, tough, long-lived perennial for dry gardens. It has narrow, linear leaves and makes a loose, fine-textured mound about 2’ high x 3’ wide. In spring, it’s covered with racemes of 1” long flowers in blended tones of blue, purple, and pink that open from yellow buds. Deadheading will keep it blooming into summer. It tolerates drought or occassional water and most soils including clay with decent drainage. Full sun and good air flow will help prevent mildew problems.

Ricinus communis (EUPHORBIACEAE) Castor Bean Plant
Grown by Elizabeth Garbett in Los Altos Hills:
This is a lush, tropical looking, robust plant. It’s grown as an annual here since frost kills it; but, given full sun, heat and regular water, it can grow 6 to 15 feet in one season. It has large, palmately lobed leaves up to 20” across, often with red, purple, or bronze shadings. It flowers most of the year in dense, terminal clusters with the female flowers at the top and the small, male ones just below. Neither has petals. The showy part of the inflorescence is the red, star-shaped stigmas of the female flowers and the creamy stamens of the males. The seed capsules are softly spiney and split when they dry, launching the seeds several feet. The seeds are mottled with beautiful, intricate designs in muted shades of copper, bronze, black, gray, brown, and white. No two seeds are alike. They contain several very toxic compounds including ricin. So, if you have animals or small children, it’s a good idea to remove the inflorescences before they set seeds. Castor Bean probably originated in the region of Ethiopia but has spread worldwide because the oil from the seeds has about a jillion uses.  All the toxins are water soluble only and, therefore, not found in the oil. The tons of leftover seed cake are treated to inactivate the toxins and then used for fertilizer and animal feed.

Zamioculcas zamiifoiia (ARACEAE) ZZ Plant
Grown by Dick Dunmire in Los Altos:
Zamioculcas grows as a forest understory plant in the tropics of eastern Africa from Kenya to South Africa. It grows with an upright, arching habit from tuberous rhizomes. Each stem is actually a leaf divided into numerous, very glossy leaflets. It’s a slow grower but can eventually reach 3’ or 4’ high. Its good looks and easy care have made it a very popular houseplant in almost no time. Dutch nurseries starting making it widely available in 1996, although it was first described about 100 years ago and has been around as a collector’s plant. It has built a solid reputation as an unkillable houseplant due to its tolerance for very low light and weeks without water; however, it’s going to be its best in bright light and reasonably moist soil. The tubers rot with too much water; leaves drop with too little. Other than that, consider giving it a little dilute fertilizer once in a while, a luke warm shower when it gets dusty, and a winter rest with reduced water. It seems to be totally pest free. Its name refers to its resemblance to the Zamia cycads, but it is an aroid with the characteristic spathe and spadix inflorescence. It has some very interesting, un-aroid features though. First, there are those dicot-like, pinnately divided leaves. Next, it can make new plants from dropped leaves. They will root, grow a little tuber, and then sprout a leaf. This can be a year-long process. And, most interesting of all, it’s the only aroid that responds to water stress by turning on a metabolic pathway called Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM). This is most commonly observed in cacti and succulents and enables a plant to conserve water by chemically storing CO2 at night and then doing photosynthesis without opening its stomata during the day.
  

Jackie N. Doda

References: Am. Hort. Soc. A-Z Encyclopedia, Botanica, Flora, Sunset Western Garden Book, and various websites.