Enumeration of Shrubs and Trees growing in the vicinity of the mouth of San Francisco Bay.
BY HENRY N. BOLANDER.
The territory in question is divided naturally into three parts:
1. The northern part of the peninsula of San Francisco, with an undulating and hilly surface, consists of drifting sand, with a small per centage of humus mingled with it.
2. The Oakland Hills, running N. 54° W. mag., from the Bay of San Pablo to San Leandro, a distance of twenty-three miles, with the adjacent slopes and valleys. Heavy clayey soil predominates; but where shrubs and trees grow it is mostly a loose, light, and slightly sandy soil.
3. That part of Marin County between San Rafael, the head of Tomales Bay and Bolinas Bay, forming a triangle, with a hilly surface, the ridges running N. 54° W. mag. Soil a heavy clay, in the valleys and on bare hills; or a light, slightly sandy loam among shrubs and trees.
In all parts a metamorphic sand-stone underlies the soil.
Berberis (Mahonia) Aquifolium Pursh.
A low evergreen shrub, three to four feet high, not gregarious; in clay soil on the hill sides; rare.
Dendromecon rigidum Benth.
A shrub with slender upright branchlets, four to six feet high, rare; on white sand-stone, Oakland hills, third range eastward, not gregarious.
Rhus diversiloba Torr. and Gray. Poison Oak.
Everywhere, deciduous, exceedingly variable, three to eight feet high.
Negundo Aceroides Mœnch. Box-Elder.
A medium sized tree, twenty to thirty feet high; common among the Oakland hills, on banks of creeks.
Acer macrophyllum Pursh. Large-Leaved Maple.
Common on the banks of Walnut Creek, N.W. of Mount Diablo; fifty to seventy feet high, and two to five feet in diameter, in light sandy soil.
Æsculus Californica Nutt. Horse-Chestnut.
Mostly a shrub, seldom a medium sized tree, largest on the banks of creeks and moist hill sides; grows commonly in groups. Common.
Euonymus Occidentalis Nutt. Spindle-Tree.
A shrub seven to fifteen feet high, with slender upright branches; in swampy places, near the head of Tomales Bay; rare.
Frangula Californica Gray. California Buckthorn.
Very common, variable, four to ten feet high; evergreen, gregarious, in clayey soil.
Ceanothus thyrsiflorus Esch. California Lilac.
Very common, and variable in size, sometimes handsome trees; exceedingly gregarious, forming dense chaparral, on the northern and eastern slopes of hills and mountains; evergreen. Much cultivated on account of the profusion of its fragrant flowers, and the various shapes that may be given it by trimming.
Ceanothus rigidus Nutt.
Low, straggling, four to six feet high, less gregarious than the former; on the white sand-stone hills, east of Oakland.
Ceanothus ——.
A small shrub, three to four feet high, with very small glandular leaves; mostly single or in groups, on Mount Tamal Pais at 2,700 feet elevation.
Lupinus albifrons Benth. Silver-Leaved Lupine.
Very common in almost pure sandy soil, oblong in outline, two to six feet high; growing mostly single, evergreen.
Lupinus macrocarpus Hook. and Arn. Yellow Lupine.
Large, spreading, oval in outline, evergreen, with large fragrant flowers; gregarious in moist gravelly places along the shore of the bay, and in depressions, or banks of runs, where the soil partakes of a clayey nature.
Pickeringia montana Nutt.
Large, spreading, four to seven feet high; evergreen, and gregarious on the Oakland white sand-stone hills.
Cerasus Ilicifolia Nutt. California Cherry, or Plum.
A small tree, eight to fifteen feet high, with thick, shining, spinously serrate, evergreen leaves; fruit of a yellowish pink color, with a thin pulpy external portion. Hill sides on the peninsula of San Francisco, growing mostly in groups; rare.
Cerasus serotina Ehrh. Black Wild-Cherry.
A group of three or four small trees, eight to twelve feet high, near a road in the Oakland hills. Undoubtedly introduced from the Atlantic States.
Cerasus emarginata? Dougl.
A small shrub, three to four feet high, with very slender reddish and white dotted branchlets, and deciduous leaves; rare. Tamal Pais, 2,700 feet elevation.
Nuttallia Cerasiformis Torr. and Gray.
Oblong in outline, four to six feet high, deciduous; common on the northern slopes of hills, in clayey soil. Along the bay and Oakland hills.
Spiræa Opulifolia Linn. Nine-Bark.
Large, spreading, eight to fifteen feet high; common on the banks of creeks among the Oakland hills.
Spiraea Ariæfolia Smith.
Common on banks of creeks and northern slopes of hills, Oakland.
Cercocarpus parvifolius Nutt.
Rare, on the hills in Marin County. Its spirally-tailed seeds give the shrub an appearance as if in full blossom.
Adenostema fasciculata Hook. and Arn.
Oblong in outline, four to five feet high; very gregarious, forming extensive dense chaparral on the southern and western slopes of the Oakland bills; evergreen.
Rubus Nutkanus Lindl. Thimble-Berry.
Rubus velutinus Hook. and Arn.
Rubus macropetalus Dougl. Blackberry.
Northern slopes of hills, Oakland and Marin County.
Rosa blanda Ait. Wild Rose.
Very common on the banks of creeks, forming thickets. Oakland hills and Walnut Creek.
Rosa gymnocarpa Nutt.
Hill sides, Oakland. A small but beautiful species, rather rare.
Photinia Arbutifolia Lindl.
A handsome evergreen tree of medium size, in sandy soil. Common everywhere in the vicinity of water and springs.
Amelanchier Canadensis. Var. Alnifolia Torr. and Gray. Service-Berry.
Northern slopes, four to twelve feet high; in clayey soil, at Mission Dolores and Oakland hills.
Ribes divaricatum Dougl. Black Gooseberry.
Ribes glutinosum Benth. Red Gooseberry.
Ribes malvaceum Smith. Black Currant.
Banks of creeks and northern slopes.
Whipplea modesta Torr.
In loose, light soil, in the Redwoods; one to two feet high, rare.
Cornus pubescens Nutt. Soft-Leaved Dogwood.
Large, spreading, ten to fifteen feet high. Banks of creeks, Oakland hills.
Lonicera involucrata Banks. Twin-Berry.
Large, with slender upright branches, ten to fifteen feet high. Borders of creeks and swamps, Bay of San Francisco, Oakland, Marin County.
Lonicera Californica Torr. and Gray; et var. hispidula. Honeysuckle.
Slender, climbing; borders of streams. L. hispidula, on the out-croppings of white sand-stone, Oakland hills.
Symphoricarpus racemosus Michx. Snow-Berry.
Forming thickets in depressions on the Oakland hills, at 2,000 feet elevation, and along streams in the valleys. Clay soil—three to four feet high.
Sambucus glauca Nutt. Elder.
Sambucus pubens Michx. Red-Berried Elder.
Dry hill sides and borders of wet places. S. glauca, often tree-like and twenty feet high. Oakland, Marin County.
Aplopappus Laricifolius Gray.
A low fastigiate-branched shrub, one to three feet high; very common in drift-sand on the peninsula of San Francisco.
Linosyris ——?
A beautiful little shrub, three to five feet high, with upright branches and long linear leaves, densely set. Branchlets and leaves covered by a resinous exudation. In glades on the northern slopes of Tamal Pais, 1,500 to 2,000 feet elevation.
Grindelia ——?
A low shrub, two to six feet high, bordering the channels in the salt marshes at Oakland and San Rafael.
Baccharis consanguinea D. C.
B. pilularis D. C. et B. glomeruliflora Hooker, seem to be identical. It is an exceedingly varying shrub; on sandy soil, low, creeping, with numerous fastigiate branchlets, the flowers mostly pistillate, and the heads less crowded; on clayey soil, especially on the banks of creeks, it is often fifteen feet high, quite tree-like, oblong in outline, the flowers mostly staminate, and the heads very much crowded. All forms are subject to excrescences, but especially those growing in a sandy soil. Evergreen.
Bahia Artemisiæfolia Less.
Ovate in outline, two to three feet high, evergreen; common on northern slopes, shores of the bay, and Oakland hills.
Artemisia filifolia Torr. Wormwood.
Large root-stocks with numerous slender branches, three to four feet high. Occupying almost invariably the southern slopes in common with Diplacus glutinosus. Both plants, on account of the leaden color of their leaves and branches, give the southern slopes that barren appearance, contrasting so strongly with the vegetation of the northern slopes.
Artemisia pachystachya D. C.
Sandy soil, three to four feet high. Peninsula of San Francisco.
Vaccinium ovatum Pursh. Evergreen Huckleberry.
A beautiful shrub, five to ten feet high, with slender upright branches; berries delicious. In light sandy soil, on the eastern slopes of Oakland hills.
Arbutus Menziesii Pursh. Madroña.
Evergreen, twenty to thirty feet high, on the northern and eastern slopes of the Oakland hills, but more common and generally larger and finer on the hill sides near San Rafael.
Arctostaphylos tomentosa Dougl. Mansañita.
Low, straggling, evergreen, and gregarious on the out-croppings of white sandstone in the Oakland hills.
Arctostaphylos pungens H. B. K. Mansañita.
Obovate in outline, ten to fifteen feet high; scattered.
Gaultheria Shallon Pursh. Maris. Sallal.
Low, creeping, evergreen, covering large tracts of land among the hills of Marin County. Berries eatable.
Azalea occidentalis Torr. and Gray.
On the banks of creeks in Marin County. Quite common; five to twelve feet high.
Diplacus glutinosus Nutt.
Southern and western slopes. Resinous, eight feet high; common.
Sphacele calycina Benth.
Mostly gregarious, five to eight feet high. Near the coast, Marin County; eastern slopes near San Mateo.
Eriodiction Californicum Benth.
Very glutinous, two to four feet high—evergreen. Dry hill sides, Tamal Pais.
Solanum umbelliferum Esch.
A slender evergreen shrub, two to four feet high on the bluffs of the bay.
Fraxinus Oregana Nutt. Oregon Ash.
On the banks of creeks, Marin County; twenty to thirty feet high.
Oreodaphne Californica Nées. Spice Bush, Mountain Laurel, Balm Of Heaven.
Often a large tree in moist localities, forty to fifty feet high, sometimes three to six feet in diameter; used for ship-building.
Dirca palustris Linn. Leatherwood.
Very common on the eastern slopes of the Oakland hills, where its flowers make it very conspicuous in spring; two to four feet high.
Croton (Hendecandra) procumbens Hook and Arn.
A very low shrub, common on the peninsula of San Francisco, in almost pure sandy soil.
Garrya elliptica Lindl.
Mostly a shrub with slender branches, but sometimes a small-sized tree; evergreen, gregarious, in sandy soil in this city, and on the eastern slope of the Oakland hills.
Platanus racemosa Nutt. Sycamore.
Banks of San Leandro Creek, Oakland hills.
Alnus viridis D. C.
A large tree on the banks of creeks, Oakland hills.
Myrica Californica Cham. and Schl. Wax Myrtle.
Mostly a medium sized tree, in moist localities and on the eastern slopes of Oakland hills.
Juglans rupestris Engelm. Var. major Torr. Walnut.
A beautiful large tree, forty to sixty feet high and two to four feet in diameter, with rather smooth bark and dense, graceful foliage; it may well vie with its Eastern congeners. Banks of Walnut Creek east of the Oakland hills.
Castanea chrysophylla Dougl. California Chinquapin.
A low, straggling evergreen and gregarious shrub, occurring only on the outcroppings of the white sandstone in the Oakland hills.
Quercus densiflora Hook and Arn.
Tamal Pais and Redwoods of Marin County.
Quercus agrifolia Nées. Live Oak.
A shrub as well as a large tree; everywhere in moderately moist situations.
Quercus tinctoria var. Californica Torr. Black Oak.
Hill sides, Marin County.
Quercus lobata Nées. White Oak.
Hill sides Marin County and banks of Walnut Creek.
Quercus acutidens? Torr. Scrub Oak.
Evergreen; forming dense chaparral on Tamal Pais.
Corylus rostrata Ait. Beaked Hazelnut.
Very common on the eastern slopes of the Oakland Hills. A shrub four to six feet high.
Salix (four species.) Willow.
Wet grounds everywhere, six to twenty feet high.
Populus tremuloides Michx. Aspen.
A medium sized tree on the banks of Walnut Creek.
Torreya Californica Torr. California Nutmeg Tree.
A large tree with long spreading branches, and rather smooth bark. Wood valuable; rare, on banks of Papermill Creek, Marin County.
Sequoia sempervirens Endl. Redwood.
A very large tree, forming small groves on the northern slopes of hills in Marin County, and on the eastern slopes of the Oakland hills.
Pinus insignis Dougl.
A small tree ten to fifteen feet high, on the outcroppings of white sandstone in the Oakland hills, third ridge eastward; rare.
Pinus contorta Dougl.
A medium sized tree, ovate in outline. Hills of Marin County; rare.
Abies Douglasii Lindl. Oregon Pine.
A very large tree, yielding excellent timber. Grows with S. sempervirens in small groves on the northern slopes of hills, Marin County.
Cupressus Mac-Nabiana? Murray. Cedar.
A spreading shrub, eight to twelve feet high, on Tamal Pais; rare.
Dr. Behr presented the following article: