SANTA CRUZ ISLAND OCTOBER 2006 PAGE ONE |
The pictures displayed here are from a one-day excursion I made in 2006 to Santa Cruz Island under the auspices of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden and led by the exceptionally knowledgeable Steve Junak. Santa Cruz Island is one of the five islands in the Channel Islands National Park, located off the coast of southern California, and is part of Santa Barbara County. It is also the largest of the eight islands in the Channel Islands archipelago. The Chumash named the island Limuw or Place of the Sea and have occupied the island for some 10,000 years. It is 22 miles long and 2 to 6 miles wide and the highest point on the island is Devil's Peak at 2,450'. Currently the National Park Service owns 24% of the island and the Nature Conservancy owns 76%. Passing sea lions on floating buoys and leaping dolphins and viewing from a distance the oddly-shaped Anacapa Island, we disembarked at Prisoners Cove.at the very western end of an area that is now closed due to the Scorpion Canyon Fire of 2020. After an introduction to island flora from Steve, we headed off on a trail to Pelican Bay and Tinker's Cove, a short two-mile jaunt, with Steve pointing out and discussing the various species we were passing. The sea was almost always within our view and the scenery of Santa Cruz Island was beyond spectacular. I would very much like to do more botanizing on these nearby islands. An asterisk next to the common name indicates a non-native species. For a more detailed description of this field trip, click here. |
Island hazardia Hazardia detonsa Asteraceae [Named for Barclay Hazard, 1852-1938] |
Island alumroot Heuchera maxima Saxifragaceae [Named for Johann Heinrich von Heucher, 1677-1747] |
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Flat-leaf summer-holly Comarostaphylos diversifolia ssp. planifolia Ericaceae |
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Island ceanothus Ceanothus arboreus Rhamnaceae |
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Island sagebrush Artemisia nesiotica Asteraceae |
Red-flowered buckwheat Eriogonum grande var. rubescens Polygonaceae |
Island manzanita Arctostaphylos insularis Ericaceae |
Giant coreopsis Leptosyne gigantea Asteraceae |
Santa Cruz Island buckwheat Eriogonum arborescens Polygonaceae |
Sea rocket * Cakile maritima Brassicaceae |
Steve told us about a very interesting feature of the fruits which are segmented into
upper and lower sections. The terminal segments are tolerant of salt
water and break off to float in the waves to new locations. That's why
sea rocket is one of the first plants to colonize a shore. |
PHOTO GALLERIES INDEX |
CALFLORA.NET | PAGE TWO OF TWO |
CALIFORNIA PLANT NAMES: LATIN AND GREEK MEANINGS AND DERIVATIONS | ||
VIRGINIA PLANT NAMES: LATIN AND GREEK MEANINGS AND DERIVATIONS |