UC Davis Natural Reserve System
Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve
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Common Plants of the Blue Oak Savanna
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Although bare of foliage in winter, in spring and summer blue oak (Quercus douglasii) can be identified by its highly variable leaves. Some leaves are deeply lobed, others are not lobed at all; some have gently curved edges, others have almost prickly edges. Of the three oak species living in the Reserve, blue oak is probably the species whose acorns were most frequently gathered by Native Americans.
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Blue Oak Leaves Photo: Laura Kindsvater |
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Quercus lobata acorns (1) Photo courtesy of Beatrice F. Howitt and CalPhotos The acorns of valley oak (Quercus lobata), which grows nearby along Putah Creek, may have been even more prized than those from blue oak. |
Valley Oak Leaves Valley oak leaves are greener, larger and more deeply lobed than those of blue oak. |
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Acorns were a staple food for the Native Americans of this region. A skilled harvester could gather enough acorns for a year's worth of food in just 5 days. Often the Native Americans ground the acorns into flour, washed the resulting meal to leach it of bitter tannins, shaped it into cakes and baked it. Acorns contain a significant amount of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sulfur, fat and protein. Acorns are also an important food for numerous wildlife, including quail, jays, squirrels, mice, deer, and black bears. Their availability in the winter, when other sources of food are scarce, make them a crucial food source. |
Blue Oak
Valley Oak located just outside Reserve boundary. Note that the leaves are much greener than blue oak's. Photos: Laura Kindsvater |
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Laura Kindsvater |
Foothill pine (Pinus sabiniana), also called ghost or gray pine, is the only conifer in Cold Canyon. The foothill pine is unusual not only for its ability to live in hot dry areas, but for its branched appearance. The large seeds of the foothill pine were an important source of food for local tribes. |
(1) Photo courtesy of Charles Webber and CalPhotos |
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Oaks and grasses have a highly interdependent relationship; some researchers have speculated that the deep root systems of California's native perennial bunchgrasses aid in oak survival by taking water at a different depth than oaks or by making water more available to oaks. Other researchers have hypothesized that introduced European annual grasses hinder oak regeneration by depleting water resources available at the soil's shallower depths. |
Perennial bunchgrasses once covered California's hillsides, tinging them with green throughout the hot summers. Most of our native grasses have lost the competition for water and other resources to grasses introduced from Europe or Asia. These invasive annual grasses die in summer's heat. California's hillsides are now golden in summer, but this was not always the case. |
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Perennial native grasses grow in a bunch: long stalks emerge from a centralized tuft. These grasses can grow over a meter tall, and live for many years. The bunchgrasses pictured here might be Nassella pulchra, purple needlegrass, which is California's state grass. Photos: Laura Kindsvater |
Harvest brodiaea (Brodiaea elegans) is particularly lovely with its deep purple, funnel-shaped flowers.
The bulbs of various species of Brodiaea were one of the most significant underground sources of food for some Sierran tribes. Native Americans gathered them with specially whittled and fired digging sticks. They ate the bulbs raw (some have such a sweet, nutty flavor that no cooking is necessary), roasted, fried or boiled.
Although many members of the Lily family, like Brodiaea, are edible, some are deadly. Fremont's star lily or death camas (Zigadenus fremontii), which also grows at Cold Canyon, is highly toxic. There have been unfortunate instances where people attempting to collect edible bulbs have instead collected Zigadenus, a potentially fatal mistake.
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In between clumps of bunchgrasses, the oak savanna is starred in springtime with many spectacular wildflowers.
Brodiaea elegans Photo: Michele Johnson |
Death camas, also called Fremont's star lily (Zigadenus fremontii) Photo courtesy of: Michele Johnson |
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There are at least 3 species of Delphinium living at the Reserve, in varying shades of red and purple. Also called "monk's hood" or "larkspur," Delphinium is recognizable by its single nectar spur.
Delphinium nudicaule |
Delphinium sp. Many species of Delphinium are highly toxic, so no matter how delicious they may smell, do not eat them. Some Californian tribes (e.g. Karok) crushed the flowers of blue-purple Delphinium decorum to make a dye for painting designs on their bows. Delphinium photos: Laura Kindsvater |
(1) These photos are courtesy of http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/photos/flora
Last Updated
03/09/06