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Wild Grape
Greasy Creek
November 11, 2010
Fall colors at Grapevine spring have encased these two Blue Oaks for as long as I can remember, using the their (dead) trunks and limbs for a trellis. Willow in the foreground, Live Oak to the right.
Chaparral Honeysuckle
Greasy Creek
June 11, 2009
Chaparral Honeysuckle
Greasy Creek
June 11, 2009
Native uses: Pleasant tasting berries may be eaten raw or dried for future use.
Piute Morning Glory (Paiute false bindweed)
Dry Creek
April 10, 2009
Piute Morning Glory (Paiute false bindweed)
Dry Creek
April 10, 2009
California Wild Grape
Dry Creek
April 6, 2009
Native uses: eat leaves first in spring, boiled and steamed. Wet pounded root used on sores and swellings; steeped used as an eyewash; small amounts drunk used to stop diarrhea.
Mule Fat
Dry Creek
April 6, 2009
Tree Tobacco, (Indian Tobacco)
Dry Creek
March 29, 2009
Tree Tobacco, (Indian Tobacco)
Dry Creek
March 29, 2009
Western Redbud
Dry Creek
March 27, 2009
White Redbud
Badger
March 28, 2009
White Redbud
Badger
March 28, 2009
Blue Elderberry
Greasy Creek
March 27, 2009
Blue Elderberry
Greasy Creek
March 27, 2009
Native uses: Branches of the 'Tree of Music' were used to make flutes, cut in spring and dried with the leaves on. Holes were bored with a hot stick. Long shoots were used for arrow shafts. Berries used for drink or dried and stored for winter. Fresh flowers as external decoction for antiseptic wash for skin diseases; internally to check bleeding of the lungs.
Host of the infamous Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle (VELB) that bores holes in stem stock 3/4" thick of older more established plants. The Elderberry, requiring substanial mitigation and protection, may be impacted by agricultural, developmental and municpal projects from the San Joaquin Valley floor to the foothill regions. Few people, if any, have ever seen the beetle, its presence confirmed almost exclusively by bore holes. The plants grow readily in fence lines along roadways, or scattered in rougher terrain and areas of less concentrated grazing.
Blue Elderberry
Dry Creek Road
April 10, 2009
Blue Elderberry
Greasy Creek
June 13, 2009
Gooseberry
Greasy Creek
March 23, 2009
Native uses: eaten raw or cooked, pies and jellies.
Poison Oak
Greasy Creek
March 23, 2009
Poison Oak
Greasy Creek
March 23, 2009
Poison Oak
Greasy Creek
June 11, 2009
Robbin and I fed our last bunch of calves to wean in Greasy and made a tour of the pastures putting out salt and mineral for the rest of the cows. The poison oak is changing color now and quite striking!
Chamise (Buck-Brush)
Greasy Creek
March 23, 2009
Chamise (Buck-Brush)
Greasy Creek
March 23, 2009
Native uses: infusion of bark and leaves to treat syphlis; oil from the plant for skin infection. Sick cows benefit from plant by chewing leaves.
Manzanita
Paregien Ranch
March 20, 2009
Native uses: berries eaten raw, cooked, or ground into a meal for porridge; crushed fruits and leaves for relief of bronchitis; tea made of the berries as a wash for poison oak; leaves dried, crushed and mixed with tobacco for a smoke.
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