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Wright's Field In Alpine
Wright's Field in Alpine is a 230-acre nature reserve in Alpine, California. The property was purchased in 1990 by Back Country Land Trust. The ecosystems found in Wright's Field include native grassland, Engelmann oak woodland, riparian (streamside) habitat, vernal pools, and coastal sage scrub/chaparral. Native and nonnative plants found in Wright's Field include sunflowers, buckwheat, sugarbush, canchalagua Canchalagua is a Spanish-derived common name for several plants. Canchalagua may refer to: * ''Schkuhria pinnata ''Schkuhria pinnata'', the canchalagua or dwarf Mexican marigold, is a small, dainty, pioneer annual herb of the family Asteraceae a ..., wallflowers and Engelmann oak trees among others. References Back Country Land Trust [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alpine, California
Alpine is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Cuyamaca Mountains of San Diego County, California. Alpine had a population of 14,696 at the 2020 census, up from 14,236 at the 2010 census. The town is largely surrounded by the Cleveland National Forest and borders two reservations of the Kumeyaay Nation, Viejas and Sycuan, and the rural unincorporated areas around the city of El Cajon. History Before its modern settlement, the area was part of the home of the Kumeyaay Indians, whose ancestors had lived here for possibly as long as 12,000 years. The community's name was suggested by a resident in the 1880s who said that the environment reminded her of her native country of Switzerland. The small commercial district along Alpine Boulevard has seen some suburban development in recent decades, and it is surrounded by large stretches of less densely populated rural areas that began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Horse ranches and small farms are still common, along ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the system through photosynthesis and is incorporated into plant tissue. By feeding on plants and on one another, animals play an important role in the movement of matter and energy through the system. They also influence the quantity of plant and microbial biomass present. By breaking down dead organic matter, decomposers release carbon back to the atmosphere and facilitate nutrient cycling by converting nutrients stored in dead biomass back to a form that can be readily used by plants and microbes. Ecosystems are controlled by external and internal factors. External factors such as climate, parent material which forms the soil and topography, control the overall structure of an ecosystem but are not themselves influenced by the ecosyst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Engelmann Oak
''Quercus engelmannii'', the Engelmann oak or Pasadena oak, is a species of oak in the white oak section (''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus''), native to southern California and northwestern Baja California, Mexico. Description ''Quercus engelmannii'' is a small tree growing to tall, generally evergreen, but may be drought- deciduous during the hot, dry local summers, and has a rounded or elliptical canopy. The bark is thick, furrowed, and light gray-brown. The leaves are leathery, long and broad, of a blue-green color, and may be flat or wavy, with smooth margins. The flowers are catkins; the fruit is an acorn long, maturing 6–8 months after pollination. The wood is dark brown and strong, but tends to warp and split upon drying, and is of low value as timber. Distribution The Engelmann oak ranges from the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in eastern Los Angeles County through the Santa Ana Mountains of Orange County and the western foothills and mesas of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riparian
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks are called riparian vegetation, characterized by hydrophilic plants. Riparian zones are important in ecology, environmental resource management, and civil engineering because of their role in soil conservation, their habitat biodiversity, and the influence they have on fauna and aquatic ecosystems, including grasslands, woodlands, wetlands, or even non-vegetative areas. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a riparian zone. The word ''riparian'' is derived from Latin '' ripa'', meaning "river bank". Characteristics Riparian zones may be natural or engineered for soil stabilization or restoration. These zones are important ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vernal Pool
Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are seasonal pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive plants and animals. They are considered to be a distinctive type of wetland usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe development of natal amphibian and insect species unable to withstand competition or predation by fish. Certain tropical fish lineages (such as killifishes) have however adapted to this habitat specifically. Vernal pools are a type of wetland. They can be surrounded by many communities/species including deciduous forest, grassland, lodgepole pine forest, blue oak woodland, sagebrush steppe, succulent coastal scrub and prairie. These pools are characteristic of Mediterranean climates, but occur in many other ecosystems. Generation and annual development During most years, a vernal pool basin will experience inundation from rain/precipitation, followed by desiccation from evapotranspiration. These conditions are commonly associated with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coastal Sage Scrub
Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is within the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. Characteristics ;Plant community Coastal sage scrub is characterized by low-growing aromatic, and drought-deciduous shrubs adapted to the semi-arid Mediterranean climate of the coastal lowlands. The community is sometimes called "soft chaparral" due to the predominance of soft, drought-deciduous leaves in contrast to the hard, waxy-cuticled leaves on sclerophyllous plants of California's chaparral communities. ;Flora Characteristic shrubs and subshrubs include: * California sagebrush (''Artemisia californica'') * Black sage (''Salvia mellifera'') * White sage (''Salvia apiana'') * California buckwheat (''Eriogonum f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intensity crown fires. Chaparral features summer-drought-tolerant plants with hard sclerophyllous evergreen leaves, as contrasted with the associated soft-leaved, drought-deciduous, scrub community of coastal sage scrub, found often on drier, southern facing slopes within the chaparral biome. Three other closely related chaparral shrubland systems occur in central Arizona, western Texas, and along the eastern side of central Mexico's mountain chains (mexical), all having summer rains in contrast to the Mediterranean climate of other chaparral formations. Chaparral comprises 9% of California's wildland vegetation and contains 20% of its plant species. The name comes fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunflower
The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus '' Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as bird food, in some industrial applications, and as an ornamental in domestic gardens. Wild ''H. annuus'' is a widely branched annual plant with many flower heads. The domestic sunflower, however, often possesses only a single large inflorescence (flower head) atop an unbranched stem. The binomial name ''Helianthus annuus'' is derived from the Greek ''Helios'' 'sun' and ''anthos'' 'flower', while the epithet ''annuus'' means 'annual' in Latin. The plant was first domesticated in the Americas. Sunflower seeds were brought to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century, where, along with sunflower oil, they became a widespread cooking ingredient. With time, bulk of industrial-scale production has shifted to Eastern Europe, and () ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buckwheat
Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum''), or common buckwheat, is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. The name "buckwheat" is used for several other species, such as '' Fagopyrum tataricum'', a domesticated food plant raised in Asia. Despite its name, buckwheat is not closely related to wheat. It is not a cereal, nor is it even a member of the grass family. Buckwheat is related to sorrel, knotweed, and rhubarb, and is known as a pseudocereal because its seeds' culinary use is the same as cereals, owing to their high starch content. Etymology The name "buckwheat" or "beech wheat" comes from its triangular seeds, which resemble the much larger seeds of the beech nut from the beech tree, and the fact that it is used like wheat. The word may be a translation of Middle Dutch ''boecweite'': ''boec'' (Modern Dutch ''beuk''), "beech" (see PIE *''bhago''-) and ''weite'' (Mod. Dut. ''tarwe'', antiquated Dut. ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protea
''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). Etymology The genus ''Protea'' was named in 1735 by Carl Linnaeus, possibly after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form at will, possibly because they have such a wide variety of forms. Linnaeus's genus was formed by merging a number of genera previously published by Herman Boerhaave, although precisely which of Boerhaave's genera were included in Linnaeus's ''Protea'' varied with each of Linnaeus's publications. Taxonomy The family Proteaceae to which ''Protea'' species belong is an ancient one among angiosperms. Evidence from pollen fossils suggests Proteaceae ancestors grew in Gondwana, in the Upper Cretaceous, 75–80 million years ago. The Proteaceae are divided into two subfamilies: the Proteoideae, best represented in southern Africa, and the Grevilleoideae, concentrated in Australia and South America and the other smaller segments of Gondwana that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canchalagua
Canchalagua is a Spanish-derived common name for several plants. Canchalagua may refer to: * ''Schkuhria pinnata ''Schkuhria pinnata'', the canchalagua or dwarf Mexican marigold, is a small, dainty, pioneer annual herb of the family Asteraceae and widespread in the tropics. It is regarded as a naturalised weed with low ecological impact. Reaching 30–60&nb ...'', a plant in the sunflower family native to South America and used medicinally * '' Zeltnera venusta'', a plant in the gentian family native to North America {{Plant common name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wallflowers
''Erysimum'', or wallflower, is a genus of flowering plants in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae. It includes more than 150 species, both popular garden plants and many wild forms. The genus ''Cheiranthus'' is sometimes included here in whole or in part. ''Erysimum'' has since the early 21st century been ascribed to a monogeneric cruciferous tribe, Erysimeae, characterised by sessile, stellate (star-shaped) and/or malpighiaceous (two-sided) trichomes, yellow to orange flowers and multiseeded siliques. Morphology Wallflowers are annuals, herbaceous perennials or sub-shrubs. The perennial species are short-lived and in cultivation treated as biennials. Most species have stems erect, somewhat winged, canescent with an indumentum of bifid hairs, usually 25 ± 53 cm × 2–3 mm in size, and t-shaped trichomes. The leaves are narrow and sessile. The lower leaves are linear to oblanceolate pinnatifid with backwardly directed lobes, acute, 50–80 mm × 0.5–3 mm. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
