Manzanita mandala

Manzanita
Originally uploaded by robherr.

I've written before about how much I love manzanita.

I want to learn to discern the various California species, but Pete Veilleux over at East Bay Wilds, who really knows his local native stuff, says it's a difficult task.

Among my classes this term are a couple or three that focus on local natural history. That should help.

Martin pointed out this gorgeous circle of manzanita leaves from Rob Herr, at Flickr. (He granted me permission to use the photo, it's not in the creative commons realm.)

The leaves are so beautiful and special. They're sclerophyllic, tough and a little leathery, to survive the hot, dry summers of their western habitats. The leaves chemically change soil to make it harder for competing plants to grow. And the colors, oh: they start so delicately green, and toughen to a darker green, turn reddish, then before they're gone, it's as if they self-immolate, without flames, they just dry and blacken. (They sometimes fall off before this stage, too, but it's weird, like someone's lit them.)

Their angle on the plant maximizes sun exposure when the sun is less direct and drying, in the morning and late afternoon, but minimizes it at midday, conserving moisture.

I love manzanita. Later, I'll write about the fire ecology around it and chaparral, and its magical bark, and what I want to do with the wood.

Arctostaphylos is love

Finished Back Piece
Originally uploaded by savor_soaps.

I've been going to get a tattoo for ages, and I've only wanted Marie Wadman at Diving Swallow to do it. She's expensive, but VERY GOOD and sympatico with what I want.

I'd been planning on Douglas irises and/or California poppies, two of my favorite wildflowers. But I'm also in love with manzanita. One of my goals this year is to learn to discern each species of manzanita in the greater bay area.

I want California native plants because this is home, where my parents grew up, and I grew up, and my Mom was born, and Grandpa was born, and his parents were born ... back to the 1850s. And we're not beach people or mountain people, we're coastal hills people and sagebrush people and foothills people. My bones are partially made of manzanita wood, I think.

Eventually, my only wishlist item will be a link to a jar where folks can throw pennies at a tattoo fund. Then, when it's full, I'll contact Marie as per her instructions (ping her in fall, she'll get back to you later as she fills up her entire coming year's calendar) and plan my first tattoo.

(Here's the whole manzanita tattoo set from savor_soaps on flickr. I love this.)

Arctostaphylos pajaroensis 'Warren Roberts' - Warren Roberts Pajaro Manzanita

Arctostaphylos pajaroensis 'Warren Roberts' - Warren Roberts Pajaro Manzanita
Originally uploaded by pete@eastbaywilds.com.

One of my goals this year is to learn to discern every single manzanita species within a couple of hours of my house. They're different, they fit different niches. They're mostly sclerophylls, and healthiest with wildfire every couple of decades. They control the chemistry underneath them for their own best health. They have the most beautiful wood, and the most fairy-like little flowers, and I am in love with them. They are one of the plants that screams "California" to me, the California I grew up with and love.