UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA

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NIEWSLET TER

Volume 20, Number 1 Published by the FRIENDS of the BOTANICAL GARDEN Winter 1995 I

THE PINCUSHION CACTI -THE GENUS MAMMILLARIA

With over 175 species, Mammillaria is thelargest genus of globular cacti. Collectors have longadmired their diversity, diminutive size, floral dis-play and ease of cultivation. Centered in Mexico,their range extends north into the U.S., east to theWest Indies, and down through Central America intoSouth America as far south as Peru. The garden'scollection of Mammillaria contains a good cross-sec-tion of the genus, and the plants in the Desert Housedisplay area give the visitor an idea of the incrediblediversity within the genus.

The name Mammillaria is derived from theLatin mammilla, which means "nipple." Unlike othercacti, the tubercles of pincushion cacti have not coa-lesced into ribs and remain separate. These tuberclesare arranged in precise, mathematical, spiralling rowswhich cross over each other. Early cactus taxono-mists separated different species by counting thesecriss-crossing rows, which usually number 5 and 8,8 and 13, or 13 and 21.

The main diagnostic feature that setsMammillaria apart is the position of the flowers.Unlike most other cacti, Mammillaria flowers do notoriginate from the spine clusters (called areoles), butinstead emerge at the base of the tubercles, in theaxils. Though generally small, the flowers are borneprofusely in rings like a garland around the top ofthe plant. In many cases the flowers are followed bya ring of smooth, elongated, fleshy, bright red ber-ries. The fruits are edible and are called "chilitos" inMexico and Central America.

There is almost no limit to the variation ofspines in Mammillaria. The typical stiff, bristlyspination can vary in color from bright white throughred and yellow to dark brown. In addition, the atypi-cal Mammillaria plumosa has soft, feathery, white

spines which cover the plant body. Many species,called "fishhook cacti," have central spines with smallhooks on the end that do not let go once they get holdof you. Mammillaria bocasana, the powder-puff cac-tus, combines the two. Superficially it looks veryfluffy, but underneath the soft cottony spines lie short,brown, hooked spines that grab. Even stranger,Mammillaria pectinata is covered with comb-likespines that look like giant mealy bugs!

The flowers of Mammillaria are nearly as di-verse as the spination. Although most have small whiteor pink flowers, Mammillaria senilis has large, scar-let-red hummingbird-pollinated flowers. The flowersof Mammillaria guelzowiana are over 2" in diameterand bright cerise-pink. (Any plant with the word"zowie" in it has to be good!) Some of the smallestMammillaria species have the largest flowers;Mammillaria blossfeldiana only reaches 1"-1 1/2" indiameter, but consistently sports rings of 1" pink,candy-striped flowers around the top of the plant. Theflowers of the hooked-spined Mammillaria beneckeiare apricot orange and sweet-smelling. Probably thecutest, in my opinion, is Mammillaria theresae, a di-

Mammillaria nana

minutive, soft-bodied plant with small, feathery spinetufts and 1 1/2" pink flowers with a long throat.

Mammillarias may be solitary or clusteringin habit. A few solitary species can become smallbarrels over a foot high and wide. Most common,however, is a clustering habit with many small tomedium-sized heads. Especially interesting are thedichotomous species, where the apex of the plantbranches by splitting into two forks. These plants,such as Mammillaria microthele, are called "owl'seyes" because of the unique pattern produced by thistype of branching.

Cultivation of most mammillarias is easy andrelatively straight forward. Heavily spined plantsgenerally require high light and high heat. Moreopenly spined species need partial shade and some-what cooler temperatures. They require a well-drained, somewhat mineral, but nutritious soil mix.At the garden we use a formula of 50% red lava,40% expanded shale and 10% sandy loam, and add asmall amount of a low-nitrogen, time-released fer-tilizer. During the growing season (spring & sum-mer), watering is done on a regular basis, wheneverthe plants completely dry out. A light, low-nitrogenfertilizer (25% strength) can be given monthly. Forthe plants to grow normally and flower the next sea-son, a dormancy period is required. As winter ap-proaches, water and fertilizer should be graduallywithheld and the temperatures dropped in order tofacilitate dormancy. Over-wintering temperaturesshould be held around 45-50°F and not allowed to gobelow 40°F. Exceptions to the rule are the CentralAmerican, Caribbean and Baja California specieswhich require warmer, slightly moist winters.

If you are considering growing cacti for thefirst time, or if you're an old hand at cactus cultiva-tion, there are any number of Mammillaria out therefor you. Take a few minutes the next time you'revisiting the garden and take a look at the Desert Housedisplay plants. I think you'll understand the allureof this diverse and fascinating genus of cacti. Kurt Zadnik, Horticultural Staff

GUNNERA CHILENSIS

This Gunnera chilensis is only two years old

and dominates the entrance to the South American Area.Native to Chile, it loves water, marshy soil and humidshade. Gunnera chilensis is also found in the Andeanregions of Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and on to Colom-bia and Venezuela.

The gigantic leaf and leaf stalk, up to six feettall, arise from a rhizome, a short fleshy stem that grows

along the ground. Stems are covered with branchedfleshy hairs that weave a coat over the base of the leafbuds.

Leaf stalks called "nalcas" in Chile are eatenpeeled like rhubarb. When harvested at the right timethey can be agreeably acid flavored. They also areused to make a kind of marmalade.

Areas on Gunnera stems may harbor colo-nies of Nostoc blue-green algae which initiate a sym-biotic relationship with the host plant. The blue-greenalga assimilates nitrogen from the air and transformsit into a form useful by the host plant. This nourishesthe Gunnera and allows it to establish itself quicklyin disturbed areas.

There are about 40 species of gunneras allnative to the southern hemisphere. They range fromSouth Africa, Java, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand,Hawaii, through South America.

The reddish green flowers are formed on shortstout stalks densely packed with flowers. Male flow-ers tend to be at the tops of the stalks, hermaphroditesand female flowers toward the base. The reddish yel-low fruits contain one seed.

Plants can be propagated from fresh seed orby division of the rhizome.

----Peter Klement, Horticultural Staff

Gunnera chilensis in Shouth American Section.

ETHNOBOTANY: PLANTS IN

HUMAN AFFAIRS

As children, we waged daily wars against thebrussel sprouts and turnips that appeared on our din-ner plates, but the time has come to appreciate thesevitamin-rich foods and their fellow vegetables as po-tential life support systems. Vegetables are importantto keep us healthy. Vegetables contain several of thevitamins and amino acids vital to our existence, yetthey comprise only one tiny group of plants that con-tribute to our well-being as humans. Thousands moreplants have unrealized potential as life-sustaining re-sources.

Whether in the form of a cup of coffee to getone moving in the morning or medicine to keep a heartbeating, plant products contribute to our daily welfare.Every person in the world depends on plants for food,drugs and other industrial products. We have avail-able to us over 250,000 known species of floweringplants from which to draw our resources. Some ofthese plants can grow in extreme environments, im-plying that people living on arid land or other inhospi-table realms don't need to suffer from hunger. Thou-sands of plants remain undiscovered. Who knows whatbeneficial properties lie within their cell walls?

Approximately one out of every three plantsis edible, which gives us an enormous array of futureoptions (over 80,000) when deciding what crops toplant in a particular place. This might lead one to be-lieve that a vast variety of food plants are grownthroughout the world. However, only 150 plants arecultivated on a large scale, and fewer than 20 speciesproduce 90 percent of the food we eat. Interestingly,10,000 years ago our ancestors raised the same 20crops, including corn, wheat, rice, barley, potato, to-mato, and coffee. With all this plant diversity avail-able to us, one might wonder why starvation exists.The problem lies in the meager quantity of food wecurrently produce. In order to meet every individual'snutritional needs in the world within the next threedecades, we have to increase our production of foodby as much as three times. To meet this lofty goal, wemust exploit genetically altered staple foods and plantsthat naturally grow in extreme conditions. Finding thefoods to grow in areas populated by hungry people isa relatively easy task to conquer – getting them plantedand distributed poses a far greater problem.

All these numbers might be giving you a head-ache. So as you drive to the pharmacy to buy medica-tion, you might consider the contribution plants havemade to medical discoveries. Over one half of ourmedicine originates from wild organisms, including

the aspirin for that headache. Though it is a stagger-ing figure, it comes as no surprise to those familiarwith folk medicine: natives of each continent usedplants for treatment of nearly every condition that ailsus. In fact, several medications are commerciallyavailable today because of studies done on old folkremedies.

Plants also provide an alternative fuel source.A few species of plants are rich in hydrocarbons yetfree of sulfur. They provide a cleaner version of pe-troleum than the petroleum isolated from sulfur-richfossils. Even more amazing is the ability of these"clean plants" to grow in soil rendered useless by ac-tivities such as strip-mining. Not only do hydrocar-bon-rich plants provide a renewable source of petro-leum, they rehabilitate stripped land. Hence, we canhave our petroleum cake and eat it too!

This is only a sampling of what the plantworld has to offer us. Perhaps the 21st Century willbecome the golden age of botany with advances ingenetics, chemistry, and communication paving theway to the kingdom of botanical treasures. The plantsoutlined under the following categories of food, drugsand industrial products are examples of plants thathave provided a stepping stone to an expanding studyof plant uses and are themselves amazing discover-ies.

FOOD

Buffalo Gourd(Cucurbita foetidissima)

Until recently, agriculturists overlookedgourds, members of the squash family, as a serioussource of protein and edible oil. The buffalo gourd isamong those squashes tolerant to extreme dryness,and offers both seeds and roots as food for people andlivestock. The seed contains about 35% protein and34% oil, matching the output of peanuts and sunflow-ers, but requiring much less water.

The entire buffalo gourd has potential for bothfood and industry. The fruit contains the seeds and afleshy pulp. Crushed, the seeds produce oil for foodand industrial use. The remaining pulp provides cattlefeed. Underground, an immense, starchy root grows,reaching up to 30 kilograms after only two growingseasons. One root from a buffalo gourd grown in aridconditions after two growing seasons produces thesame amount of starch as four or five potatoes grownunder ideal conditions. A single plant can producescores of fruits. The buffalo gourd is thus a valuablecrop for otherwise barren places, yet it is entirelyunexploited: it is not grown commercially anywhere.

CannaCanna

The bright, fragrant flowers of cannas provideinteresting ornamentals, yet the commercially usefulpart of the plant lies underground. The starchy root-like structures offer food for humans and for livestock.Australia cultivates Canna on a commercial scale, of-fering it in markets as "Queensland arrowroot." How-ever, those in the West Indies consume the most canna.

Among the more historically interesting partsof the plant are the dark, spherical seeds encased in ahard pod. The size and strength of the marble-likeseeds assured them employment in useful ways rang-ing from substitute musket balls to beads on a rosary.The durability of the seeds is a curious phenomenonin itself: seeds from a rattle estimated to be 600 yearsold were recovered from an Argentinian tomb and grewinto a fully functional flowering Canna compacta!

Lambsquarters(Chenopodium)

In 5000 B.C., Native Americans cultivatedChenopodium for its fruits. Today, experimental gour-met chefs sautee its leaves with butter, salt, and pep-per, and serve it alongside fillets of salmon. Thoughthe history of Chenopodium as a cultivated grain ex-tends into prehistoric times. It has long been promi-nent as a staple known as quinoa in the Andes. NorthAmerican indigenous people developed cultivatedstrains with thin fruit walls, until corn and beans tookover. This happened some 1000 years ago in the Mid-west. Only recently has it become a popular candi-date for cash-crop cultivation in otherwise infertileareas.

Both the seeds and the leaves possess highnutritional value and produce large harvests. The seedscontain 15% protein and 58% starch and could pro-vide a nutritional boost to otherwise inadequate dietsby being ground into flour for breads and cakes or usedwhole in soups. The leaves, equally nutritious, re-semble the leaves of spinach in appearance and tastewhen prepared as one would prepare spinach. Thefarmers of the Andes would benefit the most by culti-vating Chenopodium, as the plants can grow in alti-tudes of up to 13,000 feet and require little water. Rais-ing the crops and using the products in their own dietswould not only improve the farmers' nutrition, butcould improve the quality of their cattle as well: theby-products of the harvests make excellent fodder forcattle. The idea of raising Chenopodium as a cash cropmet opposition from the farmers of the Andes, as theylooked down upon the plant as an uncivilized crop.However, the number of Andean farmers opting togrow Chenopodium has risen considerably and its suc-

cess has inspired scientists to create drought-resistantand other altitude-resistant strains. Hence, a plantthat once sustained ancient Incas may provide us witha key to sustaining our own expansive population.

DRUGS

Wormwood(Artemisia)

In the 19th and early 20th centuries Artemisiamaintained two spots in every American household:one in the medicine cabinet, and the other in the liquorcabinet. Grandparents or great grandparents mightremember the potent liqueur absinthe popularized bybrewers in the early 1900s. Not only was absintheover 70% alcohol, it contained a derivative of Artemi-sia , an extremely toxic plant which deadens the senseswhen eaten. The euphoric stupor that followed fromdrinking absinthe undoubtedly rocketed the beverageinto popularity. However, this powerful drug had afew major side-effects, one of them being death. TheU.S. government eventually banned the production ofabsinthe, thereby saving lives, but making few friends.

Artemisia served a more useful (and healthy)purpose in the medicine cabinet. In fact, Artemisiawas on the scene as a pain-killer before anyone hadheard of medicine cabinets: the Native Americansknew of its abilities to sooth wounds and probablypassed it on to the early European settlers. Americanseventually began using it to cure every painful ailmentfrom headaches to fevers to heart palpitations. More

obscure uses of the poisonous plant included burning

the leaves to chase the mosquitoes away.As scientists learned years ago, mosquitoes

spread malaria to humans. Ironically, the same plantwhose burning leaves offered farmers relief from theirritating pests also supplies us with one of the mosteffective cures for malaria. Scientists in China recentlydiscovered that Artemisia destroys the malaria para-site and is less toxic than other anti-malarial drugs.However, Artemisia does not appear to flourish in thetropics, where malaria thrives. Until scientists perfectthe drug, smudge pots and fly-swatters will have tosuffice.

Devil's Apples(Datura stramonium)

The fruit may look tempting to some, but Daturastramonium unleashes its vice onto anyone who eatsits prickly protuberances. Insanity and even death fol-low from ingesting any part of the plant. Perhaps thatis why it is commonly known as Devil's Apple.

Datura stramonium grows as a native plantin warmer places of eastern and western hemispheres

and its uses in human affairs date back to pre-historictimes. The hallucinogenic and intoxicating effects ofDatura fascinated Native Americans, who used theseeds in ceremonies such as male initiation rites. An-cient Peruvians also found the stupor-inducing plantuseful, administering it to patients in primitive opera-tions. In earlier centuries, druggists sold the seeds asmedication to anyone who would buy it. Not surpris-ingly, people began abusing the intoxicating effectsof Datura in both India and the Americas by addingthe seeds to alcoholic drinks to heighten the inebriat-ing experience. However, Datura is extremely poi-sonous and causes death when eaten in even smallamounts.

The witches of the Middle Ages owe theirmagical flights to meet the devil to the hallucinogenicproperties of Datura and its close relatives. Daturacontains some compounds that cause hallucinations.The hallucinations caused by the alkaloid scopolamineresemble flights through a nighttime sky. Hence, theobscure ingredients for a witch's brew such as wing-of-bat or eye-of-newt may vary from cauldron to caul-dron, but Datura or a close relative appears in everywitch's recipe.

Datura is not entirely evil, however. As withother toxic plants, Datura provides us with a usefulmedicinal tool. The same alkaloids that mentally levi-tated witches play integral roles in modern medicine.Asthma patients use Datura alkaloids to relieve bron-chial spasms, and eye doctors use scopolamine to di-late their patients' pupils. Although Datura stramo-nium may seem a malicious plant when abused, it isactually beneficial when broken down into its chemi-cal components.

Madagascar Periwinkle(Catharanthus roseus)

In North America, flower aficionados know

the Madagascar periwinkle as a colorful, floweringplant popular for decorating patio flower pots. In itsnative tropics, however, the periwinkle's uses extendbeyond decorative. It has long appeared in folk medi-cine as an anti-diabetic drug, and in various places inthe tropics, medicines made from periwinkle are stillused.

In response to its reputation as an insulin sub-stitute for diabetic patients, scientists began testingperiwinkle in the 1950s. Two labs, one in Canada andone in the U.S., arrived at the same startling conclu-sion independently: extracts of the Madagascar peri-winkle are extremely effective as anti-cancer drugs.The scientists of the two labs began studying periwinklefrom two different angles, but when they realized they

had both discovered anti-cancer properties, they pooledtheir knowledge and developed several of the mosteffective drugs known for treating several kinds of can-cer.

Most survivors of leukemia owe their healthto these scientists and their discovery of Madagascarperiwinkle drugs. When used as a component of che-motherapy, drugs isolated from periwinkle offer dra-matic results. To illustrate this point, in 1960, beforethe periwinkle drugs were available, a child with leu-kemia had one in five chances of remission. Today, achild suffering from the same disease has four in fivechances of remission. Sales of vinblastine, the majordrug derived form periwinkle, exceed $100 million.

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS

Jojoba(Simmondsia)

Liquid wax lubricates machinery and with-stands extreme pressure, making it an exceedinglyimportant substance in industry, yet the means of ob-taining adequate supplies poses a serious environmen-tal problem. Unfortunately, liquid wax is extremelydifficult to synthesize and the endangered sperm whaleprovides the only natural source of liquid wax. Thedemands of a world sustained almost entirely on in-dustry clearly threaten a rapidly vanishing species ofwhales. However, jojoba may save the sperm whalewhile providing valuable oil.

Jojoba grows naturally in the arid regions ofnorthern Mexico and southwestern U.S. The seedscontain 50% liquid wax, making it a treasure to thoseinterested in isolating the oil. The pressed oil requireslittle refining and the protein-rich seed coats can beprocessed and used as a healthy cattle feed. The plants

tolerate conditions in which other plants would wilt

away, such as extreme temperatures and altitudes, saltysoil, and very little water. A cash crop grown in anarid, desolate area wouldn't deplete scarce water sup-plies. Hence, jojoba could provide solutions to sev-eral economic and environmental problems: farmersin underdeveloped, undernourished and infertile areascould grow viable cash crops, industry could have itsvaluable lubricant, and sperm whales could maintaina sizable population.

Latex(Asteraceae family)

From tires to chewing gum, latex supplies uswith material for familiar products. Fortunately, over20 families of plants produce latex, satiating the enor-mous appetite for latex products. Among latex pro-ducing plants are those belonging to the family

Asteraceae (composites). Early interest in latex pro-ducing plants focused on Eucommia ulmoides, theonly northern temperate tree with limited potential tomake quality latex. Two industrially useful productsdevelop from the coagulation of latex tapped directlyfrom latex-producing trees: rubber and balata.

Rubber is probably the most famous productof latex because of its use in familiar consumer prod-ucts. Mexican Aztecs discovered the elastic proper-ties of rubber, forming bouncy balls out of the resil-ient substance. A French explorer sent a sample ofthe playthings back to Europe, whereupon he foundpencil marks disappeared when rubbed by the sub-stance, hence the name "rubber." Various other rub-ber discoveries and inventions followed, and the wa-terproof raincoat and the Goodyear tire were born.The plant Hevea provides the largest source of rub-ber, though several other little-known plants also pro-duce sufficient amounts of rubber, such as dandeli-ons.

The plant that produces balata is commonlyknown as spurge nettle, though its botanic name isManilkara bidentata. Balata is not as elastic or resil-ient as rubber, and its uses vary. The United Statesdemands more balata than any other nation to pro-duce chewing gum. Balata also acts as a good insu-lator, making it the prized material for insulatingtransoceanic cables. Other uses include golf-ball cen-ters and dental fillings. Hence, the same substancethat makes the sugary chewing gum that rots one'steeth will fill the cavity left by it!

nese scientists searching for a material to absorb andwithstand excessive heat decided to make heat shieldson space re-entry vehicles out of oak.

PALMS

To a Californian, palms evoke images ofpeacefully remote tropical islands or of Los Angeles.One species is native to California. However, fewpeople appreciate the enormous economic significanceof palms. In fact, palms may influence your lifestylein ways you might not expect, supplying the shampoofor your morning shower and the margarine for yourtoast. Palms rank second among plant families in use-fulness, the grass family (including corn and othergrains) coming in first. A tremendous variety of prod-ucts can be derived from palms. The famous coconutpalm (Cocos nucifera), which has over 1000 uses, pro-vides an excellent example of palm product diversity.In their native countries, palms provide sustenance formillions of people and contribute greatly to the econo-mies of those countries. Cultivated on a large scale,palms boost the world's economy. The usefulness ofpalms has led to their over-exploitation in the wild.Only a handful of countries have cultivated palms onplantations to prevent their destruction in the wild.

Because palms have such a wide variety ofuses, they have a separate section in this brochure andtheir uses are divided into Food Products and Indus-trial Uses.

FOOD PRODUCTS FROM PALMSOaks

(Quercus)The majestic beauty of oaks has captured the

attention of people since ancient times. The durablewood provides an invaluable service not only as lum-ber, but as material for historically important (andsometimes obscure) products. As an example of thedurability of oak, logs dumped in Britain by a spite-ful Caesar's Army in 55 B.C. were preserved in theBritish peat bogs. The ancient logs remain valuablematerial for decorative carving today!

English mariners profited from the water-proof wood of some English oaks. Balloon-likegrowths clog the veins of many oaks, preventing thepassage of water from the exterior to the interior ofthe tree. Hence, English Oak became prized ship-building material. However, fungal infections weak-ened the trees while in the forest and continued togrow long after the tree was chopped down. Thismade for defective ships at times, and one angry sailorreportedly sank a ship by punching his fist through afungally deteriorated wood plank.

On a more modern, yet obscure level, Chi-

Only 100 out of 2800 palms produce ediblefruits. The two most economically important palmsand perhaps the two most widely known, the coconutpalm and the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), produceedible fruit and help feed millions of people.

Cracking open the hard, brown exterior of thecoconut reveals coconut "milk" encradled by the whitemeat. Both of these interior treasures have severalculinary uses: the meat may be eaten raw or cookedin over 100 different ways, or shredded and dried; thewater can be sipped straight out of the nut or blendedwith the meat to make milk, cream or jam.

The fruit of the date palm appears occasion-ally in various Western confections, and is a staple inthe diets of million of people elsewhere. Dates arerich in sugars, making them a high energy fruit. Likethe coconut, they can be eaten fresh or dried. Drieddates usually appear in U.S. supermarkets because theycan be stored for long periods of time. No wild datepalms are known, as they have been cultivated for over5000 years.

Another fruit-producing palm, the jelly palm

(Butia capitata), appears frequently in gardens be-cause of its beautiful bluish-green fronds. However,

few people outside of South American forests know

that its yellow fruits are not only edible, but tasty, too!Sugar and wine rank among the thousands of

ways in which palms provide nutritional and economicsustenance for those who grow them. Palm sugar,known as jaggery, comes from crystallized sap and isextremely important to people in Asia, India, Burma,and Thailand. These countries produce and consume100,000 tons of palm sugar each year. The sap fromcertain palms, including the Coconut Palm, also serveas the basis of alcoholic beverages such as arrack andtoddy in South America and kava-kava in Polynesia.Unfortunately, the trees must be felled to obtain thesap. Upon distillation of the fermented sap, the iso-lated alcohol could also service as an economicallyviable energy source, should the proper technologyarise.

Among the various delicacies derived from thepalm are the "hearts-of-palm" coveted by local peoplesand Western chefs. Hearts-of-palm come from theapical bud of the palm tree positioned towards the topof the tree between the underdeveloped leaves and leafbases. Unfortunately, the palm cannot grow withoutthe apical bud and the entire tree must be chopped downto obtain the heart. The high demand for this favoritesalad-topper has caused a major change in forest ecol-ogy where palms grow wild. The ecological threatcaused by heart-of-palm hunters has inspired research-ers to develop cultivation techniques of quick-grow-ing palms for plantation production.

INDUSTRIAL USES

Several industrially valuable products comefrom palms. Oils and waxes with their high energycontent and lubrication qualities make palms highlyprized. The oil is pressed from the flesh of the driedfruit and passed on to serve in the production of suchthing as margarine, soap, shampoo, cosmetics, dress-ings, fuels and lubricants.

Waxes found on the leaves, petioles and trunksof palms serve as a water-conserving mechanism forthe plant. These waxes can tolerate an extreme amountof heat and are thus very useful. Products made fromthe wax of some palms include shoe polish, cosmet-ics, candles, floor wax, and records.

In tropical places, those indigenous to the areaoften construct their houses out of palms: the trunkssupply material for major structural support and whenpolished provide handsome floorboards; the petiolesoffer minor structural support and the leaves with theirthick waxy cuticle, provide a waterproof layer when

thatched on the roof. Hours of sawing, weaving andthatching result in a cool, dry, well-ventilated home.Furniture to fill this tropical dream-home may also oweits origins to palms. The cane of some palms makeexcellent material for chairs or other various pieces offurniture. Export of cane furniture contributes signifi-cantly to the economies of countries in Southeast Asia.

All of these plants are represented in the UC Botani-cal Garden and appear along with several other ethno-botanical treasures in the ethnobotany brochure entitled"Plants in Human Affairs" available at the Visitor'sCenter. Pick one up during your next visit and enjoy aself-guided ethnobotany tour through the garden!

----Jill Guenza, Lincoln Constance Intern

Pictured above are Jill Guenza and LincolnConstance. Jill, a student of neurobiology at UC-Berkeley, was the Lincoln Constance Intern fromJuly to December 1994.

TROPICAL TREASURES ATTHE GARDEN

Tropical Treasures, an educational tour at theUC Botanical Garden, was planned this fall. The tourwas designed primarily for children as an introductionto the Garden's tropical plant collection. The tour willimpress upon children the intrinsic beauty and valueof the tropics and the relevance of the rainforests toour daily lives. It will also emphasize the importanceof conservation and the impact the tropics have on theglobal environment. The tour contains stories of manycommon products of tropical origins and several hands-on activities in which the children may participate.Below are a few excerpts from the tour.

Structural AdaptationsThe limited supplies of water and nutrients

combined with intense competition among differentplant species has yielded special adaptive characteris-tics in tropical plants. Plants avoid competition byspacing themselves out in different locations in the for-est, not only horizontally, but also vertically. Withcertain types of plants living on the ground, and someliving in the lower levels of the canopy, and still oth-ers living at the highest levels of the canopy, the com-petition between plants is reduced. Plants also developspecial structures which allow them to take advantageof their environments.

The Cecropia tree (Cecropia sp.) grows tallvery quickly which allows it to compete for sunlight.Several adaptations of the Cecropia Tree enable it togrow tall quickly, and at the same time be able to standup so tall. One is its hollow stems. The tree puts itsenergy for growing into height, instead of makingheavy solid wood. It supports this height with struc-tures called stilt roots. These are roots that grow abovethe base of the tree anchoring the tree down much likeguy wires which support tall antennas.

Another group of plants change their shapeand form to fit their current environment much like acaterpillar changing into a butterfly. These plants arethe philodendrons and the Monstera. They begintheir lives on the ground with large leaves and thenslowly grow away from the sun. These plants slowlygrow onto the base of trees where they climb up thetrunks and again change form. The plant forms flatleaves flush against the trunk and grows up the trunkin this form. When these flat leaves reach a heightwhere they get sunlight, the plant changes form onceagain into a plant with more conventional leaves.

When one thinks of the tropics, one usuallythinks of it being very hot with lots of water. Plantshave developed special structures to deal with all thisrain. Some plants have special structures which col-lect water, while others have systems designed to getrid of water as quickly as possible.

Epiphytes live perched on other plants. Epi-phytes must keep as much water as possible, becausethe root system cannot tap water from the ground. Oneepiphyte, Spanish Moss (Tillandsia sp.), is a stringyplant with silvery scales which trap and hold mois-ture. Epiphytic tank bromeliads have leaves arrangedin an overlapping rosette which forms a cistern able tocatch and store water. Tree frogs, mosquitoes, flat-worms, snails, salamanders, and even crabs completetheir life cycles in the tiny aquatic habitats providedby the cup-like interiors of bromeliads. One studyfound 250 animal species occurring in bromeliads. Agroup of birds called euphonias use bromeliads as nestsites! Many bromeliads also produce beautiful, bril-liantly colored flowers which grow on a central spike.These flowers are usually bright red and attract polli-nators.

Ceiba TreeThe trunk of the Ceiba Tree (Ceiba sp.) is cov-

ered with thorns which makes it difficult to eat thebark or for an animal to climb up the tree to eat itsleaves. The thorns are even more dangerous than theyfirst appear, because each is covered with lichens andvarious microbes and can cause infection easily if thethorn breaks the skin. Some plants also have spines orstiff hairs on their leaves that can be described as a"bed of nails" that sometimes impale caterpillars. Suchsharply toothed leaves greatly reduce caterpillar graz-ing and when the teeth are experimentally removed,the caterpillars have a feast!

Ant and Acacia Co-EvolutionA story of co-evolution can be found in the

relationship between an ant (Pseudomyrmexferruginea) and the bull horn acacia (Acaciacornigera), so named because the tree has pairs of largehollow thorns on its stems. These thorns are wherethe ants make their home.

When the Acacia tree is little, a single queenant digs into one of the thorns and begins a colony,which can get as big as 12,000 ants by the time thetree is mature. Ants walk up and down the tree "pa-trolling" the stem. They attack any other bugs, in-cluding beetles, caterpillars, or even other ants whichland on or climb on the tree. The ants also help thetree by clipping any plants that begin to grow nearbyor over the top. The ants act like the tree's personal

gardener by removing bugs and trimming leaves whichinterfere with the plant's growth. Removal of nearbyvegetation also creates a fire break around the Acacia.

Why do the ants do this for the Acacia tree?One reason is that the ants have a place to live withinthe thorns, and they obtain food. The Acacia tree hastwo types of special food benefits. Small light-coloredfood bodies on the tips of leaflets are called Beltianbodies. The second type, extrafloral nectaries, pro-duce nectar. These are located near the base of the leafand leaflet stalks. So both sides win, the ants are thegardeners of the tree and in return the tree gives theants food and a place to live.

ManihotMany foods can be obtained from the tropi-

cal rain forest and one of the most important is manihot(Manihot esculenta), also known as: Yuca, Cassava,Tapioca, and Sagu. The Manihot plant is the lowlandAmerican tropics counterpart to the Andean highlandplant, the potato. It is frequently the sole food in avillage and a mainstay in the diet of many tropical resi-dents year-round. It may be consumed boiled orground and dried into a meal resembling corn meal.The young foliage can be consumed as a green or usedas food for farm animals.

There are two general kinds of manihot:"sweet" and "bitter." They differ in content and loca-tion of a cyanide poison. The plant produces this poi-son as a defense against insect attack.

The residents of the Amazon region cultivatemanihot in large areas immediately surrounding theirhouses. The nutrient-poor soil makes it difficult togrow other food crops. The plant grows vigorouslybecause of its deep roots which are able to reach deepsubterranean nutrients. Before manihot is planted,most of the vegetation is cut down and burned.Manihot is then planted by sticking twigs or cuttingsdirectly into the soil. The crop is allowed to grow for8 -16 months and then the fleshy roots are harvested.

To prepare the plant to be eaten, the first stepis to peel the roots, cut them into short pieces into abowl of water, and then soak the pieces overnight.This dissolves some of the poison. Next, the roots aregrated into a mash. The mash is then pounded througha tightly woven basket sieve to extract more of thepoisonous liquid. This mash is stuffed into a nine footlong cylindrical wicker tube named "whola" after alocal name for a snake. One end of the tube is at-tached by a loop onto a tall pole and at the other end,two or three people pull down on the tube squeezingthe tube tightly which extracts more of the deadly juice.The juice is collected in a large pot, and then boileduntil the remaining poison evaporates. The juice is

now safe to consume and can be used as a sauce formeat. The mash is also now safe and can be eaten assuch or made into a beer which is called "chicha deyuca."

The Manihot plant is better known in NorthAmerica and Europe as tapioca which is prepared frommanioc flour. To prepare tapioca "pearls," maniocstarch pellets are forced through a mesh and heated atcontrolled temperatures. This process causes swell-ing, gelatinization, and partial hydrolysis to sugar. Itis from this that we can make tapioca pudding!

CurareIndigenous people of the tropics are extremely

knowledgeable of the thousands of plants and animalsthat live around them. They recognize vast numbersof plants and know about their medicinal or other spe-cial properties. One such South American compoundis called curare and is made from several differentplants.

There is no "recipe" for curare, but rather it isprepared differently depending on the region where itis made. Curare works by paralyzing the victim andeventually kills when paralysis reaches the respiratorymuscles and the victim is no longer able to breathe.

To prepare curare, a concentrate of "bejucode mavacure" is produced by finely shredding andboiling the bark of the Strychnos liana. This concen-trate has a strong, bitter taste (curare is poisonous onlyif it enters the bloodstream, and not dangerous whentaken orally). Several more plants are added to in-crease potency and body of the mixture. The mixtureis boiled down to a black tar-like substance which isapplied to arrows and darts.

Modern science has found a new use for thisold poison. Scientists have discovered that curareworks by blocking impulses from the brain to muscles,and with carefully administered doses, doctors can usea form of curare during surgical and diagnostic proce-dures when partial paralysis is needed. Curare alsohas been used to alleviate the symptoms of lockjaw,epilepsy and other muscular spasms.

QuinineAbout 100 million people are affected by ma-

laria at any one time, and approximately 1 million ofthem, mostly children, die each year. The symptoms,familiar throughout the tropics, include severe chills,fever, sweating, an enlarged and tender spleen, confu-sion, and great thirst.

The disease is caused by infection of the sporo-zoan Plasmodium, which is spread from person to per-son by mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles . When anAnopheles mosquito penetrates human skin to obtain

I 1 PackYourBags!

NAMAQUALAND AND THECAPE FLORAL KINGDOM

The Friends of the Botanical Garden willsponsor a tour to South Africa August 17-September 2, 1996. The tour has beendesigned around the wildflower seasonwhen Namaqualand literally bursts intobloom. The group will also visit naturereserves and botanical gardens through-out western Cape Province. Dr. RobertOrnduff, former director and present cu-rator of the U. C. Botanical Garden, willlead the tour.

For itinerary and information callGEOSTAR at 800-624-6633.

Would the person who obtained rhi-zome and culm cuttings from us ofthe Mexican Weeping bambooOtatea acurninata subsp. aztecorumat about the time of its flowering,please contact the Friends' office at(510) 643-7265? We have some in-formation that would be to your ad-vantage!

blood, it will also inject Plasmodium cells into thebloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, the parasitesinvade the red blood cells, dividing rapidly within themand causing them to become enlarged and ultimatelyto rupture. This event releases toxic substancesthroughout the body, bringing about the well-knowncycle of fever and chill which repeats itself every 48or 72 hours.

The disease may be brought under control bythe person's immune system or by drugs. One suchdrug is quinine, which is isolated from the bark of theSouth American Cinchona tree.

To obtain the quinine, the tree is beaten with amallet to loosen the bark, and then the bark is peeledby hand with machete or knife. The peeled bark mustthen be dried quickly to prevent loss of the active in-gredient. The fully dried bark is then sent to factoriesfor final solvent extraction of the quinine, the activeingredient.

Scientists began noticing that people who hadtaken quinine against malaria had unusually healthyhearts. After reexamining the quinine which patientshad taken for malaria, scientists noticed that there wasanother ingredient in the bark extract, quinidine, whichhelped regulate the heartbeat. Methods were devel-oped to extract the quinidine from the bark, and pro-duce it in mass quantities. Nature's pharmacy has onceagain provided a practically unlimited supply of natu-ral remedies. The bark of the Cinchona tree providesquinine to cure malaria and also quinidine which isnow prescribed as an effective medication for patientswith heart problems

Oliver Pilhar, U. C. student

CAN YOU HELP?The following plants, rare in com-merce, are wanted by readers:

Melaleuca styphelioidesCytisus multiflorus

If you can offer seeds or other propa-gating material on any of them, orknow of a possible source, pleasecontact: Mary Lynn Cox, 66 EurekaAvenue, Kensington, CA 94707.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

FEBRUARY

PLANT CLINIC Sat. Feb 4Bring your sick plants to see Dr. Robert Raabe,UC Plant Pathologist, and his colleagues. FirstSaturday of the month, 9 am to noon. MeetingRoom.

CHOCOLATE TASTING Sat. Feb 11Our popular Valentine event! Learn everythingthere is to know about our nation's favorite sweetfrom Dr. Rudi Schmid, U.C. Berkeley plant sci-entist, and Russ Bianchi, a chocolate industry ex-pert. Then compare many kinds of chocolate in atasting. 1-4 pm. Reservation recommended. Onemember, $10; two members, $15. One nonmem-ber $15; two nonmembers, $25. Meeting Room.

PEET'S COFFEE Sun. Mar 5Jim Reynolds, General Manager of Peet's Coffee,Inc. will present a slide lecture on Berkeley's fa-vorite brew, followed by a tasting of several dif-ferent types of coffee. 10 am -1 pm. Reservationsrecommended. $10 members, $15 nonmembers.Meeting Room.

We are always looking forProgram suggestions!

Please give Nancy Swearengen,Education Assistant, a call at(510) 642-3352 if you have

an idea, or if you are willing tovolunteer at an event!

TEA FOR TWO Sun. Feb 12There is much to be known about tea, its back-ground and lore. Explore this fascinating topicwith Helen Gustafson, tea enthusiast and buyerfor Chez Panisse. There will be several teas totaste! Reservation recommended. 3-5 pm. Mem-bers $10, nonmembers $15. Meeting Room.

CLIMBING THE GARDENWALL Sat. Feb 25Vines make an elegant addition to the landscape,one most of us overlook. Jeanne Bliss, a gardenerfrom Oxford, England, will enlighten you with aslide lecture on using vines to accent the verticalspaces in your garden. 10 am. Members S5, non-members $8. Meeting Room.

MARCH

PLANT CLINIC Sat. Mar 4Bring your sick plants to see Dr. Robert Raabe,UC Plant Pathologist, and his colleagues. FirstSaturday of the month, 9 am to noon. MeetingRoom.

For further information on classes andevents, call the Visitor Center, 642-3343. Toregister for classes, send checks to UC Bo-tanical Garden. Two weeks advanced no-tice is necessary to accomodate individu-als with special needs. No refunds the weekbefore the class date unless class is can-celled. Pre-registration is suggested, asclasses fill early.

The Garden is open every day of the yearexcept Christmas form 9:00 am to 4:45 pm.Free public tours led by docents are givenon Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30 pm.Admission to the Garden is free.

BOOK REVIEWSWhat kind of books should be available in our Visitor Cen-ter? There are so many of you out there who come to theGarden for information, relaxation, renewal and joy. Whatwould interest you? Are you looking for books about plants?Or do you want to know how to plan your own garden?Are you a hobbiest collecting cacti andsucculents?...penstemon?...orchids? Do you want somethingon plant exploration and discovery? A field guide? Whatabout children and plants? These questions are asked, andanswered, every day by the volunteers at the Visitor Center,the Garden staff (who make suggestions), and the gift andbook buyers. We all enjoy the collaboration and discoverieswhich come with the job, and the challenge of displayingour wares in such a small space! Here are some of our re-cent and not so recent titles which, we hope, may interestyou.

NEW BOOKS

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE LANDSCAPING, by MaureenGilmer; Taylor Pub. Co., Dallas,TX, c 1994; illus; 164 pages;$10.95, paper.Maureen Gilmer tells us that the California Dept. of For-estry believes that our state contains "the most severe wild-fire conditions in the world", because of our urban-wild-land interface conditions from development in grasslands,chaparral and forest areas. The recent severe wildfires inBerkeley-Oakland, Laguna Beach and Malibu are examplesof this interface, and have made us all aware that we mustdo a better job of landscape management to protect ourhomes and communities from wildfires. CALIFORNIAWILDFIRE LANDSCAPING is a good comprehensive ref-erence on the dynamics of wildfires and how to choose prop-erty not subject to fire, and how to insure it. There is adviceon how to create a 'defensible space' around our homes infire-prone areas, and how to make this space accessible tofirefighters. There are instructions on how to store water sothat it can be used in an emergency; what plants to select fordesignated safety zones around our homes; and how to getpublic and private assistance after fires occur. It includesthe full text of Assembly Bill 337: The Very High Fire Haz-ard Severity Zones Law (the Bates Bill). Recommended byPACIFIC COAST NURSERYMAN, Oct. 1994.

THE GARDENS AT FILOLI, text by Timmy Gallagher,photographs by Christopher McMahon; PomegranateArtbooks, c1994; 128 pages; $19.95, soft cover; $29.95,hardcover, available on request. Filoli is, for all of us, thegreat San Francisco Bay Area garden we visit in every sea-son, and which we take delight and pride in showing for-eign visitors. It is 'one of the last great estates with houseand garden intact from a golden era of San Francisco's his-tory", writes photographer Christopher McMahon. TimmyGallagher, who started the docent program at Filoli, andwho is a friend to many of us and a well-known member oflocal garden societies, tells us about the history of the 654-acre estate since the mansion was built in 1915. Because

Filoli is composed of so many serene and beautiful 'gardenrooms', this book is a good reference for gardeners lookingfor garden-planning ideas.

PLANTS OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY REGION:MENDOCINO TO MONTEREY, by Eugene M.Kozloff andLinda H. Beidelman; Sagan Press, Pacific Grove, CA, c1994;457 color pictures, 220 drawings; 448 pages; $29.95, softcover. Includes 2,000 species of trees, shrubs, ferns, flow-ering plants and established exotics which appear in ninelocal counties. Plant key. (Linda Beidelman was for manyyears a co-chair of the East Bay Chapter of the CaliforniaNative Plant Soc. annual plant sale).

OF ADDITIONAL INTEREST

ITALIAN GARDENS OF THE RENAISSANCE, 5th ed.,by J.C. Shepherd and G.A.Jellicoe; Princeton ArchitecturalPress, NY, NY, c1993; illus; 92 pages; $55.00, hardcover.Reissued classic study of Italian gardens by two world-widefamous architects made when they were 5th year studentsat London's Architecture Assoc.

ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS, by EdithWharton, with pictures by Maxfield Parrish; Da Capo Pa-perback (Classical American Series In Art And Architec-ture); 270 pages; $16.95, paper..Reprint of a 1904 classic by Edith Wharton, novelist andaunt of pioneer landscape architect Beatrix Jones Farrand.

ITALIAN GARDENS, by Charles A. Platt, essay by KeithN. Morgan; Timber Press Sagapre(Sagapress), Portland, OR,c 1994; 74 black and white photos; 172 pages; $35.95, hard-cover.A new volume containing Charles A. Platt's 1894 epoch-making classic with an essay on its influence and impor-tance by Keith N. Morgan.

AN ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY OF CHINESE ME-DICINAL HERBS, by Wee Yeow Chin & Hsuan Ke; CRC-SPub., Sebastopol, CA; North Amer. ed.c1992; color photos;184 pages; $32.95, hardcover.

CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE, by Daniel P. Reid;Shambhala Pub., Inc., Boston, MA, c1987; illus. with pho-tos and drawings; 174 pages; $20.00, paper.

References on Chinese medicinal herbs are always avail-able at the Visitor Center. Both books list medicinal plantsand include the plant family, genus, species, common name,chinese character and use of these plants. CHINESEHERBAL MEDICINE contains a good historical back-ground of chinese medicine.

Remeber, members of the Friends of UC Botanical Gar-den receive a 10% discount on purchases at the VisitorCenter!

----Elly Bade

NEW MEMBERSDavid & Caroline ApplingElizabeth P. BadeJack BlockPhillip BlumMr. & Mrs. F. H. BradfordJohn L. BradleyJ. M. Xena BrennaProf. & Mrs. Joseph J. CamposYaping Chang & Chihping TsueDavid J. ChickKenn & Esther CoopermanHelen L. DahlKent David & Alice LinderHarmer & Phyllis DavisDavid DeutschBarbara L. DuncanJohn & Marie FergusonMiriam Fielden & Phil GoldsmithSuzette Mills Foley -Elizabeth D. FowlerAnn GregoryAlan M. GregoryJosephine & Josie HazenHelen S. HermannClifford & Fran HerrallBruce J. HighmanElsa A. HooperYvonne Howell

Gregg HuddlestonLo JamisonMarion & William JeffersRichard William JencksDwight L. JohnsonChris & Sharon JonesMrs. Edgar M. KahnMichael D. KarrTim KochisRichard KoenigHarold & Evelyn KorfMichael D. LambDavid S. LeinbachJanice LeiserArthur D. LevyDick & Peg McPartlandDallis ManwaringRebeca MarthinsenGuillermo MayorgaDenny & Ruth McLeodNorma H. MurphyPhiroze J. NagarvalaSuzanne NatashimaKamran M. NematiValerie L. NiemannBrad OlsonDavid S. Ogden

Hildegard PaxsonMary PottierRaymond & Joyce RaicheAnmarie B. RoacheJonathan RossmanWendy Johnson RudnickGail & Jonathan SchorschLisa M. SchultheisSherri ScottH. H. ShouldersAlan Jay SmithMrs. Consuelo Ashe SmithChristina Brinkman StephensRichard StoneCarol TalpersPhoebe A. TannerPaul J. ten DoesschateHenry C. ToddMary N. TomitaPablo ValenzuelaLisa & Ken WahlValerie WarrenDonn WeaverHarvey WelchMr. & Mrs. T. A. Westphal, IIIJoe WillinghamJean C. & Darrell R. WilsonLeona G. Wilson

GRATEFUL THANKSThe Friends thank these donors who have made a substantial gift over and above the membership:

Willy D.H. AdamSusan & Michael AddisonElly & Bill BadeJoan Rock BailardDr. Carol BairdBANKAMERICA FOUNDATION*Mrs. Stephen Bechtel, Jr.Mr. & Mrs. Richard J. BerteroHelen & Beau BreckLawrence V. BrookesRichard C. BurnettJune & Bud CheitCHEVRON*Judith & Michael CiraoloJames 0. ClaytonJune E. ClelandDorothy & Bill ClemensMartha & Manuel CoronadoPeter & Jayne DavisGeorge L. Dea & Janice T. KoyamaMr. & Mrs. Frank G. DelfinoMike DoerrSusana Cox FousekisCharles Haas & Barbara MioranMr. & Mrs. Theodore H. GeballePamela & Elmer GrossmanThom GschneidnerMitchell HarveyVirginia W. Havens

Bruce HayesFrancine Dunham HendersonNed G. HeringerBruce & Jeannette HowardGwen Head & Barbara MoranAnn & Bob InghamDwight L. JohnsonJames H. JonesNathalie JonesSusan & Henry KahnToni KlassenAntoinette & Robert KoshlapMiriam H. Lar RieuLewis & Adele LawyerDouglas & LaVerne LeachSterling M. LeiszRobert M. LichtensteinSarah E. MarkMelva & Stuart McDonaldNancy J. McLaughlinPatricia & Sheldon MilliganMt. Diablo Iris SocietyDick & Peg McPartlandElmo & Frances MorganJean MosheimRobert M. NewhouseDavid S. OgdenDr. Robert Ornduff

Mr. & Mrs. David H. OsborneJanet Perlman, M.D.Mr. & Mrs. Richard H. PetersonThe Placzek FamilyKathryn & Warren PlowmanRobert & Evelyn RatcliffMrs. Victor ReiterMary & John RicksenSusan & Larry RicksenKay & Bob RiddellDr. & Mrs. J. Speed RogersMr. & Mrs. Fitzhugh RollinsGail & Jonathan SchorschSimone M. ScioberetiMr. & Mrs. Thomas B. ShawAlan & Janet StanfordGeorge StraussTomiye & William SumnerRoy & Janet TaylorWayne ThornburgMark UhlmannJames & Irma UrenPablo ValenzuelaJim & Winnie Van SicklenInge von der HudeJames A. WeberThomas C. WestonBarbara S. Woodward* Foundation Match

GIFTS IN KINDPhyllis AshworthWilton LeeBetty HartmanCyrill OrlyDr. Robert OrnduffEsther OswaltJonathan RossmanSASO HERB GARDENSMary Schroter

IN HONOR OFGladys Eaton for her extraordinary service and dedicationto the Garden and the Friends, from Mary Ricksen and Dr.Robert Ornduff.

Roger Raiche and Tom Chakas from Richard G. Turner,Jr.

IN MEMORY OFFlorence Edwards Higson from Howard and SusanneJesson.

David Coronado from Martha and Manuel Coronado to beused toward the Mesoamerican section of the Garden.

Maggy Garrison from Jean Nunnally and Mrs. T.W. Ohlsonto go to the California Native Area Endowment.

A bench has been donated in memory of Harry G.Bloomstein from his sister Carole Bloomstein.

A bench has been donated in memory of Rita R.Mandeville from Scott Mandeville.

A bench has been donated in memory of Arthur and HelenBragg from Helen and Beau Breck and family, Mary andJohn Ricksen and family and the following family andfriends:Sally and Tom AdamsNan and Rex AndrewsMary, John, Claire, and Kate ChristianNancy and Hugh DitzlerGladys EatonLib HammondEleanor and Jack HigsonMarilyn and Bill LoganColeen and Rupert RicksenSusan and Larry RicksenJane and Nelson WellerDr. and Mrs. Roger WestmontPeter and Midge Zischke

SPECIAL PROJECTSElmo and Frances Morgan gave a gift to be used on theMain Entrance Improvement Project.

THE DOCTOR SAYS...

It may seem a little early to think about sum-mer gardening, but a rainy night and a good seed cata-log make a nice combination

Last year, several counties had tomato trialsto determine good performers, as well as good fla-vor. Unfortunately, under different temperature re-gimes, varieties will differ in a number of character-istics. Also, the time of sampling and irrigation sched-ules have an influence on the flavor. For example, iftomatoes are allowed to go dry, this tends to increasethe solids and the sugar content. However, this alsoincreases the tendency for blossom end rot whichdefinitely should not be encouraged.

The results of the trials reported here weredone in Santa Clara County and the warmer parts ofAlameda County, so this information is not valid forall areas.

From one area, Sweet Chelsea was rated theoverall best. Other varieties rated high were EarlyGirl, Supersteak, Bragger and Mr. Stripey. For a pastetomato, Viva Italia was very good and for small to-matoes, Sweet 100 was tops. In another area, Pine-apple, Mr. Stripey, and Brandywine were rated high.Brandywine also rated high in another test but it issusceptible to Verticillium and Fusarium so unlessgrowing it in uninfested soils, don't try it. For a yel-low tomato, Caro Rich was very good and GreenGrape, which is green when ripe, also rated high.

Perhaps the best approach is to get a copy ofR.H. Shumways catalog called "Totally Tomatoes."It lists and describes 275 varieties from old timers tonew hybrids. The address is P.O. Box 1626, Augusta,GA 30903.

When choosing varieties, try to select thosethat have a V and an F or FF in the code that goeswith the name. This means resistance to Verticillium(V) and Fusarium (V or FF - the latter means resis-tance to both races of Fusarium). Other letters in-clude N for resistance to nematodes, T for resistanceto tobacco mosaic virus, A for resistance to Alternariaand St for resistance to Stemphyllium. The V is mostimportant in much of California and F is next mostimportant.

Another thing about tomatoes is that they aresusceptible to spotted wilt virus. This virus does notdamage plants too much, but does cause the fruits tobe mottled with yellow blotches making them un-sightly. Plants such as Aralia, calla, dahlia, tuberousbegonia, and nasturtiums harbor this virus. Thripstransmit the virus so it is a good idea not to growsuch plants near your vegetable garden. Lettuces are

quite susceptible and Cos or Romaine usually die ifinfected.

There is a lot of talk about recycling old Christ-mas trees. One might recycle theirs at home. Cut thebranches off and spread them out or pile them to dry.When dry, shake or strip the needles and put them inthe compost pile. Break small branches and put inboxes for kindling in the fireplace and the main stemcan be cut and used the following year as a yule log.

Because of all the rain, the dormant spray forpeach leaf curl control probably had been washed away.Peaches and nectarines probably will have to be sprayedagain. Wait until later in the season , but do not waitso long that the buds have started to break. That's toolate.

Be sure to prune your roses into dormancy andin doing so be sure to take off all the leaves and rakeup all the leaves on the ground so that the rust andblack spot life cycles can be broken.

----Dr. Robert Raabe, Associate Director

VOLUNTEER PROFILE...JUNE FALKNER

Many of the volunteers at the Garden pursuemore than one interest. June Falkner is one who hasgiven an enormous amount to the Garden with hergenerous donations of time and skill.

June was born in England, and served in theWRENS (the women's service of the British Navy)during World War II where she handled ultra secretcommunications. During her servie, she spent 18months in Sri Lanka, which she describes as fascinat-ing. After the war, she married and lived for a year inParis.

In 1954, with her husband, children aged threeand five years, "two dogs and a sportscar," she arrivedin Cincinnati, and has been in the United States eversince. The family moved to Berkeley in 1981, andJune showed up at the Botanical Garden to work as avolunteer in January 1982, propagating trees andshrubs. She says she was "a good backyard gardener,"but has inevitably learned a tremendous amount in her"on-the-job-training" as a Volunteer Propagator. Somuch so, in fact, that last year she started a small spe-cialty nursery business!

Almost at once, she joined forces with anotherlongtime Garden volunteer, Elly Bade, and over theyears they organized and presented symposia, whichbrought many well known garden speakers, writers,designers and plantsmen together under the auspicesof the Friends of the Botanical Garden. Over the years,

there were ten symposia!In 1986, June was invited to join the Board of

the Friends. She branched out to the Program Com-mittee, and further, to planning the Friends trips abroad.She planned and organized six very successful Friends-sponsored trips, to the gardens of Ireland, Portugal,France, Italy and Costa Rica.

In 1987, when the Friends undertook the man-agement of the Visitor Center, June was there. Hertask was to begin to 'build the book collection, whichshe did with the same edication she gives to every-thing else.

Over the years June's has been an almost dailypresence at the Garden as she has gone about her manyprojects in support of the Garden and the Friends. Now,she has decided to relocate to the Seattle area to benear her daughter, and to pursue another dream, build-ing Kingswood Nursery, her own specialty nursery ofmainly small, unusual plants! Thank you for every-thing, June! We wish you all the best in your newendeavors!

Nancy Swearengen

June Falkner

Friends Board of DirectorsRobert Riddell, President

Dr. William Weeden, Vice PresidentRamona Davis, TreasurerThomas Shaw, Secretary

Mai ArbegastEleanor Bade

Pamela CanalesFred Coe

Elanor CraryDr. Lewis Feldman

Tamra HegeKrishen Laetsch

Richard LeeErrol Mauchlan

Tanya MuschiettiDr. Robert RaabeRobert Ratcliffe

Philip SpiethJames Van Sicklen

Vistor Center: (510) 642-3343Administration: 642-0849

Director's Office: 643-8999

Botanical Garden StaffDr. Philip Spieth, Director

Dr. Robert Raabe, Associate DirectorDaniel Campbell, Manager

Judith Finn, Assistant MangerDr. Robert Ornduff, Curator

Holly Forbes, Assistant CuratorSarah Wenning, Management Services Officer

Toni Kafton, Administrative AssistantNancy Swearengen, Education Assistant

Deborah Darnell, Friends' Assistant

Horticulturists:John Domzalski

Gerald FordMartin Grantham

Sean HoganPeter KlementJerry ParsonsRoger Raiche

Elaine SedlackKurt Zadnik

Education: 642-3352Friends: 643-7265

FAX: 642-5045

The newsletter is published by the Friends of the Botanical Garden, a non-profit organization that providessupport for the U.C. Botanical Garden. Articles may be reprinted with credit to the authors and the U.C.Botanical Garden.

Friends of the Botanical GardenUniversity of California200 Centennial DriveBerkeley, CA 94720-5250

Address Correction Requested

Nonprofit Org.U.S. Postage Paid

Berkeley, CAPermit No. 1061

Plants are for sale at the Visitor Center all year! Call 642-3343

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