No one would dispute we are in very troubled times. But while we are “Sheltering in Place” we are definitely not “Under House Arrest”. So, if you are tired of fixating on the Ups (number of cases of the virus) and the Downs (the stock market), the More Mesa Preservation Coalition offers you … a Treasure Hunt.
Santa Barbara is a wondrous place to live, especially in Spring. And, with recent rains, we are having an absolutely beautiful bloom … one that should be seen. Add to this happy thought the consul that, for both mental and physical health, we should go outside. While we would love to encourage you to go to More Mesa, any number of public parks or pathways will do just as well. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE 6 FEET AWAY FROM ANYONE ELSE … even though you may have to shout out “Look at this!” very loudly.
Today’s treasure is our incredible Coast Live Oak Trees that are currently in bloom. YES … in bloom. Oaks produce two types of flowers. First are the tiny yellow male flowers that cluster on long strands known as catkins. A catkin can contain 25-100 flowers and there can well be thousands of catkins in any given tree. The task of the male flower is to
Catkins
pollenate female flowers … preferably from another tree. Why does the tree produce so many male flowers? The answer is that pollination is done via wind power and not insects. Oaks are actually flowering plants; plants set apart from all others by a unique set of characteristics including their pollination technique and production of the acorn “fruit” that we see so many of in the fall.
While Coast Live Oak Trees can be found on the northern edge of More Mesa, they can also be seen on Ellwood Mesa, San Marcos Foothills Park, Hope Ranch and many public parks and bikeways throughout the Goleta Valley. Go find this first unique treasure!
ELDERBERRY … A TINY BERRY THAT BRINGS THE GOOD THINGS IN LIFE About Elderberry There are several species of Elderberry in the U.S., with the most common in the West being the Blue Elderberry; a deciduous shrub that can grow up to 30 feet high. Its leaves, 4 inches long and 2 inches wide, are…
Then a Treasure, Now Trouble…BIG Trouble…The Invasives Some invasive plants move from their home territories via stealth. They hitchhike on boots, backpacks, clothing, packaging containers and ship bottoms. But, by in large, most were purposely transported from their homeland by humans who thought they were treasures that would be valuable in other, far-away places. For…
The Most Wonderful Treasure…. As the end of the Lockdown approaches, I have been musing about how to “wrap up” our Treasure Hunts. How does one describe the entirety of the treasures of More Mesa … those few that I wrote about, and the hundreds of others that exist in this magical and remarkable place….
THE BEST LAID PLANS … The plan was to have PART II of the story about spiders to appear on Halloween. Obviously, that didn’t happen. So, what was the problem? As you probably know, Constant Contact has been sending our More Mesa Updates for many years. For all of those years we used their template;…
IN KEEPING WITH HALLOWEEN … HOW ABOUT SPIDERS? A New Class … The next two Treasure Hunts will be about a creature which is found all over More Mesa and also epitomizes the month of October; the spider! Spiders are not insects. They are in an entirely different Class; the Arachnids. This Class owes its…
WHOOOOO? … IT’S OWLS Many members of this treasure’s family live on More Mesa. However, they may be more difficult to see, although easier to hear … especially if you are willing to venture out onto More Mesa at night. The last Christmas Bird Count recorded a phenomenal six separate species of owls on More…
