Parish 2018

© Project SOUND
Out of the Wilds and Into Your Garden
Gardening with California Native Plants in Western L.A. County
Project SOUND – 2018 (our 14th year)

© Project SOUND
S.B. Parish & W.F.
Parish: amateur botanists
in S. California
C.M. Vadheim, K. Dawdy (and T. Drake)
CSUDH (emeritus), CSUDH & City of Torrance
Madrona Marsh Preserve
May 5 & 10, 2018

2018 Season – Gardens that sooth
© Project SOUND
Gardens that heal by telling an
interesting story

Important CA plantspersons we have ‘met’
© Project SOUND
Kate Sessions (1857-1940)
Blanche Trask (1865-1916)
Lester Rountree (1879 -1979)
Theodore Payne (1872-1963)
Alice Eastwood (1859-1951)
Leroy Abrams (1874-1956)
Katharine Brandegee (1844-1920)
Beatrice F. Howitt (1891-1981)
Parish brothers (1838/40-1918/28)

Samuel Bonsall Parish (1838-1928) and
William Fletcher Parish (1840-1918)
 Born in Paterson/Newark, NJ
 Paterson, founded in 1792
 Ushered in the American
Industrial Revolution
 Many types of manufacturing,
but particularly the textiles
(particularly silk) and heavy
manufacturing
 Father: Rev. Daniel Parish
(Methodist Episcopal)
 Nothing really known of their
childhood. Had at least one
half-sister
© Project SOUNDhttp://citiesforcitizenship.com/paterson-nj/

 Elementary/high school?
 Wesleyan University
(Middletown CT) – 1854-56
 Founded 1831; one of oldest
Methodist Univ. – all male
 Taught natural sciences from
beginning
 Member of Psi Upsilon fraternity
 New York University – 1856-58;
BA in 1858
 Founded 1831; non-sectarian
 Equal emphasis on Arts/
Sciences and Business
 <150 students in 1850’s
© Project SOUND
Samuel Bonsall Parish
(1838 - 1928)
http://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2012/08/new-york-university-
noble-idea-takes.html
Hogwarts of Washington Square: The beautiful
and supremely ostentatious University Hall at the
northeast corner of the park, circa 1850.
http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/schome/ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/367958
232034146353/?lp=true

Washington
Square East
 The University building
(begun 1835) – housed
everything
 By 1850’s, tensions rising
over the issue of slavery
© Project SOUND

 Became a high school teacher;
subject ??
 Ottowa (?St. Xavier) Academy
(Ottowa, IL) – 1858-60
 Barton Academy, Mobile AL –
1860-61
 Became a public school in 1852
– AL oldest public school (still)
 1860-65 – closed for Civil War
© Project SOUND
Samuel Bonsall Parish
(1838 - 1928)
https://www.pinterest.com/hometownconnect/ottawa-illinois-lasalle/?lp=true
https://www.bartonacademy.org/history
http://www.flickriver.com/groups/historicalmarkers/pool/interesting/

Both brothers fought in the American Civil
War: 1862-1865
 Samuel - 1st sergeant;
 William – sergeant and later
sergeant-major
 Samuel: Company K, 2nd
Kansas Volunteer Cavalry
 William: Company C, 15th New
Jersey Volunteer Infantry
© Project SOUND
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Regiment_Kansas_Volunteer_Cavalry

After the Civil War, both brothers moved
west, with idea of getting into mining
© Project SOUND
 In the 1860’s, mining was
booming all over the West,
including California
 Attracted adventurous young
men from around the world
http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/hist383/GoldRush.html
http://www.miningartifacts.org/Arizona-Mines.html
http://strayngerranger.com/salt-creek-hills-acec/

The Parish brothers ended up buying a
ranch in San Bernardino, CA (1872)
 I could find virtually nothing on the location, details of the
‘ranch’
© Project SOUND
http://mojavehistory.com/lane11.html

San Bernardino area already had a rich
history by the 1870’s
 1820’s – Old Spanish Trail first ran through area
(through Cajon Pass)
 1842 – Rancho San Bernardino created
 1842-43 – first colonists from New Mexico
 1851 – Rancho sold to LDS Church (Mormons);
remained until 1857 (most returned to Salt Lake)
 1854 – City of San Bernardino incorporated
© Project SOUND
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/228065168601015638/
Old San Bernardino County
Courthouse building, 1874.
http://desertgazette.com/blog/cate
gory/historical/page/2/

San Bernardino: 1860-80’s – time of change
 1857 – first orange trees planted
 1860 – gold first discovered in San
Bernardino Mtns
 1870’s - several large stores and two
hotels
 By 1880’s, bustling center of commerce
 First railroad (it was a stagecoach
stop before then); became a rail hub
 Commercial center for booming
citrus industry
 Cultural amenities: opera house
(1882); Court House; schools
© Project SOUND
http://theancestorfiles.blogspot.com/2014/06/a-picture-of-samuel-
shepherd-and.html
San Bernardino - 1875
http://landispublications.com/aboutus.html

FARMING IN SAN BERNARDINO - 1874
Land is Cheap
‘The neighborhood of San Bernardino appears to me an
admirable country for thrifty farmers. Land is cheaper
than near Los Angeles; water is abundant; there is still
much valuable Congress and railroad land; there is a good
market for all products; the soil is almost universally
excellent, and I do not doubt that a thrifty New England
or New York farmer would have raise a large family in
comfort and independence on forty or at most eighty
acres of land; and if he planted ten or twelve acres in
oranges and walnuts, would, in ten years, have a
handsome income with trifling labor for the rest of
his life. By the time the valley is settled, the Southern
Pacific Railroad, whose engineers are already working
this way, will run through or near it, and the Arizona
trade, which it already possesses, it will not lose.’
© Project SOUND
"CALIFORNIA: A BOOK FOR TRAVELLERS AND SETTLERS" by Charles Nordhoff -1874
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/18718092
8236606755/

The Parish brothers were ‘fruit growers’
 ‘Unimproved farming land near
the town, with water easily
accessible, is sold for from
three to ten dollars per acre, in
tracts of from fifty to one
hundred sixty acres.’
 Presumably they made a good
enough living that they could
pursue their other interests.
 And among those interests was
plant collecting – something
that could be done in ‘off-times’
and might bring in a little money
besides.
© Project SOUND
http://caviews.com/EarlyCalPhoto.html
http://www.orangecountyhistory.org/history/grimshaw-anaheim.html

The Parish brothers also described
themselves as ‘botanical collectors’
 The ranch was well-suited for
day and weeks-long trips, by
horse and wagon, around S.
California.
 Samuel in particular became
very interested in the flora of
his area, which had not been
studied extensively at the
time.
 Fortunately, they collected all
sorts of plants, including the
common ones
© Project SOUND

© Project SOUND
*Burrobush – Ambrosia dumosa

© Project SOUND
*Burrobush/White bursage – Ambrosia dumosa
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_displa
y.php?tid=823
©1998 Larry Blakely ©2004 Steven Perkins
 Mojave and Sonoran Deserts from CA to UT, AZ and NM
 Gentle slopes, bajadas, dunes to 3000 ft. in Creosote
Bush Scrub, Joshua Tree Woodland
 Collected by Parishes, 1880 (Hesperia; Palm Springs;
Agua Caliente); also by LeRoy Abrams, the Brandegees,
Alice Eastwood, Roxana S. Ferris, W. L. Jepson, Philip A.
Munz, many others

© Project SOUND
Burrobush is a common desert sub-shrub
 Size:
 1-3 ft tall
 1-3 ft wide; spreading with age
 Growth form:
 Mounded sub-shrub
 Drought-deciduous
 Covered in white hairs; silvery
 Foliage:
 Small, leaves; densely packed
along branches in wet season
 Pale to medium green; resinous
 Roots: spread via rhizomes &
rooted branches
©2004 Heath McAllister

© Project SOUND
Flowers understated
 Blooms: In spring - usually Mar-
May; may bloom again in Dec.
 Flowers:
 Separate male and female
flowers on same plant
 Flowers in small ‘heads’
 Flowers small, yellow-green
and not particularly
noticeable
 Wind-pollinated; hay-fever
potential
 Seeds: dried floral bracts form
prickly, protective bur for seeds
©2008 Steve Matson

© Project SOUND
Plant Requirements  Soils:
 Texture: well-drained; best
planted on slope or berm
 pH: any local
 Light: full sun; fine with heat
 Water:
 Winter: most years will be
fine with rains
 Summer: none to occasional –
Water Zone 1 or 1-2
 Fertilizer: none; likes poor soils
 Other:
 Inorganic or no mulch
 Lightly shear in fall to shape
(like a nibbling rabbit)
©1995 Saint Mary's College of California
©2010 Neal Kramer

© Project SOUND
Burrowbush
 Most often used as filler plant in
desert-themed gardens;
important desert species that
evokes the desert
 Fine in dry rock gardens or other
dry plantings
 Very tough, hardy
©2012 Jean Pawek
©2016 John Doyen

The Parish brothers first explored areas
near their ranch
 Became (esp. Samuel) important
Southern California desert botanists.
 Some plants they collected were new
to science
© Project SOUND
Oreocarya confertiflora Greene – holotype Cushenberry Springs, Mojave Desert, May 1882

But the Parish brothers didn’t just collect
plants of interest only to botanists
© Project SOUND

Perhaps you need the look of a stately
grass, but want something authentic
© Project SOUNDhttps://gardenerdy.com/pampas-grass-maintenance

© Project SOUND
If you come from Argentina, Pampas
grass brings memories of home
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/447826756672443901/

© Project SOUND
*Parry’s nolina (Bear grass) – Nolina parryi
https://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-california/plants/3401--nolina-parryii

© Project SOUND
*Parry’s nolina (Bear grass) – Nolina parryi
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=34682
Charles Webber © California Academy of Sciences
 First collected San Jacinto Mtns, S. B. Parish, 1879
 Desert side, San Bernardino/San Jacinto Mtns.;
foothills, Mojave and Sonoran (Colorado) Deserts
 Dry slopes < 3000 ft., in Chaparral, Coastal Sage
Scrub, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, Joshua Tree
Woodland communities.

© Project SOUND
Parry’s nolina: look of yucca or grass
 Size:
 3-6+ ft tall
 spreading colony to 8 ft wide
 Growth form:
 Mounded evergreen perennial
with superficial appearance
of yucca
 Slow-growing, succulent
 Largest and showiest Nolina
 Foliage:
 Strap-like gray-green leaves
to 30 inches long
©2007 Neal Kramer

© Project SOUND
Dramatic flowers
 Blooms: mature plants bloom in
spring (usually May-June)
 Flowers:
 Dioecious: separate male/
female plants
 Flowers on both are cream-
colored
 Tiny flowers, densely packed
on stout flowering stem
 Good pollinator plant
 Really dramatic!
 Vegetative reproduction:
produces ‘pups’ around base
©2016 Aaron Schusteff

© Project SOUND
Plant Requirements
 Soils:
 Texture: well-drained (or plant
on slope/berm)
 pH: any local
 Light:
 Full sun
 Good heat tolerance
 Water:
 Winter: probably OK most
winters with rainwater
 Summer: best with occasional
water (once a month/Water
Zone 1-2)
 Other: inorganic or no mulch; prune
out old stalks as needed; easy plant
to grow

© Project SOUND
Nolinas: accent plants
 Accent plants in desert, chaparral or
other water-wise gardens
 Dramatic massed habitat plant: insects
and birds
 Stalks for food; fiber for coiled
basketry
 Link to past: Nolina parryi S. Watson
©2017 Jean Pawek
http://www.thedangergarden.com/2018/01/rancho-santa-ana-botanic-garden.html

As they continued to collect, S.B. Parish began to
interact with some of the important botanists of the day
© Project SOUND
https://oneidacountyhistory.wordpress.com/tag/asa-gray/
Dr. Asa Gray - Harvard Dr. Sereno Watson - Harvard
http://botlib.huh.harvard.edu/libraries/Gray_Bicent/grayherbarium.htm
Many specimens ended up at the Gray Herbarium: 128 specimens of
Asteraceae alone in current collection
Nolina parryi

Sereno Watson never made it to CA…
 Dr. Asa Gray and Mrs. Gray
visited California after traveling
to the south and into Mexico by
train.
 Visited the Parishes at their
ranch in 1885 (Gray was 75 then)
© Project SOUNDhttp://botlib.huh.harvard.edu/libraries/Gray_Bicent/graybio.htm
http://botlib.huh.harvard.edu/libr
aries/Gray_Bicent/gray_west_co
ast.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asa_Gray

Charles Christopher Parry (1823-1890)
 Born in England; migrated to U.S. at age 9
 M.D. from Columbia; practiced one year in Iowa
 Joined the United States and Mexican
Boundary Survey (1848–1855) as surgeon and
botanist.
 First botanist in the United States Department
of Agriculture (1869-1871);
 Made extensive plant collections along the U.S.-
Mexico border in California, and later in
Colorado, Utah and other western states, many
of which proved to be new species.
 Discovered the Torrey pine and Engelmann
spruce, which he named in honor of his mentors.
© Project SOUND
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Charles_Christ
opher_Parry

Parry became a good
friend of S.B. Parish
 Several plants are named after him,
including the Parry Pinyon, Parry's Lily and
Parry's Penstemon and Parry’s Nolina
 Was an early collector in the Inland Empire
– 1876-1880’s
 Parry, wintering nearby at Colton, was a
frequent visitor and companion of the
Parish’s on many collecting expeditions.
 PARRY AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
BOTANY - S. B. Parish, The Plant World
Vol. 12, No. 7 (JULY, 1909), pp. 158-162
© Project SOUND
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Char
les_Christopher_Parry

Many of the early California botanists were really
‘naturalists’ (early ecologists)…
© Project SOUND
https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/368920
…or they associated with those
interested in insects, geology, etc.
https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/contribute-create/vicfix/field-naturalists-club-victoria

The regional collections of Parry, the Parish’s and
others have importance for today’s gardeners
© Project SOUND
https://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-california/plants/1229--asclepias-californica

Pollinator gardens are becoming more
popular every year
© Project SOUND
https://www.pinterest.com/
pin/553590979165579722
/?lp=true
http://showcase830.rssing.com/chan-11676836/all_p9.html

Lot’s of interest in Monarch habitat
© Project SOUND
http://uphamengineering.com/milkweed/
Non-native milkweeds don’t provide
the highest quality habitat for native
Monarchs and Queens

Native milkweeds are pretty – they also provide
a sense of place
© Project SOUND
Asclepias speciosa
Asclepias sublata
Asclepias eriocarpa
Use sunflowers for yellow
Asclepias fascicularis

© Project SOUND
*California milkweed – Asclepias californica
©2005 Brent Miller

 Central California and south, excluding Central
Valley; locally in Transverse Rnge, Santa Monicas
 Collected by: Leroy Abrams, Anstruther
Davidson, Alice Eastwood, W.L. Jepson, P.A. Munz
 Collected by the Parish brothers in 1885, San
Bernardino Mtns (first collected there by Daniel
Cleveland, 1880)
© Project SOUND
*California milkweed – Asclepias californica
J. E.(Jed) and Bonnie McClellan © California Academy of Sciences
©2011 Jean Pawek

© Project SOUND
California milkweed: silvery folliage
 Size:
 1-3 ft tall
 1-4 ft wide
 Growth form:
 Herbaceous perennial
 Stems succulent; either upright
or more sprawling
 Foliage:
 Simple, opposite leaves are
succulent
 Color: pale to blue-green; all of
foliage covered with silvery hairs
 Very attractive; nice contrast
 Roots: taproot; difficult to move
once established
http://www.smmflowers.org/bloom/species/Asclepias_californica.htm

© Project SOUND
Flowers: dark pinks
 Blooms: in spring – usually April to
July; flowering season dependent
on timing of rains, temperatures
 Flowers:
 Typical modified milkweed
shape, but:
 Larger than most native
 On longer flower stems
 Darker color: bright medium
pink to dark red-magenta –
really striking
 Seeds: typical fluffy seeds in
rather large, stout pod
 Vegetative reproduction: more
stems each year
Beatrice F. Howitt © California Academy of Sciences
http://www.smmflowers.org/bloom/species/Asclepias_californica.htm

© Project SOUND
Drought-tolerant  Soils:
 Texture: any local, sandy to
clay – good for gardens
 pH: any local
 Light: full sun best; tolerates
heat just fine
 Water:
 Winter: decent rains/
irrigation
 Summer: drought-tolerant to
occasional (1-2 times/month)
– Water Zone 1-2 to 2
 Fertilizer: none; likes poor soils;
light fertilize if grown in
containers
 Other: cut back old stems in
fall. That’s about it.©2009 Barry Breckling

© Project SOUND
Great contrasting
local milkweed
 In water-wise flower gardens for
both flowers & foliage
 For Monarch/Queen habitat: combine
with other CA native species in
homage to early naturalists
 In a desert-themed garden
 As an attractive pot plant
©2011 Neal Kramer
©2015 Debra L. Cook http://socalbutterflies.com/plants_html/asclepias_californica.htm

Wooly bluecurls is a spectacular native
© Project SOUND
But it’s not the only native shrubby Trichostema

© Project SOUND
*Parish's bluecurls – Trichostema parishii
©2005 Aaron Schusteff

© Project SOUND
*Parish's bluecurls – Trichostema parishii
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_dis
play.php?tid=46996
 Coastal Scrub, Chaparral, Joshua Tree Woodland
- 1,800'-6,000'
 One of only 2 perennial native Bluecurls – the rest
are annuals
 Collected by Parish brothers from Mojave Desert
foothills, 1880-1895

Trichostema parishii Vasey: who is Vasey?
 Botanical Gazette 6(2): 173. 1881
 George S. Vasey, M.D. (1822 – 1893)
 Collected with C.C. Parry, including in
CA; knew (or at least knew of) the
Parish brothers
 1868 Chief Botanist of the USDA and
curator of the greatly expanded
National Herbarium.
 Eight published works – mostly on
grasses, (including 1890-91: Grasses of
the Southwest (2 volumes))
© Project SOUND
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Vasey_(botanist)

© Project SOUND
Parish’s romero: a smaller Wooly bluecurls
 Size: (about half as big)
 2-3 ft tall
 2-4 ft wide
 Growth form:
 Evergreen shrub; mounded
form – looks garden-like
 Glandular; aromatic
 Moderate growth rate
 Foliage:
 Narrow, water-conserving
leaves
 Very attractive; not as hairy
as wooly bluecurls
©2009 Neal Kramer

© Project SOUND
Flowers: fantastic!
 Blooms: spring to summer
(usually April to June); may
bloom over several months
 Flowers:
 Unusual shape – like Wooly
bluecurls but not so fuzzy
 Color: lavender-blue and
magenta - really striking
plant in bloom
 Attracts insect pollinators
and hummingbirds
 Sweet scent – nice cut
flower
 Seeds: can propagate from
seed; treat with GA3

© Project SOUND
Hardy, drought-
tolerant shrub
 Soils:
 Texture: any well-drained soil
best; berm/slope if slow-draining
 pH: any local
 Light: best with afternoon shade in
most gardens; full sun along
immediate coast.
 Water:
 Winter: adequate (desert
mountain plant)
 Summer: little to none once
established (3 summers); Water
Zone 1 or 1-2
 Other:
 Inorganic mulch only
 Tip-prune when growing for best
shape

© Project SOUND
When you want a bluecurls
but don’t have the space
 As an accent plant in summer-dry
beds or planters
 In herb garden with the
Mediterranean herbs
 In scent and pollinator gardens; a
tribute to the Parish brothers
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/aking1/17060276929/

The Parish ranch: a haven for botanists
for 48 years
 Among the notables: Asa Gray, Edward Palmer,
C.C. Parry, E.L. Greene, Cyrus Guernsey Pringle,
John Gill Lemmon and George Engelmann
 In later days Charles Sprague Sargent, Michael
Schuck Bebb, Volney Spaulding, Hugo de Vries,
Ellsworth Huntington, Joseph Nelson Rose,
Harvey Monroe Hall and his wife Carlotta,
William Skinner Cooper, Willis Linn Jepson, and
many others were made welcome.
 Many of these joined Parish in collecting trips.
 Parish's wife Mary Eliza always had a visitor log
of the famous botanical guests at their ranch.
© Project SOUND
http://www.plantsystematics.org/reveal/pb
io/usda/fnach7.html

Parish had built a specially strong wagon, with a low-hung body and
broad tires adequate to hold hay, barley, water, food, and camping
gear, and used it for collecting west to the sea beaches, east in the
San Jacinto and San Bernardino mountains, and into the deserts both
north and east. © Project SOUND
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/29906784999027648/?lp=true
http://www.westboundstage.com/museum.html
Collecting was serious
business

© Project SOUND
*Sierra currant – Ribes nevadense
© Br. Alfred Brousseau, Saint Mary's College

 Sierras, Transverse Ranges,
Peninsular and Desert Mtn. Ranges
 Locally: San Gabriels
 Leroy Abrams and the Parish
brothers collected from San
Gabriels and San Bernadinos
 Lots of taxonomic debate: Ribes
ascendens Eastw.; Ribes glaucescens
Eastw.; Ribes grantii A. Heller; Ribes
hittellianum Eastw.; Ribes nevadense
var. glaucescens (Eastw.) A. Berger;
Ribes nevadense var. jaegeri A.
Berger; Ribes nevadense var.
nevadense Kellogg ;
© Project SOUND
*Sierra currant – Ribes nevadense
© Br. Alfred Brousseau, Saint Mary's College

© Project SOUND
Sierra currant: like Pink currant but smaller
 Size:
 4-6 ft tall
 4-6 ft wide
 Growth form:
 Drought-deciduous woody shrub
 Mounted to semi-upright; good
shape for background shrub
 Currant: no prickles
 Foliage:
 Typical shape leaves for currant;
leaves slightly larger than Ribes
sanguineum
 Nice color; fragrant foliage (use
for tea)
©2009 Barry Breckling
©2010 Jean Pawek

© Project SOUND
Flowers and fruits
 Blooms: in spring: Feb-Mar in
lowlands, May-Jun at elevation
 Flowers:
 Typical pretty pink flowers of
the native currants
 Not quite as showy as Pink
currant, but still pretty and
fragrant
 Excellent pollinator/butterfly/
hummingbird plant
 Fruits: edible currant (fresh,
baked, dried) for anything you’d
use currant/gooseberry for. Birds
will eat any you don’t use.
©2009 Barry Breckling
©2010 Jean Pawek

© Project SOUND
Plant Requirements
 Soils:
 Texture: any well-drained
 pH: slightly acidic best; use
acid fertilizer
 Light: part-shade to quite shady.
This is typically an understory
plant in the wilds.
 Water:
 Winter: adequate
 Summer: best with occasional
summer water (1-2 times a
month – Water Zone 2 best)
 Fertilizer: fine with occasional
light fertilizer (fertilize if grown
in containers)
 Other: prune dormant plants to
shape; don’t plant near white
pines (White pine blister rust)
©2016 Jean Pawek

© Project SOUND
Currants in gardens
 Make nice foundation, background shrubs
 Great under trees; other shady spots
 Can be grown in planters or large
containers
 Good habitat and edibles plant
 Historic tie to Leroy Abrams, Parish
http://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-
california/plants/582--ribes-nevadense
https://www.sevenoaksnativenursery.com/native-
plants/shrubs/ribes-nevadense/
http://truckeeriverguide.org/exploring-truckee-river-trails-farad-to-floriston/

More ideas for using native currants
© Project SOUND
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/102316222757
062322/?lp=true
Espalier along wall or fence
As a screen or hedge
Raised beds/edible gardenhttp://www.realmensow.co.uk/?p=3168

© Project SOUND
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/151000#page/15/mode/1up
George Engelmann
https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-botanists-from-
germany/reference?page=5
Did the Parish brothers sell
collected materials?

Eastwood was an avid conservationist.
 She succeeded in getting
most of Mount Tamalpais
declared a state park.
 She also helped form the
“Save the Redwoods”
League.
 Worked to save a redwood
grove in Humboldt County
(which was named Alice
Eastwood Memorial Grove).
© Project SOUND
http://islapedia.com/index.php?title=EASTWOOD,_Alice

Ways in which Lester Rowntree promoted
conservation of California endemics
 By providing seeds (not only to the
public, but to gardens and preserves)
 By writing about the importance of
conservation – and teaching people how
to grow the natives through her
writings
 By urging garden clubs and other
groups to take action to:
 Set aside protected Preserves
 Use CA natives for re-vegetation
 Educate others about Ca natives
© Project SOUND

The Parish brothers collected: documenting the
depth and breadth of S. California flora
‘Like many other amateur naturalists before
him who have done things well, Samuel B.
Parish carried on his botanical explorations
of the native vegetation in Southern
California because of the intellectual
pleasures derived from field studies, and
because of his love of the high mountains and
the stark deserts’
W.L Jepson, 1929
© Project SOUND
http://www.desertwildflower.com/early-botanists/samuel-bonsall-parish

The Parish’s also collected in western L.A. County,
documenting some local rare species and plant
communities
© Project SOUND
https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/the-demise-of-dead-mans-
island-lost-landmark-of-las-harbor
 Ballona
 Playa del Rey
 Catalina
 Long Beach
 Santa Monica
 Wilmington salt marshes
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Playa_del_Rey_lagoon_
showing_Del_Rey_Hotel,_Playa_Del_Rey_Pavilion_and_pier,_L
os_Angeles,_ca.1908_(CHS-5380).jpg

Amassed a large personal herbarium
 Collected 1870’s to 1920 (last trip)
 Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles,
Monterey, Riverside (1879-1920), San
Bernardino (1879-1919), San Diego,
Santa Barbara counties.
 > 30,000 specimens in U.S. herbaria,
including Harvard (Gray herbarium); CA
Acad of Sci; UC Jepson Herbarium;
RSABG; San Diego Nat. Hist. Museum;
Santa Barbara Bot. Garden; NY Botanic
Garden.
 S.B. Parish’s personal herbarium sold to
Stanford U. in 1917.
© Project SOUND
In a league with Eastwood,
Greene and other major
collectors

Rare native plants in gardens: a way to
protect our natural heritage
© Project SOUND
Nevin’s barberry – Berberis nevinii
https://camissonia.blogspot.com/2010/05/treks-on-santa-rosa-plateau-vernal-pool.html

We’re already acquainted with some of
California’s showy Brodiaeas
© Project SOUND
Brodiaea californica Brodiaea elegans

© Project SOUND
Threadleaf brodiaea – Brodiaea filifolia

© Project SOUND
Threadleaf brodiaea – Brodiaea filifolia
©2008 Halleh Paymard©2004 Vince Scheidt
 L.A., Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino & San Diego
Counties. Locally: western flank of San Gabriels
 Valley Grassland, Foothill Woodland, Coastal Sage
Scrub, Freshwater Marsh, Wetland-riparian
 AKA Hookera filifolia (S. Watson) Greene
 First collected 1880 (by the Parishes); rare: listed by
CA, US & CNPS

S.B. Parish was not a trained botanist, but he had
opinions (and dared to debate)
© Project SOUND
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/com
mons/3/34/GreeneEL10.jpg
Edward L. Greene

© Project SOUND
Threadleaf brodiaea: perennial from corm
Image by Jordan Zylstra
http://www.theodorepayne.org/mediawiki/images/Brodiaea_filifolia_b.jpg
 Size: petite
 ~ 1 ft tall
 < 1 ft wide
 Growth form:
 Perennial wildflower from a
corm
 Thin, strap-like leaves emerge
in winter
 Dies back after/during
blooming
 Foliage: several simple leaves
 Corm: typical for brodiaea (to ~ 1
inch); rough covering

© Project SOUND
Delicate flowers
 Blooms: in spring – Mar-June
depending on rains, temperatures
 Flowers:
 Sweet and petite; loose
cluster of flowers atop a
flowering stalk
 Usually purple, lilac or pink-
purple; occasionally white
 Trumpet-shaped; petals most
often slender
 Common pollinators: native
Halictid bees (and others) and
tumbling flower beetles
 Seeds: need at least 3 plants
small, dark seeds in capsule; let
re-seed naturally or collect,
propagate
©2001 Salvatore Zimmitti
©2003 Vince Scheidt

© Project SOUND
Plant Requirements
 Soils:
 Texture: best in clay or clay-
loam
 pH: any local
 Light: full sun to part-shade. At
least 4 hours sun for best flowering.
 Water:
 Winter: moist soils through
winter
 Summer: let soils dry out when
flowering commences
 Fertilizer: none; likes poor soils; ½
strength dose in spring for
container-grown
 Other: dig up every 3-4 years;
replant larger corms in another part
of garden
©2004 Vince Scheidt

© Project SOUND
S. CA endemic geophyte
 Along walkways; around seating
areas; in a rock garden
 With local native grasses,
wildflowers, shrubs
 Bulbs & corms always make a great
container plants
https://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/1988/aug/25/98052/
 As a remembrance plant: to remember
(and continue) the efforts of California’s
pioneer plants-persons

Samuel B. Parish : the later years (1920 - 1928)
 Spent much of the later years (1910-28)
writing a wide range of articles – lay and
professional
 In 1920, Samuel and Eliza Parish moved to
Berkeley, which had better access to
libraries and herbaria (including his own)
 Samuel was appointed Honorary Curator of
the University of California Herbarium.
 He also served as a lecturer at Stanford
(finally became a professor)
© Project SOUND
http://www.desertwildflower.com/early-botanists/samuel-bonsall-parish

 Santa Monica Mtns. south to N. Baja
 Open, grassy, summer-dry areas in costal sage
scrub, chaparral, valley grassland and woodland
 Previous name: Dodecatheon clevelandii
 Collected by S. B. Brewer, 2/19/1861, Santa Susana
Mtns. Collected by Brandegees, S.B. Parish;
© Project SOUND
Padre’s shooting star – Primula clevelandii
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5047188https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/891403

© Project SOUND
Charming little perennial wildflower
 Size:
 1-2 ft tall
 Spreads with time, producing
clump of new plants
 Growth form:
 Herbaceous perennial; low,
mounded form
 Dies back to fleshy roots in
spring
 Foliage:
 Basal rosette of rounded,
blue-green leaves
 Roots: fleshy; brittle
©2013 Margo Bors

© Project SOUND
Charming flowers
 Blooms: winter or early spring –
often Jan-Feb. but may be later
depending on rains, temperature.
 Flowers:
 Unusual form with swept-back
petals
 Usually mostly magenta or
lavender, with white, yellow
and dark purple.
 Very decorative
 Buzz-pollinated by bumblebees
 Seeds: tan seeds in dry capsule
 Vegetative reproduction:
produces new plants (offsets)

Starting Shooting stars from seed
 Best from fresh seed
 Plant in fall; very lightly cover
 Good germination rates
 Keep seedlings watered
through Feb-Mar; then let die
back
 Ready to flower in 3-4 years
 Plants will naturalize from
seed in garden
© Project SOUND
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Dodecatheon

© Project SOUND
Plant Requirements  Soils:
 Texture: most local soils, if
summer dry. Clays OK
 pH: not for alkali soils (pH > 8.0)
 Light:
 Best with afternoon shade or
dappled shade.
 Water:
 Winter: needs moist soils in
winter (like in local mtn/foothills)
 Summer: infrequent or dry
(Water Zones 1 or 1-2)
 Fertilizer: none; likes poor soils;
dose of ½ strength fertilizer in
containers when plants start growing.
 Other: light leaf mulch; not heavy,
deep bark mulch©1995 Saint Mary's College of California

© Project SOUND
A touch of nature
 Does great in containers
 Pretty in fronts of dry beds,
around shrubs
 Lovely under trees, especially
winter-deciduous species
 Magical when massed – really give
a sense of season, place
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1293122

S.B. Parish: more than 100 scientific
papers, notes, and reviews
 Trees of southern California. Parish, S. B. (1894)
 Little or Little-Known Plants of Southern California. (1898-99)
 A group of western American Solanums. Parish, S. B. (1901)
 Sketch of the Flora of Southern California. Parish, S. B. (1903)
 A contribution toward a knowledge of the genus Washingtonia. - Parish,
S. B., (1907)
 A catalogue of plants collected in the Salton Sink. Parish, S. B. (1913)
 Plant ecology and floristics of Salton Sink. Parish, S. B. (1914)
 Observations in the Colorado Desert. Parish, S. B. (1915)
 An enumeration of the pteridophytes and spermatophytes of the San
Bernardino Mountains, California. Parish, S. B. (1917)
 The immigrant plants of southern California. Parish, S. B. (1920)
 It is unfortunate that the Parish manuscript on the Mojave flora was
destroyed in the Berkeley fire in 1923.
© Project SOUND

Important source for
Leroy Abrams
© Project SOUND
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044106364441;view=2up;seq=4

A sketch of the Flora of
Southern California:
insightful
© Project SOUND
The Parishes were excellent
naturalists – good observers
and recorders

Interests range from agriculture to plant
anatomy/physiology
© Project SOUND
https://www.pittmandavis.com/tiny-tim-navels/p/ttn/

The genus Eustoma
 Commonly known as lisianthus or
prairie gentian; widely used in
gardens, floristry trade
 Small genus – 2-3 species; herbaceous
annuals/perennials, 1-3 ft tall
 Native to warm regions of S. United
States, Mexico, Caribbean and n.
South America - typically found in
grasslands or in disturbed ground.
 Bluish green, slightly succulent leaves
and large, showy funnel-shaped
flowers in all shades of pink, purple,
white, and blue.
 Eustoma flowers are either single-
flowered or double-flowered.
© Project SOUND

© Project SOUND
*Catchfly prairie gentian – Eustoma exaltatum
 Widespread from CA to southeastern United
States, Central America, West Indies
 In CA, along Colorado, Santa Ana, other rivers in LA,
Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial & San Diego Cos.
 Collected by the Parishes, Leroy Abrams (first
collected by Dr. C.C. Parry)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=EUEX5
http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/taxa/index.php?taxon=3642

© Project SOUND
Catchfly prairie gentian: annual/perennial
wildflower
 Size:
 1-2 ft tall
 1-2 ft wide
 Growth form:
 Herbaceous annual or short-
lived perennial
 Upright stems
 Foliage:
 Blue-green leaves; mostly below
flowers
 Simple, pleasant-looking leaves
with waxy coat
 Looks like a garden plant
©2009 Robert Sivinski

© Project SOUND
Gardener’s dream
 Blooms: off and on in warm season
– usually May-Oct, maybe longer.
 Flowers:
 Flowers worthy of a garden
 2-3 inches across
 Five petals usually pink-
lavender with white, yellow,
darker purple accents (nectar
guides)
 Attracts insect pollinators,
particularly native bees
 Seeds: small tan seeds; will
reseed on bare ground or collect
seed and start in pots
©2006 Michael Charters
https://www.wildflower.or
g/plants/result.php?id_pl
ant=EUEX5

© Project SOUND
Catchflies need water
 Soils:
 Texture: any
 pH: any local
 Light: sun to part-shade; fine in
dapple sun under trees or for east-
facing exposures
 Water:
 Winter: needs moist soils
 Summer: likes moist soils;
 Regular water to keep it
going through summer
 Taper off water late
summer
 Fertilizer: fine with garden
fertilizer applications
 Other: cut back to 2-3 inches
after seed production; will likely
re-sprout©2006 Michael Charters

© Project SOUND
Prairie catchfly
 Cottage gardens; around vegetable
garden or splashy fountain
 Any part of garden that gets
regular water
 Fantastic in containers
http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/taxa/index.php?taxon=3642
http://www.kswildflower.org/largePhotos.php?imageID=2326&aCategory=f&lastModifie
d=2008-02-10
https://centerofthewebb.ecrater.com/p/29878796/mixed-lisianthus-eustoma-
grandiflorum-20-seeds#

Eustoma exaltatum ssp.
russellianum (Texas Bluebell)
 The large flowers have an intense hue
and keep blooming when many other
plants are looking crispy and brown in
the summer.
 The blue-gray foliage is almost
succulent.
 Combines well with grasses and garden
perennials, especially in larger gardens.
 Great cut flower – can last 1-2 weeks
 Often sold as Lisianthus exaltatum
© Project SOUND
https://plantsofthesouthwest.com/products/eustoma-exaltatum-ssp-
russellianum?variant=11501384901

Lots of Lisianthus cultivars – readily available as
seeds or plants (on-line or nursery)
© Project SOUND
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lisianthus_aka_Eustoma_7217.JPG

Samuel Bonsall Parish : the later years (1920 - 1928)
 In his late 80’s, Parish was working on his
final large manuscript – a Flora of the
Mojave Desert
 Alas, their house, as well as Parish's
unpublished manuscripts and papers, was
lost in the Berkeley fire of September 17,
1923.
 Samuel B. Parish passed away in Berkeley
on June 15, 1928 at the age of 91.
 William passed away in 1918 at the
Wadsworth VA (‘Soldier’s Home’), after
moving to Redondo/Hermosa Beach
© Project SOUND
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt8n39r10m/?brand=oac4
http://berkeleyplaques.org/plaque/berkeley-fire/

The legacy of the Parish brothers lives on
 Plants named in their honor
 Their collections (herbaria;
library and field notes)
 Samuel B. Parish’s writings
© Project SOUND
https://www.amazon.com/Contribution-Toward-Knowledge-Genus-
Washingtonia/dp/1166404986

Numerous plant names honor the Parish’s
 Of all the taxa with the name parishii, the majority were collected by S.B.
Parish and the rest are listed with both brothers as co-collectors.
Therefore it would seem as though most taxa are named for the elder
brother
 A number of plants were named in his honor, including Acanthoschyphus
parishii, Allium parishii, Atriplex parishii, Boechera parishii, Chaenactis
parishii, Cheilanthes parishii, Delphinium parishii ssp. pallidum, Delphinium
parishii ssp. parishii, Ericameria parishii, Erigeron parishii, Eriogonum
parishii, Eschscholzia parishii, Euphorbia parishii, Galium parishii, Grusonia
parishii, Heuchera parishii, Lycium parishii, Malacothamnus parishii, Mimulus
parishii, Orobanche parishii ssp. brachyloba, Orobanche parishii ssp.
parishii, Perideridia parishii, Phacelia parishii, Plagiobothrys parishii,
Puccinellia parishii, Silene parishii, Solanum parishii, Stipa parishii,
Symphoricarpos parishii, Tauschia parishii, Trichostema parishii, Viguiera
parishii, and others.
© Project SOUND
When you see a species name ‘parishii’ think of the Parish brothers and
their adventures

The Parish collections: resources for
scientists throughout the world
© Project SOUND
 S.B. Parish was careful to document his herbarium specimens; his large
herbarium was sold to Stanford University in 1917. The Parish
collection is now part of CA Academy of Sciences herbarium
 S. B. Parish’s extensive library was purchased by Pomona College in
1920. It now resides at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden
https://www.calacademy.org/scientists/academy-fellows

Some of the writings of Samuel B. Parish
© Project SOUND
 Volume 2. Addition to the Flora of Southern California, Zoe v.4:2, pp. 160-167(1893) -- New or Little-Known Plants fo
Southern California - I, Erythea v.6:9, pp. 85-92(1898) -- New or Little-Known Plants of Southern California - II, Erythea,
v.7:10, pp. 89-95(1Some of the writings of Samuel B.899) -- A New California Rose, Bull. S. Calif. Acad. Sci., v.1:7, pp. 87(1902)
-- Contributions to Southern California Botany I, Zoe v.5:4 & 5), pp. 71-76(1900) -- Additions to the Southern California Flora,
Bull. S. Calif. Acad. Sci., v.8, p.7(1909) -- Southern Extension of the Range of Polypodium Scouleri, Fern Bull. v.9:2, pp. 40-
42(1901) -- Some Plants Erroneously or Questionably Attributed to Southern California, Muhlenbergia, v.3, pp. 1-7(1907) --
The Southern California Species of Calochortus, Bull. S. Calif. Acad. Sci., v.1:8 & 9(1902) -- The Fern Bulletin, v.13:1, pp. 1-
32(1904) -- Teratological Notes, Torreya, v.6:2, pp. 32-34(1906) -- Bibliography of the Southern California Flora, Bull. S.
Calif. Acad. Sci., v. 8, pp. 1-4(1909) -- A Bibliography of the Southern California Flora. II., Bull. S. Calif. Acad. Sci., v.9:1, pp.
57-62(1910) -- Recent Additions to the Flora of Southern California, Muhlenbergia, v.3, pp. 57-62(1907) -- Some Plants
Erroneously or Questionably Attributed to Southern California, Muhlenbergia, v.3, pp. 1-7(1907) -- Notes on the Flora
of Palm Springs, Muhlenbergia, v.3, pp. 121-128(1907) -- Other Teratological Notes, Torreya, v.8:7, pp. 164-167(1908) -- Parry
and Southern California Botany, The Plant World, v.12:7, pp. 3-7(1909) -- Notes on Some Introduced Plants of Southern
California - I, Muhlenbergia, v.5, pp. 109-115(1909) -- Notes on Some Introduced Plants of Southern California - II,
Mulenbergia, v.5, pp. 121-128(1909) -- Roezl and the Type of Washingtonia, Bot. Gaz., v.48, pp. 262-263(1909) -- The Flowers
of Washingtonia, Bot. Gaz., v.46, pp. 144-157(1908) -- Shorter Notes - The Weeping Willow in Winter, Torreya, v.10:2,
pp. 38-39(1910) -- Recent Literature - Landmarks of Botanical History, Muhlenbergia, v.6, pp. 558, (1910) -- Reviews - The
Origin of the Coco Palm, Torreya, v.10:12, pp. 269-237(1910) -- The Southern California Juncaceae-I, Muhlenbergia, v.6, pp.
113-120(1910) -- The Southern California Juncaceae-II, Muhlenbergia, v.6, pp. 121-128(1910) -- Recent Literature, Cone-
Bearing Trees of the California Mountains, A Phytogeographic and Taxonomic Study of the Southern California Trees and
Shrubs, A Flora of Western Middle California - Book Reviews, Muhlenbergia, v.2, pp. 55-57(1911) -- Additions and
Emendations, Muhlenbergia, v.7, pp. 73-82(1911) -- Coreopsis Gigantea (Kellogg) Hall, Muhlenbergia, v.8, pp. 133-134(1913) --
Plants Introduced into a Desert Valley as a Result of Irrigation, The Plant World, v.16:10, pp. 275-280(1931) -- Notes on Some
Southern California Plants -- The Southern California Ferns, American Fern Journal, v.5:4, pp. 97-104(1915) -- Teratology of
the Navel Orange -- The Tecate Cypress, Bull. S. Calif. Acad. Sci., v.8, pp. 11-13(1914) -- The Whitewater Sands,
Muhlenbergia, v.9, pp. 133-139(1915) -- Notes of Some Southern California Plants, The Botanical Gazette, v.65:4, pp 334-
343(1918) -- Cleomella Obtusifolia, Torr. & Frem., Bull. S. Calif. Acad. Sci., v.22:1, pp. 12-14(1923) -- Additions to the Known
Flora of Southern California, Muhlenbergia, v.9, pp. 57-59(1915) -- On the Distibution of Certain Trees in California, Bull. S.
Calif. Acad. Sci., v.20:1, pp. 31-33(1921) -- A Supplementary Bibliography of the Southern California Flora, Bull. S. Calif. Acad.
Sci., v.19:1, pp. 24-29(1920) -- The lmmigrant Plants of Southern California, Bull. S. Calif. Acad. Sci., v.19:4, pp. 3-
30(1920) -- Vegetation of the Mohave and Colorado Deserts of Southern California, Ecology, v.11:3, pp. 481-
499(1930).

Perhaps the greatest legacy of the Parish brothers
Was facilitating and working with a number of important botanists
– at a time and place well-suited to documenting the unique flora of
S. California
© Project SOUND
Ellsworth Huntington

‘The well-worn path that lead to the door of
the rose-covered Parish cottage in the San
Bernardino valley has been trod by scores of
botanists, beginning with the early visits of
Asa Gray and George Engelmann and coming
on down to the later ones of Hugo deVries
and J.N. Rose. All these men and others who
knew this quiet, earnest worker, had feelings
akin to Dr. Huntington. Wise in foresight,
thoughtful and considerate, generous of his
store of botanical knowledge, unfailing in his
dry and emollient humor, men were warmed
by the wholesome personality of Samuel
Bonsall Parish. In him the Wise Mother
seemed in an unusual degree to have mixed
harmoniously the ingredients of human
nature.’
© Project SOUND
http://www.desertwildflower.com/early-botanists/samuel-
bonsall-parish

S.B. Parish, without question, was a major figure
not only in southern California botany but
throughout the state
It may truly be said that Samuel Parish was much beloved.
His happy wit, his irresistible good humor and sound sense,
his appreciative sympathy with common joys and sorrows
engaged deeply the affections of all botanists who knew
him. In him and for him Californians have only prideful and
happy memories.
Jepson 1932. Samuel Bonsall Parish. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 16:427-444.
© Project SOUND

Get out in nature this May; learn something about
the plants you see and their connenctions to
natural and human history
© Project SOUND

And come back next month to learn about
Boulders, Art and Other Large Hardscape
© Project SOUND
http://rwadamslaw.info/outdoor-landscaping-with-native-grasses.html

Parish 2018

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