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Re: native plants

Dear list members,
I am working on an article about Native Plants and am searching for a
definition/interpretation for the terms "indigenous" and "native".
I would appreciate any assistance with this clarification of terms.
thanks,
gloria schechter day

> A good friend who specializes in native plants uses 'native' and 'indigenous'
> pretty interchangeably to describe plants that were growing in the Americas
> before European settlement.  That strikes me as a good, practical sticking
> point.  Indigenous peoples did their share of moving about, no doubt carrying
> seed and/or plants with them in many cases, but I can't imagine how anyone
> would pinpoint that sort of introduction.
> Nature constantly moves plants and seeds many miles, by water, by air, by
> birds, etc.  Are we not part of nature?  I often think our species has
> entirely too high an opinion of our own capacity and influence.
>
> JF

Gloria and Frielster,

I believe Ron expressed a pretty clear understanding of the complications of
Gloria's question.  However you define it, the word "native" needs to be
tied to a geographical area.  Understanding of this term has evolved rapidly
during recent years.  Even a decade ago, it was common to speak broadly of
California native plants, even though the state is home to more than 6,000
species, subspecies, and varieties of plants indigenous to many different
climates, microclimates, geological formations, soils , and plant
communities--far more than all of the continent of Europe.  If one lives in
a redwood forest on the state's northern coast, it is hard to imagine the
cacti, agaves, ocotillo, and elephant trees of the Colorado desert as being
"natives" of the same geographical unit.  One must focus in on a smaller
section, and the way native plantspeople of today see it, the smaller this
unit, the better.  The real natives are those which used to live in your own
neighborhood before humans started messing with the landscape--building
houses and roads, planting crops and gardens, introducing new plants and
animals.

I think both of you should read a very special book, Gardening with A Wild
Heart, by Judith Larner Lowry, University of California Press, 1999, to gain
a new perspective on native plants.

John MacGregor
South Pasadena, CA 91030
USDA zone 9   Sunset zones 21/23

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