Re: Those Trees From Monterey [& Guadalupe Island]

Good news from Guadalupe Island, the westernmost
outpost of Mexico and southernmost outpost of the
California floristic province. According to Steve
Junak of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, a few
remnant Pinus radiata var. binata groves are being
fenced for protection from feral goats and their
seedlings are proliferating in the "cages." This is
the tallest-growing population of P. radiata, and
being only marginally placed in the winter-rainfall
belt (200-500mm max annually), it depends heavily on
fog drip for survival. The pre-goat woodland formerly
helped transfer fog moisture to the island's water
table but springs have long gone dry as the woodland
has died out. Must have been like Baja's own Fray
Jorge (Chile) National Park medit-climate cloud
forest. Epiphytic ferns (Polypodium scouleri!) persist
on the old P. radiata var. binatas on the island.
Plantations of this variety have been made in
Australia.

Re "macrocarpa," Monterey cypress, I've only just
recently seen the wood used here in the San Francisco
Bay Area, where it's a staple ornamental tree with no
commercial exploitation apart from the marvelous
furniture and paneling applications done by Paul
Discoe of Joinery Structures and by others, perhaps,
whose work I've not seen. I had always thought the
heartwood rotted too quickly for it to be milled, but
not always.

Then there's that other ultra-narrow endemic tree from
Monterey, Cupressus goveniana, the sole habitat of
which are two spots above Carmel. Don't see much of
that planted around for ornament. Perhaps it'll be the
next big thing for pulp or timber in .za, .nz, or .au.
And can't forget the marvelous Guadalupe Island
cypress, Cupressus guadalupensis, with its variable,
sometimes smooth cinnamon bark and glaucous foliage.
It's a more common ornamental in these parts.

Cheers,
Jason Dewees
San Francisco
...enjoying last night's heavy drizzle at this parched
time of the year.

> --- Tony and Moira Ryan <tomory@xtra.co.nz> wrote:
>  >>Another local example would be the healthy and
> vigorous specimens of both the Monterey cypress
>  >>(Cupressus Macrocarpa)and Monterey pine (Pinus
>  >>radiata here, doing it seems much better in NZ
> than
>  >>in their native California.
> 
>  >>One reason for this improvement may well be that
>  >>they sometimes manage to leave behind most of
> their
>  >>pests and diseases as a result of the move.
> > Their ability to succeed on the poorest of land is
> phenomenal. 

> Cupressus macrocarpa (known here just as
> "macrocarpa") was not 
> originally introduced as a timber tree, but
> primarily as a good wind 
> shelter in the form of  hedges and as shelter belts
> on farms and also 
> occasionally as a specimen in large gardens and
> parks.  By now these 
> uses have largely died out. 
> 
> What has happened in recent years however is an
> increasing appreciation 
> of its value as a timber tree as it is one of the
> few woods naturally 
> highly resistant to weather and soil fungi, so it
> can be used for 
> outdoor applications without chemical treatment..
> 
> At the moment there is only a limited amount of this
> timber available 
> and much of it comes from those aged monsters with
> their often awkward 
> growth habit. I gather quite a lot of young trees
> have now been planted 
> strictly to produce timber and careful training and
> pruning is being 
> undertaken to encourage more useful and straight
> growth. I am sure the 
> demand will quickly increase once these trees reach
> maturity.
> 
> And talking of aged monsters, the huge knotty planks
> which such trees 
> can  produce have created a fad among the more
> way-out furniture makers 
> for incorporating them in weird seats and tables
> where they certainly 
> can look very striking if not exactly beautiful!
> 
> Moira
> 
> -- 
> Tony & Moira Ryan,
> Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ.     Pictures of our
> garden at:-
>
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
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