Weed trees in California
- Subject: Weed trees in California
- From: R* G*
- Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 21:03:17 -0800
Schinus terebinthifolius may not spread like a weed in California, but
it's cousin, Schinus molle sure does, to such a degree that it is often
known as the "California Pepper Tree" in spite of being native to the
Peruvian Andes. Possibly it is not as well adapted up in your neck of
the woods? I find it ironic, that the Peruvian Pepper Tree is the
"Native" tree most loved by (American) visitors to the southern half of
the state (many seem to find the shape of our oaks unattractive, so
accustomed they are, I suppose, to the taller, straighter trees of their
home).
Ryan Gyurkovitz, Coastal SoCal
David feix wrote:
> --- William Bade <bade@Math.Berkeley.EDU> wrote:
> > In add to one of Glenn's points-that eucalyptus
> > sucks water up from soil,
> > we were hosts to a forest professor from Istanbul
> > who told us that they
> > were planting eucalyptus in marshy areas to drain
> > their swamps at the rate
> > of 80 gallons a day per tree.
> > Elly Bade
>
> Elly,
>
> I am certainly not an expert, but even drought
> tolerant tree species of fairly large size here in
> California would transpire that amount of water or
> more in one day, if I am not mistaken. The key
> characteristic of tree species planted to drain marshy
> areas would be their ability to tolerate seasonally
> wet conditions, and very low soil oxygen levels for
> months at a time. There seem to be large areas of
> western and northern Australia with exactly these
> conditions of summer wet monsoon created swamps, and
> many tree species in the Eucalyptus and Melaleuca
> genus which can thrive in seasonally flooded
> condtions. This is what makes them such serious weed
> pests in places like the Everglades in south Florida,
> where Schinus terebinthifolius also spreads like a
> weed.
>
> It is one of the wonders of nature that many of these
> same species are considered prime drought tolerant
> species and well regarded here in California, and
> don't act as escaped weeds in our conditions.
>
> Regarding Moira's comments on many Eucalypts being
> poor choices for a lawn tree, this effect is also true
> of most surface rooting trees. I have a very greedy
> Morus alba tree as a street tree in my own front yard,
> and I find the tree roots everywhere throughout my
> entire front yard, and especially concentrated in the
> small lawn. Tall Fescue sod which could easily
> survive with only weekly irrigation without this tree,
> completely dies out if not watered more frequently in
> my garden at the height of summer.
>
> Any surface rooting tree species will outcompete most
> turf grasses in unwatered situations, and cause the
> same browning effect. Some commonly planted Eucs here
> might include E. ficifolia and E. citriodora, both
> well behaved trees in lawns. The greater problem with
> Eucalyptus species and lawns here is with the shedding
> species such as E. globulus or E. viminalis, which
> shed so much bark, branches, leaves that they simply
> smother the turf below unless regulary removed. Very
> much similar to the debris our Coast Redwoods create
> if left undisturbed.
>
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