more taxonomy

Thanks to all for the suggestions for my taxonomy project.  I spent an hour
wandering the streets of downtown Oakland yesterday trying to see if I
could put together a 'walk' of plants similar to Sean's suggestion while
incorporating the idea of 'plants in the sidewalk cracks'.  I couldn't come
up with 35 of the latter but the downtown area has a few park areas,
notably the gardens of the Oakland Museum, so it looks as if I can
concisely gather the necessary flora within about a six square block area.


I don't know if anyone would find my list interesting--they are mostly
pan-temperate weeds--but here is my plan:

1.  Erodium moschatum, Whitestem filaree, scissorweed, a winter annual
here--Geraniaceae
2.  Matricaria matricariodes, Pineapple weed--Asteraceae (i.e. a composite)
3.  Poa annua, annual rye--Poaceae
4.  Lolium multiflorum, annual ryegrass--Poaceae
5.  Stellaria media, chickweed--Caryophyllaceae
6.  Oxalis pes-caprae, wood sorrel?, Oxalidaceae
7.  Malva parvifora, Cheeseweed--Malvaceae
8.  Sonchus oleraceus, Annual sowthistle--Asteraceae
9.  Hordeum leporinum, wild barley--Poaceae
10.  Plantago lanceolata, Buckhorn plantain--Plantaginaceae

I've made my way from the library to the post office at this point.  There
are at least three weeds I vaguely remember but can't id.  This exercise is
about keying practice, right?, so I figure I'll decipher what they are
which gets me to...

14.  Gnaphalium chilense{one book lists it as G.purpureum}, Cudweed--Asteraceae
15.  Pittosporum tobira, Mock Orange--Pittosporaceae--a shrub in front of
an apartment bldg.
16.  Taraxacum officinale, Dandelion--Asteraceae
17.  a Eucalyptus street tree, species unknown, no flower but plenty of
fruit--how the heck do you press a Euc capsule?
18.  Ficus nitida{Ficus retusa?}, Indian Laurel Fig--Moraceae, another
street tree w/o flowers, must ask the teacher if this is kosher
19.  Foeniculum vulgare, Fennel--Apiaceae
20.  Polygonum aviculare, Knotweed--Polygonaceae
21.  another one of those confusing annual grasses, maybe Echinochloa
crusgalli, Barnyardgrass--gotta key this one
22.  Polygonum capitatum, Pinkhead knotweed--Polygonaceae--a ground cover
on the east side of the post office that's been neglected so long that it's
more of a weed than an official part of the landscape
23.  Raphiolepis indica, India hawthorn--Rosaceae--another forlorn part of
the US govt landscape
24.  Euphorbia peplus, Petty spurge--Euphorbiaceae
25., 26.  two unknown, but flowering(!) weeds under a tree by the post office
27.  Cynodon dactylon, Bermuda grass--Poaceae--no flowers yet but I've got
weeks till the assignment is due.
28.  Senecio vulgaris, Common groundsel--Asteraceae
29.  Carpobrotus edulis, Hottentot Fig--Asteraceae--a ground cover beside a
vertical parking lot
30.  Myosotis sylvatica, Forget me not--Boraginaceae
I'm at the Oakland Museum at this point.  There are lots of plants inside
the museum grounds but Ill try to stick to the city streets in keeping with
the general theme of renegade plants
31.  Bellis perennis, English Daisy--Asteraceae
32.  Plantago major, Broadleaf plantain--Plantaginaceae
33.  Araucaria auracana, Monkey Puzzle tree{or is it a Bunya Bunya? must
key this one}--Araucariaceae
I'm at Lake Merritt, the downtown lake now, just about finished
34.  Cirsium vulgare, Bull thistle-Asteraceae--might be some other Cirsium,
gotta investigate this one
35.  Geranium dissectum, Cutleaf geranium--Geraniaceae

That's enough, and all, save the trees, are in flower now.  If I get busy
this Thursday I can probably collect all my specimens in one afternoon.  No
one family dominates as I feared the Asteraceae would.  And if I have time
I can spice up the presentation with folklore about many of these plants,
old time medicinal uses, etc.

How many mistakes did I make Rod?
Jerry Heverly, Oakland, CA
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index