Yellow Starthistle: Noxious Weed

Yellow Starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis L.)

"Noxious weed: any living stage (including seeds and reproductive parts) of a parasitic or other plant of a kind which is of foreign origin, is new to or not widely prevalent in the U.S., and can directly or indirectly injure crops, other useful plants, livestock, poultry or other interests of agriculture, including irrigation, navigation, fish and wildlife resources, or the public health." ~Federal Noxious Weed Act 1974

One of the noxious weeds that I see everyday when I walk my child to school is the Yellow Starthistle.  The flowers may look innocent but the Yellow Starthisle is registered in the list of noxious weeds in California.  Its aggressive spread affects the yield and quality of rangelands, pastures and grasslands.  The spines on the flowers make it less palatable to livestock; hence they avoid areas that are infested with the weed.  In this case the spread of Yellow Starthistle does not affect livestock per se but it reduces the effective grazing area. 

For the horses, however, this weed is food.  Horses eat this weed and they are capable of chewing and digesting it.  When a horse consumes a certain amount of this toxic weed, it can contract a neurological disorder called "chewing diseases" (Nigropallidal encephalomalacia).  Inability to swallow and chewing in the absence of food in the mouth are among the symptoms of the disease.

This weed is wanted in California!  You and I are licensed to kill it.  If you are looking for an opportunity to have no mercy on a plant - this is it!

Read more about this weed:

Yellow Starthistle

Federal and State Noxious Weeds

From Here to Your Kitchen

San Benito County, California

Have you ever wondered where the produce you see in your grocery store came from?   Well, if you are in the US, Canada, Japan, and Europe, it is likely that you will find something that has been grown in California.  The Mediterranean climate of California which stretches along the Pacific Ocean provides the perfect growing conditions for many crops.   Travel north or south along I-5 or Hwy-101 along the length of the state, keep your eyes open and the landscape will speak about the productivity of the land.  Last month when we went on a college tour for my older daughter I took some pictures of the fields along the way.

My family used to live in Hollister where every freeway that leads us out of the city goes through farms of some sort.  Depending on the road that you take you are submerged into a different smell.  Gilroy definitely will surround you with a garlic smell for miles as processing plants push out aromatic steam into the atmosphere.  Then you come to a place where most of the vegetables are processed and you feel like you're near a pizza factory. 

Eighty percent of the fresh and frozen strawberries that reach the market today come from California.  Watsonville, nicknamed The Strawberry Capital of the World, is a small town with strawberry farms that seem to go on forever.  

Watsonville, California:  Strawberry capital of the world.

California is semi-arid - water is an important resource.

Portable toilets for the farm workers.

The recent news regarding the alleged presence of E. coli on fresh produce (spinach and lettuce) have scared most consumers.  Nonetheless, something good comes out of incidents like these.  We are scared of the effects of the contaminants on our health but the farmers are even more concerned because their family livelihood is at stake.  The whole family and estate is jeopardized when their produce are contaminated.  They don't sit pretty and watch us all die.  In fact while we scramble to choose which brand is cleanest, they probably work hard and brain storm for ways to deliver the best for the consumers. 

For what it's worth - I noted one observation during a trip last month that would make any grocery shopper feel comfortable.   There were remarkably more portable toilets installed throughout the farms where people were working than I can remember seeing.  I believe that this is one of the measures that farmers have considered to reduce contamination of the produce before they reach the market place.  I would not be surprised if the laborers are required to participate in a special training regarding sanitary practices in the fields.   Indeed, California

If the veggies you ate today did not come from your garden, where did it come from?

Eichornia crassipes

Water Hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes):  Flowers

These beautiful flowers are from a plant that is considered a weed in natural bodies of waters - the water hyacinth.  This is particularly true in California where the plant can withstand the mild winter temperatures.   

Weed is defined as plant growing in the wrong place.  Therefore my plants are NOT weeds because they are growing where I want them to be.  They are floating inside huge decorative pots in my garden.  They help keep the water clear and they produce beautiful ethereal flowers.  

In another place of the yard, we have a plastic pond where my son keeps his pet turtle.  The water hyacinth provides a hiding place for the turtle and adds greenery to an otherwise boring pond.  So it is very useful for us.  The plant reproduces rapidly but I am not worried about it because I am looking at a potential mulching-material.  :)

Water Hyacinth is a free-floating plant.

Grow water hyacinths in your water gardens but don't let them go astray into other waters.

Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia)

At the Mojave Desert there is a vast land area where one type of plant stands out taller than the monotonous sea of low-growing shrubs.  This plant is the Yucca brevifolia which is commonly known as the Joshua tree.  The desert sits at an elevation of six to ten thousand feet above sea level which means that it is not only dry but also cold particularly in the winter.  To compare this with our town which is located at 650 feet above sea level; every year one or two of my plants succumb to the freezing temperatures of winter. 

As we traveled through the desert, I wondered how this plant persists in this dry and cold environment.  I understand that the Joshua tree is indigenous to the Mojave Desert and it is not found anywhere else in the world (except where it is cultivated).  What then makes it a plant of this desert?  Here's what I found out to explain this mystery.  This plant in fact develops two types of root systems.  One is a storage root in the form of bulbs (4 feet in circumference) that are buried very deep - 10 to 30 feet into the ground.  This is where water is stored.  The other type is what I call the explorer-roots.  They scout for water on the shallow ground.  Water from rain or melting snow in this desert is often concentrated within the upper layer of the soil. 

The Joshua tree lives on what is necessary instead of optimum.  It maintains the minimum number and size of leaves to reduce moisture lose through transpiration.  It looks whimsical but that's because it grows very slowly; it branches only by the termination of apical growth due to flowering.  It is not there to get big fast but to live and reproduce itself. 

I guess we could learn from the Joshua tree in the way we live.  Avoid excessiveness and learn to live with what's within our means. We could learn to recognize our needs against our desires.   The Joshua tree looks very austere as compared to most trees but it sits on a hefty reservoir of water.

We had to stop to get closer to a Joshua Tree.

The Joshua tree is unique to the Mojave Desert.  Do you know of other plants that are specific to one particular region?  What characteristics do they have that allows them to adapt to that particular area? 

Filoli Garden

 We visited Filoli on our way home from that long road trip we took to Southern California.  We toured several universities and for a break we decided to treat ourselves to something different.  The tour of Filoli includes a house and a garden tour but we stayed in the gardens during the whole time.  We skipped the part of the tour that focused on the opulence of the people who lived in that magnificent house.  It is interesting and relaxing to appreciate the verdant gardens; the delight of discovering a new garden room at every gate; the various horticultural techniques that shaped the different trees and shrubs; and the brilliance behind the choice of the different colors and shapes of plants in every corner of the garden.

 

Filoli Center is located in Woodside near San Francisco.   The place is bay-influenced and thus the weather is mild.  The good thing about the place is that it is so close to the city and yet when you are there is the feeling of being so detached from the busyness of the urban life.

There is a great history behind the house and the garden but a tiny glimpse of that history can be extrapolated from the origin of the name of the property Fi-Lo-Li.   The original owner had this for a credo:  "Fight for a cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life." The name was derived by combining the first two letters of the key words of the phrase. 

If you happen to be near San Francisco and wondering where to go...I strongly recommend Filoli.