Specia/,April on the Mountain Issue
DIABLO WATCH Sa,ve Jr!ount Diablo
Protecting the Mountain Since 1971
Spring 1992, #8
Restoring Mount Diablo by Seth Adams, Program Director Before Europeans showed up in the Bay Area, Mount Diablo and Contra Costa county presented a very different picture than the one we view today, even though in the short time since then, the mountain's physical appearance has changed very little. Barring the development that threatens the lower slopes, and the quarries on Mount Zion, the ridges look much the same; Castle Rock and the main peaks still rise above the surrounding valleys. In that preservation of land, Save Mount Diablo has been spectacularly successful. What's changed most on Diablo is the inake-up of its animal and plant life, which range in drama from grasslands that tum green and golden at different times of the year, to the absence of our state symbol, the grizzly bear, and the gray wolves both of which are extinct in California. Early reports of California's
wildlife remind us of present day reports of Africa's Serengeti herds, or the Arctic coast's caribou-tule elk and pronghorn by the millions, waterfowl that blackened the sky, salmon and steelhead runs that clogged our rivers and streams. California is among the most biologically rich areas in the world; more unique animals and plants are found here than in any other state. Yet more than 20% of the state's animals are classified as endangered, threatened, or 'of special concern'. Many more plant species are at risk. The reasons are as obvious as our 30 million person population, the European annual grasses that have crowded out many plant species, massive diversions of water and the paving over of wildlife habitat, to the ways we've managed some of what we have been able to save. Its equally - continued on page 10
Seth Adams of Save Mount Diablo, left, and Charli Danielson of the California Native Plant Society, examine the tiny new growth of Yerba Mansa, Anemopsis californica, a potential candidate for reintroduction to Mount Diablo.
Do Bears Eat Apples on Mount Diablo? by Genevieve Sattler When hiking on the Knob Cone Pine Road starting from Curry Point, have you noticed the shrubs with crooked branches and their almost polished-looking red or red-brown bark which exfoliates easily? These are Manzanita, a Spanish name which means "Little Apple". The scientific name, Arctostaphylos, is from the Greek - arktos; a bear and staphule; a grape (bears feed on the grapes). Manzanita is an evergreen, woody plant with simple oval-like leaves which alternate on small branches and twigs. The flowers range in color from a pearly white to tinges of rose
or pink. They are shaped like inverted bells or urns with the small, open end hanging down. Each blossom usually produces one fruit. There are four species of Manzanita on Mount Diablo: The following information will help you distinguish and identify these species. Big-berried Manzanita
(Arctostaphylos glauca) grows primarily on the northern side of Mount Diablo and can be seen in abundance in Donner Canyon. These plants are old and well-established and are often tree-like growing to 18 feet. There is no basal burl which means it will not 1
stump sprout after a fire. Big-berried Manzanita flowers from December to March and fruits in June. The flowers are white, the ovary is not hairy and the berry has a solid stone. The leaves are whitish and the branchlets are without spreading bristles. Bigberried Manzanita has an extensive range from Mount Diablo southward to Baja California. Parry Manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita) is a 6-12 foot shrub, usually very erect, with bright green leaves. It is common in the Inner Black Hills area of Mount Diablo. - continued on page 9