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COMMON SHRUBS AND PERENNIALS OF THE SEPULVEDA BASIN WILDLIFE RESERVE |
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Mulefat (Baccharis salicifolia) - Sunflower Family |
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Mulefat, named so because horses and mules love to eat it, is bushy, growing less than 13 feet tall. Mulefat lives in streams or where water is just below the surface of the ground. Winter floods often knock mulefat over. It quickly sends out new shoots or bends the old stems toward the sun. |
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Coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis) - Sunflower Family |
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The coyote bush is dioecious, meaning there are separate female and male plants. |
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 coyote bush (male) |
 coyote bush (female) |
 above, coyote bushes bloom in December. |
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California wild rose (Rosa californica) - Rose Family |
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The California wild rose can grow 8 feet tall. The rose if very bushy and has sharp thorns. The flower buds were eaten by native Americans. Rose hips were used as medicine. Rose hips are used now to make a fragrant tea. CLICK HERE TO SEE SHORT VIDEO by Deborah A. Keaton |
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 above, California rose flowers are about 1” in diameter. |
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Hollyleaf Cherry (Prunus
ilicifolia) - Rose Family |
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| This is a
versatile, drought-tolerant evergreen shrub or small tree, often growing
10-25 feet tall and wide. Below, shrub is in full bloom. Posing in front are George Waddell and Julie and Emi Takayama. Click to see short video about Holly Leaf Cherry by Deborah A. Keaton |
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Golden currant (Ribes aureum) - Gooseberry Family |
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The golden currant is the first plant to flower each season, often as early as December. By mid-spring, the currants have formed and turn darker and riper, until they are juicy morsels for birds and other wildlife. The plant is deciduous and loses its leaves by mid-summer. |
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 above, golden currant flowers and leaves. |
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Mexican elderberry (Sambucus mexicana) - Honeysuckle Family |
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 above, young elderberry shrub in North Reserve. |
 above, elderberry fruit and flowers. |
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California blackberry (Rubus ursinus) - Rose Family |
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 above, California blackberry creates large thorny thickets. |
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Narrow-leaved milkweed (Asclepius fascicularis) - Milkweed Family |
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 above, milkweed flowers attract Monarch butterflies that lay their eggs. The Monarch caterpillars eat the leaves and the milkweed sap gives the Monarch butterflies their unappetizing taste. |
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Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) - Rose Family |
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 above: toyon planted on south bank of Burbank Blvd. |
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 toyon flower |
 toyon berries |
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Bladderpod (Isomeris arborea) - Caper Family |
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 above, black-chinned hummingbird seeks nectar from bladderpod on Hummingbird Hill. |
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Purple sage (Salvia leucophylla) - Mint Family |
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Purple sage has gray-green leaves and pink flowers. It will lose its leaves in the summer if rain was scant in spring. In the Reserve purple sage has been planted on Hummingbird Hill and in the South Reserve on the Burbank Blvd. berm. |
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 above, purple sage covered in flower heads. |
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