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Vorobik Botanical Art
P.O. Box 866, Lopez Island, WA 98261. 510-520-2423. vorobik@gmail.com
All images on this site copyright Linda Ann Vorobik unless otherwise stated; Use granted only with written permission.
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The Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon hold some of the most wonderful sites for botanizing (see PDF), and now (May-June) is an excellent time to botanize in southwestern Oregon. Attached here is a link to my species list for the 8$ Mountain Road to the Days Gulch Darlingtonia fen, and beyond to Babyfoot Lake. This area was extensively burned by the Biscuit Fire in the summer of 2002. The following is a paper I presented discussing the flora at Babyfoot Lake before and after the Biscuit Fire. Please forgive remaining typos--I wanted to post this before an extensive proofread.
Vascular Plant Species of Babyfoot Lake Botanical Area Before the Biscuit Fire, with Comments on Post-fire Flora
by Linda Ann Vorobik, MS for Proceedings, SFI 2003 Meetings
University Herbarium, 1001 Valley Life Sciences Building #2465,
Berkeley, CA 94720-2465; [vorobik@gmail; 510-520-2423]Abstract: Presented here is a pre-Biscuit fire species list for the Babyfoot Lake Botanical Area (ca. 4,000 ft /1,220 m in elevation), along with comments on living plants within the botanical area after the fire. This botanical area is located on the eastern edge of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area, Josephine, County Oregon, Section 31 T38S, R9W (42º 13’ 15” N Lat. 123º 48’ 21” W Long.). Species were tallied along or in the vicinity of the Babyfoot Lake Trail (No. 1124A) from the parking area to the lake. The list was augmented from an unpublished Siskiyou National Forest list each June from 1994 through 2003. Vouchers were not collected within the botanical area, but the author vouchered the majority of taxa on the list from neighboring areas.
Before the Biscuit Fire the botanical area was rich in conifer species (12 species total), including Klamath endemic Picea breweriana, and woody shrubs (22 species total), including Klamath endemic Quercus saddleriana. Vegetation before the 2002 Biscuit fire ranged from open rocky outcrops with taxa such as Arctostaphylos nevadensis, Lewisia cotyledon, Cheilanthes gracillima, and Pellaea brachyptera, to trees of mesic forest, such as Pseudotsuga menziesii, Picea breweriana, Cupressus lawsoniana, Pinus lambertiana, with understory taxa in the most mesic regions including Rhododendron macrophyllum, Clintonia uniflora, and Thelepteris nevadensis. Living plants observed after the fire included Xerophyllum tenax, several crownsprouting shrubs, including Lithocarpus densiflorus, most of the taxa of the rock-outcrop and lake outlet vicinity, and a few scattered conifers including some individuals of Picea breweriana.Introduction
Babyfoot Lake, at an elevation of ca. 4,000 ft (1,220 m), is located in southwestern Oregon in the heart of the Siskiyou Mountains (part of the Klamath Range) at the eastern edge of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area. I have augmented an existing Siskiyou National Forest unpublished species list for the botanical area and the approach to it since 1994, while leading field trips for Siskiyou Field Institute (www.thesfi.org). Because the Biscuit Fire (July through November 2002; www.biscuitfire.com) burned this area, publishing this revised list, although unvouchered from plants within the Botanical Area, seemed particularly valuable.
The Area
The Babyfoot Lake Botanical Area was created in 1963 to protect Brewer’s spruce (Picea breweriana) and other endemic or sensitive plants of the region, including Siskiyou fritillary (Fritillaria glauca), Purdy’s lewisia (Lewisia cotyledon var. purdyi; included within var. cotyledon in the Oregon Flora checklist), opposite-leaved lewisia (L. oppositifolia), and Tracy’s desert parsley (Lomatium tracyi). Located in the center of Section 31 T38S, R9W (42º 13’ 15” N Lat. 123º 48’ 21” W Long.) (Figure 1), the botanical area covers 352 acres, and includes the largest stand of Brewer’s spruce (Picea breweriana) in the Siskiyou Mountains. The area is primarily forested (Figure 2), with dominant trees including Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Shasta red fir (Abies magnifica ssp. shastensis), sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), Port Orford cedar (Cupressus lawsoniana), and incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens). The underlying rock types include diorite, greenstone, layered tuffs, and some ultramaphic rocks including serpentine.
The approach to Babyfoot Lake Botanical Area is west up the Eight Dollar Mountain Road from Highway 199 (south of Selma and north of Cave Junction), up road FS 4201 for about 15 miles, left onto spur road 140, and south for about one half mile to the botanical area parking lot. The Eight Dollar Mountain Road from Highway 199 to the trailhead traverses typical Siskiyou vegetation, beginning with Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) woodlands typical of non-serpentine soils at lower elevations of ca. 1,300 ft (400 m). Next the trees become widely scattered, and serpentine chaparral alternates with grassland plant associations (Jimerson et al. 1995), with scattered trees from species such as Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi), western white pine (P. monticola), knobcone pine (P. attenuata), incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). The drive up to the trailhead crosses into and out of serpentine, respectively indicated by open mixed conifer vegetation and closed canopy forest. Many of the same species occur in both communities, but Douglas-fir is much more dominant in the closed forest, and is joined by other species not usually found on serpentine, such as big-leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum). As one gains elevation on the approach to the Babyfoot Lake trailhead, sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) becomes more common, and Shasta red fir (Abies magnifica ssp. shastensis) becomes part of the forest canopy.Methods
Species were tallied along the Babyfoot Lake Trail (FS No.1124A), beginning from the trailhead and traveling south and west through the forest, off the trail down a west-facing rock outcrop located due north of the outlet stream, and along the outlet stream to the lake (Figure 1). Total walking transect distance equal ca. 2 miles (3.2 km) round trip; elevation of area sampled ranges from ca 3,800-4,000 ft (1,160-1,220 m). The list published here was augmented from an existing Siskiyou National Forest unpublished document as compiled by contributing botanists, primarily Veva Stansell, Anita Seda, Rachel Winters, Chris Reyes, and Pat Munoz. My list is neither definitive nor exhaustive, as it was created during one to two visits per year, primarily in the month of June, from 1994 through 2003. Vouchers were not collected within the botanical area, but the author has vouchered the majority of taxa on the list from neighboring areas (Vorobik 1985).Pre-fire vegetation
Vascular plant taxa observed before the 2002 Biscuit fire are listed in Table 1; a total of 143 taxa were tallied. As this list represents a sample of species along a walking transect described in the Methods section it does not represent all taxa present within the botanical area. A brief discussion of the more common or interesting taxa follows.
The montane forest. As one ascends by road to the trailhead of Babyfoot Lake, lowland tree species are replaced by those more typical of montane forest: red fir (Abies magnifica ssp. shastensis), sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), and the Klamath Mountain endemic, Brewer’s spruce (Picea breweriana). Along with many other rare, endemic species in the Klamath-Siskiyou region, Brewer’s spruce populations are thought to be a relict of a once more widespread distribution, in this case, in the Miocene (Waring et al. 1975). Despite the closed canopy of the montane forest canopy, the shrub understory is also impressively diverse at this elevation (ca. 4,000 ft/ 1,220 m), with oak and heath families well represented, but with species differing from those found at lower elevations. Pre-fire oak family species within the botanical area included another Klamath endemic, Saddler or deer oak (Quercus sadleriana), huckleberry oak (Q. vaccinifolia), and tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus var. echinoides). Heath family shrubs included greenleaf manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula), rhododendron or rose-bay (Rhododendron macrophyllum), salal (Gaultheria shallon), red huckleberry (Vaccinium parviflorum), grouse huckleberry (V. scoparium), and evergreen huckleberry (V. myrtillus). Labrador tea (Ledum glandulosum) occurred along the lake margins, and also occurs along stream and lake margins at lower elevations.
The trail to Babyfoot Lake heads north to the lake, and before the 2002 fire, was in a cool, dark forest dominated by Shasta red fir, Douglas-fir, and Brewer’s spruce, where the understory included numerous non-photosynthetic plants of Ericaceae and Orchidaceae. Near the botanical area one could find bright red snow plant (Sarcodes sanguineum), or red-and-white striped Allotropa virgata, aptly named candy cane or sugar stick. Within the botanical area, other non-photosynthetic Ericaceae included pine drops (Pterospora andromedea), fringed pinesap (Pleuricospora fimbriolata), and pinesap (Monotropa hypopitys). Photosynthetic herbs and subshrubs of the Ericaceae included both species of prince’s pine (Chimaphila umbellata and C. menziesii), slender salal (Gaultheria ovatifolia), one-sided wintergreen (Orthilia secunda), and three species of true wintergreen, the genus Pyrola (P. asarifolia, P. picta, and P. minor).
Non-photosynthetic orchids within the botanical area forests included spotted and western coralroot (Corallorhiza maculata and C. mertensiana) and the completely white phantom orchid (Cephalanthera austiniae). Photosynthetic orchids included fairy slipper (Calypso bulbosa) with its delicate pink flowers, rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera oblongifolia) with its mottled leaves, and western twayblade (Listera caurina). The trail descends to a perennial stream that was, before the fire, shaded by large Port Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) and lined with Sierra marsh-fern (Thelypteris nevadensis), with species such as western rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum) and queens cup (Clintonia uniflora) nearby. Plants of Thelypteris were the first of many ferns encountered in the Botanical area, followed by licorice fern (Polypodium glycyrrhiza), sword fern (Polystichum imbricans), and fragile fern (Cystopteris fragilis) all on a large (13 ft/ 4 m) rock within the forest.
West-facing rock outcrop. After the trail leaves a forest dominated by Brewer’s spruce, it opens onto a rocky outcrop (Figure 2) projecting west towards the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area, including Preston Peak. Species present before the Biscuit Fire included parsley fern (Cryptogramma crispa), lace fern (Cheilanthes gracillima), birdfoot fern (Pellaea brachyptera), and Indian dream (Aspidotis densa). Along with the ferns, this rocky outcrop included the rare Lewisia cotyledon var. purdyi, L. oppositifolia, and Heckner’s stonecrop, Sedum laxum var. heckneri. Other more common species included three species of Penstemon (P. davidsonii, P. rupicola, and P. parvulus), larkspur (Delphinium sp.), and the parasitic broomrape (Orobanche uniflora) with its host plant, broadleaved stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium).
South and down about 100 ft (30 m) is the outlet stream (Figure 3), with plants adapted to more mesic conditions, such as Menzie’s saxifrage (Saxifraga menziesii), wandering daisy (Erigeron peregrinus), and bronze bells (Stenanthium occidentale).
Before the Biscuit Fire, between the outlet stream on the rock outcrop and the lake, there was a mesic forest with mature sugar pines (Pinus lambertiana) with trunks 2-3 ft (0.6-0.9 m) in diameter, and understory taxa which included salal, orchids, and non-photosynthetic Ericaceae. Surrounding the lake were trees such as Cupressus lawsoniana, Pseudotsuga menziesii, and Picea breweriana, with shrubs such as Salix sp., Rhododendron occidentale, and Ledum glandulosum.Post-fire Comments
Although the effects of the Biscuit Fire can be seen along the drive to the Babyfoot Lake trailhead, with completely burned areas where all trees were killed alternating with patches that did not burn at all, the impact to the botanical area was severe (Figure 4). Most trees were still standing, although dead. The forest in October 2002 consisted of strong black trunks of trees in striking contrast to a golden carpet formed by needles fallen from scorched trees. Particularly striking were burnt Brewer’s spruce, whose black outer bark contrasted sharply with lighter yellow-orange underbark exposed by exfoliating puzzle-shaped flakes (Figure 5). Even though it had been a few months since the fire swept through, plants were beginning to grow again. Shrubby deer oak, huckleberry oak, tanoak, and wood rose (Rosa gymnocarpa) were sprouting from crowns (Figure 6). New shoots of beargrass were distributed throughout the forest floor. Although most of the trees were dead or dying and the duff layer had burned, exposing mineral soil, still a few trees around the lake survived (Figure 7), including Pseudotsuga menziesii, Calocedrus decurrens, and Salix sp. Also, sporadic patches of duff with their associated understory plants remained minimally damaged by the fire in certain areas within the forest.
The rock outcrops within the forest had clearly sustained very high temperatures, as they were scoured of all organic material (Figure 8). However, the large rock outcrop (Figure 9) and the outlet stream burned only lightly, and most, if not all, of the plants located in these sites will probably survive. Another surprise was seeing new growth of Thelypteris nevadensis and other species along the stream in the deep forest, in spite of the fact that all the surrounding old-growth trees were killed by the fire.
Most recently the standing dead trees adjacent to the botanical area have been logged (Figure 10), including the area where Allotropa virgata and Sarcodes sangunium occurred, the latter of which was seen post-fire. This general local would provide excellent opportunities to compare succession in vegetation of logged with unlogged burn areas outside and within the botanical area, respectively.Acknowledgements
I am grateful to those persons and organizations that have brought me to a greater understanding of flora of the Siskiyou Mountains. I thank Veva Stansell, Charlene Simpson, Anita Seda, Maria Ulloa, Wilbur Bluhm, Linda Mazzu, former students, and others for delightful and educational days in the field, Cindy Roché for editorial comments, the curators of the Oregon herbaria of ORE, SOC, OSC, and WILLU (Dave Wagner, Frank Lang, and Ken Chambers) for use of the collections, and the UC Jepson Herbarium, USFS, BLM, NPSO, and the Siskiyou National Forest and Siskiyou Field Institute for financial support of my field work in southwestern Oregon.References
Atzet, T., D.E. White, L.A. McCrimmon, P.A. Martinez, P.R. Fong, and V.D. Randall. 1996. Field Guide to the Forested Plant Associations of Southwestern Oregon. USDA Forest Service Technical Paper R6-NR-ECOL-TP-17-96.Franklin, J. F. and C. T. Dyrness. 1973. Natural vegetation of Oregon and Washington. USDA. Forest Service Technical Report PNW-8. U.S. Government Printing Office. Washington D.C.
Hickman, J. Editor. The Jepson Manual, Higher Plants of California. University of California Press. Berkeley, CA.
Jimerson, T.M., L.D. Hoover, E.A. McGee, G. DeNitto, and R.M. Creasy. A Field Guide to Serpentine Plant Associations and Sensitive Plants in Northwestern California. USDA Forest Service Technical Paper R5- ECOL-TP-006.
Kruckeberg, A.R. 1984. California Serpentines: Flora, Vegetation, Geology, Soils, and Management Problems. University of California Press. Berkeley, CA.
Peck, M. E. 1961. A Manual of the Higher Plants of Oregon. Binfords & Mort. Portland, OR. Second edition.
Vorobik, L.A. 1985. Hybridization and reproductive isolation between sympatric Arabis (Cruciferae) in southwestern Oregon. PhD Dissertation, University of Oregon, Eugene.
Waring, R.H., W.H. Emmingham, and S.W. Running. 1975. Environmental limits of an endemic spruce, Picea breweriana. Canadian Journal of Botany 53: 1599-1613.
White, D. H. 1971. Vegetation-soil chemistry correlations in serpentine ecosystems. Doctoral dissertation. Department of Biology, University of Oregon. Eugene.
Whittaker, R. H. 1960. Vegetation of the Siskiyou Mts., Oregon and California.. Ecol. Monogr. 30: 279-338.
Additional Resources:
www.biscuitfire.com. Biscuit Fire Recovery website.
www.siskiyou.org. Siskiyou Project website.
www.fs.fed.us/r6/siskiyou/. Siskiyou National Forest website.