Environmental Volunteers -- Uses of "WavyLeafed Soap Plant"

Early California Indians -- Introduction
DISCUSSION POINTS:
A. Who was here when the Spanish first arrived? The Ohlone Indians
B. Are they truly native to the area? No, they migrated from Asia over the Bering Land
Bridge 20 to 25 thousand years ago. (perhaps as early as 40,000 years ago)
C. Living off the land, making use of local plants and animals for food and shelter.
D. Some plants had many uses other than as food. Let’s explore one of those plants to see
the many uses the Muwekma/Ohlone had for it. There may have been many more.

CHLOROGALUM POMERIDIANUM: Soap Plant: Soaproot or Amole
SOAP PLANT USES:
Soap plant contains Saponins which is a mild poison not readily absorbed by the human body but is highly toxic to fish. It acts on the respiratory organs of fish.
1. Used as a poison for catching fish
2. Used to clean body and hair
3. Effective against dandruff
4. Kills lice and fleas
5. Fresh juice rubbed on arthritic joints
to relieve pain
6. Decoction used as diuretic, laxative
and for stomach ache
7. Preparing and cleaning hides
8. Leaves used for making dolls
9. Baked in an earth oven and eaten
10. Baked juice used for glue to seal bottoms of seed baskets
11. Baked juice used for glue to affix feathers to arrows
12. Baked juice used for glue to affix rawhide backing to bow
13. Baked juice used for glue to create handle of outer fiber brush
14. Outer fibers to make a brush to clean baskets and mortars
15. Baked bulb crushed and used as poultice for sores or rashes
16. New leaves baked for eating
17. Leaves used to wrap acorn dough before baking
18. Juice of new leaves pricked into skin to create green tattoos
printed 1/31/07
From Wikipedia: Wavy-leafed Soap Plant, Chlorogalum pomeridianum
The Soap Plants, Soaproots or Amoles are the genus Chlorogalum of flowering plants. Less common names for them include Soap Lilies. They are endemic to western North America, from Oregon to Baja California, and are mostly found in California.
The Soap Plants grow as perennial plants, from a bulb, more or less elongated depending on the species. The bulbs can be white or brown, and in most species are very fibrous. The leaves
grow from the base of the plant. The flowers are born on a long central stem, and appear to have six rather separate petals (not all are petals in the technical sense). There are 6 stamens, which are rather prominent in most species.

Taxonomy: The placement of the genus Chlorogalum is currently uncertain. Until the 1980s, it was generally treated in the Lily family, Liliaceae, in the order Liliales, and conservative taxonomic sources such as ITIS still put it there. The consensus of more recent classifications has been that this is untenable, and for a time Chlorogalum was placed in the hyacinth family Hyacinthaceae, in the order Asparagales. According to Pfosser and Speta (1999), however,
molecular systematics now shows that this placement too is wrong at the family level, though they confirm that the genus should be within the Asperagales. Pfosser and Speta conclude that, along with genus Camassia, Chlorogalum seems to be most closely related to the families Agavaceae, Funkiaceae and Anthericaceae. The emerging consensus seems to be that these two genera should be placed in an expanded Agavaceae.

Five species are currently classified in the genus. All except the Wavy-leafed Soap Plant, Chlorogalum pomeridianum, have rather restricted distributions, with little overlap. The Wavyleafed
Soap Plant, however, has a range that virtually encompasses those of all other members of the genus, and is the most common of them.
• Narrow-leaf Soap Plant, Chlorogalum angustifolium, found in the inner north Pacific Coast Ranges of California and southern Oregon and the Sierra Nevada foothills
• Red Hills Soaproot, Chlorogalum grandiflorum, found in north + central Sierra Nevada foothills
• Small-flowered Soaproot Chlorogalum parviflorum, found in the south coastal region of California, south of Santa Barbara, and into Baja California
• Wavy-leafed Soap Plant, Chlorogalum pomeridianum, found anywhere in California except the Sierra Nevadas and the deserts, and also in south-western Oregon
• Purple Amole, Chlorogalum purpureum, found in the Outer South Coast Ranges of California, south of Monterey Bay and north of Santa Barbara

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
Subclass: Liliidae –
Order: was originally in Liliales. Now is placed in Order: Asparagales
Family: was originally in Liliaceae – Lily family. Now is placed in expanded Family: Agavaceae.
Genus: Chlorogalum Kunth – soap plant
Species: Chlorogalum pomeridianum (DC.) Kunth – wavyleaf soap plant

Good Afternoon. Below is a list of many of the flora and fauna seen today as we walked out Trail 12 and back at Jasper Ridge. Many of the observations were ones I would have expected but there were a few surprises. In no particular order:

Willow species in bloom, Giant Chain Fern, Equisetum (Horsetails), Gooseberry, Poison Hemlock, Red-stem Dogwood (Cornus). Hound's Tongue in bloom, Western Trillium, Western Leatherwood (Dirca) in bloom still, California Buckeye laden with Lichens, Mugwort, Red-berry, Ceanothus in bloom, Poison Oak with and without leaves, California Sagebrush, Chamise, Pitcher Sage, Chaparral Mallow, Hedge Nettle, Meadow Rue, Common Cattail, California Blackberry, Honeysuckle, Indian Warrior, Thistle species, Poison Sanicle, Fremont's Star Lily.

Stellar's Jay, Western Scrub Jay, Bushtit, Chestnut-backed Chickadee; freshly dug hole about the diameter of my little finger, hole debris off to side about two inches, typical of Brown Tarantula; Deer vertebrae; Broad-handed Mole (Scapanus latimanus) trailside, appeared whole, ants feeding at mouth and eyes; Shrew-mole (Neurotrichus gibbsii), in trail having lost some of the hair but body appeared whole, turned over and there were many larva (fly?) feeding. Shrew-mole resembles a mole only smaller, shrew-like head and furry tail. Carl and John have pictures.

The Mole and Shrew-mole are first for me at JRBP. I have seen them in other locations but not here. The sightings are the same though: in the open; body whole; no evidence of being chewed on by predators. The Chaparral Mallow surprised me. I had seen it here before but could not always find it upon return. I believe there is one plant up on trail 10 and the only other plant I know of is at Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto.

I may have missed a few but you get the idea of what we saw.

Here it is the middle of October and the area is experiencing a third wave of Oak Moths. Our first hatching was in late spring (May) but was not, to my knowledge, a heavy infestation. Hatch Number Two was a monster on the Stanford Campus with numerous oak trees totally stripped of leaves, especially near the new Performing Arts Center, but I heard reports of this at other on-campus sites. Hatch Number Three began about three weeks ago (early October) corresponding with warm days and nights, unusual for this time of year.

I noted two days ago (10/18) that there are still moths flitting around the Valley Oaks seeking a place to deposit their eggs to assure the species will survive through into the next season.

October, 2012

Observed Road Kill: Striped Skunk, Black-Tailed Deer, Coyote, Raccoon, Barn Owl

Observed while on the freeway: Great Blue Heron, Red-tailed Hawk, Snowy Egret, Great Egret, Turkey Vulture, American White Pelican, 4 Coyotes, numerous Ravens and Crows.

At or near the Ranch: American Kestrel, Northern Flicker, Meadowlark, European Starling, Canada Goose, Mallard, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Varied Thrush, Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel, House Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Stellar's Jay, Hermit Thrush, Mountain Chickadee, Mourning Dove, Dark-eyed Junco, Western Bluebird, Red-tailed Hawk, Black-billed Magpie

Lodgepole Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Spruce ssp, Cedar ssp, Manzanita ssp, Western Grey Squirrel

Datura roadside, Russian Thistle

I have, generally, several large snap-traps always set and baited in a storage area under one part of the house. We get a variety of rodents traveling through in search of their own little nesting area which I don't want to be under my dining room. Part of my daily ritual is to go out and check the traps and lately there has been little activity except for sprung and empty ones that I rebait and reset.

This morning the small mouse trap had been sprung so that was reset and I wandered down to the raised vegetable beds. Before I got there I came across a half-eaten (top half) Dusky-footed Wood Rat with the intestines carefully off to the side. A Banana Slug was attending to the feast, something I had not observed before.

A last note: 3-4 weeks ago near one of the big traps was a mass of something. It was obviously animal in nature and then I saw a bit of rat tail. It took me a minute or two to realize that what I was looking at was the inner lining of the skin. The rat had been skinned literally by turning the body inside out but now there was no body left, only inside-out skin and fur. I even found the skull which had much of the fur removed. What might have done this?? Possibly a raccoon, finding the rat in the trap, and taking the opportunity for an easy meal?

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JUNE 21, 2012 (Word/LIFE/More on life)

Monday last, was my time on my own terms. I was determined to go for a good walk. I had the binoculars, camera, ample water and a mind set that would force me to move as I pleased, look as I should and respond to sounds often discarded as being obstacles to my other goals. I was hiking Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto, having decided to walk the length of the creek trail/road giving myself ample time, be it two or three hours, to reasonably explore the flora and fauna I had sampled in previous visits over the years.

The changes of time were obvious: trails abandoned and others developed and well cared for; views of the small lake now obscured by the abundant growth of willow, oaks and cattails; the small upper pond unaccessible, now surrounded by willows, sedges and poison oak; trees once proud and upright, now down and decaying; the natural progress of nature showing its power.

Glances of movement and color required stopping and investigation as with the small sounds from above and below. From a pair of White-tailed Kites harassing a Cooper’s Hawk for straying too near to an unsurpassed flash of blue from a Lazuli Bunting, all were recorded in one fashion or another, be it camera or by mind. Inspecting leaves revealed the marvelous shapes and colors of leaf and stem galls, while skimmers, butterflies and moths drifted across the road as I made my way into the upper reaches of the Preserve.

Having reached my 75th year I have made a concession to modern day electronics. IF I expect to continue to make excursions like this one, on my own without a companion or two, I must have a means of communication in case something happens. So my peaceful demeanor was interrupted. My pocket was making a strange noise. I reached into my pants pocket and extracted a cell phone. As basic a service as one can get: while on it can make and receive calls; OFF is just that. OFF! Nada! Zip! Zero! No messaging, no texting, no internet. What I have is ON/OFF! almost like the old wall telephones only it lives in my pocket.

The discovery of several plants of Slender-leaf Milkweed in bloom was a nice reward for this leisurely walk as well as learning about a new plant (to me) Phacelia, one that belongs in southeast California and not here. This looks like another case of hiking in one place and then transporting hitchhiking seeds to another. I noticed also a definite lack of California Oak Moths. Other areas of the Peninsula have had a severe outbreak of this pest but here there seems to be few adults. I do not recall seeing even one. The list grew with Brown Towhees Dark-eyed Juncos, Woodpeckers and Quail along with the Oaks, Willows, Toyon, Coyote Bush, Ocean Spray, Honeysuckle, Strawberry and Mint. All familiar and in their own places as I walked the edge between differing plant communities.

I reached a switch-back in the road, a wide area I had no memory of. I rested for a few minutes and decided that my walk had reached its farthest point (I was only 0.2 mile from the upper gate, but I didn’t know that at the time) and that I would return down the road and explore everything again from a different perspective.

The more I observed the more things had changed. Or was it that I had changed in this short period of time? The more we try to exert our power over the land, the harder the land fights back, seeking its own balance; as much as I was seeking balance while being acted upon by everything surrounding me that morning. I too was acting, listening, as well as urging myself to have an intimate conversation with nature. Sometimes it is easy to pretend you are a naturalist.

We awakened this morning to a clear and sunny January day, the window providing a clear and unobstructed view of San Francisco and a walk was in order. Just in case many of you haven't noticed, we NEED RAIN. We have had no measurable rain since November 21 and the Ridge is beginning to tell that story.

We entered through the Escobar Gate, walking the hard surface of the fire road and looking at the dried grasses from last season. I saw no basal leaves of Shooting Stars and the Yarrow is still under 3 inches long. Much of the Dirca seems to be waiting for rain for I saw no flowers and many of the plants have only one or two buds showing swelling. The only plant is flower was on trail C, a Hillside Gooseberry that had several dozen flowers. A few mushrooms were evident, mostly in deeply shaded areas and one Dead Man's Foot (a weird fungal growth that erupts from the earth as an indescribable mass) near the Owl Oak on the fire road.

Other than 3 Turkey Vultures, 2 Red-Tailed Hawks, 1 CA Thrasher and 4 Black-Tailed Deer it was quiet. Areas where we normally encounter wet and soggy trails are dry. I found Buckeyes that had little swelling on the branches that normally would have some leaves by this time of year. The live oaks at our house are dropping extra leaves this winter it seems to me. This may be more of my lack of observation this time of year when I would likely be inside during the rains, not outside watching the leaves dropping from the trees.

Many of you will have noted I mentioned Black-Tailed Deer, a subspecies of California Mule Deer which live farther north.
black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus)

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN

Normally, awakening between 3:00 and 5:00 AM is a wasted time struggling between getting back to sleep and making plans for the forthcoming day. This morning was an exception in that I became inspired.

It started with the thought that Mary and I still needed to figure out what we wanted for the window at the EcoCenter down at the Baylands. This is a building the Environmental Volunteers are restoring for the City of Palo Alto in exchange for the use of the building for the next 40 years. We, as donors, were asked to provide some sort of saying that would be placed in one of the porthole-like windows. We have looked at some Native American quotes and I think have narrowed it down to a couple. Anyway with all brain connections zapping I got to thinking about the new center and the celebrations that will happen. Gradually I came to realize that I needed to include some Native Americans to bless the site. Bless it in what way, you ask? Thanks for asking!

GREAT SPIRITS
BLESS THIS SITE
Where ancient people gathered food
and today's people gather knowledge

I am not a religious person but do have spiritual feelings.

A listing of all birds heard or seen while at Santa Cruz Island of the Channel Island group off the coast of California. Must have been seen or heard and confirmed by at least one other individual:

Western Grebe, Eared Grebe
Sooty Shearwater, Black-vented Shearwater
Brown Pelican, Double-Crested Cormorant
Brant's Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant
Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture
Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestral, Merlin
Peregrine Falcon, American Coot
Willet, Whimbrel
Marbled Godwit, Black Turnstone
Heerman's Gull, Western Gull
Common Murre, Mourning Dove
Northern Saw-whet Owl, Anna's Hummingbird
Allen's Hummingbird, Acorn Woodpecker
Northern Flicker, Black Phoebe
Say's Phoebe,
Island Scrub Jay, Common Raven
Bewick's Wren, Northern Mockingbird
Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Spotted Towhee
Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco
Western Meadowlark, Turkey

Has anyone else seen an Osprey flying around Searsville Lake? We were out this morning walking along the lake trail, on our way to the dam when an Osprey flew the length of the lake, headed downstream toward SLAC. I am certain it was an Osprey which I have see here in the past. Other than that not too many birds out at 11:00 AM but the ones I remember are: American Coot, Pie-billed Grebe, Northern Flicker, Acorn Woodpecker, Dark-eyed Junco, California Towhee, Turkey Vulture. In the flora department I think seeing the transformation of flowers into seed pods is marvelous, especially the Globe Lilies. The wild Allium is doing well and there was one fine example of an Indian Pink that I caught a good photo of. Lots of Ithuriel's Spear, some Chaparral Pea, and a few Clarkias still surviving this cool and wet spring.