A flaxen-colored sunrise is upon the California Gold Country, the great Sierra Nevada rising to the east. The Sierra: John Muir Country, Ansel Adams Country, The Range of Light. For sheer grandeur, splendor, the Sierra may stand alone; it has fired the imagination and inspired the creative talents of more than a few: Adams, Bierstadt, Bradford, Nahl…
The landscape here is far more modest. The Sierran Foothills are rounded, subdued, carpeted in shades of tan and brown, noticeably interrupted by occasional outbreaks of dark green. It is the Foothills Savanna, the swath of grasslands between the Great Valley and the Sierra. More correctly, it is the Foothills Oak Savanna, for it is Quercus, the Mighty Oak, that is the signature feature of the landscape…
Specifically, the Sierran foothills here are the domain of Quercus kelloggii, the California Black Oak. A momentary nod to Mr. Linnaeus and his binomial nomenclature: Quercus is the genus name for the oak tree (a member of the Beech family) and is always capitalized. kelloggii is the species name (there are nearly 500 species of oak tree) and is always lower case. So where does kelloggii come from? Well…the naming conventions for species make for an interesting story of itself, but in this case in honor of Albert Kellogg (1813-1887). Kellogg was a physician, accomplished botanical illustrator, founding member of the California Academy of Science, and the first state botanist of California. A worthy recipient of the honor. In this case, however, the namer is as interesting as the namee. John Strong Newberry (1822-1892) was likewise a physician, but also a renowned geologist, paleontologist, botanist, and explorer. Director of the Ohio Geological Survey and Professor of Geology and Paleontology at Columbia, in addition to many fossil species he has glacial features named for him in New York and Ohio, two physiographic features in the Grand Canyon, and (for good measure) the volcanic Newberry Craters in Oregon. He first visited the area in 1856 while serving as physician for a railroad surveying expedition, where he first encountered what is now Q. kelloggii…
The late afternoon sun is almost lost behind the western ridge of the Huachucas. Literally on the border, the view SE across the upper reaches of the San Pedro River and into Sonora, Mexico is expansive, deep, and reveals a stark desert “seascape”, with occasional green-capped mountains sailing through a sea of brown. It is the land of the incomparable Sky Islands of SE Arizona and Sonora, and in this dry land, a great deal of elevation is required to enter the Oak Savanna.
The oaks are first encountered at 4000′. Here at 5000′ the air is soft, the light clear but muted, and the company lovely. The Sky Islands are populated by a variety of oaks, including a couple of favorites: The Arizona (white) (Q. arizonica), and the Mexican Blue (Q. oblongifolia). The immediate ridgeline, however, is populated by Q. emoryi, the Emory (black) Oak.
The Emory Oak was named for William Hensley Emory (1811-1887), West Point graduate, and ultimately, Major General in the United States Army Corp of Topographical Engineers. An engineer, gifted surveyor and cartographer, his work in the American Southwest began while serving in Kearny’s Army of the West during the US-Mexico War of 1846-1848. It was at this time that he first covered the ground from the Rio Grande to what is now the San Diego area. He returned after the war, and in two separate surveys, mapped the US – Mexico border regions from El Paso to the California coast. Along the way he kept copious notes that covered a variety of topics, including observations on the plant life he encountered.
The Emory Oak is smaller than either the Arizona or Mexican Blue oaks, but on more open ground, away from converging slopes, it predominates, its black bark and green crown providing contrast with the straw-colored grasses at its foot. There’s an intimacy about the Emory, it’s smaller size perhaps?… Sustenance and shelter, shade from the sun, home for other savanna dwellers?…
A lone sentinel guards the uppermost end of the Southern Cascades Savanna. On the high, dry western slope the oak stands are sparse, and consist primarily of the Oregon White Oak (Q. garryana). On the reverse slopes (the east-facing slopes of subsidiary ridges) and in wetter areas (drainages and the occasional springs) the white oaks share space with the California Black Oaks as well as various of the smaller conifers creeping their way down from the crest. The Oregon White Oak is named for NIcholas Garry (1782-1852), an interesting character, but seemingly an odd choice. Garry, an Englishman, as a director of the Hudson Bay Company was dispatched in 1821-22 to trading posts in Ontario and Manitoba to effect the merger of the Hudson Bay and Northwest trading companies. He returned to England having traveled no further west. However, in 1823, the year before the glorious “Golden Decade” that was both the pinnacle and final decade of his life, David Douglas could be found in that part of Canada…
Douglas. The Mighty Scotsman: adventurer, intrepid (and determined) explorer, botanist. The Botanist. A major part of Christmas for so many. Unsurprisingly, there’s also an oak that bears his name: Q. douglasii, California’s Blue Oak. Douglas had a long relationship with the Hudson Bay Company, using its trading posts (especially Ft. Vancouver on the Columbia River) as bases of operation for his many explorations. Douglas is the namer for Q. garryana.
The final decade of his life saw him covering enormous ground, discovering and describing a staggering number of new species; it was the work of a much longer lifetime (he died at 35 in 1834) completed between the ages of 25-35, in an incandescent, and perhaps unparalleled, outburst. A man that was “…alive to all that is picturesque…”
On the windswept high slopes, contemplating Q. garryana: rugged, resilient, open to community, able to go it alone…
To walk among Mighty Oaks…
