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    Because I grew up in Southern California and often wandered through the hills as a boy, I've developed a familiarity with the chaparral and west coast biomes that easily creep into my writing. Although I could have created a world where the plants and animals are unusual and completely unfamiliar, I believe this would have made the Deveran milieu much more difficult for readers to assimilate and far more difficult for me to write about with any conviction.

     For readers who are unfamiliar with the chaparral and the gentler biomes of Northern and Coastal California, this page describes plants native to my home state. Long, hot and dry summers will wither plants that do not have some way of preventing excessive transpiration. Most of the chaparral plants are, by necessity, deep-rooted, waxy-leaved and oily enough to burn with incredible fury during a wildfire. Almost all California biomes support trees, and in the chaparral, an interesting collection of species exist that tolerate these conditions and create comfortable niches, sheltering birds, reptiles, amphibians and small mammals from the oppressive heat. I have described these in the novels as they actually exist.

    Sadly, much of the diversity in species has already vanished from the California landscape. The Spaniards introduced non-native grasses when they colonized the area, and development patterns threaten to destroy the natural landscape of my home state. For readers who are interested in learning more, I encourage visits to the Manzanita Image Project:

This plant is the most widespread species in the chaparral, growing in thickets that are often so dense that deer and other large animals create winding paths around them. It's an inedible plant, but chamise thickets provide shelter for birds, small mammals and reptiles. During the hot part of the dry season, this species sheds leaves and bark in an effort to conserve moisture, creating a dense bed of material that serves as fuel for wildfires. Its aroma is distinctive, particularly during the hottest part of the day.

Narrow Leaf Buckbrush

photo courtesty of Michael W. Tuma

Another common plant, this shrub can grow taller than a man. Its blossoms vary in color, depending on the subspecies of the plant, tending toward darker, blue and lavender flowers in wetter, more northerly climes. Narrow leaf buckbrush is spiny, yet it produces tiny fruits favored by small birds.

Coyote Brush

photo courtesy of
Calflora

On really hot days, coyote brush plants produce an aromatic resin that grazing animals dislike. It doesn't burn as easily as some of its neighboring plants and may actually have fire-resistant properties. This shrub produces small seeds that fly in the wind.

Manzanita

photo by Dan Post
courtesy of
Calflora

There are many varieties of this plant that thrive in west coast biomes. Manzanitas can grow very tall under certain conditions, but in most instances are roughly the size of an adult human male. Its lovely, pale flowers bloom in the spring and the resulting berries are favored by many animals and birds. The seeds are dispersed by these animals, but the tough endocarp will not germinate unless broken open by heat or mechanical means. Manzanitas will sprout quickly and grow rapidly after a fire, but are often outcompeted by other plants unless conditions favor them.

Yucca

photo by Charles Webber © California Academy of Sciences

The yucca is actually a monocot tree, and it's a pretty amazing plant. Its fruit can be peeled and eaten raw, cooked, or made into a beverage. Its fibers make decent cordage, its roots can be pulverized for soap, and the plant has medicinal properties too! Though it's tough and survives in drier areas than most of the chaparral plants, yuccas do not tolerate fire. Their seeds are windborne.

California Sage

photo by Lynn Watson
courtesy of
Calflora

This plant tends to grow at lower elevations and in wetter areas than chamise, producing tender, silvery-green leaves. Unlike chamise, which is not edible, California Sage is a species that has been severely degraded by non-native grazing animals. It's a deciduous plant, that during the summer and fall looks a lot like a bunch of dead twigs. Although people refer to it as a sage, it's really not a sage. Its leaves, when crushed and boiled for tea, are rumored to reduce fever. The second part of this rumor, however, is that one would have to actually have a fever to tolerate the disgusting flavor!

Golden Foxtail

photo by Curtis Clark

A common grass on hillsides, the golden foxtail looks very attractive when young and green. As summer heat dries the region, its seed heads form spiky quills that easily embed themselves into animal fur and human socks! The seeds can puncture the intestines of small mammals, so they're dangerous to dogs.

Live Oak

photo authorship unknown
Live Oak Image

The live oak has long been my favorite tree. It's the climax species in chaparral and high desert arroyos, where it can live as long as 250 years! Because its branches tend to be twisted and gnarled, this tree escaped widespread logging for timber. Native people dried and leached the acorns to remove tannic acids, then pounded them into a kind of flour. As an evergreen, its canopy provides shelter for all manner of insects, reptiles, birds and small mammals, and the air temperature beneath its canopy can be significantly cooler than outside. Often, its found in groves, and usually occupies the folds of arroyos. Deep leaf litter serves as an insulating blanket to prevent evaporation, and larger mammals, such as deer, will dig through the litter during the dry season to find water.

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