| 9. The Pourroy Garden | |||||||||||||||
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 Interpretive Stops
1. Along Aptos Creek Additional Information
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Marcel's Forest... A Gallery of Native PlantsThe Pourroy Garden, the sunny, open area where tiger lilies bloom in June, is a lush collection of many varieties of native and non-native plants. The plants with large dark-green leaves are calla lillies, a non-native that was most likely planted by one of the former property owners. Two other non-native plants prevalent in the garden are English ivy and periwinkle. Both are listed as invasive plants of concern because, once established, they often successfully outcompete native plants. Water Seep Hydrates Pourroy GardenBecause of the garden's sunny location, plants and animals thrive here. But sun isn't the only reason that the garden is home to plants and animals. Several plant and animal indicators tell us that a water seep probably exists below the Pourroy Garden. A water seep occurs when water accumulates after it has percolated down a hillside through permeable soil. (See diagram at right) Mosquitoes and garter snakes, animals that typically live near wet areas, are seen more frequently at this spot than in other sections of the forest. In addition, plants that love moist earth, like the rush, baneberry, and ferns, are growing here. The tiger lilies also tell us that a seep might exist below their roots, since lilies usually live near streams or in moist, shady areas. Pourroy Garden Nurtures Native and Non-Native Plants"Native plants" are plants that were growing in the area before the Europeans arrived. Written records from previous centuries, including the Spaniards' diaries and studies conducted by early European botanists have helped recreate a picture of which plants are native to the area. Paleobotanists, scientists who study plant fossils, have also shown us which plants lived here before the Europeans arrived. In fact, research by paleobotanists shows us that the ancestors of the coast redwood are an ancient group of trees that once grew throughout the world and that ferns were one of the first plant groups to evolve. Native Plants Useful to Ohlone and European SettlersBoth the Ohlone and the early European settlers used native plants for a variety of practical and aesthetic reasons. OhloneThe Ohlone ground acorns (they preferred tanoak and black oak acorns) into a mush from which they made bread. The nutritious bread, an Ohlone favorite, was described by early European explorers as "deliciously rich and oily." If tanoak and blackoak acorns were unaccessible, coast live oak acorns were used instead. The Native Americans also collected berries and green plants to eat. Miner's lettuce, the round-leaved plant often growing in shade, was eaten by the Ohlone, along with wild strawberries, currants, gooseberries, and elderberries. These native plants still grow in the Pourroy Garden. Native Americans also made medicinal and ornamental use of native plants. Sedge, willow, horsetail, and brackenfern were used to make basketry. Horsetail is still used by modern-day Ohlone to make the dark weave in their baskets. Early European SettlersEarly European settlers ate the stems of redwood sorrel by making them into a pie similar to rhubarb pie, and like the Ohlone, found miner's lettuce palatable. Settlers ate the lettuce as a salad the way people today eat spinach. They also used the rough, silica-embedded stems of horsetail as scouring utensils. Horsetail is still a common plant found on the banks of Aptos Creek. One other plant found near the creek and in the Pourroy Garden is thimbleberry, a plant related to the blackberry that also produces edible fruit. Pioneer families ate the sweet thimbleberries either baked in pies or raw, while pioneer women sometimes used the soft, hairy leaves of the plant as rouge. Marcel's Native Plants Grow in Other Redwood ForestsThe native plants in Marcel's Forest are also found in other redwood forests throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains. A few of the most common native plants growing in Marcel's Forest are listed below: (A red asterisk * indicates that the plant grows in the Pourroy Garden).
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