Botanical Cornucopia

A book review of An Illustrated Flora of Yosemite National Park

from Lasthenia - The Newsletter of the Davis Botanical Society
No. 20, Summer 2002

An Illustrated Flora of Yosemite National Park. By Stephen J. Botti, with illustrations by Walter Sydoriak. Yosemite Association, Yosemite National Park, CA. 484 pp. 2001. ISBN 0-939666-98-7. $125.00.

California has been blessed with a large number of professional botanists and an even larger number of enthusiastic amateurs. Not surprisingly, there have been more floras and field guides published for California than for any other state. In addition to the floras of California as a whole, beginning with the Geological Survey of California: Botany (1876, 1880) and culminating in the Jepson Manual of the Higher Plants of California (1993), there have been many works of more limited scope: floras of regions and counties, guides to trees and shrubs, ornamental and useful plants, etc.

The first floristic manual for Yosemite, A Yosemite Flora by Harvey M. Hall - later renowned for his pioneering research in experimental taxonomy - and his wife Carlotta, appeared in 1912. This classic work, which has been admired by many subsequent writers, was apparently completed in only two years. Its format of text with small page size and marginal line drawing figures anticipated that of Jepson's Manual of the Flowering Plants of California and probably other later floras. Regrettably, it appears not to have been reprinted, and the only copy in the U.C. Davis Shields Library is sequestered in the Special Collections Department. After 90 years it would still make a useful field guide for plants of Yosemite if the nomenclature could be revised.

An Illustrated Flora of Yosemite National Park differs from all of its predecessor California floras in its larger page size (13 x 11 inches) and the elegance of Walter Sydoriak's remarkable colored illustrations. It is clear that the Yosemite Association in El Portal has taken great pains to produce a memorably outstand-ing volume on California plants. The verso of the title page notes that Steven P. Medley coordinated the project, with printing done by Precision Litho in Salt Lake City and binding by the Roswell Bindery in Phoenix.

In addition to Peter Raven's introduction, there is a two-page list of Benefactors that indicates the extent of the financial assistance that was needed to make publication possible. The book is appropriately dedicated to Carl Sharsmith for his remarkable 63 years of study and interpretation of the Yosemite flora. In the acknowledgments, in addition to thanking members of the authors recognize the help in determining specimens by the Davis Herbarium staff (including Ellen Dean, June McCaskill, Fred Hrusa, Jean Shepard, and this reviewer).

The introductory section includes a colored map of Yosemite National Park indicating specific locations and vegetation zones. A brief guide to terminology and use of keys is provided. In his introduction, Peter Raven notes that in the 300 square kilometers of Yosemite National Park there have been recorded 466 genera with 1,338 species, of which only 127 are introduced: a very rich flora for a temperate area of this size. Apparently there are no strictly endemic or rare and endangered species.

The differences in species diversity in the vegetation zones are interesting: 431 species (23% introduced) in the chaparral/oak woodland; 922 (13% introduced) in the mixed conifer belt; 541 (1 % introduced) in the montane belt; 543 (0.5% introduced in the subalpine belt; and 305 species (none introduced) in the alpine tundra. Incidentally, it is a testimony to the indefatigable efforts of the early plant collectors (beginning with Steven Brewer in 1863) that in the Halls' Yosemite Flora of 90 years ago about 1,200 species were already recorded.

The arrangement of taxa in the body of the text follows that of the Jepson Manual, with all taxa listed alphabetically The species descriptions are brief but appear adequate, and are followed by notes on habitat and elevation. The short essays at the end of each description mention salient localities where the species can be seen, as well as helpful comments on distin-guishing confusingly related species. All species are illustrated in color, except for three monocot families: Cyperaceae, Juncaceae, and Poaceae, which have line drawings by Leslie Randall. The integration of the colored illustrations with the keys and species descriptions is very effective.

The text-and-flower picture format is delightfully reminis-cent of illustrated herbals such as the Hortus Eystattensis. For several genera (e.g., Astragalus, Calochortus, Collinsia, Lewisia, and Rubus) illustrations of all the Yosemite species are displayed on facing pages when the book is spread open. The text/illustration format should also be effective for keying species in genera that run to several pages, such as Lupinus, Mimulus, Penstemon, and Trifolium.

Although the technical details of flowers are not illustrated as completely as in the Jepson Manual, the integration of text and illustration in the Illustrated Yosemite Flora will make it considerably faster to determine species in genera such as Lotus. Another useful feature that is absent in the Jepson Manual is provided by the colored illustrations of introduced genera such as Anagallis, Gaillardia, Mollugo, and Tribulus (exotics in the Jepson Manual are not illustrated).

Although it is at the opposite pole of portability from the Halls' Yosemite Flora, Niehaus's Sierra Wildflowers, or Weeden's Sierra Nevada Flora, the Illustrated Flora of Yosemite should be very useful for determining plants when they have been brought back to the cabin or herbarium. In addition to the beautiful illustrations, at the end of the book there is a useful illustrated glossary; and besides the General Index - which includes both Latin and common plant names - there is a helpful index to geographic localities. The only obvious omission is the lack of a bibliography, which would be helpful in directing the reader towards additional background material on geology, ecology, ethnobotany, and specialized works on plants of particular interest.

The authors, the Yosemite Association, and the advisers and benefactors who helped support preparation of this beautiful volume can all take pride in the publication of this landmark publication in California botany.

G. L. Webster