h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In the Coachella Valley, southern California, in the Colorado Desert, there is a strong local movement afoot to shift to gardening local plants, with the rationale that the natives require less water as a rule than non-native plants, with the practical incentive that only native plants are likely to survive even a brief period of inattention.

With respect to local animals, though one can stack the deck in theier favor by means of cultivating their preferred fodder, it is largely a matter merely of toleration.

11 years after I recommended it, they catch on quick! Glad to hear the message is spreading though. Are you trying to grow some native plants?

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=opuntia+basilaria+%22flowers%22&hl=en&as_st=y&biw=1280&bih=674&tbm=isch&tbnid=Xvh6uM3stvNeXM:&imgrefurl=http://www.desertusa.com/april96/du_beavtail.html&docid=Hrq6m0ZGCjvpXM&imgurl=http://www.desertusa.com/april96/du_btail2b.jpg&w=558&h=428&ei=3YKfT7a1CYuk8QSNvJ3OAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=182&vpy=349&dur=5560&hovh=197&hovw=256&tx=124&ty=106&sig=109687096697281327918&page=1&tbnh=138&tbnw=180&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0,i:86

These, opuntia basilaris, came with the place and are quite easy to propagate either from pads or seeds.

These, smoke trees, were also established when the property was initially purchased.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/patmeyer36/5383194787/

The 'smoky' effect is at its strongest when the plant comes into flower, usually in June, just in time for the summer doldrum rains coming off the Gulf of California, which are critical to the plant's propagation in the wild. The flowers come up in dense masses of dark blue florets,

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=opuntia+echinocarpa+%22flowers%22&start=84&hl=en&as_st=y&biw=1280&bih=674&tbm=isch&tbnid=rsLgtWy5D7wscM:&imgrefurl=http://www.tarleton.edu/~range/Shrublands/Sonoran%2520Desert/sonorandesert.html&docid=KeBJ7uFEHoKeyM&imgurl=http://www.tarleton.edu/Departments/range/Sanderson/02108b%252520detail%252520smoketree%252520flowers.jpg&w=776&h=534&ei=ioufT5zOB63YiAKR4uHSAQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=6&sig=109687096697281327918&page=5&tbnh=144&tbnw=204&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:84,i:7&tx=103&ty=60

about a quarter inch across and taken together with the natural gray green and yellows of the shrub's branches and thorns, combine to make the shrub appear like a puff of smoke at a distance.

The smoke tree is difficult to cultivate in an artificial setting, almost impossible to safely transplant, but can be established in a hedgerow by means of working the seed in quantity into the soil and waiting for it to start naturally, after which it stands up to irrigation well.

When the seedlings first come up, they make a basal rosette,

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=smoke+tree,+coachella+valley+native+plant&hl=en&as_st=y&biw=1280&bih=674&tbm=isch&tbnid=et3dGl0y8uEJFM:&imgrefurl=http://tchester.org/sd/plants/reports/2008.html&docid=teNFr2xqBVuYfM&imgurl=http://tchester.org/sd/plants/reports/pix/baby_smoke_tree_3_crop_50.jpg&w=445&h=497&ei=cYSfT8K3J7LTiAKehKnkAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=652&vpy=135&dur=5051&hovh=237&hovw=212&tx=134&ty=138&sig=109687096697281327918&page=1&tbnh=149&tbnw=147&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:73

then next put out a sprig of thorns,

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=smoke+tree,+coachella+valley+native+plant&hl=en&as_st=y&biw=1280&bih=674&tbm=isch&tbnid=y-KADdyR-Zhv5M:&imgrefurl=http://tchester.org/sd/plants/reports/2008.html&docid=teNFr2xqBVuYfM&imgurl=http://tchester.org/sd/plants/reports/pix/baby_smoke_tree_5_crop_45.jpg&w=665&h=692&ei=cYSfT8K3J7LTiAKehKnkAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1020&vpy=139&dur=1567&hovh=229&hovw=220&tx=147&ty=133&sig=109687096697281327918&page=1&tbnh=149&tbnw=143&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:77

and that's about all they do ever afterward except to flower and seed.

The seeds are rich in phenylalanine, come one to a pod and the pods have orange dots on them that remind one of the dots on the back of a lady bird beetle.

There's also one of these, an opuntia echinocarpa,

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=opuntia+echinocarpa+%22flowers%22&start=130&hl=en&as_st=y&biw=1280&bih=674&tbm=isch&tbnid=1MkmMl0v1zh57M:&imgrefurl=http://hy.bestpicturesof.com/echinocarpa&docid=vAgFJ8j-HKJscM&imgurl=http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ktTBBJccvEI/S6vkG3TKtTI/AAAAAAAAF68/m1_vmllubZ8/IMG_8287mod1.jpg&w=1600&h=1200&ei=ioufT5zOB63YiAKR4uHSAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=981&vpy=169&dur=4543&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=149&ty=119sig=109687096697281327918&page=7&tbnh=137&tbnw=211&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:130,i:115

Finally, I've got a Palo Verde,

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=palo+verde+tree+%22flowers%22&hl=en&as_st=y&biw=1280&bih=674&tbm=isch&tbnid=J29Re6WLQI-SEM:&imgrefurl=http://wildflowerhouse.wordpress.com/2010/05/05/palo-verde-tree-in-bloom/&docid=URtqocxoPHXKpM&imgurl=http://wildflowerhouse.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/palo-verde-in-bloom.jpg&w=800&h=600&ei=9JifT6WVNKiRiAL3q-nDAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=981&vpy=82&dur=9831&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=118&ty=217&sig=109687096697281327918&page=3&tbnh=157&tbnw=207&start=40&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:40,i:172

I started in a flowerpot from seed that's grown to about 16" in diameter at the trunk, about 20' in height, with a form like an inverted bowl about 40' - 50' in diameter, with branches drooping to the ground on the periphery, at about 20 years in age, creating a pleasant shaded area underneath.

The Palo Verde is a copious producer of flower and seeds important in the food chains of many species of desert wild life, from birds to Big Horn Sheep. The seeds are slightly smaller than pinto beans, have a similar flavor and food value, but need to be cracked if they're to be cooked as an emergency food stuff, otherwise they will not absorb water well across the waxy cuticle on the surface of the bean.

There were 3 creosote bushes, larissima divaricata,

http://www.google.com.au/imgres?q=creosote+bush&start=142&hl=en&lr=&sa=X&as_qdr=all&biw=1280&bih=674&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=p836BFZ630_V_M:&imgrefurl=http://www.premieroutdoorsolutions.com/plants/large-shrubs.html&docid=oxlqajQPwTQ9SM&imgurl=http://www.premieroutdoorsolutions.com/plants/images/shrubs/creosote-bush.jpg&w=400&h=318&ei=W6OfT6KBJ6e1iwKMvK3gAQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=3&sig=102087206757284092052&page=8&tbnh=158&tbnw=190&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:16,s:142,i:136&tx=102&ty=74

already on the place when it was purchased, and I've another I started from seed. The creosote is used in American beer and many other food products and as cooking spice is in a class with things like bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, great in spaghetti sauce, best prepared by means of boiling it in a sachet.

A cluster of creosote bushes, connected underground by rhizomes, located at Fort Irwin, in California, are thought to be the oldest living thing on Earth.