[PCA] Strict natives vs cultivars=ecotype question

[Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company]

Dear All,

Regarding this local native vs. cultivar questions, it seems to get raised
every decade or so.  Last time it was visited in California was the
mid-1990s, but it was a major issue as far back as the 1880s and 1930s.

The whole issue of native plant ecotypes got started in the Alps, when the
same identical taxonomically identified species was found growing at both
high elevations and at lower elevations, like 1887. Bonnier, Gaston. "Note
sur les cultures comparées des mêmes espèces à diverses altitudes." BULL.
SOC. BOT. FRANCE. 34: 467-469.

The question still remains to this day,  how does one note a difference
when a species genetically changes to grow in a different environment, but
you cannot easily see that difference taxonomically?

In 1905, Edward Greene tried to note the ecotypic variations, by
subdividing a single species into 112 new species, like his work on the
California poppy in the Revision of Eschscholtzia. PITTONIA 5: 205-293.

The major problem we have found with ecotypes in California, is that even
though native grasses are wind-pollinated, grasses actually create more
ecotypes in a shorter space than any other native plants.

You can see some pictures of our common garden grow out of Bromus
carinatus at http://www.ecoseeds.com/common.html that were collected from
a 50-mile radius around San Francisco.  The two Marin County populations,
for example, were only 100 feet apart, but growing on different soil
types.

What UC Davis discovered about the native grasses in California, if you
planted non-local populations of native grasses, and the seed source was
from too far away, the non-local populations died out after a few years.

You can read about the UC Davis study, and other native plant ecotype
information, including an extensive ecotype bibliography, at:

http://www.ecoseeds.com/juicy.gossip.one.html
http://www.ecoseeds.com/juicy.gossip.two.html
http://www.ecoseeds.com/juicy.gossip.three.html

We need to do at least two things to happen, to start the discussion of
ecotypes in native plants in ernest:

1.)  Invent a botanical and taxonomic language to discuss the ecotypic
variations in native plants, and 2.) Come to an agreement that ecotypic
variations have importance for the survival of these native species.

Sincerely,  Craig Dremann, Redwood City, CA (650) 325-7333