SEEDS FOR EVERYONE:

SEED OF LIFE Ephemeral Mandala with Seeds of Native California Flora

by EMILY C-D

ESPAÑOL

SEED VARIETIES & SOURCES:

1- Royal Penstemon, Penstemon spectabilis. Perennial herb important for pollinators including native bees, wasps and hummingbirds. Collected by CNPS in Riverside, CA

2- Chapparal Yucca, Hesperoyucca whipplei. Resilient plant of chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and other plant communities. Food and fiber source for indigenous communities in southern California. Collected by RCRCD at the base of the Santa Ana Mountains in Riverside County, CA.

3- California Cudweed, Pseudognaphalium californicum, Sunflower family. Larval host plant for Painted Lady butterflies. Also used for medicinal purposes by indigenous communities. Collected by CNPS at Coyote Hill in Riverside, CA.

4- Toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia, tall evergreen shrub in the Rose family. Fruits are an important food source for wildlife and flowers support native bees. Indigenous communities in southern California have multiple culinary and medicinal uses for the fruits. Collected by RCRCD at Horsethief Canyon, Riverside County, CA.

5- Mexican Elderberry, Sambucus mexicana, tall flowering shrub in the Moschatel family. Fruits are a well-known medicinal with culinary and dye uses as well. Collected by RCRCD at Mead Valley in Riverside County, CA.

6- Mojave California Buckwheat, Eriogonum fasciculatum var. polifolium. Flowering shrub valued for habitat restoration, pollinator conservation, and controlling erosion. Food source for wildlife and indigenous communities in California. Plant also has medicinal properties. Collected by CNPS at Coyote Hill in Riverside, CA.

7- Chia, Salvia columbariae, annual plant in the Mint family. Seeds have historically been a staple food source for many indigenous communities in California. Collected for RCRCD near Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, CA.

8- White Sage*, Salvia apiana. Flowering shrub with medicinal properties and deep-rooted cultural and spiritual significance to indigenous communities in southern California and Baja California. Wild white sage populations are currently under intense threat. Collected for RCRCD near Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, CA.

The seeds used in this installation were generously loaned by the Riverside-San Bernardino Chapter of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) and the Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District (RCRCD). Both organizations maintain seed collections of native California flora in order to propagate plants for habitat restoration, roadside seeding, riverbank stabilization plantings, landscaping and other types of re-vegetation projects.

The stock seed is collected from wild lands; permits are always required for collecting seed on public lands and permission from the property owner is required for collection on private land. RCRCD stores seeds for future use in climate-controlled rooms to increase their longevity. CNPS & RCRCD promote responsible, legal, and sustainable seed collection that reflects the genetic diversity of natural populations. The source location of the seed stock is tracked so that seeds and plants can be deployed to appropriate locations--areas to which they are adapted. As stated in the National Seed Strategy by the Plant Conservation Alliance, the motto is "the right seed in the right place at the right time."

The Native Plant Materials Program of RCRCD and the various Chapters of the California Native Plant Society work with the public to increase understanding, appreciation, conservation and horticultural use of native plants. The 6,500+ plants that are native to California have evolved over uncountable generations to thrive in the local soils and environmental conditions. They require minimal maintenance and are the best adapted plants to resist the negative effects of climate change in the region. Additionally, maintaining native plant ecosystems has a direct positive effect on agriculture as the native flora attracts the pollinators necessary for the successful cultivation of the food that we eat.

*White sage conservation is of particular concern. As explained on the CNPS website:

"Metric tons of white sage (Salvia apiana) are being poached to supply an international demand [for smudging]. This plant is deeply rooted in the cultures and lifeways of the Indigenous communities of Southern California and northern Baja, the only region where white sage naturally occurs in the world. The devastating theft and the appropriated trend that it fuels stand in sharp contrast with the values and traditional practices of regional native communities."

Check out the award-winning documentary Saging the World to learn more. And remember, it is important to harvest ALL wild plants and their seeds in a responsible and respectful way.

The SEED OF LIFE mandala was conceptualized, organized and created by EMILY C-D, resident artist of the SOMOS SEMILLA Seed Library in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, for her SEEDS FOR EVERYONE installation in the MexiCali Biennial exhibit "The Land of Milk & Honey" at The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum in 2023. The artist is grateful to Dr. Arlee Montalvo PhD, Plant Restoration Ecologist and President of the Riverside-San Bernardino Chapter of the California Native Plant Society and Ernesto Alvarado, Native Plant Nursery Coordinator at the Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District, who generously offered their time, knowledge and seeds for the creation of the artwork. At the closing of the exhibition, the seeds will be returned to the organizations so they may continue to be shared with the local community in a collaborative effort to restore native plant ecosystems.

Information about the plant species on this page was sourced primarily from RCRCD's Plant Profiles and CNPS's Calscape plants database, in addition to the USDA plants database and the Native American Ethnobotany database. Text by Emily C-D with input from Dr. Arlee Montalvo & Ernesto Alvarado. Web design by Emily C-D with photographs taken by Dr. Arlee Montalvo.

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