Tree of the Week: June 11th, 2024
ArborNote’s Tree of the Week is the Catalina ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus). It is only found in the Channel Islands of California, where it grows in the chaparral and oak woodlands of the rocky coastal canyons. It is the single living species of the Lyonothamnus genus. Discoveries of fossils have suggested that the genus once comprised several species, which grew on the mainland in the southwestern United States but are now extinct. The trees occur in small groves, with all trunks within a grove being clones representing a single genetic individual. There are only around 110 groves of Catalina ironwood remaining! If you ever find yourself on Catalina Island, go check out an Ironwood grove!
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