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NATIVE PLANTS AND ANIMALS OF SANTA BARBARA

Prickly Pear CactusHabitat:_______________________________________

Uses:__________________________________________

Cochineal BugHabitat:_______________________________________

Uses:__________________________________________

YuccaHabitat:_______________________________________

Uses:_____________________________________

Blue AgaveHabitat:_______________________________________

Uses:__________________________________________

California Bay LaurelHabitat:_______________________________________

Uses:__________________________________________

Coast Live OakHabitat:_______________________________________

Uses:_____________________ _____________________

Lemonade Berry (Rhus Integrefolia)Habitat:_______________________________________

Uses:_____________________ _____________________

Acorn WeevilHabitat:_______________________________________Importance :_______________________________________

Garter SnakeHabitat:_______________________________________

Importance:_______________________________________

Yucca MothHabitat:_______________________________________

Importance:__________________________________

California Oak MothHabitat:_______________________________________

Importance:_______________________________________

Oak GallHabitat:_______________________________________

Importance:_______________________________________

Acorn WoodpeckerHabitat:_______________________________________

Importance:_______________________________________

SquirrelHabitat:_______________________________________

Importance:_______________________________________

Prickly Pear CactusHABITAT: Dry and sandy. Lives in North American Deserts – dry places with sandy soil.

USES: Food and Cochineal bug. The pad is eaten as a vegetable called nopalito. The fruit or “tuna” can be eaten and is often made into jam or candy. The pads can also be a source of water.

Cochineal BugHABITAT: Lives on the prickly pear cactus.

USES: Color. The bug can be dried and ground up to dye fabric or to make paint.

YuccaHABITAT: Dry and sandy.Lives in North American Deserts – dry places with sandy soil. It must be pollinated by the yucca moth.

USES: Food, Rope, Soap. The leaves can be used as fiber for string or cord, the heart, stalk, and flowers can all be eaten. The leaves and stem can also be used as soap.

Yucca MothHABITAT: The Yucca Moth only lives on and feeds on the Yucca plant.

IMPORTANCE: The Yucca plant is only pollinated by the yucca moth. It cannot make new seeds without it.

AgaveHABITAT: Lives in North American Deserts – dry places with sandy soil.

USES: Rope, Paper, Sweet Sap. The agave heart can be scooped out to drink the sweet sap or it can be turned into a honey like sweetener called agave nectar or fermented to make an alcohol called Tequila. The leaves are fibrous and make good rope. The skin of the leaves can be peeled off and used as paper. BUT THE BLUE AGAVE HAS OUCHY SPINES AND A LIQUID THAT WILL MAKE YOUR SKIN ITCH.

California Bay LaurelHABITAT: California – coastal forest to chaparral USES: Bug repellant, antibiotic, food flavoring. The leaves are used as flavoring for soups and stews, the fruit and seed are also eaten. Chumash hunters burned laurel leaves to attract and stupefy deer.

Lemonade Berry (Rhus Integrifolia)HABITAT: California – coastal forest to chaparral USES: fruit –sucked, chewed or soaked in water to give a lemony flavor. Roasted fruit is a coffee substitute. The seed can be pressed for oil/tallow and be used as a candle. The leaves can be brewed for a brown dye.

Coast Live Oak

HABITAT: Well drained soils of coastal hills and plains. Is the major tree in the oak woodland habitat. USES: Wood, Acorns. The Acorn was a staple in the Native Californian diet. It is also the only habitat of the oak moth and oak weevil. It is important to to other animals as well such as squirrels and acorn woodpeckers.

Oak Moth HABITAT: The Oak Moth lives on and eats only the Oak.

IMPORTANCE: The Oak trees seem to be able to tolerate the Oak moth eating its leaves. The moth may help make the soil more fertile by its poop. Other animals eat the caterpillars and moths.

Garter SnakeHABITAT: They live almost everywhere in North America. IMPORTANCE: The provide population control for most small animals. This is especially important for pests like rodents.