Joseph D. Grant County Park, Santa Clara County, CA, 2/23/2007
On this glorious afternoon, the views were magnificent in all directions at Joseph Grant County Park by San Jose, CA. Near the start of Washburn Trail at the north end of the park, I ventured up a grassy hill I had never explored before. Here is the view from that hill in Halls Valley looking northwest toward Poverty Ridge in the Diablo Range. At right center is a lone dormant oak tree with mistletoe growing out of it. Grant Park is home to both grassland and oak-woodland communities, typical of much of California. The oak community here includes such species as the Blue, Black, Live, and Valley Oaks. Pacific mistletoe (oak mistletoe, or Phoradendron villosum) can be found in abundance throughout the park, and is easiest to spot when the trees are (otherwise) bare in winter. It is a parasitic plant on host trees, especially oaks and other woody shrubs such as manzanitas, California bay laurel, and sumac. One day at Grant Park I inspected up close some of the mistletoe growing on an oak tree. I was startled to learn that it really does grow right out of the bark on the tree's branches, getting water from the tree's roots! Aside from having a different color and type of leaf than the tree, mistletoe appears to be a part of the tree, not merely perched on it. Mistletoe taps its host for water and nutrients but also contains chlorophyll and can photosynthesize some energy for itself.
