Like many of the smaller, and even large streams of the Ojai Valley and southern California, our streams, particularly those in the lowlands, are ephemeral. That is, they have flowing water only seasonally. However, the groundwater may be quite shallow, and available to those plants that either can send their roots down to the water table (which are called phraetophytic plants) or can survive the dry spells. The driving force behind the geomorphology of riparian and stream habitats is flood events. Flooding causes erosion and sediment deposition, and the plants that grow in such habitats must be adapted to the dynamics of too much water and scouring forces, and periods of not enough surface water, and a general lack of soil. Lack of soil, because the rocks, cobbles, gravels, sands, silts, and clays that are found in streambeds are considered too young, too recent, to have developed into true soils. The Riparian Garden at Cluff Vista Park contains rounded boulders and cobbles as often found along some of our smaller streams, vegetated with plants typcial for the region. The vegetation along our streams serve important functions, including: providing habitat for wildlife, shade for aquatic life, nutrient cycling, and streambank erosion control, to name a few. Removing riparian vegetation will result in a degraded habitat and cause degradation of downstream resources.
Above is a close-up of the park plan that shows the Riparian Garden, between the two fountain pools. Remember that the plan drawing is not exactly how the park was finally built, but it is very close.
The interpretive sign for the Riparian & Bird gardens provides some very basic information about riparian habitats, and identifies some of the riparian plants found at Cluff Vista Park.
Mugwort (Artemisia douglasiana) is a common riparian perennial herb. It is a member of the Sunflower family (Asteraceae) and is said to be helpful in preventing a Poison Oak rash, or reducing the itchiness of it, by crushing the leaves and wiping the juice on the infected areas. This plant is wind pollinated and therefore does not need, or have, showy flowers. The leaves are bicolored: dark green on top and whitish beneath.
Next to the Moon Pond is a thicket of Common Horsetail (Equisetum arvense), which is found around pools and long streams. This ancient group of plants were tall trees during the Cretaceous, when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. The stems are very high in silica, which is abrasive and strong, and the pioneers used them to scour pots and pans clean. This plant is sometimes called Scouring Rush.