Chaparral Biome



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Plants and Animals

Plants

 

 

 

The Torrey pine has a century lifespan and grows very slowly. Wild Torrey Pines are usually 40-60 feet high and 25-40 feet wide. They grow much faster if they are cultivated or transplanted.

The Torrey pine is one of the rarest pine in the U.S. It is special because it has piņon nuts and five needles in a bunch. Most pines that have piņon nuts only have two needles in a

bunch. The piņon nut is very large and eatable, but it is very hard.

 

 The French broom is found in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Canada on the American continent. It is native to the Mediterranean region and Azores Islands. It probably got its name because of the way the branches grow. They were actually cut and made into brooms at one time. In many places it is considered a weed. It spreads quickly and grows in dense quantities that crowd out native plants.  The French broom was also used as erosion control on dunes, and along highways in the mid 1900s. Soon they escaped gardens and highways and invaded their environment. The French broom is considered to be the most aggressive of the Brooms.

 

The King protea was originally from the Cape Town area of South Africa. It is actually the national flower of South Africa. Now King Proteas can be found all over the world where the atmosphere is dry and the soil has good drainage. It can even be found on Maui.

 


The Saltmarsh Bird's Beak is an annual and lives for one year and then dies. Its leaves are alternate, narrow and up to 1 inch long. They are pointed at the end, and bluish green and hairy. The Saltmarsh Bird's Beak has white flowers that grow on 4 to 12 inch high stems.

It belongs to the Figwort Family and is related to the snapdragon.

This is a very interesting plant because it is semi-parasitic. It uses pickleweed and salt grass to extend its growing season.

Animals

A few of  the animals in the Chaparral are the Black-tailed Jack Rabbit, the Golden Jackal, the Puma, and the wild goat.
 
 

 

Although it is called a rabbit, the black-tailed jackrabbit is really a hare. Hares are different from rabbits because their babies, called leverets, are born with all their fur, and their eyes open. Jack-rabbits live in the extreme environments of the desert and chaparral, where temperatures are hot during the day and cold at night, and there isn't a lot of rain.

 

The Jackal is much like a small wolf. It has long hair with a long and fluffy tail. It stands as tall as a dog and has a bone structure common to the Canis family. It has long pointed ears and a medium sized pointed snout The body length of a Jackal is 70 to 80 cm. and its tail is about 25 cm. When standing, it is about 40 cm. high. The Jackal's fur is yellow to pale gold and has a smooth texture. It's claws are about a inch long and it weighs about 8 to 10 kg.

 

 

The puma is all one color which can vary from silver gray, to tawny to reddish. It is lighter colored around the face area, with white around its whiskers and mouth The males can weigh up to 200 pounds.

They have large feet and their hind legs are longer than most of the cat family. A

puma can't roar like a lion or jaguar. Instead it makes a screaming sort of sound.

The puma is incredibly adaptable to its environment. Although the preferred prey of the puma is deer, it will also eat insects, birds and mice. It will kill and eat any small to medium sized animal. It has a habit of scraping leaves over its kill to hide it. It will stay in the area and feed off the kill for several days. The puma won't eat anything another animal has already killed however.

 

Capra aegagrus, or Bezoar goats, are found on Creta, and other Greek islands, in Turkey, Iran, Turkmenia, Pakistan. The domestic goat is descended from the Paaang or Bezoar goat.

Bezoar goats vary in size from about 130 to 300 pounds and can get to

four feet tall. Their whole body is covered in a coarse wool accept for their legs. The wool can be one color or a combination of colors. Common colors are black, brown, gray, red, and white. Goats have cloven hooves which means that they are split into two toes. Most wild goats have horns, some curve backwards but others have horns that curve into a corkscrew. Both male and female goats have short beards the same color as their hair. A special feature of the bezoar goat is its scimitar shaped horns with a sharp inside edge.