At the southeast corner of theDe Anza College campus, you canstroll through coastal redwoods,pause by a freshwater marsh andwander into a California desert,all in the same 1.5 acre plot. Infact, you can meander through12 different California plant ecosystemsthere, and help yourselfto an organically grown tomato ifyou’re hungry. All that and muchmore can be found on the groundsoutside the Kirsch Center for EnvironmentalStudies.

In 1971, a De Anza facultymember, Doug Cheeseman, and afew other instructors and studentsbroke ground for a special gardendedicated to California nativeplant species. They organized thegarden into 12 distinct plant habitats.The “communities” includedsand dunes, grassland, chaparral,freshwater marsh and eight otherCalifornia ecosystems. The project,called the Cheeseman EnvironmentalStudy Area, flourishedover the years and now servesas an environmental learning resource,as well as a quiet, meditativeretreat. It contains over400 species of native plants, andattracts many varieties of birds,insects and lizards. No herbicidesor pesticides are used in the area.

Today the Cheeseman ESAthrives under the watchful eyeof its coordinator, Annie Presler.Growing up in a large family, shehunted and fished as a child andfondly remembers her mothertreating her infected knee withplantain leaves. She has beenhooked on botany and its applicationsever since.

Plants “sucked me in and theywon’t let me go,” she says. A typicalPresler tour through the ESAbrings visitors face-to-face with a12 foot saguaro cactus, estimatedto be 50 years old; a fat blackcarpenter bee feasting on a smorgasbordof flowers; and a Nevin’sbarberry plant, with its sweet edibleberries.

In the past few years, Preslerhas overseen the addition of anoutdoor classroom, a butterflygarden and an organic vegetablegarden. She introduced woodenbenches and informational signsinto each of the plant communities.

The signs, a gift from the DeAnza Associated Student Body,provide rich details regarding thecharacteristics of the various plantcommunities, and the locations ofthe communities throughout thestate.

Central to the original conceptof the ESA is the inherent valueof California’s native plant species.”Aggressive, non-nativeplants have surpassed developmentin terms of their threat toplant ecosystems,” says Presler.Non-native plants compete withnative ones for limited resourcessuch as water and space. Aggressiveplants grow fast and quicklycrowd out their native neighbors.

The chemical balance of the soilcan be altered as a result. This rippleeffect can even spread to theanimals living in the ecosystem,as the native plants they feed onare replaced by non-native species.

Presler cited English ivy andeucalyptus trees as two especiallyinvasive non-native plants.Eucalyptus trees, in particular,grow quickly and consume largeamounts of available water tomaintain themselves. “This is nota well-behaved plant,” Presler observes.

By the same token, thereare beneficial non-native plantsthat are non-invasive; rosemary isan example.

Large groups can contact AnniePresler at 408-864-5446 for adocent-led tour.