I've enjoyed looking at Mary Sue's photos of the Mendocino Sonoma Coast flora, and these photos (and the concurrent thread on Brodiaea californica) have renewed my interest in this group. I'm puzzled by something I see (or think I see) in some of the Mendocino Sonoma photos. Some of tho photos which show the surface of the ground suggest that the ground has been mulched with finely shredded bark. What is that stuff? How deep is it? Is there soil under that (rather than rock)? If so, what is the soil like? Sorry, Mary Sue, I know it's a photo you took, not a soil sample. But this intrigues me, and any commentary would be appreciated. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7 where I ordinarily don't dish the dirt