Manna Gum
One of about 100 species of eucalyptus on campus, these trees do a striptease in the fall, peeling to reveal fresh white bark. There’s a huge manna gum near Varian Physics. A Stanford study at the height of the 1970s’ energy crisis said that a sustainable eucalyptus crop (when burned in a low-oxygen environment) could produce enough energy to supply 41 percent of the gas and 27 percent of the electricity used in the United States.
Great Horned Owl
Among the largest owls in North America, these raptors are quietly efficient killers. They prey on larger animals, including opossums, raccoons and even skunks (owls have great vision but a poor sense of smell). They like the dense eucalyptus groves of the Arboretum. You can hear their hoots most nights as they soar over the Quad.
Peregrine Falcon
One of the endangered hunters nested atop Hoover Tower in 1995.
Cork Oak
Campus’s oldest specimen was planted on the west side of Encina Hall in 1891. Its bark was harvested during World War II when the government feared Portugal would cut off the U.S. supply of cork. A storm knocked it down in 1993.
Mountain Lion
A few of these reclusive hunters live in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Occasionally, one will trek to Jasper Ridge and as close to campus as the golf course. A biologist found a set of tracks near the intersection of Junipero Serra Boulevard and Alpine Road—just a mile from the center of campus—two years ago. “If one of them showed up in the Quad, I’d be amazed,” says Alan Launer, a research associate at the University’s Center for Conservation Biology. “But I’d probably say, ‘Hmm, I guess he got lost.’”
Coast Live Oak
The “pioneer class” of 1895 adopted one of these evergreens as its own. But that Pioneer Oak was cut down in 1901 to make way for the outer arcade of the Quad. At their 50th reunion, the ‘95ers adopted a tree at the corner of Serra Street and Lasuen Mall as the new official Pioneer Oak. The most impressive collection of the campus’s most common tree is in the Kennedy Grove next to Bowman Alumni House.
Treefrog
No, they don’t live in trees like their rainforest cousins. But you can find them all over campus under rocks, in bushes and scattered around irrigated areas. Though small—they only grow to an inch and a half in length—these amphibians come in an array of colors, from copper to spectacular lime green. And they make a nice snack for snakes, birds and salamanders.
Canary Island Date Palm
The species that lines Palm Drive transplants easily. Pocket gophers and ground squirrels like to burrow beneath the trees; squirrels live in the canopies. Acorn woodpeckers stash their caches in the ends of pruned palm fronds.
Dawn Redwood
Once thought to be extinct, this ancestor of the coast redwood was rediscovered in China in 1945. Three years later, the science editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, Milton Silverman, ’30, PhD ’38, teamed up with a Cal paleontologist on an expedition to the Chinese backwoods to see the tree. Silverman and his editor, wanting a snappier headline than the tree’s Latin name (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), named the species dawn redwood. A tree brought from China was planted on the lawn of Hoover House in 1953.
Coast Redwood
Gaspar de Portola’s expedition of 1769 used a giant redwood near what is now the Palo Alto train station as a landmark. Leland Stanford’s stock farm and later the town itself were named “El Palo Alto” (“tall tree”), which still stands. The tree has been immortalized on the official University seal and brought to life as “The Tree” that cavorts at football games with the Band. On campus, there’s a grove of five redwoods planted in 1915 by Professor George Pierce between the Oval and the old chemistry building.
California Kingsnake
Dining on small animals like rattlesnakes, frogs and salamanders, this reptile can grow up to four feet in length. They prefer grassy areas and oak groves. Their numbers have been reduced in recent years by the landscaping practice of “disking”—plowing under weeds and grasses.
Red-Tailed Hawk
With a wide red tail and a 5-foot wingspan, these raptors are easy to spot as they hunt near the dish. One couple has taken up residence near the credit union on Serra Street. Says Steve Rottenborn, a PhD student studying birds of the South Bay: “They think nothing of swooping down and catching a pocket gopher right in front of people.”
Avocado
If President Casper should ever get the urge for fresh guacamole, he’s in luck. There are seven avocado trees behind his office. The grove was nearly ripped out during construction in 1979, but a campus group rallied to save the oasis of shade. As with the 460 other fruit-bearing trees on campus, picking is allowed.
Red Fox
Introduced to the Bay Area early this century, these carnivores were brought from other parts of North America to serve as quarry in English-style hunts. Some escaped into the wild; others were freed. They have adapted and thrived, pushing out native predators and eating endangered species. Several fox families live on campus just east of Palm Drive. Carlos Galindo-Leal, a researching at the Center for Conservation Biology, says he was surprised to spot a fox recently after a workout at Arrillaga gym, near Maples Pavilion. “He was running toward the stadium,” he says.
Steelhead Trout
The hatchlings start their lives in the upper reaches of San Francisquito Creek, Matadero Creek and Los Trancos Creek (which runs behind Rossotti’s on Alpine Road). After a year or so, they swim downstream to the Bay and eventually to the Pacific Ocean. Adults as long as 20 inches return to their home creeks—often more than once—to spawn every couple of years.
Floss Silk Tree
A native of Mexico and Central America, these trees bristle with 1-inch spikes. In the fall they produce seed capsules that open to expose a silky padding that hangs like cottony floss. A specimen stands on the west side of the inner Quad.
Mexican Free-Tailed Bat
Their favorite hangouts are the eaves of old Green Library. Until recent renovation began, a breeding colony of about 5,000 nested there. The nocturnal creatures with 10-inch wingspans can also be found in cracks and crevices throughout the Quad. Best viewing is at dusk and dawn. They feed on insects (up to 600 an hour), not blood, so no garlic necklaces required.
Tiger Salamander
Why did the salamander cross Junipero Serra Boulevard? To get to Lake Lagunita for the breeding season. Unfortunately, many are run over in the attempt. Organizers have relocated the annual Big Game bonfire and canceled “mud volleyball” at Lake Lag in part to avoid trampling the only tiger salamander population left on the Peninsula. The 7-inch amphibian spends the rest of the year out of sight in hiding places in the nearby grasslands.
