Sesnon Fire Recovery – First Growth

Terminal budding in yerba santa 3 weeks after the 2008 Sesnon Fire.

Only three weeks after the area was burned in the 2008 Sesnon Fire, this yerba santa shrub on the Chumash Trail has started the process of foliage replacement. In many areas along the trail, grasses and other annuals (many invasive) were consumed, but adjacent chaparral shrubs were only scorched. Many of these shrubs look like they will be able to recover through budding of existing stems, rather than crown-sprouting.

Some related posts: Chumash Trail – Sesnon & Simi Fires, Rocky Peak After the Sesnon Fire