Castilleja

Publication of the Wyoming Native Plant Society

Oct 2015, Volume 34(3)

Posted at www.wynps.org

Sagebrush Die-off Scare

By Karen Clause, Natural Resources Conservation Service
and Jill Randall, Wyoming Game & Fish Department

Wyoming big sagebrush {Artemisia tridentata
ssp. wyomingensis) mortality has been reported across
the state over recent years, from Lyman to Sundance,
with a marked increase of reports occurring from
2010 to 2014. Biologists noticed extensive mortality
in 2014 near Fontenelle Reservoir which prompted a
multi-agency group to convene for a field tour in July
2014. As a result, a call for data went out statewide,
asking field personnel to record locations and take
photos of sagebrush die-off areas.

Possible causes are under investigation
including: 1) Drought/Climate; 2) Flooding;

Sediment/Soil Chemistry; 4) Insects; 5) Soils; 6)
Disease; 7) Herbivory [Wildlife, Wild Horses,
Domestic Sheep, Cattle); 8) Plant Age; 9) Oil and Gas
Activity; and 10) a combination of any of the above,
particularly in combination with the severe drought
of 2012. Climate conditions, combined with other
variables, are the primary suspects due to the
extensive but discontinuous pattern of reported
mortality. Correlation of die-off appears to be tied
to extreme weather events, whether they be high
snowpack (2011), extreme drought (2012), or
flooding followed by freezing temperatures [fall
2013). The drought of 2012 was exceptional due
to extremes in both high temperatures and low
precipitation compared with data collected since
1895. Precipitation data indicates 2012 was the
driest on record, even when compared with other
noteworthy events in 1988 [significant wildfire
year) and in the 1930's [Dust Bowl). Also,
temperature data indicates 2012 was the hottest
on record. The combination of these events
contributed to extreme Palmer Drought indices
and dismal growing conditions on arid
rangelands [continued, p. 3).

Above: True aesthetics in a False dandelion {Agoseris
glauca] pollen grain, by Marc Brock. Striking
photographs will be on display from October 15 -
December 11, in a show entitled "Art from a Scientific
Perspective." It spans micro- to macroscopic scales of
the Plant Kingdom featuring the works of Robert Baker
and Marc Brock, postdoctoral researchers in the Botany
Department [University of Wyoming). The display will
be in the Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center,
Laramie.

In this issue :

Sagebrush Die-off Scare 1, 3

Botanist's Bookshelf: The New Wild? 4

Growing Native Plants: Prairie Gardens 5

A National Strategy to Support Native Plants ... 7

1

WYNPS News

2016 Annual Meeting : SAVE THE DATE - the 2016
Annual Meeting of WYNPS will be June 17-20 in the
Wind River Range around Dubois, WY. Look for more
information in coming issues.

Aspen leaf by Frances
Clark, posted at
tetonplants.org

Message from the President :

1 love fall, and watching all of nature preparing
for another Wyoming winter. But, as 1 watch the
leaves turn and disappear, it always brings upon me a
sense of urgency. 1 find myself scrambling to squeeze
as much out of the field season as 1 can, realizing there
is still so much 1 haven't seen or done this summer. In
the flurry of fall activities, it's easy to forget how great
the summer really was, and all that has been
accomplished this year. So, with that. ..here are some
of my reflections:

• 1 am very proud that the Society now has an
Excellence in Botany Award, named after its
first recipient Ronald L. Hartman, Curator of
the Rocky Mountain Herbarium.

• 1 am very thankful to the Teton Chapter, now
Teton Plants, for organizing such a great joint
annual meeting this year with Idaho. 1 learned
a lot, and enjoyed the scenery, plants, and the
great social interaction with fellow native
plant enthusiasts.

• 1 am very excited to work with the local folks
in Dubois as we plan next year's annual
meeting.

With that, 1 wish you all a happy fall... time to
get out those winter pacs again!

~Karen Clause, President

New Members : Please welcome the following new
members to WYNPS: Brian Beauvais, Cody; Tom
Holton, Jackson; Dawn Loomis, Powell; Piper Martin,
Laramie; Ashley Owen, Jackson; Lynn Stewart, Dubois.

Nominations : Karen Clause, President will appoint a
nomination committee - 2016 Board nominations can
be sent to her at: kdclause@ century tel.net .

Treasurer's Report : Balance as of 21 Sept 2015:
Scholarship = $1,860; General = $6,501; Total =
$8,361.

Contributors to this Issue : Ann Boelter, Marc Brock,
Frances Clark, Karen Clause, Robert Dorn, Bonnie
Heidel, Kristina Hufford, Patricia Mcllvenna, Jill
Randall.

WYNPS Board - 2015
President: Karen Clause, Pinedale
rkdclause@centurvteLnetl
Vice-President: Brian Sebade, Laramie
r bsebade@uwvo.edu ^

Sec.-Treasurer: Ann Boelter, Laramie
r boelter@uwvo.edu 1

Board-at-large:

Walt Fertig, Phoenix, AZ ['14-'15)
r waltola64@gmail.com )

Bob Giurgevich, Sheridan ['15-'16)
r bobgiurgevich@live.com1

Other contacts :

WYNPS homepage: www.wynps.org: also on Facebook
New name: Teton Plants - a Chapter of Wyoming
Native Plant Society: Amy Taylor, Treasurer
r tetonplants@gmail.com 1 and a homepage at
http : / /www.tetonplants.org/

Sublette Chapter: Julie Kraft, President

r iewelyjoe@hotmail.com 1

Editor: Bonnie Heidel r bheidel@uwyo.edu 1

Webmaster: Brenna Marsicek

r brennamarsicek@gmail.com1

Bighorn Native Plant Society: Jean Daly, Treasurer

(P.O. Box 21, Big Horn, WY 82833

Wyoming Native Plant Society
P.O. Box 2449
Laramie, WY 82073

2

2015 Annual Meeting Photos will be featured in the
December issue!

Above: 2014 Carbon County mortality in an upland landscape position

The sagebrush mortality events reported in
southwest Wyoming appear to fit into two
categories: 1) die-offs of sagebrush in closed basin and
depressions potentially associated with effects of fall
2013 flooding and/or changes in soil chemistry; and 2)
die-offs of both sagebrush and perennial grass that
occur across all soil types and landscape positions
across large landscapes [an example is focused around
18 Mile and Buckhorn Canyons east of Fontenelle
Reservoir). Additionally, there have been desert
sagebrush, salt shrub, and perennial grass die-offs
documented by the U.S. Forest Service in the Flaming
Gorge National Recreation Area. Their monitoring has
demonstrated recovery of sagebrush and some, but not
all, perennial grasses. However, desert salt shrub
communities have yet to make a recovery in that area.

A small number of monitoring locations have
been established in the Green River Basin, and
preliminary data shows that sagebrush is making a
recovery from existing mature plants that were

sometimes >90% defoliated with only one or two living
branches. At least some of the sagebrush that was
reported as dead is surviving and at least some of the
reported die-off was a die back. However, results vary
by site, and while some areas show remarkable
recovery of forbs and grass, others have little to no
recovery of the understory even after experiencing the
wettest May on record for the lower Green River basin.
Based on 2014-2015 observations and monitoring, as
well as a similar event documented in Colorado in 2003
[following 2002 drought conditions), it is possible
sagebrush has a dormancy mechanism in cases of
extreme drought where it defoliates, but will come
back when moisture conditions allow. Sagebrush seed
production was phenomenal in 2015, but it remains to
be seen if consecutive good years will allow for re-
establishment of a new sagebrush cohort.

At this point in time, the true geographical
extent or acreage affected is unknown, as are long-term
mortality levels. Reported data indicates there may be
well over 1 million acres of big sagebrush affected. It
will take additional resources to adequately sample the
entire state, but U.S. Geological Survey [USGS)
personnel are currently assessing remote sensing as a
potential method.

The recent sagebrush die-off/dieback appears
to be a significant ecological event that will require
further investigation and monitoring to better
understand the effects on vegetation, soil resources as
well as implications for livestock and wildlife that rely
on these areas for cover and forage. The USGS is
leading statewide efforts and inter-agency monitoring
efforts. We hope to better understand this ecological
phenomenon and how it relates to management
actions and the ecological dynamics of the sagebrush
ecosystem in Wyoming.

...What plants increased after sagebrush die-off
in some monitoring plots? Look no farther than
p. 6, with the image of Scarlet globemallow
[Sphaeralcea coccined), a widespread native of
basins and plains.

For more information or to report a sagebrush
die-off area, please contact Karen Clause at
karen.clause@wv.usda.gov .

3

Botanist's Bookshelf -

Pearce, Fred. 2015. The new wild: why invasive
species will be nature's salvation. Beacon Press,
Boston, MA. xvi + 245 pp. [ISBN 978-0-8070-3368-5].
$26.95.

Review by Robert Dorn

Fred Pearce is an environmental journalist
based in London. He attempts to make a case for using
exotic or alien species to restore nature in areas that
have been impacted by man, virtually the whole planet
in his view. This may be plausible in the most highly
disturbed areas like his native England and most of the
rest of Europe but is not appropriate for our area, even
though he claims that it is. So why read the book? He
brings up many points that are worth thinking about
that may be applicable for our area. Furthermore,
many of his statements need to be challenged.

Part 1 of his book deals with islands where
human introductions have decimated the existing plant
or animal life or islands that have been recolonized by
introductions. Using this as background, he moves on
in Part 2 "to examine our misplaced notions about how
aliens affect the real world and how we do
conservation." Our efforts "fail because
consei'vationists have indulged ill-founded myths
about aliens, pristine ecosystems, and how nature
works." Part 3 attempts to provide solutions:
"conservationists must stop spending all their time
backing loser species - the endangered and reclusive.
They must start backing some winners [aliens]." He
fails to recognize that the endangered, especially
evolutionarily young species, may be the most valuable
for genetic resources that will be useful in the future
and that aliens may make a bad situation worse.

In the introduction he states that, "There are
very few, if any, pristine ecosystems to be preserved."
That may well be true, but there are many less than
pristine ecosystems that may be worth preserving,
which he implicitly rejects as well. Then in Part 1 he
states that, "A broad time horizon shows there is no
such thing as a native species.” That statement can be
easily refuted by defining "native species." We have
defined native plants [Dorn & Dorn 2007) as "those
that grew naturally in the Rocky Mountain area prior
to settlement by European immigrants." Those that
were introduced from other places since settlement
are exotics or aliens, not natives. Furthermore, a
narrow endemic species recently evolved is a species

native to the place that it occurs and has always
occurred.

Next Pearce shows a poor understanding of our
natural landscapes and ecology: "Cheatgrass
domination is often described as a step toward
desertification, but almost certainly it held back the soil
erosion and desert spread that would have followed
long-term grazing of sagebrush by European cattle.”
Cattle do not eat sagebrush except incidentally or if
starving and there is nothing else to eat. There are
many ranchers who would be extremely happy if their
cattle ate sagebrush!

In attempting to make a case for exotic species,
he states that, "Many of those invading species accused
of pushing out natives have simply moved into
ecological space created by the decline of the natives."
He presents no good data to back up that sweeping
statement. This is probably the exception rather than
the rule. I remember a nice native prairie in the Black
Hills that 30 years later was transformed into an exotic
weed patch with no evidence of any abuse of the land.
The native plants seemed to have been simply pushed
out by competition from the exotics. A prairie once
useful for grazing was replaced by a useless weed
patch. This brings up another point that he only hinted
at in passing: "we humans will want to intervene, to
preserve what we like and need for our own ends." A
primary objective in using land is to manage the use so
that it is sustainable. Allowing exotics to invade, as
Pearce proposes, nearly always compromises that
objective. If a land use has been destructive, there may
be a place for some exotics in a restoration project.
Some are also useful for food. Otherwise it is best to
keep exotics out if at all possible. The vast majority of
them serve no useful purpose but simply degrade the
usefulness of the land. On the other hand, a point
Pearce does not bring up, humans are part of nature
just as are the other animals. As such, anything humans
do to change the natural makeup of things is natural
and should be left to its undisturbed outcome. On those
grounds, leaving exotics alone no matter where they
are or how they got there might be justified. It would
not be in the best interests of the human species,
however. Pearce also maintains that exotics increase
biodiversity. That may or may not be the case
depending on th

4

Despite the book's shortcomings, it serves as a
basis for discussion of our objectives in conservation
and whether or not our approaches are the best or
could be improved.

Growing Native Plants

Part 17. Prairie Gardens

By Robert Dorn

Four of the five grasses in Part 12 of this series
are suitable for the prairie garden, namely Andropog on
gerardii, Big Bluestem; Bouteloua gracilis, Blue Grama;
Buchloe dactyloides, Buffalograss; and Schizachyrium
scoparium, Little Bluestem. Big Bluestem and
Buffalograss prefer a more moist site than the other
two species. Grasses that may be more desirable
include Achnatherum hymenoides, Indian Ricegrass;
Elymus lanceolatus, Thickspike Wheatgrass; Elymus
trachycaulus, Slender Wheatgrass; Hesperostipa
comata, Needle and Thread; Koeleria macrantha,
Junegrass; and Nassella viridula, Green Needlegrass.
Prairie gardens also include flowering forbs of which
five examples follow. Go to the Society website to see
them in color.

Oxytropis lambertii, Lambert Locoweed, grows
to 10 inches tall and wide. The leaves are basal and
pinnately compound. The flowers are pink-purple
fading to purple, upto 1 inch long, clustered near the tip
of leafless stems, and appear from May to July. The
plants occur naturally in open, often rocky areas of the
foothills, basins, and plains. They prefer full sun and
dry to moist, well drained soils. They are toxic,
especially to horses. They can be grown from seed that
should be scarified before planting. Plant about % inch
deep. It is also in the nursery trade.

Reference Cited

Dorn, R. D. & J. L. Dorn. 2007. Growing native plants
of the Rocky Mountain area, www.lulu.com.
1D:768231.

Penstemon eriantherus, Hairy Penstemon,
grows to 16 inches tall and 10 inches wide. The leaves
are opposite, to 5 inches long and 0.5 inch wide, and
covered with short hairs. The flowers are pale
lavender to pink-lavender or blue with purple lines on
the lower petals, to 1.75 inches long, with a prominent
yellow tongue bearing long white hairs, and clustered
along the upper half to two-thirds of the stem. They
appear from May to July. The plants occur naturally in
dry, open places in the plains, basins, and mountains.
They prefer full sun and dry, well drained soils. They
can be grown from seed sown outdoors in the fall. Seed
is commercially available.

Penstemon eriantherus, Albany County

Ratibida columnifera, Mexicanhat or Prairie
Coneflower, grows to 2 feet or rarely 4 feet tall and 18
inches wide. The leaves are to 4 inches long and
pinnately lobed or divided. The ray flowers are yellow
or partly to totally purplish-red, spreading to reflexed,
and overtopped by an elongate cone of usually reddish-
brown disk flowers, the entire flower head to 2.5
inches long. They appear from July to September,
rarely earlier. The plants occur naturally in dry, open
areas of the plains and basins. They prefer full sun and
dry, well drained soils and are drought tolerant. They
are short-lived but self seed readily. They can be
grown from seed planted % inch deep. It is also in the
nursery trade.

Oxytropis lambertii, Albany County

5

Ratibida columnifera, Albany County

Senecio spartioides, Broom Groundsel, grows to
3 or 4 feet tall and wide with a bushy growth form. The
leaves are narrow, sometimes with narrow lobes, and
to 4 inches long. The ray and disk flowers are yellow,
the heads to 1.5 inches across, with many heads
clustered at the tips of stems and branches. They
appear from June to October, variety multicapitatus in
early summer, varieties fremontii and spartioides in
late summer. The plants occur naturally in dry, open
areas of the plains and basins. They prefer full sun and
dry, well drained soils. They are poisonous to livestock
but avoided by them if adequate forage is available.
They can be grown from seed which is easily collected
and is commercially available.

Senecio spartioides, Goshen County

Sphaeralcea coccinea, Scarlet Globemallow,
grows to 8 inches tall and about as wide. The leaves are

deeply lobed and to 2 inches long and wide. The
flowers are deep salmon-orange, to 1.5 inches across,
and clustered along the upper part of the stems. They
appear in June and July or rarely earlier. The plants
occur naturally in dry, open areas of the plains, basins,
and foothills. They prefer full sun and dry conditions
and are adaptable to a wide variety of soils including
sand, clay, and alkaline. They can tolerate extreme
drought and heat. They can be grown from seed cold
stratified for 60 days for spring planting or from
rootstock cuttings. Seed is commercially available.

Sphaeralcea coccinea, Moffat County, Colorado

Monarchs and Milkweeds

Monarchs are some of the most charismatic and
amazing butterflies in the world. With their distinctive
coloring, long-distance migrations, and dependence on a
specific group of plants - milkweeds, this species is a
marvel and a delight.

In Wyoming, we have very little information about
monarchs. Researchers have heard for years that they're
common, though the folks seeing monarchs haven't had a
place to send in information about their sightings. Every
county has at least one observation, but we do not know
how common monarchs are in our state.

With widespread help, we can better understand
where monarchs travel through Wyoming, what time of
year, how many, and whether they reproduce here. We can
also find where the 10+ species of milkweeds exist, see if
they're hosts to any monarch young, and harvest some of
their seeds to plant in nearby gardens. You can do this next
year by submitting observations of any monarchs and/or
milkweeds you find in Wyoming to the WyoBio website
rhttp://www.monarchsandmilkweeds.org/ Pictures,
information about where the butterfly or plant was, date,
how many, and other details are very important!

6

A National Strategy to Support Native Plants

By Patricia Mcllvenna and Kristina M. Hufford,
Ecosystem Science and Management,
University of Wyoming

In recognition of the growing need for
restoration of native plant communities, the
Department of the Interior announced the National
Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration on
August 17. The strategy was developed through a
multi-party collaboration led by the Bureau of Land
Management to address current and anticipated needs
in the development, storage, and application of native
plant materials. Four primary goals were identified
for cooperative development across federal, state,
local, tribal, nonprofit, and private sectors:

1. "Identify seed needs, and ensure the reliable
availability of genetically appropriate seed."
Cooperating partners will collect available
information on current seed supply and demand. They
will use this information to ensure sufficient
quantities of native plant materials that are adapted to
environmental conditions at rehabilitation and
restoration sites.

2. "Identify research needs and conduct research
to provide genetically appropriate seed and to
improve technology for native seed production
and ecosystem restoration."

Research will be conducted to develop guidelines for
the identification of genetically appropriate seed.

New and ongoing studies will result in species-specific

protocols for effective seed production, seed storage,
restoration site preparation, and germination
methods.

3. "Develop tools that enable managers to make
timely, informed seeding decisions for ecological
restoration."

Areas for development that have already been
identified include additional training programs,
certification for restoration practitioners, creation or
improvement of ecoregional restoration guides, and
seed source databases.

4. "Develop strategies for internal and external
communication."

The National Seed Strategy will only lead to a change
in restoration practice if new guidelines are employed
by stakeholders. Existing methods of distribution of
program materials will be improved and new avenues
for communication will be explored.

Wyoming agency personnel are already
engaged in activities to meet these goals, including the
Seeds of Success collection teams underway at the
University of Wyoming and at BLM field offices
around the state. The National Seed Strategy is
available in full at:

www.blm.gov/stvle/medialib/blm/wo/Planning and

Renewable Resources/fish wildlife and/plants/seed

strategy.Par.66250.File.dat/SeedStrategy081215.pdf

Botanist's Bookshelf :

Two Books Are Back in Print as Second Editions

Barr, C. A. 2015. Jewels of the Plains - Wildflowers of
the Great Plains Grasslands and Hills, 2 ^^ ed.
University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN. 320
pp. Available as both cloth jacket print book and
ebook. [ISBN 978-0-8166-9801-1]. $27.95+tax, shipping.

This is a revised edition of the classic guide to the
wildflowers of the Great Plains, incorporating new
scientific information, with an introduction and
supplemental notes by James Locklear, Lauritzen
Gardens in Omaha, NE.

States, D. and J. 2015. Wildflowers of Wyoming, 2nd ed.
Available as both paperback print book and ebook
from www.lulu.com . 196 pp. Paper cover. [ISBN 978-
1-4834-3081-2] $35.97+tax, shipping

WimFLOWEIlS
, WYOMING

i y s<

This updated
version is back in
full color, with over
325 of the showy
wildflowers in 216
genera and 54
families. Sections to
aid identification
are included.

7

Upcoming U-WY Botany Dept. Lecture -

Three Decades of Monitoring Plants
and Pollinators in the Rocky Mountains

David Inouye, president of Ecological
Society of America, will give a talk sponsored
by the University of Wyoming Botany
Department on December 3, 2015, @3:10 pm,
addressing "The effects of global and regional
climate change on phenology of wildflowers
and animals in the Colorado Rocky Mountains".
The seminar will be held in the Berry
Biodiversity Conservation Center on Lewis
Street, with a reception to follow in the Louis
0. and Terua P. Williams Conservatory, Aven
Nelson Bldg, on 9* Street.

The full schedule of the Department
seminar series is posted on the homepage:
http : / /www.uwyo.edu /botany/ .

Wyoming Native Plant Society is a non-profit organization established
in 1981 to encourage the appreciation and conservation of the native
plants and plant communities of Wyoming. The Society promotes
education and research through its newsletter, field trips, annual
student scholarships and small grants awards. Membership is open to
individuals, families, or organizations. To join or renew, you can do it on-
line ( WWW. wynps.org ) or return this form to:

Wyoming Native Plant Society
P.O. Box 2449
Laramie, WY 82073

Name: _
Address:

Email :

Check one: [ ] New member [ ] Renewing member

[ ] Check here if this is an address change.

[ ] Check here if you prefer to receive the newsletter electronically.
Payment:

[ ] WYNPS annual membership: $10; or
[ ] WYNPS annual membership with scholarship support: $20
($10 for membership and $10 for Scholarship fund)

[ ] WYNPS Lifetime membership: $300 ($150 for membership

and $150 for Scholarship fund)

In addition to the statewide organization, we have two chapters.
Membership in chapters is optional; chapter members must also be
members of the statewide organization.

[ ] Sublette Chapter annual membership: $5.00
[ ] Teton Plants Chapter annual membership: $5.00
Total enclosed: THANKYOU!

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9