Colorado IVatirePlant ISociety

N E W SLETTER

Volume 6 Number 4

October-December 1982

"Dedicated to ttc Appreciation and Conservation of the Colorado Flora"

C^I_E:iMOiC!|FS OF COM I lNlO KVEISITS

20 January 1933 - Board of Directors meeting in Fcirt
Collins. Contact the SECRETARY if you *«iulcl like to
come and see i«hat the board does.

17 March 1983 “ Board of Directors aBeting in

Clover. The board needs a meeting place for this
meeting. See elsetdiere in this nwsletter for more
information.

19 May 1983 - ikiard of Directors meeting. Place to
be announced later.

I |NlO

IF YOU DIDN'T ATTEND YOU SHOULD'VE

If you did not attend the annual meeting on the
18th of September' you missed an en citing day.
All of the committees of the Society had very
nice displays showing what they have been doing
and guided tours of the Denver Botanic Gardens
were also available in the morning.

After noon a short business meeting where among
other things the new members of the Board of
Directors were elected. They are John Anderson,
Lloyd Hayes, Les Shader, Claire Semmer, and Les
Shader.

Panayoti Cal las gave a very fine talk about
plants for “Native Rockscapi ng“-The Last Resort
of Gardening" that was accompanied by many
excel lent slides. Following Panayoti Cal las was
Beidleman. He presented an entertaining.
Informative presentaticm about Early Botanists
in Colorado and surrounding areas- Dr.

Beidleman showed many ccjntemporary pictures of
areas along with pictures of sketchs of the same
areas made during the early trips into this
area. Some of the early artists were almost as
good as a camera. If you have never heard Dr-
Beidleman talk you missed a great experience.

At a short Board of Directors meeting after the
annual meeting officers for the next year were
elected. They ares Sue Martin, President; Bob
Heapes, Vice-President; Eleanor Von Bar gen.
Secretary; and Myrna Steinkamp, Treasurer-

Any member of the Society is welcome to come to
the board meetings but must make reservations as
the meetings are usually held in homes and only
a limited amount of space is available. Please
make reservations by calling Eleanor Von Bargen.

The board is in need of a meeting place in
Denver for the meeting on March 17, 1903. If
you live in Denver and have a place big enough
or know of a place big enough where about 20
persons could meet please call Eleanor Von
Bargen and let us know.

oues f=^or:

IMOW OCJE

Because of the reguirements of our bulk mailing
permit, all members of the society are receiving
dues notices, even though members may not owe
any dues for 1983- If you are unsure of your
flemb^ship status, look on the mailing label of
this newsletter. If *82 appears in the upp^
righthand corner, your m^bership expires on
Dec. 31, 1982. To renew for 1983, please remit
the appropriate aiWMint together with the dues
notice. If *83, *LIFE cx- *N/A appear on the
label, there is no need fCNT any action on your
part to maintain your membership through 1983;
return the dues notice only to report a charge
of address, phone numtier, etc. Note, very
reC4^tly paid memberships may not be shcnm
correctly on the label; if you have doubts or
questions, please contact the membership
committee.

E:raOf2||MOE:f=«:EO W l L_OF^I_OWeFC

For the second year, the Rare and Endangered
Native Plant Exchange has produced an Endangered
Wildflower Calendar to help finance their work.
The 1982 calendar was outstanding with beautiful
flower photos on paper of excellent quality. We
can anticipate that the 1983 calendar will be
similar. It is described as lO 1/4 by 17 inches
when opened and it contains information about
the unique features, reasons for endanqerment
and conservation plans for each of the flowers
illustrated; a map of the United States showing
the nun^er of endangered plant species in each
state; a list of selected reading materials; and
full -page monthly calendars with space for notes
each day of the month. It includes 14 full-
col car photographs.

To obtain copies of this calendar send your
name, address and *3.50 for each calendar CS4.50
each for orders of 3 cw more) to Endangered Wild
Flower Calendar, c/o Biolc^y Dept., Brooklyn
Ckillege, Brooklyn, NY 11210.

BtlOOEIR IS BSTTSFS: ,

OF? EiArSIEFt TO

This issue of the newsletter ^ould be a little
bit easier to read for those of with us with
trouble reading the fine print. The margins
have been made smaller so that the material does
not have to be reduced so much.

ST^F?T C:i-I^F>TEF?

If you have been thinking about or would like to
have a chapter of the Colorado Native Plant
Society in your area, it may be easier now.
There has been some discussion at the Board of
Directors meeting about lowering the number of
members required to have a chapter. If you are
interested contact Sue Martin, President.

The board of directors and committees of CONKPS
are anxious to learn about your interests and
willingness to participate in the various
activities of the society. Please take some
time to fill out the pink membership survey
form. Fort Collins Chapter members, please
answer the question concerning how often you
would attend meetings. Everyone, «#icther you
plan to be active or not, please provide some
constructive comments on making our good society
even better. The questicwinaire may be returned
in the dues envelope provided.

CONPS memberships make great gifts for Christmas
or New Years or whatever occassion arises. Think
about giving one to a friend this year.

“Myrna Steinkamp

I'tembership Chairperson

j3q X or- FiJL
l^xsXcdi "Ff^ JL pi R<epiczii^‘t

Hay 29-30.

The objectives of this trip were to view s^ome of
the unusual habitats and plants of the red sand-
stone country of western Colorado. The first
day consisted of driving, and then walking into
Coyote Mash, a major tributary of the Dolores
River. A unique feature involved hiking bare-
foot«l along the sandy bottom of Coyote Mash,
surrounded by steep sandstone canyon walls. The
ctojective of this portion of the trip was to see
the rare Kachina daisy, £rigerer? k&cftirpensiSp
growing in sandstone cracks fed by seep water.
The majority of the participants, about 20,
reached the Kachina daisy site, and some of the
more ambitious walked further down the wash to
look at Eastwoods’' 6 mimulus, MimuJus
eastMoodisff, growing in cliff seeps, and to see
the confluence of Coyote Mash with the Dolores
Ri ver .

The next day the group gathered at the Bedrock
Store in order to visit several sites in the
Paradox Valley near Paradox. The first stop was
in the pinyon- juniper zone near Paradox to view
a pc^ulaticKi of the spineless hedgehog cactus,
£chi nocereas triglochidisttus var . inermiSf a
Federally listed endangered species. The
spineless hedgehog cacti were in full blcmm,
offering participants a Tine opportunity to
photograph this rare species. Other species
flowering at this site with limited ranges in
western Colorado included Penstemon cf^anocaai
Ch&ma&chs^?^Tt^stctis sc&posa^ fistragslus coitonii,
and Pedicular is centrantftera. Other conspicuous
flowering plants included Stenotus armerioides,
Hymano pappus filifolias^ Panstemon eatanii, and
Castill^Ja chromusa. The last stop was the
Paradox town dump, where the group viewed the
remarkable Lapintis crassas^ a lupine with large
fleshy leaves and whitish flowers, 1982 was a
banner year for flowering shrubs. Among the
most ccmspicuoua species observed on this trip
»^re cl iff rose. Comania ma^xicana% f«ndler bush,
fandlara rupioolai Utah servicertjerry,

Pmelanchia^r utahensisi and mahonia, Hahonia
haamatocarpa^ A few participants concluded the
trip by driving along the Dolores River to
Gateway to look at populations of the columbine,
Pqailagia micrantha, growing in cliff seeps.
Hany thanks to 0im Ratzloff, who organized the
trip and led the grou^, and to the adventurous
participants, many of whom drove and walked long
distances to see some of the wilder places in
Colorado.

f='t_ITI_IR:E |nIEWSI_E" 1 rERS

The next issue of the newsletter will contain a
list of all the plants that have been collected
and identified at the Florissant Fossil Beds
National Monument in the last two years. There
may be a f«iw plants that were collected this
summer that will not have been pressed, mcmnted,
and delivered to Dr. M^er to identify, but most
of the work is done.

For the second issue next year it is hoped that
a list of reference books on Colorado plants

EIxiOrtlMOEIRElO

OF^ cai__oRf=!ii>a «

Tal Igrass Prairie in the Fror»t Range Foothills

Tallgrass prairie plants neck-high and waving in
the wind is not the usual image of the eastern
Colorado plains, yet many early Colorado ecol-
ogists, such as Frederick Clements, Arthur
Vestal, Stephen James, and Francis Ramaley, men-
tion the occurrence of tallgrass prairie species
on mesas, gravel terraces, and floodplains in
the foothills of the Front Range.

Host of this land has since yielded to the plow
or to housing develcpcnents, but it is still
relatively easy to locate a few plants here and
there of big bluestem, Undr-opogon garaMiii
switchgrass, Panicum virgatumi yellow Indian—
grass, Sorghastrum nutansi and little bluestem,
Schizachyri am scopariam. Though these species

are in no danger of extinction, the prairie
itself has not fared so well.

Mill Moir, former range ecologist at Colorado
State University, first alerted other ecologists
in 1972 about the existence and demise of tall-
grass prairie remnants in the Boulder area(l),
reporting that a 20 acre remnant on the out-
skirts of Boulder had just been bulldozed.
Since Hoir's study there has been little con-
certed effort to locate and study additional
remnants. Colorado Natural Heritage Inventory
<ChWl) is now beginning an intensive search for
tallgrass prairie remnants along the length of
the Front Range in Colorado. FFeliminary ef-
forts have resulted in the locatlcm of h rem-
nants In the Boulder area, varying in size from
1 to 15 acres.

If you like to spend ytsur weekends biking or ex-
ploring the rural roads of the foothills plains
area, you could help locate additional examples
of this important part of Colorado’s natural
heritage. Fall is one of the best times to find
these remnants, as big bluestem is tall and red,
and easy to spot* 1 will take folks, who would
like to volunteer, out to the remnants we have
Icicated so you will kncm what to look for. If
you waul d like to volunteer to help, ccmtact «ne
at 866—5885 or drop a note to CNHI , 1550 Lincoln
St-, Room llO, Denver, CO 80203.

(l)Moir, M« H- **Tall grass prairie in Colc^ado
and its aesthetic value," The Second Mi dwes t
Pr a irie Prairi,§ Conference, ed. J- H.
Zimmerman. Univ. of Wise. Arboretum,

Madison, 1972, pp. 40-46.

Sill Baker

will be ready. This list will contain inform-
tion as to what level the books are intended
for, 1-e* whether they are suitable for one who
knows very little about plants or for the
professional botanist or some level in between.
There will also be a brief description of the
cGNTitents and cw-ganlzaticm of each book
indicating what kindis) of keys, tables, lists,
etc* are included- If you have any favorites,
especially ones that not all of us would be
familiar with, drop a note to your EDITOR and
let him know about them.

jE ^ jsr ji <r ^

F^±<eld ~Tr'±fJt ¥^^-jp» KP$r~ ■•fz

Hay 22-23,

The objfsctive oT this field trip Nas to locate
additional papulations of Phmcel ia sabmatica, a
tiny annual species known only from the barreni
clay slopes near DeBepue, in Mesa county. The
field party, consisting of approx imately 20
people, led by Barry Johnston, covered an exten-
sive area of pot^tial habitat. The results of
the inventory far exceeded expectations. Several
additional papulations numbering in the thou-
sands of individuals, were located in appropri-
ate habitats on public lands (BLK} west of
DeBeque in the vicinity of CcKin Hollow and Pyra-
mid Rock. Precise locations for these newly
discovered populations may be obtained from the
Colorado Natural Heritageinventory, The spec-
tacular results of this survey, in the light of
the limited number of previous records for P»
submuticat point out how effective the Colorado
Native Plant Society can be in adding to the
knowledge about rare species. Special thanks go
to Barry Johnston, who organized the survey, and
to Walt Kelley, whose field work prior to the
field trip helped focus inventory efforts.

THIREf^-rEIMie;i>
i: EO eor coloir^pioo

The Parachute Creek-Rif le-Piceance Creek area
ccMitlnues to yield new botanical treasures fcx-
Colorado. Now we have ttantzal ia argil losa
Darlington, described in 1934 from Sevier
County, Utah, This species is on the threatened
list for Utah, since it grows in a restricted
part of Sevier County on gypsiferous clay hills
and its area is continually being deleted by
mining c^jerations. argil losa was sent to me

by Joe Clark, wcwklng few Harner-White
consultants, in mid-August. As soon as I could
find the time, I Joined him and Rick Harner over
iri Parachute Creek, where the plant has been
found growing abundantly on steep clay-shale
scree slopes of the Sreen River Formation. It
is certainly not very restricted in its area on
the Anvil Points area and is an extremely
interesting species. It is low, about a foot or
less tall, and forms clumps of gray! sh-green
plants with yellow flowers less than an inch
long. Each stem goes down about 8-10 inches
into the ground as a fleshy, elastic, contorted
caudex. The clumps of caudlces are then
attached deep in the ground to a thick, fleshy,
elastic rhizome about a half inch thick, that
goes for several feet, we never found the end of
one, and the various clumps are thus intercon-
nected. This combination of peculiar fleshy
elastic caudices and rhizomes is a very
characteristic adaptation of many perennial
scree slope plants in unrelated families, A few
of these ares Stellaria irrigaa, S. americana,
Senecio fr#»oi>tii, Ligularia portari, and
Erigaron laiowtartis^

Dr. William A. Weber

Univ. of Colorado Museum

OF Xtl!^ E!!=OE:^Z:s

OF COLORjAOO

For those of you who haven't heard, H, D.
Harrington's book M anu al of t he Plants of
Colorado has been reprinted as a large size
paperback (about the size of the hardback*. The
cost is approximately $40 and it is for sale at
the eSU bookstore in Fort Collins and is surely
also available at other places.

St-XFFEFt

This summer, following leads from several
scHirces, 1 finally located a large number of
Yellow Lady's Slipper orchids, Cypripadium
calcaolus L, var, pabascans (Willd. ) Correll, in
Larimer Country, west of Fort Collins. Four
rather distinct groups of plants were located
with at least 30 plants in bloom in each group
and many other plants that were not in bloom.

In the same general area were a large number of
Columbines, dgailagia caarulaa James, in full
bloom. An unexpected bonus was finding the
Spur! ess Columbine, A. caarulaa var. daila^aa
Eastw. The stems and leaves of this plant
looked like the regular Columbine but the petals
and sepals were all blue to purple instead of
having the blue and white coloring of the
regular Columbine, Also, the petals and sepals
were all in a plane instead of having the sepals
in a plane and the petals in a cup shape. Of
course as the name implies these Columbines have
no «^3urs projecting from the back of the flcswer,

I plan to lead at least a chaptm^ field trip to
s^ these orchids this ccmlng summer and
possibly some other orchids Hi star a cordata
var. nephrophylla and i. cordata var, cordata)
just west of Cameron Pass.

Les Shader

l='3t c3 Tr- ± !=► t

June 26-27.

The objective of this trip has to investigate
the plant communities and rare plant species oT
the Piceance Basin Meet o+ Heeker. The group o-f
25 participants Mas led by Bill Baker and Karen
Wiley Eberle. Bill used his experience -from

Necking on a plant community survey and rare
plant inventory in the Piceance Basin to explain
the geology, the past histc^y of the vegetation
of the Piceance Basin, and factors that change
vegetation conqsositlon: fires, grazing, big

game browsing, chaining. The group drove up the
Nest Bide of the basin to the Cathedral bluffs,
Mhere some spectacular Mi Idf lower displays among
the sagebrush were seen. The grcMip then visited
several rsre plant sites, including populations
of a neM species of meadoNrue, Thai ictras, and
an assortment of oil shale region endemics,
Agaiiegia barnebyi, Festacs

fistr^agaXus lutosusp and SuIJ ivmntia purpusiim
On the second day the participants visited the
Plant Hater ial Center in Heeker Mhere a variety
of native plant species are being tested for
suitability for disturbed land rehabilitation.
The group Has given a compn^ensive tour of the
facilities by Sam Stranathsun of the Soil
Conservation Survey, A great deal Mas learnt
at the Plant Hater ial Center, and a folloMup
trip in the near future will be planned. Thaaiks
go to Bill and K«ren for organizing the trip,
and to Sam Stranathan, Mho graciously provided a
/'^tcMir the Plant Hater ials Center

cose BIIMOO !

Under Colorado Ian, non-profit organizations may
set up bingo games as a source of revenue. The
Colcxrado Open Space Council (CC^) is beginning
a bingo game In January. Ct^C is a coalition of
Colorado environmental groups of i^ich Colorado
Native Plant Society CCOhPS) is a m«irtjer-
THrough its omo staff, a paid lobbyist, and
volunteers, COSC Morks Mith the Legislature and
Congress on ^vironmental issues affecting
public land and health, such as eilderness. Mild
and scenic rivers, toxic Haste disposal, energy
development, logging, etc- These Issues often
have an impact on native plants.

According to Kent Hanson, the bingo coordin-
ator, other groups have made as iiHich as *1,000
in an afternoon Mith a nell^un game. 03SC is
hoping to generate a sizeable portion of its

*150,000 annual operating budget threjugh bingo.
The COSC game will be at 64th and Wadstai^th,
Denver, Sunday afternoons frcMa 1 to 4 o'clock-
Volunteers are needed for one Sunday a month
(four people per Sunday). This is a nen and
potentially significant source of revenue that
Mould lessen COSC's d^endence on demations.
Any bingo enthusiasts who would like to support
inportant envircmmental work in ColcM^ado should
contact Kent at 722-2982,

^Jc^n Anderson

Representative to COSC

Sc3m«» X ± €=«iii±: i c=»rT(* *B
€=•■-<= I

I recently had occasiem to search for sources of
common names for native plants. The profession-
al botanists aiMxng us will know the two publica-
tions I found, ewr rediscovered, but you hobby-
ists may not. And, if ycHJ are like me, some of
you hobbyists may have a problem remembering
scientific names.

These publications contain no illustrations nor
keys. They will not help you identify plants.
They will be useful to i^st of us cwily if we
know a scientific or common name and want to
learn its other name.

The first publication Is USDA Fex^est Service,
Seneral Technical Report RH-20, "Principal Range
Plants of the Central and Scnithern Rocky Houn-
tainsf Names and Symbols." It lists plants unde^
4 headings!! grasses, grassltke plants, forbs,
and trees and shrubs. The main listing is by
scientific name followed by both approved and
"other** common names. A separate index to com-
mon names makes It cenvenient to start with a
common name and find the corresponding scientif-
ic name. I estimate the main list includes more
than 4,000 different plants. The index to com-
mon names contains more than 3,500 names.

The second publication is a rediscovered old
timer. Standa rd i zed Plant Naw^ was prepared by
the EditcH^ial Coo«iitt4» of the American Joint
CoiMMittee on Horticultural Nomenclature. It was
first prepared in 1917 and published In 1923.
The second edition, which 1 consulted, was
revised and published in 1942. At that time the
Edi tori al Committee consisted of Harlan P.
Kelsey and William A. Daytcm.

Standard i z ed Pl ant Name s includes the names of
plants from all over the world that are used in
horticulture in the U.S.A. That includes all
the horticultural varieties known at the time of
compilation. The "list" has 667 pages, each of
which has 3 columns of plant names. Each
natural species and variety is listed twice, one
under its scientific name and again under its
common name. For example, lodgepole pine will
appear under Pinus contorts iatjf folia and under
Pine, lodgepole. Varieties are give coimnon
names only-

Stand ard ized P | ant j^ms includes 63 special
lists, sexae of which may be helpful to you. For
example, cactus gmera, drug plant names, fruit
and edible nut names, lusher trade names, plant
patents, poisonous plants, to name a few.

The first publication is available from the
Rocky Hountaln Few'est and Range Exp^iment
Station, 240 W. Prospect, Fort Collins, CO,
80526- stand a rd iz ed P I ant Names was published
by the J. Horace HcFarland Co., Harrisburg, PA- ,
and is probably mit of print. It can be found
at University libraries and probably at the
Itenver Botanic Garden library-

■Lloyd Hayes

OFFICERS

HAILING ADDRESS

Presidents

Sue Martin

226-5365

VI ce— fVesi dent s

Dob Heapes

841-3978

Secretary!

Ele^cNT Von Bargen

756-1400

Treasurer s

Myrna Steinka^

226-5365

K)ARD OF DIRECTORS

John Anderson (84) Denver W 234-2496

440-3812
824-8261
226-536S
841-3978
226-3371
482-2283
879-2168
4B4-0107
226-3371

COMMITTEES

Bill Baker (83) Boulder

Karen Mi ley Eberle C83> Craig

Lloyd Hayes (82) Fort Collins

Bob Heapes (83) Parker

Sue Martin (84) Fort Collins

Beth Painter (83) Fm’t Collins

Claire Seeeer (84) Steaeferoat Village

Les Shader (84) Fort (kill ins

Myrna Steinkaep (83) Fort Collins

CONSERVATION

EDITORIAL

EDUCATION!

FIELD TRIPS
eOVERNMENT(^ AFFAIRS
HORTICU-TURE &
f^ABILlTATION
MEMBERSHIP
PUBLICITY
FLORISSANT

Les Shader 484-0107

J- Scott Peterson 886-5887

Myrna Steinkamp 226-3371
Lloyd Hayes 226-^E65
Mary Ed*«rds 233-8133

REPRESENTAT IVES

COLORADO NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY

P. O. BOX 200

FORT COLLINS CO 80S22

S(klEDIJLE OF MEMBERSHIP FEES

LIFE *250.00
SUPPCX^TING 50.00
C»;(6ANlZATItM4 25.00
FAMILY OR DUAL 12-00
iNDIVIimAL 8.00
STUDENT OR SENIOR 4-00

NEIi^ETTBi ARTICLES

Please direct all contributions and articles
to the EDITCK in care of the Society’s Mailing
address.

Deadlines for the NEMSLETTER are the first day
of January, March, May, July, September, and
and November with publicatlcm the last day of the
month. The 4 issues March through Si^tei^er will
be publised without fail, the January and Novem-
ber issues will be publised as mat«^ial is
available.

MEMB5(SHIP REI^HALS AND INFORMATION

Please direct all n^nrt^ership applicatons, renew-
als and address changes to the MEMBERSHIP Chair-
person in care of the Society's mailing address-

CXISC (Colcrado Open Space Council) John Anderson

Please direct all other inquiries regarding the
Society to the SECRETARY in care of the
Society’s mailing address.

Colorado Native Plant ScKziety
P. O. Box 200
Fort Collins Co 80522

Non-Profit Org.
U- S- Pastage
PAID

Permit *7
Ft. Collins. CO

PAID THRUJ *82
DR. DEXTER U. HESS
2202 SANTA FE AVE.

LA JUNTA CO 81050