Northern California Botanists BOTANICAL LEAFLETS ISSUE 19 Spring 2017 President’s message It’s been a great spring here in Northern California. With all of the rain, we have had some wonderful wildflower displays in the valley grass¬ lands. I helped teach a Plant Collection and Mounting Specimens workshop in April for the Friends of the Chico State Herbarium. And I have been a volunteer at the Sac¬ ramento Wildlife Refuge this spring with jenny Marr look¬ ing for the rare plants in the vernal pools and alkali flats. I also helped with two wild- flower shows. The Mt. Las¬ sen chapter of the California Native Plant Society had their show in April here in Chico and was well attend¬ ed. I also helped with the Siskiyou Wildflower Show in Yreka sponsored by the Klamath and Shasta Trinity National Forests. There were many people who came throughout Mother’s Day to enjoy that show. We had a great 2017 Sym¬ posium and we are now starting to talk about the one for January 2019. We will skip 2018 since CNPS is will hold their state-wide conference in January 2018. We have finished our re¬ view of applications and selection of the 2017-2018 student research scholarship awards. See Page 3 for in¬ formation on the awardees. Have a wonderful summer pursuing your many vast botanical adventures. Linnea Hanson President OFFICERS President: Linnea Hanson Vice President: Samantha Hil- laire Secretary: Barbara Castro Treasurer: Gail Kuenster Members-at-large Brett Hall Lawrence Jane way Julie Kierstead Nelson Robert Schlising Teresa Sholars Daria Snider Superbloom in Northern California This Spring was amazing for desert wildflowers, vernal pool plants, and valley and foothill grasslands. One of the wettest winters on record resulted in spectacular displays throughout California—we hope you got an opportunity to see them in person. This photograph shows Lastheniafremontii ringing a vernal pool at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Joe Silveira Mystery Plant This is a low-elevation, early-flowering plant of Northern California. It is found mainly on clay soils in foothills and grasslands (including pastures). The perianth parts have this unusual pinkish-purple color, and have huge nectaries on the inner surfaces. The capsular fruits, apparently resembling items sometimes used in gaming or gambling, gave rise to the generic name. The genus is a large one, with perhaps 100 species in temperate zones. (Answer on Page 2) Photo by Robert Fischer Jane Van Susteren Jenn Yost Newsletter Editor: Gail Kuenster Inside this issue: President’s message 1 Superbloom in Northern . California Mystery Plant 1 Thank You 2017 Symposi¬ um Sponsors 2 2017-2018 Scholarships 2 Answer to “Mystery Plant 2 Botanists in Action 3 BOTANICAL LEAFLETS Page 2 Thank You to Our 2017 Symposium Sponsors! • Bureau of Land Management, Califor- • CSUC, College of Natural Sciences • Robert A. Schlising nia State Office • CSUC, Dept, of Biological Sciences • Shasta-Trinity National Forest • California Botanical Society • Friends of the Chico State Herbarium • Sierra Pacific Foundation • California Invasive Plant Council • Garcia and Associates • Siskiyou Field Institute • California Native Grasslands Associa- • Halkard Mackey • Southern California Botanists • tion California Native Plant Society (State • Hedgerow Farms • Stillwater Sciences Office; Redbud, Sacramento Valley, • HDR, Inc. • University & Jepson Herbaria, UCB and Shasta chapters) • Lawrence Jane way • Westervelt Ecological Services • The Chico State Herbarium • Nomad Ecology • Ray Collett Trust • Wildlands 2017-2018 Student Research Scholarship Awards The Northern California Botanists provides monetary scholarships for students doing research on botanical subjects in north¬ ern and central California. The Sacramento Valley and Shasta chapters of CNPS generously support this program by funding an additional scholarship each. We received 30 applications this year and as usual there were many great research projects to choose from. Congratulations to these students and thank you to all that submitted applications! 2017-2018 NCB Research Scholarship Recipients Recipient Degree Program College Title of Research Project Chris Adlam Shasta Chapter Award PhD University of California, Davis Climatic controls on conifer encroachment in oak habitats. Mitchell Bamford MS California State Univer¬ sity, Chico Comparing restoration methods in invaded California grass¬ lands . Margot Buchbinder MS San Francisco State Uni¬ versity Facilitating physical and biological recovery with planted vegetation at a salt marsh restoration site. Drew Burke and Kate Miller Undergrad¬ uate Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Floristic survey of Yosemite's sky islands. Amanda Carr MS Western Washington Invader success and species coexistence in a California ser- Nick Jensen PhD Claremont Graduate University Historical biogeography of the Streptanthus howellii alliance. Maureen Page PhD University of California, Davis Impacts of honey bee abundance on the pollination of native plants. Prahlada Papper PhD University of California, Berkeley Ecological and phylogenetic relationships of Quercus garryana var. breweri and var. semota. Cody Rice MS California State Univer¬ sity, Chico Understanding the genetic diversity of Darlingtonia californica population clusters. Carmen Tubbesing PhD University of California, Berkeley Predicting forest recovery following high-severity fire. Answer to “Mystery Plant”: Fritillaria pluriflora Torr. ex Benth. (Liliaceae) ISSUE 19 PAGE 3 Northern California Botanists in Action A continuing series that highlights well-known to possibly less-well-known botanists, with photographs from the present to several decades back. Please share unpublished pictures of northern California botanists: send jpegs and information to rschlising@csuchico. edu Gail Kuenster’s name is familiar to anyone who deals with the Northern California Botanists (since 2007!). Gail is the friendly, efficient power-house that handles mem¬ bership, newsletter, website, symposium registrations, scholarship checks (and more!). She is shown as a student, working for the CA Dept, of Water Resources some time ago. She is now an Environmental Program Manager with DWR in Sacramento, and has a home in Paradise, near where she did research on Erythronium for her master’s thesis. Don Lepley, shown here at the Dye Creek Preserve in Tehama County, has been Assistant Botanist with the Las¬ sen National Forest in Susanville since 2007. Don went to Dartmouth College and then worked for several years, mostly in the Boston Area. Then he criss-crossed the coun¬ try (PA, TX, CO) working with various land management agencies before settling in Susanville. Don has dedicated considerable volunteer time collecting bryophytes for the California Academy of Sciences Herbarium. Bob Patterson earned his Ph.D. at the University of Cal¬ ifornia, Santa Barbara, and has since been leading a fruitful career at San Francisco State University. He has had 35 graduate students and always brings some of them to the NCB symposia. He works on the systematics of Polemoni- aceae and Hydrophyllacae and gave the keynote address on the phlox family for the NCB symposium in 2011. Bob has been editor of Madrono and President of the California Botanical Society. Here Bob is shown in the field, demon¬ strating the thigmotrophic stigmas in the monkey-flowers. Annie Eblin is a “new” botanist, who graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz, with a degree in Environmental Sciences and a focus on plant physiology. She has been particularly active in projects relating to inva¬ sive species identification and abatement, and has already worked at various management and restoration projects in the Santa Cruz, Areata and Santa Barbara areas. This year she landed a job as a botanist with Garcia and Associates, in Auburn. Annie is shown here at a CNPS plant identifica¬ tion workshop at Monterey in 2017. Northern California Botanists P. O. Box 80+2 Chico, CA 9S927-8042 Please send address changes to: ncbotanists@gmail. com Membership application/renewal Name:_ Affiliation: Address:_ City:_State:_ Zip: Membership and DONATIONS ALSO ACCEPTED ONLINE AT Email: WWW.NORCALBOTANISTS.ORG MEMBERSHIP DUES: _ Individual $25.00 _ Student/Limited Income $15.00 _ Family or Small Business/Non-Profit (two memberships) $40.00 In addition, I would like to donate $_ to Northern California Botanists to help fund NCB programs and student research scholarships. Make checks payable to “Northern California Botanists” and mail to: Northern California Botanists P. O. Box 8042 Chico, CA 95927-8042 NCB is a federally recognized 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. Membership dues and donations are tax deductible.