Colorado Native PI ant Society

r ^

N E W SLETTER

Volume 9, Wo. I

January-February 1984

"Dedicated to the /^preciation and Conservation of toe Colorado Flora"

CALENDAR OF COM 1 InIG EVENTS

See* Col Cer vter

ffgfinit of
fhe: board of directors

The Board adopted a new policy governing
the publication o-f the "Colorado Native
Plant Society Newsletter," Five newsletters
will be published during the year with
mailing dates to be the 15th o-f January,
March, May, August, and November. The dead-
line -for submitting material for the news-
letter will be the 1st of the month preced-
ing publication. This decision will become
effective with the January 1995 newsletter.

The entries submitted in the poster con-
test sponsored bye the Colorado Native
Plant Society were judged by the members of
the Board. The winning poster design for
the new Colorado Native Plant Society post-
er was submitted by Paula Nicholas. Print-
ing of the posters has been approved by the
Board.

The Board approved the renewal of the or-
ganizational membership in the Colorado
Open Space Council (COSC) for one year.

Honoraria for the 1984 Annual Meeting
speakers were approved by the Board.

Eleanor Von Bargen

MEMBERSH I F REMINDERS

Membership renewal notices and question-
naires for 1985 were sent out in November,
1984. If you have not yet renewed, now is
the time to do so! Early renewal is espe-
cially important if you wish to hear about
and participate in activities sponsored by
the Society’’ s chapters. All memberships are
on a calendar year basis; those joining
after mid-summer also are credited with
dues for the following calendar year. The
mailing label on this newsletter contains
information on your current dues status. In
the upper right corner of the mailing label
is an asterisk followed by the year through
which your dues are paid* Very recent re-
newals, of course, may not be correctly
shown .

The membership committee also reminds you
to let them know your new address if you
move. Under the rules of our mailing per-
mit, newsletters and other Society mail-
ings are not forwarded and are not returned

to us they are dead lettered!! So if you

f ai 1 to inform us of your changed address,
we have no way of knowing, and you are ef-
fectively lost from us.

Thanks to the many members who took time to
fill out the survey. As needs arise, those
who indicated an interest in a particular
committee or a willingness to perform a
service will be contacted. Special thanks,
too, to those members who have given addi-
tional support to the Society through dona-
tions and extra class memberships.

* * * * * *ANNOUNCEMENT** ***

MEETING OF WESTERN
NATIVIE PL.ANT SOCIETIES

The Oregon Native Plant Society is organiz-
ing a meeting of Native Plant Societies of
the western states. This meeting will be
held in LaGrande, Oregon, August 2-4, 1985.
LaGrande is described as "a gateway to the
Wallowa mountains, a beautiful area both
sceni cal 1 y and botanical ly. **

The program, still in the planning stages,
may include panel discussions on conserva-
tion and on legislation for protection of
native plants. Each Native Plant Society
represented at the meeting will present a
short report describing the Society and its
activities. In addition, the meeting organ-
izers are soliciting short (20-30 minute)
presentations "...on any special subject or
project that would be of interest to Native
Plant people." One such presentation al-
ready scheduled will describe the
Casiil ieja of California and the northwest.

The CONPS Board has decided against sending
an official representative. Anyone who
might wish to participate in the program as
an individual, however, should contact the
program chairman, Michael D. Fahey, 215
Phoenix Way, Vancouver, WA 98661.

FLORISSANT |_jF>0*=fc"T"E:

1985 will mark the fourth year of the Colo-
rado Native Plant Society’s plant inventory
and herbarium project at Florissant Fossil
Beds National Monument, and the end is not
in sight as long as we continue to find new
species. The past summer of 1984 saw 56 new
species added to our list, raising the to-
tal collected to date to 370.

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument is
35 miles west of Colorado Springs on U.S.
Highway 24, about 0.5 miles south of the
town of Florissant. The Monument comprises
an area of approx i mately 6000 acres of rol-
ling, hilly terrain, open and park-like
with Ponder osa pine as the dominant tree
species. A broad, flat meadow through the
central portion of the Monument marks the
bed of ancient Lake Florissant. The Floris-
sant area is in the upper montane zone eco-
logically since the elevation varies from
0300 to 8800 feet. In spite of its eleva-
tion, Florissant is a comparatively dry
area, with a yearly average precipitation
of only about 18 inches. A small permanent
stream, Gr ape Creek, runs through the cen-
tral valley, and there are other small
streams, both permanent and intermittent,
throughout the Monument . These wet areas
arc r,ch in species and more collecting
needs to be done there. Though nearly two
thirds of the monument has been collected,
there are still several large areas that
have not yet been explored, A field trip
into some of these areas will be planned by
the Florissant committee for mid or late
July.

(continued on the top of the next page)

SEARCH FOR

(continued from bottom of previous page)

Trt the meantime, if you just can't wait for
spring, come and help the committee mount
and file plants that were collected last
summer. This activity tales place at the
t at hr yn Kalmbach Herbarium of the Denver
Botanic Gardens, where mounted specimens
fcsr the 'future Florissant herbarium are
currently housed. The Florissant committee
would welcome interested helpers. Call Mary
Edwards at 233-8133 for more information.

— -Mary Edwards

ROCKY mountain

rv|#^T I OlviF*L_ PARK

and acquisition
PROJECT

An effort is underway to purchase a 39.24
acre parcel of privately owned land that
lies within the boundaries of Rocky Moun-
tain National Park (RMNP). This tract is in
the Kawuneeche Valley, five miles north of
Grand Lake and just west of the Colorado
River. A lodgepole pi ne/Engl emann spruce
forest, part of Baker Creek, some dry
meadows, and some wetlands whose vegetation
is affected by the Colorado River all are
included. The goal is to acquire this tract
(which actually is 3 separate parcels) and
add it to RMNP.

The property apparently has been divided on
paper, and there is a threat of subdivision
and development. Several potential means of
obtaining these parcels have been explored,
but apparently the only feasible one has
been determined to be a straight purchase.
As a result. Rocky Mountain Nature Associa-
tion has signed a purchase contract with
the property owners. Now funds must be
raised to meet the demands of the contract,
which included a down payment, monthly pay-
ments, and final balloon payment due Novem-
ber 23, 1985. Fund raising efforts have
been under way for some time. Tax deducti-
ble donations may be sent to: Rocky Moun-
tain Nature Association, Rocky Mountain
National Park, Estes Park, CO 80517. Cer-
tificates of Appreciation are presented to
donors of *5.00 or more-

Once the purchase is completed, title will
be presented to the U. S. Government with
the understanding that the tract will be
restored to natural conditions (there is a
cabin there now, and some other evidence of
human activity) and managed as a natural
area. The property is habitat for river
otter, which RMNP is trying to reintroduce
into the Colorado River ecosystem, as well
as for elk, deer, and coyote. CONPS will
make a small donation, and we encourage you
to consider a personal donation to this
pro ject -

T t I EE

If^&C TI S O Ft CM I OS

Epipagtis gigantea is a large-flowered very
distinctive orchid that is unmistakable
when seen. Being limited generally to fair-
ly low elevations in the western and south-
ern parts of the state causes this orchid
to be seldom seen or collected. What col-
lections there are fall into three geo-
graphic areas: the margins of the Uncompah-
gre Plateau in Mesa, Delta, and Montrose
counties; Mesa Verde National Park; and
Poncha Hot Springs in Chaffee County.

The orchid has been collected twice at Pon-
cha Hot Springs, the old resort sitting on
a hill above the town of Poncha Springs.
This is apparently where the orchid was
first collected in Colorado (Bethel in
1894. specimen at Colorado State Univer-
sity). Dr. John Long in his book Native
Orchids of Col or ado reports seeing the or-
chid there on July 9, 1964. I have seen the
orchid at that location three times during
the 1 97 O ' s .

Welsh and Erdman collected £. gigantea
twice on Wetherill Mesa in Mesa Verde Na-
tional Park (1959, 1961, specimens at Uni-
versity of Colorado), but these areas are
probably not accessible to the general pub-
lic.

The main center for E. gigantea in Colorado
is the Uncompahgre Plateau margin. There
are three localities where the orchid has
been found. Five collections have been made
in Escalante Canyon, southwest of Delta, in
the area where Mesa, Montrose, and Delta
counties adjoin. All these collections have
been made in the last ten years. There is a
single collection in Unaweep Canyon along
Colorado Highway 141. There are two old
collections from the Grand Junction area,
housed at the Rocky Mountain herbarium, but
Dr. W. A. Weber reports in his unpublished
checklist of Mesa County plants that a re-
cent collection has been made in the area.

Epipactis is a lover of springs, seeps,
banging gardens, and rocky alcoves and can
be found at scattered localities from Brit-
ish Columbia to Mexico, and as far east as
the Black Hills of South Dakota. The orchid
has been collected twice in northern
Wyoming.

There are no collections in the Front Range
area, and the Chaffee County site is the
only Colorado collection east of the Conti-
nental Divide. However, it should be looked
for up and down the Arkansas Valley from
Buena Vista to Canon City. Other likely
localities are around warm or hot springs
such as are in the Glenwood Springs area or
the Juniper Hot Springs area of Moffat
county. Most collections are -from at 5,000
to 7,500 feet elevation. Most collections
have been made between June 10 and July 10.
Jr. Utah, £. gigantea is associated with
PI a tan the r a spar-<i flora which is also rare
in Colorado.

William F. Jennings

oook

WHAT IS

Avert Nelson of Wyoming

by Roger L. Williams, 1984, Colorado
Associated University Press, Boulder,
Colorado,

In a biography which reads like a novel,
the author focuses on Nelson, the man and
the teacher, more than on the noted taxono-
mist and botanist that he eventually be-
came.

Nelson’s life spanned almost a century, the
latter half of the nineteenth and the first
half of the twentieth, when western botany,
had much to be discovered. Nelson’s charac-
ter was molded by the morals and mores of
that time at the turn of the century. His
father, who immigrated from Norway as a
young man, instilled in Aven a basic mor-
ality based on integrity, thrift, industry,
unselfishness, and kindliness. These char —
acteristics remained with him throughout
his life and were passed on to a large ex-
tent to his children and to his students.

The story of his early years at the Uni ver —
sity of Wyoming includes his struggle to
become proficient in the subjects that were
more or less forced upon him in the begin-
ning. He had been hired originally as a
professor of English. He early took a leave
without pay to attend Harvard University
where he acquired the MA degree, after
which, in the fall of 1892, he returned to
Laramie. During the next few years he made
several attempts to secure a more lucrative
and prestigious post elsewhere; but by the
time he had acquired the requisite qualifi-
cations for such a position he had become
committed to Wyoming.

His accomplishments were many. He was the
principal force behind the founding of the
Rocky Noun tain Herbarium and the Colorado-
Wyoming Academy of Science. For the herbar-
ium he did most of the early collecting and
mounting. His extensive revision of the
Coulter Manua l of Rocky Mou n tain Botany was
essentially a completely new treatment. He
acquired the Ph.D, degree, kept up a run-
ning barrage of articles and publications,
all while teaching a full schedule of
classes. In addition he served as President
of the University for five years.

While giving him due credit for all of
these and other accompl i shments and ac-
knowledging his impact on the botany of
Wyoming and Colorado, the author leaves one
with the impression that Nelson's greatest
contribution after all was the army of stu-
dents who left his classes to spread his
precepts and his love of the beautiful
through out the land.

The work, though carefully researched, is
written with a deep empathy with the sub-
ject. Roger Williams is a Distinguished
Professor of History at the University of
Wyoming and a botanist by avocation.

Berta Anderson

Just before one reaches the top of the
grade of Trail Ridge road, just before
where the tundra begins, there is, in June,
a beautiful display of a loosely-clumped
white-flowered Palemanium. This is Pol e ma-
nia* hrand&gei (Gray) Greene. Harrington
followed the monographer, Davidson (who
seems not to have done any field work in
Colorado), in making this synonymous with
P. vi scosum, the blue-flowered SKy Pilot of
the tundra. However , P . hrandeg&i is a
plant of scree and talus slopes, often at
quite low altitudes (down to 6-7,000 feet
in some canyons); it has a loose aggrega-
tion of stems, the leaves of the previous
year remain as dry straw rachises, the
flowers are pale yellowish or white, with
the corolla tube narrow, 2 to 3 times as
long as the calyx, and with the flower in a
loose inflorescence. Polemoni um viscosum ,
on the other hand, grows on stable tundra
and boulderf ields above timber line, its
stems are crowded and low, the leaves are
not obviously marcescent, the flowers are
blue, the corolla tube is broad, hardly 2
times as long as the calyx, and the flowers
are in tight ball-like clusters.

Why were these plants put together under
one name? Well, there are white mutants of
P. vi scosum, and there are pale blue plants
of P. for&nd&g&i . Simple enough? Not quite.
If you will walk down the road from Rack
Cabin site, you will see perfectly clear P.
viscosam (Species A, below) growing on the
tundra. Then as you go down slope you begin
to see plants like P. brandegei but the
flower tubes are too short, and there are
whi te-f lowered plants. Farther down there
is a beautiful display of long-tubed P.
hrandegei (Species B, below) plants, some
white and others pale blue. What is going
on' >

This seems to be a clear case of introgres-
sive hybridization on a small scale. Late
flowering plants B have the opportunity to
hybridise with early flowering plants of A
on the borders of their habitats. The first
generation plants (A*B> will exhibit domi-
nance of one parent (in this instance B>
and will survive best on the habitat most
like B’s. Since they are most like B, no FI
plants will invade the habitat of A. Back-
crossing will be to late-flowering plants
of B, hence there will be some variability
among the progeny along the edge of B's
habitat . But dominance of A will tend to
itiasf the A genes moving in the B popula-
tion. In other words, while there will be a
visible zone* of Intermediacy, both parental
populations will remain essentially as they
were except that the B population may be
somewhat more variable. This is common in
interspecific crosses (Pqailegia.

0 >. ytr-opis , and other genera), and is beau-
tiful 1 y developed by Edgar Anderson in his
b oo t ■; , Intr pgr es © iy e Hybr idization.

W. A. Weher

BOULDER CHAPTER

fff the.

COLORADO

NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY

— ■■■■ . —

BOULDER CHAPTER CALENDAR

JANUARY 9 “Ki Id Flower Photography', a slide-talk, will be presented by Betty Seacrest, and will include close-up techniques, the

use of fill-in flash, and composition. Bring up to five of your own 35 is flower slides to be critiqued. Times 7.30 p.i

Place: Washington School, Broadway and Cedar, Boulder. I

JANUARY 19 Dr. Miriam Denhai will conduct a workshop on identification of the Fabaceae (Pea) family, with special eiphasis on the
Benus Astragalus. Please call Miriam at 442-1020 to reserve a place or request coverage of other genera within the pea
failly. Tile: 1-4 p.i. Places A-fraie, Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat.lt

FEBRUARY 9 "Setting Ready for Spring", a workshop for beginners wanting to learn how to key out plants, will give general tips on

recognizing plant faailies, and work step by step through a key. Bring a hand lens if you have one, (Led by Sue

Salatowitsch) Tiie: 9-11.30 a.e. Places A-fra»e, Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat.

FEBRUARY 13 Dr. Toe Veblen from CU will talk on "Recent Changes in Boulder County Forests', and show before and after' slides to
illustrate his talk. Ti»es 7.50 p.i. Places Washington School, Broadway and Cedar, Boulder.

MARCH 9 Bill Jennings will present a workshop, "Identification (and taxonoiic problems involved in identification) of the

Lilies, Irises and Orchids in Colorado," The workshop, which will cover 48 species, including the Agaves, will begin
at tOsOO a. a. in Roo* E-112, Plant Science Bldg., Colorado State University, Fort Collins. Iltall Bill at 484:5159 to
register.

MARCH 13 'Bring *em Back Alive', the art of growing wildflowers in your yard WITHOUT decimating the wild, will be presented by
Panayoti Kelaidis, Curator of the Rock Alpine Barden at Denver Botanic Bardens.

Time: 7.30 p.a. Place: Washington School, Broadway and Cedar, Boulder.

APRIL 10 Beneral meeting - topic to be announced - 7.30 p.m. Washington School

APRIL 27 "Plants of the Shale.* Come on a field trip to explore the plants of Six Nile Fold. Share your knowledge of flowers,

soils and geology of this unique area. Meet at Scott Carpenter Park -30th and Arapahoe in Boulder, at 9.00 a*m. to car-
pool for this half day trip.

NAY 8 Beneral meeting - topic to be announced - 7.30 p.m. Washington School.

HAY 11 Reserve this afternoon for a patluck /business-meeting /hike at the home of Sue Salatowitsch. Time to firm up details of

the Annual Beneral Meeting of CoNPS, which our chapter will host this year, and also to socialise with other chapter
members before the field season.

More details of any of these events may be obtained by calling 447-9169 or 440-4133
t Washington School, 1215 Cedar, Boulders It A-frame, Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitats

l/.

***■ VaJwo*

■Metro Denver Chapter

23 &AN, Wednesday, 7s 30 pm at Botanic Garden House* Propagation of Native

Plants. Jin Borland, propagator at the Denver Botanic Gardens, mil
discuss propagating native plants.

27 FEB, Wednesday, 7s 30 pm at Botanic Garden House. CONFS Florissant

Project. Mary Edwards will discuss and show slides on the CONFS
Florissant project. The Society's Florissant Committee is com-
piling a complete plant list and herbarium for the Monument.

(Mary led a two day collecting trip to the Monument last July.)

27 MAR, Wednesday, 7; 30 pm at Botanic Garden House. Hunting Native Plants.

Larry Schl i chenmayer , nurseryman at Old Farm Nursery, will give a
lecture and slide show on hunting native plants and introducing
them into the nursery trade.

24 APR, Wednesday, 7s 30 pm at Botanic Garden House. To be announced.

22 MAY, Wednesday, 7s 30 pm at Botanic Garden House . To be announced.

— — — ■■ — — — Yampa Valley Chapter—

The next meeting will be with the local Archaeology Society (no
further information available at press time). Call Sue Allard at
824-8958 for details of time and place.

Fort Collins Chapter

15 JAN, Tuesday, 7s 30 pm at Fort Collins Museum, 200 Mathews, entrance at
rear of building. Speaker will be from the Audubon Society.

19 FEB, Tuesday, 7s 30 pm at Fort Collins Museum, 200 Mathews, entrance at
rear of building. Contact Les Shader at 484-0107 for details.

19 MAR, Tuesday, 7:30 pm at Fort Collins Museum, 200 Mathews, entrance at
rear of building. Contact Les Shader at 484—0107 for details.

! ML"

\ * - u m

/=*/. 79 7 79 Af / M t /.?+-? OFtCM 1 OS

The qr epn and white bag orchids {Platan-
T f:era hyperborea and P . dilatata\ a 1 so
placed in Habenar l a and L i moor chi s by some
•u'thor i 1 1 os i are two of the commonest na-
tive orchids in Colorado. But another
green-f lowered big orchid, P . -:par * if l ora .
is very rare in Colorado. Dr. W. A. Weber
does hot list it for the Front Range in
F'f.cl y Mountain Flora and Dr. H. D. Harring-
ton indicated the species had been consis-
tently reported for Colorado, but he could
find no specimens. Dr. D» S. Cor r el 1 , in
Native Orchids of North America North of
Mexico, lists Rio Blanco and Montrose Coun-
ties as the only locations in Colorado.

During the course -of my survey of the local
herbaria for Scott Peterson of the Colorado
Natural Heritage Inventory, a number of
specimens identified by others as P .

5 par- si fl ora were found to be mi si dent i f i ed .
Although my as yet uncompleted survey of
the common green bog orchids may show some
of them to be mi si dent i f i ed, and to be in
fact P, * par- < i flora, at present there are
only five good collections of P. sparsj
flora* Four are specimens collected by
Lucian Long of Colorado Springs during the
last five years. These specimens are at the
Denver Botanic Gardens. The fifth col-
lection was made by E. B. Payson near Mont-
rose in 1910. This specimen, at the Univer-
sity of Wyoming i Roc k y Mountain Herbarium)
was annotated by Correll and is the Mont-
rose county citation. The specimen col-
lected in Rio Blanco county and referred to
by Correl 1 has not been located. Two more
Lucian Long collections show affinities to
p . sparsi flora, but also show features of
other species and may be hybrids.

Known localities are:

near Montrose, Payson in 1910, RMH
near Valley View Hot Springs, Saguache
Co., Long in 1979 and 1981, DBG
southeast of Norwood, San Miguel Co.,
Long in 1978, DBG
Eagle River at Edwards* Eagle Co.,

Long m 1981, DBG

PI atan i-hpra spars? flora is a species of
Mexico* the Southwest, the Great Basin, and
the Sierra Nevada, Spec i men s from New Mex-
ico of typical P, sparsifl&ra were seen at
the Denver Botanic Gardens. University of
Colorado, and Rocky Mountain Herbaria.

From the descriptions, P . <parnj flora and
P, h y pc r-bo i"t a Sound a lot alike, but t our
par j son of specimens and reference to
Liter's photographs in Native Orchids D f the
United States and Canada shows some signif-
icant differences. In general, P . spars } -
flora shows a typical -1 oof i ng green bog
orchid flower from afar, but up close it is
generally larger, with a big column com-
pletely filling the hood. The spur is often
s t r a l yht and si iclo ng r i q idly bob i nri t he
flower . The flower is rather elongated and
the hood comes to a bit of a point. The
whale flower looks like a typical green bog

. r chid flower that wac stretched by pulling
_,t the top of the hood and end of the lip
or thy- spur . The sparseness of the inf Jo—
r ftscentf* implied by the name, is very var-
iable and c in not be used as a diagnostic
feature for any of the green bog orchids in
my opinion* 1 have noticed a peculiar yel-
lowish tinge on flowers on live plants,
also shown in tner's photographs. The other
green flowered Pi at anther as show a much
richer* darter green flower, but this is
probably too subjective a point to be used
f or pr i mar y i dent if ir.ali on .

Per suns botanizing for orchids in the west-
ern and southern parts of the state are
] sed to carefully check green bog or-
iu ds to see if they are P . spars 1 fl ora.
The col let lions are mostly from late June
or early July, mostly at about 7,500 feet
elevation. It is probably more common than
rol 1 6-c t i ons indicate because people assume
it is the common P . hyperbor&a*

William F. Jennings

I HE SEA K C2 1 I F OR
/ / ; > / /• f-f 79 URCH I DFi

In January -February 1984 issue of the Colo-
rado Native Plant Society Newsletter, I
wrote that the orchid Lister# bore al i s ap-
peared to be not as rare as originally
thought, with five known stations. Since
that time I have been conducting a study of
the orchid collections in regional herbaria
for Scott Peterson of the Colorado Natural
Heritage Inventory, and as a result. some
new information has come to light regarding
the die) ri but i gp of the three species of
1 JSter* orchids in Colorado.

I - boreal is

There are eight specimens at the University
of f. ol or ado herbarium, two of which were
m i s i d en Ufirri a* l. . c on v- al 1 or i e .> des . There
are two spec i mens #t the University of Wyo-
ming and one at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
The* T .-,.1 1 ns/CUBc* specimens collected in Sum-
r’H f Fount y i n 1987 do not seem to be at any
irf these herbaria, but the collectors are
’ e 1 i able . • ° ‘ d their collecticrns are here
LOhside? fed valid. These spec i mens represent
o t. ghf .1 *..5 ,ij itlfei, f gp 7 » boreal 2 si

! I u Fit.* A. ■■■■ i town. Grand Do.

I , o v' f 1 a r» c! Pan % , S-u m ", n t C o .

Mnrrtw Fiito F . Gummi t Co.

Fj K.*r f *J i ,(•-, cl car Creek Co.

St r f k , U*h vie f'-i v?r , Garfield Co.

" f . F 1 im vi c i m tv, Chaffee fn.

(4 < -.M !• i •* t ' nne '•

Got h i .. v 1 c i r, •; f > , Gunn t sou f ,n .

■ 4 • i 1 f.*r t : >

3i l \ !'V J 4*' 1 i Res. , Gunn i son Co.

/ , run v ifj I r # p ? , ?*• *

1 her e or o n.;-: . ytke-ji-k ai. the U.-o vor si k •/

of Col nr - ‘do LcvhCr • y*, f wr -l tin- f he Den •
rffr F • : • > i ! >r at d Wv- ;*t i ci ; <;■ ., t h>

- IfhU.ft i » • . f J • i : .

O. on? 1 -it £ r, 1 hr- r »y • •

< continued -from bottom ui previ ous page)

ht eamhoa t. Spr i , a-;, few 1 1 1 r< , .

PMNP t*ear Estes f s>,, # t- , 1 ^ iffitfr Co,

\ 3 fol 1 et I i On- )

Peaceful VIP ? ey area, Boulder Co,

*?■ col 1 ect i ons) .

Green Mountain;, West of Boulder, Boulder
Co. * 4 collect sons)

L. cot data

There* are do.' pnfc of sheets in the herbaria
checked with* collections from at least ten
counties, mat i ng this one of the commonest
orchids in Colorado, It is to be expected
in all the higher mountainous areas of the
state.

The important conclusions drawn from the
duta are that L. borealis is far more wide
spread than ever suspected, with collec-
tions from five counties well scattered
over the higher mountains. Listers conval-
tar id; t/r*, on the contrary, is much rarer
than suspected with all collections but one
from a strip of the east slope between
Boulder and Estes Park. Listers conv&l lari ~
aides is disjunct in southern Arizona, so
it is likely that unrii scovered populations
€*xist in remote areas south of the known
rang©. List-era cordate is present in many
areas hist its range still needs definition,
especially in the southern Front Range#
Sangre de Cristos, and western slope. One
other Lister a orchid, L. taurine, is pres-
ent in northwestern Wyoming and should be
looked for in the Park Range of Routt and
ilacksoii counties where so many other North-
western plants have disjunct stations.

tf r> I TOR ^ S CORNER

As noted elsewhere the Newsletter will now
be published 5 times a year with mailings
ho the 15th of January, March, May, August,
and November. Deadline for material for an
issue is the 1st of the month it is to be
ma i 1 ed ..

A hr tghtly colored center page will contain
the calendars of events for the individual
chap tors. Please take it out of the News-
letter and hang it in a convenient place to
remand you of your chapter's activities.

The more important actions of the Board of
Directors meetings will be reported by the
Secretary so that you, the general member-
chip, will be more informed about what your
Board of Directors is doing and what the
Society as a whole is being committed to.

Again, if you have a hobby that makes some
special use of plants, if you have some
special interest in plants, if you have
found some special plant or you have any
other topic that might be of interest to
the membership, please send it in to be
published in the Newsletter. Several people
are available that can rewrite the material
i F needed and your name need not be pub-
lished with the material but please include
it when you send in the material.

If you look at the back page you will see
several holes. We still need Chairpersons
for the Publicity, Conservation and Govern—
cental Affairs Committees. If you can fill
one of these position or know someone who
could please let us know.

Botanical collectors are encouraged to look
for these small green-f lowered orchids out-
side the wel 1 -ml lected areas mentioned
above. Listers cordate sometimes produces
deep burgundy purple flowers and the range
of these plants also needs further
def ini Hon.

William F. Jennings

Vquc editor is still waiting for the first
electronic transfer of material for the
newsletter. J have a modem and can connect
my computer to the telephone line and com-
mon i cate with another computer to send or
receive material. Let, " s give it a try!?

The next issue, March mailing, will contain
the details sn at least the earliest field
trips so Jon * t make your summer commitments
until you see that issue. An effort is be-
er *g made to get field trips scheduled early
i his year s.o that things can be set up be-
4 O' e other commitments are make for the
summer fnr both the leaders and the
par % i c i pant s .

L

F^OlJhJO 1 C * o c- v' *5? a * Eastwood

(3yn, Cry pt ant ha aparta i Eastwood) Payson )

The most elusive species in the Colorado
Flora must be Oreocarya aperta. It was de-
scribed by Alice Eastwood in 1903 from a
col lection she said was collected by her
“at Grand Junction", June 27, 1392. Nothing
was said about the habitat, and the speci-
men is an old fruiting specimen with only
one or two corollas remaining. The only
material i s at California Academy and, for-
tunately, Hiss Eastwood was able to save it
during the earthquake of 1906, or we would
have no idea what it really looked like.
For years we have been looking for the
plant without success, thinking that it
probably grew on the adobe hills around
Grand Junction along with 0. elata.

Wait Kelley has been watching Oreocarya
(Cryptantha subgenus Oreocarya to most) for
some years, and last year reported a Utah
species, C- mensana r from the foothills of
the Douglas Pass area, in Garfield County.
This is a species which ranges into Colo-
rado from adjacent Utah. I happened to ex-
amine his specimens in order to add the
species to my West Slope keys, and was
struck by the similarity of them to the
type specimen of 0 » aperta , which I had
examined earlier. In fact, with Walt's
help, I have now seen it in the field my-
self, and there is no doubt that this is
indeed O. aperta Eastwood.

The identification of Walt's plants as 0.
mensana was vouched for by Elizabeth Nefese,
who knows the plant well in Utah. Although

he had been expressly hunting O. aperta for
some time, Walt was evidently thrown off
the track by interpreting Eastwood's de-
scription "stems several, rather slender,
1-2 dm high, branching from near the base
with marry spreading simply or 2-forked
spikes, those of all the stems aggregated
into a closely branched thyrse, " etc., as
implying that the plant was densely caespi -
tose, like 0. naoa or O. f til wocanescens ,
which it is not, and he is happy to accept
the finding that Om mensana and 0 . aperta
are one and the same. Unfortunately for the
Inter mountai n people, 0- mensana will have
to become a synonym of the earlier name, 0 .
apart a.

For the first time, then, we have a clear
picture of the aspect and habitat of 0.
aperta, which Eastwood probably did not get
very close to Grand Junction at all; she
merely listed that as the nearest town. It
is a plant of openings in pi non- juniper
woods at about 6,000 ft. alt., in the south
side of the escarpment leading up to Doug-
las Pass. It occurs along with 0. fl avocu-
lata , but probably does not occur south of
the Colorado River. It has been found in
several places along different roads lead-
ing into the hills, so 0. aperta is prob-
ably not rare, although in order to find it
one would have to scramble up pretty steep
north-facing slopes in the pinon-juniper .
It has about the shortest flower tubes of
anv of our species.

W. A. Weber

— ~ OFFICERS

President: Sue Martin

Vice-Fres. : Harold Wei ssler

Secretary: Eleanor Von Bargen

Treasurer: Myrna P, Steinkamp

226-3371

278-9186

756-1400

226-3371

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Lee Bar zee (86) Col or ado Springs
Ann Cooper (86) Boulder
Virginia L. Crosby (85) Denver
Scott Ellis (86) Fort Collins
William F, Jennings (86) Boulder
Velma Richards (86) Englewood
Lorraine Seger (85) Boulder
Les Shader (85) Fort Collins

634-4715

447-9169

493- 6069

494- 5159
794-5432
440-3508
404-0107

Myrna P. Steinkamp <S5)Ft . Collins 226-3371
Eleanor Von Bargen (85) Denver 756-1400

-Chapter Presidents who are members of BOD-
Boulder, Sue Balatowitsch 440-4133
Denver Metro, Nevin BeBee 733-1038
Fort Collins, Les Shader 484-0107
Yampa Valley, Susan Allard 824-8958

— REPRESENTATIVES TO ORGANIZATIONS

COSC : Ann Cooper

—SCHEDULE OF MEMBERSHIP FEES

LIFE $250.00 FAMILY OR DUAL *12.00

SUPPORTING 50.00 INDIVIDUAL 8.00

ORGANIZATION 25.00 STUDENT OR SENIOR 4.00

— _ — _ — NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTIONS

Please direct all contributions to the
EDITOR in care of the Society's mailing
address. There is a special need for smal 1
filler items such as some unusual informa-
tion about a plant, a little known botani-
cal term, etc. All contributions should
include the author's name and address, but
items will be printed anonymously if it is
requested.

Deadlines for Newsletter material are the
Ists of the months of January, March,, Hay,
August, and November. The Newsletter will
b© mailed about the 15th of the same month.

COMMITTEES

CONSERVATION:
EDITORIAL:
EDUCATION:
FIELD TRIPS;

Scott Peterson
Les Shader
Miriam Denham
Nevi n BeBee

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS; (HELP)
HORTICULTURE & REHABILITATION:

MEMBERSHIP;

PUBLICITY:

FLORISSANT:

Anna Thurston
Myrna P. Steinkamp
(HELP)

Mary Edwards

484-0107

442-1020

733-1038

493-2369

226-3371

233-8133

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS AND INFORMATION

Please direct all membership appl ications,
renewals and address changes to the MEMBER-
SHIP Chairperson, in care of the Society's
mailing address.

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

RETURN AND MAILING ADDRESS
Colorado Native Plant Society
P. 0. Boh 200
Fort Collins CO 80522

Non

-Profit Org.

U.

S. Postage

PAID

Perm! t #7

Ft.

Collins, CO

80522