Speaker: Carol Bornstein, Author and Director of the Nature Gardens at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

WATCH THE RECORDING THROUGH OCTOBER 15 ON YOUTUBE

TWO WAYS TO WATCH

1) Zoom: To watch the presentation on your computer or phone via Zoom you must register in advance at this link. Registration on Zoom has a capacity so register now for the best ‘seats’. You do not need a Zoom account to register or watch the presentation. 

Register for the presentation: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hh70zNR1S8iHcEJjn8G7ZQ

2) Facebook: If you want to watch the presentation without registration it will be live streamed to CNPS-San Diego Chapter’s Facebook page beginning at 7:00pm. There is no limit to participants viewing the presentation on Facebook.

CNPS-San Diego Chapter Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/events/1341379282923265

Mark yourself as Going or Interested and you will receive a Facebook notification and link on your account to the live stream.

Questions for the presenters will be selected by a moderator from the chat and comment sections of both Zoom and Facebook.

DESCRIPTION

Landscape professionals and home gardeners have the power to make a difference in conserving or restoring biodiversity by creating habitat for wildlife in urban areas. Residential, commercial, and public spaces are increasingly dedicated to this rewarding and vital endeavor to support birds, beneficial insects, and other wild creatures whose natural habitats are threatened by development, pollution, toxic chemicals, and the unchecked spread of invasive species. This presentation features some of the best California native plants for Southern California gardens along with equally important ideas for sustainably designing and tending these spaces.

Lucy Warren, author and Native Garden Committee member, will moderate questions.

BIO

Carol Bornstein is former Director of Living Collections at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, where she oversaw development and care of the museum’s 3.5-acre Nature Gardens. For nearly 30 years, she was horticulturist at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Carol is co-author of the award-winning California Native Plants for the Garden and Reimagining the California Lawn. She has selected and introduced several popular cultivars for California gardens, including Verbena lilacina ‘De La Mina’ and Corethrogyne filaginifolia ‘Silver Carpet’ and she continues to share her knowledge of plants native to California and other mediterranean climate regions through her teaching, writing, and design work.

Manzanita berries photo: Carol Bornstein

PURCHASE CAROL’S BOOK “California Native Plants for the Garden”: https://www.canativeseeds.com/product/california-native-plants-for-the-garden/933

WATCH THE RECORDING ON YOUTUBE

SPEAKER: Michael L. Wells Ph.D.

 TWO WAYS TO WATCH

1) Zoom: To watch the presentation on your computer or phone via Zoom you must register in advance at this link. Registration on Zoom has a capacity so register now for the best ‘seats’. You do not need a Zoom account to register or to watch the presentation. 

Register for the presentation: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JKtwJWZAT_O_1_1-h_VtmA

 2) Facebook: If you want to watch the presentation without registration it will be live streamed to CNPS-San Diego Chapter’s Facebook page beginning at 7:00pm. There is no limit to participants viewing the presentation on Facebook.

 CNPS-San Diego Chapter Facebook Page: facebook.com/cnpssd

Questions for the presenters will be selected by a moderator from the chat and comment sections of both Zoom and Facebook.

 DESCRIPTION

The recently published, A Natural History of the Anza-Borrego Region Then and Now by Mike Wells and Marie Simovich, evolved from a course taught at the University of San Diego by the authors over a 16-year period. It tells the story of how the desert landscape evolved over time and how the organisms that inhabit the desert have adapted to the conditions of heat, aridity and high soil salinity found there. To adapt to these conditions organisms have taken many different evolutionary pathways resulting in amazing biological diversity. The most interesting and typical examples of these adaptations will be presented along with sample illustrations taken from the book. The infographics in the book were created by Diolinda Monteiro and the fine illustrations by Anne Kowalski. The book was recently awarded a gold medal for Contributions to Publishing by the Commonwealth Club’s California Book Awards. This award is given to “innovative or essential book projects, which celebrate and showcase California and its richness".

Purchase the book: https://www.shop.theabf.org/products/a-natural-history-of-the-anza-borrego-region-then-and-now-authors-marie-simovichmike-wells

 Proceeds from this book support the Anza-Borrego Foundation.  

BIO

Michael L. Wells completed a 34-year career with California State Parks in 2010. His first permanent assignment in 1977 was Anza- Borrego Desert State Park, where he served as a state park ranger. Over the next three decades he enjoyed assignments all over California, serving as a ranger, resource ecologist, and park superintendent. His final assignment was district superintendent of the Colorado Desert District, which includes ABDSP. Mike has a PhD in physical geography from a joint program with San Diego State University and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

WATCH THE RECORDED FACEBOOK LIVE PRESENTATION

WATCH THE RECORDING ON YOUTUBE

SPEAKER: Don Rideout, Native Plant Gardener

TWO WAYS TO WATCH

1) Zoom: To watch the presentation on your computer or phone via Zoom you must register in advance at this link. Registration on Zoom has a capacity so register now for the best ‘seats’. You do not need a Zoom account to register or watch the presentation. 

Register for the presentation: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_In_wRWz_S2-4pV3ypsqX2w

2) Facebook: If you want to watch the presentation without registration it will be live streamed to CNPS-San Diego Chapter’s Facebook page beginning at 7:00pm. There is no limit to participants viewing the presentation on Facebook.

CNPS-San Diego Chapter Facebook Page: facebook.com/cnpssd

Questions for the presenters will be selected by a moderator from the chat and comment sections of both Zoom and Facebook.

DESCRIPTION

Don will a present a virtual tour of his garden that is arranged in five sections representing different geographic and habitat zones - Baja, San Diego Chaparral, Channel Islands, Pond, and Shade.

BIO

Don Rideout was born and raised in Ventura County and worked there for many years. He moved to Encinitas in 1988 and worked for the city of Carlsbad for 17 years. He is most proud of his work on the city's multi-habitat conservation plan which was approved in 2004. Don retired as soon as possible after that, changing his focus to gardening at home and volunteering at Batiquitos Lagoon and Anza-Borrego State Park. In 2008 a group at Anza-Borrego started a Botany Society to help protect the flora of the park and to educate the public about it. He began gardening with native plants in 1995, and some of those plants have survived since then. In 2014 Don overhauled the garden, creating 5 habitat zones and adding many new plants. His goal is to maximize the value of the garden for local wildlife and for his own enjoyment.

All photos: Don Rideout

WATCH RECORDED FACEBOOK LIVE PRESENTATION

WATCH THE RECORDING ON YOUTUBE

SPEAKER: Tony Gurnoe, Director of Conservation Horticulture at the San Diego Botanic Garden

TWO WAYS TO WATCH

1) Zoom: To watch the presentation on your computer or phone via Zoom you must register in advance at this link. Registration on Zoom has a capacity so register now for the best ‘seats’. You do not need a Zoom account to register or watch the presentation. 

Register for the presentation: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_S9RGe7AHQjyEN0hj7jO4Bw

2) Facebook: If you want to watch the presentation without registration it will be live streamed to CNPS-San Diego Chapter’s Facebook page beginning at 7:00pm. There is no limit to participants viewing the presentation on Facebook.

CNPS-San Diego Chapter Facebook Page: facebook.com/cnpssd

Questions for the presenters will be selected by a moderator from the chat and comment sections of both Zoom and Facebook.

DESCRIPTION

Collaboration in conservation is critical, and botanical gardens are uniquely positioned to contribute to these important efforts. After decades of showcasing endangered plant species from our region such as Arctostapylos glandulosa ssp. crassifolia and Hazardia orcuttii, the San Diego Botanic Garden is making significant institutional investments to dramatically elevate the garden's conservation and research programs and expand our ability to positively impact threatened plant species beyond the physical boundaries of the garden. Exciting and successful examples of these efforts include collecting genetically representative seed accessions from endangered species for long term conservation storage in seed banks, reintroducing and reinforcing threatened populations of plant species such as Baccharis vanessae and Quercus dumosa, restoration of detrimentally impacted portions of our local watershed, and a plethora of research projects. Aside from highlighting some of our most interesting projects and partnerships including moving into SDBG's new conservation seed lab and the rugged work of our comprehensive survey and collection of Quercus cedrosensis in the Otay Mountain Wilderness, Tony will briefly discuss how his team and the CNPS-SD members can better work together to have the most significant impact on making amazing rare native plants less rare.

BIO

As the Director of Conservation Horticulture, Tony oversees and coordinates all conservation and plant research projects at the San Diego Botanic Garden. Tony’s background is in conservation of southern California natives, cycads, and threatened subtropical species, with expertise in developing germination protocols and other horticulture strategies related to difficult to cultivate species. Tony has worked on restoration and conservation projects throughout San Diego’s most sensitive habitats, such as the coastal dune restoration at the San Elijo Lagoon. He has completed botanical field surveys and collections in several states throughout the southwestern U.S. and is currently working on regional ex-situ conservation projects related to Arctstaphylos glandulosa ssp. crassifolia, Baccharis vanessae, Hazardia orcuttii, Chorizanthe orcuttiana, and Quercus cedrosensis amongst others.

LINKS

San Diego Botanic Garden: https://www.sdbgarden.org

WATCH THE RECORDED FACEBOOK LIVE PRESENTATION

WATCH THE RECORDING ON YOUTUBE

ORDER BOOK “Coast to Cactus: The Canyoneer Trail Guide to San Diego Outdoors” HERE

Speakers:

Jim Varnell, Canyoneer Training Team & Editor, Coast to Cactus: The Canyoneer Trail Guide to San Diego Outdoors

Diana Lindsay, Author & Editor, Coast to Cactus: The Canyoneer Trail Guide to San Diego Outdoors

TWO WAYS TO WATCH

1) Zoom: To watch the presentation on your computer or phone via Zoom you must register in advance at this link. Registration on Zoom has a capacity so register now for the best ‘seats’. You do not need a Zoom account to register or watch the presentation. 

Register for the presentation:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0wCpYrcERUy0owj4PxVOuA

2) Facebook: If you want to watch the presentation without registration it will be live streamed to CNPS-San Diego Chapter’s Facebook page beginning at 7:00pm. There is no limit to participants viewing the presentation on Facebook.

CNPS-San Diego Chapter Facebook Page: facebook.com/cnpssd

Questions for the presenters will be selected by a moderator from the chat and comment sections of both Zoom and Facebook.

DESCRIPTION

San Diego Natural History Museum Canyoneers Jim Varnell and Diana Lindsay will discuss the importance and usefulness of Coast to Cactus: The Canyoneer Trail Guide to San Diego Outdoors, which is much more than a trail guide. It was designed to teach appreciation and understanding of the great biodiversity found in San Diego County. It is a field guide to the various habitats encountered on hundreds of County trails with descriptions of over 500 different species of plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, and invertebrates. It gets folks outside and appreciating native plants on new trails.

Jim Varnell is a former president of the San Diego Natural History Museum Canyoneers and a current member of the Canyoneer Training Team. With a BS in Biology from UCSD and Masters in Ecology from SDSU, he spent 35 years in IT, 30 of those in the College of Sciences at SDSU. He joined the Canyoneers in 2013 to get back to his love of the natural world and sharing it with his fellow San Diegans and has led over 300 hikes for the Canyoneers. Living on 20 acres in Ramona provides plenty of opportunities to interact with nature and indulge in his hobby of nature photography.

• Favorite location to hike - Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

• Favorite hike - Lower Willows Coyote Canyon

Diana Lindsay is the author or co-author of several books, including the guidebook Anza-Borrego Desert Region (now in its 6th edition) and Coloring Plants Used by Desert Indians. She was part of the team, including Jim Varnell, that edited Coast to Cactus: The Canyoneer Trail Guide to San Diego Outdoors. She is a former trustee of the SDNHM and has been a Canyoneer since 1988. She was a founding member of the Colorado Desert District Botany Society and served as president. She received her BA and MA from SDSU in geography and history. 

• Favorite location to hike - Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

• Favorite hike - Rainbow Canyon Loop

LINKS

San Diego Canyoneers: https://www.sdnhm.org/education/canyoneer-hikes

A joint presentation of the SAN DIEGO POLLINATOR ALLIANCE with panelists:

Mary Duffy, Earth Discovery Institute Outreach Director and Biologist

Ann Baldridge, Community Programs Director for Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego County

Jonathan Snapp-Cook, Partners for Fish and Wildlife Biologist, US Fish and Wildlife Service

Presentation has been recorded here: facebook.com/147505687646/videos/160390645730137

LINKS mentioned during presentation:

EDI milkweed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHTgB3H7Yh4&t=14s

Western monarch conservation: https://xerces.org/western-monarch-call-to-action

Play it SAFE: https://zoonooz.sandiegozoo.org/2020/10/01/help-monarchs-play-it-safe

Xerces Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper: https://www.monarchmilkweedmapper.org/

Miles for Monarchs: registration for virtual running, biking, hiking, paddling, etc to raise awareness about and celebrate the monarch: https://donate.monarchjointventure.org/event/miles-for-monarchs-2021/e304814

Pollinator workshop registration and info: https://ResourceConserverationDistrict.formstack.com/forms/pollinator_workshops_and_volunteering

TWO WAYS TO WATCH

1) Zoom: To watch the presentation on your computer or phone via Zoom you must register in advance at this link. Registration on Zoom has a capacity so register now for the best ‘seats’. You do not need a Zoom account to register or watch the presentation. 

Register for the presentation: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3jot0oFuSwCHfiWYPv-sBA

2) Facebook: If you want to watch the presentation without registration it will be live streamed to CNPS-San Diego Chapter’s Facebook page beginning at 7:00pm. There is no limit to participants viewing the presentation on Facebook.

CNPS-San Diego Chapter Facebook Page: facebook.com/cnpssd

Questions for the presenters will be selected by a moderator from the chat and comment sections of both Zoom and Facebook.

DESCRIPTION

The presenters will be talking about the San Diego Pollinator Alliance and partners' regional efforts to increase public awareness about the issues facing Western Monarch and native milkweed populations in San Diego County, and to develop native milkweed sources for restoration, education and the public market to support Monarchs and other pollinators. 

LINKS

San Diego Pollinator Alliance http://rcdsandiego.org/programs/pollinators

Earth Discovery Institute https://earthdiscovery.org

Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego County http://rcdsandiego.org

PRESENTATION RECORDED HERE

Monarchs are in Decline – How Can We Help?

Speaker: Robert L. “Bob” Allen, M.S., Adjunct Professor of Biology, Santiago Canyon College & Orange Coast College & Research Associate in Entomology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

TWO WAYS TO WATCH

1) Zoom: To watch the presentation on your computer or phone via Zoom you must register in advance at this link. Registration on Zoom has a capacity so register now for the best ‘seats’. You do not need a Zoom account to register for or watch the presentation. 

Register for the presentation: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MW1Fdh2EQkmS2yBZzc1RZg

2) YouTube: If you want to watch the presentation without registration it will be live streamed to BugBob’s WildWorld YouTube page beginning at 7:00pm. There is no limit to participants viewing the presentation on YouTube.

BugBob’s WildWorld YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL-amXHBcKhzp9b7L1OIGtA

Questions for the presenters will be selected by a moderator from the chat and comment sections of both Zoom and YouTube.

❀ Download PROGRAM SUMMARY ❀

DESCRIPTION

You’re probably familiar with the monarch, that large burnt-orange butterfly with black & white markings. They’re in trouble, very very serious trouble. As caterpillars, they feed only on milkweeds (members of the family Apocynaceae). As adults, they feed only on nectar.

But their habitats are being destroyed. Diminished habitats means that milkweed and nectar sources are both diminished. What’s a hungry monarch to do?

In an effort to provide milkweed for caterpillars, well-meaning people often plant non-native tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. But that plant promotes survival of a protozoan parasite that weakens and/or kills monarchs. Using that species of milkweed is often “loving monarchs to death”. Plant California native milkweeds.

Adult monarchs and other nectar-feeding insects need more flowers from which to take nectar. In southern California, this means we need to provide nectar sources all year long. Plant California native nectar sources and, *gasp*, possibly supplemented with non-natives.

We will discuss these and other factors in the decline and survival of monarchs and other nectar-feeders.

Bob “BugBob” Allen is a biologist, author, photographer, and instructor in southern California. He studies and photographs pollinators & pollination, milkweeds, and specialty arthropods such as monarch butterflies, lacewings, & rain beetles. He is a Research Associate in Entomology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and Research Associate at California (Rancho Santa Ana) Botanic Garden. At California Botanic Garden, he co-designed, helped construct, and ran the Butterfly Pavilion. He is lead author with Fred Roberts of the book, Wildflowers of Orange County and the Santa Ana Mountains.

Speaker: Jon P. Rebman, Ph.D., Curator/Chair of Botany at the San Diego Natural History Museum

TWO WAYS TO WATCH

1) Zoom: To watch the presentation on your computer or phone via Zoom you must register in advance at this link. Registration on Zoom has a capacity so register now for the best ‘seats’. You do not need a Zoom account to register or watch the presentation. 

Register for the presentation: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SOxOBowtRh-xUZmWn77Trg 

2) Facebook: If you want to watch the presentation without registration it will be live streamed to CNPS-San Diego Chapter’s Facebook page beginning at 7:00pm. There is no limit to participants viewing the presentation on Facebook.

CNPS-San Diego Chapter Facebook Page: facebook.com/cnpssd

Questions for the presenters will be selected by a moderator from the chat and comment sections of both Zoom and Facebook.

Our programs are free for all attendees. If you can, please consider making a donation of $5 (or more, if desired) to support the work of the San Diego County Plant Atlas project sdplantatlas.org and bajaflora.org, two major websites that are devoted to providing information and scientific data on native plants and their diversity and distributions in our region.

DONATE: https://1830.blackbaudhosting.com/1830/Please-choose-from-an-option-below Make sure to cite the Plant Atlas web site in the comment section.

DESCRIPTION

As a result of data compiled in the annotated, voucher-based checklist of the vascular plants of Baja California, Mexico published by Rebman and co-authors in 2016, the flora of the Baja California peninsula and adjacent islands includes approximately 4400 different plants, of which 26% are endemic to the region. Consequently, this floristic publication also identified several plants in the region that are very rare, often threatened, and only known from one to very few collections. Rebman and colleagues received a National Geographic Society grant to revisit the type localities of 15 endemic and “lost” species in order to try and re-discover them for science and determine if the populations are at risk. During two years of fieldwork, the team re-discovered 10 of 13 lost plants.   

The SD Herbarium houses approximately 280,000 plant specimens primarily collected from the Southern California and Baja California region. This collection provides a source of raw data on our native plants that can be used to study and re-evaluate them in many different ways. For example, studies on specimens collected of Acmispon haydonii ( Haydon’s Lotus) andVerbena lasiostachys (Western Vervain) have shown that our understanding of these species is not what we had expected nor what is currently reflected in our scientific literature.

Jon P. Rebman, Ph.D. has been the Mary and Dallas Clark Endowed Chair/Curator of Botany at the San Diego Natural History Museum (SDNHM) since 1996. Dr. Rebman is a plant taxonomist and conducts extensive floristic research on the Baja California peninsula and in San Diego and Imperial Counties of California. He leads various field classes and botanical expeditions each year and is actively naming new plant species from the region. His primary research interests have centered on the systematics of the Cactus family in Baja California, especially the genera Cylindropuntia (chollas) and Opuntia (prickly-pears). However, Dr. Rebman also does a lot of general floristic research and he has co-published the new Annotated Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Baja California, Mexico and the most recent edition of the Checklist of the Vascular Plants of San Diego County.

He has over 25 years of field experience with surveying and documenting plants including rare and endangered species. As a field botanist, he is a very active collector of scientific specimens with his personal collections numbering over 35,000. He is the director of the San Diego County Plant Atlas project (www.sdplantatlas.org) and identifies/verifies all of the new specimens (currently over 69,000) coming into the herbarium through this scientific endeavor. As the curator of the SD Herbarium at the SDNHM, he is in charge of this dried plant specimen collection that contains over 270,000 specimens dating back to the 1870s. Rebman published the newest edition of the Baja California Plant Field Guide with co-author Norman Roberts in 2012, and is working on a new bilingual, plant field guide for the Cape region of Baja California Sur. 

EMAIL Jon P. Rebman, Ph.D.

SPEAKER: Fred Roberts, CNPS-San Diego Rare Plant Botanist and author of Illustrated Guide to the Oaks of the Southern Californian Floristic Province (1995) and co-author go Wildflowers of Orange County and the Santa Ana Mountains

TWO WAYS TO WATCH

1) Zoom: To watch the presentation on your computer or phone via Zoom you must register in advance at this link. Registration on Zoom has a capacity so register now for the best ‘seats’. You do not need a Zoom account to register or watch the presentation. 

Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ajpf6Qh6QPGjFK0pTVnkyA

2) Facebook: If you want to watch the presentation without registration it will be live streamed to CNPS-San Diego Chapter’s Facebook page beginning at 7:00pm. There is no limit to participants viewing the presentation on Facebook.

CNPS-San Diego Chapter Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/cnpssd

Questions for the presenters will be selected by a moderator from the chat and comment sections of both Zoom and Facebook.

DESCRIPTION: Oaks are an important element of the California landscape. As a group, they are one of the most widely recognized plants in southern California. However, with the exception of a few readily recognizable trees, determining individual species can be a challenge. Many are similar in appearance. Within certain groups they are fairly promiscuous, producing many intermediate hybrids blurring the distinctions between otherwise easily recognized species. San Diego County boasts one of the highest diversity of oaks California with ten known species ranging in form from the intricately and tangled branched Nuttall’s Scrub Oak, a coastal oak that hid in plain sight of botanists for over a hundred years, to California Black Oak, a mountain species with large, bristle-tipped leaves that turn yellow and fall to the ground in the fall.  We also boast one of the state’s most problematic entities, Parry’s Oak (Quercus X acutidens), which has been considered anywhere from a variation of California Scrub Oak (Q. berberidifolia) to a full species worth recognition. Our speaker will introduce us to these oaks and others as we tour of our San Diego species, learning something of their ecology and how to tell them apart. 

Fred M. Roberts wrote the now out-of-print but popular guide, The Illustrated Guide to the Oaks of the Southern Californian Floristic Province. With over 40 years of botanical experience, Fred has worked as an assistant curator at an herbarium (UC, Irvine), has worked as a botanist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and volunteered as a conservationist. Most of those years he has focused on the floristic diversity of Orange County but occasionally has picked up other interests such as understanding oaks, lilies and their relatives, and knows a thing or two about rare plants in southern California. He is currently a consulting botanist focusing on rare plant surveys and has several book projects in the wings. In his spare time, Fred paints and creates botanically themed T-shirts. 

Oak tree and other plant T-shirts available at https://fmrpublications.com

A 27-year wildflower journey with internationally acclaimed conservation photographers Rob Badger and Nita Winter

WATCH THE RECORDED PRESENTATION HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axn1xkS7Brg

DESCRIPTION

Rob Badger and Nita Winter take you behind the scenes on their 27-year journey photographing wildflowers throughout California. It began in 1992 when they discovered and fell in love with California's spectacular wildflower blooms in the Mojave Desert's Antelope Valley California Poppy Preserve. Photographing these beautiful landscapes and individual flowers evolved into their documentary art project, Beauty and the Beast: Wildflowers and Climate Change. Their new beautiful multiple award winning coffee table book, co-published with CNPS, focuses on California’s amazing plant diversity and is a companion to their traveling exhibit. 

Gorgeous scenery isn’t the only thing that makes the Beauty and the Beast wildflower photos so special. Rob and Nita developed unique field techniques to capture one-of-a-kind images. They create every one of the photographs in the field, lugging 80 pounds of cameras and their “natural light” studio equipment from below sea level in Death Valley National Park to 13,000-foot-high mountain passes. 

Their new book’s collection includes Rob’s floral portrait techniques that go beyond any traditional approach. In the “Contact” series, the luminous flower petals actually touch the lens; in the “Wrapped” series, flowers are enfolded in black or white fabric to complement their geometric forms. 

Books are available at www.wildflowerbook.com

BIO: Rob Badger and Nita Winter

Internationally acclaimed conservation photographers Rob Badger and Nita Winter have been life partners and creative collaborators for more than three decades. Their work has been featured in Time, Mother Jones, Sierra, Flora magazine, the New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times. 

All photos on this page by Rob Badger and Nita Winter

CNPS-Orange County and CNPS-San Diego chapters are co-sponsoring an online meeting where team members will present some of their findings. The lineup looks like this:

Bob Allen - Introduction, moderation, & wrap-up. With Fred Roberts, Bob is lead author of Wildflowers of Orange County and the Santa Ana Mountains.

Elora Camacho - Recording data & pressing plants

Cem Cizem - Rare & unusual species

Maddy Letterman - Plant communities & lilies

Megan Peukert - Sages

Louis Truong - Live-forevers & Dodders 

TWO WAYS TO WATCH

1) Zoom: To watch the presentation on your computer or phone via Zoom you must register in advance at this link. Registration on Zoom has a capacity so register now for the best ‘seats’. You do not need a Zoom account to register or watch the presentation. 

Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AKSJHKueQkWaFPn4Ok5hlw

2) YouTube: If you want to watch the presentation without registration it will be live streamed to BugBob’s WildWorld YouTube page beginning at 7:00pm. There is no limit to participants viewing the presentation on YouTube.

BugBob’s WildWorld YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL-amXHBcKhzp9b7L1OIGtA

Questions for the presenter will be selected by a moderator from the chat and comment sections of both Zoom and YouTube.

DESCRIPTION

The largest of Orange County’s parks, Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park (“CWP” or “Caspers”) is a wilderness preserve of 8,000 acres in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. The entrance is along Ortega Highway, about 6 miles northeast of Interstate 5 in San Juan Capistrano. Long known for its abundance of native habitats, plants and animals, it’s long been a beloved destination of naturalists, biologists, and hikers. Surprisingly, 2020 has been a very good year for wildflowers.

In Spring 2020, teams of local botanists began a focused study of the plants of CWP. The study is the brainchild of Dr. Mike Simpson, recently retired Professor of Botany at San Diego State University, who now lives in San Juan Capistrano. Such a study of the plants of an area is termed a “flora” or a “floristics project”. The goal of the CWP flora is to visit as much of CWP as we can, documenting the plants there with field notes, specimens (called “vouchers”), and photographs.

Team members include Mike Simpson, Rebecca Crowe (UC Irvine), Ron Vanderhoff, Fred Roberts, Kyle Gunther, Emile Fiester, and Bob Allen. Bob leads a team of his former Botany students, called BugBob’s Flying Circus. Current participants include Elora Camacho, Cem Cizem, Maddy Letterman, Kristin Oelkers, Megan Peukert, and Louis Truong.

It’s early days for the study, but there are some results ready to share. Vegetation types at CWP include coastal sage scrub, alluvial scrub, riparian, grassland, oak woodland, & chaparral. Uncommon, rare, and sensitive species include California Juniper, Venus’s Looking Glass, Many-stemmed Live-forever, Catalina Mariposa Lily, and Intermediate Mariposa Lily. Some of the just-plain-cool plants include Climbing Milkweed, 7 species of phacelias, Charming Centaury, Leather Root Tea (imagine an ephemeral perennial pea up to 3 meters tall with beautiful flowers!), 9 species of lupines, and San Diego Sedge. Let’s not forget the abundance of monkeyflowers there: Hairy Bush, Coastal Bush, Southern Bush, Scarlet, Wide-throated, Seep, Slimy, and Downy.

Some plant species have more than one form in the park, such as these.

California Buckwheat:

• Eriogonum fasciculatum ssp. fasciculatum - Coastal California Buckwheat 

• Eriogonum fasciculatum ssp. foliolosum - Leafy California Buckwheat 

• Eriogonum fasciculatum ssp. polifolium - Mojave Desert California Buckwheat 

California Deer Broom (aka Deerweed):

• Acmispon glabra var. glabra - Coastal California Deer Broom

• Acmispon glabra var. brevialatus - Desert California Deer Broom

Weed’s Mariposa Lily:

• Calochortus weedii var. weedii - Weed’s Mariposa Lily

• Calochortus weedii var. intermedius - Intermediate Mariposa Lily

BIO: Robert L. “Bob” Allen, M.S.

A biologist since early childhood, “BugBob” has been studying insects and plants for over 50 years. He grew up in San Juan Capistrano and the nearby Santa Ana Mountains, spending his time hiking, collecting, and photographing. He has a B.S. in Environmental & Systematic Biology from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and a M.S. from California State University, Fullerton, in Environmental Studies. He teaches college biology classes and local workshops in entomology, botany, and photography.

For his breadth and width of knowledge about insects and plants, he was awarded Research Associate in Entomology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and Research Associate at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden.



WATCH THE RECORDED PRESENTATION HERE

Until we can hold a chapter meeting again at the Casa del Prado, we invite you to a series of dynamic speakers online. You can watch these live video webinars from the comfort of your living room and even write in questions for the speaker.

We begin with this presentation on important research in dudleya species propagation as a method to combat plant poaching and extinction. The presentation is free and you need not be a member.

Two ways to watch
1) ZOOM: To watch the presentation on your computer or phone via Zoom you must register in advance at this link. Registration on Zoom has a capacity so register now for the best ‘seats’. You do not need a Zoom account to register or watch the presentation. Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CdqRqfN8QPSRrJGiAU2yaQ

2) FACEBOOK LIVE: If you want to watch the presentation without registration it will be live streamed to our Facebook page beginning at 7:00pm. You can mark yourself as Going or Interested and will receive automatic reminders. There is no limit to participants viewing the presentation on Facebook.

Questions for the presenter will be selected by a moderator from the chat and comment sections of both Zoom and Facebook.

Speaker: Kevin Alison, Native Plant Production Specialist (R&D) at Tree of Life Nursery

Presentation Description:

The genus Dudleya is a charismatic group of native succulents with many rare species across California and Baja. Recent popularity has attracted poachers who uproot these plants by the tens of thousands in attempt to supply interests overseas for hefty profits. This project aims to utilize plant tissue culture (Micropropagation) to ethically produce large quantities of select Dudleya species to deflate the price incentives for poachers while providing agencies with an additional tool for conservation.

Kevin Alison is the Native Plant Production Specialist (R&D) at Tree of Life Nursery and a Masters of Conservation and Restoration Science (MCRS) graduate at U.C. Irvine.

INSTAGRAM: kevosphere

TREE OF LIFE NURSERY: californianativeplants.com

All photos by Kevin Alison