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CNPS welcomes anyone interested in native plants to join our events. No expertise required.
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Evening Program
February 10, Wednesday. 7:00 p.m. “Forest Highway 1: Flowers, Insects, and Vistas”
Titlow Hill Rd. (off Highway 299 west of Willow Creek) leads to Forest Highway 1, the entrance to a botanically exciting world and an invigorating mountain experience in Six Rivers National Forest. The serpentine soils, numerous rock outcrops, and west-facing grasslands all support interesting plants, and the vistas are stunning. CNPS members Pete Haggard, Carol Ralph, Ann Wallace, and Donna Wildearth will present their favorite photos collected in this Horse Mountain-Grouse Mountain corridor over many seasons and many years. Register for this Zoom event through our website.
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Field Trip
February 27, Saturday. Grays Falls field trip. Winter shrubbery and trees (with mistletoe) will amuse us at this favorite inland site along the Trinity River. We will walk 1-2 miles on rough trails. Serious weather will call for Plan B. Bring lunch and water; dress for the weather. Our covid protocol insists on small groups, face coverings, and social distancing. Please register with Carol at 707-822-2015 or theralphs@humbodlt1.com to learn details or ask about Plan B.
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A Harebell by any other name
by Carol Ralph
Name changes are a pet peeve of botanizers. It’s hard to unlearn one name and replace it with another. These days, DNA studies are revealing new relationships in plants’ evolutionary histories, which the scientific names need to reflect. The resulting name changes are less frustrating when we know the reason and the people involved. Nancy Morin, president of a neighboring CNPS chapter and the botanist who wrote the treatment of the bellflower family, Campanulaceae, for The Jepson Manual, wrote in their fall newsletter about the California Harebell, formerly Campanula prenanthoides, a dainty flower common in our nearby mountains. Because it is the only Campanula species with a very long style and long, narrow “petals,” a respected taxonomist recently moved it out of that genus, which was cumbersome with 500 species, to Asyneuma. Recent genetic work suggested it is not Asyneuma after all, so Nancy is putting it in a new genus: Smithiastrum, in honor of Dr. James P. Smith, an emeritus professor of botany at Humboldt State University, a long-time member of our chapter, and a Fellow of CNPS. Now whenever I see this distinctive flower in our mountains, I’ll think of Jim! Nancy is telling us about this name change before it has gone through the full taxonomic approval process, including publishing, so it is not yet on Calflora or the eJepson. You are among the first to know!
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Native Plants for the Garden
Our native plants are available every day, 12 noon-6 p.m., at the Kneeland Glen Farm Stand at Freshwater Farms Reserve, 5851 Myrtle Ave. If you don’t see what you want, contact us at northcoastcnps@gmail.com.
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