Botanical Stuff

CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY

North Coast Chapter

Wildflower Show setup manager and Council delegate, originator of a public walks (interpretation) program. Was the webmaster for many years, and remain a CMS administrator.

Statewide org.

Have been serving on the Board of Directors since 2024, with the specific role of representing the CNPS Chapter Council. Previously was the Vice-chair of Chapter Council for many years. I was the designer, manager, and web host of the first online version of the CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants. Was the sponsor of the original herbicide and integrated weed management policies (writing, negotiating, coordinating input), etc.  In June ’18 I had to sit quietly while someone recited a tedious list of alleged accomplishments, after which I was elected a Society fellow. I have also worked with the Phytophthora, Conservation Policy, and DEI committees.

STUDY & WORK

MA thesis – (1996)

Focused on the reproduction and rarity of a rare saxifrage, Bensoniella oregana – Snow Camp, CA & Humboldt State University, 1996 (now Cal Poly Humboldt). A reduced version of the thesis was published in the proceedings of an NPSO symposium Conservation and Management of Native Plants and Fungi. 

Ecological study

Focused on a grass, Puccinellia howellii, which is endemic to a salt springs near Whiskeytown, CA. The work was summarized in Madroño (Volume 49, Number 1 January-March 2002). During review I had to remove all mention of “competition” – a controversial term when used in the scientific sense.

Rare Plant Survey and Mitigation

In conjunction with a street improvement project in Crescent City CA. A rare evening-primrose, Oenothera wolfii, was growing in the right-of-way. To test the efficacy of planting-out for mitigation, I propagated individuals at my place near Arcata. It escaped cultivation is now growing all over the back yard.

Dudlea lanceolata – from a Facebook discussion

Oenothera wolfii – rare plant in Crescent City