Sage Notes, Winter 2000, Vol 22(1)
Newsletter of the Idaho Native Plant Society
In this issue...
New INPS President Karl Holte: Now, How about a Vice President?
Louis F. Henderson (1853-1942), Early Northwest Botanist - Rhoda M.
Love
Carex aboriginum (Indian Valley Sedge) Rediscovered - Curtis Bjork
INPS Website - Valerie Geertson
A Summary of the Results from the 16th Idaho Rare Plant Conference
- Michael Mancuso
Conservation of Spalding's Catchfly (Silene spandingii) at Garden
Creek Ranch (Hell's Canyon, ID) - Janice Hill and Karen Gray
Idaho Native Plant Society Board Meeting - Leonard Lake
INPS Membership
Chapter News
News and Notes
Authors of Sage Notes articles have given their
permission for reproducing their work on-line. To use their material for educational and
personal use, please cite the original author or illustrator and the issue of Sage Notes.
Commercial use is not permitted without permission from Sage Notes Editor, Idaho Native
Plant Society, PO Box 9451, Boise, ID 83707.
Articles in Sage Notes reflect the views of the authors and are not an official position
of the Idaho Native Plant Society.
New INPS President Karl Holte: Now, How About a Vice President?
Karl Holte, Sah-Wah-Be Chapter member, has stepped forward to serve as INPS president.
He was appointed by the Board of Directors to finish the term of president that is
currently vacant (see p. 10).
Karl recently retired from Idaho State University, where he taught plant taxonomy and
was curator of the Ray J. Davis Herbarium. He continues to teach spring/summer/fall flora.
Karl’s courses at ISU have encouraged many amateur and professional botanists. He is
renowned for his approachability and interest in students. He has served as president of
the Idaho Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, Idaho Wildlife Federation, Citizens
Environmental Council, Southeastern Idaho Rod and Gun Club, and the Idaho Orchid Society.
He has taught field botany and natural history during the summers at Malheur Field Station
in southeastern Oregon. Karl hopes someone will step forward to serve as vice president.
The primary role of this officer is to organize the INPS annual state trip (two
suggestions so far: Steens Mountain, or Leslie Gulch). Please contact him with your
suggestions: <holtkarl@isu.edu> or (208) 236-3530, 236-3882, or at his home
232-6563. Welcome, Karl !
Louis F. Henderson (1853-1942), Early Northwest Botanist
Rhoda M. Love, Oregon Native Plant Society
Ed. note: Although Louis Henderson and John Leiberg (Sage Notes 21(4) Fall,
1999) were contemporaries, and both collected in Idaho for Frederick Coville of the U.S.
National Herbarium, they never met. They corresponded and exchanged specimens, and
fortunately, duplicates of many of Henderson’s specimens that burned in Moscow in
1906 were preserved in Leiberg’s personal collection, which he gave to the University
of Oregon before he died in 1913. Henderson organized and incorporated the Leiberg
material into the UO collections when he became UO herbarium curator eleven years after
Leiberg’s untimely death.
Louis Henderson was one of the most important and active of our early resident
northwest botanists. He collected plants in virtually every corner of the three
northwestern states during 65 years in the field. He was the first American botanist to
explore the Olympic Mountains of Washington, and the first to survey Idaho’s Salmon
River country. His tens of thousands of meticulously annotated specimens provide a
detailed record of our changing plant communities. Henderson’s life story is a
fascinating one which demands a full-scale biography.
Louis Forniquet Henderson, grandson of a U.S. Senator, was born near Boston in 1853.
His father was a New Orleans lawyer, and the Civil War caught the Henderson family in the
south in 1861. Due to the unexpected start of hostilities, young Louis and his mother and
older brother were forced to sustain themselves on an unproductive farm in Mississippi
throughout the war. They survived and were reunited with his father only to be faced with
a family tragedy. The father, an abolitionist, was brutally murdered by angry whites
during a New Orleans race riot in 1866. Moving north, Henderson attended Cornell
University, studying languages and botany. After graduation he moved west, first to
California and then to Oregon. Henderson’s mother also settled in Oregon, buying land
near Hood River, where Henderson began his botanizing. From 1877 to 1889, he was a teacher
at Portland High School. During this time he explored Washington and Oregon and began to
build a large personal herbarium.
In 1883, after what his daughter called a "whirlwind love affair," Henderson
and fellow-teacher Kate Robinson were married in Portland. Their two daughters, Margaret
and Connie, were born in 1886 and 1888. In 1889 a bout of typhoid fever forced the
botanist to resign his school position and move to Olympia, Washington to recuperate near
the home of his brother. By 1890, he had recovered to the point where he was able to join
the O’Neil expedition to explore the interior of the Olympic Peninsula. In 1892 he
accepted a position with the state of Washington to collect plants for the famous Chicago
Columbian Exposition, and he and his family moved temporarily to Chicago to set up the
state exhibit.
Leaving Chicago in 1893 at the age of 40, Henderson accepted a post as the first botany
professor at the 3-year-old University of Idaho in Moscow. His title was Professor of
Botany and Head of the Herbarium. Henderson’s teaching duties were onerous. There
were only seven professors on the faculty, and during his early years the botanist taught
eight classes a day. He was assigned such subjects as systematic botany, plant physiology,
histology, cryptogamic botany, forestry, and economic botany. Despite this heavy load,
Henderson made as much time as possible for collecting. In addition to teaching,
collecting, and curating the herbarium, he was expected to study scientific and
agricultural subjects, hold farmers’ institutes, and write bulletins on farm
subjects. One of these that I believe would be of interest to land managers today is his
45-page illustrated paper, "Twelve of Idaho’s Worst Weeds," in Bulletin 14,
1898.
In 1895 Henderson took what he later described as "the longest botanical trip I
have ever taken in my life." That summer, with funding from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, he undertook a botanical reconnaissance of central Idaho, an area then
virtually unknown to science. As his assistant he chose student Charles Kirtley, a senior
at the university. The trip was commissioned by Frederick V. Coville, Curator of the U. S.
National Herbarium. A complete set of plants collected by Henderson on this extensive trip
are filed at the National Herbarium, an important consideration, as many of
Henderson’s Idaho collections were later lost.
Henderson has described the 1895 trip with Kirtley at length in his 1932
autobiographical account, "Early Experiences of a Botanist in the Northwest,"
which was serialized in the Bulletin of the Native Plant Society of Oregon in 1981 and
1982. The two collected extensively from June 1 to the end of September, traveling with
pack animals and a single saddle horse. They covered over a thousand miles, their
itinerary including Salmon River, Lost River Mountains, Boise River, Soldier Mountains,
Wood River, Ketchum, and other areas. The two men had encounters with rattlesnakes, range
wars, threats of Indian uprisings, torrential rains, landslides, swollen rivers, a stage
coach buried in mud, and the ubiquitous mosquitoes. They saw desolation due to mining, as
well as rich, unspoiled country. On Birch Creek they helped move a ranch family into the
hills to avoid Indians. Henderson’s later comment was: "I botanized, Indians or
no Indians."
While at Idaho, Henderson published four articles introducing new plant species to
science. He named a new Indian paintbrush he found on the 1895 trip for Coville, calling
it Castilleja covilleana, and writing, "I take pleasure in dedicating this
unique species to Mr. Coville, botanist of the Agriculture Department at Washington,
through whose instrumentality I was enabled to take the trip." He also named a
nemophila for his student assistant, calling it Nemophila kirtleyi, and writing,
"I take pleasure in dedicating this species to my young friend and companion of my
1895 trip, Charles Kirtley of Salmon Idaho."
His paper"New Plants from Idaho and from other Localities of the Northwest,"
was published in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club in 1900. When he wrote this
paper, Henderson and Kate were spending a sabbatical leave at Harvard University, which he
later described as "the most enjoyable year I ever spent in my life." C. V.
Piper of Washington State College was also on sabbatical at Harvard that year, and the
Hendersons and the Pipers made a happy foursome enjoying concerts and museum tours.
Five years after this delightful interlude, disaster struck. On March 30, 1906, the
University of Idaho Administration Building burned to the ground, destroying the
herbarium. It has been estimated that as many as 85,000 specimens were consumed, including
Henderson’s personal collection of over 10,000 sheets, the result of nearly 30 years
of collecting. Letters indicate that, heartbreakingly, at the precise time of the fire he
was negotiating to sell his private herbarium to the Chicago Field Museum for $1,000. In a
letter to the museum he wrote:
To make this collection I have spent all my odd hours since leaving Cornell in ‘74
. . . . I have scoured the remote places of Idaho, Oregon and Washington, from the
California line to British Columbia, and from the Ocean to Montana. I do not believe you
could find a collection in this North West which contains so many rare and new plants.
Henderson later stated that with the collection went "notebooks, books,
instruments, letters from prominent botanists all over the world and all my private
papers." The destruction of both the collection and the field notebooks was a serious
loss to northwest science; fortunately, however, due to Henderson’s scrupulous
exchanging of specimens, duplicates of many of the burned sheets exist in other herbaria.
The loss was surely a crushing personal blow. His daughter Margaret recalled, "For a
while it took the heart out of him and he would do no more collecting." At 52 years
old Henderson said he lost "one of the joys of my life."
Disheartened, Henderson retired from teaching in 1908. Three years later, when his
daughters had finished college, he moved to the 80-acre family homestead in Hood River,
Oregon, bequeathed to him by his mother. There he planted a 40-acre apple orchard and
attempted (never very successfully) to make a living as a commercial orchardist. Henderson
remained on this ranch for 13 years; however, it is clear that he missed the botanical
life. Fortunately, in 1924, at the age of 71, he was lured out of retirement by Albert
Sweetser, head of the Department of Botany at the University of Oregon, who offered him
the curatorship of the herbarium in Eugene. Though a septuagenarian, Henderson was far
from a frail man. Just nine days before his seventieth birthday, he swam across the
undammed Columbia River from Hood River to the Washington side.
At the University of Oregon, Henderson once again threw himself into vigorous botanical
activity, collecting, mounting, labeling and building up the herbarium, a regimen that
would have taxed a person half his age. During his 15 years at Oregon he worked
systematically throughout the state, covering such areas as the remote John Day country,
the rugged southwest coast, the Alvord Desert and Steens Mountain, and isolated Hart
Mountain. In 1932, he fulfilled a lifelong wish to botanize in Alaska and the Yukon. A
fellow botanist wrote of him, "He seems to have found the fountain of eternal youth
in his love for plants."
Henderson retired from the University of Oregon in 1939 at the age of 86 and moved to
Tacoma, Washington to live near his married daughter Margaret. She reported that even in
his mid-80s he was physically active, hiking in the foothills of the Cascades and swimming
and diving with his grandchildren. He died in Tacoma on June 14, 1942, at the age of 88
years. His daughter wrote that his last year was peaceful and he simply "went to
sleep at last."
At the time of his retirement, Louis Henderson probably knew the flora of the Northwest
better than any living botanist. He left tens of thousands of sheets in herbaria
throughout the country. He introduced countless new species to science. He published the
names and descriptions of 64 taxa. Approximately 30 species were named for him, and 15
species and one variety bear his name today. One of these is Idaho’s Ribes
hendersonii, collected by the botanist in the Lost River Mountains on August 14, 1895
on the memorable trip with Kirtley. The species was named by C. L. Hitchcock in 1961, 66
years after its discovery and nearly 20 years after the collector’s death.
[Author’s note: this essay was taken from a book in preparation on northwest plant
collectors edited by Arthur R. Kruckeberg and Rhoda Love. A longer sketch of
Henderson’s life will appear in Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Fall 2000 (Pacific
Northwest Quarterly, University of Washington, PO Box 353587, Seattle, WA 98195-3587). I
thank many individuals as well as the staffs of the University of Oregon Library and the
University of Idaho Library for their assistance. R. L.]
Carex aboriginum (Indian-Valley sedge) Rediscovered
Curtis Bjork, Washington State University
While prospecting for interesting plant specimens for the University of Idaho
herbarium, I took a random side road off Highway 95 and saw a small meadow of vibrant
green sedges following the course of an intermittent stream. The contrast of robust sedges
in the surrounding gold and gray of the parched Weiser valley rangeland was visually
outstanding, and I had to get out of the car for a closer look. Despite the desiccated
soil, even in the streambed, there were sedges (Carex sheldonii and Carex
aboriginum) and a spikerush (Eleocharis bolanderi) that showed no sign of
drought stress.
Carex aboriginum is a dark green, leafy sedge that grows to about two and a half
feet tall. The fruiting spikes ascend above the leaves, and the spikes are multicolored
and very attractive. The perigynia are large, up to about 5.5 mm, and weakly inflated.
Within each perigynium I opened, I found well-formed achenes, which are trigonous and
sharp-angled.
Indian-Valley sedge was first collected in the Weiser valley by Marcus Jones on July
12, 1899, at Indian Valley near Salubria, and hasn’t been collected since. That
collection was the only occurrence recorded at the Conservation Data Center, who had
considered it to be globally extinct.
The rediscovered population is now the only one known, making it a very vulnerable
species, indeed. At the time I found the plants, cattle were grazing the meadow. C.
aboriginum seems to escape grazing, perhaps as poor forage. In all areas of the meadow
where the sedge does not grow, cattle have obviously degraded the community through
grazing and trampling. Non-native plants constitute much of the cover in the meadow,
providing a further threat to the sedge. It is likely that without the cattle and invasive
weeds, C. aboriginum would have more of the meadow to occupy. Beyond the protective
canopy of the sedge, C. aboriginum seedlings may find it quite a struggle to
survive. Most of the Weiser River Valley consists of lowlands converted to agriculture and
uplands dominated by native shrubs and introduced annual grasses. There is very little
other likely habitat for C. aboriginum in the area. It is my sincere hope that
everything possible will be done to preserve this unique and spectacular sedge and the
habitat it occupies.
As a result of this discovery, the status of Carex aboriginum has been changed
from the "believed to be globally extinct" category to Global Priority 1 (see p.
7).
Announcing the Idaho Native Plant Society Web Site!
idahonativeplants.org
Valerie Geertson, Pahove Chapter
Currently, this web site is under construction, but you can view some important
information. There is information about how to become a member and where to send your
dues, how to sign up on the list server, the Rare Plant Conference, and results of past
rare plant conferences. The results of the 2000 Conference will be posted as soon as they
are finalized.
There are big plans for the web site. Big Plans! Future issues of Sage Notes
will be posted, allowing for easy reference and dispersal of the educational and
entertaining information contained therein. Links to other web sites will be posted,
including other native plant societies, government agencies, native plant gardening sites,
and Idaho conservation groups to name just a few. The most ambitious idea is to feature
photos and distribution information for each species on the rare plant list (the results
of the conferences). Note, however, that it will not be possible to get specific locations
of rare plants, only general information about their ranges and habitats.
If you have a link that you would like to have added, please send the URL (the web
address) to Valerie Geertson at <valerie@InternetOutlet.net>; the links will be
reviewed for accuracy and forwarded to our webmaster, Dan Ray. Any other suggestions are
welcomed, be they minor corrections or grandiose ideas. This web site is meant to further
the mission of the Society: to promote interest in native plants and plant communities,
and to educate members and the public about the values of our native flora.
A Summary of the Results from the 16th Idaho Rare Plant
Conference
Michael Mancuso, Conservation Data Center, Boise, ID
The annual Idaho Rare Plant Conference is an opportunity for botanists, agency resource
managers, and other interested native plant enthusiasts to review and update the INPS Rare
Plant List, and provide the leadership and direction needed to keep rare plant
conservation in Idaho moving forward. The Idaho list is divided into three main groups.
First are the Globally Rare categories comprised of species considered rare throughout
their range. Second are the State Rare categories containing species rare in Idaho, but
more common elsewhere. Then there is the Review category, reserved for species that need
more information before we know whether or not they are legitimate conservation concerns
in Idaho.
The list contains 270 vascular and 35 non-vascular plant species, including 111 in the
Globally Rare and 194 in the State Rare categories. The Review category contains another
67 species. Discussions at the conference resulted in a status change for 15 species, a
change to the Threat Priority rank for three species, nine species being dropped from the
list, and three new species being added to the Review category. These changes once again
demonstrate the dynamic nature of the Idaho list as new information becomes available.
Results from the conference are outlined below.
Andreae heinemanii
—This is a small, dark moss that is apparently not
common anywhere in its range, which is largely to the north of Idaho. The recently found
population south of Grangeville, Idaho, may represent the first collection for the state.
It was added to the Review category because more information is needed to assess its
status in the state.
Astragalus newberryi
var.
castoreus (Newberry’s milkvetch)
—Additional populations of this low-growing, but showy-flowered milkvetch were found
in southwestern Owyhee County in 1999. For this reason, it was moved from the State
Priority 1 to the State Sensitive category.
Botrychium campestre
(prairie moonwort)—The first known population of this
small, fern-like plant was recently discovered in the White Cloud Mountains of central
Idaho. The change from the Review to the Global Priority 3 category was made now that its
identification has been verified.
Carex aboriginum
(Indian Valley sedge)—This species was thought to be
extinct, but in 1999 a population was discovered south of Council, in Adams County.
Because of this wonderful discovery, Indian Valley sedge was moved from the INPS’s
Taxa Believed to be Globally Extinct category to the Global Priority 1 category.
Cetraria sepincola
—This small, brownish lichen is presently known from
only a few Idaho occurrences; however it has a circumpolar distribution. To better reflect
its rangewide standing, it was moved from the Global Priority 3 to the State Priority 1
category.
Cirsium brevifolium
(Palouse thistle)—This Palouse region endemic was
moved from the Review to the Global Priority 3 category. Habitat loss and degradation,
along with seed predation from introduced biocontrol insects are the main threats facing
this native, white-flowered thistle.
Crassula aquatica
(pigmy-weed)—This is a diminutive, succulent-leaved
member of the stonecrop family that has been recently documented in Idaho. Its
conservation status in the state is unknown, so it was added to the Review category.
Cymopterus ibapensis
(Ibapah wavewing)—This species was moved from the
State Sensitive to the Review category because of the unclear relationship between plants
identified as this taxon from rocky, high elevation sites in east-central Idaho and those
from vernal pool and sagebrush habitats in the southwestern corner of the state.
Distribution, abundance, and taxonomic questions raised by this unclear relationship need
to be clarified to understand conservation concerns for this species.
Cyperus rivularis
(shining flatsedge)—Recent riparian habitat studies
along the Boise, Payette, and Snake rivers in southwestern Idaho have found this tufted
annual to be more common than previously known. As a result, it was moved from the State
Priority 1 to the State Monitor category.
Downingia insignis
—Not known in Idaho until 1998, this pretty annual
flower was added to the Review category at last year’s conference. No additional
populations were found this past year, and it was moved to the State Priority 1 category
(Owyhee County).
Iris versicolor
—Despite extensive fieldwork in northern Idaho wetland
habitats over the years, this small iris remains only rarely reported in the state. As a
result, it was moved from the Review to the State Sensitive category.
Leptodactylon pungens
ssp.
hazeliae (Hazel’s prickly
phlox)—In light of the number of known populations for this Hells Canyon area
endemic, and the minimal threats it faces, it was moved from the Global Priority 1 to the
Global Priority 2 category.
Lesquerella multiceps
(western bladderpod)—This regional endemic is known
from the Bear River Range in northeastern Utah, extreme southeastern Idaho, and adjacent
Wyoming. Because there have been only a handful of collections in Idaho, it was moved from
the Review to the Global Priority 3 category.
Lomatium packardiae
(Packard’s desert-parsley)—This species is known
from only about 10 populations in northern Nevada, the Succor Creek area of western Owyhee
County, Idaho, and adjacent Malheur County, Oregon. In recognition of this rangewide
rarity, it was moved from the Global Priority 3 to the Global Priority 2 category.
Lupinus uncialis
(inch-high lupine)—In Idaho, this smallest of lupines is
known from southern Owyhee County. A few new populations were discovered this past year
and its status changed from State Priority 2 to State Sensitive.
Orobanche pinorum
(pine broomrape)—Known from scattered locations in
northern Idaho woodlands. It was added to the Review category.
Thalictrum dasycarpum
(purple meadow-rue)—Although this is a large and
distinctive meadow-rue, it has been collected only a few times in Idaho. It is a
widespread species, known in Idaho from the northern and southeastern parts of the state.
It was moved from the Review to the State Priority 1 category.
Trifolium douglasii
(Douglas’ clover)—Most of the known Idaho
collections for Douglas’ clover were made prior to 1960. The loss and degradation of
prairie, montane meadow, creekside, and open forest habitats has occurred throughout its
range in western Idaho and adjacent parts of eastern Washington and northeastern Oregon.
This was sufficient information to have it moved from the Review to the Global Priority 3
category.
Except for the few species listed as endangered or threatened under the federal
Endangered Species Act, all rare plants in the three Global Priority categories receive a
Threat Priority rank as part of their overall INPS rank. This one - twelve ranking system
is based mostly on the magnitude and immediacy of threats, with one representing the
highest threat rank, and 12 the lowest. The Threat Priority rank was increased from 5 to 2
for Haplopappus liatriformis (Palouse goldenweed); decreased from 9 to 12
for Chrysothamnus parryi ssp. montanus (Centennial
rabbitbrush); and decreased from 6 to 12 for Eriogonum ochrocephalum var. calcareum
(calcareous buckwheat).
Eight of the nine species taken off the rare plant list were dropped because they were
found to be too common, including, Astragalus salmonis (Trout Creek
milkvetch), Buxbaumia piperi (Piper’s bug-on-a-stick), Chrysothamnus
humilis (dwarf rabbitbrush), Platanthera orbiculata (round-leaved
rein-orchid), Rhinanthus minor (yellow rattle-box), Scirpus
fluviatilis (river bulrush), Symphoricarpos oreophilus var. parishii
(Parish’s snowberry), and Utriculata intermedia (mountain bladderwort).
Equisetum scirpoides (sedgelike horsetail) was dropped because it is not
known to occur in Idaho.
The names of two species on the list were updated to agree with the current taxonomic
thinking in the available volumes of the "Flora of North America." What was
formerly called Asplenium viride (green spleenwort) is now Asplenium
trichomanes-ramosum, and the Argemone munita (armed prickly poppy)
we have in Idaho now goes by the name Argemone munita ssp. rotundata.
In addition, Idaho apparently has three varieties of Pediocactus simpsonii
(Simpson’s hedgehog cactus), not just the variety robustior as
previously thought. As a result, this beautiful cactus will be referred to as simply Pediocactus
simpsonii on the Rare Plant List.
Conservation of Spalding’s Catchfly (Silene spaldingii)
at Garden Creek Ranch (Hells Canyon, ID)
Janice Hill and Karen Gray, The Nature Conservancy of Idaho
The 14,000-acre Garden Creek Ranch, located in Hells Canyon south of Lewiston, is
jointly owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy and the Bureau of Land Management to
protect the high quality natural resources and overall biodiversity. Marked differences in
elevation, aspect, and geology have created diverse habitats that support a wide array of
plants, plant communities, and animals, many of which are rare and/or endemic. Some of the
best remaining examples of Pacific Northwest Bunchgrass canyon grasslands, thirteen rare
plants, and thirteen rare plant communities occur at the ranch. The primary threat to this
ecosystem is the invasion of a number of aggressive, non-native plants. Weed control and
restoration are very difficult due to the steep, inaccessible terrain. The management plan
for the Ranch focuses on weed control with priority given to roadways, weed-free areas,
satellite infestations, new invader weed species, and rare plant sites.
The Ranch has the largest known population of the proposed threatened plant,
Spalding’s catchfly (Silene spaldingii), in Idaho. Currently, approximately
1,800 individual plants have been located. Conservation activities at six S. spaldingii
sites in the Lower Corral Creek Study Area were initiated during the summer of 1999. The
work consisted of: 1) mapping of S. spaldingii subpopulations and aggressive weed
infestations, 2) establishment of permanent photo points, 3) establishment of a belt
transect, 4) initial weed control, and 5) collection of data on individual S.
spaldingii plants. The rare Palouse goldenweed (Haplopappus liatriformis)
occurred with S. spaldingii at one site.
Maps of the spatial relationship between rare plant subpopulations and weed
infestations provided baseline information to assess management activities and helped to
determine appropriate weed control methods. i.e., hand pulling or herbicide wicking of
infestations within rare plant subpopulations or herbicide spraying of infestations
located at a safe distance from rare plants. The belt transect, which passed through a
Spalding’s catchfly subpopulation and infestations of yellow star-thistle (Centaurea
solstitialis) and St. John’s-wort (Hypericum perforatum), was established
to monitor the effect of hand weeding and to obtain demographic information. Data
collection on individual S. spaldingii plants included number of stems per plant,
height of stems, number and stage of reproductive structures per stem, and herbivory.
Eleven aggressive weed species were present at the six sites. Yellow star-thistle and
St. John’s-wort were considered to be the worst of the weed threats. Large yellow
star-thistle infestations surrounded many of the sites, and small satellite infestations
occurred within many of the sites. Extensive infestations of St. John’s-wort occurred
within most of the sites. Other aggressive weeds present included annual bromes, Kentucky
bluegrass (Poa pratensis), sulfur cinquefoil (Potentilla recta), teasel (Dipsacus
fullonum ssp. sylvestris), Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), hairy vetch
(Vicia villosa), Scotch thistle (Onopardium acanthium), leafy spurge (Euphorbia
esula), and ventenata (Ventenata dubia). Yellow star-thistle and St.
John’s-wort were hand pulled in and around the area of the transect and within one
meter of all remaining S. spaldingii plants at one site. A leafy spurge
infestation, located at a safe distance from rare plants, was sprayed at another site.
Weed control will continue at these sites and be initiated at the remaining sites during
the 2000 field season.
Herbivory by native ungulates (deer and elk) and insects on S. spaldingii was
substantial. Sixty-two percent of the total 453 stems monitored were grazed (the upper
portion of the stem plus any reproductive structures present had been removed). None of
these grazed stems produced significant regrowth during the remainder of the season.
Thirty percent of S. spaldingii reproductive structures were damaged by insect
herbivores. Seeds were often missing in capsules that exhibited insect herbivory. Seven
percent of the monitored plants were completely missing by the end of the season. The
cause of the disappearances is unknown; however, gopher activity was observed in the
vicinity.
Reproductive effort of S. spaldingii was relatively high. Seventy-seven percent
of the remaining, ungrazed stems bore reproductive structures, fertile stems produced an
average of 8 flowers per stem, and a large number of seeds were produced in each capsule.
Only 27% of the monitored S. spaldingii stems actually bore reproductive
structures. This low percentage was due mainly to loss of reproductive structures to
native ungulate herbivory.
Future conservation activities at these six sites will include annual weed control and
monitoring. Other S. spaldingii sites will be included as time and resources
permit.
Idaho Native Plant Society Board Meeting
Leonard Lake, INPS Secretary
The Board of Directors met on February 9, 2000 at 5:30 PM in Boise at the offices of
Idaho Power Company. Attending: Kristin Fletcher, Past President; Leonard Lake, Secretary;
Steve Rust, Treasurer; Juanita Lichthardt, White Pine Chapter; Sarah Walker, Newsletter
Editor; Chris Murphy, Pahove Chapter; Michael Mancuso, Conservation Committee; Karl Holte,
Sah-Wah-Be Chapter; Carol Blackburn, Wood River Chapter; Valerie Geertson, Conference
Committee.
Treasurer’s Report: Steve Rust provided a review of the society’s finances.
Steve suggested that a portion of the funds in checking could be placed in an
interest-bearing account (CD). Currently approximately $3,000.00 is available. Steve
described three options: CD, income funds, and growth funds. There was discussion by the
board on the various options including mutual funds and money market accounts.
Our funding follows a cycle of winter-generated funds as a result of the rare plant
conference, with expenses through most of the year. The biggest expense is Sage Notes at
approximately $400.00 per issue. The upfront expenses for the rare plant conference have
been covered for this year. The board discussed the known expenses that will come due
during the year such as our mailing permit and post office box.
There was also discussion of using the income from the account in the future for a
scholarship fund or for conservation projects. These ideas were tabled for further
discussion and development.
Leonard moved and Juanita seconded that the treasurer move forward with setting up an
interest account for no more than $3,000.00 and no longer than one year, with the
understanding that enough money remains in checking to cover our operational expenses for
the year. The motion carried.
Website: Valerie provided a summary of the website for the Idaho Native Plant Society.
It can be found at <idahonativeplants.org>.
The site contains the results of the Rare Plant Conference, chapters and membership
information, links, and a list server. In the near future conservation issues will be
highlighted along with articles from Sage Notes. Copyright language and disclaimer
for the reprinted articles will be developed by the Editorial Board of Sage Notes.
Yearly fee for the server is $35.00. The first two years have been paid.
Juanita moved and Karl seconded to authorize the payment of the yearly fee to maintain
the website for the Idaho Native Plant Society. Motion carried.
Dues increase: There was a proposal to raise our state dues by $5.00 and change the
ratio between the parent society and the chapters. (It is now 75% to the state society and
25% to the chapters). After discussion the board decided to drop the proposal, since dues
should be raised in relation to increasing expenses or increasing programs and activities;
both of which are relatively stable at this time. Steve agreed to review the bylaws
concerning the ratio of dues between the parent society and the chapters to see if there
is flexibility in the split.
Officers: Steve Rust agreed to remain the treasurer for another year. Leonard Lake
agreed to remain the secretary for another year.
There was a discussion whether the following bylaw change, which staggers the election
of officers and increases the term to two years, was approved by the membership during the
last election:
Section 5. Term of Office
1. The officers shall be elected to a two-year term. The elections of officers shall be
staggered so that two of the four officers are scheduled for election each year. Elections
for president and treasurer shall be conducted in the same year, while elections for vice
president and secretary would be in the following year.
Steve Rust agreed to review last year’s election results.
Karl Holte volunteered for the office of president. Steve moved and Kristen seconded
that the board appoint Karl to finish the term of president that is currently vacant. The
motion carried with one member abstaining.
The meeting adjourned at 7:30 PM.
INPS Membership
IDAHO
Athol
Mark Mousseaux
Bayview
Ellen Franz
Belleview
Tom & Anne McAuliffe
Boise
Kay Beall
Holly H. Beck
Bobbie Billings
Bert Bowler
Cate Brigden & Steve Rust
Alan Byrne & Tamara Tanaka
Marcia Cogswell
Nancy Cole
Cyndi Leavitt Coulter
Jerry Cross
Christopher Davidson
Kelley Davis
Ann DeBolt & Roger Rosentreter
Phil Delphey
Dale Donahue
Dorothy Douglas & Walter Buechler
Jeff Fereday & Kay Hummel
Dwight Ferguson
Robert Fitzsimmons
Amanda Gailbreath
Wilma Gluch
Walter Hankins
Anne Herndon
Jody & Jim Hull
Jill Jasper
Mabel & Robin Jones
Glenda King
Lynda Leppert
Dick Lingenfelter
Dwight Magnuson
Michael Mancuso
Angelia Martin
Mary Grunewald McGown
Agnes Miller
Maria Minicucci
Bob Moseley & Susan Bernatas
Chris Murphy
Lenora Oosterhuis
Dan Ray & Valerie Geertson
Rick Raymondi
Edna Rey-Visgirdas
Mark Rohrbach
Jeannette Ross von Alten
Paul Shaffer
Darcy D. Sharp
Mark Shumar
Monique Slipher
James Smith
Jay & Lynda Smithman
Dick & Joey Stillinger
Michael & Margie Twitchell
Donald N. Wells
Bonner’s Ferry
Sally Grant
Margaret Mouat
Luise Peyton
Caldwell
Patricia Herbel
Careywood
Vicki Marron
Janet E. Benoit
Chubbuck
Carlene McDougal
Clark Fork
Konrad Dahlstrom & Joyce Pence
Cocolalla
Pat Brown
Phyllis & Walter Mott
Coeur d’Alene
Edward & Kristine Buchler
LeAnn Eno
Ralph & Peggy Faust
Rebecca Brown Thompson
Cottonwood
Mark Lowry
Council
Mering Hurd
Butch & Becky Snorgrass
Terry Tolbert
Deary
Merrill & Mary Conitz
Janice Hill
Driggs
Jeff Klausmann
Mike & Linda Merigliano
Penny Vasquez
Eagle
Robert Steele
Michael J. Wissenbach
Emmett
David Potter
Grangeville
Pat & Dave Green
Leonard & Marian Lake
Hagerman
Hagerman Fossil Beds Nat. Monu.
Hailey
Kim Hofelt
Lisa Horton
Diana Landis
Jo Ann Robbins
Hayden
Carolyn Cozzetto
Phil Hruskocy
Hayden Lake
Diane Christ
Hope
Dianna Copeland
Beverly Hall
Dorothy Modafferi
Mary Shackelford
Idaho Falls
Nancy Hampton
Gerald Jayne
Rose Lehman
Jerry & Robyn McCarthy
Kim Ragotzkie
Brian Schuetz
Indian Valley
Nancy Armitage
Inkom
Kathleen Lehman
Louise & Robert Shaw
Jerome
Lorna Irwin
Kamiah
Mrs. Lillian Pethtel
Kendrick
Dick & Roberta Bingham
Ken & Marjorie Wilken
Ketchum
Doreen Dorwood
Betsy Pomeroy
JoAnne Vassar
Wood River Land Trust
Kooskia
John Warofka
Lewiston
Kathy Elliot
Alfred LaPlante
Sandra Robins
Angela Sondenaa
Lowman
Penny Myers
McCall
Jim Crawford & Margo Conitz
Alma Hanson
Marilyn Olson
McCammon
Prof. Thomas R. Cox
Moscow
James & Judith Austin
Roger Blanchard
Ray & Erma Boyd
Elizabeth Brackney
Steve & Pam Brunsfeld
Paul & Annette Brusven
Janet Campbell
Lynn Cantrell
Mary Fauci
Dennis & Connie Ferguson
Judy Ferguson
Lauren Fins
Malcolm Furniss
Archie & Mary George
Laura Gephart & Peter Chilson
Liz Hall
Jeanie Harvey & Earl Druker
Mike & Janet Hays
Trish Heekin
Pat Hine & Jim Reece
Ray & Bettie Hoff
Fred & Jinny Johnson
Bob & Arlene Jonas
Loring & Veralee Jones
Greg & Megan Klemsrud
Ned Klopfenstein
Karen & Karl Launchbaugh
Sonja Lewis & Chuck Wellner
John & Elizabeth Marshall
Charlott Matinkus & Bruce Taylor
Paul McDaniel & Juanita Lichthardt
Larry McLaud
Frank Merickel
Nick Natale
Alan Poplawsky
Janet Silbernagel
Robert & Rosemary Skiles
Marge & Al Stage
Ellen Thiem
Jonalea Tonn
Katie Wilde
Nampa
Nancy Shaw
Naples
Helen H. Julian
Oakley
Miriam Louise Austin
Ola
Fred & Melly Zeillemaker
Peck
Sarah & Dick Walker
Pocatello
Jay & Phyllis Anderson
Joan Bergstrom
Audene Campbell
Drew Ceperly & Amy Morris
Jayne Chipman
Cleve Davis
Kristin Fletcher
Harry & Susan Giesbrecht
William Haight
Glenn Harvey
Geoff Hogander
Karl Holte
Deborah Jeppson
Jeff McCreary
Ruth Moorhead
Mel & Barbara Nicholls
Naida Olson
Priscilla Reis
David & Christy Smith
Ponderay
Nicole French
Pama Pierson
Pat Ramsey
Shirley Thornton
Post Falls
Laura & Bill Asbell
John Riley & Viki Leuba
Potlatch
Betty Southwick
Priest River
Betty Watts
Princeton
Gerry Queener
Rathdrum
Cynthia Langlitz
Vicki Peterson
Ririe
Shari Sellars
Sagle
Weslie & Joan Andres
Sylvia Chatburn
Fields W. Cobb, Jr.
Betsy Hammet
Charlotte Kerr
Nancy Low
Sherry Metz
Delano Pierce
Jeff Rich
Annette & James Runnalls
Patricia Stevens
Pat Van Volkenberg
Sandpoint
John & Valerie Albi
Gretchen Albrecht-Hellar
Eileen Atkisson & Lawrence Blakey
David & Marjorie Butts
Janice & Jack De Baun
Verna Mae Davis
Jim & Barbara Ann Ford
Phil & Michael Franklin
Marilyn George & Arlis Harvey
Margie Gibson
Hazel Hall
Shirley Hardy
Harold Hartmann & Dalles Hilton
Mollee Hecht
Isabel Hollriegel
Shelley & Scott Johnson
Sue Kohut
Harold & Marilou Laws
Terri Maurice
Elizabeth Merrill
Steve Mullen & Carol Holmes
Cherie Murphy
Dian Nelson
Valle Novak
Betty Padgett
Barbara Pressler
Nancy Renk
Nancy & Jack Rose
Suzanne Sawyer
Patrick Tormey
Robert & Gretchen Ward
Donald Welter
Joseph & Lois Wythe
Shoshone
Fred & Carol Blackburn
Sun Valley
Bill & Jeanne Cassell
Christine Gertschen
Florence Mackie
Twin Falls
Barbara Gentry
Viola
Kappy Brun
Reid & Nancy Miller
Pat & James Peek
Weiser
Betty Derig
Margaret Fuller
CALIFORNIA
Berkeley
Barbara Ertter
Cloverdale
Jack & Betty Guggolz
Del Mar
Ross & Leslie Hall
San Francisco
Strybing Arbor Society
S. Pasadena
Harry Spilman
COLORADO
Denver
Dorothy & Ottis Rechard
GEORGIA
Douglasville
Wayne Owen
MAINE
Franklin
Anne & Bob Minnicucci
Yarmouth
Michael Thompson
MICHIGAN
Lansing
Patrick F. Fields
MISSOURI
St. Louis
Missouri Botanical Gardens Library
MONTANA
Missoula
Angela Evenden
Scott Mincemoyer
Peter F. Stickney
Noxon
Jill Davies
Whitefish
Karen Gray & Jay Shepherd
NEVADA
Ely
Alexia Cochrane
NEW YORK
Bronx
Noel & Patricia Holmgren
OREGON
Baker City
Clair Button
Columbia City
Christine & Yaghoub Ebrahimi
Corvallis
Kenton Chambers
Eugene
Rhoda & Glen Love
La Grande
Barbara E. Russell
Ontario
Jean Findley
Pendleton
Bruce Barnes
Roseburg
Jim Thompson
TENNESSEE
Greenback
Edward Clebsch
UTAH
Logan
Kim Pierson
Ogden
Teresa Prendusi
VIRGINIA
Arlington
Larry E. Morse
WASHINGTON
Albion
Sue & Steve Morrison
Asotin
Gayle Williams
Clarkston
Don Brigham
Colbert
Brian Miller
Colville
Heather Swartz
LaCrosse
Connie Horton
Palouse
Doug Flansberg
Douglas & Patricia Flansberg
Charlotte Omoto
Jim & Jan Roberts
Pullman
Karen Adams
Peggy Chevalier
Greg & Leann Douhan
Karen Hansen
Elizabeth Schwartz
Tom & Diane Weber
Bertie Weddell
James & Eileen Whipple
Richland
Inez Austin
Karen Hinman
Spokane
Richard & Judith Gammon
David Noble
WYOMING
Laramie
Walter Fertig
Joy Handley
Rock Springs
James M. Glennon
Yellowstone National Park
Jennifer Whipple
Mark Mousseaux
Bayview
Ellen Franz
Belleview
Tom & Anne McAuliffe
Boise
Kay Beall
Holly H. Beck
Bobbie Billings
Bert Bowler
Cate Brigden & Steve Rust
Alan Byrne & Tamara Tanaka
Marcia Cogswell
Nancy Cole
Cyndi Leavitt Coulter
Jerry Cross
Christopher Davidson
Kelley Davis
Ann DeBolt & Roger Rosentreter
Phil Delphey
Dale Donahue
Dorothy Douglas & Walter Buechler
Jeff Fereday & Kay Hummel
Dwight Ferguson
Robert Fitzsimmons
Amanda Gailbreath
Wilma Gluch
Walter Hankins
Anne Herndon
Jody & Jim Hull
Jill Jasper
Mabel & Robin Jones
Glenda King
Lynda Leppert
Dick Lingenfelter
Dwight Magnuson
Michael Mancuso
Angelia Martin
Mary Grunewald McGown
Agnes Miller
Maria Minicucci
Bob Moseley & Susan Bernatas
Chris Murphy
Lenora Oosterhuis
Dan Ray & Valerie Geertson
Rick Raymondi
Edna Rey-Visgirdas
Mark Rohrbach
Jeannette Ross von Alten
Paul Shaffer
Darcy D. Sharp
Mark Shumar
Monique Slipher
James Smith
Jay & Lynda Smithman
Dick & Joey Stillinger
Michael & Margie Twitchell
Donald N. Wells
Bonner’s Ferry
Sally Grant
Margaret Mouat
Luise Peyton
Caldwell
Patricia Herbel
Careywood
Vicki Marron
Janet E. Benoit
Chubbuck
Carlene McDougal
Clark Fork
Konrad Dahlstrom & Joyce Pence
Cocolalla
Pat Brown
Phyllis & Walter Mott
Coeur d’Alene
Edward & Kristine Buchler
LeAnn Eno
Ralph & Peggy Faust
Rebecca Brown Thompson
Cottonwood
Mark Lowry
Council
Mering Hurd
Butch & Becky Snorgrass
Terry Tolbert
Deary
Merrill & Mary Conitz
Janice Hill
Driggs
Jeff Klausmann
Mike & Linda Merigliano
Penny Vasquez
Eagle
Robert Steele
Michael J. Wissenbach
Emmett
David Potter
Grangeville
Pat & Dave Green
Leonard & Marian Lake
Hagerman
Hagerman Fossil Beds Nat. Monu.
Hailey
Kim Hofelt
Lisa Horton
Diana Landis
Jo Ann Robbins
Hayden
Carolyn Cozzetto
Phil Hruskocy
Hayden Lake
Diane Christ
Hope
Dianna Copeland
Beverly Hall
Dorothy Modafferi
Mary Shackelford
Idaho Falls
Nancy Hampton
Gerald Jayne
Rose Lehman
Jerry & Robyn McCarthy
Kim Ragotzkie
Brian Schuetz
Indian Valley
Nancy Armitage
Inkom
Kathleen Lehman
Louise & Robert Shaw
Jerome
Lorna Irwin
Kamiah
Mrs. Lillian Pethtel
Kendrick
Dick & Roberta Bingham
Ken & Marjorie Wilken
Ketchum
Doreen Dorwood
Betsy Pomeroy
JoAnne Vassar
Wood River Land Trust
Kooskia
John Warofka
Lewiston
Kathy Elliot
Alfred LaPlante
Sandra Robins
Angela Sondenaa
Lowman
Penny Myers
McCall
Jim Crawford & Margo Conitz
Alma Hanson
Marilyn Olson
McCammon
Prof. Thomas R. Cox
Moscow
James & Judith Austin
Roger Blanchard
Ray & Erma Boyd
Elizabeth Brackney
Steve & Pam Brunsfeld
Paul & Annette Brusven
Janet Campbell
Lynn Cantrell
Mary Fauci
Dennis & Connie Ferguson
Judy Ferguson
Lauren Fins
Malcolm Furniss
Archie & Mary George
Laura Gephart & Peter Chilson
Liz Hall
Jeanie Harvey & Earl Druker
Mike & Janet Hays
Trish Heekin
Pat Hine & Jim Reece
Ray & Bettie Hoff
Fred & Jinny Johnson
Bob & Arlene Jonas
Loring & Veralee Jones
Greg & Megan Klemsrud
Ned Klopfenstein
Karen & Karl Launchbaugh
Sonja Lewis & Chuck Wellner
John & Elizabeth Marshall
Charlott Matinkus & Bruce Taylor
Paul McDaniel & Juanita Lichthardt
Larry McLaud
Frank Merickel
Nick Natale
Alan Poplawsky
Janet Silbernagel
Robert & Rosemary Skiles
Marge & Al Stage
Ellen Thiem
Jonalea Tonn
Katie Wilde
Nampa
Nancy Shaw
Naples
Helen H. Julian
Oakley
Miriam Louise Austin
Ola
Fred & Melly Zeillemaker
Peck
Sarah & Dick Walker
Pocatello
Jay & Phyllis Anderson
Joan Bergstrom
Audene Campbell
Drew Ceperly & Amy Morris
Jayne Chipman
Cleve Davis
Kristin Fletcher
Harry & Susan Giesbrecht
William Haight
Glenn Harvey
Geoff Hogander
Karl Holte
Deborah Jeppson
Jeff McCreary
Ruth Moorhead
Mel & Barbara Nicholls
Naida Olson
Priscilla Reis
David & Christy Smith
Ponderay
Nicole French
Pama Pierson
Pat Ramsey
Shirley Thornton
Post Falls
Laura & Bill Asbell
John Riley & Viki Leuba
Potlatch
Betty Southwick
Priest River
Betty Watts
Princeton
Gerry Queener
Rathdrum
Cynthia Langlitz
Vicki Peterson
Ririe
Shari Sellars
Sagle
Weslie & Joan Andres
Sylvia Chatburn
Fields W. Cobb, Jr.
Betsy Hammet
Charlotte Kerr
Nancy Low
Sherry Metz
Delano Pierce
Jeff Rich
Annette & James Runnalls
Patricia Stevens
Pat Van Volkenberg
Sandpoint
John & Valerie Albi
Gretchen Albrecht-Hellar
Eileen Atkisson & Lawrence Blakey
David & Marjorie Butts
Janice & Jack De Baun
Verna Mae Davis
Jim & Barbara Ann Ford
Phil & Michael Franklin
Marilyn George & Arlis Harvey
Margie Gibson
Hazel Hall
Shirley Hardy
Harold Hartmann & Dalles Hilton
Mollee Hecht
Isabel Hollriegel
Shelley & Scott Johnson
Sue Kohut
Harold & Marilou Laws
Terri Maurice
Elizabeth Merrill
Steve Mullen & Carol Holmes
Cherie Murphy
Dian Nelson
Valle Novak
Betty Padgett
Barbara Pressler
Nancy Renk
Nancy & Jack Rose
Suzanne Sawyer
Patrick Tormey
Robert & Gretchen Ward
Donald Welter
Joseph & Lois Wythe
Shoshone
Fred & Carol Blackburn
Sun Valley
Bill & Jeanne Cassell
Christine Gertschen
Florence Mackie
Twin Falls
Barbara Gentry
Viola
Kappy Brun
Reid & Nancy Miller
Pat & James Peek
Weiser
Betty Derig
Margaret Fuller
CALIFORNIA
Berkeley
Barbara Ertter
Cloverdale
Jack & Betty Guggolz
Del Mar
Ross & Leslie Hall
San Francisco
Strybing Arbor Society
S. Pasadena
Harry Spilman
COLORADO
Denver
Dorothy & Ottis Rechard
GEORGIA
Douglasville
Wayne Owen
MAINE
Franklin
Anne & Bob Minnicucci
Yarmouth
Michael Thompson
MICHIGAN
Lansing
Patrick F. Fields
MISSOURI
St. Louis
Missouri Botanical Gardens Library
MONTANA
Missoula
Angela Evenden
Scott Mincemoyer
Peter F. Stickney
Noxon
Jill Davies
Whitefish
Karen Gray & Jay Shepherd
NEVADA
Ely
Alexia Cochrane
NEW YORK
Bronx
Noel & Patricia Holmgren
OREGON
Baker City
Clair Button
Columbia City
Christine & Yaghoub Ebrahimi
Corvallis
Kenton Chambers
Eugene
Rhoda & Glen Love
La Grande
Barbara E. Russell
Ontario
Jean Findley
Pendleton
Bruce Barnes
Roseburg
Jim Thompson
TENNESSEE
Greenback
Edward Clebsch
UTAH
Logan
Kim Pierson
Ogden
Teresa Prendusi
VIRGINIA
Arlington
Larry E. Morse
WASHINGTON
Albion
Sue & Steve Morrison
Asotin
Gayle Williams
Clarkston
Don Brigham
Colbert
Brian Miller
Colville
Heather Swartz
LaCrosse
Connie Horton
Palouse
Doug Flansberg
Douglas & Patricia Flansberg
Charlotte Omoto
Jim & Jan Roberts
Pullman
Karen Adams
Peggy Chevalier
Greg & Leann Douhan
Karen Hansen
Elizabeth Schwartz
Tom & Diane Weber
Bertie Weddell
James & Eileen Whipple
Richland
Inez Austin
Karen Hinman
Spokane
Richard & Judith Gammon
David Noble
WYOMING
Laramie
Walter Fertig
Joy Handley
Rock Springs
James M. Glennon
Yellowstone National Park
Jennifer Whipple
v
Please forward corrections or additions to
Steve Rust, INPS Treasurer, 1201 N. 24th Street, Boise, ID 83702 v
Chapter News
Calypso Chapter
Calypso’s first meeting of the year will be March 1 to hear Tim Gerlitz of the
Mycological Society speak on morel mushrooms, and to line up wildflower walks at Tubbs
Hill and Q’Emelin Park, an activity for Arbor Day, and an August trip to Roman Nose.
A Huff Lake trip is set for July 8.
At the fall meeting, Secretary Phil Hruskocy, Treasurer Janet Benoit, and Newsletter
Editor Peggy Faust agreed to serve for another year. The chapter’s "herbarium
trunk," made with help from LeAnn Eno, Mark Mousseaux, and the Forest Service, is
available for members to use for education programs. Peggy Faust presented the book she
and her husband Ralph published, "Wildflowers of the Inland Northwest," and
described how since moving to Idaho 20 years ago, they had applied their photography hobby
to north Idaho’s flora, taken botany classes at North Idaho College, and published
their collection through the Museum of North Idaho. The book sells for $15.95 and is
available from the museum or from local bookstores.
The chapter newsletter, Calypso Companion, includes a notice from The Nature
Conservancy (TNC). TNC is soliciting naturalists to teach classes in birding, botany,
herpetology, and forest and wetland ecology, at the Conservancy’s North Idaho
preserves (Cougar Bay near Coeur d’Alene, Gamlin Lake near Sagle, Perkins Lake near
Moyie Springs, and Moscow Mountain and Idler’s Rest near Moscow). Instructors will be
paid $50 for each class taught. The classes are being offered as part of the
Conservancy’s North Idaho "Outdoor Exploration Program" to teach the next
generation about the importance of our environment and its protection. Instructors are
needed for science classes in the local schools, restoration projects with students from
Anchor House (the local chapter of Idaho Youth Ranch), guided outdoor nature classes, and
setting up interpretive signs and an outdoor classroom at Cougar Bay. For information
contact The Nature Conservancy, 424 Sherman Ave., Suite 204, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814,
(208) 676-8176.
A proposed Forest Service interpretive project at Huff Lake, near Nordman, is
attracting interest from members of Calypso Chapter as well as from the nearby Northeast
Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society and the Selkirk-Priest Basin Association.
The seven-acre fen supports rare boreal species. There are plans to construct a floating
dock for viewing the fen and a kiosk for interpretive signing as part of an effort to
reduce trampling impacts to the peat mats. Member Dave Noble is doing a lot of the ground
work for this project. For more information contact Priest Lake Ranger District biologist
Tim Layser, (208) 443-6838, or botanist Diane Penny (208) 443-6847 or <dpenny/r1_ipnf@
fs.fed.us>. Dave Noble can be reached at (509) 534-5558 or
<dnoble@tincan.tincan.org>.
Kinnikinnick Chapter
New officers were elected at the November 1999 meeting: Valle Novak, president; John
Albi, vice president; Sylvia M. Chatburn, secretary; and Patricia Stevens, treasurer.
Michael and Phil Franklin continue as newsletter editors; Lois Wythe remains as arboretum
coordinator; Pat Ramsey stays as membership coordinator, as do Pama Pearson as field trips
coordinator, Gretchen Albrecht-Hellar as special events coordinator, and Isabel Hollriegel
as hospitality coordinator.
A January meeting featured Dr. John Anderson’s talk on The Kalispel People: The
First to Discover and Utilize the Native Plants of North Idaho. He spoke about the native
people of the Sandpoint area and the economic value of the blue camas (Camassia quamash)
that once thrived in the moist meadowlands of eastern Washington, Idaho, and western
Montana. The Kalispel lived in what is now Bonner County until 1887, when they were
dispersed by the Sandpoint Treaty to reservations in Washington and Montana. The speaker
read from his book "Nestelah’s Journey" about a young Kalispel woman known
as Blue Flower, whose actions cause blue camas to disappear from a portion of the valley
occupied by her people. Dr. Anderson told the group about the small Kalispel reservation
near Usk, Washington (on the Pend Oreille River northwest of Sandpoint), where visitors
are invited to attend the annual powwow.
In February members were treated to a video about the life of Juliette de Bairacli
Levy, a remarkable woman who has studied herbal medicine with nomadic peoples around the
world.
The chapter would like to attract more members to the Arboretum Committee. Please
contact Lois Wythe at (208) 263-8038 if you would like to help on this exciting project.
Pahove Chapter
Monthly meetings are planned for the third Thursdays of March, April, and May. A
reminder with details concerning the times and locations of the meetings will be mailed to
chapter members.
Upcoming events:
•In March, Chris Murphy will discuss the vegetation of 45 Ranch located in the
southwest corner of the Owyhee Plateau.
•In April, Roger Rosentreter will show slides of rare and common mosses and
lichens.
•In May, Michael Mancuso will discuss the flora of the Owyhee Front.
Sah-Wah-Be Chapter
The Sah-Wah-Be Chapter is quietly awaiting April, when we expect to meet for elections
and trip-planning. E-mail Ruth (moorruth@isu.edu) with your suggestions for which eating
establishment to try THIS year!
White Pine Chapter
Our chapter remains very active. We live in an area of diverse habitats that sustain a
huge number of plant species. We are also fortunate to live near two universities where
new knowledge about plants is generated. The officers will meet this winter to consider
some special projects for our chapter. Some ideas are developing a web site, finding
additional ways to circulate meeting announcements to reach a broader audience, and
renewing our commitment to establishing native plants at the University of Idaho
arboretum.
At a January meeting Dr. Linda Cook, Director of the University of Idaho Herbarium,
gave a talk on "The Tragopogon Triangle-A Palouse Polyploid Complex." Usually
considered a weed, this complex of five species has provided exciting insights into the
ways and means of evolution in plants. One of the first and best examples of speciation
(the process by which new species are formed) through hybridization occurs right here on
the Palouse.
A January field trip to Rose Creek Preserve, led by Bertie Weddell, got us out of the
winter doldrums and ready for spring activities. Rose Creek Preserve contains both native
riparian and native bunchgrass communities.
In February, Dr. Linda Wilson, a research support scientist at the University of Idaho,
presented "Holistic Management of Invasive Plant Species." She has researched
non-native hawkweed, spotted knapweed, yellow star-thistle, leafy spurge, and St.
John’s wort since the early 90s.
Upcoming events:
•March 23: Plant Diversity in the South West Australia Botanical
Province—slide show by Nancy Miller at 7:30 PM at University of Idaho’s College
of Forestry, Wildlife, and Range Sciences, Room 213. Contact Sonja Lewis at (208)
882-3544.
•April 20: DNA, a Short and Simple Overview, by Dr. Steve Brunsfeld of the
University of Idaho at 7:30 PM at UI’s College of Forestry, Wildlife, and Range
Sciences, Room 213. Contact Sonja Lewis at (208) 882-3544.
Wood River Chapter
Wood River Chapter is still accepting members. No activities are planned at this time.
If anyone wants info on joining and local activities they can contact: Jo Ann Robbins at
(208) 788-5585.
News and Notes
Are beetles inordinately fond of flowering plants?
When asked what he had learned
about the Creator from studying evolution, the British biologist J. B. S. Haldane replied
that He must have had "an inordinate fondness for beetles." This famous quip
reflects the remarkable diversity of the Order Coleoptera. With over 300,000 species,
beetles have more species than any other known group of plants or animals. Recent studies
by Brian Farrell at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology shed light on the
connection between beetle diversity and the evolution of flowering plants. The ancestors
of herbivorous beetles existed about 230 millions years ago, but these early beetle
lineages, which fed on conifers and cycads, were not particularly diverse. The
extraordinary diversity of beetles did not come about until after flowering plants
appeared. The fact that beetles and flowering plants diversified at about the same time
suggests that beetle diversity depends upon the diversity of flowering plants, but until
recently evidence to support this hypothesis was lacking. To resolve this question,
Farrell used data from paleontology, biogeography, genetics, and natural history to
reconstruct the evolutionary history of plant-eating beetles. He produced DNA sequences
from 115 species, representing all beetle subfamilies, and combined this information with
data on 212 morphological characters. The resulting family trees show that beetles
colonized angiosperms several times, and each time they experienced an adaptive radiation
in which they evolved into many new and varied forms, such as leaf miners, leaf chewers,
seed eaters, and root feeders. The newly evolved angiosperms were like unoccupied islands.
When herbivorous beetles colonized each new "island," they diversified in bursts
of speciation (like Darwin’s famous finches on the Galapagos Islands). Each time an
angiosperm-feeding group of beetles arose, it evolved into a host of new forms.
Farrell’s work supports the contention that the reason there are so many beetles is
because the evolution of flowering plants provided them with resources that they were able
to exploit in myriad ways. His intriguing analysis leaves one wondering if perhaps it was
really beetles’ inordinate fondness for flowering plants that led to their great
diversity.
Maybe it should be called "Miraculis" macfarlanei.
At this year’s
Rare Plant Conference, ecologist Mark Lowry of the BLM Cottonwood Field Office updated us
on rescue efforts for a population of Macfarlane’s four o’clock (
Mirabilis
macfarlanei; the first plant in Idaho to be listed under the Endangered Species Act)
that had been in a large landslide and associated access road construction on private land
along Highway 95 between Riggins and White Bird (milepost 210.5). With help from Roger
Rosentreter and others, diggers risked the steep, unstable slide area to uncover 426
plants for transplanting—and survived new slides that came down while they were
working. Arrangements had been made with the landowner, but confusion occurred, and an
unexpected visit from Idaho County deputies was further complicated by Roger’s
mischievous display of a damp burlap sack of hefty yam-sized roots accompanied by the
comment, "I’ve got the goods." Next came the arduous task of digging large
holes to plant the rescued roots at the nearby Lucile Caves Research Natural Area. All
were safely planted and watered, and their future seemed bright until a July 2 fireworks
fire burned over a fourth of the new transplants, killing aboveground stems. Hopefully,
mortality will be light, since the plants had started to die back for the year. We’re
keeping our fingers crossed. Mark added that the population that was accidentally sprayed
in 1997 (see
Sage Notes Summer 1998, 20(3):17) is showing 80% survival. There are
six populations of this threatened species along the Salmon River, and Mark, Brian Maier,
and Wendy Velman collected over 5 lbs of seeds for the Berry Botanic Garden seed bank in
Portland (see
Sage Notes Spring 1999 21(2):12).
New Native Plants Journal produced in Idaho.
The first issue of
Native Plants
Journal came out in January. This cooperative project between the University of Idaho
Research Nursery and the USDA Forest Service provides a forum for dispersing practical
information about the planting and growing of North American native plants for
conservation, restoration, reforestation, landscaping, and highway corridors. The journal
includes papers that are useful to, and understandable by, growers and planters of native
plants and that contribute significantly to scientific literature. Check the web site
<www.uidaho.edu/nativeplants> for current titles and abstracts of papers. The
journal will be published twice a year, and a one-year subscription is $30. Complimentary
issues, while supplies last, are available from Kas Dumroese, Editor,
Native Plants
Journal, Forest Research Nursery, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-1137 or at the
website.
Excellent new rare plant guide on the web.
Check out the "Montana Rare Plant
Field Guide" on the Montana Natural Heritage homepage at
<http://orion2.nris.state.mt.us/mtnhp/plants/>. There are photos and line drawings,
habitat descriptions, status lists, dot maps, and references for over 300 species.
Information is updated quarterly. Also linked to this site is the newsletter of the
Montana Natural Heritage Program,
Optimolocus.
New book on range and biodiversity
. The University of Oklahoma Press has published
a new book, "The Western Range Revisited: Removing Livestock from Public Lands to
Conserve Native Biodiversity," by University of Wyoming College of Law Professor
Debra Donahue. Professor Donahue proposes a landscape-level strategy for conserving native
biological diversity on federal rangelands, a strategy based chiefly on removing livestock
from large tracts of arid BLM lands in 10 western states. Pahove member Roger Rosentreter
is mentioned. Copies may be ordered from OU Press at (800) 627-7377 and
<www.ou.edu/oupress>.
Lichen soup.
Bryology Professor Janice Glime reports from Michigan Technological
University: One of my students told me his aunt has a recipe for rock tripe (
Umbilicaria)
soup. His story is that the Ojibway Indians used it as an emergency food in this area, and
when the missionary Father Marquette needed food in the winter the Native Americans showed
him this to use as food. My student has tried it as a soup with some cut up onions and a
little salt and butter (on hand for an unsuccessful fishing trip) and claims it is quite
good, having a mushroom taste. Maybe George Washington really did feed it to his troops at
Valley Forge.
Lewis and Clark plants in Clarkston
. The Port of Clarkston, WA, right across the
river from Lewiston, ID, is planning to feature plants collected by the famous explorers.
When the Corps of Discovery camped at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers in
1805, they described the area as "open plains, no timber of any kind, a few hackberry
bushes and willows excepted." The seven-acre park will be planted with many of the
species reported by Lewis and Clark, with special emphasis on the Snake-Clearwater region.
Fire on the Mountain
. The Bureau of Land Management is requesting public input on
their proposed use of prescribed fire to reduce natural fuels concentrations in the Craig
Mountain Cooperative Management Area south of Lewiston, ID. Comments are due by 31 March
2000. For a copy of the complete "Request for Public Input" notice, contact BLM,
Cottonwood Field Office, Route 3, Box 181, Cottonwood, ID 83522, (208) 962-3245.
Questions/concerns? Contact Janice Hill (janice@turbonet.com).