Please watch for later additions on our Web site (www.northcoastcnps.org) or sign up for e-mail announcements (). Evening programs are free, public programs on the second Wednesday of each month, September through May, at the Six Rivers Masonic Lodge, 251 Bayside Rd., Arcata. Refreshments at 7:00 p.m.; program at 7:30 p.m.
Outings are open to everyone, not just members. All levels of expertise, from beginners to experienced botanizers, are welcome. Address questions about physical ability requirements to the leader. Contact the leader so you can be informed of any changes.
January 13, Wednesday. ” Demystifying manzanitas (Arctostaphylos): Understanding the dynamics of California’s iconic shrubby ‘rock star'” Dr. Michael Vasey is a botanist and coastal ecologist with a long-term passion for manzanitas (Arctostaphylos). As the centerpiece of his talk, Michael will introduce a new book, “A Field Guide to Manzanitas” (Backcountry Press), of which he is a co-author. Using beautiful and informative images by free-lance photographer Jeff Bisbee, figures, range maps, and profiles of each of 104 taxa, this book is intended for anyone with an interest in this fascinating genus. Mike will provide the backstory behind the creation of this book and share his deep knowledge of how and why Arctostaphylos has become such a quintessential “rock star” of the California flora. Copies of the book will be available for sale. He, Tom Parker, and Jon Keeley have done recent treatments of Arctostaphylos for the Flora of North America and Jepson Manual (2nd Edition).
February 10, Wednesday. “North Coast Chapter Rare Plant Projects and Volunteer Needs” with David Imper and Greg O’Connell. 7:30 p.m. Dave Imper will explore the needs of the Red Mountain Two-flowered Pea Preserve established by North Coast CNPS members on the northern border of the Lassics Wilderness including the establishment of the conservation easement and the monitoring and habitat maintenance that will be required for the foreseeable future. Dave hopes to engage CNPS volunteers, perhaps as an annual chapter fundraiser and project to work together in this area of unique serpentine soils that supports the only known population of Lathyrus biflorus. Greg O’Connell will describe the goals of the Big Lagoon Bog restoration project as well as the CNPS Rare Plant Treasure Hunt Program. **Shooting star and Slinkpod (Fetid Adder’s Tongue) from our nursery will be for sale.**
February 27, Saturday. Dune Forest Exploration. (Revised itinerary) Two manzanitas and their hybrid, mosses, lichens, Menzies’ Wallflower, and very cute miners’ lettuces are all possible points of interest as we walk through dune forest and stretches of dramatic, open dunes from the Lanphere Dunes to Malel Dunes, where we will have shuttled cars. We will walk between 2 and 4 miles, some on open sand, some on forest trails. Bring lunch and water. Meet at 9:00 a.m. at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata) or arrange another place. Dress for being in the weather all day! Return late afternoon. For information call Carol 822-2015.
March 9, Wednesday. ” California’s Vast Habitats Seen through Wildflowers.” Larry Ulrich began his career in photography, and while traveling and working with his wife and photographic partner, have been making a living with a camera since 1972. Larry and Donna’s most recent books include Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest, and Beyond the Golden Gate: California’s North Coast from Companion Press, and Big Sur to Big Basin: California’s Dramatic Central Coast from Chronicle Books. They will present an overview of the many habitats in California followed by images of a variety of native plants through the seasons.
March 26, Saturday. 1:00-1:30 p.m. Native Plants in an Urban Garden in Arcata. See the native plants and the wildlife they harbor in the Arcata Community Center Native Plant and Wildlife Garden, a project of the North Coast Chapter of the California Native Plant Society. Naturalist, gardener, and author Pete Haggard will be there to help you see and to answer questions. Walk from the Community Center up the path left of Healthsport, or walk down from 7th Street. 839-0307. This garden visit is part of the Humboldt Permaculture Guild’s Seed and Plant Exchange.
March 27, Sunday. (Happy Easter!) Arcata City Trail Day Hike. The recently completed, northernmost section of the Humboldt Bay Trail is a paved trail from Arcata Skate Park on Sunset Ave to Samoa Blvd. Including the adjacent Shay Park, the 1.3 miles section passes three species of blackberries, at least three species of willows, four conifers, and (with a small detour) a population of the rare Howell’s Miner’s Lettuce (Montia howellii). We will document these and the common native and non-native plants we see along this unfamiliar path through familiar territory. Meet 9 a.m. at the Foster Ave. side of the new roundabout on Sunset Ave. near the skatepark. Park in the neighborhood nearby. We might do a shuttle to make the walk one way. We might add on Potawot Village or Arcata Marsh. Be prepared for weather and walking; bring your lunch and water. It helps to tell Carol you are coming (707-822-2015).
April 2, Saturday. Burnt Ranch and Grays Falls Day Trip. It’s fawn lily time at Burnt Ranch Campground! Out east along Highway 299 we also should find other spring blooms like Indian Warrior and Checker Lily. We’ll look for the minute, rare Howell’s Montia in campsite #16. Then we’ll then explore the varied habitats at Grays Falls Picnic Area, including the short trail down to the falls. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata), at 9:15 a.m. at the museum parking lot in Willow Creek, or about 10:00 at Burnt Ranch Campground. Dress for the weather; bring lunch and water and clippers. (If the Himalaya blackberry is still bad, we can spend a few minutes reducing it.) Return late afternoon. It helps to know you are coming: Carol 822-2015. Rare Plant Treasure Hunt for Montia howellii. There are several occurrences of this tiny miners lettuce-like plant in the Burnt Ranch area. We’ll see if we can locate these populations while exploring the general area.
April 8, Friday. Wildflower Art at the Upstairs Gallery in Umpqua Bank, 1063 G St., Arcata. Wildflowers will be presented in diverse media and styles by more than 15 artists during April. The opening, during Arts Arcata, April 8, 6-9 p.m., will feature live music and wine. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the CNPS Transportation Fund to take school classes to the Wildflower Show. 498-5228.
April 9, Saturday. Plant Walk and Broom Pull on the Salmon River. Springtime plant appreciation followed by removal of one of the only remaining Scotch broom populations on the Salmon river. Meet at the Panamnik Building in Orleans at 10 a.m. Contact Tanya Chapple for details: . Co-sponsored by Mid-Klamath Watershed Council. April 13, Wednesday. “Continued Adventures Hiking and Botanizing in the Austrian and Italian Alps.” Kjirsten Wayman, a local chemistry professor and aspiring botanist, spent the last year living in Austria and northern Italy. She hiked mountains and meadows of this region in the European Alps to explore the diversity of flora that lives there. The Alps are home to many plants and wildflowers, both familiar and unfamiliar to the California botanist. The diverse and abundant alpine flora found there is complimented by impressive and majestic landscapes that dominate these mountains. This photographic botanical exploration will highlight a selection of the interesting flora and spectacular landscapes of the Austrian and Italian Alps with only the enthusiasm a California botanist could share! April 16-24, Saturday through Sunday. Native Plant Week.
April 16, Saturday, 12:30-3:30 p.m. Native Plants in Yards and Forest. Join Carol Ralph, Pete Haggard, and Anna Bernard for a walk from the Community Center to Arcata Community Forest and back to see native plants in private landscapes and in a redwood forest. Besides identification, questions like “What IS a native plant?” “Why plant natives in your yard?” “How do you mimic in a yard a wild habitat?” will be considered. Hopefully, trillium will be blooming in the forest. The walk is about 3 miles on sidewalks and good paths, with about 250 ft. elevation gain. Call 826-7050 to register for this free trip sponsored by California Native Plant Society at Godwit Days, or register for Godwit Days at www.godwitdays.org
April 17, Sunday. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Street-side Native Plant Garden Visit . See a one-year-old and a recently planted “street-side” native garden at the corner of Alliance and Spear in Arcata. Learn with Anna Bernard how native plants are low maintenance, drought tolerant, and add beauty and variety to a city corner. 826-7247.
April 19, Tuesday. 4:00-5:00 p.m. Native Plants in an Urban Garden in Arcata. See the native plants and the wildlife they harbor in the Arcata Community Center Native Plant & Wildlife Garden, a project of the North Coast Chapter of CNPS. Naturalist, gardener, and author Pete Haggard will be there to help you see and to answer questions. Walk from the Community Center up the path left of Healthsport, or walk down from 7th Street. 839-0307.
[April 22-23, Friday-Saturday. Ruby Van Deventer Wildflower Show. At the Del Norte County Fairgrounds, 421 Highway 101 North, Crescent City. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. For information call Maureen 487-0821. ]
April 23, Saturday. 10 a.m.-12 noon. Ferns by the Dunes, a plant walk. Ferns are distinctive and popular for the exotic texture they add to vegetation. Carol Ralph will introduce eight species of our common ferns in the easy setting at the riparian edge of the dunes and talk about some of the amazing aspects of fern life. Bring a hand lens if you have one. Meet at 10 a.m. at Pacific Union School, 3001 Janes Road, Arcata, and carpool to the Lanphere Dunes Unit of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife refuge. Co-sponsored by Friends of the Dunes. Please reserve your space by calling 707-444-1397.
April 23, Saturday. 2-4 p.m. Plants along the Bay: Hikshari Trail Plant Walk. Join us on the Hikshari Trail to learn about native and non-native plants. Hopefully some, like Blue-eyed Grass and the rare Humboldt Bay Owl’s-clover, will be in bloom along this 3/4-mile, level section of the trail. Experienced interpreter and gardener, and Hikshari Volunteer Trail Steward Coordinator, Wanda Naylor will point out what is native and what is not and why we care. Meet at the Elk River Slough parking area at the end of Hilfiker St., Eureka. Rain or shine. Children welcome when accompanied by adults. For more information call 707-502-5793.
[April 23, Saturday. Donna Wildearth talks at Miller Farms Nursery, McKinleyville]
April 24. Sunday. 1-3 p.m. Wildflowers in a Hydesville Forest. A dappled, deciduous forest along a sparkling stream, sprinkled with springtime gems like trillium, fairybells, bleeding heart, and Solomon’s plume, is only one treat on show by hosts Bill and Linda Shapeero in Hydesville. A shady, Grand Fir forest and sunny, pasture edges offer other habitats alive with flowers and fresh, green herbaceous plants and shrubs, almost all native. Paths are gentle but slightly rough. From 101 at the south end of Fortuna take the Highway 36 exit, go about 3 miles up to Hydesville, turn left at the church onto Rohnerville Rd., go about 1 mile, turn right onto Puddin Ln at the bottom of a gulch, follow signs and balloons to Shapeero. The ground may be damp. For information: 768-3287 or 822-2015
[April 24, Sunday. Sierra Club Hike Little Bald Hills]
April 29-30-May 1, Friday through Sunday. SPRING WILDFLOWER SHOW and NATIVE PLANT SALE at the Manila Community Center, 1611 Peninsula Dr., Manila. An exciting, annual gathering of wildflowers (both native and non-native) and people who love them. The SHOW is open Friday 1-5 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Find details on the web site. If you want to help, call Carol 822-2015 The NATIVE PLANT SALE is open Saturday and Sunday only, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.. Hundreds of volunteer- and nursery-grown native plants, chosen by our experienced gardeners to be good additions to local yards. They will be on hand to help you choose and answer your questions. Plant sales help fund our chapter! Volunteer help is always needed, to help grow plants and to help at the sale in many capacities. Anna 826-7247.
April 30, Saturday. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Dune wildflower walk at the Manila Community Center,part of the Spring Wildflower Show, led by a Friends of the Dunes docent. May 1, Sunday. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Dune wildflower walk at the Manila Community Center,part of the Spring Wildflower Show, led by a Friends of the Dunes docent. May 7, Saturday. Rare Plant Treasure Hunt for Seaside Bittercress (Cardamine angulata) in the redwood forests of Redwood National and State Parks. Cardamine angulata was added to the inventory of rare plants just a few years ago. We’ll visit a few places between Orick and Crescent City to see if we can locate historical occurrences and possibly find new populations. For details contact Greg O’Connell at or 599-4887.
May 11, Wednesday. 7:30 p.m.” Plant Exploring in the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.” Explorer, writer, and educator Michael Kauffmann will lead us on a journey into the Transverse Ranges of southern California to explore the world of what John Muir called the steepest mountains in which he ever hiked. Michael’s explorations began because of a Bigcone Douglas-fir mapping and monitoring project he is leading in conjunction with California Native Plant Society, but these studies have lead him to many more discoveries–from one of the world’s largest oaks to the most isolated grove of Sierra junipers in the world. Michael will take us on a photographic journey from the mountain tops to the river canyons across one of the nation’s newest national monuments.
May 14, Saturday. Patrick’s Point State Park Ivy Pull and Hike. CNPS and Sierra Club will join the State Park’s monthly restoration work day to rescue a little portion of this precious State Park from the smothering English Ivy. We’ll work 9 a.m.-12 noon, then eat our picnic lunches, then enjoy some hiking, flowers, Sitka Spruce forest, and spectacular views along one of the great trails. Maybe we’ll find mist maidens and twayblade. Come for all or part. Meet at 8:30 at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata) or at 9 a.m. at the park. Check at the entrance station for the day’s location. Admission free for volunteers. Dress for the weather; bring water, lunch, and (optional) work gloves and clippers. Questions about ivy pulling: . Questions about the hike: Carol 822-2015,
May 14, Saturday. CANCELLED. Wildflower Walk in the Orleans area. Exact destination to be decided. Meet at the Panamnik Building in Orleans at 10 a.m. Contact Tanya Chapple for details: . Co-sponsored by Mid-Klamath Watershed Council.
May 15, Sunday. Schatz DemonstrationTree Farm Field Trip. This facility of Humboldt State University in Maple Creek offers a chance to explore in the low elevation mountains between the coast and Six Rivers National Forest. We will walk with the resident manager’s wife along a 3-mile, out-and-back route where she has seen 40 species of flowers blooming (not all native). She will point out the forest management projects in progress. We will be in forest shade, woodland dapple, and meadow sun, including a creek. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata) or arrange another place. Dress for the weather; wear sturdy walking shoes; bring lunch and water. Return late afternoon. It helps to know you are coming: Carol 822-2015.
June 4, Saturday. Moss Day in Arcata. This is your chance to learn to distinguish the components of the green, mossy blur in a redwood forest. Join experienced bryologist and teacher, and founding member of the CNPS Bryophyte Chapter, Paul Wilson from California State University Northridge, for a day in the redwood forest learning common mosses and maybe some uncommon too. We will walk about 2 miles in the Arcata Community Forest and probably sort our finds while we have lunch at a picnic table in Redwood Park. Meet at 9:00 a.m. in the parking lot in the park at the top of 14th St., Arcata Bring water, lunch, hand lens, and paper packets or envelopes. We will finish by 3 p.m. Contact: . June 4, Saturday. Jacoby Creek Forest Redwood Ecology Hike. Jacoby Creek Forest is normally closed to the public. This is a chance to visit the area and learn about its trees, plants, and wildlife with City forester Michael McDowall. Hikers should bring water, wear sturdy hiking shoes, be kprepared for a moderate hike with two stream crossings. Your feet will get wet! Meet at 11 a.m. in the parking lot behind City hall of 7th St. to carpool to the trailhead. Return at 3 p.m. Walk is limited to 30 people. To add your name to the list, or get more information call 707-822-8184 or email .
June 11, Saturday. Rare Plant Treasure Hunt: Pink-margined Monkeyflower (Erythranthe trinitiensis). Traveling beyond Horse Mountain (where we saw this monkeyflower last year) on Forest Highway 1 in Six Rivers National Forest we will check out known sites of this diminuitive monkeyflower at Grouse Mountain, White Rock Spring, and Cold Spring, to gain more habitat data and, hopefully, find plants on native, non-roaded substrate. At Cold Spring we will also look for the Mountain Lady’s-slipper (Cypripedium montanum), which was seen there 20 years ago and possibly last year. Meet at 9:00 a.m. at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata). Be prepared with sturdy shoes or boots for short hikes off gravel roads. Bring lunch, water, hats, sunscreen, and plant detectors. Tell John what kind of vehicle you can bring, if any. John McRae at 707-441-3513. or . In partnership with Six Rivers National Forest.
June 11, Saturday. Plant Walk and Weeding in the Trinity Alps at High Point Trailhead. Help remove invasive Dyer’s woad (Isatis tinctoria) from a wilderness trailhead and join ius for a ridge top walk to Rock Lake. Meet at the Panamnik Building in Orleans at 9 a.m. Contact Tanya Chapple for details, . Co-sponsored by Mid-Klamath Watershed Council.
June 17-19, Friday p.m.-Sunday. Grizzly Peak and Mount Ashland overnight and day hikes. Day hikes on these somewhat high elevation mountains (5,000-6,500 ft.) will find wildflowers whether the season is early or late. The basic plan is to drive to Ashland Friday afternoon, set up camp (site to be determined), hike Grizzly Peak Saturday, have a campfire meal that night, hike Grouse Gap (Mount Ashland) Sunday morning, and drive home that afternoon. Overnighting in a motel in Ashland would work too. If you are interested, tell Carol right now, to be notified as plans develop. , 822-2015
June 25. Rare Plant Treasure Hunt for salt marsh species in the Dead Mouse Marsh of Ryan Slough. Dead Mouse Marsh was created decades ago by breaching a dyke and allowing brackish water to tidally inundate this area. A salt marsh community has formed there, providing habitat for several rare species. We hope to locate populations of Pt. Reyes Bird’s-beak (Chloropyron maritimum ssp. palustre), Western Sand-spurrey (Spergularia canadensis var. occidentalis), and Lyngbye’s Sedge (Carex lyngbyei). We may also be able to detect post-bloom Humboldt Bay Owl’s Clover (Castilleja ambigua var. humboldtiensis). For details contact Greg O’Connell at or 599-4887.
July 9, Saturday. Plant Walk and Weeding in the Marble Mountains at Norcross Trailhead. Help remove invasive plants from a wilderness trailhead and join us for a walk up Elk Creek. Meet at the Panamnik Building in Orleans at 9 a.m. This destination might change. Contact Tanya Chapple for details, . Co-sponsored by Mid-Klamath Watershed Council. Note: Camping at a Forest Service campground along the Salmon River after this event would be convenient for the Sunday hike out of Forks of Salmon.
July 10, Sunday. Champion Incense Cedar Hike, Salmon River Restoration Council will lead a hike about 4 miles round trip up Devil’s Canyon, a tributary of the Little North Fork Salmon River, to re-measure the California and national champion Incense Cedar and enjoy the summer wildflowers. Bring warm clothes, rain gear, lots of water, lunch, sunscreen, and bug repellant. Meet at 9 a.m. at the Forks of Salmon Community Park, or at 9:30 a.m. 10.5 miles upriver at the intersection of Sawyers Bar Rd. and Little North Fork Rd. (FS40N51). For information contact Mel at 530-462-4665 or .
July 23, Saturday. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Orchids in the Dunes. Orchids are a very diverse group, including quite dainty species. Join Carol Ralph to learn about five species of orchid that live in the Lanphere Dunes. Four might be blooming. Walk 1-2 miles, partly on soft sand. Meet at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata) to carpool to the protected site. Co-sponsored by CNPS and Friends of the Dunes. Call 444-1397 to RSVP.
July 30, Saturday. Rare Plant Treasure Hunt for Wolf’s Evening Primrose (Oenothera wolfii) in roadside locations around Humboldt Bay and Trinidad. Oenothera wolfii struggles to survive due to road maintenance activities and hybridization with a similar non-native species. We’ll attempt to map locations of Oenothera wolfii and its hybrids. For details contact Greg O’Connell at or 599-4887.
August 1, Monday. 12:30 p.m. Arcata Community Center Native Plant and Wildlife Garden tour. Do you want to see native plants growing and flowering in a local garden for free? Watch pollinators feeding at flowers and hundreds of native bees nesting in the ground? Find drought-and gopher-tolerant plants that have been growing in this garden since 1999? It is all happening now at the ACCNPWG located immediately west of HealthSPORT in Arcata. You can visit the garden any time, or, if you would like to get a more in-depth look, meet Pete Haggard Monday, Aug. 1, at 12:30 p.m. in front of the Arcata Community Center (312 Community Park Way) for a tour of the garden. For more information on the garden, go to http://northcoastcnps.org (under the menu, click on Arcata Community Center Native Plant and Wildlife Garden. To contact Pete Haggard, or call (707)839-0307 .
August 5-7, Saturday-Sunday. Del Norte Weekend. From coastal bluffs and wetlands to serpentine ridges, botanical wonders are in every direction in Del Norte County. On this weekend, from headquarters in Rock Creek Ranch, a group-camping facility run by the Smith River Alliance on the South Fork Smith River, some people will head out rare plant treasure hunting, while other people head for trail hikes. Rare plant hunters will explore the Gasquet region (and possibly Lake Earl area) looking for several late-blooming taxa with historical records from the areas, including Little-leaf Huckleberry (Vaccinium scoparium), Great Burnett (Sanguisorba officinalis), and several sedge species (Carex spp.) For rare plant details contact Greg at or 599-4887. For camping and hiking contact Carol at 822-2015 or . Come for all or part. Please tell us now if you are thinking of coming.
September 14, Wednesday. 7:30-9:00 p.m. “Hazelnut Speaks of the Wiyot Past.” Adam Canter, a biologist with the Wiyot Tribe, will share a story of re-discovery. The unique hazelnut scrub vegetation type was recently documented on Table Bluff. Hazelnut does not often grow on the immediate coast; The Manual of California Vegetation notes that it occurs in isolated, disjunct populations in San Mateo, Marin, and southern Sonoma Counties. Recently the Wiyot Tribe documented hazelnut scrub in Humboldt County, extending its known range by ~200 miles into the North Coast. Adam will highlight Wiyot history in relation to hazelnut, research into herbarium records which have shed light on the possible past distribution of this vegetation type, and share other important food plants the Wiyot Tribe cultivated. Current ethnobotanical research efforts are helping us better understand how California’s indigenous population managed, tended, and helped contribute to the diversity of species we see today. In the absence of Wiyot land management, some of these habitats are struggling to survive against forest encroachment, invasive species, and development.
September 24, Saturday. Native Plant Sale at the chapter’s nursery, 2182 Old Arcata Rd., on Kokte Ranch of the Jacoby Creek Land Trust in Bayside. Members pre-sale 9:00-10:00 a.m.; public 10 a.m.-3 p.m. 826-0259. Thousands of plants of about 130 species. Create your California landscape with native trees, shrubs, and grass for structure and bulbs, perennials, and annuals for color and cover. Experienced gardeners will help you choose.
September 25, Sunday. Cold Spring Day Hike. Only one hour away from Arcata, in Six Rivers National Forest along Forest Highway 1 (Titlow Hill Rd off 299) we will be breathing mountain air and gazing at mountain vistas. The Cold Spring area offers diverse habitats–White Fir forest, oak woodland, azalea thicket, open meadow, rocky outcrop, and sunny seep. Both Jeffrey and Ponderosa Pines grow there, and at least five species of mycoheterotrophs (a.k.a. saprophytes). Cattle also graze there. We will assess their impact. We will walk two to three miles on cow paths and cross country. Meet at 9 a.m. at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata). Dress for the weather (at 4,800 ft elevation); bring lunch and water. Return late afternoon. It helps to know you are coming: Carol 822-2015.
October 12, Wednesday, 7:30-9:00 p.m. “The Natural History, Botanical Splendor, and Conservation of Mendocino Pygmy Cypress Woodland: A Rare Geobotanical Phenomenon.” Gordon Leppig, with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, will take us to one of the rarest and most threatened natural communities in California. The Mendocino Pygmy Cypress Woodlands are endemic to a narrow coastal strip in Mendocino County. Shaped by geological uplift of the land, strange soil conditions and hydrology have resulted in stunted trees, habitats for many rare and endemic plants, and a sensitive natural community found nowhere else. Despite its rarity, fascinating natural history, and high conservation value, Pygmy Cypress Woodlands face numerous threats. CNPS, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and others, are working to better understand, describe, and map this natural community as a means to further its conservation. Gordon will focus his presentation on the underlying natural history, botanical splendor, and efforts to better understand and conserve this unique natural community.
October 23, Sunday. Crothers Cove Day Hike. Why hike this short trail in Prairie Creek State Park? Because we never have! And there’s a small lagoon at the bottom. Even small wetlands can hold botanical treasure, and short trails can pass interesting plants. This trail goes over the ridge from the road to the beach, less than 2 miles round trip. Meet at 9 a.m. at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata). Dress for the weather, including the beach; bring lunch and water. Return late afternoon. It helps to know you are coming: Carol 822-2015.
November 5, Saturday. Groves Prairie Field Trip. Unusual in our rugged mountains, Groves Prairie is a fairly level meadow, at 4,000 ft elevation, surrounded by Douglas-fir forest, some of it old growth. We last visited it 7 years ago, before it served as a fire camp (which hopefully will not be necessary in 2016). Will the Grape Fern be in the meadow, the Kneeling Angelica in the stream, the two species of yampah in the wet meadow, the Trillium-leaved Sorrel by the little bridge? Will the four species of gooseberries and currants have fruits? We will walk one to two miles in and around the meadow to answer these questions, some of it on a trail. Groves Prairie is two hours away in Six Rivers National Forest, up Forest Service roads north out of Willow Creek. Meet at 9:00 a.m. at Pacific Union School (3001 Janes Rd., Arcata). Dress for the weather (Remember, it is higher elevation) and off-trail walking; bring lunch and water. Return late afternoon. It helps to know you are coming: Carol 822-2015.
November 9, Wednesday, 7:30-9:00 p.m. “Fabulous Plants and Stories from the East Bay.” Heath Bartosh, Rare Plant Committee Chair for the East Bay Chapter CNPS and a Research Associate at the University and Jepson Herbaria will present a photographic tour through some of the East Bay’s richest botanical hot spots. He will reflect on colorful botanical personalities of the past and present, identify public lands and trails to enjoy the diversity of plant life, and discuss current conservation issues that put our botanical treasures of the East Bay at risk. Alameda and Contra Costa counties are at a point of botanical convergence due to geographic regions such as the San Francisco Bay, the North and South Coast Ranges, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and the San Joaquin Valley meeting here. This unique geology provides conditions for diversity of native plants and Heath’s photographs will take us on a journey to these exceptional areas.
December 14, 7:30 p.m. Evening program. Join us for an informal evening sharing photos, artifacts, readings, or food relating to native plants and their habitats.
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