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THE JEPSON GLOBE a Newsletter from the Friends of the Jepson Herbarium

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THE JEPSON GLOBE a Newsletter from the Friends of the Jepson Herbarium THE JEPSON GLOBE A Newsletter from the Friends of The Jepson Herbarium VOLUME 16 NUMBER 2 SEPTEMBER 2005 Curator’s Column Jepson Manual Update: Attempting by Bruce G. Baldwin to Quantify the Changes Expected for TJM2 Last year, two new Ph.D. by Thomas J. Rosatti, Scientific Editor students joined my lab. Below, they introduce themselves and share their In previous updates, various research plans. I was fortunate to recruit of the taxonomic and nomenclatural such stellar applicants, who both have changes that have been proposed since strong interests in the California flora The Jepson Manual (TJM) and that and passionate commitments to field have been adopted by our authors for botany. Welcome, Abby and Mike! TJM2 have been summarized. Clearly, plant scientists have been very busy Michael Park Some thoughts on the rediscovery using traditional as well as modern I am primarily interested in of Eriogonum truncatum techniques to determine or re-evaluate the evolution of plants and associated by Michael Park evolutionary relationships among plants geological processes in California, and and to reflect this information in clas- am working on the genus Eryngium The field season is winding sifying and naming them. Meanwhile, (Apiaceae), which is found mainly down, and the Mount Diablo Buck- continued exploration by field botanists in vernal pools. The evolution of wheat is currently present only as seed has revealed the presence in California Eryngium may be linked to that of awaiting the winter and spring rains. Yet, the work continues. The Mount of both native and naturalized plants vernals pools and I plan to study previously unknown from the state, as the historical development of both. Diablo Buckwheat Working Group has been established through the combined well as plants previously unknown to I have also begun a taxonomic revision science (newly described and named of California eryngia. In addition to efforts of the California State Parks, taxa). The dramatic numbers and kinds my dissertation research on Eryngium, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jepson of changes resulting from all this re- I have also been working extensively Herbarium, and UC Botanical Garden. search underscores the importance and on the flora of the Mount Diablo area, The goals of the group are propagation urgency of producing a second edition and I plan to publish a flora that extends and habitat conservation. Seed has been of The Jepson Manual (TJM2), and at the fine work by Ertter and Bowerman collected, but habitat stability is yet to the same time is relevant to the issue of — The Flowering Plants and Ferns of be fully assessed. The buckwheat is Mount Diablo, California - eastward to found on slopes that apparently are field portability of the book (i.e., will it Morgan Territory. Last but not least, prone to landslides. During the next be too heavy to carry?). I am involved in a study with Bruce year, we hope to gain a fuller under- In this article, an attempt will Baldwin and others to characterize standing of the reproductive ecology be made to quantify these as well as the evolution of mating systems (the and conditions that contributed to its other expected changes, in part for the strategy of cross- and self-fertilization) persistence. purpose of estimating the size of TJM2. and flower size inCollinsia and Tonella The finding of Eriogonum The estimates are based on information (Scrophulariaceae in The Jepson Man- that has been submitted to the Index ual). Above: Michael Park with Eriogonum truncatum. to California Plant Names (ICPN), Continued on page 2. Continued on page 2. Continued on page 3. Curator’s Column, continued from page 1. Eriogonum, continued from page 1. Abigail Moore truncatum on Mount Diablo marked a plants than a survey that focuses on his- Grindelia is a genus of between high point for the field season this year. torical locations for a handful of plants. 30 and 80 species in the Asteraceae Though I gained tremendous personal I concur. In my experience, an open (sunflower family) that has been a ma- satisfaction from the discovery itself, mind with a flexible search image will jor problem for plant taxonomists, who the public response to it was even yield far more discoveries or surprises have struggled with confusing patterns more rewarding. In addition, I feel (and enjoyment!) than a strategy em- of variation in the group. It has a dis- especially fortunate that the Jepson ploying a fixed or narrow search image. junct distribution, with some species Herbarium (by way of the Lawrence Try it the next time you are botanizing. native to western North America and Heckard Endowment) and the East Keeping a species account for the day Mexico and others native to southern Bay Chapter of the California Native is a good way to slow oneself and train South America. All of the species have Plant Society have funded my botan- the mind to be flexible and open. ical explorations. Without guidance, The study of plants truly is an training, and resources, the study that endeavor to educate one-self and others. led to the wonderful discovery surely I feel thrilled that I have had the oppor- would have concluded prematurely (as tunity to contribute to the understanding an undergraduate senior thesis) with a of the natural world, and more specifi- less-than- thorough flora and no Mount cally Mount Diablo, the eastern back- Diablo Buckwheat. yard of the San Francisco Bay region. While the rediscovery of the Recently, I had questioned whether my Mount Diablo Buckwheat is a “once in work on the mountain (or more gener- a lifetime” find for me, events such as ally as a botanist) would mean much the rediscovery of “presumed extinct” to anyone outside of academic circles. species occur on a somewhat regular But that all changed on May 10, when basis. Just prior to this discovery, I stumbled upon the now infamous pink Ivory-Billed Woodpecker and Catalina flowers. The rediscovery of the Mount Grass (Dissanthelium californicum) Diablo Buckwheat represents to me the were found. But none of these three opportunity to make a difference, of Above: Abigail Moore keying in the field species was located as the result of a getting a second chance to do the right heads of yellow flowers and many series narrow and focused search. thing, doing what you believe in, and of green phyllaries. Most of the species This raises the question of most importantly discovering oneself. also have a gummy substance on the whether surveys should be organized to I believe I have found my calling. heads that gives the genus the common relocate rare or missing species as the name of gumweed. primary or secondary objective. The I am currently doing field work to be- Mount Diablo Buckwheat was found come familiar with the different species, during the course of a continuing study the habitats in which they grow, and in which the primary goal is to locate how much morphological variation and thoroughly document the plant re- typically occurs within a population. sources of southeastern Mount Diablo This fall and winter, I will be doing and all of Morgan Territory in public lab work to attempt to reconstruct the land. The secondary objective is to seek evolutionary relationships of the species out plants that are rare or had not been of Grindelia using gene-sequence data sighted within the boundaries in recent and morphology. Once the relation- time. Eriogonum truncatum, Blephar- ships of the species are known, many izonia plumosa, and others were specif- other questions can be examined, such ically sought out. Previous attempts to as how specialization for different soil locate the buckwheat involved surveys types evolved and how many times the with primary goals of finding the plant genus dispersed between North America and had ended in failure. and South America. I also would like to Barbara Ertter has stated to perform common garden experiments to me that an intensive, multi-year survey discover how much of the variation in with the goal of producing a robust and morphology is genetic and how much recent flora has a higher likelihood of is due to the environments in which the discovering new, rare, or endangered plants grow. 2 Jepson Manual Update, continued from page 1. through the Jepson Online Interchange. all recognized at infraspecific rank). previously unknown from CA): 11 (16) Additional changes are expected as Accordingly, for example: Asplenium treatments for TJM2 are submitted over septentrionale, including no infraspe- C. first reported for CA, as naturalized, the coming months. cific taxa, is counted as one species since TJM (not new to science, but and one terminal taxon recognized at previously either not known to occur in TERMINAL TAXA specific rank;Pinus contorta, including CA, or known to occur in CA — e.g., Unfortunately, the Floristic subsp. bolanderi, subsp. contorta, and as a waif or agricultural weed — but Summary (numbers of taxa in various subsp. murrayana, is counted as one not known to be naturalized in CA) : floristic categories) given in Appendix species, no terminal taxa recognized at 111 (227) I of TJM is inaccurate, in part because specific rank, and three terminal taxa the process of generating these num- recognized at infraspecific rank. Thus, D. treated as a minor variant in TJM but bers can be complicated, and in part the number of “species” in Table 1 is as a recognized taxon (species, subsp., because the numbers involved some- greater than the number of “terminal or. var.) since TJM: 8 (284) (of about 298 times are misunderstood. According taxa recognized at species rank”: of minor variants included in TJM) to Dick Moe, Database Administrator the 6057 species treated in TJM, 5001 and Webmaster for the Jepson Flora qualified as “terminal taxa recognized E.
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