Utah's Mojave Desert Flora
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Sego Lily March 2010 33 (2) March 2010 (volume 33 number 2) Utah’s Mojave Desert Flora By Walter Fertig Above: Joshua trees, chollas, creo- snow. Lack of moisture for much sote bush, bur-sage, and other Mo- of the year helps explain the jave Desert shrubs on the flanks of It is no accident that the ―deserted‖ appearance of deserts, the Beaver Dam Mountains. Photo words ―desert‖ and ―deserted‖ share which, with few exceptions, have a by Douglas N. Reynolds. the same origin. Both refer to areas very sparse covering of plants. that seem desolate and empty. High rates of evaporation and cover. High temperatures alone, Ecologists define deserts more pre- transpiration are facilitated by however, do not define deserts, as cisely to include those lands where high temperatures, and not sur- some of the driest areas on Earth are annual rates of evaporation and prisingly most deserts fall within the cold polar deserts of the high transpiration of water by plants ex- latitudes of high solar radiation, arctic and dry valleys of Antarctica. ceeds precipitation from rain and low humidity, and minimal cloud For our purposes, [continued pg 6] Copyright 2010 Utah Native Plant Society. All Rights Reserved. Utah Native Plant Society Education: Ty Harrison Sego Lily Editor: Walter Fertig Horticulture: Maggie Wolf ([email protected]). The deadline for Invasive Weeds: Susan Fitts the May 2010 Sego Lily is 15 April Rare Plants: Walter Fertig 2010. Scholarship: Bill Gray Copyright 2010 Utah Native Plant So- Chapters and Chapter Presidents ciety. All Rights Reserved Cache: Amy Croft and Michael Piep Cedar City: Marguerite Smith The Sego Lily is a publication of the Officers Escalante: Harriet Priska Utah Native Plant Society, a 501(c)(3) President: Walter Fertig (Kane Co) Fremont: Lisa White not-for-profit organization dedicated Vice President: Kipp Lee (Salt Lake Co) Manzanita: Walter Fertig to conserving and promoting steward- Treasurer: Charlene Homan (Salt Lake Mountain: Mindy Wheeler ship of our native plants. Use of con- Co) Price: Mike Hubbard tent material is encouraged but re- Secretary: Mindy Wheeler (Summit Salt Lake: Marni Ambrose quires permission (except where ex- Co) Southwestern/Bearclaw poppy: Mar- empted by statute) and must be cor- Board Co-Chairs: Bill King (Salt Lake garet Malm rectly credited and cited. Articles, Co) and Dave Wallace (Cache Co) Utah Valley: Celeste Kennard photographs and illustrations submit- ted to us remain the property of the UNPS Board: Loreen Allphin (Utah Website: For late-breaking news, the submitting individuals or organiza- Co), Robert Fitts (Utah Co), Susan Fitts UNPS store, the Sego Lily archives, tions. Submit permission requests to (Utah Co), Ty Harrison (Salt Lake Co), Chapter events, links to other websites [email protected]. We encourage read- Celeste Kennard (Utah Co), Margaret (including sources of native plants and ers to submit articles for potential Malm (Washington Co), Larry Meyer the digital Utah Rare Plant Field publication. By submitting an article, (Salt Lake Co), Therese Meyer (Salt Guide), and more, go to unps.org. an implicit license is granted to print Lake Co), Leila Shultz (Cache Co), Many thanks to Xmission for the article in the newsletter or other Maggie Wolf (Salt Lake Co). sponsoring our website. UNPS publications for reprint without For more information on UNPS: permission (in print and electronic Committees Contact Bill King (582-0432) or Susan media). When submitting an article, Communications: Larry Meyer Fitts (801-756-6177), or write to please indicate whether it has been Conservation: Bill King and Tony UNPS, PO Box 520041, Salt Lake City, previously published or submitted for Frates UT, 84152-0041 or email consideration to other publications. [email protected] ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ spreading the word about native Chapter News Sego Lily plants. With new President Lisa March 2010 White, the chapter has planned Vol. 33, No. 2 many activities over the next few months to get the community in- In this issue: volved and excited about natives. For any of you Facebookers, be sure Utah’s Mojave Desert Flora . 1,6 to fan our new page (search for Fre- Chapter News . 2 mont Native Plant Society), and Bulletin Board . 3 keep checking back there or on the Annual Rare Plant Meeting UNPS website for upcoming events. Phragmites Workshop The chapter has once again done Wildland Shrub Symposium a calendar as a fund-raiser, and we Purge Your Spurge now have a PayPal account set up so UNPS Life Member Update folks can pay for them online. For Utah Botanica . 4 more information (or to purchase a Astragalus equisolensis back on calendar!) contact Janet Nielson at BLM Sensitive list [email protected]. As another White Dome Update way to raise funds, chapter members Zion National Park Pulls into are again offering spring yard clean- The Lead on Plant Species up services to anyone who would Richness Escalante (Garfield County): like us to come get their landscapes What’s in a Name? Hilaria . 5 On Tuesday, April 13, Walter Fer- in tip-top shape. Penstemon grahamii and Pen- tig will speak about the Deer Creek Aside from weeding and main- stemon scariosus var. albi- bio-blitz held near Boulder in taining the native plant gardens the fluvis on Oil Shale . 10 2007-2008. chapter has planted over the past Department of Corrections: couple of years, members will be Update on Erigeron glabellus . 11 Fremont (Richfield area): The going on hikes, having campouts, Fremont Chapter is going strong participating in fairs and festivals, 2 Sego Lily March 2010 33 (2) and having wonderful food at pot- Bulletin Board luck meetings. The chapter is also trying to get local schools involved Utah Annual Rare Plant Task Force Meeting, March 9-10, 2010: in many of the activities, and is Red Butte Garden and the Utah Native Plant Society are sponsoring this working with science teachers at all year’s state rare plant meeting. The main meeting is on Tuesday, March 9th levels to try and get natives into from 8:30 AM to 5 PM and will be held at the Fort Douglas Officer’s Club on their curriculum. - Lisa White the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City (this was the same site as our 2008 meeting). This meeting will include talks and posters on various Manzanita (Kane County): On topics related to rare plants and plant conservation biology in Utah and the Monday, March 8, Carolyn Shelton region. There is a registration fee of $15 for the Tuesday meeting which in- (a.k.a. Professor CZ Shelton, certi- cludes lunch and free parking. To register, see an updated agenda, find a fied botano-therapist) will dust off map to the meeting site, or sign up to give a presentation, see the Red Butte her lab coat for another entertaining Garden website (www.redbuttegarden. org/conservation/RPTF) or contact performance as she discusses Com- Rita (rita.dodge@ redbutte.utah.edu) or Kipp (Kipp_Lee@ comcast.net). panion Plantings. Regular Manza- On Wednesday, March 9th rare plant enthusiasts can participate in a nita meeting attendees may recall working group meeting on revising the 2009 UNPS rare plant list Professor Shelton’s previous one (published in the November 2009 issue of the Sego Lily and available on the woman, off Broadway show about UNPS website as a downloadable excel file). This meeting will be held at ―Sex in the Garden‖ a few years ago. Red Butte Garden and Arboretum, 300 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City from 9 In her new presentation, the Prof Am-12 PM. Rather than go through the entire list from A-Z, we plan to only will describe garden plants that discuss those species for which there is new information or which may need work well together to ward off insect a change in status. pests, attract pollinators, and look good at the same time. The meeting Phragmites Workshop, March 10: The US Fish and Wildlife Service, will be held in the Grand Staircase Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah State University, and Bear Lake Visitor Center at 7 PM. Watch are sponsoring a one-day workshop on the Common reed Our April meeting will be on (Phragmites australis) at the Bear River Bird Refuge, Brigham City, UT Tuesday, April 6 at 7 PM and feature from 10 AM to 3 PM. Dr. Karin Kettenring from USU will be on hand to retired Forest Service fire ecologist discuss new research on differentiating native vs non-native strains of Com- Roger Hoverman speaking on wild- mon reed, its spread, and possible control mechanisms. For more informa- land fire and prevention measures.– tion or to RSVP, contact [email protected]. W. Fertig 16th Wildland Shrub Symposium, May 18-20, Utah State Univer- Utah Valley: We are starting sity: Since 1983 the Shrub Research Consortium (a group of 27 different Plants and Preschoolers in April. institutions) has sponsored meetings of researchers and land managers in- On Thursday, April 8th at 10 AM we terested in shrubland ecology. This year’s theme is ―Threats to Shrubland will be hiking up the main trailhead Ecosystem Integrity: Linking Research and Management‖. The meeting will in Rock Canyon. If you are coming include invited keynote speakers, six concurrent technical sessions, a poster from Salt Lake, get off I-15 at Uni- session, and field trips. For information on submitting an abstract, registra- versity Parkway and follow it until tion, and accommodations, go to http://wss2010.usu.edu/. you are near BYU and turn east onto 2230N which becomes 2200N until Purge Your Spurge and Native Plant Sale, May 15, 10 Am-3 PM: you get to North Temple Dr On May 15 the Salt Lake County Weed Program, Bonneville CWMA, Salt (2300N), then follow this east to the Lake Conservation District, and Utah Native Plant Society invite you to the parking lots at the trailhead.