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PO Box 577, Gualala CA 95445 $5.00 per year, non-members Volume 99, Jan/Feb, 2000 CALYPSO Printed on Recycled Paper

NEWSLETTER OF THE DOROTHY KING YOUNG CHAPTER NATIVE SOCIETY

CALENDAR upon them. In fact, many lilies are rare. The California Native Plant Society's Inventory of Rare and Endangered Vascular of California lists Jan. 28, Friday – Wildflower slide show presented 101 taxa as warranting some level of protection. by San Smith following 6:00 PM potluck dinner at Eight taxa are listed or proposed for listing as Gualala Community Center. endangered or threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act and another eight are listed under the California Endangered Species Act, EDUCATION Fritillaries are a shy and delicate group of perennials, producing flowers with no consistency FOCUS ON RARITIES—Fragrant Fritillary whatsoever. Eighteen species have been recorded (Fritillaria liliacea) by Mike Wood (from the CNPS in California, all native. Some 100 species are Yerba Buena newsletter.) known from the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere. Fritillaries belong to the lily family (), Plants produce along with agaves, onions (Allium), goldenstar that (Boomeria), Brodiaea, Calochortus, blue dicks develop short (Dichelostemma), fawn lily (Erythronium), true lilies stems with (Lilium), Mullla, Scoliopus, false Solomon's seal alternate (or (Smilacina), Trillium, Triteleia, Yucca, and death whorled), sessile, camas (Zigadenus), among many others. linear to ovate Worldwide, the family includes 4,600 species in 300 leaves along genera. California supports 220 native species in their length. 33 genera, along with another 11 nonnative species Flowers are and six nonnative genera. typically bell- or cup-shaped and Like orchids, lilies tend to inspire awe when nod on the ends encountered in the wild. Their dramatic shapes, of pedicels. , frequently brightly colored flowers, and short Fritillaries are flowering period lend to our sense that we have closely related to indeed witnessed a rare treat when we happen the Old World

Ilustration reprinted from Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States volume I (Abrams 1940) genus Tulipa, the tulips. The name is derived from new one to your "life list." But if you should find this the Latin fritillus, meaning a dice box or jewel, be certain to provide us with an accurate checkerboard, alluding to the checkered markings description of its location and population size. frequently found on the petals.

Fragrant fritillary is a low-growing herb, whose OFFICERS 1999 single, erect, 15-inch stems bear two to 20 alternate, linear to ovate leaves one-and-a-half to five inches long. White flowers with greenish Chapter Officers stripes, about one-and-a-half inches across, President Lori Hubbart 882-1655 nodding, sometimes sweet smelling, appear Vice President We Need a Volunteer! between February and April. Fritillaria liliacea Recording Secretary Suzanne Hansen 785-9302 occurs in heavy soils on open hillsides near the Treasurer Greg Jirak 882-1655 coast in coastal prairie, coastal bluff scrub, and coastal scrub habitats. It has been recorded from Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, Marin, San Field Trip Policy: Generally, field trips are held rain Benito, Santa Clara, , San Mateo, or shine. No smoking or radios on trails. No pets Solano and Sonoma Counties. A healthy on field trips. Bring lunch and beverage. population persists in Marin County near Nicasio Transportation to and from field trip site is the Reservoir, but such small isolated occurrences are responsibility of the individual. always at risk of cataclysmic disturbances, whether human or natural. Historically, fragrant fritillary was Readers are invited to submit proposed recorded in San Francisco from Bernal Heights material for publication, including text and graphics. (1890), Potrero Hills (1895), and Twin Peaks Send to masthead address. For a lengthy text (1892). A reintroduction attempt on Bernal Heights submittal, please consider sending a word produced a flowering individual in 1997 but no processing file, prepared in just about any major viable population has been reestablished to date. program. Include it as a file attachment in e-mail to the Editor: [email protected] Fragrant fritillary currently has no formal state or federal status as a protected. species. It is on the STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS CNPS List 1B: 1-2-3, a code which indicates that it is rare, threatened, or endangered in California; rare but found in sufficient numbers and distributed BOOK SALES - Cecilia Moelter 785-3537 widely enough that the potential for extinction is low CAMPING - Clare Wheeler 895-3131 at this time; endangered in a portion of its range; CONSERVATION - Flo Van de Water 884-3239 and endemic to California. Under the California EDUCATION - OPEN Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), impacts to the ESCAPED EXOTICS - Joan Curry 937-1649 species would be considered a significant adverse HISTORIAN - Ramona Crooks 884-3585 effect on the environment and must be addressed HOSPITALITY - Bev Sloane 785-3184 in environmental documentation. JUBATA ERADICATION - OPEN LEGISLATION - Ray Van de Water 884-3239 Two of the challenges facing conservationists MAILING - Katy Horn 785-2747 are that fritillaries don't flower every year and their Win Sinclair 884-4257 blooming period can be exceedingly short. In PLANT COMMUNITIES - OPEN addition, the stems appear to be readily browsed by MEMBERSHIP - Bob Rutemoeller 884-4426 deer, rabbits, and cattle. The California NEWSLETTER - Jack O'Rourke 882-2614 Department of Fish and Game guidelines for PLANT SALE - OPEN evaluating impacts to rare plants require focused PLANT WATCH - Sue Lease 884-1400 botanical surveys during each season in which all POSTERS - Mary Hunter 785-1150 target species would be recognizable, but multi- PROGRAMS - Elaine Mahaffey 785-2279 year surveys are not typically performed. The PUBLICITY - Bob Perkins 882-2705 likelihood of finding a fritillary in any given year is, (510) 654-7539 at best, hit or miss. So, next year, start your flower MEMBER-AT-LARGE Pat Bauer 937-4052 searches a little early and see if you can't add a RARE PLANT COORDINATORS - 2 North - Teresa Sholars 961-1010 Some other great conservation news is that Central - Mary Rhyne 884-3043 President Clinton is now proposing to create by South - George Snyder 785-2244 executive order three new national monuments in Inland - Clare Wheeler 895-3131 the West. One of them would encompass thousands of federally owned islands, rocks and All phone numbers are area code 707 exposed reefs along California's coastline, and except where otherwise noted contiguous marine sanctuaries extending twelve miles out to sea. Also planned is the expansion by MEMBERSHIP nearly half of the existing Pinnacles National Monument, south of Hollister in San Benito County. Bob Rutemoeller reports the following: This will protect valuable watersheds and wildlife habitat from commercial exploitation. Fortunately New Members: these actions will not need Congressional approval Susan Zerwick & Daryl Scherkenbach—Sea Ranch which would probably not be forthcoming under Elizabeth Tallent ----Mendocino present political conditions. Rebecca Susan Matson ----Fort Bragg Bonniejean Morgan ---Point Arena Flo Van de Water Vicki Hodge & Tom McEneany Gualala LEGISLATION Total Members for DKY Chapter: 152 Both the U. S. Congress and the California State CONSERVATION Legislature adjourned for the year last Autumn and will not resume their sessions until after the first of Mendocino County has one of the largest acreage the year 2000. Thus there has been little or no of native oak woodlands in California, totaling some legislative action since our last report in October. It 374,000 acres. For comparison, Sonoma County seems timely to take a broad look at what has has 211,000 acres and Lake County has 119,000. happened this past year, including some very Some recent good news is that the county is finally encouraging progress toward environmental goals. taking steps to heed a state mandate to develop It has been a very long dry spell in recent years; specific policies aimed at protecting this valuable now, all of a sudden the outlook is much brighter. natural resource. Federal The Board of Supervisors is now forming a committee to pull together all of the available The bills setting the funding levels for federal information on the history and present state of the programs for Fiscal Year 2000 were enacted and remaining oak woodlands, and to develop plans became law during the final days of the and proposed regulations to conserve what we Congressional session. Last minute negotiations have. In other counties that have already on these bills between Congress and the commenced to deal with oak conservation, some Administration produced some substantial politically explosive situations have developed with increases in spending for environmental projects. agricultural interests, particularly in relation to wine vineyard conversions. In Mendocino County, even The Forest Legacy program provides funds for the though new vineyard plantings are continuing, there states to acquire, or purchase conservation are still no more than about 27,000 acres of wine easements on, private forest lands. Its budget was grapes county-wide. At the present stage of increased to $30 million for next year. development, this is still not a great problem with respect to the native oak woodlands. Because of The Land and Water Conservation Fund uses tax recent publicity, growers and wineries in Mendocino revenues from oil exploration drilling, etc. Although County have been sensitized to the problems it has been in existence for many years, during the encountered elsewhere, especially in Sonoma last six years the revenues were diverted for other County. For this reason, the new Mendocino purposes, leaving the program unfunded. Next committee is hoping that future similar problems year, there will be $40 million available for matching here can be minimized. grants to the states.

3 Federal land acquisition funding was greatly increased to over $400 million this year. These RETROSPECTIVES funds will be used mainly for enlarging National Parks and Forests. Also included is $15 million for Postscript to Australian Botanical Trip - My the North American Wetlands Conservation friend Will Ashburner who had taken us to his program. preserve where we searched for all the ground orchids wrote that they had a bush fire last week In a rare example of cooperation between and half of the preserve was destroyed. He wrote, conservative and liberal elements on the House "No plant or animal survived in the burnt zone and Resources Committee, the committee reported seeing all the charred corpses of mother possums favorably on H.R. 701, the Conservation and with babies huddled together was a little heart Reinvestment Act. It will now go before the full wrenching. The worst is that so much of the reserve House for a vote early next year. The House went, now it is more even aged. Also the obligate leadership will push for favorable action, after which seeders that we want to get rid of (for example the bill will go to the Senate for action. Coastal Tea Tree) have already got ripe seed pods so now they are spreading seed into the ash bed; State drat, more weeding to do. It will be exciting to see what comes back. The orchid list for the reserve is A year ago, control of both houses of the legislature 53, so hopefully we will be able to add a few more." and the governorship was returned to the And so the cycle in the Mediterranean climate Democratic Party. At the same time, with the return continues. of a prosperous economy, vast increases in tax Mary Sue Ittner revenues have developed. These two developments have produced a greatly different PLANT LIFE AND GARDENING NOTES and favorable climate for environmental conservation. Much more money is now available Wild Grasses—Part One of a Series by Elaine for improvement and expansion of parks and Mahaffey recreation facilities, and for acquisition of sensitive In our area, we live in a sea of grass, with private properties and wetlands. State agencies dozens of different species—and hardly anyone and conservation organizations are scrambling to can recognize a single kind. There's a good reason make use of these funds while they are available. for this: identifying grasses can be fiendishly We are already seeing the results of this on the difficult, in many cases requiring a microscope just North Coast, with several projects such as Glass to see what the books are talking about. But there Beach in Fort Bragg, Caspar Beach and the Albion are a few common species that anyone can learn to Headlands on the list for acquisition funding. More recognize at a glance. So if you'd like to learn a sites are in prospect. There will be two little bit about grasses (maybe on the order of conservation funding bond measures on the State "things I always wanted to know, but not very ballot set for March 2000, and if these are approved much"), I'll try to feature one type in each of the by the voters, there will be billions of dollars more next few Calypsos. available for such use. Then we will really be in good shape for a while. There are six unavoidable technical terms you need to learn to understand the structure of Addresses, telephone numbers of legislators: grasses. You should be able to understand what Senator Barbara Boxer Senator Dianne Feinstein I'm talking about by studying the drawings included 112 Hart Senate Office Bldg. 331 Hart Senate Office Bldg. with this article. There are always (well, nearly Washington DC 20510 Washington DC 20510 (202) 224-3553 (202) 224-3841 always) two sterile glumes enclosing one or more Representative Mike Thompson florets, which consist of a lemma and a palea 415 Cannon House Office Bldg. glumes florets Washington DC 20515 enclosing the seed. The and make (202) 225-3311 up the spikelet, the grass flower; there are usually Senator Wesley Chesbro Assembly Member many spikelets on each plant. Any part of the Virginia Strom-Martin Room 3070, State Capitol awn, a long thin bristle. Sacramento CA 95814 Room 3146, State Capitol spikelet may have an (916) 445-3375 Sacramento CA 95814 Let's start with Wild Oats, Avena barbata, Ray Van de Water introduced from Eurasia and closely related to 4 cultivated oats. It grows everywhere, and has a Gardening With Mary Sue simple structure big enough to see easily. Look for Recently I wrote about Cardamine califomica, formerly known as Dentaria californica, with a grass about three feet tall , with thin, dangling common names of Milkmaids, Toothwort, Lady's Smocks, Pepper-Root, and Rain Bells. I would like to share some of the experiences I have had growing them since then. Last year I started two pots of seeds, one collected from my own plants and one from plants growing at Bower Park in Gualala. Both germinated well and I transplanted the growing seedlings into individual 4-inch pots. Thinking I would probably put them in the ground later in the year I did not pay much attention to the medium I was using and potted them in a commercial potting mix. All of the plants grew well and most went on to flower the same growing season.

Some of the plants I planted out as planned. In one area that only gets summer water when Bob occasionally waters they went dormant as expected and now in mid December are shooting out again. Others I planted in an area that I did not realize our weekly sprinkler reached. These plants remained in leaf and were already blooming in early December.

The other container plants received water after it 2 spikelets about an inch long, with two needle-like stopped raining because I was hoping to grow them awns adding another inch on one end. If you pull long enough to produce seed. Eventually I dried these awns gently apart, you will see that each is them out and put them under my benches where 3 they got occasional water that dripped down from attached to a separate floret (sometimes there are the plants above. When it started raining I began to three florets). These will probably break loose from water them again. I was disappointed that only two 4 of these pots have produced leaves so dumped a the stalk, leaving behind the plumes . Now if you couple of them out and found that in those pots the look inside the floret, you will find that there are tubers had rotted. actually two thin green structures nestled together like spoons. The large hairy outer part with the awn I can only speculate about what seems to be a attached to it is the lemma; the smaller one hidden very contradictory conclusion about how 5 inside it is called the palea . Use a pin or needle to Cardamine reacts to summer water. Obviously in pry them apart (this can be difficult). Between them the ground they do quite nicely with only the you should see two large purple anthers and a moisture from summer fogs. Since they are often feathery pistil, the sexual parts of the plant. If the found growing in wet places that do not dry out lemma is less hairy, and the two little bristles on the quickly why did some of the ones in containers rot tip of the lemma are very short or missing, you with very little water and the ones growing in the have the closely related species Avena fatua. ground with regular water thrive?

Wild Oats is one of the earliest grass species to My suspicion is that the mix I used did not have bloom, so if you can't find any, wait a couple of what my Australian friend, Will, refers to as a high weeks and look again. Save this article, as these enough "air-filled porosity". What this term refers to terms will be used in discussing each grass is the amount of air left in a mix after the medium is fully saturated. Bog plants require very little air, perennials more, bulbs still more, and orchids even more. The watered plants in the ground were 5 planted very close to a number of large Coast CNPS MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION Redwoods. Perhaps the surface roots of those DOROTHY KING YOUNG CHAPTER trees were absorbing most of the water and therefore protecting those little tubers from getting Membership in the California Native Plant Society too wet. It's just a hunch, but it would be nice after is open to all. The task and mission of the Society all the complaining I have done about my trees to is to increase awareness, understanding, and give them a plug for a change. At any rate I am appreciation of California native plants. The intrigued that Cardamine might have potential as an challenge is to preserve their natural habitat evergreen ground cover under the proper through scientific educational, and conservation conditions and will be watching to see what activities. Membership includes subscription to the happens to those plants this summer. If anyone quarterly Fremontia, as well as our local chapter else has any theories I welcome feedback. newsletter, the Calypso. Mary Sue Ittner Name DKY CHAPTER BUSINESS Address Contributions can be made at any time and are always appreciated. A fitting tribute to the memory City Zip of our recently departed DKY Chapter Founder, Dorothy King Young, might be in the form of a Tel e-mail donation to our DKY Education Fund. Or you may want to contribute in the name of a friend or I wish to affiliate with the DKY Chapter relative; to these ends, a form is provided below. Contributions are used exclusively for our Or, other chapter education programs unless you otherwise specify. For more information about contributing to our (Please check, or name one, or Society will make chapter, call our Treasurer: Greg Jirak, 882-1655. assignment if none is specified by applicant.)

MEMBERSHIP CATEGORY A contribution of $ is made in honor Student, Retired, Limited Income $20 Individual, Library $35 of Household, Family, or Group $45 Supporting: $75; Plant Lover: $100; Patron: $200 From: Benefactor: $500; Life: $1000. Address: Make Check out to the California Native Plants City State Zip Society; mail check and application to: Bob Rutemoeller, Membership Committee Please send acknowledgement to: DKY Chapter, CNPS Name: PO Box 577 Address: Guaiala CA 95445 City/Zip:

Unless otherwise specified, all contributions are placed in a separate account and used to support DKY/CNPS education programs.

Mail contributions to: DKY Treasurer P.O. Box 577, Gualala, CA 95445

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