Progress report

1. Title: Evaluating Epilobium (Zauschneria) canum cultivars for floral traits and attraction of beneficials

2. Names and affiliations of PIs: Rachel Vannette, Department of Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis David Fujino, California Center for Urban Horticulture

3. Accomplishments to date: Below, we summarize accomplishments to date based on our 2 objectives outlined in the proposal:

Part 1: Assessment of plant traits and floral visitation using established cultivars Existing plants in the arboretum were chosen with representation from 7 cultivar types (Fig 1). Plants were GPS-located and marked. Data on plant and floral traits including flowering phenology, corolla size, floral density, nectar volume, microbial load and plant size were recorded for each focal plant. Data were recorded and are being analyzed. Visitation observations were taken. Insect collections were also taken for a subset of plants as available. Insects are being sorted and curated for identification.

A) B)

Epilobium map

Epilobium plants east

All items

Epilobium plants west

All items

Tagged Epilobium canum plants for ABI50A, Fall 2016

Figure 1. Epilobium canum in UC Davis arboretum. Panel A) shows locations of marked plants and B) shows representative plants used for data collection. All photos by R. Vannette, map produced using Google Maps.

Part 2: Installation of two common gardens Plants from 10 cultivars, mostly non-overlapping with the cultivars currently on campus were purchased from California Flora Nursery and planted on the UC Davis campus (Fig 2). Two replicate plantings were established and a third is in-progress. Plants will be monitored for survival and establishment over the coming months.

Figure 2. Variation in floral morphology among cultivars acquired from California Flora Nursery and planted on UC Davis campus. Photos by R. Vannette

Table 1. Cultivars acquired from California Flora Nursery Species Cultivar Epilobium septentrionale Wayne's Silver Epilobium canum Summer snow Epilobium canum Everett's choice Epilobium canum Cloverdale Epilobium canum John Bixby Epilobium canum Calistoga Epilobium canum Marin Pink Epilobium canum Bowman's hybrid Epilobium canum Catalina Epilobium canum Liz's Choice Epilobium canum Schieffelin's choice

4. Obstacles to progress and steps to address To date, plants in common gardens have shown good survival following planting, but we will continue to monitor them and replace as needed. PI Vannette was on maternity leave from November-March, slowing data analysis and delaying the hiring of new personnel on the project. We anticipate hiring personnel in mid-spring now that PI Vannette can train and supervise them, which will speed up sample processing and data analysis.