Spring 2017 Volume 40 Number 2 A Desert Harvest ........................................ 2 APS/UNPS Meeting ............................................ 5 Endemics of the Arapien Shale ...................................................... 6 Morphological Variations of Juniperus osteosperma. ................................. 19 Botanist's Bookshelf........................................ 21 Milkvetch (Astragalus) of Northern Utah .. 23 Sticky Plants ...................................................... 27 Salt Lake Chapter Report ............................... 29 Utah Rare Plant Meeting ................................ 29 Rare Plants by Stan Welsh ............................. 30 Utah Native Plant Society While early settlers devoured the bulbs of the sego lily A Desert Harvest for food, developers now devour the precious soil and habitat of the bear claw poppy. The similarities of or Writer of the Purple Sage history and loss are remarkably similar…..both species are beautiful, both treasured, both threatened and both Norman Anderson III “inadvertently” eliminated from their original I have a distant but poignant memory in which I am communities. standing in our yard in Holladay, it is spring and my In southwest Utah, loss of habitat is a problem that is mother is pointing to a small flower and telling me that likely to worsen in the years ahead for a variety of it is the state flower, the Sego Lily. To me, this is one of reasons that include; explosive growth, county policies those “the memory survives but parts of it don’t,” for as that promote development at the expense of native the area around us filled up with new homes and the species, grazing practices that destroy native plant open space disappeared, the sego lilies also went away. communities, a lack of talented educators to promote While some sego lilies are still growing in their original utilization of waterwise and native plants in current habitat (Canyonlands, Bonneville shoreline trail, Beaver landscape projects, new arid areas related to Dam Mountains), most commonly the state flower and groundwater changes and the lack of community our society symbol, only survive inadvertently and are members that have gained meaningful exposure to the “spotted” on hikes or “bumped into” in less developed, beauty, fragility and value of the many native species more protected, remote places in Utah and other that surround them. It is noteworthy and related that western states. few native species are available at local nurseries and A similar tale accompanies the equally beautiful but only one local nursery (family owned and operated) even less abundant (threatened) Bearclaw poppy of offers a sizable selection of indigenous species that are southern Utah, a loss attributed to loss of habitat and better choices for the desert climate. For example, while development of subdivisions south of St. George, Utah. many local ranchers routinely “chain” their land to get Salvia dorrii of The Riders of the Purple Sage fame. 2 Sego Lily Winter 2017 40(2) way with changes in culture and values of those that are stewards of their communities. In 1980, in Arizona, Phil Hebets originated a tree boxing methodology that enabled over a million native plants to be salvaged rather than bulldozed. In turn, municipalities in Arizona (principally Tucson) have passed ordinances requiring native plants to be saved and replanted in developments….these changes and the accommodation to native plants has completely changed the face of urban landscapes in southwest Arizona. Today, there are additional programs to “harvest” native species from development areas, warehouse them until a home is found and then “donate” them to municipal projects in need of desert landscaping. My experience with “harvesting” or “relocating” native species began two years ago after an offhand rid of the Utah Juniper, a tree that survives and brings conversation with a medical resident that had beauty to any landscape, virtually none are available for previously completed a master’s thesis on Salvia dorrii, purchase. As “the new West” meets “the old West,” the the purple sage, the sage that is most commonly changes in ecosystems are accompanied in a less visible associated with the western novel of southwest Utah, Billowing, shrubby Penstemon ambiguus. 3 Utah Native Plant Society The Riders of the Purple Sage, but uncommonly seen or pot) from an online supplier in Santa Fe…...a plant so admired in the locale that made it well known. I had small that it was only useful in showing me what type of moved to southern Utah from northern Utah and was leaf and color defined the Salvia dorrii…maybe the told to revegetate the part our yard that had been leaves were purple was an early, poorly researched destroyed during the building process. I was also idea. informed that I was only to use native species from a Claret Cup Cactus, Echinocereus mojavensis. Hedgehog Cactus, Echinocereus engelmanii. Months went by, fall, winter and early spring…... the list that was provided by the Homeowner’s Association. small plant slowly began to grow (sage green leaves), Few of the native species suggested by the HOA were we landscaped as best we could and took in the beauty available locally, but I remembered that Salvia dorrii of the desert, and marveled as the desert began to was on the list of “approved” natives. While I searched bloom. locally without any real success (creosote, globe mallow, Parry’s penstemon were available), purple sage Later that spring, the lot next to ours sold and later still, remained in my memory due to it’s association with there were survey markers outlining the footprint of literature and the rock bands of my youth. Numerous the house to be built. Curious of our new neighbor’s wanderings in the local desert produced no sign of the plan, we walked over and studied the staked out area. purple sage and I eventually ordered a small plant (5” Old yucca flower stem . A young Barrel Cactus, Ferocactus cylindraceus. 4 Sego Lily Winter 2017 40(2) In the middle of the footprint was the most beautiful Salvia dorrii that I have yet ever seen… large, healthy plant with many light blue flowers of incredible American Penstemon delicacy and beauty. Washington County had been searched without success and there it was, the best Society/UNPS example of the plant I was looking for… fifty yards away from my living room. To this day, I have not found a similar specimen but have seen much smaller examples Annual Meeting in nearby protected areas (Snow Canyon, Beaver Dam Wilderness). After contacting the builder who was to June 2-5, 2017 Vernal, Utah bulldoze the area, I was given “unofficial” permission to move the plant to another place where it could continue Speakers: to thrive. In the end, I split the plant into twenty substantial plants that were relocated to my yard where Sherel Goodrich “Uinta Basin Endemics” all of them have continued to grow and show off their beauty each spring. Since the nudge to “relocate” the Robert Johnson “Relating to Native purple sage, I have continued to find plants in newly Plants in Wildscapes and Landscapes: created roadways, areas where homes or driveways are Rhymes and Reasons” to be excavated and newly created erosion areas where proposed changes will result in destruction of habitat... Field trips north, south and west of Vernal there may be others similarly involved in a rescue effort for these plants but I consider myself a one man band, a Register now at: http://penstemons.org/ distant relative of Hans Brinker putting a botanical index.php/annual-meetings thumb in the dam to slow a destruction of the desert that is clearly present with knowledge that the dam is leaking badly. While friends of native species continue to look at the mounting loss of native species in southwest Utah, it is notable that the Bearclaw Poppy chapter of the Utah Native Plant Society faces its own threat of extinction. Despite a botanical need for intervention that may exceed other parts of the state in terms of loss of habitat, the small voices that call for prudence are drowned out by the legions of developers that see the desert as a profit center, nurseries that do what they can to produce gardens more related to Salt Lake than to the Mojave. It will take years of work for residents of southern Utah to see the many species of cactus a source of many months of flowering instead of a spiny plant that can hurt you. One look at the 10 foot flower that comes from the only native Utah agave, Agave utahensis, one glance at an area of bush penstemon should be all that it takes for locals to become “true believers” and “protectors”... but as the Bearclaw Poppy so clearly pointed out, there is a long standing desert “blindness” that interferes with clear vision. Hopefully, as Phil Hebets did in Arizona, a rebirth of the local native plant society in southern Utah, the growing voice of Conserve Southwest Utah and help with friends of plants of the desert from the north, a process can take root in which the natural beauty of the desert Penstemon goodrichii courtesy of Mikel Stevens. See landscape is better noticed, rejoiced, utilized and more Penstemon images on the APS website protected. http://penstemons.org/index.php/ on the Gallery tab. 5 Utah Native Plant Society Narrow Gypsophile Endemics of the Arapien Shale, Sevier County, Utah Leanna Spjut Ballard, January 18, 2016 a very rare endemic species, known only from the area south of Salina to east of Aurora, Utah as shown The Arapien Shale formation of Sanpete and Sevier in map 1 below. It occurs only in one four-by-1.5-mile Counties, Utah, is home to several rare endemic swath. Due to the narrow range of E. mitophyllum, (meaning native or restricted to a certain country or there is concern that there could be petitions to area) plant species, including Lost Creek buckwheat protect it under the endangered species act.