Primroses Spring 1996 Volume 54, No
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Primroses Spring 1996 Volume 54, No. 2 American Primrose Society - Spring 1996 Primroses Contents Mrs. Brodhead's Primula Quarterly of the By Jay G. Lunn, Hillsboro, Oregon American Primrose Society Mrs. Brodhead's Primula 3 Sporing 1996 by Jay G. Lunn In 1892, Mrs. Brodhead collected determination that they would have not Volume 54, Number 2 Plant Portrait 6 some plant specimens at Ketchum, Idaho made if they had seen both in the wild! by Ann Lunn Editor: Claire Cockcroft in May and early June at 6,000 feet They even referred to correspondence Primula Brevicula 8 altitude and at Bayhorse, Idaho, July 1 at with Mrs. A. C. U. Berry which indicated 4805 228th Ave. N.E. by Ian D. Scott that she was inclined "to regard it as a Redmond, WA 98053-8327 A Shopping Expedition in England 10 8,000 feet altitude. She sent these e-mail: [email protected] by John Kerridge specimens to Marcus E. Jones, a distin- geographical form of P. Cusickiana." At Designer: Rebecca Nolle Surfing the Net for Primroses: guished field collector and taxonomist of least one reference [7] gives M. E. Jones A Beginner's Information Guide 14 western plants. The following year [1] the credit for collecting the specimen EDITORIAL DEADLINES by Pat Wilson he published a description of the collec- from Bayhorse, Idaho. This can not be Winter issue ... November 1 Under the Overhang 18 tion from Ketchum, as a new species, correct, because Jones was traveling in Spring issue ... February 1 by Rick Lupp Primula brodheadae, and the collection Mexico from April 16 to July 18, 1892. Summer issue ... May 1 APS Seed Exchange 19 from Bayhorse, as a new variation, P. On July 1, he was visiting a saltpeter Fall issue ... August 1 More about Plant Plugs 20 brodheadae var. minor. Included in the mine and botanizing in Jayamite, by April Boettger Mexico. The type specimens for both the PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDITS Journal Report 21 description of the new species, Jones All photos are credited. by Mary Frey wrote that it was "Dedicated to Mrs. species and variety of P. brodheadae APS Slide Library 22 Brodhead, the collector." I have not been resided in the personal herbarium of M. Board of Directors Meeting 23 successful in finding any information E. Jones until it was purchased by APS Bookstore 24 about Mrs. Brodhead, but she surely must Pomona College in 1923. Notes from the Editor 25 have been a robust individual to travel The type specimen for P. by Claire Cockcroft around the rugged territory of central brodheadae var. minor was misplaced, News from the Chapters 27 Idaho at that time. Travel then would but the type specimen, for the what was Officers of the Chapters 30 have been by horseback, wagon, stage- once considered P. brodheadae, now coach, rail or foot. resides at the Herbarium of Rancho Santa When Louis 0. Williams published Ana Botanic Garden (photocopy, next his "Revision of the Western Primulas" page). This specimen appears to be very [2] in 1936, he concluded that P. similar to the primrose that grows in the brodheadae and the P. brodheadae var. proximity of Boise, Idaho, that is known minor were synonymous with P. by local botanists as P. witcoxiana [8], cusickiana, a status which perseveres nomen nudum (name unaccompanied by today. This was after Ferdinand Pax had a description or reference to a published reduced both to P. parryi in 1905 [3], description). In Jones' description of/*. PRIMROSES (ISSN 0162-6671) is published apparently without seeing the collection brodheadae var. minor, he wrote "I quarterly by the American Primrose, Primula material that Jones used in making his suppose that this species is the same as and Auricula Society, 9705 SW Spring Crest ON THE COVER determination. Thomas Howell [4] and var. Wilcoxiana, Wood of P. Parryi, but Dr., Portland, OR 97225. Second-Class Front Cover: Primula ellisiae Per Axel Rydberg [5] both recognized the I do not know that that was ever charac- postage paid at Hillsboro, OR and additional at Sandia Park, New Mexico. species in their works, albeit they mis- terized in print." mailing offices. Back Cover: Primula rusbyi in the spelled it "Broadheadae" (or at least It is unlikely that anyone will ever Magdalena Mountains, New Mexico. different from Jones' spelling). Although know exactly where Mrs. Brodhead POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Ann Lunn explains how closely these two Smith & Fletcher [6] spelled the species Primroses, 9705 SW Spring Crest Dr., primulas are related on Page 6. Portland. OR 97225 Photos by Jav G. Lunn name correctly, they considered it synonymous with P. angustifolia, a American Primrose Society - Spring 1996 American Primrose Society - Spring 1996 5 Photo by Jay G. Lunn Mrs. Brodhead's Primula continued On the opposite side of the Salmon River from Bayhorse Creek and approxi- collected her namesake. In those days collectors routinely carried barometers to mately 25 air miles southwest are the determine the elevations at which they White Cloud Peaks. At one site there, at made various collections. These instru- an elevation of 10,000 - 10,400 feet, grows a diminutive form of P. cusickiana ments were not always terribly accurate. in the alpine tundra (pictured). An Read Marcus E. Jones [9] and you will unusual characteristic of the population at run across comments in his diary and field notes like "..barometer greatly this location is its flower color. Although disturbed" and "..my barometer got out of many of the plants exhibit the typical violet-purple color of the species, there order, but this is not far out", so elevation records should be viewed with some are quite a few individuals with white or suspicion. intermediate colored flowers. These Mrs. Brodhead's first collection site, plants are small in stature, just as Jones Primula cusickiana in the alpine tundra. described them in his diagnosis for P. the town of Ketchum, Idaho, was created brodheadae var. minor. He described the in the 1880's by ranching and mining. plants as 2 inches high; flowers 1 to 2 on tion from the sun. More likely, the form Averell Harriman, president of the Union of the plant is the result of adapting, over Pacific Railroad, didn't start building the the scape; leaves an inch long or less. In many thousands of years, to the environ- Sun Valley ski resort until 1936. There- contrast, he described the species as 2 to 4 inches high; 1 to 4 flowered; leaves 1 to ment of its little niche of the world, that it fore, Ketchum probably wasn't much of a has claimed as its home. Could this have town before that, but it may have been the 4 inches long. The form of the plants in the White Clouds may be a result of their been the source for one of Mrs. prominent landmark for the area. The short growing season and intense radia- Brodhead's collections? I wish I knew! elevation near Ketchum is 5,736 feet. Has the site where she collected remained Photocopy of herbarium specimen, courtesy Rancho Santa Ana Botanic intact, or has it been destroyed by the SOURCES: Garden. development at Sun Valley, or could it 1. Jones, M. E. 1893. Contributions 7. Hitchcock, C. L., A. Cronquist, possibly be 30 miles south of her refer- to Western Botany, No.3. Zoe 3:306-307. M. Ownbey and J. W. Thompson. ence point? In 1950, Dr. Richard M. of an old collection made in the vicinity; 2. Williams, Louis O. Revision of Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest, Bond wrote in this Quarterly [10] about however, it was even farther from the Western Primulas. The American part 4, p. 51. University of Washington his trip with Mrs. A. C. U. Berry and their Ketchum than this site. Midland Naturalist, 17(4):746, 1936. Press, Seattle, 1959. search for P. brodheadae. I believe I In the late 1800's, Bayhorse, Mrs. 3. Pax, Ferdinand A. Das 8. Vascular Plant Species of Con- have visited the same site, where they Brodhead's second collection site, was a Pflanzenreich, IV, 237:128, 1905. cern in Idaho. University of Idaho, found plants, and its elevation is approxi- flourishing mining town. The mouth of 4. Howell, Thomas J. A Flora of Forest, Wildlife and Range Experiment mately 5,100 feet and 30 air miles from the canyon of Bayhorse Creek was filled Northwest America, p. 434, 1903. Station Bulletin No. 34, Moscow, ID, Ketchum. Although I have been there as from canyon wall to canyon wall with 5. Rydberg, Per A. Flora of the 1981. early as mid-April, the primroses have various sorts of domiciles, from wood Rocky Mountains and Adjacent Plains, p. 9. Lenz, Lee W. Marcus E. Jones: always been past full bloom, but from houses to tents, or anything else that 648, 1922. Western Geologist, Mining Engineer & what 1 have seen, they look very similar would provide shelter for miners who 6. Smith, W. Wright and H. R. Botanist, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic to the herbarium specimen of P. flocked there. What remains there today Fletcher. The Genus Primula: sections Garden, Claremont California, 1986. brodheadae. Did we walk in the foot- is only a skeleton of its past grandeur. Cuneifolia, Floribundae, Parryi, and 10. Bond, Dr. R. M. Collecting steps of Mrs. Brodhead? Maybe — or, The elevation of Bayhorse is about 5,400 Auricula. Transactions of the Royal Primulas in the Northwest. Quarterly of maybe not! There is at least one record feet, so to proceed to the 8,000 feet level, Horticultural Society of Edinburgh. the American Primrose Society, 8(4):59, one would have to ascend almost to the 61:645-647, 1948.