Plant Notes from the

By. JoHX THO:::UAS HowELL Cali!or11ia A.cactemy of Scie11Cea

For the past three summers I hM·e been present on the Siena Club Base Camp outings which luwc been held for n period of two weeks ht the latter part of the summe1· in subalpine r egions of the Sicn·a Nevada iu Calitoi:nia unclcr t he able direction of Oliver Kehrlein. On these outings a base camp is established for the dmation of the trip and the exceptional op­ portmtity which has thus been offered to stu<.ly intensively the plant of a restricted area in the high mountains o£ Calilomia has resulted in a number of interesting records pertaining to the fiora of the Sierra 1\eYada. Follo\\'ing each trip 1 have pre­ pareu a complete list of plants seen or collected (Howell, 1940, 19-Ha, Hl-!2a). but since these a rc only mimeographed, it is desirable to print at least a summary of the mot·e notable dis­ co,·el'ics and obserYatiollS. Already I ha,•c pnbli ·heel in THE WA~:-.L\XX COLLECTOR a report on the plants collected in 19-10 (Howell, 19-!lb), and at this time I wish to indicate the note­ worth~- plants co11ectcd in 19-U and 194.2.

!"LANT R ECOHDS IN 1941

Tn JV.U the base camp was situated near the l1 eadwaters of the )[iddle Fork of the San Joaquin River in )ladera County on the north side of Garnet Lake at 9,600 feet. Because t hi region lies just to the south of the Yosemite • 1ational Pa1·k, the flora for the mo t part is quite well known, m1d althomrh the out ·tanding plant-finds were not \'Cry numerous, tht'Y arc of more than ot·clinai'Y interest. )fo t of thl'l-le came from the summit rid~e of the ierra .Kcvaun bet ween .Agnew Po~<; and an Joaquin :\fountain. One or tht•se plants, 'mmcu foliaccu Grc<.'ne, hns already heen reportt~d as a plant uew to Califol·nia (Ilowell, 19-!2h. p. 1 ) :and yet another, a rose-<·olor<>d monk(>y­ flower that was c11lled Jlinmlw; roccin r u.~ by ConJ?don, is from the distl'ict w!1cre Congdon first coll<'Ctt'd it. Cryptrwflw ambi{JIW (Orny) 0 l'cenc, a widespread plant in wesl<•rn No1th A merica h11L J'HI'C in northeastern Califol'llill, was fo\llld on the ridg-e 92 THE w~!';)IANX COLLECTOR [Vol. 5, Xo. 3 north of :::inn .Joaquin :1Iountain, uncl gt·owing with it was the t•arely collected Cryptantha glom.criflom Greene (<:f. Johnston, 1925). A single plant of .. lndro.~ aa seplc nlrio11ali.~ L. var. subumbcllata .A. ~els. was found on San .J onquin )Iountain, u new station for a widely distributed westem American plant that is rcpot·tecl by J cpson ( 1939, p. 72) ft·om only four places in Cnlifot·nia. On the slope: of an Joaquin ;\fountain in the t'U ilyon of the San Joaquill RiV<'l', T round ;ll yosunts 111'istutt1s Bcnth., a nother phtll t J'fl tt g-i ng widoly throngh the mouutuins of the western Unilcd Htu1t•s bu l he1·ctofOl'C found in only two places in Calit'ornia. ;\Luybt' one t'l'Uson the$e plants have been o\·el'lookcd h eretof01·e in the 'icrra ~cvnda i ~ their ·mall sixe, sim•c all except the Honm•as wct·c les: than two inches tall: but what the midgets lack in sixe they make up in hi~h botanical interest. Right in camp on the shore of Gat·Het Lake were several note­ worthy plants. One of the.sc, Oaultltcria l111111i[ww (<:rah.) Rydb .. was a prostrate creepet with small tlat·k green leathery lea\'CS, and it grew abundantly on thE' mo.·sy hanks of streams ot· al the edge of the lake. I would tH'\'Cl' hav<' detected it if I did all my botanizing standing u p-mwe in u while oue is re­ wat·ded for crawling ! Here again is u plant whi<'h oceut·s widely [rom the Rocky 1\'[ountains westward, hnt in 'alifol'l1 ia it had been k nown ft'O m only two p laces in l hc Sier ra Nevada (cf. Abrams, 1D:H. p. 121). Vet·y diffct'l' nl in its showy appearance a nd its more localized distribution was an Indian paint-brush which gave bright color to the low gt•nssr and st•dgy me:ulow . 'l'his "a~.; ( 'agfillc.ia Pci1'S01tii East w ., a vet·~· distinct species which hnd been known only from the type Io!·uli t.'' on thE' cast ·lope of the Hiena Xcvada to the southward in Jnyo 'ounty. T collc<·ted it uot only a rouucl Gamt't L alw but also near Thou<;and Island r,ake aucl a t Lake Ecli?:a.

In I!J.J.2, tlw Sierra 'lub Base Ca mp wus rstahlished in the southel'll :::i iet•t·a ~c,·ada in 'l'ulare County iu the Lit tic Five J;ukes Bosin at an elevation or 10,000 t't'ct. 'l' he basi n i.· on the cafitl't'll slope of the Great West<'l'll Divide i11 th e Kern Hiver ~1pril, 1!1-l3) IIowELlr--SIERR..\ XEVAD.\ Pt.A..~T ' 93 watershed and from the camp botanical excursions were made not only to Yarious localities along the divide but also across Big Arr·oyo to !\It. Kaweah and the Chagoopa Plateau. The 1942 outing began and ended at :1Iineral King on the we tern slope of the Great ·western Divide and a large collection was also rnnde nt and in the vicinity. 'rhe 1042 Base Camp collectism is by fur tho lurgcst. and richest oC tho t.ln·co collecLions that have been obtained on 1 . h c~c Siena lub outin~s. 'rho collection totalled 810 speeimcns r epresent­ ing 515 difl'crent plants, and of this number ovet· 10 percent Ht·e JHU'ticulnrly rare, unusual, or noteworthy plants. For ex~ ample. neat· )lineral King a number o£ plants were collected whieh ha,·e been found nowhere else, suc)l as Dcnful'ia <'Orymbosa Jcps. Yar. grata Jep .. Draha Cl'ltciata. Pays. \ 'Ill'. typi<'a C. L. Ditrhe., 'lrrplm1tlw.s tortuosus Kelt. Yar. /flll'f.~('('ll .~ Jcps., Lupi11w; cla .~yphyllu.s Greene, Lupinu .~ ltypolasiu .~ (h·eene, Pha­ cclia orO!J<'1ll' .~ Brand, and Senecio serra IIook. \' ill'. allior Jeps. Other colkclion. represent species that a!'c a little more widely clislt·ibuted but which are found only in the soulhl•t·n ierra Xcvnda: •'ilene bcnwrdina Wats., Dicentra ?ICt'adensi$ Eastw., Orconn1ut Cfmnenii.s (~f. E. Jones) Jeps., J.:'iclalcetL t·an1tnCttlacea Gl'crnc, Linmtllws oblanceolat11s E astw., flcnstomon cephalo~ JJltonts G •·cene, Galit~m spaTsiflo?''l.tm Wjgh L, und Bnlsumm·hiza 1'1tV£' '1LUSln Cov. Foul' spcei('S ha ,.e proved to be new to the ftot·u of th<' Sierra Xc,·ada: Asple11itnn septent1·Wilale (L.) Iloffm., C(lly]Jtriclium 1J!ffflllaemn Pa l'ish, Cuscuta Suksdorfii Y uncket·, n·nd • t ntcnnm·ia clcnw Greene. 'fhe first is also a plant new to the flora of Califot·nia, but since the phyto~eographic si~rnificancc of the occurrcnee of this widespread fern in Califot·nin is being treated in u ~· t• l unpublished article by Jo eph Ewan, T shall only men­ tion itc:; dic:;eO\'<'l'Y here. I found it gt·owin~ in the et·e\'ices of !:\'l'anil<' rocks between Columbine Lake and Sawtooth Pass at an l'l<',·ulion of about 11,000 feet. C11srula S~tk.~dol'fii Yuneker was round nt Minet·al King, apparent!~· the on ly collection so. fur t't'JW I'lcd for tlt i!:! species between the San 13cl'nat·dino Mm111tnins to the sonth and th.c Siskiyou i\ Jounlnins to tho north (d'. Yull ckct·, 1943, p . 63) . The otht'r two plHnts, th e CalyJ)tJ'i- 94 Tm w _\ s:\l ANN CoLLEcToR (Vol. 5, No. 3

dium and the Antcunaria, have been known as rare plants in the San Bernardino }f ountains, bnt until I discovered them la t summer they were apparently unkno\nl in the Sierra Nevada. The Calyptridium was found on the floor o£ Big Arroyo at 9,900 feet, and the Antennaria grew above timberline on :\It. Kaweah at about 11,500 feet. 'l'wo other notcwor·thy plants which I found in the same

CORRECTIONS

Some concctions in the determiuation of specimens in lhe 194:1 and 1942 Base Camp botanies have come to my attention and I shall list several of them here. lu the fo1·mer Jist, Pen lemon glaber (1941, p. 20) should be Pcnstcmon sz>ccioslts Doug!. subsp. Kenncdyi (A. .:\els.) Keck according to Dr. D. D. Keck ; and in Arnica (1941, p. 20), Dr. Bassett :;uagnire has corrected A. cordi[olia to A. lati[olia Bong. and .A. mollis to .d. foliosa Nutt. In my 19!2 lisL, I reported 'l'riglochin polustris L. from ~fineral King and exulted in rcpot·ting a ccond Califol'l1ian station (1942, p. :>); but )fr. Frank \V. Pcit-son has called to my attention the fact that the }>lant was reported frorn :\fineral King in 18!J3 ( cl'. Coville. 1 93, p. 210). >Jeve1theless, this ,·cry 'videspread plant still 1·cmains a very rnrc C;1 lifornimt, known, jt would seem, !'rom two stations Crom only Lhrce co ll ections! Dr. F. J. Ilerrnan n wri LCi; that he believes 96 THE WAS~IAN~ COLL"F;CTOR [Vol. 5, No. 3 that weste1·n _-\mcrican plants heretofore called Carex capitata I.s. (cf. Howell, 19!2, p. 7) should be referred to Care.c arctogena A\'. II. Smith; and Dr. D. D. Keck has Wl'itleu 1hat the plant called ~ll adia yo.<;onitana (19-12, p. 28) is Madia cxioua (Sm.) Gt'cCnc, a species, as I have iudicat<'d obO\'C, faL· out of alti­ tudinal runge.

'J'IIE 0 LDES1' LODOEPOLJ,) Pl:-:1!: 1 One oC th<' on tstanding botanieal nceomplishments of the l!J42 Buse Uu rnp was the actual coun t. or nnnual rings in a big l;odg-cpole Pine (Pinus Jll lt l'l'ayanct BalL) a.t Little F ive J;nlt>m to indicate an age more than twice as great as that of the oldest Lodgepole hcrctofoL·e rcpor·ted. Hcgarding the lon­ gevil,\' of the Lodgepole Pine, Sud worth writes: " Attains an age of from 100 to 175 years, but doubtless il is capable of reaching f1·om 200 to possibly 300 yeat·s, i£ exempt from fit·r ... " (190 ' , p. 51) . • ince the tree was dead and had lost its identifying bark, a specimen of the wood was presen·cd so 1hat none could say wh Hl had been measured was a Foxtail P in e ( flimts B alfouriana Murr.) or u Western J tmiper (J 1m1'ponts occidcntaUs Hook.) . 'l'li c wood has been examined by Dl'. lr·ma S. Wcbbe t· of H-iver ­ sidc and she derlares it to be Lodgepole P ine. The hi~hest tree seen at timhel'line on :\lt. Kaweah (about l 1,000 ft. ) was Lodgepole Pine. This is of interest siuce one do<'s not usually think of the Lotl~cpolc as a shl'nb-like timber­ line tree but rather a tree chantrtcristic of meadow borders in the Canadian Life Zone.

Co~cLr. ro:-;

'L'he specim<'ns on which tl1C'se notes and m~· three Base Camp lists rest are deposited in the llcrborium or the California 1\ ca SiC'l'l'a Club, to Oli\·er ICehrlcin, and to my fello\1' Base- 'Rmpers. 'Without, their help and cooper ation, T could have done little. .\ pl'il, 1!)-1:3] liOWELu--SJERR.\ 'EYAO.\ PLAl'1':; 97

LITERATuRE CITED

ABR.UlS. L. R. 1934. The dwarf gaultberias jn CallCornia. Madro~o 2: 121·122.

CO\'lLI.t:, F. V. 1893. Botany of the Death VaHey Expedition. Contrlb. U. S. Nat. Het·b. 4: viii+363. Howt·:r.t., J. T . 1910. Base Camp botany, 1940. Mimeogmphed and distributed by tbe Siena Club. 1-22. 1941a. Base Camp IJotany, 1941. Mimeographed and distributed IJy lhe . 1·22. 1941b. Plant records from the Southern Sierra Nevada. The Was· mann Co11ector 4: 85·91. l!l42a. Base Camp botany, 1942. 1\fimeogt·aphed and distributed by the Sierra Club. 1·29. 1942b. Western plants from here and there. Lean. West. Bol. 3: 187-188.

JEPSON, W. L. 1939. A flora of California. Associated Students Store, University of Cali!ornia, Berkeley. 3, pt. 1: 17-128.

JOHNSTON, I. M. l025. The Not·th American species or Cryplanlha. Contrib. Gray Herb, n. ser ., 74 : 1·114.

SUDWOII'I' tr, G. B. 1908. Forest trees of the Pacific slope. Government Printing Office, . 1·441.

Y~.; NcKER, ·r. G. 1943. Nomenclatural changes in the genus Cuscuta, and notes on some American species. Bull. Torr. Club 70: 61-67.

EXPLANATION OF FIGURES Alpine and subalpine habitats in California's high Siena Nevada

Fig. 1. Garnet Lake (9700 ft.) with 1\'tt. Rltte•· (13165 rt.) on the left and (12066 ft.) on the t•ight. (Photograph by J . T. Howell.)

Fig. 2. From Little Five Lakes (10500 fl.) to the north end of the l

PLA'l'B I