DAVIS BOTANICAL SOCIETY LASTHENIA LASTHENIA, the Newsletter of the Davis Botanical Society, is published in collaboration with the staff of the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory UPCOMING EVENTS and Center for Plant Diversity. Editor: Kate Mawdsley Issue Contributors: E. Dean, S. Rae, E. Grissell, K. Mawdsley, D. Potter, M. Arboretum/Conservatory Plant Sales: Saturdays, April 5, Rejmanek, M. Gonzales, K. Battenberg, April 26, May 17. All sales 9 am to 1 pm. M. Starbuck, J. Perez Z., D. McQuaid Design: Susan Gloystein Picnic Day exhibits at Botanical Conservatory and Center for Layout: Ellen Dean Plant Diversity: Saturday, April 12, 11 am to 3 pm. DBS OFFICERS, 2013-2014 President: Marie Jasieniuk Davis Botanical Society Annual Meeting with elections and President-elect: Brenda Grewell Spring Speaker: Thursday, May 8, 6:45 - 8 pm, Davis Public Membership Vice President: Patrick McGuire & Kate Mawdsley Library Blanchard Room. Russell Huddleston speaking on Secretary: Marlene Simon Vegetation and Restoration in Saudi Arabia. Treasurer: Robert Rhode Past President: Joe DiTomaso Note: Field trip to The Cedars on May 17 is FULL. Members at Large: Susan Harrison, Valerie Layne Student Member at Large: Jorge Perez Zabala Ex officio: Dan Potter, Ernesto Sandoval, Ellen Dean UC Davis Mail ID: BTNY BTNY ID: Mail Davis UC Davis, CA 95616 95616 CA Davis, University of California California of University One Shields Avenue Avenue Shields One Plant Sciences Mail Stop #7 Stop Mail Sciences Plant Center for Plant Diversity Diversity Plant for Center 8 No. 41 Winter 2014 LASTHENIA NEWSLETTER OF THE DAVIS BOTANICAL SOCIETY DECIPHERING THE ROSE FAMILY With the thought that DBS members may have ended up at numerous universities be interested in how plant systematics/ around the world, as well as botanical taxonomy students are using the gardens and private companies. herbarium these days, we interviewed Over the past 17 years, dozens Dr. Dan Potter, Director of the Center for of students, postdocs, and other Plant Diversity (herbarium) and Professor collaborators have made their home of Plant Sciences, about his research and in the Potter lab, mainly focusing on the work of his graduate students. the phylogeny and classification of Research in the Potter lab the rose family (Rosaceae), although addresses the diversity, evolution, and others have had independent projects taxonomy of flowering plants, with on ethnobotany (the uses of plants a strong emphasis on cultivated and by people) or other plant families or domesticated species and their wild genera in diverse regions of the world. relatives. Many of Dan’s students have Significant outcomes have included the received grants from the Davis Botanical following: Cinquefoil (Drymocallis) in the Rosaceae. Society, which have been tremendously 1. A multi-authored international Photo: Margaret Starbuck helpful in supporting their field, collaboration that produced a new classification of Rosaceae, grouping herbarium, and lab work. Graduates phylogeny-based infra-familial genera into three subfamilies and ten tribes; 2. Research findings by Brian Vanden Heuvel that surprisingly low levels NEW PLANT TAXONOMY STUDENT of genetic diversity are present in the SCHOLARSHIP ESTABLISHED nitrogen-fixing bacteria that cause root nodulation of Rosaceae species We are happy to announce that the in subfamily Dryadoideae, including Department of Plant Sciences has been the genera Cercocarpus (mountain- the recipient of a donation that creates a mahogany), Chamaebatia (mountain new endowment, The Law Family Award. misery), Dryas (mountain-avens), and The interest from this endowment will Purshia (bitter-brush); be used to provide scholarships to plant continued on page 4 science students at any level in their academic career who have a relationship with the Center for Plant Diversity her- barium and an interest in plant taxonomy. IN THIS ISSUE The endowment was created with a $25,000 donation made by E. Eric Gris- Deciphering the Rosaceae ................1 sell and matched one-to-one by other UC Eric Grissell. New Student Scholarship ................1 Davis donors for a total of $50,000. At the same time, a second endowment has Conservatory ...................................2 been set up that will benefit the Bohart Museum of Entomology. Eric has been Remembering Jim Neilson ...............5 a staunch supporter of the Davis Botanical Society student grants fund. Some of Lichen Workshop ............................6 continued on page 3 Chinese Pistache ..............................7 1 THE CONSERVATORY - A STUDENT’S VIEW Marisol Gonzalez is a fifth-year Wildlife employees had completed an internship and Fish Biology major with minors in with the conservatory, but Ernesto took Landscape Restoration and Native Ameri- a chance on me and my odyssey began. can Studies; she has worked at the UC My very first day at work, on a Mon- Davis Botanical Conservatory for four day in August, I was asked to sweep the years. So she was a well-qualified choice hallway of 61 (the main greenhouse that when we looked for someone to provide makes up the majority of the conserva- the student viewpoint on the work of the tory collection), and I also cleaned the conservatory. Marisol is also a wonder- benches. I remember being in awe of all ful artist (botanical and otherwise), and the plant diversity present in this rela- she painted the artwork included in our tively small space. I learned firsthand Museum Day poster and fliers. that the Ortiga Brava plant’s hypodermic During my first year at UC Da- needles caused an unpleasant stinging vis, my work with plants began with sensation on the hand. I also remember a spring internship at the UC Davis that I was only supposed to work morn- Arboretum. My only previous plant ings, but I was very eager to work, and experience was pulling weeds in the Ernesto allowed me to work full-day summertime at my local national park, shifts. and I wanted to learn how to nurture On my first afternoon, I worked and grow plants, not just how to kill on removing a weed known colloqui- Echinops. unwanted ones. I learned a lot about ally in the greenhouse as pop weed. I Painting and Photo: Marisol Gonzalez propagation, making cuttings, pruning, have since found the plant’s scientific mulching, irrigation, etc. in the Storer name, but it is not as memorable. The about and participated in teamwork garden area of the Arboretum. rest of the week was different, because aimed at the larger goal of taking care of The following summer I found that there were summer interns present and the plants in the collection. I was eligible for a work-study job on Ernesto had me tag along on some of Yet another valuable aspect of being campus and saw a listing for work in the intern activities and field trips. In a student employee at the conservatory a greenhouse. I had no idea that the doing so, I learned more plant vocabu- throughout my undergraduate career is greenhouse in question was the Botani- lary, specifically words descriptive of the fact that Ernesto and Marlene can cal Conservatory. I had never even been plant vegetative parts. I also had the both speak to my work ethic truthfully inside. I met with Ernesto Sandoval opportunity to visit such places as the when the time comes to apply for jobs and Marlene Simon, the director and germplasm repository, a part of campus when I finish school. They can honestly nursery technician, respectively, after involved with keeping all sorts of plants say that I am very persistent when it my last spring final. I didn’t know the alive, and Foundation Plant Services, comes to removing unwanted plants vast majority of greenhouse student where they test for plant pathogens. The through numerous generations and that field trips were a lot of fun, and I would I should probably take it easy on the not have visited such places otherwise. pruning. In my years helping take care of the Furthermore, Ernesto personally has greenhouse, I continued to sweep and helped me grow as an artist by asking weed and expanded my repertoire of me to paint portraits of greenhouse flow- greenhouse activities to include washing ers. Ernesto himself is a photographer, pots, scrubbing floors, transplanting and I have made some paintings based plants too big for their pots, more prun- on those flowers, and in that process, I ing and also daily watering following a have learned to appreciate the color and watering schedule. These activities are structure of plants. At least one of my valuable, because through them I have paintings is at the Plant Biology office on learned that there is a lot of behind-the- campus, and many are at the Botanical scenes hard work involved in taking Conservatory office. Even Tim Metcalf, care of a large collection of living plants. the previous director, owns one of my I have also learned that it would botanical paintings. not be possible to do this work without There have been numerous times a larger community of student interns when a visitor tells me that they would and other student employees. The guid- love to have my job, and I smile and say ance provided by Marlene and Ernesto “thanks!” And I think to myself: I am is invaluable. So, while I now perform very fortunate to be here. many of these activities unsupervised M. Gonzalez Biodiversity Museum Day. (which has helped foster responsibility Painting and Photo: Marisol Gonzalez and accountability), I have also learned 2 RECENT GIFTS Herbarium Endowment Conservatory Operations Beth Corbin Robert Earl Louise Jackson & Patrick McGuire Jean Gifford Sue Nichol Reynotta Hoberecht Mandy Tu & Philip Rogers Joseph Lin Frederick Ryan Carol Ludlum San Francisco Cactus and Succulent Herbarium Operations Society California Native Plant Society Dennis Walker Lewis Feldman Louis & Georgette Grivetti Davis Botanical Society Stephen & Jill Rae Conservatory Endowment Student Grants Fund Judy Jernstedt Gerald Dickinson Herbarium Gifts in Kind Dennis Walker Javier Jauregui Lazo Ellen Dean Gerald Dickinson The Law Family Endowment Daniel Potter E.