Iris No. 69 • January 2013 The Alberta Native Plant Council Newsletter Revisiting ANPC’s Rare Plants Book by Linda Kershaw of Alberta, you will see that each Line drawing – Illustrations came consists of five main components: from a variety of sources, including an a block of text (name, description, ANHIC collection of commissioned and notes); a photo; a line drawing; drawings and a variety of previously an Alberta distribution map; a North published works (most notably the America distribution map. five-volume Flora of the Pacific Northwest published by the University of Text – Although the four editors Washington Press). The ANPC even compiled, organized, and edited the commissioned some original drawings information, there were also more to fill the last remaining gaps. than 30 additional Alberta botanists who contributed species accounts Alberta distribution map – The and other text (you can see their detailed Alberta dot maps were smiling faces on page 483 of the provided by ANHIC during the last book). Alberta Environment staff days of production. These were (first through the Recreation and generated electronically using the Protected Areas Program and later ANHIC/ACIMS (Alberta Conservation through the Alberta Natural Heritage Information Management System) Information Centre [ANHIC]) was database. key to the project, from generating When Rare Vascular Plants of Alberta the initial species list to sorting out North America distribution map was finally published in 2001, it was taxonomic problems and providing a – The Biota of North America the culmination of 10 years of work wide range of information. Also, several Program (BONAP) at the University of involving many dedicated volunteers. distinguished botanists from outside the North Carolina kindly provided North From conception to completion, ANPC generously donated hours of the book was a collaborative effort, time to review the completed text. See Rare Plants Book, page 2 with more than 100 individuals and – Thirty-seven organizations involved. In the following Photo In this Issue . paragraphs, I have purposely left out photographers generously individual names and funding agencies, donated photos for the Blasted Birches ................................................................ 5 because there are just too many. If you book, and most gave the University of Calgary Herbarium .................................6 want more details, check out the preface ANPC permission to Botanical Legacy of W. C. McCalla ..............................8 in the book. duplicate their images for Whitehorse Wildland Park Steward Report ................ 9 use in educational material. Cranberry Common Names ........................................10 When you look at most species Identifying Hieracium Species of Alberta ...................12 treatments in Rare Vascular Plants Rare Plants Book, from page 1 school library in Alberta. Generating of these have been removed because America distribution maps. Mapping mailing labels for all of the libraries of taxonomic confusion or lack of projects are a huge undertaking, was surprisingly time-consuming, but information, but most (48 or 10% of much too complex for a volunteer eventually over 700 books were sent the original 484) are now considered organization like ANPC to tackle, so out, and the ANPC received a flood of too common or widespread to be generous donations from ANHIC and thank-you notes from pleased librarians. classified as rare. Similarly, an additional BONAP were very important to the 30 species (6% of the 484) have been book. Another objective of the book was moved from the tracking list to the to help botanists and other plant watch list, because they are now known Something that you might not notice enthusiasts identify and report the to be more widespread than they at first glance is the overall design locations of rare plants, so that the appeared in 2001. of the book. When all of the components were finally You would think that this compiled, the University of would result in a substantially Alberta Press (UAP) and shorter tracking list for the Canadian Forest Service took province. But Alberta botanists on the task of joint publication. are a busy bunch. Each year Staff at the UAP designed the they find new and therefore cover and the page layout and rare species to report. Of the proceeded to insert all of the bits 442 species on the May 2012 and pieces into the appropriate tracking list, 54 species do slots—a major undertaking not appear in Rare Vascular with 415 photos, 480 drawings Plants of Alberta and of these, and >800 maps to place, plus 35 also do not appear in the hundreds of pages of text. At Flora of Alberta. The ANPC is last, all of the information and trying to fill this information illustrations began to form a gap. Accounts have been real book. As production neared completed for 18 of these new completion, 15 additional rare species, and the treatments can species were identified for be found in the publications inclusion, and these were added section of www.anpc.ab.ca. Of as an addendum to bring the course, work continues on the book truly up-to-date. remaining species. If you have good photos of any of the And so, in 2001, the Rare Vascular new species that you would be Plants of Alberta finally hit the willing to share, please let us shelves and was welcomed with know. open arms and rave reviews. In 2002, it was awarded the Scholarly Book Northern fringed gentian That brings us up to the present. of the Year at the Alberta Book Awards Gentianopsis detonsa ssp. raupii There are only a few books remaining and it also received the Canadian Forest S1 in print, and there are lots of changes Photo L. Kershaw Service Merit Award. to be made, so this would seem to be a good time for a revision. We hope But the ANPC’s work was not yet ANHIC/ACIMS database could more to meet with the publishers soon to done. One of the major reasons for accurately reflect the distribution and discuss possibilities. Maybe an electronic producing the book was to spread the status of these species. We like to think version would be the way to go this word about Alberta’s rare plants to non- that the Rare Vascular Plants of Alberta time. We will let you know! botanists. To this end, we applied for has been instrumental in achieving and received a grant to purchase and this goal over the past 11 years. Of the distribute copies of the Rare Vascular original 484 rare species in the book, See Rare Plants Book, page 3 Plants of Alberta to every municipal, 68 (13%) are no longer included in university, college, and senior high the ACIMS tracking/watch list. Some 2 Iris No. 69 • January 2013 Rare Plants Book, from page 2 Alberta Native Plant Council Species in Rare Vascular Plants of Alberta No Longer on the Tracking List or Watch List Garneau P.O. 52099 Edmonton, AB T6G 2T5 website: www.anpc.ab.ca e-mail: [email protected] 2000 2012 Species Pg # President SRank SRank Kelly Ostermann Populus angustifolia S3 S3 10 [email protected] Oplopanax horridus S3 S3 19 Vice- President Leslie Monteleone Vaccinium uliginosum S2 S3 23 [email protected] Potamogeton natans S2 S3 32 Secretary S2 S3 35 Laurie Hamilton Potamogeton praelongus [email protected] Malaxis monophylla S2 S3 54 Treasurer Eriogonum ovalifolium S3 S3 60 Amar Keshri [email protected] Chenopodium leptophyllum SU SNR 66 Directors Ranunculus gelidus S3 S3 87 Marsha Hayward (Northern) Aquilegia formosa S2 S3 90 [email protected] Tony Blake (Central) Draba fladnizensis S1 SNA 95 [email protected] Vacant (Southern) Draba kananaskis S1 SNA 96 Chrissie Smith (Nature Alberta) Draba glabella S1 SNA 98 dragonfl[email protected] Barbarea orthoceras S2 S3 102 Membership Secretary Erysimum pallasii S3 S3 106 Kelly Ostermann [email protected] Cardamine bellidifolia S2 S3 108 Volunteer Coordinator Cardamine umbellata S2 S3 109 Janine Lemire [email protected] Drosera anglica S3 S3 111 Conservation Action Sarracenia purpurea S2 S3 113 John Potter Saxifraga nelsoniana S2 S3 117 [email protected] Parnassia parviflora S2 SNR 125 Education and Information Mari Decker Astragalus lotiflorus S2 S3 133 [email protected] Jim Posey Oxytropis jordalii SRF SNA 136 [email protected] Psoralea argophylla S3 S3 137 Rare Plants Lupinus lepidus SRF SNA 140 Leslie Monteleone [email protected] Epilobium oreganum SRF SNA 155 Norma Calvo [email protected] Epilobium mirabile ? SNR 156 Reclamation and Horticulture Pterospora andromedea S3 S3 166 Kristyn Housman Primula stricta S1 SNA 167 [email protected] Asclepias ovalifolia S3 S3 176 Webmaster Mark Mayner Veronica serpyllifolia S3 S3 193 [email protected] Pedicularis lanata S2 S3 201 Newsletter Committee Dana Bush Castilleja lutescens S2S3 S3 202-3 [email protected] Laurie Hamilton Orobanche ludoviciana S2 S3 205 [email protected] Patricia McIsaac Orobanche uniflora S2 S3 205 [email protected] Alfred Falk [email protected] See Rare Plants Book, page 4 No. 69 • January 2013 Iris 3 Rare Plants Book, from page 3 Species in Rare Vascular Plants of Alberta No Longer on the Tracking List or Watch List (cont’d) 2000 2012 Species Pg # SRank SRank Machaeranthera tanacetifolia SX SX 220 Psilocarphus elatior S2 SNA 229 Antennaria monocephala S2 SNR 231 Coreopsis tinctoria S2 S3 235 Hieracium cynoglossoides S2S3 S3 253 Juncus filiformis S2S3 S3 259 Juncus confusus S2S3 S3 260 Eriophorum scheuchzeri S3 S3 271 Carex haydeniana S3 S3 281 Carex loliacea S3 S3 287 Carex trisperma