$5.00 (Free to Members) VOL. 41, NO. 2 • MAY 2013 FREMONTIA JOURNAL OF THE CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS HISTORICAL STUDY PARRY AND THE PINES SPREAD OF CHEATGRASS INTO EASTERN SIERRA CALIFORNIA’S FIRSTFIRST FLORAFLORA ‘ELLAVOL. 41, NELSON’S NO. 2, MAY 2013 YELLOW’ BUCKWHEAT FREMONTIA CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY CNPS, 2707 K Street, Suite 1; Sacramento, CA 95816-5130 FREMONTIA Phone: (916) 447-CNPS (2677) Fax: (916) 447-2727 Web site: www.cnps.org Email: [email protected] VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 MEMBERSHIP Copyright © 2013 Membership form located on inside back cover; California Native Plant Society dues include subscriptions to Fremontia and the CNPS Bulletin Bob Hass, Editor Mariposa Lily . $1,500 Family or Group . $75 Benefactor . $600 International or Library . $75 Beth Hansen-Winter, Designer Patron . $300 Individual . $45 Brad Jenkins, Cynthia Powell, and Plant Lover . $100 Student/Retired/Limited Income . $25 Mary Ann Showers, Proofreaders CORPORATE/ORGANIZATIONAL + CALIFORNIA NATIVE 10 Employees . $2,500 4-6 Employees . $500 7-10 Employees . $1,000 1-3 Employees . $150 PLANT SOCIETY STAFF – SACRAMENTO CHAPTER COUNCIL Dedicated to the Preservation of Executive Director: Dan Gluesenkamp David Magney (Chair); Larry Levine the California Native Flora Finance and Administration (Vice Chair); Marty Foltyn (Secretary) Manager: Cari Porter Alta Peak (Tulare): Joan Stewart The California Native Plant Society Membership and Development Bristlecone (Inyo-Mono): (CNPS) is a statewide nonprofit organi- Coordinator: Stacey Flowerdew Steve McLaughlin Conservation Program Director: zation dedicated to increasing the Channel Islands: David Magney Greg Suba understanding and appreciation of Dorothy King Young (Mendocino/ California’s native plants, and to pre- Rare Plant Botanist: Aaron Sims Vegetation Program Director: Sonoma Coast): Nancy Morin serving them and their natural habitats Julie Evens East Bay: Bill Hunt for future generations. Vegetation Ecologists: El Dorado: Sue Britting CNPS carries out its mission through Jennifer Buck-Diaz, Kendra Sikes Kern County: Dorie Giragosian science, conservation advocacy, educa- Education Program Director: Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mtns: tion, and horticulture at the local, state, Josie Crawford Betsey Landis Marin County: Carolyn Longstreth and federal levels. It monitors rare and Administrative Asst: Marcy Millett Milo Baker (Sonoma County): endangered plants and habitats; acts to Sales/Chapter Horticulture Coordinator: Caroline Garland Lisa Giambastiani save endangered areas through public- Mojave Desert: Tim Thomas STAFF – AT LARGE ity, persuasion, and on occasion, legal Monterey Bay: Brian LeNeve action; provides expert testimony to Fremontia and CNPS Bulletin Editor: Mount Lassen: Catie Bishop government bodies; supports the estab- Bob Hass Napa Valley: Gerald Tomboc Legislative Consultant: lishment of native plant preserves; spon- North Coast: Larry Levine Vern Goehring North San Joaquin: Alan Miller sors workdays to remove invasive plants; East Bay Conservation Analyst: Orange County: Nancy Heuler and offers a range of educational activi- Mack Casterman Redbud (Grass Valley/Auburn): ties including speaker programs, field Development Consultant: Joan Jernegan trips, native plant sales, horticultural Sandy McCoy Website Coordinator: Mark Naftzger Riverside/San Bernardino: Katie workshops, and demonstration gardens. Barrows Since its founding in 1965, the tradi- PROGRAM ADVISORS Sacramento Valley: Glen Holstein tional strength of CNPS has been its Rare Plant Program Senior Advisor: San Diego: David Varner dedicated volunteers. CNPS activities Jim Andre San Gabriel Mountains: Orchid Black are organized at the local chapter level Vegetation Program Senior Advisor: San Luis Obispo: Kristie Haydu where members’ varied interests influ- Todd Keeler-Wolf Sanhedrin (Ukiah): Geri Hulse- Horticulture Program Chair: Stephens ence what is done. Volunteers from the Laura Camp 33 CNPS chapters annually contribute Santa Clara Valley: Judy Fenerty CNPS Press Director: Nancy Morin Santa Cruz County: Deanna Giuliano in excess of 97,000 hours (equivalent Poster Program: Bertha McKinley, Sequoia (Fresno): Paul Mitchell to 46.5 full-time employees). Wilma Follett Shasta: Ken Kilborn CNPS membership is open to all. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sierra Foothills (Tuolome/Calaveras/ Members receive the journal Fremontia Brett Hall (President); David Bigham Mariposa): Robert Brown three times a year, the quarterly state- (Vice President); Laura Camp (Secre- South Coast (Palos Verdes): wide CNPS Bulletin, and newsletters tary); Nancy Morin (Treasurer); At- David Berman from their local CNPS chapter. Large: Bill Hunt, Brian LeNeve, Vince Tahoe: Michael Hogan Scheidt, Alison Shilling, David Willis L. Jepson (Solano): Varner, Steve Windhager; Chapter Mary Frances Kelly-Poh Disclaimer: Council Representatives: Orchid Yerba Buena (San Francisco): The views expressed by authors published Black, Steve Hartman Ellen Edelson in this journal do not necessarily reflect established policy or procedure of CNPS, MATERIALS FOR PUBLICATION and their publication in this journal should CNPS members and others are welcome to contribute materials for publication not be interpreted as an organizational in Fremontia. See the inside back cover for submission instructions. endorsement—in part or in whole—of their Staff and board listings are as of February 2013. ideas, statements, or opinions. Printed by Premier Graphics: www.premiergraphics.biz FREMONTIA VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 CONTENTS A HISTORICAL COMPARISON OF HABITAT AND PLANT POPULATIONS IN THE MID-RANGE SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS by Jane Tirrell, Walter Fidler, Jane Strong, and Graham Bothwell ............................................................... 2 In a high elevation region of the San Gabriel Mountains, CNPS members compared plant populations and flowering times in 2011 with similar data from 1981. They also documented changes brought about by a 2002 fire. THE SPREAD OF CHEATGRASS INTO THE EASTERN SIERRA by Amy Concillo ...................................................................................................... 10 Although ubiquitous throughout the Great Basin Desert, cheatgrass has had little impact at higher elevations thus far. Can we stop its spread before it rises to new heights? PARRY AND THE PINES by Elizabeth Adelman ................................................ 14 A brief saga of Charles Christopher Parry, famous 19th century US botanist, his travels in early California, and his contributions to the state’s flora and to protecting the Torrey pines. THE GARDEN INTRODUCTION OF ERIOGONUM NUDUM ‘ELLA NELSON’S YELLOW’ by Eric Nelson ................................................................. 20 As climate conditions become warmer and drier, this colorful new buckwheat cultivar, selected from a seldom-used species, is a good choice for home gardeners. THE BOTANY OF CALIFORNIA: CALIFORNIA’S FIRST FLORA by James P. Smith ................................................................................................... 22 European botanists first collected in California in the late 18th century, but it was almost a hundred years later that our first comprehensive state flora was published. BOOK REVIEW ..........................................................................................................................28 THE COVER: A Torrey pine (Pinus torreyana subsp. torreyana) in Torrey Pines State Reserve, La Jolla, California. Photograph by Patrick Lee. Story on page 14. VOL. 41, NO. 2, MAY 2013 FREMONTIA 1 LEFT: 1981 view of the east boundary of the Lily Spring study site from a turnout on the Angeles Crest Highway. Photograph by Wayne Sawyer. RIGHT: 2011 view of the same landscape. The area from Lily Spring down to the highway is the small portion of the study site that did not burn in 2002. Many dead trees line the steep meadow in the left side of the picture. The most striking difference between the 1981 and 2011 views is on the slope between the meadow and Mt. Hawkins which was deforested in several places (see corresponding red area on the map, page 5). Photograph by Jane Tirrell. A HISTORICAL COMPARISON OF HABITAT AND PLANT POPULATIONS IN THE MID-RANGE SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS by Jane Tirrell, Walter Fidler, Jane Strong, and Graham Bothwell henology—the timing of bio- San Gabriel Mountains centered reports and photographs on the logical events such as flower- around Lily Spring (Sawyer 1987). chapter website (www.cnps-sgm. ing, breeding, and migration— Gary suggested that a chapter project org/lilyspring). We spent 2010 learn- provides information about repeating the survey 30 years later ing the identities and locations of Phow well animals and plants are would provide an excellent means the plants in the study site, con- adapting to changing conditions. of documenting changes in plant ducted the survey of flowering times Interest in phenology has been in- populations and flowering times. in 2011, and collected vouchers (re- creasing among botanists and oth- Flowering phenology was impor- tained in the herbarium at Rancho ers concerned with conserving na- tant to Sawyer because of his inter- Santa Ana Botanic Garden) in 2012. tive plant communities as the threat est in competition among insect pol- of climate change has become more linators (Sawyer 1985). In addition apparent. to listing flowering dates, his Crosso- COMPLICATIONS OF In January 2010, the San Gabriel soma article described the study site, REPEATING A 30-YEAR-