$5.00 (Free to Members) VOL. 35, NO. 2 • SPRING 2007 FREMONTIA JOURNAL OF THE CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY NATIVE PLANTS, PUBLIC ART, AND SAN DIEGO’S NEW GREEN LINE MARCUS JONES, ACID-TONGUED BOTANIST OF THE WEST SEEDS OF BEAUTY ADDING THREAT RANKINGS TO CALIFORNIA’S RARE AND ENDANGERED PLANTS NEW CNPS FELLOWS: VOLUMEBARBARA 35:2, ANDSPRING ROLAND2007 PITSCHEL, STEVE HARTMAN CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY FREMONTIA CNPS, 2707 K Street, Suite 1; Sacramento, CA 95816-5113 Phone: (916) 447-CNPS (2677) Fax: (916) 447-2727 VOL. 35, NO. 2, SPRING 2007 Web site: www.cnps.org Email: [email protected] Copyright © 2007 MEMBERSHIP California Native Plant Society Membership form located on inside back cover; Bart O’Brien, Editor dues include subscriptions to Fremontia and the Bulletin Bob Hass, Copy Editor Mariposa Lily . $1,500 Family or Group . $75 Benefactor . $600 International . $75 Beth Hansen-Winter, Designer Patron . $300 Individual or Library . $45 Kitty Blassey, Editorial Assistant Plant Lover . $100 Student/Retired/Limited Income . $25 Brad Jenkins, Amanda Jorgenson, Jake Sigg, and Carol Witham, Proofreaders STAFF CHAPTER COUNCIL Sacramento Office: Jim Bishop (Chair), Larry Levine (Vice CALIFORNIA NATIVE Executive Director . Amanda Jorgenson Chair), Sarah Jayne (Secretary) PLANT SOCIETY Development Director . Melissa Cirone Alta Peak (Tulare) . Joan Stewart Finance & Administration Manager . Bristlecone (Inyo-Mono) . Dedicated to the Preservation of Cari Porter Sherryl Taylor the California Native Flora Membership & Sales Coordinator . Channel Islands . David Magney The California Native Plant Society Christina Neifer Dorothy King Young (Mendocino/ (CNPS) is a statewide nonprofit organi- At Large: Sonoma Coast) . Lori Hubbart zation dedicated to increasing the un- Fremontia Editor . Bart O’Brien East Bay . Delia Taylor derstanding and appreciation of Califor- El Dorado . Amy Hoffman nia’s native plants, and to preserving Senior Conservation Botanist . Kern County . Lucy Clark them and their natural habitats for fu- position open ture generations. Rare Plant Botanist . Kristi Lazar Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mtns . CNPS carries out its mission through Senior Vegetation Ecologist . Julie Betsey Landis science, conservation advocacy, educa- Evens Marin County . Bob Soost tion, and horticulture at the local, state, Vegetation Ecologist . Anne Klein Milo Baker (Sonoma County) . and federal levels. It monitors rare and East Bay Conservation Analyst . Liz Parsons endangered plants and habitats; acts to Lech Naumovich Mojave Desert . Tim Thomas save endangered areas through public- Legislative Advocate . Vern Goehring Monterey Bay . Rosemary Foster ity, persuasion, and on occasion, legal Mount Lassen . Catie Bishop action; provides expert testimony to Legal Advisor . Sandy McCoy Napa Valley . John Pitt government bodies; supports the estab- Website Coordinator . Mark Naftzger lishment of native plant preserves; spon- CNPS Bulletin Editor . Bob Hass North Coast . Larry Levine sors workdays to remove invasive plants; North San Joaquin . James Brugger and offers a range of educational activi- BOARD OF DIRECTORS Orange County . Sarah Jayne ties including speaker programs, field Brad Jenkins (President), Sue Britting Redbud (Grass Valley/Auburn) . trips, native plant sales, horticultural (Vice President), Steve Hartman (Trea- Marie Bain workshops, and demonstration gardens. surer), Lynn Houser (Secretary). At Riverside/San Bernardino counties . Since its founding in 1965, the tradi- Large: Charli Danielsen, Dave Flietner, Katie Barrows tional strength of CNPS has been its Sacramento Valley . Diana Hickson dedicated volunteers. CNPS activities Diana Hickson, Arvind Kumar, David San Diego . Dave Flietner are organized at the local chapter level Magney, Spence McIntyre where members’ varied interests influ- San Gabriel Mtns . Gabi McLean ence what is done. Volunteers from the PROGRAM DIRECTORS San Luis Obispo . Lauren Brown 33 CNPS chapters annually contribute CNPS Press . Holly Forbes Sanhedrin (Ukiah) . Vishnu in excess of 87,000 hours (equivalent Conservation . position open Santa Clara Valley . Kevin Bryant to 42 full-time employees). Horticulture . Peigi Duvall Santa Cruz County . Brett Hall CNPS membership is open to all. Posters . Bertha McKinley Sequoia (Fresno) . Peggy Jones Members receive the quarterly journal, and Wilma Follette Shasta . Susan Libonati-Barnes Fremontia, the quarterly statewide Bul- Rare Plants . position open Sierra Foothills (Tuolumne, Cala- letin, and newsletters from their local veras, Mariposa) . Patrick Stone CNPS chapter. Vegetation . .Todd Keeler-Wolf South Coast (Palos Verdes) . MATERIALS FOR PUBLICATION Barbara Sattler DISCLAIMER: Tahoe . Michael Hogan The views expressed by authors published CNPS members and others are wel- come to contribute materials for publi- Willis L. Jepson (Solano) . in this journal do not necessarily reflect Mary Frances Kelly Poh established policy or procedure of CNPS, cation in Fremontia. See the inside back and their publication in this journal should cover for manuscript submission in- Yerba Buena (San Francisco) . not be interpreted as an organizational structions. Jo-Ann Ordano endorsement—in part or in whole—of their ideas, statements, or opinions. Printed by Premier Graphics: www.premiergraphics.biz FREMONTIA VOLUME 35:2, SPRING 2007 CONTENTS THE GREEN LINE by Nina Karavasiles ................................................................... 3 Bringing native plants into the public’s consciousness is a challenge. Artist Nina Karavasiles chose to focus on native plants and recycled materials for her inspirational work on the 70th Street trolley station along San Diego’s Green Line—the busiest transportation corridor in the county. MARCUS JONES: AN OUTSPOKEN MAVERICK: 1852–1934 by Elizabeth Rush ................................................................................................. 9 Marcus Jones (1852–1934) was a botanist with “attitude,” but in addition to stirring up trouble, he made significant contributions to his field. He established a large herbarium and described hundreds of new species. By publishing new species on his own, he gave impetus to the independence of the Western botanical establishment from the Eastern hierarchy. He also contributed a rich supply of stories to the botanical lore. A HARVEST OF SEEDS by Michael Wall and John Macdonald ...................... 14 The beauty and diversity of Californian seeds are the subjects of this expanded photo essay. Seeds are the promise of life on one hand, and signal the end of life for annuals, biennials, and other plants that are termed monocarpic (a plant that produces seeds once in a life- time). All seeds serve the same basic functions, yet these marvels of evolution display an astonishing array of forms, colors, and textures to fulfill such deceptively simple goals. WHERE DID THE CNPS RED CODE GO? by Kristi Lazar ............................ 18 The author presents the recent implementation of a new Threat Rank designation for plants listed in the Society’s indispensable Inventory of the Rare and Endangered Plants of California. This new system supersedes the Society’s previous Rarity, Endangerment, and Distribution (RED), and Rarity, Endangerment, Vigor, and Distribution (REVD) codes. Problems inherent in the previous systems and how the new system addresses these concerns and brings a new level of clarity to the Inventory are explained. NEW CNPS FELLOWS: ROLAND AND BARBARA PITSCHEL by Jake Sigg ......................................... 22 Barbara and Roland Pitschel were instrumental in the founding of the Yerba Buena Chapter of CNPS in 1986. With their ongoing efforts (since 1972) on behalf of the award winning restoration of Bernal Heights Park, they are true pioneers in the field of ecological restoration. STEVE HARTMAN by Jo Kitz ........................................................................... 23 Steve Hartman has served the Los Angeles/Santa Monica Mountains Chapter for over 30 years, and the state board of CNPS for over 25 years. His long standing concern for California’s plant communities was one of the keys to the establishment of CNPS’s Plant Communities Program. He served on the California Desert District Advisory Council and created the Vertical Vegetation Program at Joshua Tree National Park. BOOK REVIEWS ........................................................................................................................26 THE COVER: The rough-textured seeds of the corkseed fish-hook cactus (Mammillaria tetrancistra). Photograph by John Macdonald. VOLUME 35:2, SPRING 2007 FREMONTIA 1 EDITORIAL: WALNUTS USEFUL WEBSITES AND CONTACT ccasionally, my mind wanders from reveries of native plants to the concrete reality imposed by money—and I must think of walnuts. INFORMATION ODo you like walnuts? We should all be listening to what walnuts California Native Plant have to tell us, as it is such a compelling tale of conservation imperatives Society (CNPS): and economic reality. There are both native and exotic species of walnuts present in California. www.cnps.org, with links to The exotic species, the so-called English walnut (Juglans regia) though it is conservation issues, chapters, not native there) is the oldest documented “tree food” collected and eaten by publications, policies, etc. humans back to at least 7000 B.C. Not surprisingly, this exotic walnut was an For updates on early immigrant to California, though the first commercial orchard was not conservation issues: