Calochortus tiburonensis photo by Mary Aline Stevens

MARIN CHAPTER
CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY

Dedicated To The Preservation of California Native Flora
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Become a member (or renew membership in) the California Native Plant Society
MEETINGS ~ FIELD TRIPS ~ PLANT LISTS updated
LINKS ~ WILDFLOWER REPORTS ~ VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE ~ Current newsletter (June-August 2013)
Upcoming Marin CNPS Events
Chapter Meetings
  Monday, June 10 "Emerging Trends for Native Grasses" by guest speakers Ingrid Morken, Jim Hanson, and Richard King
  monthly Marin CNPS chapter meetings resume in October
Nursery Work Days
  Tuesday (1–3pm) June 11,25; July 9,23; August 6,20
  Thursday (11am-3pm) June 6,20; July 18; August 1, 15, 29
Third Thursday Weeders
   Thursdays June 20, July 18, August 15 Point Reyes National Seashore
Field Trips
  Saturday, June 22 Ring Mountain Fire Recovery: One Year Later
  Saturday, June 29 Orchids at Olompali
  Sunday, July 7 Bull Point Trail with Doreen Smith
  Tuesday, July 9 Low Tide at Corte Madera Creek
  Marin County Open Space District Naturalist Outings with David Herlocker
more Volunteer Opportunities in Marin County
Marin Plant of the month by Doreen Smith:
Chorizanthe valida photo by Doreen Smith Chorizanthe valida, Sonoma spineflower
"This is one of the rarest plants in the world now found as a natural population only on Point Reyes National Seashore. There is some doubt that the original type specimen really came from Sonoma County and it is possibly a Marin endemic. Sonoma botanists need to check for it near Duncan's Mills to refute this statement!
"The plants are annuals so populations fluctuate in numbers and the size of individual plants. The pictures show well-developed plants from a "good" year Each year can be different depending on the weather conditions present before and during the vegetative period. The Seashore personnel monitor it carefully and check on its survival. Flowering begins in June in the sites which it favors they do best in an unusual sort of coastal soil. It is one of the local native annual species likely reliant on animal grazing to keep down competing non-native species of grasses and other weeds."

For more information about and photographs of California native plants,
visit Calflora, CalPhotos. or USDA PLANTS
Ring Mountain Grassland Restoration Project
Join Marin County Parks for our regular drop-in volunteer program on Ring Mountain, where we will be working to restore the native grasslands that make this preserve so special. Work is mildly strenuous, but family friendly. Drop-in days are always held on the last Saturday of every month.
10 a.m.–1 p.m.
Saturday, June 29
Saturday, July 27
Saturday, August 31
For more information, contact Sam Abercrombie at sabercrombie@ marincounty.org, or visit the Marin County Parks events page for information about upcoming workdays: www.marincountyparks.org.
Meeting Place: the end of Taylor Road, off of Paradise Drive, in Tiburon.
Mount Tamalpais Bioblitz
The Marin Municipal Water District is pleased to partner with the California Academy of Sciences to conduct the second in a series of bioblitzes on the Mt. Tamalpais Watershed. A “bioblitz” is a focused, citizen science survey that captures the biodiversity of plants in a defined area. Participants will visit distinctive and beautiful sites on the watershed to photograph and collect plants for the Academy’s research collections. Last year, our citizen scientists made nearly 700 written observations, recorded data on over 300 plant species, and collected about 200 specimens.
Now it is time to survey another part of the watershed, and we need your help on:
Saturday, August 10 (day-long bioblitz)
Pre-registration is required. To join us, email or call (415) 945-1128. For more information and details please contact Jaimie Baxter, 415.945.1169.
CNPS Rare Plant Treasure Hunt
The Rare Plant Treasure Hunt is a citizen-science program started by CNPS in 2010 with the goal of getting up-to-date information on many of our state’s rare plants, while engaging chapter members and other volunteers in rare plant conservation. Many of California’s rare plant populations have not been seen in decades and some parts of the state have seen little to no botanical exploration to date. This program helps conserve our rare flora by providing valuable data to the CNPS Rare Plant Program and the Department of Fish and Game. Event Calendar
Favorite Marin Plant Walks - Mountain Home to West Point
a Native Plant Identification website under construction by Bruce Homer-Smith and Marin CNPS. Please try it out.
Doreen Smith's Rare Plant Report 2012
2012 supplement to Marin Flora 2007
Marin CNPS Photo Gallery
Marin State and Federally Listed Rare, Threatened, or Endangered Plants
Common Bay Area Spring Wildflowers
Common Bay Area Shrubs
Summer Wildflowers of Abbotts Lagoon area
Spring Wildflowers of Abbotts Lagoon area
Arctostaphylos species of Marin County
Orobanche species of Marin County
Some Native Orchids of Marin County
Delphinium bakeri pictures and article
Plant Communities of Marin County
Wildflower reports from Marin County
Trillium ovatum photo by James Sprague February 24, 2013
James Sprague reports: "Trilliums are emerging from the soil in the shade of the redwoods, on the Bootjack Trail out of Muir Woods. Saw them first on Wednesday February 20th and again yesterday on the 23rd."

Trillium ovatum - click on image for full photo
For more information about and photographs of California native plants,
visit Calflora, CalPhotos. or USDA PLANTS
Report (email us) your Marin native plant sightings and photographs
Gardening with Native Plants in the San Francisco Bay Area
Native Plants that Attract Birds
Sowing Wildflowers in Your Garden
Is That Plant Really Native? Genetic Considerations for Conservation, Restoration and Horticulture by Dr. Paul G. da Silva
The new edition of John Thomas Howell's classic 1949
Marin Flora is co-authored by Wilma Follette, Catherine Best and Frank Almeda, Senior Curator of Botany at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, and is a joint project of the Marin Chapter of the CNPS and the Academy of Sciences. This updated edition has added 416 line drawings to assist in keying species, new well-tested dichotomous keys, and color photos of plant communities in Marin. There are new maps along with satellite images of Marin County. As much as possible has been preserved of Howell's original plant descriptions that have long delighted botanists as well as his insights and poetic observations. Hard and soft cover books will be available for purchase at chapter meetings or you can Order Marin Flora from the Marin Chapter CNPS. Marin Chapter members have contributed many hours of volunteer labor andexpertise; work was carried out at the Academy where plant specimens are retained. Publication was made possible by Tom Howell's generous remembrance of the chapter in his will when he died in 1994.
2012 supplement to Marin Flora 2007

Cover illustration: "Mt. Tamalpais from Corte Madera Creek" by Tom Killion © 2004
California's Wild Gardens showcases the splendid abundance of California's native plants in their natural settings - from foggy rain forests and rolling grasslands to high alpine meadows and parched deserts. The book offers a close-up look at more than one hundred special sites in the state, highlighting their distinctive ecology, the rare and unique plants found in them, and some of their more familiar botanical treasures. With its spectacular color photographs and lively writing by some of California's best biologists and ecologists, California's Wild Gardens is the perfect introduction to the state's remarkable botanical diversity. Like the best travel guides, it will inspire its readers to further explore California's natural heritage. In addition to illuminating California's botanical bounty, this book discusses threats facing the state's flora and describes protection efforts now under way.
Find this and more at the Pickleweed Press Website
CNPS Grass and Wildflower Posters
Plant Communities of Marin by David Shuford and Irene C. Timossi
Invasive Alert - Lepidium latifolium - Pt. Reyes staff have been finding scattered new populations of Perennial Pepperweed in Tomales Bay and would greatly appreciate reports of any plants seen around Tomales Bay. Please contact Ecologist Lorraine Parsons at Lorraine_Parsons@nps.gov. with information as to the location (as precise as possible), size, and life stage (flowering, fruiting, etc).
Lepidium latifolium description and photos
Junior Botanists Program
E-mail questions or comments to Marin CNPS 		Calochortus tiburonensis photo by Mary Aline Stevens



Our logo is the Tiburon Mariposa Lily
(Calochortus tiburonensis). This extremely rare lily can be seen blooming from the end of May through mid-June among the serpentine rocks of Ring Mountain in Marin County, California. In fact, this is the only place in the world it has ever been found growing in the wild. It was first noticed by botanists in 1971 when the small patch of land on which it lives passed from private into public hands. The plant is now in cultivation and can be seen in botanic gardens.
Try your hand at identifying the parts of this flower:
or
View more photographs of this lily in its native habitat
or
Visit the College of Marin's "To See A World Project" to learn more about Ring Mountain

The California Native Plant Society
is a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of California native plants and their natural habitats, and to increasing the understanding, appreciation, and horticultural use of native plants. It seeks to accomplish these goals in a number of ways, through: The work of the Society is carried out primarily by the volunteer efforts of the members of CNPS chapters throughout the state. Money at the State level is provided by the dues of members. Local chapters raise money through plant sales and poster and book sales. The California Native Plant Society has 9,000 members statewide. The Marin Chapter, which was founded in 1973, has approximately 500 members.

Chapter Websites:
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 PHOTOGRAPHS AND WILDFLOWER IDENTIFICATION AIDS:
  • CalPhotos UC Berkeley Digital Library Photo Collection consists of 63,460 images of California plants (native and naturalized) and habitats. You can search for plants by name, location (there are 1734 plant images taken in Marin County), or type and color.
  • USDA PLANTS Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories.
  • California Academy of Sciences: California Wildflower Search
  • Ron Parson's Flowershots Photographs of Orchids and other Wildflowers as well as lots of links to orchid sites and sites of general botanical interest
  • Reny Parker's Wildflowers An image gallery of wildflower, native plant, and landscape photographs. Currently over 1,750 images identified to 78 plant families.
  • Dpn Bain's Virtual Guidebook to Marin and the North Bay Counties (and loads of other spots spanning western North America): Scroll through 360-degree panoramas, each seamlessly stitched together from 12 still photographs. They even tell you how to create your own. Definitely entertaining if you have QuickTime software already installed or want to download it.
WILDFLOWER REPORTS:
CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY:
Join (or renew your membership in) the California Native Plant Society

The Marin Chapter of the California Native Plant Society thanks Geology Professor Jim Locke and the College of Marin for hosting our Web Pages.

e-mail Marin CNPS
webster Mary Aline Stevens