| JEPSON HERBARIUM PUBLIC PROGRAMS | |
| BASIC BOTANY |
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This workshop is designed to introduce students to ways in which new plant species arise. Topics will include the basic genetic structure of plant populations and mechanisms that allow populations to differentiate and diverge from each other over time. Special reference will be made to the California flora because the unique flora of the state provides many examples of species that are narrowly endemic or have experienced recent diversification events. Students will review herbarium specimens of selected native species groups in an attempt to correlate distinctive morphological traits with various aspects of those species' ecology and distribution. This will be followed by a discussion of possible selective pressures that have led to the differences we now see among those species. Finally, aspects of California's geography and geology that contribute to such diversifications, namely the wide variety of habitats, will also be discussed.
Course fee $100/$125.
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Would you like to learn how to identify wildflowers or refine your skills and expand your botanical vocabulary? If so, join us for this workshop where we will explore plant classification and the detailed morphology of flowers and fruits. Emphasis will be on learning the floral characters needed to identify plants using The Jepson Manual and other identification guides. Participants will also learn the specialized features of groups such as grasses and composites. Throughout the class, participants will be introduced to plant families that are commonly encountered in California.
Course fee $100/$125. This workshop is designed to start at an introductory level and is appropriate for both beginners and those seeking an in-depth review.
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This course will be an introduction to the flora of the San Francisco Bay region and the techniques used to identify plants ofCalifornia. It is designed for those unfamiliar with plant identification keys who are ready to jump into botanical detective work. Emphasis will initially be on the recognition and keying of plant families encountered in the field. With a working knowledge of common plant families, and comfort in using plant keys, identification is an enjoyable challenge. This is also a great way to appreciate plants and take the time to look at them closely. Although this course will involve no collecting of plants, we will discuss the nature, use, and importance of herbarium collections. There will also be an introduction to reference books valuable for the identification of plants in California. An historical perspective on botanical collecting in California will also be presented. Class will be outdoors except the first morning, which will be held on the UC Berkeley campus in the Valley Life Sciences Building. Participants in the class may drive up to 75 miles per day and hike up to 3 miles each day. Students must take day 1 before days 2--4, because the introductory information will lay the foundation for the rest of the course.
Enrollment is limited to 14 participants.
Course fee $150/$175.
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| BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATION |
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During this weekend, participants will learn how to create accurate pencil drawings of plants and plant parts. No experience is necessary. Experienced illustrators will have the opportunity to hone their techniques. The skills taught will emphasize drawing using scientific methods, field sketching, and reading and interpreting existing scientific illustrations. We will have the opportunity to examine plants in the lab using the dissecting microscope. During a visit to the UC Botanical Garden, we will focus on the illustration of large plant parts and habit sketches.
Course fee $175/$200
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This workshop offers the chance to know wildflowers intimately while sketching and painting them, with individual input from professional illustrator and botanist, Linda Ann Vorobik. The workshop will be conducted on the Coastal setting of the Bodega Bay Marine Reserve. The reserve has dunes, beach, and bluff sites of interest to botanical artists. Mornings will include lectures and presentations and days will include short hikes to the field, where participants will work on their field sketches with individual input from Linda. Evenings will be spent viewing, learning from, and enjoying the results of the day's labors! Beginning artists will benefit greatly from individual artistic instruction. Both beginning and experienced artists will receive valuable botanical information in addition to artistic critique.
Enrollment is limited to 14 students.
Course fee $425/$450. Includes meals and lodging for the duration of the workshop. Lodging is double-occupancy dormatory style rooms with shared bathrooms.
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| TREE OF LIFE SERIES |
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Reconstructing the tree of life is evolutionary biology's greatest challenge. It is an ongoing project that involves large phylogenetic reconstructions on a scale that will enable analyses of huge datasets containing hundreds of thousands of biomolecular sequences. But what are the underlying principles and methods behind the reconstruction of the evolutionary relationships of all living things?
This workshop will provide an introduction to the concepts behind "tree thinking" and phylogenetic principles, and will review the most current understanding of the overall tree of life. In addition, the workshop will introduce the basic methods behind phylogenetic analysis and tree reconstruction, and we will conduct our own phylogenetic analysis in the workshop. The workshop will also introduce the general principles behind the algorithms that are used to build phylogenetic trees in computer analyses, and will provide an interactive demonstration of computer-based tree reconstruction. These exercises will provide the basis for understanding the principles behind reconstructing the tree of life, and we will discuss the practical importance of understanding the evolutionary relationships of organisms for applications such as medicine, bioprospecting, and agriculture.
Course fee $35/$50. This course is intended as an introduction to phylogenetics and tree reconstruction; no prior coursework is necessary. Workshop hours are 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
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In the 1970s, an entirely new and distinct domain in the tree of life was discovered: the Archaea. In appearance, Archaea may resemble bacteria, but they are NOT bacteria; in fact, they are as distantly related to bacteria as we are! Many Archaea are inhabitants of extreme environments: they thrive near deep sea vents at temperatures well above 100 degrees centigrade, in hot springs, or in highly acidic or alkaline waters. They also live in anoxic environments such as mudflats, the ocean bottom, and even inhabit subterranean petroleum deposits! Not all archaea are extreme, however, since a surprising recent discovery showed that about 30% of the open ocean biomass is produced by a mysterious group of archaea that have never been cultured in the laboratory. Along with Bacteria and Eukaryota, Archaea comprise one of the three main domains in the tree of life, however few people appreciate the vast diversity and interesting ecology of this very important group of organisms. In this one-day workshop, Dr. Carrine Blank will highlight some of the recent findings on the phylogenetics and evolution of this group, including ideas about how it fits into the entire tree of life. In addition, Dr. Blank will introduce the unusual physiology and ecology of these extremophilic organisms. Finally, the workshop will explore the Earth's fossil record, and how phylogenomic dating can be used to reconstruct microbial communities on the early Earth. Understanding the Archaea in this context can give us an idea of the environmental conditions of the early Earth, inform us on the characteristics and evolution of life's first organisms, and potentially offer insights into life on other planets.
Course fee $35/$50.
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There have been tremendous advances in understanding of the tree of lifeover the last decade. These new results are in turn enabling many new inferences about evolution, ecology, biochemistry, and genetics. From a botanical standpoint, a new paradigm has emerged. The traditional plant groups are scattered all over the Tree of Life, not even close to being a natural group. The Blue Green "algae" are of course really bacteria, which are prokaryotes (i.e., without a nucleus). There are four main lineages of eukaryotes (with a nucleus) that have historically been called "plants" that are not particularly closely related to each other: green plants, red plants, brown plants, and fungi. There are some other independent lineages of traditional "plants" as well, such as the dinoflagellates, oomycetes, slime molds, and the Euglenoids. On the other hand, all the green plants ARE related to each other, ranging from unicelluar aquatics to huge multicellular beings like redwood trees a fascinating diversity of forms all descended from a single common ancestor that lived about a billion years ago. This workshop will give an overview of these findings (and more besides), in non-technical terms.
Course fee $35/$50. Workshop hours are 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
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Ever since Linnaeus published his explicitly unnatural plant classification in 1753, there have been efforts to produce a more natural plant taxonomy. This approach was galvanized after the acceptance of Darwin's theory of evolution. The study of phylogeny (inferring evolutionary relationships) has waxed and waned over the years, but it has greatly influenced the way we classify organisms. The field has expanded greatly since the 1970s with the growth of cladistics (phylogenetic systematics). By the use of various approaches to data analysis, we have greatly increased our ability to reconstruct the tree of life. In addition, by utilizing the vast amounts of information being produced by comparative DNA sequence studies, we are finding out more about the tree of life than has ever been possible before. Traditional groupings have been confirmed and there have been quite a few surprises. In this workshop, we will examine the most recent evidence concerning the structure of the branch of the tree of life comprising the ferns and the flowering plants, the dominant plant group on land.
In our approach, we will review some past views of plant taxonomy and the characters that have informed them. We will have a short introduction to phylogenetic systematics and some of the radical proposals for changing the entire classification system. We will also visit a molecular phylogenetics laboratory to see how DNA is sequenced and used in phylogenetic studies. We will then study the most recently published findings on the relationships of the larger flowering plant families and higher level groups. A visit to the UC Botanical Garden will allow us to see many of these plant groups and compare them for ourselves. This course will be at an introductory level; it will cover a lot of information. Therefore, it will be most useful to those with some familiarity with the major plant families and/or plant taxonomy (e.g., the 50 Families in the Field workshop).
Course fee $35/$50
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| WEEKEND WORKSHOPS |
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Do you need a digital darkroom? Have you been taking digital photographs and need help with management and post-production to enhance your photos for publication, web-posting, or printing? Photoshop for Botanical Photographers will teach the basics of using Photoshop specifically for post-production of digital images. Designed to help experienced photographers enhance their work through the use of Photoshop tools, participants will learn through instruction and project-based learning how to use Photoshop, as their digital darkroom, to perform B&W conversions, accurate tonal and color correction with both Levels and Curves, cropping, retouching, automating and batch processing. By the end of the course you will understand the technology and the conceptual processes involved in using Photoshop to produce dynamic pictures for the Web, for presentations, and for different printing processes.
Course fee $200/$225. Participants should bring a CD-ROM of several images and a blank disk or storage device for transferring images.
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Do you have a digital camera that you would like to use more effectively? Digital cameras are revolutionizing how we make and share photographs. This course teaches you the basics of digital cameras and their use through an overview of the fundamentals of photography and photographic terminology, combined with how-to techniques for dramatic close-up and macro photography specific to botany, ecology, and nature images. Through lectures, demonstrations, and project-based learning in the computer lab and in the field, you learn all the tools and functionality of your digital camera, how to organize, name, and find your digital pictures, and create more compelling photographs with lighting, composition, and focus techniques. By the end of the course you should understand the technology and the conceptual process involved in taking better photographs and be introduced to producing (using Photoshop 6.0) dynamic pictures for the Web, presentations, and printing.
Course fee $200/$225. Participants should bring their own digital camera (quality and brand unimportant), appropriate media (smart card, flash media, etc.), and appropriate cable or card-reader to allow uploading images from the camera to the computer. Computers are PC and have USB ports.
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Southern San Diego county is a floristically unique landscape and, in some areas, greatly altered or threatened by intense development. Otay Mesa is one site now highly impacted by development. Much of the coastal sage scrub, native grassland, and vernal pool complexes have been removed to make way for houses and supporting infrastructure. Conservation efforts have been successful in protecting much of Spring Canyon, the major canyon bisecting the mesa, as well some of the small vernal pool complexes that remain. Much of the remaining protected land is currently undergoing restoration to improve the current habitat quality and restore natural processes to ensure the ability of these small areas to persist on their own in the future. A field trip to the mesa will allow participants to see the endangered Otay mesa mint, spreading Navarretia, San Diego button-celery, and California Orcutt's grass as well as numerous other rare and endangered plants. Some of these species are found south into Baja California, Mexico, and find their northern range extension on Otay Mesa. If rains are good in 2005, the vernal pools will also be home to spadefoot toads as well as the endangered San Diego and Riverside fairy shrimp species.
Otay Mountain has been subjected to a different anthropogenic threat --- dramatically increased fire frequency. Most of the mountain has been burned repeatedly over the last ten years and the fires' effects on the vegetation of the mountain is quite dramatic. A very active region for illegal border crossing, it is further subjected to the associated border patrols and other activities by federal agents. The mountain represents a unique ecosystem, home to numerous plant and animal species, including the endangered quino checkerspot butterfly, the Tecate cypress, the Mexican flannel bush, plus other rare and endangered species. The flora of these two unique areas will be the focus of our workshop. After a thorough classroom introduction to the flora, the unique aspects of the site, and a brief history of the land-use and management, we will spend a full day at Otay Mountain and a half day exploring the remaining natural areas of Otay Mesa.
Course fee $350/$375 includes lunches, dinners, and field-trip transportation for duration of workshop. Lodging is separate --- a room block will be arranged at a local hotel for out-of-towners to make individual reservations Local residents may attend for a reduced rate without meals. Contact Cynthia for specific details.
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Some may say that if you've seen one borage, you've seen them all. This class will show you that there is more to borages than just spiny hairs and nutlets. The new and improved Boraginaceae is a cosmopolitan family composed of about 130 genera and 2,650 species. Western North America is the biogeographical center and origin of two of the tribes within the family. The family is characterized by considerable diversity in life form, floral and fruit morphology, and habitat. The systematics and evolution of the family will be discussed as they relate to California and the world. This weekend workshop will focus on The Jepson Desert Manual members of the family inhabiting the Owens Valley and the surrounding slopes. There will be an opportunity of looking for a possible new species of Plagiobothrys that should be blooming at this time. Fresh plants, preserved plants, illustrations, and photographs will be used to illustrate examples of some of the key taxonomic characters. To further aid your identification of borages found in this region, a pictorial compilation of the Boraginaceae from published and unpublished floristic sources will also be provided.
Course fee $350/$375 includes meals and lodging for duration of workshop. Lodging is in dormatories with bunk-style beds. Local residents may attend for a reduced rate without meals and lodging. Contact Cynthia for specific details.
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"I am the grass; I cover all" (Carl Sandburg, Grass). Prominent in plant communities throughout California, the grass family (Gramineae or Poaceae) is the state's second most diverse plant family (after Compositae). A species-rich assemblage, its members include cool-season and warm-season species, annuals and perennials, natives and exotics, and widespread dominants to rare endemics. A better understanding of this ubiquitous and diverse family can be gained through this workshop. Participants will be instructed in detail on the vegetative and reproductive features of grasses. Aspects of anatomy, physiology, ecology, and ethnobotany will also be addressed. Most time will be spent learning to use the identification keys in The Jepson Manual. Special attention will be given to difficult couplets and taxa. In addition, participants will learn how to determine major tribes and common genera by use of diagnostic characteristics. Sunday, there will be a field trip to a serpentine prairie to examine grasses in a natural setting.
Course fee $200/$225. If supported by enrollment, an additional section will be offered at the same location the weekend of May 14 -- 15, 2005. On your registration form, please indicate your first choice of dates by marking a "1" next to the workshop title and your second choice of dates by marking a "2" next to the workshop title. We will notify you of the status at least 60 days prior to the workshop.
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Death Valley National Park is a place of extremes; it is the lowest, hottest, and driest place in North America. Ground temperatures of over 200 degrees Fahrenheit have been recorded. At Furnace Creek, the average annual rainfall is around 2 inches, and there have been years with no measurable precipitation. It is only 15 miles distance between Badwater (282 feet below sea level) and the summit of Telescope Peak (11,049 feet above sea level). The diverse climate, topography, and geology are responsible for a unique flora that includes nearly 1,000 native plant taxa, of which, 39 are endemic to the Death Valley region. Participants will learn about Death Valley's endemic flora and Mojave Desert plant communities while exploring the second highest sand dunes in North America, deep canyons, and calcareous outcrops. On the way out from the Dunes, we will venture into the Inyo Mountains for a glimpse of its endemic flora.
Course fee $425/$450 includes meals and camping fees for duration of workshop. The campsite is rustic, with pit toilets, and stored (not running) water.
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The Spring Mountains have the greatest relief of any of Nevada's mountains, rising 9,440 feet from a base elevation of 2,250 feet to 11,690 feet on Mt. Charleston Peak. The Spring Mountains have the most diverse flora (441 genera, 979 species, and 1,100 taxa including varieties and subspecies) of any Nevada mountain. We will spend our time this year between 3,500 and 8,000 feet in Red Rock Canyon, Lee Canyon, and Cold Creek. Environments in this area range from towering sandstone cliffs with hanging gardens and perennial streams, to ponderosa pine forests, to fabulously diverse desert shrublands. There are 17 endemic plant species in the Spring Mountains, and we will be able to see all but the alpine endemics this year. Walk with the authors of Atlas of Nevada Conifers and the soon-to-be published Flora of the Spring Mountains as they help you interpret the magnificent natural history and unique characteristics of this island in the sky. Crack open the brand new, unpublished keys to the flora and trail test them with the author. We will base our operations out of a campsite at about 7,500 ft. in Lee Canyon.
Course fee $425/$450 includes camping fees and meals for duration of workshop. Local residents may attend for a reduced rate without meals and camping. Contact Cynthia for specific details.
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This workshop will focus on the ecology of the pygmy forest and contrast it with that of the redwood forest located nearby. Identification and taxonmony of the vascular plants, fungi, and lichens will be discussed. Field trips will visit Jughandle Ecological Staircase, the College of the Redwoods Sphagnum Bog, and the Van Damme Pygmy Forest. The Pygmy Forest is unique to the Mendocino Coast of California. Pygmy vegetation is located on the third, fourth, and fifth terraces, two to five miles from the ocean, from Navarro River to Ten-Mile with the prime area occurring between Albion Ridge and Hwy 20. Pygmy-like vegetation, but without Bolander pine, occurs in southern Mendocino and northern Sonoma counties. Pygmy soil is highly leached, very acid, nutrient poor, and saturated (bog-like) year-round, with some iron concreted hard pan. Pygmy vegetation occurs on old, relatively flat terraces with little nuturient run off available from higher slopes. The forest is stunted from 1 to 3 meters tall with occasional taller trees. Vigorous growth is usually lacking. The soil is covered with many species of lichens that are elsewhere rare in California. This cryptogamic crust is important in inhibiting erosion in this highly leached edaphically (soil) based community. Reproduction of this community is fire stimulated, the conifers have serotinous cones and the shrubs stump sprout.
Course fee $350/$375 and includes meals and lodging for duration of workshop. Lodging is in double-occupancy rooms with in-room bathrooms.
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A study compiled in 2000 by the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that wetlands across the United States were being lost at approximately 59,000 acres per year in the 1990s, down from 458,000 acres per year in the 1950s. California has the infamous distinction of having the highest level of wetland loss of any state in the country, with a loss of over 90% of our state's historic wetlands. Along with these impacts, there has been an enormous increase in the restoration of wetland habitats over the last 20 years. In large part because of the enormous loss of habitat, California, and especially the Bay Area, has experienced an explosion of interest in wetland restoration. This short course will consider a range of issues related to wetland ecology (with a focus on plants, soils, and hydrology), as well as applied wetland restoration techniques. We will discuss site assessment, the restoration of natural processes, and planting of wetland species. We will meet for a half day on Friday and then spend Saturday and Sunday in the field visiting wetland restoration projects around San Francisco Bay, including a range of ecosystems from salt marshes to riparian wetlands.
Course fee $250/$275 includes lunches and transportation for Saturday and Sunday's field excursions. The workshop will meet in the Valley Life Sciences Building from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m on Friday.
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The Big Sur Coast of California is best known for its spectacular scenery, but its inaccessibility has intrigued marine biologists, who even today have only a sketchy knowledge of its flora and fauna. This weekend workshop will be held at one of the few readily accessible collecting sites in Monterey County south of the Monterey Peninsula. This pristine coast offers opportunities to establish new distributional records for seaweeds. Participants will be shown how to identify various kinds of seaweeds and how to prepare herbarium specimens. Topics of discussion will include the classification of seaweeds, patterns of geographical distribution, and the history of phycological exploration along our coast. The text will be "Marine Algae of California" (Abbott, I.A. & Hollenberg, G.J., Stanford University Press). An introductory lecture will be given Friday evening. Field trips early Saturday and Sunday mornings will provide fresh material for examination during each day.
Course fee $350/$375 includes lodging and meals for duration of the workshop. Limited indoor sleeping accomodations available, most participants will camp creekside on the reserve.
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The thistle tribe (Cardueae) of the Compositae has its center of diversity (as measured by genus number or morphological diversity) in the Mediterranean Region. From this area, many species have become naturalized in North America and are noxious weeds of agriculture, horticulture, and rangelands. Controlling weedy thistles is an entire industry. There also are thistles that we don't hear so much about. The true thistles (Cirsium spp.) include about 80 species indigenous to North America. Many native North American species of Cirsium are characterized by populations with few individuals. Some species are among the rarest plants in the world. For example, of 28 native taxa recognized in The Jepson Manual as occurring in California, nine are listed in the California Native Plant Society's Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of California as globally rare or endangered. The four species listed as endangered under the Federal Endangered Species Act all are endemic to California. One of the worst threats faced by native thistles is removal by well-meaning resource managers and hikers.
In this workshop, we will spend Saturday visiting thistle localities in the North Bay. On Sunday, we will visit localities on the San Francisco Peninsula. We will focus on the identification of local thistles, with an emphasis on distinguishing native and introduced species. We will cover what is known about thistle relationships and evolution, particularly how thistles are similar to and different from other plant groups that have speciated in California. We will visit the fountain thistle and the Suisun thistle, two of the rarest plants in the world, and will discuss their conservation biology. We will also see the promise and danger of biological control in restraining weedy thistles.
Course fee $225/$250 includes lunch both days and transportation for duration of workshop
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Bear Basin Butte is a 5,300 ft peak setting just west of the crest in the high Siskiyou Mountains in northmost corner of the state. A 8,800 acre area around the peak has been designated as Bear Basin Butte Botanical Area by the Forest Service for its diverse mixture of conifers -- 16 in all, abundant shrub species, and outstanding wallflower displays. Those who arrive early on Thursday will be treated to a guided walk through the redwoods at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, where we will camp on Thursday night. On Friday and Saturday, the workshop will lead us through this rich botanical area and emphasize identification of conifers and other plants in the botanical area. We will spend the two nights at the dramatic Bear Basin Butte Fire Lookout with views of the ocean, the 7,300 ft Preston Peak, and other peaks in the Siskiyou Mountains. Sunday we will leave and finish the workshop with serpentine plants along famous Stony Creek, including Darlingtonia californica.
Course fee $425/$450 includes camping and meals for the duration of the workshop. We are camping near a fire lookout where we will stage our meals and evening discussions.
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Salix has a well deserved reputation for being taxonomically difficult. Yet it is such an important component of wetland and alpine ecosystems that accurate species identification is critical. This workshop is designed to help participants learn to identify these important species with confidence. This will be accomplished through field observation, laboratory study, and practical identification. We will consider the nature of taxonomic characters in Salix and their population variability, the behavior of sympatric species, and the importance of hybridization. Several short field trips will be taken into alpine and riparian habitats. In the field, the ecological requirements of Salix and field identification will be emphasized. We expect to see about 15 species. A Guide to California Salix including keys, descriptions, distribution maps, and notes will be provided. The use of interactive keys will be emphasized. A database including all New World Salix and the necessary identification software will be provided. If you have a PC laptop computer, bring it along.
Course fee $350/$375 includes camping fees and meals for the duration of the workshop. Camping is at the Wolverton Boy Scout Camp. If supported by enrollment, an additional section will be offered at the same location during the week of July 18th. On your registration form, please indicate your first choice of dates by marking a "1" next to the workshop title and your second choice of dates by marking a "2" next to the workshop title. We will notify you of the status at least 60 days prior to the workshop.
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The eastern Sierra region offers a diverse and superb summer flora. The objective of this workshop is to expose participants to as wide array of the transmontane florulas as is practical: spending the daylight in the field, keying into the wee hours. This workshop will concentrate on such areas as lower Convict Creek basin, Long Valley, the vicinity of Mammoth, and Rock Creek. Included will be perusal of such unusual habitats as alkali marshes and associated thermal springs; Birch dominated riparian thickets; pumice 'barrens;' aspen stands; subalpine meadows and accessible azonal substrata including marble and much more! We absolutely guarantee at least 500 species will pass before you (sorry --- no discounts if we see only 499!)
Course fee $425/$450 includes meals and lodging for duration of the workshop. Lodging is in dorm-style, single beds in shared rooms. Local residents wishing to participate may do so for a reduced fee. Please contact Cynthia for more details.
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If you're ready to try out your plant identification skills in the field, here's an introductory level workshop on keying Sierran wildflowers and identifying communities and their indicator species. We will visit the great variety of major plant communities found in the eastern Sierra, including desert scrub communities found at the eastern base of the range, up through sagebrush, forest, and riparian communities to the alpine fellfields found on the highest windswept ridges. While in the field and during the evening lab sessions, we will identify plants from each of these communities using The Jepson Manual. This is an introductory workshop requiring no prior experience; however, basic keying skills like those presented "Fifty Plant Families in the Field," or "Morphology and Identification of Flowering Plants" would benefit the participant greatly. Each day will include field trips to a variety of localities, field identification where basic field etiquette will be emphasized (no collecting), with an evening lecture and keying back in the lab. Participants should be physically fit and prepared for heat, or inclement weather, and some vigorous hiking.
Course fee $425/$450 includes meals and transportation for the duration of the workshop.Lodging is in dorm-style, single beds in shared rooms. Local residents wishing to participate may do so for a reduced fee. Please contact Cynthia for more details.
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At summer's end, lowland botanizing is largely long gone . . . at least on dry land. In, on, and around the various lakes, streams, and other wetlands, however, delightfully diverse aquatic plants are still going strong. Some are native, some non-native, representing families both familiar and otherwise, from Alismataceae to Zosteraceae. For those willing to get their feet muddy, a new world of botanizing opens up, with a high probability of finding new occurrence records with relative ease. Because of the broad spectrum of plants that will be covered, the workshop will focus more on gaining familiarity with this diversity, relying on fresh material and illustrations of diagnostic characters of families and genera, than on keys to species. Learn how to tell Zannichellia from Potamogeton, Najas from Callitriche, Elatine from Cypselea. On Sunday afternoon there will be a field trip to a selection of local wetlands.
Course fee $200/$225
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Beginning with an overview of morphological characteristics of composites (family-wide), including a review of terms used in descriptions and keys, we will provide a synopsis of diversity within Compositae and a brief introduction to recognition of tribes. Then, we will concentrate on Heliantheae (broadly defined) and will ultimately focus on diagnostic traits and relationships of tarweeds (Madiinae), including the diverse kinds of Hawaiian tarweeds known as silverswords, which are glamorous descendants of a Californian tarweed. We hope that this workshop will prove to be an effective solvent for sticky problems in tarweed identification and that participants may even come away with enhanced admiration for tarweeds, one of our most maligned and distinctly Californian groups of plants.
Course fee $200/$225
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| SPECIAL SERIES |
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Mushrooms are not only used in cooked foods but also in drinks and pharmaceutical products. This special two-day, "hands on" mushroom workshop will introduce participants to the medicinal fungi studies of Lin Zhi (Ganoderma lucidum), Chong cao (Cordyceps sinensis), White wood ear (Tremella fuciformis) FuLing, (Poria cocos), Maitake (Grifola frodosa), and Zhu Ling (G. umbellata) and teach participants how to set up a medicinal mushroom farm at home. Lecture topics will include medicinal herb philosophical principle "Yi Ji," Dr. Liao's "Chinese medicinal herbs," and a discussion of medicinal mushrooms that occur in the San Francisco Bay Area. We will study mushrooms that occur worldwide, review new information on their many uses, and learn their nutritional and medicinal value. Additionally, we will introduce Chen Shi Yu's Collection of Mushroom Prescriptions (1999) in which he writes of the 2,000-year Chinese medicinal history, including uses of 297 latin-named species and 3,840 prescriptions. He further describes the environmental conditions needed to grow them. In the laboratory portion of the course, strains of medicinal fungi and special techniques and instruments will be introduced. While working with your own culture, an overview of spawning and cultivation will be conducted and participants will be given two cultures have been developed from worldwide collections. Each participant will produce an anti-cancer Ling Zhi kit and delicious and medicinal Maitake kit to take home for incubation for several months and personal harvest. On the second day of the course, participants will have the opportunity to take a guided visit of herb stores in Oakland and San Francisco Chinatowns to study medicinal fungi and herbs in a marketplace setting. We will use BART (Rapid Transit) and walking to arrive at our field trip destinations.
Course fee $225/$250 includes lunches for both days, BART transportation fees for the Chinatowns field trip, and two strains participants can grow at home.
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| INSTRUCTORS |
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George Argus is Curator Emeritus, Canadian
Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada.
He received a B.S. (1952) in Geology and Biology from University of Alaska, an
M.S. (1957) in Botany from University of Wyoming, and a Ph.D. (1961) in Biology
from Harvard University. He taught at the University of Saskatchewan
and was curator
and research scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature. He has had a
long-standing
interest in the taxonomy of Salix and in the use of
computerized interactive
identification. He has contributed treatments of
Salix to many floras, including The Jepson
Manual, and is an editor and contributor to
Flora of North America North of Mexico.
Copyright 2005 by the Regents of the University of California