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Basic Botany Workshops (1-2 days) are introductory level workshops, designed for participants with little or no botanical background. These workshops provide the foundation for the Weekend Workshops.
Fifty Plant Families in the Field
March 26–27 and April 2–3, 2011 (2 consecutive weekends)
Linda and Richard Beidleman
UC Berkeley and field sites in the greater Bay Area
This course will be an introduction to the flora of the San Francisco Bay region and the techniques used to identify plants of California. It is designed for those unfamiliar with plant identification keys who are ready to jump into botanical detective work. Emphasis will 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 to the field site and hike up to three miles each day. Students must take day one before days two to four, because the introductory information will lay the foundation for the rest of the course.
Enrollment is limited to 14 participants.
Course fee $200/$225
Fifty-one Plant Families in the Field
April 2–3 and 9–10, 2011 (two consecutive weekends)
Dean Kelch
UC Berkeley and field sites in the greater Bay Area
California is a cornucopia of plants; many of the plants belong to a few groups that have diversified throughout the world. By learning to identify these larger groupings of plants, we will be prepared to recognize plants wherever we go.
This course will be an introduction to the flora of the San Francisco Bay region, with an emphasis on identifying plants to the family level. A key component of this workshop will be the use of dichotomous keys to identify unknown plants, largely through the use of the family key in The Jepson Manual. We will learn some of the obvious attributes that define the common plant families and larger lineages by looking closely at plants to appreciate their uniqueness and the characters that will lead us toward a correct classification. 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 and web resources valuable for the identification of plants in California. This short course will emphasize some of the recent changes in plant classification and explain why such changes are taking place.
Class will be outdoors except the first morning, which will be held on the UC Berkeley campus. Participants in the class may drive up to 75 miles per day and hike up to three miles each day. Students must take day one before days two to four, because the introductory information will lay the foundation for the rest of the course.
Enrollment is limited to 16 participants.
Course fee $200/$225
A Crash Course in Flowering Plant Families
Two separate workshops: April 7–8 or April 9–10, 2011
Linda Ann Vorobik
UC Berkeley
You are in the field and want to know what family a plant is in: what information do you need? In this intensive plant identification class we will create a framework for learning plants by comparing traits of more than 50 flowering plant families, and learning how to key using The Jepson Manual. Photo-lectures alternate with intensive lab sessions where students learn Vorobik's "divide and conquer" system of understanding groupings of related plant families. Throughout the sessions, botanical terms will be defined and illustrated, and family traits will be outlined, with discussion of revised classification used in The Jepson Manual.
Course fee $150/$175
Flora of San Clemente Island
April 7–April 12, 2011
Steve Junak
San Clemente Island
San Clemente Island is an active Navy base and is generally not open to the public. With an area of 56 square miles, it is the southernmost of the eight California Channel Islands. Feral goats and pigs have been removed from the island and the vegetation has made a remarkable recovery. There are a number of endemic plants and animals living on the island, including island foxes, island night lizards, and the San Clemente loggerhead shrike.
This six-day workshop will focus on the field identification of the island's flora, with an emphasis on insular endemics. At least 15 amazing plant taxa are known only from San Clemente, including
Astragalus nevinii,
Brodiaea kinkiensis,
Camissonia guadalupensis subsp. clementina,
Castilleja grisea,
two subsp. of Delphinium variegatum,
Dudleya virens subsp. virens,
Eriogonum giganteum var. formosum,
Galium catalinense subsp. acrispum,
Lithophragma maximum,
two Lotus
(sensu lato) taxa,
Malacothamnus clementinus,
Munzothamnus blairii, and
Triteleia clementina.
In addition, there are other insular endemic plant taxa that are shared with one or more of the neighboring islands. We will have four full days of botanizing on the island. There will be opportunities to explore beautiful sea coves and rugged coastlines, and to visit many of island's remote corners. Participants will assist the Navy's restoration efforts by mapping rare plant locations and removing nonnative species. Field trips will include moderate hikes of up to three miles over uneven terrain. Hazards may exist due to unexploded ordnance, dense cactus, loose rocky soils, and steep canyons and escarpments.
Workshop fee ($695 for Friends of the Jepson Herbarium, $745 general public) includes airfare to San Clemente Island from North Island Naval Complex in Coronado, hotel-like accommodations in double-occupancy rooms, transportation while on San Clemente, and meals from Friday lunch through Tuesday breakfast.
Fifty Plant Families in the Field—In Monterey
April 28–May 1, 2011
Linda and Richard Beidleman
Asilomar Conference grounds, Pacific Grove and field sites in the Monterey/Carmel Region
This course will be an introduction to the flora of the Monterey Bay region and the techniques used to identify plants of California. It is designed for those unfamiliar with plant identification keys who are ready to jump into botanical detective work. Emphasis will 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 evening, which will be held at the Asilomar Conference Grounds. Participants in the class may drive up to 30 miles per day to the field sites and hike up to three miles each day.
Enrollment is limited to 16 participants.
Course fee $595/$620 includes lodging and meals at Asilomar from Thursday dinner through Sunday lunch. Facilities include double-occupancy rooms with private bathrooms and showers.
Introduction to Plant Morphology
July 30–31, 2011
Anna Larsen and Bianca Knoll Nakayama
UC Berkeley
Would you like to learn more about plant morphology and expand your botanical vocabulary? If so, join us for this workshop where we will explore the morphology of flowers, fruits, and non-reproductive plant structures. Workshop participants will become familiar with the floral characters and terminology frequently used in The Jepson Manual and other plant identification guides. This workshop is designed to start at an introductory level and is appropriate for the beginning botanist, nature lover, or avid gardener.
The workshop includes four three-hour sessions over two days. Each session will consist of a short lecture followed by examination of fresh plant material using hand lenses and dissecting microscopes.
Course fee $150/$175
Weekend Workshops (1-5 days) are designed for botanists, ecologists, conservationists, consultants, educators, amateurs, and agency employees. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the workshop content is technical and the level of instruction will assume that participants have a general understanding of botanical terminology.
Phylogeny, Taxonomy, and Name Changes in the California Flora
February 12, 2011
Dan Potter
UC Berkeley
The names of plants have been in flux for centuries, but in recent years, name changes have occurred at an accelerated pace, due largely to advances in our understanding of evolutionary relationships based on analyses of molecular data using modern phylogenetic methods. The results are sometimes striking. For example, in the forthcoming Jepson Manual, some botanists may be surprised to find Mimulus listed under Phrymaceae and Collinsia and Penstemon under Plantaginaceae, rather than the familiar classification of all three genera in Scrophulariaceae. A major goal of this workshop will be to demonstrate that, while such changes may seem inconvenient in the short term, they serve everyone's best interests in the long term. We'll start by reviewing basic concepts and methods of phylogenetic systematics and principles of taxonomy. We'll then explore how new insights into phylogenetic relationships lead to changes in taxonomy. The second half of the workshop will involve presentation and discussion of specific examples of such changes from the California flora, primarily at the family and genus levels, that are being incorporated in The Jepson Manual.
Course fee $60/$80
Plants that Hunt: Carnivorous Plants and the Deeds They Do!
Workshop cancelled
Barry Rice
UC Berkeley and the UC Botanical Garden
Lichens and Soil Crusts of the Eastern Mojave
March 3–6, 2011
Larry St. Clair
Desert Studies Center, Mojave National Preserve
This short course in biological soil crusts will emphasize the biodiversity as well as the basic structural and functional attributes of arid land soil crust communities. We will also examine components of the desert lichen community that are not part of the soil crust community. Classroom instruction will include information about the biological components of soil crusts, their ecological roles, the nature and dynamics of their interactions with vascular plant communities, the ecological consequences of damaging soil crust communities, and their potential for reclamation. In the laboratory, we will discuss and practice identifying some of the more prominent members of the soil crust community as well as a variety of lichens from other local substrates. Participants will receive handouts and references. During the workshop, we will take field trips to investigate local soil crust communities and saxicolous lichen communities in several locations in the eastern Mojave Desert. Participants in the class may drive up to 30 miles to the field trip sites and may hike several miles. Limited transportation may be available during the workshop. Please contact the herbarium for more information.
Course fee $460/$485 includes lodging and meals from Thursday dinner through Sunday lunch. Lodging will be in double occupancy or dormitory-style rooms. Shared bathrooms have flush toilets and showers.
A Crash Course in Definitions and Methods for Identifying and Delineating California Wetlands
March 11–13, 2011
Terry Huffman
UC Berkeley and field sites in the Bay Area
Wetlands are typically recognized as soggy portions of the landscape that are covered--often intermittently--with shallow water or have soils saturated with water with plants that look different from the surrounding areas. Scientific studies have shown that wetlands are essential to maintaining the biological, chemical, and physical integrity of the aquatic ecosystem. Resulting state and federal programs have been established that regulate impacts to wetlands as part of their overall water quality protection strategy. But, these agencies differ in how wetlands are defined and geographically delineated.
This course will emphasize the wetland definitions and delineation methods used by state and federal agencies in California, including the California Coastal Commission (CCC), State Water Quality Control Board and its Regional Water Quality Control Boards (RWQCB), California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG), U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The course will also provide a comparative overview of the definitions and methods used by these agencies together with the latest changes in methodology and approaches for determining jurisdictional boundaries. The course offers useful information and practical hands-on experience for private consultants, agency personnel, attorneys, academics, and the general public who are involved with resource protection, impact assessment, environmental restoration, and/or seeking project authorization from the CCC, RWQCB, CDFG, or Corps.
We will meet on the UC Berkeley campus Friday morning and early afternoon for classroom lectures, then spend the rest of Friday afternoon on campus and nearby exploring how and why using the various definitions and associated methodologies produce different results in terms of wetland area delineated. We will spend Saturday and much of Sunday in the field gaining further experience with definitions and associated terminology through hands-on experience using the various wetland delineation methodologies, with analysis of results and field delineation of wetland-upland boundaries. Participants in the class may drive up to 75 miles per day to the field sites and hike up to three miles each day over wet, uneven terrain.
Course fee $360/$385
From Sea to Summit: Plants and Communities of San Diego County
March 31–April 3, 2011
Michael G. Simpson
Various sites in San Diego County
San Diego County has the greatest known floristic diversity of any county in the continental United States. A major reason for this is the corresponding high diversity of habitats. Within the South Coast subregion of the California Floristic Province, coastal strand, estuary, inland sage scrub, chaparral, riparian woodland, oak woodland, vernal pool, and grassland habitats are among the major community assemblages. The Peninsular Ranges, including the Palomar, Cuyamaca, and Laguna mountains, contain a number of these communities as well as extensive woodlands and coniferous forests, montane chaparral, and scattered sagebrush scrub. The Colorado Desert, a sub-component of the Sonoran, includes desert succulent scrub, desert wash, alkaline sink, blackbush, and pinyon-juniper communities.
This workshop explores these major habitats and their component plants occurring in our rich county. A slide show orientation on Thursday evening will review these habitats, communities, and vegetation regions and introduce many of the common (and a few rare) plant species that comprise them. Friday will be spent traveling to chaparral, inland sage scrub, grassland, and Torrey pine communities of Mission Trails Regional Park and Torrey Pines State Park, to local estuary and coastal strand/dune communities, and (if the rain pattern permits) to vernal pool communities. On Saturday, we will head to the Anza Borrego Desert State Park, making several stops to observe interesting plants of several community types, followed by optional camping in the desert. Sunday morning will take us to higher elevation pinyon-juniper woodland, followed by montane chaparral and woodlands of the Laguna and Cuyamaca Mountains, returning to San Diego by mid-afternoon. Participants should be prepared for up to 100 miles of driving and several miles of easy to moderate hiking over uneven terrain in potentially hot areas each day. Limited transportation may be available during the workshop. Please contact the herbarium for more information
$300/$325 includes Thursday night dinner and some communal camp resources. Participants must pay for their own lodging and meals. Saturday night camping is in a primitive campground with stored water.
Flora of the Santa Cruz Sandhills
May 6–8, 2011
Jodi McGraw and Randy Morgan
Ponderosa Lodge, Mount Hermon and field sites in Santa Cruz County
The Santa Cruz Sandhills represent one of California's most remarkable examples of edaphic (soil-related) endemism. Amidst the coast redwood forests that dominate the Santa Cruz Mountains, islands of droughty, nutrient-poor sand soils formed from uplifted Miocene (15 mya) marine sand deposits of the Santa Margarita formation give rise to unique plant communities found nowhere else in the world. They include maritime chaparral dominated by the local endemic Bonny Doon manzanita (Arctostaphylos silvicola), and Sand Parkland, which features sparse stands of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) with a diverse and beautiful herbaceous understory featuring many rare and locally unique plants including three endemic forbs: Ben Lomond buckwheat (Eriogonum nudum var. decurrens), Ben Lomond spineflower (Chorizanthe pungens var. hartwegiana), and Santa Cruz wallflower (Erysimum teretifolium). Floristic jewels, the Sandhills are threatened by sand mining, residential development, incompatible recreation, and the invasion and spread of non-native species.
In this course, participants will learn about the diversity and fascinating ecology of the Sandhills flora. Following an overview lecture Friday evening, participants will hike all day Saturday and half day on Sunday through some of the most outstanding remaining Sandhills communities to experience their uniqueness and diversity first hand. Participants in the class may drive up to 15 miles per day to the field sites and will hike one to three miles per day in sandy soil during potentially warm or rainy weather. Limited transportation may be available during the workshop. Please contact the herbarium for more information.
For more information about the Sandhills, go to www.santacruzsandhills.com
Course fee $360/$385 includes lodging and meals from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch. Lodging is in carpeted, heated cabins with bunk beds, indoor bathrooms, and showers.
Poaceae
May 14–15, 2011
Travis Columbus
Location: UC Berkeley
Prominent in plant communities throughout California, the grass family (Poaceae) is the state's second most diverse plant family (after Asteraceae). A species-rich assemblage, its members include cool-season and warm-season species, annuals and perennials, natives and exotics, and widespread dominants and 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.
Course fee $235/$260
Mimulus
May 20–22, 2011
Steve Schoenig
Sierra Nevada Research Institute Yosemite Field Station in Wawona
Mimulus is not only an ecologically and evolutionarily interesting genus, it is also showy and beautiful. California is the center of Mimulus diversity: 80 of the world's 120 species occur in the state. Mimulus diversity is especially rich in the Central and Southern Sierra Nevada, where more than 45 species and forms of monkey flower occur. Members of the genus exhibit specific adaptations, patterns of endemism, and geographic distributions that reflect some of the great themes of California botany such as: response to fire, soil endemism, extreme rarity, occurrence in vernal pools, specialized pollination syndromes, hybridization among taxa, and large morphological variability within species
This class will focus on the central Sierra Nevada taxa but will also cover Mimulus throughout the state. We will discuss Mimulus evolution, ecology, and conservation while visiting some beautiful monkey flower hotspots in the Yosemite region. We will use The Jepson Manual key and review the relevant morphology needed in the key.
A draft of the text and pictures from an upcoming book on California Mimulus will be distributed to class participants. Participants in the class may drive up to 60 miles to the field trip sites and may hike several miles. Limited transportation may be available during the workshop. Please contact the herbarium for more information.
Course fee $360/$385 includes park entrance fee, lodging and meals from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch. Lodging is in cabins with dormitory-style beds, indoor bathrooms, and showers.
From All Angles: Standardized Photography for Plant Identification
May 21–22, 2011
Bruce Kirchoff
UC Berkeley
The recent shift to image presentation by electronic means has created a demand for high-quality plant photographs. If collected in an appropriate manner, sets of standardized photographs can supplement herbarium collections by fulfilling some of the same roles. Unlike single images, sets of standardized images can adequately represent the gross morphology of a plant. The set of images allows the species to be identified, serves as a record the plant's occurrence, and facilitates the creation of new types of keys and learning tools.
Workshop participants will learn how to take standardized photographs, and will receive an introduction to some of the amazing things that can be done with standardized images. We will look at three applications of image sets: their use in visual keys, the creation of e-learning programs, and the visual description of characters. The workshop will involve a photography assignment on the Berkeley campus. Participants should have a (free) Google account and know how to upload and share photos through Picasa Web Albums. If time allows, we will cover geotagging, both with and without a GPS photo-tracker.
Course fee $200/$225
Asteraceae
May 27–29, 2011
David Keil
UC Berkeley
The Asteraceae (or Compositae) is the largest family of dicots and the largest family in California, comprising almost 13 percent of the state's flora. Members of the family occur from polar regions to the tropics, from sea level to the tops of high mountains, and in an extraordinary diversity of habitats ranging from extremely arid deserts to aquatic environments.
The Asteraceae have a reputation as a "difficult" family. In part, this comes from the size of the family and the superficial resemblance many Asteraceae have for each other. In addition, the beginner must learn a set of unfamiliar terms that describe some unfamiliar features of the flowers, fruits, and inflorescences. The reputation is not deserved. Once you get past the terminology hurdle, you should be able to key members of the Asteraceae with no greater difficulty than any other family.
This weekend workshop will include overviews of characters used in circumscription, classification, and identification of Asteraceae and the terms used in reference to those characters. Fresh plants will be used to illustrate the family's unity and diversity. An overview of Asteraceae classification and some recent advances in Asteraceae systematics will be included. Participants will learn about changes in Asteraceae taxonomy in The Jepson Manual and will try out the new key to genera on a variety of native and weedy species. Instruction will include one or more local field trips to develop skills in field identification of genera and species. Participants in the class may drive up to 40 miles to the field trip sites and may hike several miles. Limited transportation may be available during the workshop. Please contact the herbarium for more information.
Course fee $325/$350
Rare Flora of the Panamint Mountains
July 7–10, 2011
Dana York
Mahogany Flat Campground, Death Valley National Park
The Panamint Mountains represent a significant north-south trending geologic feature dividing Death Valley from Panamint Valley. At 11,049 feet elevation, Telescope Peak represents the highest point in the Panamint Mountains and Death Valley National Park. Less than 20 miles away from Telescope Peak is Badwater: at 282 feet below sea level, it is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. With this kind of difference in elevation, the plant communities in the Panamint Mountains are uniquely diverse and range from creosote bush scrub on the lowest slopes to bristlecone pines on the highest peaks.
The trail to the top of Telescope Peak is one of only two constructed backcountry trails in all of Death Valley National Park. This lofty stretch of the Panamint Mountains catches and holds a lot of snow during winter, but the peak can sometimes be climbed without difficulty as early as mid-March with only a mile or so of deep ridgeline snow.
This workshop will introduce participants to the geology and rare flora of the region while exploring the Panamint Mountains. One day will be spent learning about the region's unique flora and landscapes from the Telescope Peak Trail. Emphasis will be given to the Panamint's several endemic and rare taxa. Participants will have an opportunity to explore the following plant communities: desert mountain springs, black brush (Coleogyne ramosissima), sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), pinyon/juniper (Pinus monophylla/Juniperus osteosperma), limber pine (Pinus flexilis), and bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva). Avid birdwatchers will enjoy the myriad bird species known from the Panamints. Lastly, if we are lucky, the group will have an opportunity to see desert bighorn sheep.
Participants should be in good physical condition for this workshop: hikes will be strenuous, through exposed, uneven terrain at elevations above 8,000 feet, in potentially extreme weather conditions, with distances up to 14 miles and 3,000-foot elevation gain. Participants will need to carry at least one gallon of water on hikes. Limited transportation may be available during the workshop. Please contact the herbarium for more information.
Course fee $475/$500 includes campground fees, transportation, and meals from Thursday dinner through Sunday lunch. Lodging is in a primitive campground with pit toilets and stored water.
Flora and Ecology of the Klamath Mountains Enriched Conifer Forests
July 14–17, 2011
Max Creasy and Marla Knight
Russian Wilderness, Klamath National Forest, Siskiyou County
Since Drs. Sawyer and Thornburgh surveyed the eastern escarpment of the Salmon-Scott Mountains in the 1960s and '70s, this rugged and diverse landscape has received much attention from botanists and ecologists. The uniqueness of the area, containing 17 conifer species in one square mile, has led to special land designations (Botanical Special Interest Area and Research Natural Area) by the managing agency, Klamath National Forest. This workshop will explore both upland and wetland habitats in search of (some of) the 414 plant species known to occur in this special place.
John Sawyer will give a lecture on Thursday evening to provide an overview of the area and flora. We'll camp near the town of Etna, and on Friday morning pack animals will carry our gear as we take a moderate four-mile hike at a leisurely pace up to our campsite, stopping along the way to rest and explore the montane mixed conifer and Engelmann spruce forests.
The rest of Friday and Saturday will be devoted to ridge and lake basin explorations. In addition to conifers-including Juniperus communis subsp. saxatilis and the rare-in-California subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa)-- we can expect to see herbaceous species such as California bog asphodel (Narthecium californicum), white marsh marigold (Caltha leptosepala), Salmon Mountain wakerobin (Trillium ovatum subsp. oettingeri), sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), and mycotrophic plants such as sugar stick (Allotropa virgata), snow plant (Sarcodes sanquinea), and phantom orchid (Cephalanthera austiniae). The uplands surrounding the lake basin provide opportunities to botanize in montane chaparral and meadows and to discuss the autecological characteristics of the conifer species and factors leading to their distributions across the landscape. We will spend Sunday morning botanizing before hiking out Sunday afternoon.
Throughout the workshop, we will take selective collections to augment the Klamath National Forest herbarium. Camp support, including pack animals and cooking, will be provided by Trail Blazers, a local company of experienced backcountry packers and cooks. Participants should be prepared for several miles of easy to moderate hiking over uneven terrain in potentially hot areas each day, with an optional strenuous hike to High Lake in search of foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana) and whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) for hardy souls who like to traverse steep and rugged ridge systems.
Course fee $490/$515 includes instruction, pack animal support, campsite fees, and meals from Thursday dinner through Sunday lunch. Our wilderness campsite has potable water, solar showers, and temporary pit toilets with seats. Participants who wish to carry their own personal gear into and out of camp may deduct $60 from the course fee.
Potentilla, Past and Present (Rosaceae: tribe Potentilleae)
Workshop postponed until 2012
Barbara Ertter
Sagehen Creek Field Station, Truckee
Flora of the Warner Mountains
July 28–31, 2011
Judy Perkins and Gregg Riegel
Soup Springs Campground, Modoc National Forest
The Warner Mountains of northeastern California and southern Oregon are on the westernmost edge of the Great Basin Province, and they contain a unique mix of flora from the Great Basin, Cascade Range, and Rocky Mountains. We will focus on the South Warner area, which contains the highest point in the range, Eagle Peak, at 9,892'. From a Forest Service campground base camp at approximately 6800' elevation, we will go on day trips to explore and learn about a variety of plant habitats including sagebrush, mixed conifer forests, gravelly ridgetops, fens, and riparian areas. We will also visit forests of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), a species currently under review by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for possible Federal listing. Some of the species we'll look for include Modoc bedstraw (Galium glabrescens subsp. modocense), Warner Mountain bedstraw (Galium serpenticum subsp. warnerense), bog birch (Betula glandulosa), spiked larkspur (Delphinium stachydeum), doublet (Dimeresia howellii), blue camas (Camassia quamash), Butte candle (Cryptantha celosioides), blue alpine phacelia (Phacelia sericea subsp. ciliosa), and kittentails (Synthyris missurica subsp. missurica). This workshop will involve some moderate day hiking, including forays into the South Warner Wilderness Area.
Course fee $475/$500 includes campground fees and meals from Thursday dinner through Sunday lunch. Lodging is in a developed campground with vault toilets and potable water.
Aquatic Plants
August 13–14, 2011
Don Les
UC Berkeley
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. For those willing to get their feet muddy, a whole 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 aquatic plant diversity than on keys to species. We will use fresh material and illustrations of diagnostic characteristics of families and genera in the classroom. A field trip to a selection of local wetlands will give us a chance to practice field identification.
Course fee $235/$260
Insect-induced Plant Galls of California
September 18, 2011
Diane M. Erwin, Joyce Gross, and Kathy Schick
UC Berkeley
Co-sponsored by the Essig Museum of Entomology and the University of California Museum of Paleontology
Plant galls provide a fascinating array of color and texture on most of the plants in our California landscape. Galls, growths of plant cells that are not normal plant organs, can be induced by a number of organisms. The most numerous as well as most beautiful and intriguing are those induced by insects. Two insect families are found only in plant galls: Cynipidae (gall wasps) and Cecidomyiidae (gall midges or gnats). Plant galls also host a whole ecology of other insects, including herbivorous inquilines and carnivorous parasitoids like the wasp family Ormyridae, which is found only in plant galls. Most of these organisms are too small for us to see, so that the only thing we notice is the colorful gall growth itself.
In this workshop, we will start by exploring the diversity of extant insect-induced plant galls and some of the community of species to be found within them. We will begin our study indoors, using some of Joyce Gross's excellent photographic images of galls and gall insects. Then, we will take a short campus field trip to learn how to find galls; many do occur on plants common in California gardens. We will then dissect and examine galls under microscopes to tease out the development and origins of the gall tissue layers. We will wrap up with discussion about the evolution of the plant host-plant galler interrelationships with examples from fossil galls.
Course fee $115/$140
Instructors
Linda Beidleman has an M.S. in biology from Rice University. She is co-author of Plants of the San Francisco Bay Region and Plants of Rocky Mountain National Park. She has worked with the California Native Plant Society, especially as co-supervisor for the CNPS East Bay plant nursery. Linda teaches short flora and ornithology courses for the Rocky Mountain National Park and the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies.
Richard Beidleman has a Ph.D. in biology (ecology) from the University of Colorado and has taught at the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, and Colorado College. He is a Research Associate at the University and Jepson Herbaria and during the summer he teaches short ecology, ornithology, and flora courses in Colorado. He is co-author of Plants of Rocky Mountain National Park and his most recent book is California's Frontier Naturalists (University of California Press).
Travis Columbus is a Research Scientist at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and Associate Professor of Botany at the Claremont Graduate University. He has a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, where he worked on Bouteloua and related taxa. His current research focuses on the evolution and classification of the grass subfamily Chloridoideae.
Max Creasy recently retired from the U. S. Forest Service where he was the Province vegetation ecologist for the four National Forests of northwest California. During his career he worked extensively on vegetation community classification and mapping programs. His current interests include restoration ecology of the Klamath Mountains and revisiting botanical wonders of the region.
Diane M. Erwin is Curator and Collections Manager of the Museum of Paleontology, UC Berkeley's paleobotanical collections. She received her Ph.D. in paleobotany from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Diane's research spans the Phanerozic, from studies that include work on early seed plants and their relatives, the early lycophytes, to her current interests looking at the systematics, evolutionary and biogeographical history, and paleoecology of western North American Cenozoic plants.
Barbara Ertter, Curator of Western North American Flora at the University and Jepson Herbaria, is primary author of Potentilla and related genera for Flora of North America North of Mexico and The Jepson Manual. She has described several new species in Potentilla, Ivesia, Horkelia, and other genera, as well as making numerous collections from throughout western North America. Ertter is also author of "Annotated Checklist of the East Bay Flora" and co-author (with Mary Bowerman) on the second edition of the Flora of Mount Diablo.
Joyce Gross is a programmer for the U.C. Berkeley Natural History Museums, supporting CalPhotos, the Essig Museum of Entomology database, and other museum databases. In her free time, she hikes and travels to photograph insects. Her photos have been published in various books and magazines.
Terry Huffman has a Ph.D. in botany with research emphasis in wetland plant ecology and has been working as a wetland scientist for over 35 years. He has worked for the Corps of Engineers and as a private consultant. While with the Corps he developed the definition of wetlands and criteria for the delineation methodology currently used by the Corps and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Steve Junak, herbarium curator at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, has been studying the plants of the California Islands for more than 30 years. He is an active field botanist who has co-authored several insular floras, including A Flora of Santa Cruz Island (1995) and A Flora of San Nicolas Island (2008). He is currently working on a revised flora for Catalina Island. He has led numerous field trips to the Channel Islands and to areas of botanical interest on the adjacent mainland.
David Keil received his B.S. (1968) and M.S. (1970) from Arizona State University and Ph.D. (1973) from Ohio State University. He is professor of biology at California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, where he teaches courses in plant taxonomy, field botany, and biogeography. He has authored scientific papers, textbooks, and study guides, and was a major contributor to The Jepson Manual. His research interests include Asteraceae systematics and floristics of western North America.
Dean Kelch is a plant systematist in the Botany Laboratory at the California Department of Food and Agriculture and an Assistant Researcher with the Jepson Herbarium. He received his Ph.D. in botany from UC Davis, studying under the late tropical botanist, Grady Webster. His research focuses on the evolutionary relationships of seed plants, and he specializes in the systematics of conifers, particularly Podocarpaceae, and the North American thistles (Cirsium spp.). He currently is working on a flora of the Carquinez Strait region of California.
Bruce Kirchoff is an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a Visiting Scholar at Berkeley, and an educational entrepreneur. He has developed new teaching methods for plant identification and has produced the first all visual, non-text based keys. His research combines insights from biology and cognitive psychology to improve the reliability of character description.
Marla Knight has been a botanist on the Klamath National Forest for 30 years, and during that time has become very familiar with the local flora. She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Renewable Natural Resources from the University of California, Davis, in 1977.
Anna Larsen is a Research Associate with the University and Jepson Herbaria and has a Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley. Her research interests include ethnobotany and floristics in California and the Pacific Islands. Anna has taught lecture and lab courses in California Plant Life, Medical Ethnobotany, General Biology, and the Biology and Geomorphology of Tropical Islands.
Don Les is a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut and is the director of The George Safford Torrey Herbarium (CONN). His teaching focuses on plant systematics and his research involves the use of molecular data to study the evolution and ecology of aquatic flowering plants.
Jodi McGraw, Ph.D, is an ecologist who works on conservation projects throughout central coastal California. Her dissertation research at UC Berkeley examined the ecology of the endangered plants and rare communities of the Santa Cruz Sandhills. She authored the Sandhills Conservation and Management Plan, which is available on the website she created, www.santacruzsandhills.com.
Randy Morgan is a California Native Plant Society (CNPS) Fellow, and a founding member and past president of Santa Cruz County Chapter of the CNPS. He has been studying and documenting local plant and animal life since the 1970s and worked for many years to gain scientific and public recognition as well as legal protection for threatened local centers of endemism, including the Sandhills. Randy's main interest is systematics and he has discovered many new California taxa in Trifolium, Piperia, and other genera. He is the author of Checklist of Santa Cruz County Plants and various technical publications.
Bianca Knoll Nakayama received an M.A. in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley. While a graduate student in Brent Mishler's lab, her research focused on botany and phylogenetics and she served as a Graduate Student Instructor for courses such as Systematics of Vascular Plants and General Biology. She currently teaches upper level Biology and Chemistry at Menlo School in Atherton, California.
Judy Perkins is the Forest Botanist for the Modoc National Forest, where she manages the botany and noxious weed programs. She has a Ph.D. in Organismal Biology and Ecology from The University of Montana, with a research focus on interactions between whitebark pine seedlings and understory plant species. She has worked in a variety of ecosystems, including the eastern Washington sage steppe, the northern Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Plateau, and the South Dakota Badlands.
Dan Potter is a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis and Director of the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity, including the herbarium. The primary focus of his research is angiosperm systematics and evolutionary studies of crop plants and their wild relatives. He has studied phylogenetic relationships and character evolution across Rosaceae, and relationships and taxonomy within the genus Prunus and the tribe Spiraeeae. At UC Davis, he teaches courses on California Floristics and Ethnobotany, and he is the current chair of the Plant Biology Graduate Group. He is the family editor for Rosaceae for The Jepson Manual.
Barry Rice earned his bachelor's and Ph.D. degrees in physics and astronomy. He is Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Sierra College, where he focuses on astrobiology, and is also a research associate with the UC Davis herbarium. His current carnivorous plant research focuses on the distribution and taxonomy of U.S. species. A writer and photographer, his publications include Growing Carnivorous Plants (Timber Press), Monster Plants (Scholastic), and treatments of Lentibulariaceae and Sarraceniaceae for The Jepson Manual.
Gregg Riegel became interested in the Warner Mountains as an undergraduate at UC Davis at the encouragement of the late Prof. Jack Major. He studied the forest vegetation in the South Warner Wilderness Area as an MS student at Humboldt State University and received a Ph.D. in Rangeland Ecology from Oregon State University (OSU). Since 1991, he has been an Area Ecologist with the USFS in Pacific Northwest Region. He teaches fire ecology at Central Oregon Community College in Bend, and has a Courtesy Graduate Faculty Appointment at OSU.
Kathy Schick received both her masters and doctorate in entomology from UC Davis. For over 20 years she has researched the systematics of tiny wasps (Cynipoidea) over half the species of which are found only in plant galls. She has been a part-time associate specialist at the Essig Museum of Entomology since 1999 and teaches biology as an adjunct faculty member at San Joaquin Delta Community College, near her home in Stockton.
Steve Schoenig is the Supervising Biologist for the CA Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB) and the Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program (VegCAMP) at the California Department of Fish and Game. He has been especially interested in Mimulus for 28 years and has contributed more than 600 Mimulus photos to the CalPhotos website.
Michael G. Simpson is a Professor in the Department of Biology at San Diego State University and Curator of the SDSU Herbarium. He received his Ph.D. in Botany from Duke University in 1983. He specializes in the phylogeny of monocots, particularly the Commelinids. At SDSU, he teaches Plant Systematics, Taxonomy of California Plants, and specialty courses. He is an author of Plant Systematics (Elsevier-Academic Press, 2nd edition 2010), Plant Collecting and Documentation Field Notebook, and co-author of Checklist of the Vascular Plants of San Diego County (2006).
Larry St. Clair received his B.S. and M.S. degrees at Brigham Young University and his Ph.D. at the University of Colorado. He is Professor of Biology and Director of the M.L. Bean Life Science Museum at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He also serves as the curator of the Herbarium of Nonvascular Cryptogams, which houses more than 100,000 lichen specimens.
Linda Ann Vorobik is a Research Associate with the Jepson Herbarium and holds a Ph.D. in biology. She currently researches taxonomic relationships within the Arabis macdonaldiana group using molecular methods, and has taught numerous courses in scientific illustration and botany. An illustrator for over 30 years, her work appears in many scientific books and journals including The Jepson Manual, A Flora of Santa Cruz Island, The Jepson Desert Manual, and the Flora of North America North of Mexico. Dr. Vorobik is currently working on illustrations for the revised edition of The Jepson Manual.
Dana York received his M.S. (1999) from California State University, Fresno, in biology and botany, and his B.S. (1984) in forest management from Humboldt State University. He has worked on floristic and special- status species surveys throughout California and Oregon on both public and private lands. He has discovered new plants in the Oregon Cascade and Sierra Nevada ranges and Death Valley National Park. He was Death Valley's botanist for nearly five years. He currently works in Eureka, California, for Caltrans as an Environmental Unit Supervisor. He lives in Arcata with his wife, Eva, and their two children.
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