| JEPSON HERBARIUM PUBLIC PROGRAMS | |
| BASIC BOTANY |
|---|
This workshop will introduce students to the remarkably diverse and species-rich group of organisms known as green plants. It will emphasize features (both reproductive and vegetative) that distinguish green plants from other, more distantly-related groups of photosynthetic organisms. Special attention will be given to the general plant life cycle and the various modifications of this life cycle that define each of the major groups of terrestrial plants. A brief survey of the diversity of green plants will also be given stressing the evolutionary relationships among major groups as they are currently understood. The point of departure for this survey will be the general plant life cycle. From here the workshop will "progress" from the green algae, through the liverworts, mosses, the ferns and their "allies", the cycads, and conifers and conclude with the flowering plants. At each stage important evolutionary advances will be outlined. Live material from each group will be available for examination of reproductive and vegetative characters. This workshop will also include a visit to the UC Botanical Garden where students can view the diversity of green plants.
Registration information
This course will be an introduction to the flora of the San Francisco Bay region and the techniques used to identify Bay Area plants. It is designed for those unfamiliar with plant identification keys, but who are ready to jump into this botanical detective work. Emphasis will initially be on the recognition and keying of plant families encountered in the field. Participants will work with several published plant keys (including The Jepson Manual). 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. 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 be built on.
waiting list only
Registration information
| WEEKEND WORKSHOPS |
|---|
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 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 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.
Registration information
The north coast of California is considered to be one of the best places in North America to find both large numbers and diversity of fungi. We will be dealing primarily with the fleshy reproductive structures that most of us recognize as "mushrooms". Mendocino and Fort Bragg, in the heart of mushroom territory, are ideal locations for this introductory class to the systematics and ecology of California mushrooms. Through lectures, slides, and keying, using David Aurora's Mushrooms Demystified, we will emphasize the family and generic characteristics needed for identification. Both in the laboratory and in the field, students will learn some of the common, edible, and toxic mushrooms found in the area.
Registration information
The bryophytes are a diverse group of "lower" land plants, with some 23,000 described species worldwide, making it the largest group of land plants except for the flowering plants. The group includes three quite distinct lineages: the mosses, hornworts, and liverworts. The bryophytes are generally considered a "key" group in our understanding of how the modern land plants (the embryophytes) are related to each other phylogenetically and how they came to conquer the hostile land environment. Although the bryophytes display much species diversity, a major limitation in the use of bryophytes as study organisms has been the lack of basic floristic and alpha-taxonomic knowledge of the plants in many regions, of which California and the southwestern United States are the most poorly known in North America. The students will learn some simple but necessary, microtechniques in the lab the first day, and look at the basic structure of bryophytes along with taxonomically useful characteristics. The second day, after a morning lab session, the class will go into the field and learn to identify at least major bryophyte groups and discuss and observe their general ecology and evolutionary features of interest. Participants should be prepared to hike up to 4 miles on Sunday.
Registration information
San Diego County is reported to have more species of native and naturalized vascular plants than any other county in the continental United States. This workshop will introduce participants to this remarkable plant diversity. The course will begin with an overview of basic plant morphology and flowering plant family characteristics. Field trips will be conducted in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and areas surrounding the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve and will focus on chaparral and desert communities, with a minor overview of montane vegetation. Some collecting will be done for examination and keying of species in the lab, and basic collecting techniques will be demonstrated. Web pages will be available prior to the course for review of species identification.
waiting list only
Registration information
This course will be an introduction to medicinal plants of the world with a particular emphasis on native California plants and introduced species that have naturalized in the San Francisco Bay Area. Classroom instruction on Saturday morning will consist of a slide presentation and discussion on medicinal plants and the opportunity to examine numerous herbarium specimens of different species. Saturday afternoon and Sunday will be spent visiting Tilden Regional Park and the UC Berkeley Botanic Garden to examine herbaceous and woody medicinal plants. The botany, ecology, geography, and therapeutic uses of the medicinal plant species will be discussed. Ethnomedical descriptions will include plant part used, mode of administration, and the diseases treated by the botanical medicine. Throughout the two days there will be discussions of how these medicinal plants were used by indigenous peoples around the world in the past and how they are used by people around the world today.
Registration information
Military installations often support substantial areas of relatively undisturbed native vegetation and often serve as refuges for rare and endemic species. The California Army National Guard is providing an unusual opportunity to conduct a workshop at Camp Roberts, located on the border of Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties. This workshop, approved as part of the Camp Roberts public outreach program, will highlight the rich flora and diverse ecology of this largely undeveloped parcel of land. We will also discuss the active stewardship program at Camp Roberts, developed to protect the overall environmental quality and important natural resources of the installation, which include several sensitive plants (and animals). Throughout the weekend we will explore botanically rich areas, including vernal pools, oak woodlands, chalk barrens, and limestone cliffs and palisades via paved or good hard-pack dirt roads.
Registration information
"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, however, 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.
waiting list only
Registration information
One might think that the East Bay, with its 2,300,000 residents and extensive development would be lacking in interesting plant resources, however the East Bay still contains a tremendous diversity of more than 1,400 plant taxa. A majority of the land remains undeveloped and every year there continue to be new discoveries, including many rare and unusual plants. The focus of this two-day trip will be to visit publicly owned areas that have not yet been opened to the public or other lands in private ownership. In these lesser known areas of the East Bay we will see populations of rare and unusual plants which are not abundant and were not previously known to occur in the East Bay. This will also be a good opportunity for an overview of the East Bay flora; we will be visiting a variety of plant habitat types during this two day trip, including serpentine, rock outcrops, vernal pools, alkali marsh, perennial grasslands, chaparral, oak woodland, coniferous forest, and riparian systems.
Registration information
Hastings, in the upper Carmel Valley, has been the site of numerous scientific field studies during the past 60 years. As a consequence, a great deal is known about the flora and fauna of this site. We will take advantage of this knowledge as we examine selected aspects of the pollination ecology of the Reserve's spring wildflowers. Several field exercises are planned to demonstrate how and when flowers make their pollen and nectar rewards available to pollinators, and how pollinators use their behavioral, morphological, and physiological adaptations to extract floral resources. Much of our attention will be focused on the rich variety of solitary bee species (200-250 species) and the flowers they visit at Hastings. Not to worry, none of the bee species we will study are in the least bit aggressive. Various bee groups will be examined under magnification to observe relevant morphological adaptations. Participants will be instructed on the wide variety of methods that are used to study pollination relationships. During the evenings, talks will be presented on the topics of pollination syndromes in plants, bee diversity, global pollinator decline, and encouraging pollinators in your backyard environment. Co-sponsored with the Essig Museum of Entomology.
Registration information
Modoc County is in extreme northeastern California. The county contains more than 1,200 species of flowering plants and ferns and includes floristic elements that are both Californian as well as Great Basin. The western part of the county is dominated by extensive old lava flows and is mostly at an elevation between 4,000 and 5,000 feet. This area, known as the Modoc Plateau, contains many vernally wet areas with distinct assemblages of plants. Near the eastern side of the county the Warner Mountains run from Oregon to the north into Lassen County to the south. This isolated mountain range is completely separate from the Sierra Nevada, and rising to almost 10,000 feet, it has both subalpine and alpine communities at higher elevations. East of the Warner Mountains, Surprise Valley is truly part of the Great Basin and contains both desert and sagebrush areas. This workshop will sample habitats in all of these regions with a concentration on the Warner Mountains and Surprise Valley. An evening lecture will feature the flora and vegetation of this very un-Californian part of the State.
waiting list only
Registration information
The Sequoia National Forest and Sequoia National Park provide a wonderful setting for studying the flora and ecology of the southern Sierra Nevada. Field excursions will focus on the diversity of plant communities and numerous geological formations that provide the backdrop for an evaluation of the flora. We will see several southern Sierran endemic plants and rare species and observe habitats from oak woodlands up to subalpine coniferous forests. Most areas of interest will be readily accessible by vehicle and short walks will take us into other various areas; these walks will not be long or strenuous. We plan to car-camp, changing locations each day. Campsites will have limited amenities. Car-pooling will be encouraged by participants to both reduce impacts to the environment and provide better access to field sites with limited parking.
waiting list only
Registration information
The magnetic appeal of islands is shared by Santa Catalina, an oasis of underdevelopment so near and yet so far from the Los Angeles megapolis. Long famed for its colorful kelp beds and Mediterranean-blue water, Catalina is of special interest to botanists because of the large number of taxa that occur only on the island or only there and on other Channel Islands. The marine flora of Catalina is distinctly warm-water, including a small group of insular endemics.
This weekend workshop will introduce participants to seaweeds of southern California, growing on nearly pristine shores. Instruction will be given in keying and in the preparation of herbarium specimens. Topics of discussion will include the history of our knowledge of southern California seaweeds (with emphasis on Catalina), how they have performed on the mainland in the face of pollution, and the role that the Channel Islands play in the intricate biogeographical pattern between Point Conception and Baja California. The text will be Marine Algae of California (Abbott and Hollenberg, 1976. 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.
Registration information
This will be primarily a field course located at the Lanphere Dunes Unit of Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge and will therefore emphasize the dunes of northern California. The course will cover the physical and biotic processes that underlie dune formation and ecosystem functioning and how these processes relate to restoration. Other topics will include vascular and non-vascular floristics, plant ecology (including invasive weeds), dune fauna (including invertebrates), and common restoration techniques. Participants will view local restoration projects at different stages of completion. Slide lectures on Friday and Saturday evenings will include other California dune systems, and participants will be able to apply what is learned to dune systems elsewhere. Participants should be prepared to do some fairly strenuous walking in soft sand and travel by car up to 30 minutes from our original location.
Registration information
The northern boundary of the California Floristic Province includes the Siskiyou Mountains, a transverse range that crosses over the border into Oregon. The Siskiyou Mountains escaped recent glaciation and are therefore characterized by many endemic plant species and relict populations. This exceptional and mostly unexplored east/west range is at the crossroads of the Cascades and Klamath Ranges, with influences from coastal Oregon and Sierran floras.
This workshop will introduce participants to the flora and geology of the region. Over the course of the weekend, weather permitting, we will botanize in the following areas and habitats: meadows and glades on the south face and alpine areas of Mount Ashland, Wrangle Gap, serpentine areas of Red Mountain, alpine tops and saddles of Dutchman and Observation Peaks, and meadows and red fir forests around Grouse Gap Shelter. We will be based in a Klamath National Forest campground (about 10 miles west of Interstate 5) with spectacular views of Mount Shasta and Mount Ashland. We plan to car-pool to field sites and trail heads and we may hike up to 4 miles per day. Hiking will be along the predominantly flat Pacific Crest Trail, and driving will be on unpaved Forest Service roads. Plant lists will be provided!
waiting list only
Registration information
The genus Eriogonum Michx. is one of California's largest and most frequently encountered genera of flowering plants. It ranges from the edge of the Pacific to the heights of the Sierra Nevada to the shore of an ancient pluvial lake near Badwater in Death Valley. With some 115 of the 240 species of Eriogonum within California's political boundaries, those interested in the flora of the state must be aware of the diverse variation encountered in the genus and those additional genera that make up the subfamily Eriogonoideae. The purpose of this workshop will be to 1) review the history of discoveries, 2) review the general morphology and taxonomically significant features of the plants, 3) illustrate the major taxonomic groups and species complexes, 4) discuss the ecological and habit characteristics as well as the distribution of eriogonums and relatives in California and elsewhere, 5) work with commonly available keys, and 6) have hands-on experience identifying various members of the group in the field and laboratory.
If supported by enrollment, an additional class will be offered at the same location July 13 - 15, 2001. Please call the herbarium for scheduling confirmation. Participants may register for one session only.
waiting list only for July 20 - 22, but
STILL ACCEPTING ENROLLMENT FOR July 13 - 15, 2001
Registration information
The White Mountains are located at the southwest corner of the Great Basin floristic region, and their geologic and habitat diversity, high relief (over 10,000 feet), and proximity to the Sierra Nevada and Mojave Desert all contribute to their high floral diversity. They contain one of the most diverse and thoroughly documented vascular floras of any desert mountain range, with nearly 1,100 taxa in 89 families and 375 genera. The White Mountains are also known for their ancient bristlecone pines and for containing the highest point in Nevada and the third highest peak in California.
The workshop will begin Thursday evening in Bishop with an evening slide show. Friday will be spent in the low elevation region of Deep Springs Valley and Saturday and Sunday will be spent in higher elevation and alpine areas. Through driving tours (high-clearance, multi-passenger vehicles needed) and easy to moderate walks (some at elevations of 10,000 to 12,000 feet), participants will have the opportunity to explore the general vegetation and geology of the White Mountains, sample several habitats and elevation zones, pursue and identify flora (common, rare, and unusual), and learn to observe some of the geographic and ecologic factors influencing species distributions and adaptations.
Registration information
Carex is the largest genus of vascular plants in California. It is well represented in hydric, mesic, and even periodically dry habitats throughout the state. Among the most species-rich areas of the state are the mountain meadows of the Sierra. The Field Campus offers a particularly rich spectrum of sedge diversity illustrating many of the subgeneric and tribal groupings of Carex. Daytime field work in the vicinity can be supplemented by evening study of fresh materials collected from more distant areas. As a result, we anticipate that most of the major groups of the genus will be seen during the weekend workshop.
waiting list only
Registration information
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 divers 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.
Registration information
| BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATION |
|---|
During this weekend participants will learn how to render pencil drawings of plants and plant parts with scientific accuracy. No experience is necessary; however, even experienced illustrators will have the opportunity to hone their techniques. And, of course, all will benefit from looking at and enjoying the beauty of plants. The skills taught will emphasize field sketching and reading and interpreting existing scientific illustrations. We will focus on the illustration of large plant parts and habit sketches. We will also have the opportunity to examine plants using the dissecting microscope.
Registration information
| INTERNATIONAL BOTANY |
|---|
Ecuador harbors one of the most diverse floras on earth and plans are underway to visit and explore several regions of the country. Possible field locations include: the Maquipucuna Reserve, a 4,500 hectare nature reserve that boasts undisturbed cloud forest; Bilsa Biological Station where we will experience a transition zone between lowland and montane forests; and Llanganates National Park where we will have the opportunity to explore the paramo. Our guides will be Dr. Alan Smith, Research Botanist and Curator of ferns at the University Herbarium, UC Berkeley, authority on tropical ferns and fern allies, and Dr. Grady Webster, Professor Emeritus, UC Davis, expert on Euphorbiaceae and author of the newly revised and illustrated checklist of the plants of the Maquipucuna Reserve. These two experts will introduce us to the flora and guide us through the fascinating habitats of this unique country. The trip is being planned for late summer, 2001. If you are interested in joining us, please contact Staci Markos at the Jepson Herbarium to receive more details.
| INSTRUCTORS |
|---|
Bruce G. Baldwin is Curator of the Jepson Herbarium and an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley, where he teaches Vascular Plant Systematics. Bruce received his Ph.D. at UC Davis in 1989. His research emphasizes systematics (including the use of biosystematic, molecular, and phylogenetic methods) of Californian vascular-plant groups, especially our native Compositae. He is also involved in floristic research in California's Mojave Desert.
| REGISTRATION POLICY & FEES |
|---|
Botanical Illustration
Basic Illustration
$160 / $175)
Facilities Use Fee: In addition to the course fee, there will be a separate fee for facilities use for those workshops that are held off the UCB campus. The use fee will include room and board where applicable and will be billed approximately 60 days prior to the course.
For more information contact Staci Markos at (510) 643-7008
E-mail:
smarkos@socrates.berkeley.edu
Copyright 2000 by the Regents of the University of California