Jepson Herbarium 2016 Workshops
Our 22nd Season!

On-campus workshops meet on the UC Berkeley campus. Some workshops are held entirely in the classroom; other workshops include a field trip to a Bay Area field site (usually within an hour’s drive of campus). Transportation may be included: see workshop descriptions for details.

“All-Inclusive” field workshops include meals and lodging in the workshop fee.

“Do It Yourself (DIY)” field workshops do not include meals; we’ll build in a dinner break each night so you can either prepare dinner or drive to a nearby town to eat. In the morning, we’ll meet no earlier than 8:30 AM so that you have time to eat breakfast and make or purchase a sack lunch. Lodging at a campground or field station may be included for some DIY workshops. Participants who prefer private accommodations may make their own arrangements.

Read the workshop descriptions carefully for details, to be sure you know what is and isn’t included for each workshop you consider.

Workshop fees are listed as Friends of the Jepson Herbarium member/General Public. Click here to join the Friends.

On-Campus Workshops

Forest Diseases
February 27-28
Matteo Garbelotto
Location: UC Berkeley and a Bay Area Field Site

This workshop—a must for anyone with an interest in the preservation of natural ecosystems—describes the most serious infectious diseases that have either been introduced or have emerged in California because of intensive forest management. After an introduction to the ecological role of native diseases, the theory behind biological invasions by destructive pathogens will be reviewed and discussed. The bulk of the workshop will deal with the description of the causal agents, the epidemiology, and the ecological impacts of the most important forest and tree diseases in California, including but not limited to: White pine blister rust, Sudden Oak Death, Dutch Elm Disease, Pine Pitch Canker, and Annosum root rot. Students will learn not only the biology of the pathogens, but also how to identify symptoms and the impacts of all important diseases already broadly established in California. For each disease, valid disease control practices will be discussed. We will split our time between the classroom and local field sites, where we will see some of these forest diseases first-hand.

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Chaparral Fire Ecology
March 12
Lindsey Hendricks-Franco, Brian Peterson, and Kate Wilkin
Location: UC Berkeley and a Bay Area Field Site

Chaparral is a quintessential part of the California landscape. Many different types of chaparral can be found throughout the state harboring a broad diversity of species, including more than 25% of the state’s flora and fauna species. A shared trait of all the various forms of chaparral is a deep entanglement with fire. Almost immediately after chaparral burns, post-fire specialists spring to action: fire beetles home in on smoldering wood, annual plants whose seeds have been hiding in the soil for decades emerge, and birds use burnt perches to survey newly-opened hunting grounds.
In addition to its ecological splendor chaparral also harbors a tumultuous and political past with some people actively trying to remove it from the landscape while others have been fighting for its conservation. In this workshop, we will offer an overview of the history, management issues, and ecology of chaparral. The morning will be spent in the classroom followed by a special field trip to the 2015 Wragg fire on the Stebbins Reserve, where we will explore chaparral ecology firsthand. The field trip may include up to 3.5 hours of travel (round trip) in a van and moderate hiking up to 2.5 total miles over uneven terrain in hot conditions.

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50 Families in the Field: Introduction to Keying (Berkeley)
March 31-April 3 Workshop is full! Wait list only.
Linda Beidleman
Location: UC Berkeley and Bay Area Field Sites

Are you ready to jump into botanical detective work? With a working knowledge of common plant families, and comfort in using taxonomic keys, identification can be an enjoyable challenge. This workshop introduces students to the flora of the San Francisco Bay Area and the techniques used to identify plants of California. Emphasis will be on learning to recognize characteristics of the Bay Area’s plant families. We will practice keying plants in the field using the third edition of the book Plants of the San Francisco Bay Region: Mendocino to Monterey (Linda H. Beidleman and Eugene N. Kozloff, 2014). A general familiarity with morphological terms is helpful but not necessary; these will be reviewed during the introductory session. The workshop will be held outdoors (rain or shine). Participants may drive up to 75 miles per day to the field sites and walk up to three miles each day (easy hiking). This workshop will not involve collection of plants. Students must attend all four days of the workshop, because the introductory information will lay the foundation for the rest of the workshop. Please note that this is an introductory workshop, geared towards beginning botanists. Participants must purchase their own copy of the book.

Registration preference will be given to individuals who have not previously attended 50 Families in the Field.

Registration information Workshop is full! Wait list only.

“I am the grass; I cover all.” —Carl Sandburg, “Grass”

Prominent in plant communities throughout California, the grass family, Poaceae, is the state’s second most diverse plant family (after Asteraceae). Its members include cool-season and warm-season species, annuals and perennials, natives and exotics, and widespread dominants and rare endemics. This workshop will provide a better understanding of this ubiquitous, species-rich family. Participants will be instructed in detail on the vegetative and reproductive features of grasses. Aspects of anatomy, physiology, and ecology will also be addressed. Most time will be spent learning to use the identification keys in the second edition of The Jepson Manual. Special attention will be given to difficult couplets and taxa. In addition, participants will learn how to identify common genera by using diagnostic characteristics. If conditions are favorable, we will go to the field on Sunday afternoon; most of this class will take place in a lab classroom.

Registration preference will be given to individuals who have not previously attended a Jepson-sponsored Poaceae workshop.

Workshop fee: $250/$275

Registration information Workshop is full! Wait list only.

It is nice to know your grasses and rushes, but you must master sedges to understand California’s meadows, many of which are dominated by the genus Carex. We will learn the groups of Carex, using both dried and fresh plant material, existing keys, and some new resources. We will study plants in the field and with dissecting microscopes in the lab, and we encourage students to bring fresh or pressed sedges from other parts of the state for examination. This workshop begins on Friday afternoon on the UC Berkeley campus. Saturday and Sunday will be a combination of lab and field work, with at least half of one day at a local field site. The workshop will end at 5:00 PM on Sunday.

Registration information Workshop is full! Wait list only.

The mustard family (Brassicaceae or Cruciferae) includes over 335 genera and some 3,700 species distributed worldwide, especially in western North America and Southwest Asia. The workshop will include a detailed PowerPoint introduction of the characters of mustards, diversity and distribution of the family worldwide, especially in California, and diagnostic features of the most common genera. The workshop will showcase important characters from live material and models and will focus primarily on identification of the genera and species of freshly collected Californian mustards using both conventional and interactive keys. The workshop will conclude by summarizing the exercise and providing key diagnostic characteristics for all plants studied. Copies of the most recent version of the interactive key to the Brassicaceae genera of the world will be distributed to the participants.

Registration information Workshop is full! Wait list only.

This workshop serves as an introduction to the evolution of plants and terrestrial ecosystems in the Paleozoic Era (541-252 million years ago). Participants will learn about the earliest plant life, transition to land, and emergence of terrestrial ecosystems. We will discuss ancient fossilized plant assemblages, their ecological properties, and how major environmental changes impacted their evolution. In addition, we will interpret how plants have influenced the shaping of our planet. Lectures will be complemented by an interactive lab in which we cover paleobotanical research techniques, examine Paleozoic plant fossils from the collections of the UC Museum of Paleontology, and compare the fossils to some of their closest living relatives.

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Become fern fluent! This course will be an introduction to the ferns of the world, with a focus on species that can be observed in the wild in California. We will learn the basics of fern morphology (What is an indusium? Is a frond just a leaf by another name?), fern ecology (including the spectacular desert ferns of the southwest), fern development (with luck, everyone will get their own gametophyte), and fern evolution (are ferns “ancient” plants? What are their closest living relatives? Why did all the Cheilanthes in California just become Myriopteris?). We’ll end the course with a virtual tour of the major groups of ferns and their representatives here in California, and with a literal tour to the UC Botanical Garden to see the impressive fern collection there. The goal is to turn all course participants into skilled fern-observers: when next you see a fern you’ll understand what it is, what it does, how it does it, and where it came from, evolutionarily-speaking. Some keying of fern specimens will be involved.

Registration information Workshop is full! Wait list only.

The area around the San Francisco Bay has a unique lichenological position, combining the “moderate extremes” of a cold, constantly moist hypercoastal climate with warmer, drier conditions in the East Bay. One result of this juxtaposition is that of the 1,930 lichen species reported for California, approximately 495 are conservatively reported within 40 miles of the Bay Area. This diversity of epiphylls, crusts, foliose, squamulose, and fruticose lichens is largely overlooked and understudied.

This class is well-suited to people who know what a lichen is and will provide an expanded foundation and tools for identifying lichens to genus. Familiarity with a dissecting microscope is useful but not essential. It is highly recommended that you have experience using dichotomous keys, and essential that you bring a 10-14 power hand lens (we have some 10x lenses available to borrow). Friday afternoon will be an introductory presentation/lecture involving Powerpoint and provided specimens. The remaining two days will be composed of field work (with easy hiking) followed by lab time, working on your own collections.

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All-Inclusive Field Workshops

Arctostaphylos
February 5-7
Tom Parker and Michael Vasey
Location: Hastings Natural History Reservation and Monterey County Field Sites

Species of Arctostaphylos (family Ericaceae, subfamily Arbutoideae) are commonly known as manzanitas in California. The genus has a high degree of endemism and more than 90 taxa are found here, with several species extending out of the California Floristic Province, including the circumboreal A. uva-ursi. Species range from small, prostrate, woody plants to tree-size forms; all are evergreen. Manzanitas are important members of a number of plant communities, especially chaparral.

A group considered difficult by many people, manzanitas can be identified by (and appreciated for) their morphological and ecological differentiation. A new book, Field Guide to Manzanitas: California, North America, and Mexico, written by the instructors and Michael Kauffmann, helps to illustrate and clarify these differences. The class will focus on key taxonomic characters on Friday and Saturday, as well as some background on manzanita evolution, distribution patterns, and ecology. Fresh material from different species will be used. Sunday will include a field trip to several different habitats, learning to identify species by features available, as well as gaining new insights on their ecological and evolutionary patterns.

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Santa Catalina Island
April 8-11 (Friday-Monday)
Steve Junak
Meeting Location: San Pedro, California

With an area of 75 square miles, Santa Catalina is one of the largest and most diverse of the eight California Channel Islands. Its vascular flora comprises about 430 native taxa and 220 non-native taxa. Arctostaphylos catalinae, Cercocarpus traskiae, Dudleya virens subsp. hassei, Eriodictyon traskiae subsp. traskiae, Eriogonum giganteum subsp. giganteum, Galium catalinense subsp. catalinense, Lyonothamnus floribundus subsp. floribundus, Malacothamnus fasciculatus var. catalinensis, and Mimulus traskiae (now presumed to be extinct) are known only from Catalina. In addition, there are about 30 insular endemics that are shared with one or more of the neighboring islands. Feral goats and pigs have been removed from the island and the vegetation is now recovering.

This workshop will focus on the field identification of Catalina's flora, with an emphasis on insular endemics. There will be opportunities to search for long-lost plants like Mimulus traskiae, as well as chances to explore beautiful sea coves, rugged coastlines, and the island’s vast interior: we'll go far beyond what the average casual visitor to Santa Catlina sees. Depending on road conditions, participants will be able to visit many of the island's remote corners. We will stay at the Philip K. Wrigley Marine Science Center near Two Harbors and venture out daily on foot or in a van. Hikes will be moderate, up to five miles, with elevation gain, and on uneven surfaces.

Please note that this workshop begins at 2:00 PM Friday at the Southern California Marine Institute (SCMI) on Terminal Island in San Pedro (south of Los Angeles, north of Long Beach). We will return to SCMI around 4:30 PM on Monday.

Registration preference will be given to individuals who have not previously attended a Jepson-sponsored Channel Island workshop.

Lodging: Participants will be accommodated at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center in one or two-bedroom apartments with twin or bunk-style beds, full bathrooms and kitchens, and living rooms. Linens are provided.
Meals: Meals are provided from dinner on Friday through lunch on Monday.
Workshop fee: $795/$820

50 Families in the Field: Introduction to Keying (Monterey County)
April 21-24
Linda Beidleman
Hastings Natural History Reservation and Monterey County Field Sites

Are you ready to jump into botanical detective work? With a working knowledge of common plant families, and comfort in using taxonomic keys, identification can be an enjoyable challenge. This workshop introduces students to the flora of the San Francisco Bay area and the techniques used to identify plants of California. Emphasis will be on learning to recognize characteristics of the Bay Area’s plant families. We will practice keying plants in the field using the third edition of the book Plants of the San Francisco Bay Region: Mendocino to Monterey (Linda H. Beidleman and Eugene N. Kozloff, 2014). A general familiarity with morphological terms is helpful but not necessary; these will be reviewed during the introductory session. The workshop will be held outdoors (rain or shine). We will have one van available for transportation to field sites. Participants may drive up to 75 miles per day to the field sites and walk up to three miles each day (easy hiking). This workshop will not involve collection of plants. Students must attend all four days of the workshop, because the introductory information will lay the foundation for the rest of the workshop. Please note that this is an introductory workshop, geared towards beginning botanists. Participants must purchase their own copy of the book.

Registration preference will be given to individuals who have not previously attended 50 Families in the Field.

Lodging: Participants will be accommodated in dormitory-style rooms with twin or bunk-style beds. Space outside the bunkhouse is also available for camping. Showers and flush toilets are available.
Meals: Meals are provided from dinner on Thursday through lunch on Sunday
Workshop fee: $595/$620

California’s Native Bees: Biology, Ecology, and Identification
June 1-5 Workshop is full! Wait list only.
Rollin Colville, Gordon Frankie, Sara Leon Guerrero, and Robbin Thorp
Hastings Natural History Reservation and Monterey County Field Sites

Are you interested in learning more about the most important pollinators in your gardens? California’s native bees are extremely diverse (about 1,600 species) and are critical for providing ecosystem services not only in wild habitats but also in agricultural and urban settings.

This course will provide basic information about native bee biology and ecology with a specific focus on identification to the generic level. Course participants will spend time collecting in the field at the UC Hastings Reserve and at a nearby diverse garden in Carmel Valley. They will also spend time in the lab viewing and keying collected specimens. Evening lectures on a variety of related topics will add to the field experiences. This workshop is an extension of the previously offered weekend bee workshop, with more focus on bee identification.

Bee collections from the Hastings Reserve date back several decades, so knowledge of important bee-flower relationships are well known for this site. Participants will learn about bees’ flower preferences, how to collect bees using several different methods, information on how to create a bee-friendly garden, bee photography techniques, and bee identification using generic keys and microscopes. Participants will have the opportunity to purchase California Bees and Blooms, Gordon Frankie, Robbin Thorp, Rollin Coville, and Barbara Ertter’s 2014 book on urban California bees and their preferred flowers. Hikes will be easy.

Please note that this workshop involves collecting and killing insects for scientific study. Read more about the value of scientific insect collections.

Registration closed.

Monkeyflowers
June 16-19
Naomi Fraga and Steve Schoenig
Location: Coulterville, California

Monkeyflowers are one of the showiest, diverse, and widespread groups within California. But BIG changes have happened to the monkeyflowers that were too late for /sinclusion in the second edition of The Jepson Manual. California representatives of the genus Mimulus have been split into three genera: Erythranthe, Diplacus, and Mimetanthe. In the past five years, 13 species have been described as new to science. And, in papers leading up to the Flora of North America North of Mexico Phrymaceae treatment, up to an additional 20 species of monkeyflowers have been recognized as occurring in California.

Team-taught for the first time, this class will explore all of these exciting developments in the context of learning the cohesive species groups (sections), which, once recognized, allow non-experts to master the otherwise difficult monkeyflower key. Classroom activities will include gorgeous slide shows to show both rare and common monkeyflowers from all over the state and keying fresh plant material as a group. Field trips (with moderate hiking) to beautiful natural flower gardens in Yosemite National Park and nearby forests will allow appreciation of up to 20 species of monkeyflowers and many other Sierran endemic plants in their natural habitats. Instructors will be bringing many additional monkeyflower species from other parts of California for study in the classroom. Participants will receive a handout including modified keys, relevant literature, and a working draft of the instructors’ book project on the monkeyflowers of California.

DIY Field Workshops

Exploring the Early-Season Flora of Tejon Ranch
March 17-20 Workshop is full! Wait list only.
Neal Kramer and Maynard Moe
Location: Tejon Ranch

The 270,000-acre Tejon Ranch, in Kern and Los Angeles counties, is the largest contiguous private property in California and, until recently, was largely inaccessible to the public. It is a region of great biological diversity that lies at the confluence of five geomorphic provinces (Sierra Nevada, Great Central Valley, Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, and Mojave Desert) and four floristic regions. As such, this area is a haven for pristine vegetation, rare and endemic species, ancient oak trees, and intact watersheds.

In 2008, an agreement was made between the Tejon Ranch Company, who owns the property, and five major environmental groups. In this agreement, up to 90% of the property (~240,000 acres) will be protected through conservation easements managed by the Tejon Ranch Conservancy.

This workshop will introduce participants to the biogeography and flora of Tejon Ranch. Depending on weather and road conditions, participants will have the opportunity to explore a variety of desert, grassland, shrubland, woodland, and forest communities. The Ranch is home to many special-status plant species; with mother nature’s cooperation we hope to see striped adobe lily (Fritillaria striata), Tejon poppy (Eschscholzia lemmonii subsp. kernensis), Comanche Point layia (Layia leucopappa), calico monkeyflower (Mimulus pictus), San Joaquin adobe sunburst (Pseudobahia personii) Bakersfield cactus (Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei), Tehachapi buckwheat (Eriogonum callistum) and others. Participants may see as many as 10 different species of oaks If we are lucky, we may see California condors flying overhead.

We will explore the Ranch via a combination of car trips (4-WD recommended) and moderate hikes of up to four miles on uneven terrain. On Thursday evening, we will have an introductory slide presentation about the Ranch’s flora and review workshop logistics. All day Friday and Saturday will be spent in the field, with evenings left open for relaxation or self-directed study. The workshop will end at noon on Sunday, in the field. Please note that in case of rain, this workshop will be canceled (and full refunds given to registrants), as the roads on the Ranch become impassable with even a small amount of precipitation.

Registration information Workshop is full! Wait list only.

Riverside County Collecting Workshop
April 1-3
Andrew C. Sanders
Location: UC Riverside and Riverside County Natural Reserves

Western Riverside County is a rapidly urbanizing area in the interior of the Los Angeles Basin and northern end of the Peninsular Range. Until recent decades, it was a quiet agricultural area with much intact natural habitat and a moderately diverse flora that including both species widespread in southern California and species hardly known from anywhere else. About 1500 plant species have been recorded from the granite knobs, alluvial plains, clay patches, and vernal streams of the region. The speed of urban development has made documentation of the remaining flora and the conservation of such populations as can be preserved critical activities. Fortunately, many areas have been conserved by local, state, and federal efforts. One part of that is the system of UC natural reserves scattered around the county.

Thorough, accurate documentation of plants and their distributions are critical for both research and conservation. Much has already been lost without even being properly documented, and other things teeter on the edge. Under the guidance of UC Riverside Herbarium Curator Andrew Sanders, who has deep knowledge of the Riverside County flora, participants will spend two and a half days learning how to use a plant press (or make one quickly, if necessary), properly select and dry plant specimens, and record good field notes in quick and efficient ways – with an eye to the speedy and painless labeling and processing of the specimens later on. In the field, participants will learn to both identify and collect plants. After the plant specimens are dry, interested participants will be invited back to the UC Riverside Herbarium to label, mount, and database the specimens collected so they can be added to the collection. Specimen data will be made available to researchers and the general public through the Consortium of California Herbaria, a searchable data repository.

This workshop will provide training in the essential scientific skill of botanical collection and documentation under the tutelage of an expert botanist, as well as introduce participants to the value, diversity, and natural resources of the UCNRS. Hiking will be moderate, with hikes of up to two miles over uneven terrain. Participants who have The Jepson Manual should bring it; we will have some copies available for class use.

This workshop is made possible thanks to the generous support of the UC Natural Reserve System.

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Origins of Plant Diversity in the California Floristic Province
April 14-17
Bruce G. Baldwin
Location: Sedgwick Reserve

Continuing advances in understanding of plant phylogeny are allowing for more informed insights about the origins and evolution of California’s vascular flora. With those findings in mind, this field workshop will be geared toward considering the relationships of a diversity of Californian plant groups in their native settings. We will focus on the flora of the San Rafael Mountains and vicinity (Western Transverse Ranges), an area deeply embedded within the California Floristic Province. Our goal is to provide a broad, historical context for appreciating Californian plants, including taxa familiar to most botanists. This workshop is less oriented toward identifying all species we encounter than seeking a more general evolutionary perspective on the major plant lineages represented in the area.
We will be based out of the beautiful Sedgwick Reserve (part of the UC Natural Reserve System) in Santa Barbara County. The workshop will begin on Thursday evening with an essential presentation on the origins and relationships of the California flora, with emphasis on the California Floristic Province. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we will make botanical forays into the nearby mountains and foothills during what should be a prime time for the spring bloom. Hikes will be moderate, up to five miles, with some steep ups and downs over rugged topography. Evenings will be left open for relaxation or self-directed study. The workshop will end at noon on Sunday, in the field.

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Wetlands are typically recognized as soggy portions of the landscape that are covered—often intermittently—with shallow water, have soils saturated with water, or have plants that look different from those in the surrounding areas. Scientific studies have shown that wetlands are essential to maintaining the biological, chemical, and physical integrity of the aquatic ecosystem. State and federal programs have been established that regulate impacts to wetlands as part of their overall water quality protection strategy. These agencies differ in how wetlands are defined and geographically delineated.

This workshop will emphasize the definition and delineation method for wetlands used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to define their jurisdiction under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Wetland definitions and delineation methods used by state and other 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 & Wildlife (CDFW), U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will also be discussed in comparison to wetland definitions and delineation methods used by used by the Corps and USEPA. Other types of aquatic habitats in addition to wetlands and how they are identified and delineated by the Corps, USEPA, and other state and federal agencies will also be discussed. The course offers a clear and concise explanation and comparison of wetland definitions and methods used by these agencies including the latest changes in methodology and approaches for determining jurisdictional boundaries; explanation of key terminology, and practical hands-on field 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, CDFW, or Corps. The course instructor’s primary method of instruction is “learning by doing” so prepare yourself to get dirty!

We will meet at Rush Ranch Thursday morning and afternoon for classroom lectures and training exercises that will acquaint you with the various definitions, terminology, and delineation approach methodologies. We will spend Friday and Saturday in the field gaining real-world experience with the meanings of 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. This will include exploring how and why the various definitions and associated methodologies produce different results in terms of wetland area delineated. Class will meet at Rush Ranch on Friday, and at a field site in Livermore on Saturday. Participants in the class may drive up to 75 miles per day to the field sites (transportation is not provided) and do easy to moderate hiking up to three miles each day over wet, uneven terrain. You will be required to bring lunch and water each class day. Class will be held rain or shine!

Presented in cooperation with the Solano Land Trust.

Registration closed

In 2015, the Jepson Flora Project updated the Geographic Subdivisions of California. A large area of limestone and metasedimentary landscape between Redding and Mount Shasta previously attributed to the volcanic Cascade Ranges (CaR) Region was reassigned to the adjacent metamorphic Klamath Ranges (KR) Subregion. (Read all about it here.)

The new KR boundary now encompasses most of the lands east of Interstate 5, south of Highway 89, and north of Highway 299E to include Shasta Lake, the McCloud and Hosselkus limestone formations, and Grizzly Peak. Absent the glacial terrain and serpentine geology present in portions of the northwestern Klamath Mountains, and lying between the CaR landscape to the east and the Central Valley and interior North Coast Range to the south, the southeastern Klamath Mountains represent the oldest portion of the KR. Add 40-80 inches of average annual precipitation to the mix, and the result is a densely vegetated landscape that rivals the plant diversity found in the well-known conifer forests and serpentine habitats that characterize the rest of the KR. Nearly sixty California Rare Plant-ranked plants contribute to the area's diverse flora. Many plants reach their northern or eastern limits here, and a dozen species, including the iconic Shasta snow-wreath (Neviusia cliftonii), are endemic to this old and little-explored landscape.

This workshop will focus on exploring the area that was recently added to the KR. Participants will learn about the flora and plant communities of the southeastern Klamath Mountains while exploring stream canyons, mountain peaks, and rock and cliff formations, including extensive limestone outcrops. We will also visit areas formerly denuded by historical mining and smelting activities, home to Shasta huckleberry (Vaccinium shastense subsp. shastense), a newly described eastern Klamath Range endemic. We’ll also discuss the Shasta salamander (Hydromantes shastae), limestone endemic terrestrial mollusks, and other locally important wildlife, providing an opportunity to learn about ecological relationships in this geologically old landscape. The course will include visiting a location with high shrub diversity, and opportunities to see numerous other rare and endemic species such as the recently described Shasta maidenhair fern (Adiantum shastense), Shasta limestone monkeyflower (Erythranthe taylorii), and Shasta fawn lily (Erythronium shastense).

We will meet at a restaurant in Redding on Thursday evening for introductions and an overview of the Klamath Range’s special geology and a review of workshop logistics. All day Friday and Saturday will be spent in the field, with evenings left open for relaxation or self-directed study. The workshop will end at noon on Sunday, in the field. Hikes at each field stop will range from easy to moderately strenuous, depending on terrain.

Registration closed

The upper Rock Creek watershed in the eastern Sierra Nevada is a 13-mile canyon filled with lakes, streams, meadows, and granite fell fields surrounded by jagged peaks where >600 plant taxa thrive during a short growing season. Dominant trees such as whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) and Sierra juniper (Juniperus grandis) are adapted to relatively low seasonal moisture in the rain shadow of the Sierra crest; shallow pockets of soil fed by melting snow sustain smaller, thirstier genera such as heather (Kalmia; Phyllodoce), bog orchid (Platanthera), paintbrush (Castilleja), elephant’s head (Pedicularis), moonwort (Botrychium), and shooting star (Primula).

One of the main attractions of the watershed, the 10,000’ high basin named Little Lakes Valley, is part of the vast John Muir Wilderness. Arguably nowhere else in the state can the alpine plant community be explored so conveniently, as the highest paved road in California offers easy entry to the canyon’s hiking trails. Twenty eight CNPS-listed taxa have been recorded from the watershed, including pygmy pussypaws (Calyptridium pygmaeum), Inyo Tonestus (Tonestus peirsonii) and beautiful pussy-toes (Antennaria pulchella).

On Thursday evening, we will have an introductory slide presentation at SNARL and review workshop logistics. All day Friday and Saturday will be spent in the field, with evenings left open for relaxation or self-directed study. Field lectures will familiarize participants with common and uncommon species in the area, history of botanical exploration in the canyon, and special adaptations of alpine plants. Hiking will be moderately strenuous, up to four miles a day at high elevation with low to moderate elevation gain, both on and off trail over varied terrain including uneven surfaces, loose rock, and water crossings. The workshop will end at noon on Sunday, in the field.

Registration information Workshop is full! Wait list only.

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