1998 Utah Native Plant Society Annual Compliations

8/9/2019 1998 Utah Native Plant Society Annual Compliations

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VOL. 21NO.THEGENUS CASTILLMAIN UTAH

by DavidE.JoynerIn The Legend of t h e Indian Paintbrush as retold by Tomie dePaola, asmall Indian boy, called Little Gopher,who was unable to physically competewith the larger and stronger boys in his clan, was encouraged by the tribe'ss b m o d e h e h i s own d&hy by employinghis d s t i c talents. Inspiredbythe prophecies of the shaman, the boy contributed to the prosperity of thetribe by illustrating the great hunts and exploits of his people. Althoughcreative in his work, he was unable, however, to fulfilla "dream-vision"thatcame to him oneevening,a visioninwhich a p u g ndianmaiden said, ''Findabuckskin as white as this.Keep it and one day you willpaint a picture that isas pure as the colors in the evening sky."Little Gopher found a white buckskin, but using berries, flowers andother items tomixhispaints, he couldnot create the colors of the evening sky.Late onenightwhilerestinginhis teepee he heard a voice, "Because you havebeen faithful to the People and rue to your gift,you shall find the colors youareseeking.Tomorrow take the white buckskin and go to the place where youwatch the sunintheevening.Thereon he ground you willfindwhat you need."The next eveningLittle Gopher raced to the top of a nearby hillwhere, as thevoice had predicted, he found small brushes filled with paint. Little Gopherbegan to paint quicklyandsurely,usingonebrush, then another.He had foundthe colorsof the sunsetHe d e d is painting down k~ he circle of the People, leaving thebrushes on hehillside.And the next day, when the People awoke, the hillwas

ablaze with color, for the brushes had taken root in the earth and multipliedintoplants ofbrilliantreds,oranges and yellows."Form andFunctionIndian paintbrushes (CastiUe'a) are highly specialized members of th eScro hulariaceae (FigwortFa-),a large familyof pproximately220genera*dudedw i t h this taxonomic asmmbhge are many of ourmost amactive we&m wildflowem, such as pnshmons ( P P ,monkeyflowera(Mimdus)and oweworkP Unlikemostmembers


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of the Scroohulariaceae, whose flowers providenectar guides and a landing pad as enticements tobumblebees, the flowers of Indian paintbrush arcsmall and drab by comparison, having a form moretypical of plants pollinated by hummingbirdsor long-tongued insects. The greenish or greenish-red petalsare fused into a narrow tube (corolla) slit at the distalend. In some paintbrush species the corolla tubeextends beyond the bracts, whereas in others, thetube remains obscured. The bracts and sepalsprovide the brilliant floral colors most peopleassociate with paintbrushes-the crimson so typicalofCadIleja awustifdia or the reddish-omnge of $2-p ~ l eatei.The array of floral colors found amongUtah's paintbrushes is surprisingly broad, rangingfrom fingernail polish pink to fire-engine red, orfrom near emon-ye1 ow to an off-white. Many floralcolors can occur within a single population in onegeographic location, as exemplifiedby c. rhexifoliain Little Cottonwood Canyon (site of the 1996Annual NARGS meeting) of the Wasatch Range.Pink and reddish-orange are dominant throughoutGrizzly Gulch, a side canyon situated on thenortheastern edge of Alta Basin at the top of UttleCottonwood Canyon. Within the Alta and adjacentAlbion Basins, rose-red predominates, with anoccasionalyellow form hidden here or there- Pastelsare common long the u per Gad Valley trail, whichleads rom the crest ofk~dden Peak (11,000' end-point for the Snowbird Ski Resort tram) locatedimmediate1ywest of the Albion Basin down throughGad Valley and ultimately to the Snowbird Resort,conferencecenter for the 1996 NARGS Meeting.

The majorityof Utah C a d k j a f o m clumps,with several stems originating from the same woodyroot crown; only the single-stem4 C. d i sconsistently deviates from this pattern. Although allUtah paintbrushes have alternate and sessile leaves,leaf form can vary considerably, even on the sameplant. Leaves can be linear, lanceolate, tinear-elliptical or lanceovate. In some species the lowerleaves may be entire white the upper leaves are 3- toNobed. In C. ag~lepatel,he upper leaves are lobedand have wavy margins, a trait clearly discerniblevery early in the spring as new buds emerge.Paintbrush flowers, which are borne onterminal spikes or spike-like racemes, developcylindrical to ovoid seed capsules. With maturation,the capsules split open, and the seeds are dispersedthrough wind or animal action.Paintbrush seeds (atleast dried seeds) have a very interesting structure:they consist of a brown, ahnondto kidney-bean-shaped seed encased within a tortoise-shell-patterned, transparent envelope. Presumably theenvelope generates through light refraction thegrayish color we associate with paintbrush seeds.The grayish seeds of elephdmd ( M c u l a r i sniandica, also in the b h u l a r i a c e a e ) are

similariy structured, except the outer envelope papillose (resembles "goose bumps") rather thapatterned with tortoise-shell patches.Indian paintbrushes are well known for thehcmiparasitic growth habit. They arcnotalone in thoddity, for the closely related owl clove(Orthocar~us)and louseworts (Pedicularis) also afacultative parasites or hemiparasi es. Facultatiparasites exploit the water and nutrients confinewithin the root system of their host but are nobligated to do so in order to survive. The fibroroot systemof perennial paintbrushesis woody likeshrub rather than filamentous as one might surmifrom their parasitic habit. The lateral roots forhaustoria when coming in contact with a hostroots, entering the root and establishing a connectiowith water-conducting cells (see Heckard, 1962Perhaps attachment occurs early in the developme(meristemicelongation) of the parasite's new rootprior to maturation and formation of a woodepidermis, or it may be Umited chronologicallpredominatingduring the first years or two of plagrowth while the root system is expanding blimited in occurrence thereafter. Regardlesstiming, facultative root parasitism probably providselectiveadvantagestopaintbrushes,as suggested bRonald Taylor in his book Sagebrush Countr'through this parasitic association, the paintbruincreases its tolerance to dry conditions and expanits geographicalrange."DistributionOf the more than 200 species of W l e i afourteen occur within Utah, and. ix (C. chromosC. ailis, C. I ~ f o l i a ,C. mimta, C. w p l e g aand C. rbexifolia) are common along the WasatFront. Five of the 14 have statewide distributionfour are abundant within the state but generarestricted ecologically to montane or desert habitaand he remainingfive are classifiedas uncommonrare, their distributions often limited to a singmountain range. Two of these, C. aquariensis anboth varieties of C. ~arvula var. and vav ) , ave federalTES threatened, endangereand sensitive) status: C. aauariensis (categoryCl); C. ~ d aq e d G (C2) and C. &avar. p d a CZ3c).

Castilleia aauariensis is a Utah endemlimited in distribution to the Aquarius PIateaGarfield and Wayne Counties (southcentral UtahThis yellow-flowered perennial occupies sagebruand grass meadow communities adjacent to aspesubalpine fi r on clay-loam soils at about 9,80011,000' elevation.It closely resemblesC. rhexifoliwhich is rarely yellow, but is further recognized bthe linear, appressed-ascending leaves and small(6-12" tall),fewer stemmed(1-few) plants. It is alsimilartoC. &dentalis, which is smaller(3-8" taand has decumbent stems. The single specimenAquarius paintbrush included within the paintbru


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collectionat the GarrettHerbarium (Utah Museum ofNatural History) was found growing among volcanicrocks on a gentle, north-facing slope of an exposedmeadow near the edge of a spruce-fir forest at anelevationof 9,900'.Castilltja parvulq is also endemic tosouthcentd Utah, with var. panda ( T u s hpaintbrush) restricted to alpine locales in Beaver,Ruk, and Gdeld Counties, while var. pvealg(Reveal paintbrush) occurs at the 7,000-8,500'elevation in Gdeld, Iron and Kane Counties,d a var- pawula frequents lligne~usgravels and outcrops between 10,000-12,100'e l e v a t i ~ n , ~while var. ,grows amongponderosa pindbristlecone pine communities ongravelly soils of the Wasatch Limestone Formation.Understandably, the two varieties are similar inappearance, separated taxonomically by habitat,number of persistent stems {C. nawula var. u d ahas several persistent 3.5-8"-long green stems,whilevar. revealii produces one or two purplish stem),and length of the calyx (C. p. var; p m l a =Om%0.7"; ar. m v d i =Oh- .3"). The idmmxace ofboth varietiesis crimson tomagentaCastiUeia nana is another perennial specieswith limiteddistribution in Utah- alpine meadows inthe Deep Creek Range of western Juab and TooeleCounties. This diminutive paintbrush looks like apink-topped, 35"-tallbottle brush. Each narrow stemsupports clustered, dark green, lobed leaves and atightly compressed, pink inflorescence.S cimensinthe Garrett Herbarium were collected rom rockygranite ridges in alpine meadows at an elevation of10,500-12,000'.Castilleia oulchella (pretty paintbrush) is ashort-statured, subalpine or alpine species whosedistribution is limited to the Uita Mountains ofnortheastern Utah. Goodrich and Neese (1986)describe this paintbrush as small (less than 6" tall)with predominantly yellowish, deeply lobed bracts,lobed leaves, and an nflorescence sometimestingedwith purple. The herbarium specimens look likeshort-stalked plants with an inordinately robustinflorescence. is "fairly c o m macross the crestof the Uinta Mts., tundra ofalpine orsubalpine rock stripes, fell fields, ridges, andmeadows; 10,800 to 12,500*" and often co-occurswith the equally common Geurn rossii, (Goodrich&Neese,1986).The fifth paintbrush with limited distributionin Utah isC. occidentalis.This perennial herb growsin alpine meadows in the La Sal Mountains (Grandand San Juan Counties), east of Arches NationalPark along the Utah/Colorado border. The onespecimen in the Garrett Herbarium is approximately8"tall, with linear-to-ellipticleaves, drab yellowishbracts, and a very large inflorescence. M l e j aoccidentalis was first reported in Utah in 1911 byPA.Rydberg andA.O. Garrett.

l o u P Castilleia anmstif01ia~ awvIemei,c. ava, and C. rhexifoIia are common inUtah, they prefer either desert or montane habitats.CastiHeiaaneustifolia (northwestern paintbrush) is aGreat Basin Desert paintbrush found in desert shrubor pinyon-juniper communities at elevations of4,068-8,460'; it occasionally may occur at subalpineelevations. This perennial paintbrush is 10-15" tellwith a robust root system, narrow, light green,deeply lobed leaves, and a pinkish (occasionallyviolet, purplish, orange, yellow, or whitish)elongated inflorescence. It can be found on rockyfoothills growing alongside Echeifaa, spp. (Momontea), Artemisia a r b u s c u (low sage), and f l m smonouhylla (single-leaf pinyon). Castilleia flava(yellow paintbrush) is superficially similar inappearance to Castilleia anpustifolia but has yellowbracts; it also has a robust root system, narrowlobed leaves, and an elongated inflorescence.Diagnostically,C flava has a "calyxdistinctlydeeplyclefton the] side opposite the galea (gala is a hoodor helmet shaped petal),"whereas in C. anpnstifolia,the "calyx clefts [are] more nearly eclualn (Shaw1989). Castilleia flava prefers dry sandy or gravellysoil, edaphic traits typical of sagebrush andponderosa pine (pinus ponderosa) communities atelevationsof 5,870-10,000' in the eastern half of thestate.

Gstilleia rhexifolia (rhexia-leaf paintbrush)and C- agd& (wavyleaf paintbrush) aresubalpine to alpine species found in northern Utahalong the Bear River, Wasatch, and Uinta MountainRanges. Although the geographic distributions ofthese two perennials overlap, individuals oftensegregateby stratum. In UttleCottonwood Canyonfor example, C . applemtei dominates on the dry,fully exposed, granite outcrops of Albion Basin andon he steeper, south-facing slopes of Grizzly Gulch,while C. rhexifolia prefers cooler locations with adeeper organic soil profile, as occurs in gullies,along stream beds, in conifer stands, and in denseherb communities. Castilleia aeeatei , representedin Utah by var. viscidq (see Hdmgren, 1971), iseasily identified by its lobed leaves with "wavy"margins, bright orange or reddish-urangeinflorescence,and short stature (under lQn),hereasC . rhexifblia has linear leaves, rounded bracts, ataller stature (up to 20'7, and shows a variety offloral colors. Castilleja s u l ~hurea~onsidered byA l b et aI. (I=) to be synonymous withrhexifolia, also grows in the Albion Basin, but likeC. ap~lepatei, it prefers the well-drained minedsoils of exposed, rocky sites, such as along theCecret Trail of Albion Basin. Castill& sui~hurea sstructurally like Q. rhexifolia but much smaller instature(8")and has drab, whitish to greenish-yellowbracts. The five mnaining paintbrushes,c h m o s q , C , Ihariifoiia, C. miniah, C. scabridiq,andW, ave statewide distributions and tend


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to favor desert over montane habitats. Within thisgroup is our odymual paintbrush, C. exilk, a tall(to 24'), thick-stemmed, but shallow-rooted plantthat grows in marshes, meadows, or along seeps orsprings in salt desert shrub communities. Althoughwestern wetland communitiesare often dominated bymoist-soil monocots, such asCarex nebrascensisandJuncus torrevi, the marsh paintbrush, being a veryrobust species, competes effectively against the moreaggressive, rhizomatous sedges and rushes.Castilleia exilis flowers rom June through August,and although the inflorescence is very long, up toone-half the total length of the stem, only the bractsof the uppermost flow ers show a touch of bright red;bracts surrounding the lower flowers remain green.The lack of colorand a ty ical "weedyu appearancehue to its single stem wit broad, lanceolate leavescan make C. e d i s very difficult to identify at adistance if the plant happens to be growing amongother similar-shaped, broad-leaved herbs. However,when in flower and viewed at close range, the long,linear bracts extending far beyond the corolla andtippedwith fire engine red are diagnostic; no otherUtah paintbrushlooks ike C.exilkThe narrow eaf paintbrush, C. inariifolia, isa favoriteof mine becauseof itslong, slender leaves.Although leaf width and length can vary significantlyin this species according to location, one populationin the Holiday Park area (Weber Canyon) on thenorthwest comer of the Uinta Mountains has leavesso narrow they resemble the filamentous leaves ofthe submersed sago pondweed, Potarnosetoqpectinatus. In pondweeds and other submemdrnacrophytes, narrow leaves are an adaptation toreduced levelsof light;they also minimize the effectsof physical stress due to water movement andoptimizeleaf urface-to-volumeratio, thus increasingthe efficiency of gas exchange and nutrientabsorption. Castilleia Smariifolia, however, is not awetland species; in fact, it prefers dry, rocky uplandsites, often co-existing with sagebrush. Thispreference for dry sites can be very dramatic. Forexample,C. Iinaiifolia and C.miniah can be foundgrowing sideby-side on a small dry ridgecircumscribing one pond in the Holiday Park area,but only C.minim (photo, p Z 6 ) grows within tkf l d plain of the pond. The range of M l I e i alinariifolia ends abruptly as the base of the ridgemergesinto the flood plain, a vertical distance of 3-4'. Since C. Iinariifolia is a dryland paintbrushand is not exposed to the same physical andphysiological stresses affecting submersedpondweeds, why have filamentousleaves? The samequestion could be asked about other parasitic specieswithin this family (C. neustifolia, owl clovers, andlouseworts) that also have slender, filamentous orpinnately dissected leaves. If (here is a reduction intotal photosynthetic capacity due to reduced leafmass, compared to what might occur with broader

leaves, is the potential loss of energy compensatedfor by the plant's parasitic habit? Would thesespecies still have filamentous leaves if they were notparasitic, and are C. iiiariifolia and C. anoustifoliamore efficientat extracting nutrients from hosts thanarebroad-leaved species like C. rhexifolia? It wouldbe interesting to determine to what extentenvironmental factors influence leaf variabilivjn C.linariifolia and other parasitic species, and whetherleafshape also responds directly, indirectly,or not atall to the number, proximity, and composition ofpotential host species. This relationship could beexamined under a variety of environmentalconditions and with a plethora of potential hostspecies, by investigating C. linariifolia, since itsrange extends from desert shrub to aspen-conifercommunities, an elevationd gradient ofapproximately7,200'.Castilleia ljnariifolia, unlike C. exdis, is notdistinct morphologically and can be easilymisidentified, especially in western Utah, whereCastilleia Iinariifotia cooccurs and may hybridizewith the narrow-leafedc. anmstifo1ia. As is the casewith C. flava and C. anmistifdia, Shaw (1989)separates C. li l e a rom Lanmstifdia bycomparing the sepals: linariifolia has a "calyxdistinctly deeply cleft on side opposite the galea,"whereas in C- npustifolia, the "calyx clefts [are]more neady equal." Furthermore, the bright red ofC. inariifoliq is concentratedon the calyx, while inC. anmstifolia the braets generatemost of the color.Two of our desert paintbrushes, both withrelatively narrow leaves, are c. chromoq (desertpaintbrush) and C. cabrida (Eastwood paintbrush)These speciesareso similar in appearance that manyof the pressed specimens in the Garrett Herbariumhave been identified several times, leaving us towonder which of the naming authourities is correct.Both paintbrushes resemble C. an~ustifoliaGoodrich a1 Neese (1986) segregate C. scabridqfrom C. chromosq as follows: C. scabrida has arelatively large corolla,thegalea is exserted from thecalyx, and the stems are somewhat decumbent at thebase and lack chlorophyll along the lower scalyportion. Castilleja ch rom o~ , n the other hand, hasa smallercorolla, the galea is concealed by the calyxand the erectstems aregreen throughout. It would behelpful if these tw o paintbrushes segregated byhabitat but they don't. Eastwood paintbrush istypically in pinyon-juniper communities withsagebrush, occasionally in p i ~ m u s alina-shadscaleor mountain brush communities in sandy soil orsandstone outcrops, or in mixed sand and clay fromshale strata; at 5,000-8,200'. Castilleia cbromosa iscommon and widespread in greasewood, shadscalemixed desert, shrub, sagebrush, pinyon-juniper, andmountainbrush communities on many substrates a4,700-8,500'.stUIeiascabrida apparently does notoccur in the northern portion of the state, so plants


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seen along the Wasatch, Bear River, and UintaMountains are more likely to be C. chrornosa.Our last paintbrush is C . rniniata (scarletpaintbrush), a perennial herb of wet or dry sites,found on open slopes, in meadows, or in associationwith mountain brush, aspen, or spruce-fircommunities. Principally montane in distribution,this species can be found throughout the Bear River,Wasatch and Uinta Mountains, the Wasatch Plateauof central Utah, and as far southwest as the PineValley Mountains of Washington County. It alsooccurs in the western Deep Creek Range, the easternLa Sals, and in the Raft River Mountains in BoxElder County (northwestern Utah). Similar in formand height to C- hexifolia, it can be separated fromC. hexifolia by itsacuteand lobed bracts, which arelinearand blunt in C. rhexifolia. Castilleia ihexifoliaalso tends to be subalpine to alpine in distribution,while C. miniata is typicallymontane, a distributionalpattern particularly apparent along State Route 150(Kamas-BaldMountainEvanston) n the Uintas.CultivationIf there was ever an incentive to explore thehorticultural requirements of a species, it's havingbeen told "you can't grow that plant, it'simpossible!! For most western rock gardeners, theadvice on propagatingpaintbrushesprovided by LineFoster in Rock Gardening; A Guide to GrowingAlpines and Other Wildflowers in the AmericanGarden is most fitting: "When seed of any[CastiIkjal species is available, sow it on a mlyslope, particularly among other existing plants."Unquestionably, living in the appropriate geographicarea has definite advantages if you wish to use thismethod; the best and easiest horticulturalstrategy forgrowing paintbrushes in Utah is to put the seedwhere you want the plants to grow and let MotherNature do her thing. I have successfully establishedC, rhexifoliq, C. miniah, C. lhariifolia andaoole~atein my yard by coldstratifying seeds overwinter, followed in early spring by selectivelyplacing the seeds next to other plants. Sowing seedsrandomly throughout the garden in late fall,however, has proven less successful; I assumebecause the seeds are eatenby overwintering birds orby insects.

Propagation of paintbrushes in 72-wellgemination trays or in pots is also relativelystraightforwardand may be the only practical methodfor rock gardeners living in the Midwest or along theEast Coast. Seeds, following cold stratification,readily germinate out-of-doors (March-May) orunder artificial light. Seedlings are transplanted inlate May, or transfed to small pots where they areheld until they can be planted.If paintbrush seeds are germinated in potswithout the use a host plant, the selection andmaintenanceof a proper planting location plus timingbecome critical steps in paintbrush propagation.

Paintbrush seedlings transplanted in spring or earsummer into flower beds supportingan abundancepotential hosts (hence, a virtual web of roots totapped) often survive if the bed is kept mothroughout the summer.Allow the bed to dry out,transplant too late in the season, and the seedlinusually die, regardless of the availabilitycomposition of host plants. In a dry bed, seedlineither wilt and die within days or linger throughothe summerbut show littlenew growth; these planrarely if ever survive the winter. Planted in the fathe seedlings apparently lack sufficient timedevelop an adequate root system and amass sufficiereserves tosurvive the winter. Pick a location whefe w potential hosts exist and even with sufficiewater, the seedlings usually die. I found this was tcaseeven with desert species, such isC. chromosaOne obvious solution for many of ttransplantation problems is to geminate paintbruseeds in pots already supporting a suitable host, anthen transplant the two together. And what speciare suitable hosts? My paintbrushes co-exist wiPhlox oaniculata, Artemisia ludoviciana (Louisiansagewort), Helenium hoooesii (orange sneezeweedplus a number of montane and subalpine composit( M e m a e ~ . ImdvertentIy, 1 dso found thstrawberry clover (Trifolium fraeiferum) to besuperb host plant, and although most rock gardenemay be reluctant to transplant this aggressive lawweed into their pristine rock gardens, other moaccephbie legumes $a-bacae) such as ,Ash-qaIuOxvtropis, or Hedysarum may serve equally well.fact, an association between paintbrushes anlegumes s clearly evident in the deserts of the SaRafael Swell of southeastern Utah (fineryCountywhere C. scabrida frequently parasitizes variospecies of ~ s i m d i s ~ther a m p a b l e host specimight include Artemisia scooulorq (dwasagewort), various short-stahred, clump-formingrasses, or even small composites.During spring of 1995 I coupled severalthe more&fl~cdtaintbrushes (e.g., C. nana a n dsulphurea) with &&ODOPO~ scwarius (littbluestem), a short-statured prairie grass I considsuitable for rock gardensor othernatural areas. Twill tell whether the match was appropriate. Anwith success:

'Scarlet tuftsAre glowing in thegreen like flakes of fire;The wanderers of the prairie know them well,And call thatbrilliant flower the 'paintedCup'.*-author unknownReferences:Albee, B.,L Shultz and S. Goodrich. 1988. Atla

of the VascularPlantsof Utah.Utah Mus. Nat. Hist. Occas.Publ. No.7. 70pp.


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UNPS $EGO LILYc/o Jo S olhandUtah Native Plant SocietyP.O.Box 520041Salt Lake City,UT 84152-0041Address Correction Requested

Non-Profit Org.U.S. PostageSalt LakeCity, UtahPERMIT No. 327

- k n o w , L., B.Albeeand A. Wycoff 1980. Flora ofthe Central Wasatch Front. Utah.Univ. Utah Pnnung service: aait lake City,Utah.663pp.Atwood, Dm et al.1991. Utah Endangered.Threatenedand SensitivePlant Held Guide.Blanchan, N. 1934. WildflowersWorth Knowing.Doubleday, Doran& Company,Inc., Garden City:New York. 270pp.dePaola, T. 1988. The Legend of the IndianPaintbrilsh. G.P. Putnam's SonsrNewY 0 r k . 3 6 ~ ~ .Foster, H.L.968. Rock Gardening. BonanzaBooks:New Y rk.449pp.Goadrich, S. and E. Neese. 1986. Uinta BasinFlora. U.S. Forest Service320pp.Heckard, L. R. 962. "RootParasitism in Castilleja."Bot. Gaz. 12421-29Holmgren, N. H.1971. "A Taxomonic Revision ofthe Casti11ejaviscida Group.'Mem. .Y . Bot. Gard. 21:1-63.Shaw. R. 1989. Vascular Plants of Northern Utah:An IdentificationManual. UtahStateUniv. Press:Logan, Utah. 412pp.Taylor,R. 1992. Sagebrush Country: A WildflowerSanchlary.MountainPress Publ.Co.:Missoula, Montana. 211pp.

David Joyner gardens in Salt Lake City, where hetinkers with growing Utah wildflowers.

Membership Applicationn ow Member 0 enewal 0 ift

If Gift ,From:CheckMcmbcrehipCategoryDesired0 tudent $6.000 enior $10.00d Individual $12000 ~ousehold $20.000 ustaining $35.00(3 SupportingOrganization $50.000 orporate $250.00andu p0 ifetime $250.00

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Please enclose acheck,payable to Utah Native PlantSociety, and send it to:-PUtah NativePlantSocietyP-0- 520041Salt Lake City, Utah 84152-0041

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Newsletter of he Utah Native Plant society--VOL.21No. 2

March 15 to April 24Volonteer Opportunity

March 30 6 3 0 p.m.UNPS Board ofDirectors MeetingApril 1 7:00 p.m. UtahValley Chapter meeting.April 28 Earth Day atHogle Zoo.A ril 24 (6:W p.m.)-2 f . Utah Valley Chaptertrip to Lytle Ranch.May 8, 9, 10

May 17 - 23Wildflower Week

MAR/APR 1998CALENDAR OFEVENTS

Capitol Reef National Park: assistwith survey forPediocactuswinkleri and Pi sphi i . InterestedapplicantsshouldcallTomdark atCapitolReef (ph (435) 425-3791x144oremail Tom-O,[email protected]). See note nsidefor details.Red Butte Garden andArboretumOffices 18CdeTrobriandSt,FortDouglas, Board Meetings are always opentoMembers.Electionof officers; speaker Fred Liljegrenof the BLM:xeric landscaping, MonteL ean Museum, BYU.DickHildreth will be thererepresenting Red Butte Gardenand Arboretum. Would Someone fromU N PS ike tohavea table, sell posters, give outmembership info?CallT h e m f interested 272-3275.Walks, talks, explorations.Call Sue Gawin (Shrub lab377-57 7)for reservations and info.Dick Hildreth's Native Plant activities atRed Butte Gardenand Arboretum. Classeson horticulture,native plantdisplays, and more. Call Red Butte (581-5322) forinformation.KickoffforCelebrating Wildflowers; seeaccompanyingnote for hotline number.

Winkler Footcactus fPediocactus win kleril ReceivesEndowment from National Park Serviceby Therese MeyerThe WirMer Footcactus, is one of eight species in the genus. A1mfrom the Four Comers region (Utah, Colorado,Arizona and New Mexico), and most of the speciesare rare endemics; restricted to a small habitat by ecological features such as specific soil types,elevations or geologicformations.Only 3,500 individualsofthisspecies arc known to exist.


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Tom Clark of Ca 'to1 Reef National Parkrecently seemed funding rr an endowment for thisendangered species with the Center For PlantConservation (CPC) t Missouri Botanical Garden.The National Park Service provided $7000 or theendowment, with CPC responsible for the remaining$3000 for a full endowment. The endowment willprovide funding in perpetuity for seed storage andpropagation studies. In thisway , seeds and plants ofthis rare species would be available for recoverywork (i .e. reintroductionof plants afterdisruption byactivities such as mining, off-road vehicles, etc.) andpossibly also for domestic horticultural use. Thiscould also spare natural populations from illegalcollection.Anyone interested in contributing to thisendowment please contactTheme Meyer, who is theCPC representativefor the Intennounbin West (272-3275).Field surveys and experimentson the impact ofgrazing, jointly funded by the National Park Serviceand BLM, will begin this spring (see request forvolunteers for this project elsewhere in thisnewsletter).P. winklen is found in salt desert shrubcommunities on fine textured saline soils in theFremont River and Muddy River drainages in Utah,on lands administered by the Bureau of LandManagement (BLM) and Capitol Reef National Park.p. w h k l e i w as propused for listing as e n d m g e din 1993.The listing was put on hold in 1995 duringa Congressional moratorium on listings. At thepresent time, the Agency approach is to ratify a"Conservation Agreement" for this species and aclosely related species, P. despainii, whose rangescoincide. Backing the Conservation Agreement arethe above mentioned groups, and also Emery andWayne Counties, US. Fish and Wildlife Service,and the Fishlake National Forest. The ConservationAgreement would embody much of the protectionoutlined in the Draft Recovery Plan for the two tinycacti. A Tucson-based organization, SouthwestCenter for Biological Diversity, recently filed afederal lawsuit against the Interior Department'shead, Brace Babbitt, who oversees U.S. Fish andWildlife Service, to force the government todetermine whether the Winkler footcactus is worthyof protection under the Endangered Species Act. It isthe Agencies' hope that speedy ratification of theConservation Agreement will satisfy complaints anddispel legal battles.P. winkleri is distinguishedfrom several othermembers of the genus by its relatively larger stemsize, wooly areolesand the yellow or pink tint of thebronzy flowers. Stem size of P. winkleri tops out attw o inches in diameter, compared to some of theother ~ ~ ~ c t i ,uch as P. ueeblesianus var.peeblesianus which reaches a maximum diameter of1 314 inches, or P. ~anvtacanthuswhich grows to3I4 inches n diameter! P. simosonii and P. sileri are

the largestmembersof the genus, reaching eight afour inches n diameter, respectively.One of the most cuious features of P. winkIis that the plants are only visible during the spriand summer. During late summer they shrink dowwithering as the habitat dries, and remain hiddunder the soil surface until spring arrives again. Thflower in late April and May, at which time they aabove-ground and very beautiful. The flower buform in the fall or winter during moderately cotemperatures.The closely related species, Despa. ..Footcactus, pa whose range overlasomewhat with that of P. wi*, was listedendangered in 1987. They differ mainly in detailaspectsof their morphology, such as the hairs on tareoles (P.winkleri has more wooly hairs on tareoles, which are the points at the tips of tprotrusions or bumps on the cactus) and the flowcolor. Some lowers have a more bronze tint to&desdni i flowersand more yellow and pink tint tow i d e n flowers, but 1 have iwked at both on tsame day and have seen a range of colors in bofrom yellow-pink tobronze-peach.The woolinessP.winkleri areolesmay be a more decisive criteriufor distinguishing these two species. Currentlymolecular genetics study on the pdwacti has befunded by the Bureau of Land Management, andbeing conducted by Ken Heil and Mark PorterRanch Santa Ana Botanic Garden in ClairmoCalifornia. This work may clarify the phylogenerelationship of the two cacti, and may supportdecision to combine them under one speciew i d e r & as subspecies.The Draft Recovery Plan for these two smP (the d d t mmgement pian which U .fish and Wildlifecompiledfor future downlisfingthe cacti to Threatened status) called for continuexamination of likely habit in the hope that mopopulations will be discovered, so that a viabpopulation size can be demonstrated. The plan statthat even with such futurediscoveries, the naturethe restricted population sizes and the vulnerabilitythese cacti due to possible illegal collectiotrampling by cattleandoff-road vehicles, and minioperations,would essentially preclude delisting.Steve Brach of Mesa Garden (PO Box 7Belen, New Mexico87002) as successful growimany Pediocacti (and other high desert cacti)sowing the seed in coarse sand and placing themunheated greenhouses so that the flats were exposto very low temperatures. Alternating wet and dand freezing and thawing seemed to break dormanof the seed. Mesa Gardens sells greenhouse growplants with verification that they are not wilcollected; a very important aspect of protecting orare wild plant species.


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Why use botanical names?Won't common ones do?Reprinted (and updated)fromWesternLandscape Plus. JadFeb. 1995.Since botanical nomenclature is based on whatis considered an ancient, if not dead language, whyuse Latinized plant names like Pelorgoniumtomenmum when it's much easier to spell andpronounce the common English name, peppermintgeraniurn?Esther Truitt Henrichsen, head landscapedesigner for Temple Square and nearby LDS,church-owned properties in Salt Lake City until sheopted for a career as a new mom and free-lancedesigner, makesa point with this story.'My usual wholesale sources of ornamentalgrasses were not able to supply a plant I reallyneeded to complete a project last year," she reports."So 1 called a well established garden center in SaltLake City and asked the woman who answered thephone if she had any Miscmthus sinensis'Gracillimus* n stock.Herreply was, and I quote:"'Getreal, lady. What's it really called?'

'I couldn't help but repeat the botanical name-that is what it's 'really called' !-adding that thecommon name for Miscanthus sinensis is maidengrass.' A problem with the common name is thatsome people use it to refer to other Miscanifwssinensis cultivars. So when the woman said shethought the store carried maiden grass, I asked if shewould please check the I.D. tags on the plants tomake sure they were 'Gracillimus.'After putting me on hold for at least 10minutes, the woman told me he plants in stock werethe plants I needed.

'I think she must have stopped reading whenshe saw Misccauhus,' or else the I.D. tags wereincorrect, because I drove all across town with afussy baby to find Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus.'When your design specifications call for'Gracillimus,' believeme, ou do not want to use'Zebrinus' as a substitute.

All 'red maples*are not created equalConsumers ometimeshave similarexperiencesbut may not realize t or suffer the consequences forseveralyears.Mike Kuhns, Utah State University (Logan)Extensionforester, says he often receives calls fromlocal residents asking for advice on what trees toplant. "Theymight tell me they want a tree like theirneighbor's-a big shade tree with red leaves, forexample. I wilt probably tell them to took for aspecific red-leafed cultivar of Acer picaenoides, orNorway maple. 'Crimson King' is a good one toplant in th is area.'Unfortunately, I've learned employees atsomenurseries think every maple havinga red leaf atany rime of year- whether it's in the fall or duringthe growing season-must be a 'red maple.' Whenthat's the case-or if the nursery doesn't cany'Crimson King' or I.D. tags are missing orincomplete- hey may say something like. '0,you're looking for a red maple?"If the customer assumes the employee isknowledgeable and says yes, they usually end upwith the wrong tree. Acer rubrum, the tree whosecommonname is red maple, is a good example. It'snative to forests in the Northwest,"notes Dr. Kuhns,"and is subject to chlorosis when planted in alkalinesoils like we commonly have in the IntermountainWest. It is not a tree I would recommend for thisarea. 'Now 1 make i t a point to tell people, 'Writedown this botanical n a m e I'm about to give you.Take it with you when you go to buy your tree. ifyou can't find this specific tree at the first fe wnurseries you visit, keep looking!'"

When is a hoByhock an Althea rosea?SteveUncle, of LindeHorticulture Group, ayshe knows many people who think only intellectualsnobs or fuss-budgets use botanical names-thatdown-to-earth "real" folksprefer to calla rose a rose.Althoughmostpeople who know Linde wouldsay he is a down-to-earth sort of guy, he feelsstrongly that "plantprofessionals need toknow bothbotanicalandcommon names. Thepoint is to be ablet o communicate on either level, depending on thesituation."If my young neighbor shows me an A l f hrosea growing in h er back yard and asks what it is,she is asking if it's the same 'pioneer' plant she sa wgrowing in her grandmother's garden. I'll tell myneighbor theplant is a hollyhock."However,"Lhde continues, "I would workonly with botanicalnames if I were ordering plantsfor a retail garden center or for a particularlandscapingprojectThose are thenames thatwill tellme if I can expect to get the specific plant I have inmind. Common names are either unreliable or notspecificenough."

sinensi "Gracillimus"


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Some call it sassagooSkagit Gardens in Mt. Vernon, Wash., is oneof several wholesale growers that organizes itscatalogs of perennials, annuals and ground coversalphabetically accordingly to botanical names. Thecompany is among those that go the extra mile byincluding a pronunciationkey next to each species.Nanci Hollerith Allen, catalog editor and salesrepresentative for Utah and much of the surroundingtrade area, says the Skagit (pronounced SKADG-it)staff is accustomed to hearing Campanula calledcampa-NOOLA or Achilfea referred to as a-KILL-ya. "Our typical response is, 'Oh, yes, cam-PAN-yeh-la.' Or. 'Did you say 20 flats of AK-a-LEE-a?Many of our customers have mentioned how muchthey appreciate hearing how to pronounce the wordscorrect1y.Members of the Skagit sales staff sometimesfind themselves on the horns of a moral dilemmawhen a customer slaughters a pronunciation. Alienrecalls a budding horticulturist's phone order forsome sassagoo. "Once the salesperson figured outwhat he was asking for, shehad to decidehow to tellhim Sm'fraga is pronounced sax-IFF-reh-jehwithout making him feel foolish-or whether to lethim go through lifecalling t sassagoo.'Alien notes that when the company decided toinclude pronunciation keys in its catalogs, Skagitemployeeshad a great time correctingeachother.'One purpose of adding the pronunciation keysto the catalog is to help customers gain confidenceand feel more comfortablewhen they place telephoneorders,' she adds. It also makes it easier for Skagitemployees to avoid making order-entry errors whenthey and their customers are able to speak proper"botanese."Common names are nice, but....Botanical names overcome many problemsassociatedwith commonnames:Many plants have the same or a similar commonname.Dusty Miller is the common name for at least.six popularplants sold in the westernUnitedStates-A tulip tree could be a Magnolia smiangiecma or aUreode.ndron tulipfera (same family, differentgenus).The same word is often used in common namesfor quite wirelatedplants.For example, eachof these six plants-daylil y,delicate lily , My-of-the-valley, lamingo lily, plantainlily, and lilyturf- belongs o a different family.Onepicas may have severalcommon names.One of Unde's favoriteplants is a Utah native,Rhus ~lobasa, hich sounds rather elegant whenpronounced out loud (russ try-Io-BAY-ta). Amongits common names are squawbush, oakbrush sumacand skunkbush.Common names for plants in one region may bedifferemfor thesameplants in otherregions.

For example, "Ironwood is an Easternhawthorn hophornbeam, an American hornbeam orany of several other species-depending on whichtree has the hardest wood in a region," notes Dr.Kuhns.What most Westerners call a burning bush(Euonymus&) is a plantUnde's grandmother andothers living in the Midwest call a winged wahoo.Many common name aremisleading.Esther Henrichsen notes that a pineapple isneither pine nor apple. "AJapanese flowering apricotand Japanese flowering plum are the same plant."adds Unde. T h e tree is a member of the Runusfamily, but it is not a plum or anapricot."Botanical names often say something about thepfont 's characte&ics.For example,alba says it's white, mgosa saysit's wrinkled, reptuns says it's creeping. PtamUCaindicates "sneeze-producingn-a nice thing to knowwhen selectingplants for a patio border.Some common names, of course, do awonderful job of describing a plant. Elephant's ear,lodgepole pine, and redhot ker are examples.rther common names like la y-of-the-night, bear'sbreeches, love-in-a-mist, mind-your-own-businessfrog's-bit and tree-of heaven (some would say tree-from-hell) fall short as plant descriptions-althoughthey sound as charming or intriguing as a wingedwahoo.

lily

. . . -.day lily lUy of lhv l l m yHow do people learn "botanesen? They find a

pronouncing dictionaryof plant-relatednames, ead apage or so every day over breakfast, and say thewords out loud between mouthfuls. Or they studycatalogs like the one published by Skagit Gardens.Or they might take an introductory course intaxonomy.Most experts agree: Spending the time andtrouble to become familiar with plants' botanicalnames and their pronunciations is a worthwhileinvestment. People who are plant professionals orplant lovers aid word-freaks may find it is also


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more fun than a b a d of ~ m u s ,ommonly d l 4monkeys."Anyone who considers themselves a plantprofessional or who is seriously interested in plantsshould be conversant with the botanicalnomenclature. As an intmational language, it hasworked extremely we11 for nearly 300 years. And itwill continue to work extremely well as a languagethat allows us to communicate at a very @selevel."- teveLhde, h d e HodcdtureGroup.Definition; NomendatmeA method of naming piants based oninternationalrules that botanists have agreed upon inorder to promote a uniform and ~ s m a b i ytablesystem. This permits only a single valid scientificname for each kind of plant, the discarded namesbeing known as synonyms.A F d y Tree in a NutsheIl:Family: The basic bmica1 division in the plantkingdom; includes one genus or genera {more hanone genus), Family names always end in(pronounced as they are when one recites thealphakt a cee ee)

Genus: A b tan id division within the family;includes one or more related species. A h , the firstword of the binomid (twopart) scientificor hhizedgeneric name of a plant. Pronunciation: JEE-nus.Aiways a p m p r noun (the first ie*r is capitalized).Should k~ italicized or underlined. Abbreviation:hlicizedfimt letter of the word and a period.Species: The second part of the binomial scientificnameof a plant. One or more species are gmupd toform a genus. Should be italicizedor underlined. Thefirst letter is not capitalized, even if it appears to be aproper name (mncknus orjqwnku, for exmpIe).Hybrid Species: The progeny of a c m s etweentwo species. Ihnoted by an x between the genusname or its abbreviation. (Many plant catalogs andother pubiicatims omit the x. )Cultiyar:A hodculturai selectionbased on a plant'sphysical chamctenstics-a particular leaf or foliagec d w . for example. Denoted by single quotationmarks around the cultivar name, or by cv . after thespecies name. Not italicimi; initial letter(s) atecapitalized. Often used interchangeably with'varietyf'- a nahmlly occurring subspecies ratherthan a cultivarbred by horticulturists.

Volunteer Opportunity:Capitol Reef National Park and the Bureau of h dManagementare conducting surveys for Pediocmtuswinkieri and P. ukswnii during March and A p dthis year. We are inmest4 in having a vdunteerfrom March 15 to April 24 to assist with thesurvey,Applicants should be able to walk up to 10miles pe r day day-in and day-out through the surveypericd, be able to read maps, and carry a backpack.The field work will involve a treasure hunt for thesetiny cryptic cactus in very rough terrain. It will

consist of Iong, tedious, and eye-straining hoursearching for the cacti, interspened with shortp i d s of exhilamtion when a cactus is foundRewards include hiking in =mote seldom visitedareas with beautiful scenery, the GI1 of finding avery m e p i e s of cactus, and housing provided inCapitol Reef. interested applicants should call TomClark at Capitol Reef (ph (435) 4253791 xl44 [email protected]).UNPS Field tripIf there is interest in a field trip to help with theabove survey:, the Park Service will providecamping site at the park: we just need to decide ondate, One problem may be that it will have to be onweekdays while the field crew is on. Is someonewilling to c m d n a t e this outing? How would A p d23-24 Thurs pm.-Fri.) suit people? Call Therese ifinterested 272-3275.Web Page:UNPS is planning to have an Internet Web Page. Dr.Susan Meyer of the Utah Valley chapter ispearheading this project, with ~ ~ ~ c assistancfrom Dr.Lany Meycrof the Sdt h k e Cbapter (dnews1etter editor). They wiH post announcementsfostatewide and chapter activities, links to other planand natures organizations, newsletter articles andother hems of interest, Anyone interested in helpingwith this new endeavorplease contact Susan MeymForest Senice S h b Lab, 735 North SW EastProvo, Utah M W , 801) 342-5140 or [email protected] OK bmy Meyer 272-3275 oemail: ~.meyer@m .cc.utah.edu.uWiIdflower Week7' is May 17 - 23.Celebrating WiIdflowen 1998 is coming up. This ia national program sponsored by the Bureau of h dManagement, the National Forest Service, U. SFish and W11difeService, and the National ParkService. The opening week commemoratesa seasonlong festival highlighting wiidflower educationinterpretation, and restoration activities on the 64.million acres of iand mauaged by these fouragencies. h t ear hundreds of events involvingpublic and private pattners provided information anddelight to persons of all ages. UN PS has donated$500 for printing the winning poster in the annuaschool children Celebrate Wildflowers contest. Wewill receive 100 posters for free distribution, and theForest Sewice (coordinatingthe activities)will havemany more o give to interestedgroups.Activites Web Page:This year events will be posted on theN a e W a t c h Homepage (the URL iswww.fs.fed.udoutdoors/naturewatch). This is anaward-winning page full of interesting informationPostings of Celebrating Wildflower events will beginin April. A telephone Celebrating WildflowemHotline 1-800-3544595 will atso run April 1through August 31, followed by a F A FoliageHotline at the m e umber which will run through[ateN o v e m k r .


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ms SEwUxd o Jo StoIhandUtah NativePlantSocietyP.0.Box SZWISalt hkeCity,UT84152-MNIAddmssCorrection Requested

Non-RofitOrg.US. PostageSaltM eCity, UtahPERMIT No.327

Native Plant Conservation Initiative.W S ill be joining this nationwide collakmmionof at leastnine federal agencies and, at Iast count, 55non-fded coo~rators. he Initiativeis a non-profitorganization whch brings togetherpublic and pivategroups dedicated to preserving native plants in t i i scountry. It coacenmtes it s efforts in four majorareas: I . h m o t i n g plant consemation projects. 2.Conducting research that provides information vitalto plant conseration actions. 3 . Sharing i n f o dmneeded to conserve native plants t h u g b o u t thecountty. 4. Helping p p 1 e tmderstand howi m p t a n & lants are to their daily lives and how heycan heIp conserve native plants.Native PhntlXeric GardeningDemanstmtion Pmject in Pmvo:In the spiritof his i ~ t ia t iv e , N P S is donating $3Mlto the Utah Valley Chapter for a native pkm~xerjclandscaping demonstration project which they arecmdinating with a locai s c h d Susan Meyer isorganizing the project. Our contribution will supplythe plants. Dr.Meyer will compile a Project ModelPlan for UNPS which can be used for futureprojecfs. WorkshopW P S and Red Butte Garden and Arlmreturn willco-sponsor a technical workshop in October wirhgovernment land management agencies to update tbeSensitive Plant List for Utah.Planning is undernay.UNPS Consewation CommitteeNative plant enthusiasts-are me&d to study nativeplant issues. Activities include leading natwe walks!giving. kt1ks, writing letters to government agencymanagers and legislators and wri tin2 newdefieritems. Call Theme Meyer ( c h a i r p e ~ n , 72-3275)if interested in helping in this area.

lfGiR Fmm:

Lfyou prefer nottocutthis outofyourSego Lify,fedfmcopy the m c m h h i p form or simply write h e rhc idommiodown and send i t with payment and degory of mmhrsh ip .


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VOL 21No. 3

June 18Thursday 6-8 PMJune 25Thursday 6-8 PMJune 27Saturday11-NoonJuly 11SaturdayNursery field trip andhike

Hike with a Nahudist: W e d s ofThe Foothills. A two hourwalk with Dick Hildreth ofRed Butte GardenandArbreturn. Call 581-8454ASAP.Hike with aNatudist: N W m anagemem A twohour walk with Barbara Bentley of Red Butte M e n ndArbreturn. Call 581-8454, by June 18th-Red Butte Garden and A r b x m : Walk witb the Curator,Ralph h i t z h a m irsthand what's b bm i n g n thegarden.OutingtoGreat Basin Natives, RoM and Memi11Johnson's N m q , n Hdden Utah. Either meet there at1O:W AM, rmmtatDick HIdreth's formffkeandCar-p l rcaravan at 7:O. Hike n afkmmnamongMstlemnes and mamai msand p s i b l e a m p u ~allDick at theAh retm,581-8936 , TheNursery is at75West 30 0 south, Holden UT, 435) 795-2303.

The Utah Heritage Garden -An Idea Whose T h e Has Come?

Susan Meyer, Horticulture Committee Chaiq~monUtah Native Plant Society-Utah Valley ChapterAs the population of the W&h Front a m ntinuesto grow, we seemore and more ofour favorite foothill wfldflowm patches disappear under cuncrete, asphalt, and kentucky

blwgms. The question we ask here is whether there is any way to help native plants mxktwith people in this increashg1y urban landscape. Une place where Utahus and native plantsm u I d m m ~ d H k h a - & g . m e p p I e o f U ~ m m & M b g m h h g -perhaps if they leaned to gardenwith native plants they might also m e m d W to theappreciation andpresewationof these plants in the wild,


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But how do we introduce pop1e to nativeplants for their gardens? Only a few are readilyavailable n the mainstream nursev trade, and manynatives with truly outstanding horticdttmlpotential have been grown only by a fewaficionados(eg. , see Dave Joyner on paintbrushesina reant issue of he Sego Lily) or not at d l . Onone h a d , we need local nurseries that specialize inUtah natives, where people can find many h u t i f u land unusual kinds of plants. On the other hmd, weneed some way to let people h o w why they wouldlike growing these plants instead of petunias. Andwhile a picture m y be worth a thousand words, aliving, growing gardm is clearly worth a thousandpictures, This brings us to the idea of a UtahHeritageGarden.Pwple are accustomed to thinking of theirhentagein cultural terns, but each resident of Utahcan also lay c t a h to a unique bioregional hentagethat includesall the complex natural communitiesofthe state and the literally thousands of differentkinds of plants, animals and other creatures thatMabit them Most of us h o w very 1ittIe aboutthis exmrdinary natural heritage. One rneamngfdway to learn h u t his heritage is to grow nativeplants. As my serious gardener will tell you,growinga p h i is a whole different exprience fromcasual obsemtion, Watching and aidmg theastonishing transformation from seed to d l i n g tovigorousyoung plant to mature f l o h n g plant anbe transforming for the gardener as w d . It dwchanges the way the gardener perceives that plantwhen it is encountered in a wild setting, growingwithout any human aid at all. The beauty andstrength of native plants in the fhce of harshcondtiom can be quite moving to those who havelamed throughgadeningto see and to value them.

Tn the come of group discussions at theUtah Native Plant Forum, held in February 1997 atUtah Valley State CdIege nOmn, e identified theneed for native plant demonstxatim gardens inpublic places. l k newly-formed Utah V d e yChapter of he UtahNative Plant Societydecided tomake establishment of a public native plantdemommtiongardenin Utah V d k y a high priority.We@an last summer by wll~tingeeds of someof the piants we wanted to grow, and we spent fdland winter laming how to propagate these plants

from seed. Then we started searching for aauspicious location for the garden. One of ouchapter members, Dmin Johnsun, is a t a c k aWasatch Elementary S c h d and an avid gardenehimself. He m g e d for us to use a 2700-squarefoot m a a t the s c h d front entrance as the site foour deinonsmtion project. The garden will blocated at 1080 North 900 East in Prow, just easof the BYU campus. We are currently in thprocess of preparing the site for planting. Thiinvolves taking out lawn and foundation planthgscanying out some m ud weed control, tilling thsite, shaping beds and laying paths*and bringing idonated landscape rocks and chip mulch. Av o ~ ~ e work day for helpingto prepare the site ischeduled forMay 16, nd we plan 10 plant most othe gardenon June 6.We brought our idea for a demonstratiogarden to the W S oard of Directors to ask fotheir input and supper!, andwe received some godfeedback One idea was to document this project aa pilot effort that others could use as a model fo&veloping simiiar gardens at schools and parkaround the state. We have p p e d a documenthat d e s r i k s our galsandoutlines a procedure hreachingthose goals. In he process we realized thaproviding interpretive materials to explain thgarden and its purpose would be imprtant to itsuccess. We 4 1 ake these materials available tmyone who is interestd, both in printed form anas part of the u p m i n g W S ebsite. As wthought about the possibility that many differengroups mightwant to use ourmodel, we decided thprogram desewed a name-and the Utah HerrtagGarden ideawas born.As we outlined h our document, wenvision that a Utah Heritage Garden has thfollowingpurposes:1) To teach the pople ofUtah about their uniquand spectacular native plant hexitage.2) To show p p l e that water-wise landscapinwith Utah natives can be as hu t i f d aninkresting as traditimal Europan-stylla-ping.3) To help people discover how gardening witnative plants can m a t e 8 joyfd sense oc o ~ & e swith wild nature.


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4 ) To encourage people to care about the fate ofnative plants in the wild as well as enjoyingthem in the g a r h .

If the Utah Heritage Garden idea appeals topeople, we as a society may be able to play apivotal role, providing expertise as well as seeds orplants to many interested groups. Some of thesewiceswe might be able to offer include: a nativeplant propagation database and wden planningguide on our website, a series of hands-onworkshops on responsible seed collection andpropagation, a seed ba& and a corps of gardenerswilling to propagate and provide plants. We mightconsider networking with garden organizations orprhaps with the USU Extension Master Gardenersp g m . Another pssibility is to involve hghscha-01students in learningnativeplant propagation--seven1 high schools in the state have greenhouse.facilities. By establishing a series of demonstnationgardens, we will show people how ~ a u t i f d ~ yheseplants perfom and will teach people what to askforwhen they go toIdnurseries.This in turn willhelp the nurseries that specialize n providing nativespcies.As we proceed with this pilot project, weare already ieaming fiorn our mistakes--hopefullywe can help other folks avoid some of the pitfallswe have encountered. We believe this idea hastremendous promise, but we need the energy ofmany peopleAnyone interested inhelphg with ourdemonstration garden, in 1 more a b u t theUtah Heritage Garden pmgmm- or who has anygo d deasonhow we should proceed from here- iswelcome to contact me (801423-2603 orsemeyer@~sm orn].

Editor's Note:This is the twentieth anniversary year of the UtahNative Plant Society.Wewill be featuring a few ofthe articles from h e irst editionsof the Sego Lily.Next is a reprint from a letterh m ohnMuirregardinghis h p o the Salt Lake Vdley .

EXCERPT: STEEPTRAILSby John MuirChapterIX - MORMON LILIES

Letter dated: Salt Lake, Jdy, 1877.Lilies are me in Utah; so also are theicompanions the ferns and orchids, chiefly on

account of the fmy sdthess of the soil and climateYou may walk the deserts of the Great Bash in thebloom timeof the year, all the way across fiom thesnowy Siem to the snowy Wahsatch, and youreyes will be filled with m y gay m l v a , andpoppy, and abrmia, and cactus, b'ut you may nosee a single true My, and only a very few liliawowplants of any kind.Not even n the cud, fresh glensof the mountains will you find these favoriteflowers, though some of these desefi ranges almosrival the Sierra in height, Nevertheless, in thebuilding and planhg of this grand Temtmy thelilies were not forgotten. Far back in the dimgeologic ages, when the sediments of the old seawere being gatheredand outspread in smooth sheetlike l aves of a book, and when these sedimenth a m e~ I Yand, and were baked and c m b k d intothe sky asmountain-rang=; when she lava-floods othe Fire Period were being lavishly poured forthfrom humerab1e rifis and craters;when the ice othe Glacial Periad was laid like a mantle over evaymountain and valley - throughout all theseimmensely protracted periods, in the thong of thesemajestic operations, Nature kept her flower childrein mind. She considered the lilies, and, whilplanting the plains with sage and the hills withcedar, she has c o v d at least one mountain withgolden eqthroniums and fritibrias as its crowningglory, as ifwilling to show what she could do in theM y ine even here, Looking southward from thesouth end of Sah Lake, the two northmost p hthe Oquirrh Range are seen swelling caIm1y into thecod sky without my marked charactex, exceptingonly their snow crowns, and a few small weedylookingpatches of spruce and f ir, the simplichy otheir slqm preventing their reid loftiness &ombeing appreciated.Gray, sagey plains circle arountheir bases, and up to a height of a ? h o m d feet omore their sides are tinged with purple, whichafiewards found is produced by a close goWh o


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dwarf oak just coming into leaf. Higher you maydetect faint tintingsof green on a gray ground, fromyoung grasses and sedges; then come the dark pinewoods filling glacial hollows, and over all thesmooth crown of snow.

While standing at their feet, the other day,shortly after my memorable excursion among thesalt waves of the lake, I said: "Now I shall haveanotherbaptism. I will bathe in the high sky, amongcool wind-waves from the snow." From the moresoutherly of the two peaks a long ridge comesdown, bent like a bow, one end in the hotplains, theother in the snow of the summit. After carefullyscanning the jagged towers and battlements withwhich it is roughened, I determined to make it myway, hough it presented but a feeble advertisementof its floral wealth. This apparent barrenness,however, made no great objection just then, for Iwas scarce hoping for flowers, old or new, or evenfor fine scenery. I wanted in particular to team whatthe Oquirrh rocks were made of, what treescomposed the curious patches of forest; and,perhaps more than all, I was animated by amountaineer's eagerness to get my feet into thesnow once more, and my head into the clear sky ,after lying dormant all winter at the level of the sea.But in every walk with Nature one receivesfar morethan he seeks. I had not gone more than a mile fromLake Point ere I found the way profusely deckedwith flowers, mostly compositae and purpleleguminosae, a hundred corollas or more to thesquare yard, with a corresponding abundance ofwinged blossoms above them, moths and butterflies, the leguminosae of the insect kingdom. Thisfloweriness is maintained with delightfulvariety allthe way up through rocks and bushes to the snow -violets, omotheras, wallflowers, ivesias, saxifrages,Smilax , and miles of blooming bushes, chieflyazalea, honeysuckle, brier rose, buckthorn, anderiogonum,all meeting and blending in divine accord.Two liliaceous plants in particular, Erythroniumgrandiflorum and Friti laria pudica, are marvelouslybeautiful and abundant. Never before, in all mywalks,have I met so glorious a throng of these fineshowy liliaceous plants. The whole mountainsidewas aglow with them, from a height of fifty-fivehundred feet to the very edgeof the snow. Althoughremarkably fragile,both in form and in substance,

they are endowed with plenty of deep-seatevitality, enabling them to grow in all kinds ofplace- own in leafy glens, in the lee of windbeateledges,and beneath the brushy tanglesof azalea,anoak, and prickly roses- verywhere forming thcrowning glory of the flowers. If the neighborinmountains are as rich in lilies, then this may well bcalled the Lily Range. After climbing aboutthousand feet above the plain I came topicturesque mass of rock, cropping up through thunderbrush on one of the steepest slopes of thmountain. After examiningsome tufts of grass ansaxifragethat were growing in its fissured surface,was goingto pass it by on he upper side, where thbushes were more open, but a company composeof the two lilies I have mentioned were blooming othe lower side, and though they were as ye t out osight, I suddenly changed my mind and went dowto meet them, as if attracted by the ringingof theibells. They were growing in a small, nesdikopeningbetween the rock and the bushes, and botthe erythronium and the fritillaria were in fuflower. These were the first of the species I haseen,and I need not try to tell the joy they madThey are both lowly plants, - lowly as violets, -the tallest seldom exceedingsix inches in height, sthat the most searching winds that sweep thmountains scarce reach low enough to shake theibells. The firillaria has five or six linear, obtusleaves, put on irregularly near the bottom of thstem, which is usually terminated by one large Iwlshaped flower; but its more beautiful companionthe erythronium, has two radical leaves only, whicare largeand oval, and shine like glass. They extenhorizontally in opposite directions, and formbeautiful glossy ground,over which the one largdown-looking flower is swung from a simple stemthe petals being strongly recurved, like those oLilium superbum. Occasionally a specimen is mewhich has from two to five flowers hung in a loospanicle. People oftentimes travel far to see curiouplants like the carnivorous dadingtonia, the flycatcher, the walking fern, etc. I hardly know howthe little bells I have been describing would bregarded by seekers of this class, but every truflower-lover who comesto consider these Utah liliewill surely be well rewarded, however long the way


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Pushing on up the rugged slopes, I foundmany delightful seclusions- n moist nooks at thefoot of cliffs, and lilies in every one of them, no tgrowing close together like daisies, but well apart,with plenty of room for their bells to swing free andring. I found hundreds of them in full bloom withintwo feet of the snow. In winter only the bulbs arealive, sleeping deep beneath the ground, like fieldmice in their nests; then the snow-flowers fall abovethem, lilies over lilies, until the spring winds blow,and these winter lilies wither in turn; then the hidingerythroniumsand fitillarias riseagain,responsive tothe first touches of the sun.

I noticed the tracks of deer in many placesamong he lily gardens, and at the height of aboutseven thousand feet I came upon the fresh trail of aflock of wild sheep, showing that these finemountaineers still flourish here above the range ofMormon rifles.In the planting of her wild gardens,Nature takes the feet and teeth of her flocks intoaccount, and makes use of them to trim andcultivate, and keep them in order, as the bark andbuds of the tree are tended by woodpeckers aidlinnets. The evergreen woods consist, as far as Iobserved, of two species, a spruce and a fir,standing close together, erect and arrowy in athrifty, compact growth; but they are quite small,say from six to twelve or fourteen inches indiameter, and about forty feet in height. Amongtheir giant relatives of the Siena the veiy largestwould seem mere saplings. A considerable portionof the south side of the mountain s planted with aspecies of aspen, called"quakingasp" by the wood-choppers. It seems tobe quite abundanton many ofthe eastern mountains of the basin, and forms amarked feature of their upper forests. Wading upthe curves of the summit was rather toilsome, forthe snow, which was softened by the blazing sun,was from ten to twenty feet deep, but the view wasone of the most impressively sublime I ever beheldSnowy, ice-sculptured ranges bounded the horizonall around, while the great lake,eightymiles long andfifty miles wide, lay fully revealed beneath a lilysky. The shore-lines, marked by a ribbon of whitesand, were seen sweeping around many a bay andpromontoly in elegant curves, and picturesqueislands rising o mountain heights, and someof themcapped with pearly cumuli.And the wide prairie of

water glowing in the gold and purple of eveninpresented all the colors that tint the lips of shelland the petals of lilies-- the most beautiful lake thiside of the Rocky Mountains. Utah Lake, lyinthirty-five miles to the south was in full sight alsoand the river Jordan, which links the two togethermay be traced in silvery gleams throughout itwhole course.

Descending the mountain, I followed thwindings of the main central glen on the northgathering specimens of the cones and sprays of thevergreens,and most of the other new plants I hamet; but the lilies formed the crowning glory of mybouquet- he grandestI had carried in many a dayI reached the hotel on the lake about dusk with amy fresh riches, and my first mountain ramble iUtah was accomplished On my way back to thcity, the next day, I met a grave old Mormon witwhom I had previously held some Latter-Dadiscussions. I shook my big handful of lilies in hiface and shouted, "Here are the true saints, ancienand Latter-Day, enduring forever." After he harecoveredfrom his astonishment he said, "They arnice."

The other liliaceous plants I have met iUtah are tw o species of zigadenus, Fitillariatropurpurea, Calochortus Nuttallii, and three ofour handsome albums. One of these lilies, thcalochortus, several species of which are welknown in California as the "Mariposa tulips," hareceived great consideration at the hands of thMormons, for to it hundreds of them own theilives. During the famine years between 1853 an1858, great destitution prevailed, especially in thsouthern settlements, on account of drouth angrasshoppers, and throughout one hunger winter iparticular, thousandsof he people subsisted chieflon the bulbs of these tulips, called "sego" by thIndians, who taught them its use.Liliaceous women and girls are rare amongthe Mormons. They have seen too much hardrepressive toil to admit of the development of ilybeauty either in form or color. In general they arthickset, with large feet and hands, and with sunbrowned faces, often curiously freckled like thpetals of Fritillaria atropurpurea. They are fruirather than flower- oodbrown bread. But downin the San Pitch Valley at Gunnison, I discovered


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UNPS Sc/oJo StolhandUtahNative Plant SocietyP.O.Box 520041Salt Lake City, UT 84152-0041

Non-Profit Org.U.S. PostagePAIDSalt Lake City, UtahrERMITNo. 327Return ServiceRequested

genuine lily, happily named Lily Young. She is agranddaughter of Brigham Young, slender andgraceful, with lily-white cheeks tinted with clearrose. She was brought up in the old Salt Lake ZionHouse, but by some strange chance has beentransplanted to this wilderness, where she bloomsalone, the "Lily of SanPitch." Pitch is an old Indian,who, I suppose, pitched into the settlers and thusacquired fame enough to give name to the valley.Here I feel uneasy about the name of th is lily, forthe compositors have a perverse trick of makingmesay all kinds of absurd things wholly unwarrantedby plain copy, and I fear that the "Lily of SanPitch" will appear in print as the widow of SamPatch. But, however this may be, among m ymemories of this strange land, that Oquirrhmountain,with its golden lilies, will everrise in clearrelief,and associated with them will always be theMormon Lily of San Pitch.

Membership Application0 ew Member 0 enewal 0 iftName

If Gift, From;Check Membership Category Desired0 tudent $6.000 enior $10.000 ndividual $12.00n Household $20.000 ustaining $35.00(3 Supporting Organization $50.000 orporate $250.00 and uplJ Lifetime $250.00Please send a complimentary copy of the Stgo Lily totheabove individual.

Please enclosea check,payable to Utah Native PlantSociety, and send it to:MembershipUtahNative Plant SocietyP.O.Box 520041Salt Lake City, Utah 84152-0041

Ifyou prefer not to cut this outof yourSego Lily, feel freecopy the membership form or simply write the the infonuatiodown and send it with payment and category ofmembership.


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VOL. 21 No. 4

First and ThirdThursdays5-9 PM

CALENDAR OF EVENTSWork on the Utah Heritage Gardenduring this growingseason,Bringsmallhand shovelsor garden tools andcometohelpon hefirst or third Thursday of each month.

Wednesday, A-st 12 TenthWddlandShrubSymposium: ShrublandEcotones.Ato Friday, August 14 Snow Collegesymposiumwith regularsessions,postersessionsand ield tripsto ie GreatBasinEx talmgca A ~m e k w o m =my8t4 hen$175.Held attheGreenwood Student Center atSnow College inEphramUT, hey havean mpressiveschedule.For informationcall 435-283-7260 or435-283-7261,or writeGBEEC, 50East CollegeAve, EphramUT, 4627, or www.snow.edu/gbec~t

Saturday, August 15,9 AM, Albion BashWHdflower Walk

SaturdayAugust 29, 19989AM

Summerwildflower walk withShennB m g h and Dick andSue Hildreth, anda simplified new key orAlbionBasin.Meet at theParking lot atthe bottom ofLittleCottonwoodCanyonat9AM.Bring lunchandacamera. Checklistprovided.PotluckBreakfast and UtahHeritageGardenTour.W e illbe talking about and Showing offournativeplantdemonstrationgarden, liturature,and the plants usedforlandscaping will beavailable. 1040N 900 ast, Prow

Native pharmacopoeia of the eastern Great Basin:A report of work in progress.Janet HugieSmithInthe study ofman'sadaptation to his environment,an importantquestionthat shouldbe asked is- w ~ ~ d ~ & w ~ ~ w ~ s i c k ~ ~ w & ~ v e wdiseaseand diseaseoutcomeis important because all societies face llnessand injury, and mostpopulationsdevelopspecialized behaviorregardinghealthproblems.Many anthropological studiesof aboriginal medical practiceshave emphasizedshamanismand superaaturalism,but therewasalargeareaofprimitive medicinethatcouldbe ermed "rationaltherapy".In he easternGreatBasin,naturaldrugsutilizedwere crude animal,mineral orplantmaterials, but many were effectiveandsuitablefortheir intended purposes.


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plants were utilized medicinally by theinhabitants of the eastern Great Basin.many of the plants are no longer usedommercially because of newer and more effectiverugs, both natural and synthetic, are now on thearket, some are still important in modem medicine,

nd there are a number of plants the chemistry ofwhich is not well understood.Collectionsof about thirty plants were made withthe help of Shoshone herbalists during the summerof 1972. Of these only about twenty are currentlyacceptedas havingsome degreeof therapeutic value-A society's ability to deal with disease seems to bedependent on three major factors: (1) the level oftechnological sophistication (2) the raw drugmaterials available in the environment, and (3) thetypes of diseases and injuries that are the mostprevalent.Successful treatment of most diseases requiresaccurate determination of the cause. Because oflimited technology, aboriginal societies simply couldnot diagnose many illnesses. If the disease weresevere,chronic or exotic, the cause was attributed tosome supernatural or social agent and the afflictedperson or his family sought he help of a shaman. fthe cause of distress was obvious as in wounds,cuts, skin rritations, bruises, eye inflammation,etc.the treatment was empirical. Even when theproblem was internal, successful treatment could behad if the disease was common and the symptomsclear cut. Specific plants became associated withspecific sets of symptoms or injuries. Some plantswith similar effects were used interchangeably forrelated problems and a few were effective fordissimilarproblems.Those people living in the high mountain valleys orlow mountain areas had access to more medicinalplants than those people living in high mountainforests, deserts, or marshy areas. However, therewas exchange of information and plant materialsamong these peoples.(The following few plants and their uses wereamong those collected on the Duck Valley IndianReservationduring- the summer f 1972.)

0) arrow: Achillea mUlefolim The rootwas collected in the early summer and dried for useas a poultice on cuts, swellings, wounds or bruises.It was pounded between rocks then mixed withwater to form a paste-like mass. This was appliedto the afflicted area, allowed to dry, removed andanother applied. Sometimes the tops and leaveswere picked and made into a tea for stomach upsets.Yarrow contains the alkaloid achilleine whichreduces the clottingtime of blood.

(2 ) Columbine: Aguilegia rormosa The rootwas collected during the spring to use as a poulticeon swellings, bites and boils. It was dried, poundedand made into a paste similar to yarrow,


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(3 ) Big Sagebrush:Artemisia tridentata Sages commonly used throughout the Great Basin forand congestion. The leaves were gatheredthe year and dried for teas. Sometimeswere used as a chest poultice being crushed andin a hot cloth for lung congestion. Greenwere also wrapped in a cloth and used toexternal bleeding on both men and horses.

experiments indicate that it may bein treating mouth and gum disorders such as

(4) Oregon grape: Mahonia repens The rootwas gathered during the summer, the outer barkpeeled and the inner root mashed and dried. Whenneeded it was soaked in water and the water used asan eyewash. The plant contains two alkaloids whichreduce the inflammation of mucous membranes andare found in the commercial product Murine alongwith other ingredients.

( 5 ) Mormon tea: Ephedra The branches ofthe plant were dried and made into a tea forstomach, bowel disorders and general "crummy"feeling. Pharmaceutical investigations on Ephedraare conflicting, but it seems clear that these speciesare not as physiologically active as those found inthe Orient.

(6) Desert parsley: Lomatium dissecturnThis plant was one of the ones most widely usedamong the people of the Great Basin for both manand animals.The root was collected in the summer,cut into cross sections and dried in the sun. Forcolds and flu the dried pieces were ground into apowder for a tea. The ground root was alsomixedwith Tobacco and smoked for both head and lungcongestion. Sometimes a piece of root was insertedinto the nostrils for relief of headache or steeped inhot water for rheumatic pains. External washes wereprepared for a variety of ailments ranging fromdandruff to skin abrasions. Antibiotic studies onLomatium dissecturn compare its action roughly tothat of penicillin in the complete inhibition of acidfast organisms including the tuberculosis bacteria


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(7)Curly dock: Rzanex crispus The rootgatheredin he summerand fall usually aftertheparts had turned a deep red. Then was

and mixedwith water to make a poulticer swellings,cuts, and sore muscles.

1 This was originally published in the first edition ofthe SegoLily, 20 years ago.by Janet Hugie Smith,GreatBasin Cultural Ecology,a Symposium

1 Reno, Nevada, 1972.I

AN EYE-CATCHING POPPYII1 Nature Conservancy of Utah Acquires CriticalHabitat Near St.George for Showy EndangeredII Species

The dwarf bear claw poppy (arctomewn hwnilis),one of Utah's most beautifulwildflowers, is also oneof Utah's first rare plants to find its way onto thefederal endangered species list. Its population hasdwindled to just 7 small locations - all of themfound in barren, gypsum-laced soils east and southofSt George.In May, following good water years,the showy white blossoms stand out brilliantlyagainst the poor pastel soils in which Jew otherplants can survive. The poppy is pollinated byground-nesting bees that may be as rare as theplants themselves.Long a worry to Utah's botanists, the populationnumbers have fluctuated greatly from year to year.

I The increasing threat by off-highway vehiclesI ( O w , motorized vehicles and mountain bikesI (which destroy the plants themselves and compactthe soil) has caused increasing concern for thespecies' ultimate survival. The "NatureConservancyofUtah has worked with the BLM to close the land

to OHV use and fence one of the largest BLMpopulations, but continued OHV trespassing andfencecutting occurred at that site.Since 1990, the Conservancy has been quietlyworking to purchase the only known poppypopulation occurringon private1y-owned land This70-acre parcel was recently acquired for housingdevelopment by several local St Georgeentrepreneurs. Though the property was quicklyplatted and earthmoving was permitted, the ownerswere sympathetic to the poppy's plight andnegotiatedto sell off 14 acres of less valuable, steep


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property containing the majority of the rarebear claw poppy plants. With the generousof the WillardL EcclesFoundation, The

Conservancy ofUtah was able to purchasecritical poppy habitat this past December.new Utah preserve will be immediately fenced

discourage additional O W amage. It will beto Utah botanists and researchers seekinglearn the secrets of this spectacular andspecies in an effort to guarantee its

BEQUESTFORHELPe are a Forest Service research unit located inthat works onbiologicalcontrol of weeds.we can release a biological control agenta weed, we must do extensive testing towhat plant species may be at risk of

We ike to include as many closely relatedspecies in our host specificity tests as weWe are currently trying to collect species forspecificity tests of biological agents for

jm e a (rush skeletonweed), a commonin Idaho that has begun to invade Northwest

We solicit your help in collectingof the following: Crepis m,ceratophorum (homed ' dandelion),eriophorwn (Rocky 'MountainTaraxacum lyratum (dwarf alpine

Mcdacothrix torreyi (Torreyand Micmeris nutans. If you couldany of these species, knew of anywhere we could collect, or would likeinformation on our program, please contact:Bergstrom or Jennifer Birdsall, USDASciencesLab., 1648 S. 7th Ave., Bozeman,

59717, (4O6)994- 1784.

Books from our friendsin Oregon and Arizona

The ONPS and ANPS have been busy.

Conservation andManagement of Native Plantsand Fungi:

Proceedingsof an Oregon ConferenceEdited by: Thomas N.Kaye, Aaron Listen, RhodaM. Love, Daniel L. Luoma, Robert J. Me&, andMark V.Wilson. With a forewordby Reed F. Noss,Oregon State University. Native Plant Society of*goi~The management of native plants faces manychallenges today, and the attention of manyconservationists has recently expanded to includebryophytes, lichen and fungi. This book addressesthis subject through the perspective of professionalland managers, conservationists, and academicscientists from Oregon andneighboring states. Fortypapers comprise the volume, which is broken intofour themes representing conservation, restoration,ecology,and systematics. The book is the firstof itskind for the conservation community in the PacificNorthwest; it is based on a symposium held 15-17November 1995 on the Oregon State Universitycampus. Although most papers have a regionalfocus, the book is pertinent to all students andprofessionals in the fields of botany andconservation biology.296 pages; 113 illustrations 11 black and whiteplates, 51 tables, 6 appendices. Price: $20 plus $5shipping and handling ($2.50 shipping for eachadditionalcopy). Soft coveronly. ISBN 0-9656852-0-9For more information and abstracts of all papers inthe book. visit our web site at-http://www.teleport.coin/nonprofiVnpso/confproc.html To order, send check or money order to: NPSOConference Proceedings 804 Jefferson Avenue LaGrande, Oregon97850Make check payable to: Native Plant Society ofOregon All proceeds from the sale of this book gptoward the conservation and education programs ofthe Native Plant Society of regon.


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UNPS SEGO LILYc/oJo StolhandUtah Native PlantSocietyP.O.Box 520041Salt Lake City, UT 84152-0041ReturnServiceRequested

special issue of Desert Plants, "Annotated Florad Vegetation of the Tucson Mountains, PimaArizona" was published in December,and can be ordered through A M P S which

its publication. It features over 100 colorTo order, mail$10 to:NativePlant Societyx 41206, Sun StationAZ 85717

o receive a listing or to order any back issues,to: Desert Plants, 2120 E.Alien Rd., ucson,85719. All back issues (except for Vol. 4, Nos.

"BioticCommunitiest') re $ 5 .

PAID -Salt Lake City, UtahPERMIT No.327

Membership Application0 ew Member ("I Renewal 0 iftNameStreet

IfGift, From:CheckMembershipCategoryDesired0 tudent $6.000 enior $10.00D Individual $12.000 ousehold $20000 ustaining $35.000 upportingOrganization $50.00o~orporate $250.00 sad np0 lifetime $250.000 lease send a complimentaly copy ofthe Sego Lily totheabove individual.Please enclose a check, payable to Utah Native PlantSociety, and send itto:MembershipUtah Native PlantSocietyP.O.BOx 520041SaltLake City. Utah 84152-0041

Ifyou prefer not to cut thisoutof yourSego Lily, feel freecopy themembership form or simply write the the informatiodown andsend itwith paymentandcategory of membership.


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Newsletter of the Utah Native Plant SockVOL. 21 No.

Lichen classsOct 31, IOAM to Noon

UNPS Board ofDirectorsMeeting, 6PM, Nov 1 lth

ANNUAL MEETINGAND NEW WORLDPOTLUCKNov 13', 6 3 0 PM

CALENDAR O F EVENTSDr. Larry St Clair ofBYU will teacha class.The Lichensof Utah, at Red Butte Garden andArboretumVisitorCenter. The cost is$6 or garden members, $8 non-members.TheBoard will meet at the Red Butte Garden andArboretum offices n theconferenceroom, 18ADeTrobriand in Fort Douglas. Call Dick Hildreth forinformation, 58 i-8936.The annual meeting and potluck will be held in theSugarhouse Park Garden center on Nov 13"'at 6:30 P.M.Bring your dish of new world food and a few of your bestslides. The Garden center ison he south sideof21 ' So.at about 1450east inSalt Lake City.

Goals and Objectives of the Utah Native Plant SocietyStanley L. Welsh(Presented atopening session of Utah Native Plant Society)30 September, 1978

IntroductionIt seems necessary to evaluate the condition of our native plants, our resources, and ourposition before attempting to state potential goals and objectives for this society. The role ofoutlining the condition of the body politic generally lies with the ruling head of the organization,and it is thus foolhardy ofme to provide such a state of the state addressor the goals and objectiveswhich might flow from such an analysis. Whatever qualifications I lack for these tasks, I willobscure by my ignorance and will walk with steadfastness into the lion's den. I will use asexample and excuse the generations of politicians who have walked the battlefield in the sureknowledge that God will protect such fools. My presentation will include three main sections; areview of the nature of the flora of Utah as it has been influenced by the activities of ourcivilization, the development of botanical taxonomic thought and of botanical resources available,and finallyof some of the current problems with which this society and its members might beconcerned.


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The Flora: Historical PerspectiveThat the flora of Utah is unique has long been

not on1y to the few professional botanistsho have worked to understand that flora, but alsoa larger number of State an d Federal workers,

to the numerous private persons with interest inur native plants. The study of that vast array of

evolutionary end products, ournative species,for many possible approaches, as do theof a multi-faceted jewel, and most of the

known n contemporary times have beento a greater or lesser extent, both thethe theoretical.

The comparison of ou r flora to a jewel of greatcan be applied in yet another sense; i s . asrepresentative of a national prize, equivalenta real way to crown jewels. For the most part,plant species of Utah have not been

or treated with great reverence or respecty the populace as a whole. The region wasioneered and settled by people of a most practicalature, dedicated to the idea that food, clothing,shelter, heat, and light were necessities. The landnd its vegetation were exploited to provide theaterials required for existence in this remote areaith its perennial economic depression. Over-ridingreoccupation with "making a living" precludedore than a passing interest in plants as a portion ofur national heritage.The plants were regarded to have been placedfor the use of man, either in place or aftereing removed to some more distant place. Thevegetation was sometimes treated as a mere

economic development; the vegetationad to be cleared to provide arable land. Landuality was judged by its value for growing ofgricultural crops, for construction of buildings, oror grazing. Lands suitable for growing of crops andor construction of dwell ings and business

were to form the taxable base forand state government. Grazing lands, whichnot support even a modest tax levy, were notfor private ownership and were to remainnder Federal control.Low ands adjacent to sourcesf water for irrigation were cleared and planted tontroduce Old World crop plants, an action thatstimulated the introduction of weeds - those campollowers of man. The first major retreat ofindigenous flora bad begun. Only about threepercent of Utah came under irrigation and only

about an additional one and one-half percent of thestate's 86,000 quare miles were suitable for dryfarm agriculture.To the four and one-half percenttaken from the total for agricultural uses must beadded other portions of the state, those intangibleamounts cleared for the roads, railroads, canals,pipelines, fences, pole lines, and for the failures inagriculture.

That "hope springs eternal in the humanbreast" and that mankind is capable of expenditureof energy in monumental quantities is to be found inthe cleared areas adjacent to tattered abandonedfarmsteads, haunted by the ghosts of brokendreams, throughout the west. These are in areas.which failed to produce crops fol lowing thetremendous labor of clearing, construction ofirrigation systems, and of planting. An idea wasextant during the pioneering period that climaticImprovements followed close on the heels ofclearing and cultivation of the land. For whateverreason, hardly a portion of our great state is freefrom scars that serve as evidence of failu

Documents

1998 Utah Native Plant Society Annual Compliations