June/July 2005

June General Meeting -- Tuesday, June 21st , 7:30 pm Calendar

6/4 Ring Mountain
Peter Baye: 6/10 CNPS 40th Anniversary
Protecting the Endangered to Celebration, Nevada
6/12 City
Pitkin Lily:
Management Plan for Cunningham 6/14 Chapter Board Meeting,
Environmental Center
Marsh
6/21 June General Meeting,
Luther Burbank Art &
The last wild Pitkin lilies in the world live in a Garden Center*
small riparian area in southwest Sebastopol
known as Cunningham Marsh. This beautiful lily, cousin to the more familiar 6/25 Mayacamas Mtns
leopard lily, is one of Sonoma County’s rarest treasures. As the lily’s home is a Audubon Sanctuary
Chapter preserve, we have the awesome responsibility for its health and survival,
in partnership with the California Department of Fish & Game, which has a 7/10 Chimney Rock
conservation easement on the property.
7/19 No General Meeting

Dr. Peter Baye, our speaker at the June public meeting, has made a study and
prepared a management plan for the lily and its home. He will introduce us to 8/27 Annual Milo Baker
the plant and the site, and provide an overview of his recommendations for its Chapter Picnic
preservation.

A botanist specializing in coastal plant ecology and taxonomy, Dr. Baye has been
involved in the study and conservation of coastal plants and their communities,
and endangered species conservation, for nearly 30 years. He lives in the coastal
In This Issue
hills of the Gualala River watershed near Annapolis. President's Corner ....................... 2
Welcome New Members!............. 2
Come to Plant ID Hour before the June General Meeting! Chapter Events
Check out “Chapter Events & Activities” for more details! & Activities ................................... 2
Plant Sale News ........................... 2
No General Meetings in July and August! Chapter Field Trips ...................... 3
Conservation Report.................... 4
No general meetings during these months. Activities & Events
of Interest..................................... 4
Articles to Increase Your
Knowledge.................................... 4
Annual Chapter Picnic! – Sunday, August 27th, 2:00 pm Newsletter Submissions
& Website ..................................... 7
Plan to attend our potluck picnic at the Van Hoosear Wildflower Preserve, Support Our Local
courtesy of Marilyn Goode. The Preserve is part of a Goode family conservation Native Plant Nurseries................. 7
easement to preserve their ranchland. It's west of the town of Sonoma. Details in
the August newsletter.

*General meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at Luther Burbank Art & Garden Center, 2050 Yulupa Avenue, Santa Rosa
**Milo Baker Chapter Board meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday nine months of the year at the Environmental Center, 404 Mendocino Ave,
Suite A, Santa Rosa. Next meeting is July 12th. Anyone interested in the work of the chapter is welcome to attend!

P resident's Corner
Native plants are getting lots of
publicity in our local papers lately. I
hope the attention will bring Sonoma
County flora to the public’s attention in a positive light.
We now have a volunteer, John Herrick, who will be
working on our responses to City/County Development
Proposals. When rare and/or endangered plants are in
the path of proposed developments the chapter sends
comments as requested. John also heads up our rare plant
group and is our RAREFIND coordinator. He has agreed
to work on this project until September to learn the
process and details involved. If anyone has an interest in
being a resource person or assisting John, please contact
him at rdherr@yahoo.com. This is an extremely important
and necessary position for the chapter. Bob Hass has
come back on the board as Conservation Chair through
the end of the year. He will be working specifically on the
Sonoma County General Plan. Bob worked on this in the
past so is familiar with all that is required. Let Bob know
if you are willing to help out. Welcome back, Bob!
Jeff Woodward has been the t-shirt and poster
chairperson for over 10 years! He’s movin’ on from that
position to be director at large. A big thank you to Jeff for
all his time and energy devoted to the chapter and his
willingness to remain on the board. Hope you all have a
great summer. Reny Parker
CNPS 40th Anniversary Celebration
The 40th Anniversary Celebration will be held in
conjunction with the Chapter Council meeting and
related events on June 10-12 at the Sierra Friends
Conference Center near Nevada City. The facility covers
over 200 acres of foothill landscapes, a lovely peaceful
setting. There will be plenty to do with many activities
and opportunities to interact with other chapters. Plant
walks will be available on the grounds, both self-guided
and leader-guided, The Saturday evening program will
be a conversation between poet, Gary Snyder, and
scientist, Michael Barbour. This will be a special
opportunity in itself. We encourage chapter members,
families and friends to come and enjoy the 40th
Anniversary celebration. Contact Reny if you would like
more information.
Jolly Good Fellow
I was very happy to receive the honor of becoming a
Fellow of the CA Native Plant Society. Thank you to the
Chapter for nominating me. I have enjoyed my 30 year
association with the Milo Baker Chapter more than I can
express. When I first joined the chapter in 1975, I had
only lived in Sonoma County for 4 years and the field
trips and programs have taught me all that I know about
California and Sonoma County wildflowers and habitats.
The friendships that I have formed with fellow members
are so dear to me. Without the Milo Baker Chapter I
would never have made their acquaintance. Some of
Milo Baker Chapter Newsletter – June/July 2005
those friends are gone…people that were so important to
the Chapter like Jack Guggolz, Vanette Bunyan, Marcus
and Betty Schmidt, and Ruth Hass. It was a privilege to
know them. Any time that I spent on chapter affairs,
whether it was the plant sale, attending meetings, or field
trips has really been an opportunity for me to develop
and grow, to make friends, and to learn more about our
California flora. I am pleased to join my good friend
Betty Lovell Guggolz, the founder of the Milo Baker
Chapter, as a CNPS Fellow. It is an honor for me to be in
her company. The Chapter is giving me a gift of a
botanical painting by Pamela Glasscock. Pamela now is
working on a Calochortus luteus (Gold Nuggets) and I
look forward to receiving it when she is finished. I think
that it is one of Sonoma County's most beautiful flowers
and I will treasure the painting by one of the premier
botanical artists of our time. Liz Parsons
Welcome New Members!
Welcome to our new chapter members this month:
• Rick Mead
Thanks for joining and we look forward to seeing you
around!
Chapter Events & Activities
Plant ID Before the June General Meeting
Arrive at 6:30, an hour before the June 21st General
Meeting, and bring specimens of plants you want to
identify. You’ll see some current plants of interest from
the local area, have a look through a dissecting
microscope, and discover the differences between our
many native plants. I’ll bring some field guides, and can
help you work through the keys in The Jepson Manual and
A Sonoma County Flora. Keying can be fun, even if you
get stuck. The best-learned plants are those learned with
friends! Bring your dinner if you want to, a hand lens
and a copy of Jepson or Sonoma Co. Flora if you have them.
A copy of each and glossaries will be available. The
native plants are what CNPS is about—come get to
know them and some fellow chapter members too!
Lynn Houser
Plant Sale News
Plant Sale Potting Workshop
On Saturday, August 13 at 10 AM we will have our final
potting workshop of the season at Shone Farm. Mary
Aldrich and Alan Brubaker will be organizing this
workshop. If you have questions or need directions to
Shone Farm call Mary Aldrich, 539.9005 These plants will
be grown in the greenhouse at Shone Farm by our
member Wendy Krupnik. We thank her for her effort!
Potting Workshop Report
On Sunday, May 8, nine plant sale stalwarts potted up
over 300 rooted cuttings in driving rain! Thanks to Mary
Aldrich and her daughter Diane, John Akre, Alan
Brubaker, Elmarie Hutchinson, Lynn Houser, and Anna
and Dave Webster for braving the elements and getting
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the work done. Unfortunately, Shooting Star Nursery
generously gave us 500 rooted cuttings. On Friday, May
13, Mary, Rob Fox, Kathy Dowdakin, and I finished the
final 200. We now have Myrica californica (CA wax
myrtle), Ceanothus 'Yankee Point', Ceanothus 'Ray
Hartman', Ceanothus confusus, Arctostaphylos 'Emerald
Carpet', Galvezia speciosa 'Firecracker' (Island
Snapdragon), Sidalcea malvafolia (Checkerbloom), Ribes
sanguineum var. glutinosum (Pink-flowered currant),
Heuchera maxima, Heteromeles arbutifolia (Toyon), Sequoia
sempervirens 'Soquel' (Redwood), Achillea 'Pink Island
Form' (Yarrow), two Zauschneria clones: 'Calistoga' and
'Catalina' (CA fuchsia), and Mimulus aurantiacus. We
have a great start on plants for the plant sale. These
plants will be grown on by members at very little cost of
us and are the source of most of the profit we make at the
sale.
If you would like to grow plants for our sale, we have
just purchased three yards of soil for you to use. If you
have gallon containers you want to get rid of, please
bring them to Mary A.'s in Santa Rosa. Call Mary
Aldrich, 707.539.9005. Liz Parsons
Chapter Field Trips
Galbreath Natural Preserve Field Trip Report
I am so sorry if you couldn't make this trip! The
preserve is such an amazing place. We drove
into the preserve in five four- wheel drive
vehicles, and were glad of them. Happily, the preserve
did not get much rain in the week previous, and there
was little mud. We bumped from place to place, getting
out of the vehicles at different sites and wandering about
in the characteristic head-down-native-plant-nut-
position. We did have a birder nut, David Leland, whose
head was inclined in the opposite direction. Both
positions were well rewarded. The views were so
spectacular, I wished I could have stuck my head out of
the top of the vehicle to soak them in better. But then, it
might have induced delirium.
The people who attended were delirium-inducing as
well. There were so many interesting minds to pry open.
We had sizable populations from three chapters:
Sanhedrin, Dorothy King Young, and Milo Baker. Dr.
Hall Cushman, who presented a slide lecture on the
preserve earlier this year at our general meeting, gave us
the background on the preserve and led us over the
bumps, pointing out salient features in the landscape.
Peter Warner gave him advice on what to do about the
invasives. (Guess what? There's broom and Italian thistle
at the preserve - and feral pigs and turkeys.) Reny Parker
and Gary Hundt were our official photographers, and we
should be able to see the results on line soon. Ann
Howald and Peter Warner compiled an initial plant list as
we went, with the help of Clare Wheeler, who co-wrote
the Mendocino Flora and Brian Basor. The animal life had
been studied by biologists from Humboldt State, but
there is no plant list for over 3,700 acres.
I think the most mind-boggling display of plant life
was the white ceanothus, Ceanothus incanus. The plants
were huge, perfect to the point of looking as if a gardener
Milo Baker Chapter Newsletter – June/July 2005
had been tending them, and in full bloom. Among the
many plants we saw that day were at least 15 species of
clovers, 6 species of oaks, and a few mysteries for which
we'll just need to return to identify.
Ring Mountain (with Marin CNPS)
Ring Mountain, Tiburon, Phyllis Ellman Trail,
Saturday, June 4th at 9:30 am, hike with Marin
Chapter. The logo of Marin's chapter is the
Tiburon mariposa lily (Calochortus tiburonensis), that can
be seen blooming from the end of May through mid-June
among the serpentine rocks of Ring Mountain. Join Joe
Kohn as we go off in search of this wild and beautiful
plant. Afterwards we'll take a nearby trail to see the
Tiburon jewel flower close to the St Hilary Preserve, an
area described by Howell as "one of the most interesting,
remarkable and beautiful wildflower gardens in
California (and therefore in all the world!)." Sonoma
County residents will meet at 8:45, Noah's Bagels in the
Safeway parking lot on McDowell Blvd. Take the 101
Washington St. exit in Petaluma, turn left across the
freeway and turn right on McDowell at the light. Then
turn left into the parking lot. Look for nature types
lurking about. Bring a lunch, boots, plastic bag to sit on,
hand lens & binoculars, if you have them, for the great
views, micro and macro. We'll meet the Marin chapter at
9:30 at the Phyllis Ellman Trailhead, located on Paradise
Drive in Corte Madera, 1 mile east of the freeway exit,
just past Westward Drive. For more info, contact ML,
mlml@svn.net
Mayacamas Mountains Audubon Sanctuary.
Lynn Houser, leader, Saturday, June 25th. Meet
at 9:00 at the River Road Park and Ride. Pine
Flat Road takes us up into the area where
thousands of acres were burned last summer. Alongside
the road a number of unusual species grow, and many
interesting vistas present themselves to us as we wind up
toward the top, where on a clear day, you can see the
ocean. Red Hill, with its serpentine outcrops and
spectacular views, has been changing weekly and
offering tremendous blooms this spring. This late June
trip will highlight composites and other summer-
flowering plants, and we'll see lots of new growth on
Madrones and Scrub oaks coming out beneath charcoal
skeletons. Come and see how the land is repairing itself
and enjoy this remarkable landscape. Lynn Houser has
been monitoring the rare plants in the area with Betty
Guggolz for Audubon in the previous months, and we
look forward to hearing what she has learned. Bring a
lunch and a plastic bag to sit on. Cameras, binoculars and
hand lenses will improve your experience. Please email
or call ML to sign up; the hike is limited to 20 people.
ML, mlml@svn.net
Chimney Rock
Sunday, July 10th. Believe it or not, there are
still things blooming. Leave at 8 from Noah's
Bagels No limit, but please contact me. ML,
mlml@svn.net
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More Field Trip Reports
Van Hoosier Preserve was like a mini trip to the Carizzo
Plain. I've not seen such a colorful display in our county.
After our hike, we ate lunch at poolside with our gracious
hostess, Marilyn Goode, who worked so long to save the
preserve. Our Mystery Trip which turned out to be
Annadel, mostly South Burma Trail, really delivered. For
quite a while things were pretty standard, but when we
got up higher we saw three species of Calochortus, the red
Fritillaria recurva, several yellow Triteleia lugens,
Pickeringia montana - Chaparral pea in bloom, two snakes,
too many turkeys and bikes, and a dead turkey
hatchling. (That's all folks!)
ML Carle, Field Trip Organizer
Conservation Report
Restoration/Conservation/Forestry/Invasive Exotics/Political Presence
Take Action!
Letters to the Press Democrat (PD) will go a long
way toward conveying the message that there are a
lot of people in Sonoma County who do care a great
deal about protecting the tiger salamander, our
vernal pool plants and preserving the last
remnants of the Santa Rosa plain. Our county
should send the message that its citizens support
the provisions of the Endangered Species Act and
will not allow it to be weakened any further by
developers and efforts of the Bush Administration.
Some basic points to make are that most articles in
the Press Democrat have not been in the interest of
preservation, but are slanted toward development
and landowners, that if we don't preserve our
unique ecosystems now, we won't have another
chance, that we need to give the Strategy Team our
support in finding answers to our problem. For
more info see: The Environmental Message for the
CTS Issue 2/22/05, Why Salamander Protection
Matters P.D. 2/17/05, A Matter of Biology, Not
Politics P.D. 5/11/04. If you decide to write, we'd
appreciate it if you would e-mail us a cc copy. We
have no way of knowing if our membership
advocates for us if we don't know letters have been
written. mlml@svn.net ML Carle
Activities & Events of Interest
Docent-led Laguna Walks
Enjoy a docent led walk in the Laguna! Lovely
Wednesday evening walks have started as well as
Saturday morning walks. All ages and abilities are
welcome. Upcoming dates are June 1(6:30 pm), June 25
(9:15 am) and July 13 (6:30 pm). Please check our website
(www.lagunadesantarosa.org) for an extended schedule
or new walk locations that may be available. Meet behind
the Youth Annex in Sebastopol at 425 Morris St. Bring
Milo Baker Chapter Newsletter – June/July 2005
your binoculars and your questions. $5 donation
requested. For further information, please contact Mary
Abbott @ 527.9277 x2 or mary@lagunadesantarosa.org
Volunteer at the Rare Plant-a-Thon!
On the weekend of June 4th and 5th, Point Reyes
National Seashore will host its seventh Rare-Plant-A-
Thon and we are searching for enthusiastic volunteers.
For those of you who have never attended this event, the
Rare-Plant-A-Thon is an effort to preserve and inventory
rare plant populations throughout the Seashore. We
welcome all levels of botanical experience. Participants
can volunteer for one or both days. Free overnight
accommodations are available at the Point Reyes Historic
Lifesaving Station at Chimney Rock so RSVP to reserve a
space. Please pass on this message to anyone you think
may be interested. Please email or call Mark Rogers for
details at 415.464.5223, mark_rogers@partner.nps.gov.
Hope to see you all in June!
Hallberg Butterfly Garden Celebration!
Hallberg Butterfly Gardens Eighth Annual Open Gardens
Celebration on Sunday, June 26, 2005 from 10 am to 4 pm.
Admission is free; donations are always welcome.
Located at 8687 Oak Grove Ave, Sebastopol, CA ( North
of Sebastopol, off Hwy 116 between Occidental Rd &
Graton Rd. ). Walking shoes recommended. Street
parking available. No wheelchair access and no pets,
please. For more info, call 707.823.3420.
California Invasive Weeds Awareness Week, July
18-24, 2005! Across the Golden State, invasive plants
reduce plant diversity and wildlife habitat, consume
needed water, reduce agricultural production and create
fire hazards. Visit www.cal-ipc.org for more information
about California Invasive Weeds Awareness Week
activities around the state.
Cal-IPC Symposium 2005
"Prevention Reinvention: Protocols, Information, and
Partnerships to Stop the Spread of Invasive Plants" October
6-8, 2005, CSU Chico. Call for Papers: Submission
guidelines at www.cal-ipc.org. Abstracts sent to
contributed sessions organizer Dan Gluesenkamp at
gluesenkamp@egret.org. Deadline is Friday, June 17.
Articles to Increase Your Knowledge
Sudden Oak Death
When I learned that the California black oak (Quercus
kelloggi) in my backyard is among the species that sudden
oak death (SOD) kills, I gazed dubiously out the window
at the mulch under my tree and wondered if it was free of
the pathogen that causes the disease. What about the new
plants in my landscape? Could one of them carry SOD?
And was it all right to wear my hiking boots in the
garden? Fortunately, for an organism that was named
only four years ago, Phytophthora ramorum has received
lots of attention, and research adds daily to what we
know. Yet my search for answers wasn’t easy. I didn’t
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realize when I began that a few questions would lead to
so many others, and that answers would often be
unavailable.
SOD was first noticed in Marin and Santa Cruz
counties in 1995, when apparently healthy tanoaks
(Lithocarpus densiflorus) became infected with a disease
that seemed to progress rapidly and ended in death.
Several species of true oaks (Quercus) were later also
discovered to suffer high mortality rates, mainly
California black oak (Q. kelloggi) and coast live oak (Q.
agrifolia ), and to a lesser extent, canyon live oak (Q.
chrysolepis), and Shreve’s oak (Q. parvula v. shrevei). SOD
has since been confirmed in fourteen California counties
and an isolated pocket in Oregon. In the United States,
outside of the Pacific Coast, the pathogen has not yet
been found in the wild; however, any tree in the red oak
group (recognized by their pointed leaf lobes) is
vulnerable to a terminal form of the disease. As
information accumulates, numerous other plants, both
native and exotic, have been found to also carry the
pathogen in a less dramatically visible form, as foliar
hosts.
The then-unknown species of Phytophthora that causes
SOD was isolated in June of 2000 by Dr. David Rizzo of
UC Davis. Dr. Matteo Garbelotto of UC Berkeley did the
DNA sequencing, which showed that this was something
new. In December of 2000, thanks to a tip from European
colleague Clive Brasier, these principal SOD researchers
realized that it was the same as an unnamed Phytophthora
first noticed in 1993 in nursery stock in Europe (and
recently observed in forests in the United Kingdom and
the Netherlands). The disease caused by Phytophthora
ramorum, as it was named in 2001, has hit hardest in
coastal Monterey, Santa Cruz, Marin and Sonoma
counties; in August of 2004, it was identified in oaks in
San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. . It is especially
common in the urban/wildland interface, where human
activities are having an impact on its spread. Scientists
sometimes compare the disease to the chestnut blight that
ravaged the forests of the eastern states (SOD also
appears to be of exotic origin), and, although the long-
term ecological consequences are unknown, a look at the
potential devastation emphasizes the need for concern.
For confirmation, visit Sonoma County’s Jack London
State Park, Marin County’s Bolinas Ridge Road between
Bolinas and Pine Lake, or the canyons south of Monterey
County’s Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.
Phytothphora ramorum is related to the pathogen that
caused the Irish potato famine. Canker hosts (oaks and
tanoaks) exhibit symptoms such as bleeding, trunk
cankers, and sudden browning of the canopy as death
finally ensues. Foliar hosts manifest the disease as leaf
lesions, and sometimes twig infections, and can produce
massive quantities of the spores that spread the disease.
(An article by Dr. Robert Raabe in Pacific Horticulture in
April ’02 provides more details on SOD pathology). In
native forests, California bay (Umbellularia californica) is
the most common host and a prolific producer of spores.
In nurseries, the most common hosts are camellia,
viburnum, and rhododendron (both native and exotic
Milo Baker Chapter Newsletter – June/July 2005
species). Over twenty of our most beloved and familiar
native plants have been confirmed as susceptible to the
pathogen. A total of sixty-one plants are now regulated
(numbers are sure to climb); species, hybrids, varieties,
and in two cases (rhododendron and camellia) entire
genera. SOD has been isolated in thirty-five genera in
nineteen families, including conifers, hardwoods,
perennial herbs, monocots, and a fern. Oaks, it turns out,
are an epidemiological dead-end, meaning that while
they get the disease, they don’t transmit it to other plants
(P. ramorum doesn’t make reproductive spores on
Quercus). Tanoak is the only species known to get both
lethal trunk infections and act as a foliar host. Much of
the country’s forests are at risk. How can we contain this
disease?
Containing SOD Spread: The principle mechanism of
SOD spread is windblown rain; additional natural factors
include transport down streams and, possibly, by animal
movement. It is highly probable that soil transport by
hikers, bicycles and motor vehicles contributes to
distributing the pathogen, especially during the rainy
season. The natural spread of SOD is rather slow, but it
may leapfrog to new areas when gardeners plant infected
nursery stock. As of April, 2004, the federal government
barred California nurseries from shipping regulated
plants out of the state unless they have been inspected
and declared free of the disease. Some states and
countries apply even more stringent regulations.
The time lag between first suspecting a new host
species, the studies needed for confirmation, and the
implementation of regulations, means that a plant may be
an innocent purchase today but could, in fact, be carrying
SOD. Phytophthora ramorum has been detected at 157
nurseries in twenty-one states (thirteen states are known
to have received plants from a single California nursery).
If you are in a county without SOD, and live in the
urban/wildland interface, the best disease protection is to
purchase locally grown plants from a nursery that
doesn’t carry stock from out of the county. Currently,
there is currently no restriction on the movement of
plants within the borders of regulated counties (those
confirmed to have SOD in the wild). A regional grower
could inadvertently sell infected plants and, since the
distribution of the disease is spotty, introduce the
pathogen to an area where it does not yet naturally occur.
The risk, however, may be still higher at large retail
nurseries that carry stock from many sources. As several
researchers noted, encouraging nurseries to sell locally
grown plants, and consumers to buy them, would slow
the spread of any number of destructive plant pathogens
and pests.
The pathogen can also be spread through compost and
organic soil amendments. The high temperatures that
commercial composting operations can achieve have
been confirmed to produce a pathogen-free compost.
Chipped garden mulch, on the other hand, doesn’t reach
the same high temperatures and, since the origin is
variable, cannot be considered pathogen-free with
complete confidence. In counties known to have SOD, if
you have a heritage oak or garden in the urban/wildland
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interface, where the disease is especially prevalent, avoid
commercial garden mulches of unknown origin.
There is also the problem of the safe disposal of
infected yard waste. In most counties infested with SOD,
there is nowhere for the private citizen to dispose of
infected plant materials, and they must be kept on site.
Marin and Santa Cruz counties have pilot disposal
programs, but these are only available to certified
arborists and landscape professionals.
Symptoms: One of the difficulties in detecting SOD is
that the symptoms can be hard to recognize and to
differentiate from other diseases that can cause similar
symptoms. In addition, trees may have the disease for
months before exhibiting any symptoms. Although SOD
may be strongly indicated, the presence of the pathogen
can only be confirmed by lab tests. If you suspect that
you have a tree with SOD, and are not in a known
infested area, contact the local county Agricultural
Commissioner, or Cooperative Extension agent.
To familiarize yourself with the symptoms of SOD,
visit the website (www.suddenoakdeath.org) sponsored
by the nonprofit California Oak Mortality Task Force
(COMTF), a coalition of governmental agencies, research
institutes and private interests that coordinates efforts to
combat the disease. The website has an abundance of
excellent photographs of infected plants, in addition to a
wealth of information on SOD for both the professional
and private citizen. The updated Homeowner’s Guide to
Sudden Oak Death, and the nursery guides for California
and Oregon are particularly useful. An OakMapper
feature uses state-of-the-art GIS technology that allows a
variety of maps to be overlaid. Type in an address to see
if diseased trees have been reported in the area or to
report potential new locations of the disease.
Gardeners Guidelines: Ultimately, there are no simple
guidelines for gardeners. What you choose to plant and
where you purchase plants and landscape products will
depend on your individual situation. In an urban garden,
far from any oak woodlands, the risk posed by infected
foliar hosts or mulch is far less than that of a garden
within an oak woodland. If you live in the
urban/wildland interface, keep planting native species in
your garden, but do not plant potential hosts anywhere
near vulnerable trees. Avoid planting combinations of
hosts, for example rhododendrons, camellias, toyons
(Heteromeles arbutifolia) and oaks. If you live adjacent to
an infested forest do not plant red oaks, tanoaks or
madrone (Arbutus menziezii) unless you are willing to risk
losing them (mature madrones survive, but saplings can
die from SOD), and do not plant California bay near any
oak forests.
To slow the spread of the disease in an area with SOD,
avoid irrigating by overhead sprinklers, and use drip
irrigation instead. Do not irrigate beneath oak trees at all,
and regularly monitor their health. Know your local
growers, and always check any plants you purchase
carefully for signs of pests and diseases.
Unfortunately, there is no treatment available for the
home gardener to use to prevent a tree with SOD from
dying. For valuable landscape trees in vulnerable
Milo Baker Chapter Newsletter – June/July 2005
situations, there is a preventative treatment, AgriFos, that
can only be applied by licensed applicators (trained
arborists are listed on the COMTF website).
Do not move potential pathogen carriers, such as
plants, soil, and firewood, from infested to healthy areas.
It isn’t clear yet how long the pathogen can survive in soil
(studies are underway), but in the meantime, always
wash muddy boots, tires (and wheel wells and
undercarriages), hooves and paws, before leaving an
infested area. Most sources recommend that boot soles be
treated with a mild disinfectant such as Lysol, a ten
percent bleach solution, or a seventy-five percent ethanol
solution. Sonoma State University’s Fairfield Osborn
Preserve requires that hiking shoes be cleaned
thoroughly of all soil particles during the rainy season,
and then sprayed with a seventy-five percent solution of
ethanol. Stay on designated trails in the woods, and,
whenever possible, stay off of muddy trails in areas
known to have SOD. Sterilize tools after pruning or
cultivating around potential host plants. Choose carefully
any wood mulch and compost products originating off-
site.
Current Research: The recent announcement that the
genome of Phytophthora ramorum has been successfully
mapped has generated a lot of excitement in the scientific
community, as it is a major step towards developing
improved methods for early, accurate, and inexpensive
diagnosis and toward eventually finding a cure for SOD.
In fact, notes Dr. Garbelotto, one has only to look at the
short amount of time between the discovery of the
organism responsible for SOD and the enormous (and
expensive) task of deciphering the genetics, to see that the
disease is being taken seriously by the scientific
community. Some of the questions that scientists hope to
answer in the future are how long the pathogen survives
in soil, potting media, and irrigation water, and how
land-use practices and other factors affect the spread of
the disease.
When planning additions to my landscape, I now refer
to the list of host plants on the COMTF website. I monitor
my oak tree for signs of disease and pay attention to the
source of the landscape products and plants I purchase.
Can I wear my hiking boots in the garden? Until studies
conclusively show that it is completely safe, I’ll reserve
my hiking boots for recreational use. As I walk along my
favorite trail, I hope the search for a cure will be
successful in time to save our magnificent woodlands.
I wish to acknowledge the contributions of Dr Matteo
Garbelotto, UC Berkeley; Dr David Rizzo, UC Davis;
Katie Palmieri, public information officer, California Oak
Mortality Task Force; and the SOD research team at
Sonoma State University (Drs Meentemeyer, Cushman,
Rank, and Whitkus). All of these dedicated individuals
gave generously of their time in the preparation of this
article. Frederique Lavoipierre
Reprinted, with permission, from Pacific Horticulture,
October 2004 (www.pacifichorticulture.org)
Page 6
 Board of Directors – Milo Baker Chapter
President Reny Parker reny@renyswildflowers.com 894.9100
Vice President open
Secretary Suzanne Butterfield thelastiaeger@earthlink.net 793.8447
Treasurer Marianne Perron mariannesp@earthlink.net 887.1362
Book Sales Adele Wikner adelew@infostations.com 869.3024
Conservation Chair Bob Hass b_hass@comcast.net 938.8868
Cunningam Marsh Preserve Marcia Johnson owlsnest@earthlink.net 829.3808
Director at Large Barney Brady bbrady@pon.net 433.0485
Director at Large Dea Freid lemuria@sonic.net 824.8165
Director at Large Gary Hundt garyhundt@muddyknees.com 763.3387
Director at Large Jeff Woodward 765.0245
Director at Large John Akre jakre@pon.net 833.1243
Director at Large, SSU Rep Sarah Gordon Sarahgordon17@aol.com 575.3979
Education open
Field Trip Coordinator ML Carle mlml@svn.net 792.1823
Hospitality Becky Montgomery montyb@sonic.net 573.0103
Membership Wendy Born spores@excite.com 829.7519
Newsletter Editor Debby Zygielbaum zygie@sonic.net
Plant Sales Liz Parsons lizpar8993@aol.com 833.2063
Poster & T-Shirt Sales John Akre jakre@pon.net 833.1243
Program Chair Betsy Livingstone betsl@sonic.net 887.8873
Publicity Pauline Haro bluelady@earthlink.net
Rincon Ridge Park Lynn Houser housers@sonic.net 568.3230
Southridge Preserve Steward Jeffery Barrett barrett8@sonic.net 573.0271
SCCC Rep. Wendy Krupnick wendyk@pon.net 544.4582
Vine Hill Preserve Jay Pedersen shanjay@sonic.net
Volunteer Coordinator Ruby Herrick rdherr@yahoo.com 887.8542
Webmaster Ralph Johnson webmaster@cnpsmb.org

Newsletter Submissions & Website

a Check out the Milo Baker Chapter newsletter on our chapter Web site at: http://www.cnpsmb.orga
Send submissions for the newsletter to Debby Zygielbaum, zygie@sonic.net
Deadline for inclusion in the August newsletter is July 15, 2005.
NOTE: For newsletter subscription questions or problems, please contact Wendy Born, spores@excite.com

Support Our Local Native Plant Nurseries

Appleton Forestry Nursery Circuit Rider Productions
(call for appointment) (call for appointment)
1369 Tilton Road, Sebastopol 9619 Redwood Hwy, Windsor
707-823-3776 707-838-6641

Buckeye Nursery Mostly Natives Nursery

2425 Old Adobe Road, Petaluma 27235 Highway 1, Tomales
707-559-7081 707-878-2009
www.mostlynatives.com
California Flora Nursery
Somers & D Streets, Fulton North Coast Native Nursery
707-528-8813 (call for appointment)
www.calfloranursery.com 2710 Chileno Valley Road, Petaluma
707-769-1213, ww.northcoastnativenursery.com

Milo Baker Chapter Newsletter – June/July 2005 Page 7

 NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATION
U.S. Postage Paid
CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY Santa Rosa, CA
Milo Baker Chapter www.cnpsmb.org Permit #110
P.O. Box 892
Santa Rosa, CA 95402

Lilium pardalinum ssp. pitkinense

Pitkin lily

THE CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY is a statewide non-profit organization of amateurs and
professionals with a common interest in California’s native plants. The Society, working through its local chapters,
seeks to increase understanding of California’s native flora and to preserve this rich resource for future generations.
Membership is open to all. Membership includes Fremontia, a quarterly journal with articles on all aspects of native plants,
the Bulletin, a quarterly statewide report of activities, and the Milo Baker Chapter newsletter. WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US.

Name________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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City_______________________________State_______Zip_____________Phone_____________________Email_______________________

CHAPTER AFFILIATION: … Milo Baker … Other_____________________________________(County)

MEMBERSHIP CATEGORY: … Student, Retired, Limited Income $20 … Plant Lover $100
… Individual or Library $35 … Patron $250
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… Supporting $75 … Bristlecone $1000

Please make check payable to: THE CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY
Mail membership application to: CNPS, 2707 K Street, Suite 1, Sacramento, CA 95816