NONPROFIT ORG.

U.S. POSTAGE
PAID

GUALALA CA
PERMIT NO.21

THE

PO Box 577, Gualala CA 95445

$5.00 per year, non-members
Volume 2004, May/June 04
CALYPSO
NE
Printed on Recycled Paper

NEWSLETTER OF THE DOROTHY KING YOUNG CHAPTER

CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY

CALENDAR includes a perennial sedge/rush/tule marsh;

May 16, Sunday 10:00 AM - Gualala River
Coastal Barrier Lagoon.
Come join Dr. Peter Baye as he leads a walk
and discussion of the plant communities found
at the mouth of the Gualala River. We will be
meet at the Gualala Point Regional Park
parking lot (Sonoma County Regional Parks),
west side of Highway 1, just south of the
Gualala River Bridge (at Mendocino Co.
border). The cost is $3 at entry; follow the road
to the end. Alternatively, people can meet at
the dirt pull out/parking area on the east side
of Highway 1 just north of the Gualala River
Bridge at 9:45 AM. From there we can car
pool to the Gualala Point parking lot. For
information call Jon Thomson at 884-4847.
Peter Baye is a botanist and coastal plant
ecologist from Annapolis. He was formerly
with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Endangered Species Recovery Branch,
Sacramento, and the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers.
The mouth of the Gualala River and its barrier
beach form a series of seasonal lagoons and
estuaries. Its dynamics are relatively free from
artificial constraints such as flood control
breaching or upstream dams or diversions, and
its plant communities are relatively unaffected
by agriculture or development, unlike many
other north coast stream mouths. Vegetation
natural levees with willow-alder riparian
vegetation; seasonal wetlands with uncommon
stands of western lilaeopsis (Lilaeopsis
occidentalis); and submerged aquatic
vegetation, wigeongrass (Ruppia maritima).
The halophytic (salt marsh) elements of the
vegetation are minimal or absent, unlike those
of typical persistent estuaries. The barrier
beach is also free from European beachgrass,
and supports a mix of typical foredune species
and the uncommon (or under detected) Pacific
ryegrass, Leymus pacificus, and the more
widespread creeping wildrye, L. triticoides.
May 21, Friday 7:00 PM - Slideshow & talk:
“Native Plant Gardens - Designing For Wildlife”
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens-Meeting
Room. Speaker: Pete Haggard
Native plant gardens can be havens for wild
animals as well as beautiful places for people.
Our guest speaker, Pete Haggard, is known in
Humboldt County for his wonderful garden.
His slide presentation will cover plant choices
and how to provide the right “structure” for wild
creatures.
Pete is an agricultural inspector for the County
of Humboldt, has been active in the CNPS
North Coast Chapter for a number of years and
he also teaches nature workshops.
This program is jointly sponsored by CNPS and
the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. The
Gardens are located on the west side of
Highway 1, south of Fort Bragg, and are
heralded by a large sign in which bright pink
Rhododendrons feature prominently.
Admission to the program is free, and
refreshments will be served. For information
call MCBG 964-4352 ext.16.
May 22, Saturday 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Anderson Valley Historical Museum Garden
Tour. Ticket cost $30; must be reserved by
May 6th. Call Sheri Hansen at 895-3333 to
check if tickets are still available.
June 12, Saturday 10:00 AM - Havens Neck
Walk. Led by Mary Rhyne and Carolyn Saarni
We have the rare opportunity to access some
beautiful, privately owned coastal grassland
and coastal bluff property just north of Anchor
Bay. We will get to see at least two rare plants
and it is an easy walk. Meet at 10:00 AM in the
dirt parking lot across the street from the
Anchor Bay Store in Anchor Bay. We will car
pool from there. Bring a sack lunch. For more
information call Jon at 884-4847 or Mary at
884-3043.
PRESIDENT'S CORNER
by Jon Thompson
Peter W. Stearns’ Slide Show, Book Signing
and Cajun Feast. The flowers, the food, and
the company; it was all so good that we hope
to make fund-raisers like the one we had on
March 26th at Gualala Arts an annual event.
It was a pleasure to meet Peter Stearns and
his wife who are both very charming and
gracious. Peter’s photos of the Mendocino
flowers and landscapes were fantastic. The
format of the slide presentation was the same
as his new book, “A Journey Through Time –
Mendocino County Wildflowers”. The slides of
the flowers and landscapes were arranged in a
month-by-month journey through the four
seasons.
Joel Crockett, owner of the Four Eyed Frog
bookstore was present and was selling Peter’s
book. Peter’s stunningly beautiful photographs
and thoughtful writings are perfect matches for
one another. You can pick up a copy of the
2 May/June ‘04
book at the Four-Eyed Frog in Gualala or at
other book stores in Mendocino County.
You may also purchase it online @
peterstearns.com.
Subir Sanyal deserves a big thank you for
being the chef and spending many hours
preparing and cooking one of the most
delicious Cajun meals I have ever had. This
event couldn’t have been done without him and
the other volunteers who helped prepare the
food. Greg Jirak, Dard and Mary Hunter, Mary
Elizabeth Sanyal, Jim Grenwelge, Paul
Nordstrand & Jinx McCombs were
indispensable in helping make the event a
great and successful fundraiser.
I also want to extend a special thanks to Karel
Metcalf who proposed this program idea to Lori
Hubbart and me. Lori took the idea and ran
with it, thinking of everything that was needed
to make this program and benefit a great
success. Thank you, Lori!
Plant Sale Work Party. Thanks to all who
helped at the plant propagation work party on
April 3rd. Basic cutting preparation and
techniques were discussed and applied. Mary
Rhyne brought cuttings of some great plants
such as Cleveland’s sage (Salvia clevelandii
‘Winifred Gilman’), Quercus dumosa (coastal
scrub oak), and Toyon (Heteromeles
arbutifolia). Between the cuttings from plants
from my front and back yards and the ones
Mary brought we had our work cut out for us.
Diana Scott, Mary Hunter, Lori Hubbart,
Roberta Rams, Mary Rhyne, Gretchen Barton
and myself made quick work of the many
sprigs to be rooted.
The sprigs were re-cut with a razor blade and
when we finished treating the cuttings with
rooting hormone we placed them in clean six-
packs or flats containing perlite and put them
into my “rabbit hutch” style greenhouse. This
greenhouse is basically an enclosed bench
with misters, and bottom heat provided by an
electric heating cable.
This arrangement provides high humidity and
greatly reduces the time it takes to get cuttings
to form callus tissue and roots. Callus tissue is
basically an undifferentiated mass of cells,
usually forming at the cut portion of the stem.
This tissue eventually differentiates into roots.
Some of the cuttings are already forming roots
as I write this!
Cuttings are usually ready to transplant into the
appropriate soil-less mix once there is enough
root development so that tugging on the cutting
offers significant resistance or you can see
roots coming out of the bottom of the container.
The mix I get is from Albion Landscape Supply
(the same formula that the Growing Concern
uses). I add perlite and fertilizer to varying
degrees depending on the requirements of
each species.
I really appreciate the help and thoroughly
enjoyed the food that was brought and shared
by all. The fruits of our labor will be the healthy
well-rooted plants for future plant sales. The
next Plant Sale will be on October 9th at the
Gualala Community Center. Further details will
be announced in future editions of Calypso.
CONSERVATION
By Lori Hubbart
A rare sedge, Carex saliniformis, grows on a lot
in the City of Fort Bragg. The owner, a bank,
has applied for a lot line adjustment and a
variance to reduce the setback around the
sedge. The standard required minimum
setback is 20 feet, and the applicant wants it
reduced to 5 feet.
According to an assessment by the
Department of Fish and Game, 73 percent of
the parcel is wetland. The site plan shows a
"rare plant and wetland buffer zone" that
provides 15 foot minimum distance from rare
plants or 20 foot minimum distance from the
wetland boundary to the building envelope,
whichever is a greater distance. However, the
proposed buffer is actually only a no-
construction zone.
The DKY Chapter has submitted a comment
letter on this project, focusing on the need to
protect a rare plant and wetland habitat. We
would prefer to see this property purchased for
conservation purposes (a possibility). If the
3 May/June ‘04
City goes ahead and grants the permit, then it
ought to require a conservation easement or
deed restrictions to guarantee setbacks,
protective fencing, and raised boardwalks.
It seems ironic, though, to be commenting on a
rare plant occurring on a small lot, given the
ongoing destruction of rare plant habitats in our
area. This project came to the attention of the
Dept. of Fish and Game and CNPS only
because of the permit process. Had the parcel
been located in a more isolated area beyond
city limits, the owner could have simply
bulldozed the wetland, and then applied for a
building permit.
Week after week, land owners mow down or
disc rare plants, wetlands and special plant
communities, like pygmy forest. They are then
free to apply for building or subdivision permits,
with no hassles about rare plants, rare animals,
or rare anything. There is nothing to trigger
environmental review, no “hook” to involve Fish
and Game or local government.
Even if there were, neither conservation nor
the interests of landowners are well served by
the project-by-project approach. What
Mendocino County needs is a regional plan to
conserve rare species and special plant
communities. The bad news is that a regional
plan, like a Multiple Species Conservation
Plan, or Natural Communities Conservation
Plan, is usually a response to threats of legal
action over a rare animal. Plants have no such
legal clout.
So, we’ll keep plugging away, but all is not well
in our region, conservation-wise. It is too bad
Mendocino County never got an open space
district, because there certainly wouldn’t be
any money to form one now. Let’s hope that
nonprofits like the Mendocino Land Trust will
find ways to buy up more special habitats,
maybe including the one cited above.
Meanwhile, local conservation issues, like the
Fort Bragg golf course and the Management
Plan for Jackson Demonstration State Forest,
are still with us. There is not a lot to report on
these topics for now, but we may have news
in the next issue of the Calypso.
WHAT’S NEW WITH FRITILLARIAS? coastal form is short in stature, between 4 to 8
By Mary Rhyne inches high with usually 1 to 3 brownish-purple
bell-shaped blooms turned downwards. Each
I have been monitoring the rare Fritillaria
of the 6 tepals has striations of purple-brown
roderickii on the coast since the 1980’s. Only
streaks alternating with green streaks.
one population was known and verified at that
time and it was slowly disappearing into the
ocean due to landslides. The narrow strip of
coastal prairie on the west side of Highway 1 Searching
between Hearns and Schooner Gulch was the for Fritillaria
home of this small member of the Lily Family. roderickii
in its coastal
habitat.
Photo by
Donald
Blumenthal
©2004

The distinguishing feature of this fritillaria is the

almond-shaped cream-white tips of the tepals.
These areas sometimes occupy 1/2 of the area
of each tepal and do not show on the inside of
the bell. The leaves are primarily a rosette of
basal leaves close to the ground with one or
two slim leaves clasping the stem higher up.
Fritillaria roderickii showing white tips of tepals.
Photo by Donald Blumenthal ©2004.

By 1989 the plants were all gone except for a

few I had transplanted to other sites. In 1992,
a large population was discovered on a knoll
to the east side of Highway 1 in an area
grazed by cows and horses so within two
years these plants had also disappeared.
Although Fritillaria roderickii appeared to be
extirpated from coast areas, we did know of
two other sites thirty and sixty miles inland near
Boonville and Lake Leonard that Clare Sias
monitored. This year, Thembi Borras, a
forester, introduced Clare Sias and me to a
very large population of F. roderickii on private
land southeast of Boonville. Adding to this Four-inch plant showing basal leaf rosette.
heart-warming discovery are two more recent Photo by Donald Blumenthal ©2004.
discoveries on the coast, both very small These lilies are not easily seen in the short
populations, but encouraging. grass prairie in which they grow. Each lily has a
Perhaps some of you may find some of these bulb and bulblets about four inches
rare lilies and report them. Their blooming time underground. They seem to prefer a sandy
is short: around March 20-April 20, and their clay soil and a bit of seep-like moisture during
bell-shaped blooms last only 7 to 10 days. The the spring.
4 May/June ‘04
LOCAL NATIVE GAINS FAME
by Julia Larke
One of our local native wildflowers, Mimulus
guttatus Fisch. ex DC, known as seep
monkeyflower, yellow monkeyflower, or
common monkeyflower, is a model organism
for research in evolutionary biology and plant
genetics. Steve Schoenig mentioned this
during his slide show on monkeyflowers at the
2003 DKY winter meeting and I decided to
check it out.
Mimulus guttatus photo by Robert Potts © 2001
California Academy of Sciences/Manzanita Project
Mimulus has a long history of use in botanical
research, with each new discovery building
upon those of the past. Charles Darwin used
Mimulus in breeding experiments for his 1876
work, The Effects of Cross and Self-
Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom. In 1924,
A.L.Grant published a monograph of the
genus, and, beginning in the 1950’s with
Robert Vickery’s genetic studies, papers citing
M. guttatus increased dramatically.
Articles can be found in renowned academic
journals such as American Journal of Botany,
Evolution, Journal of Heredity, Genetics, and
Nature. Topics include reproductive isolation
through pollinator fidelity, copper tolerance and
phyto-remediation of metal contaminated land,
inbreeding and its effects on plant-herbivore
interactions.
The naturalist Georg von Langsdorff collected
seed specimens of this species in Alaska
during a Russian expedition in 1808. Plants
were later grown at the St. Petersburg Botanic
5 May/June ‘04
Garden where Frederich Fischer, the garden’s
director, named it. However, the name was not
validly published until 1813 by the Swiss
botanist Augustin deCandolle (DC). Alan
Silverside writes of this on his Mimulus
webpage (see sources). Meriweather Lewis
collected seep monkeyflower on July 4, 1806
near present-day Missoula, Montana during the
Lewis and Clark expedition. You can view this
herbarium specimen at the Smithsonian Lewis
& Clark web page.
The scientific name is from the Latin mimus
‘little mime’ referring to the plant’s face-like
flower and from guttatus meaning ‘spotted’.
The genus Mimulus has long been a member
of the Scrophulariaceae (Figwort Family) but
was transferred by Beardsley & Olmstead in
2002 after gene sequencing revealed a greater
affinity with members of the Phrymaceae
(Lopseed Family).
Mimulus guttatus can be annual or perennial,
glabrous to hairy, from 2 cm to 150 cm tall. The
tubular yellow flowers also range widely in size
and can be open (allowing outcrossing) or
cleistogamous (closed and self-pollinating).
With such a wide range of taxonomic
characters you can begin to see why David
Thompson, author of the Mimulus treatment for
the Jepson Flora, called this plant “exceedingly
complex”! It is common in wet places generally
in elevations below 2500 meters in w North
America from n Mexico, western and Rocky
Mountain States, north to w Canada and
Alaska.
Seep Monkeyflowers are mainly bee pollinated;
the lower lip of the corolla provides a nice
landing pad patterned with bee guide markings.
The flowers also have a two-lobed stigma that
closes if touched and remains closed if
pollinated. This makes hand pollination of
Mimulus relatively easy and is probably a
reason why this plant is popular as a research
subject.
The plant also has a handy self-pollinating
system: if the flower is not pollinated by the
time the corolla matures, as the flower falls,
the stamens drag past the stigma, which is
open if it has not been previously pollinated.

Two-lobed stigma of Mimulus cultivar. Photo by
Alan J. Silverside, University of Paisley ©1998.
The University of Michigan’s Native American
Ethnobotany Database includes the following
information about native peoples use of
Mimulus guttatus: The Kawaiisu peoples
prepared a decoction of stems and leaves in a
steambath for chest and back pain; the
Shoshoni made a poultice of crushed leaves
applied to wounds or rope burns. The Yavapai
made a decoction taken as tea for stomach
ache; the Pomo used it as a lettuce green, and
the Miwok boiled its leaves for food.
It’s a sad fact that one region’s lovely native
wildflower may be another’s garden thug.
Because it is a popular in the nursery trade,
Mimulus guttatus has naturalized over much of
Eastern North America, as well as most of
Europe, Great Britain, Australia, as well as
New Zealand where it is listed as a weed of
concern on conservation lands. Check out the
Global Compendium of Weeds.
If you do wish to raise it in your garden this
monkeyflower is easy to. Just be sure to take
note of the following warning in Jepson’s
horticultural information for this species:
“invasive; once established, tending to
outcompete, displace, or overrun others.”
Local native plant nurseries that list Mimulus
guttatus in their catalogs:
Anderson Valley Nursery, Boonville 895-3853
Harmony Farms, Sebastopol, 823-9125,
Mendocino Botanical Gardens, FB 964-4352
Mostly Natives Nursery, Tomales, 878-2009,
North Coast Native Nursery, Peta., 769-1213
6 May/June ‘04
Sources/resources: In researching this article,
I used The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of
California, 1993, edited by James Hickman.
On the internet, I began with the California
Native Plant Society website@ cnps.org
>links>plant science. From there, various web
pages led me to new links or gave me ideas for
new searches. I use Vivisimo as a search
engine. The following sites were used or
viewed in writing this article:
CNPS links:
CalPhotos, International Plant Names Index
(IPNI), Kew-Electronic Plant Information
Centre, Missouri Botanical Garden, Native
American Ethnobotany Database,
UC Berkeley Jepson Online Interchange,
USGS Western Wetland Flora
Additional sites:
American Journal of Botany – Beardsley, P. &
R. Olmstead, Redefining Phrymaceae
American J. Bot. 89(7):1093-1102.
@ amjbot.org/cgi/content/abstract/89/7/1093
American Society of Plant Biologists –
Symposium. The Plant Cell Vol. 14, 1669-
1673, August 2002 @plantcell.org/
Botanical Soc.of America Mimulus Symposium
www.botany2002.org/sympos6/abstracts
Global Compendium of Weeds @ hear.org.
Silverside, Alan: Mimulus page
@biol.paisley.ac.uk/bioref/Plantae_Mimulus
Smithsonian site @web4.si.edu/lewisandclark
The Plants Database @ plants.usda.gov
PLANTS ARE “SECOND CLASS CITIZENS”
UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
---- Selected from article by Emily Roberson @
www.cnps.org/legislation/equal_protection_for_
plants.htm
Few people realize that the Federal
Endangered Species Act (FESA) provides
almost no protection to most Federally listed
endangered and threatened plants – among
the most imperiled species in our nation. In
fact, although FESA protects Federally listed
animals wherever they live, it allows nearly
unlimited destruction of Federally listed
threatened and endangered plants and their
habitats outside of Federal lands – where more
than 70% of Federally listed plants live (more
than 80% in California).
Rare plants that do not happen to live on
Federal land are forced to rely on state laws,
such as the California Endangered Species
Act, for protection. But these laws are
inconsistent and often make little or no
provision for conservation of plants. Healthy
environments are complex and intricate
assemblages in which all life forms – plants,
animals, butterflies, ants, birds, fungi – are
integral and essential. These systems need all
of their parts if they are to be stable,
sustainable, and thrive.
Once we allow the loss of species, the death of
entire ecosystems cannot be far behind. The
current FESA neglects not one species, not
merely a group of species, but the entire plant
kingdom. If we continue to tolerate unlimited
destruction of our rarest plants, efforts to
preserve biological diversity and a healthy
environment will inevitably fail.
Unfortunately, these irreplaceable native
species and ecosystems are increasingly at
risk. Threats from unrestrained and poorly
planned development, excessive logging,
mining, and other activities are at
unprecedented levels.
A recent report by the World Conservation
Union found that as many as 29% of plant
species in the U.S. are at risk of extinction.
CNPS reports that at least 850 of California’s
native plant species (more than 13%) are at
risk.
The California Native Plant Society has
launched the Equal Protection For Plants
Campaign to amend FESA so that it reflects
biological reality and current science by
providing the same protection for plants that it
currently provides for animals through all of its
policies, programs, and penalties.
For more information, or to find out how you
can get involved, contact
Emily Roberson at CNPS:
916/ 447-CNPS (2677)
or emilyr@cnps.org
7 May/June ‘04
ANNOUNCEMENT: NEW ONLINE QUAD
VIEWER
The California Natural Diversity Database
(CNDDB) has recently developed an online
Quad Viewer. The Quad Viewer allows the
user to generate lists of rare plants, animals
and natural communities by USGS 7.5 minute
quadrangle.
To use viewer, go to www.dfg.ca.gov/whdab/
click on the left link "Quad Viewer." Follow the
instructions that come up when you first launch
the program or by clicking the Help tab once
the viewer is open. There are separate buttons
for the data already processed in the CNDDB
and for data still to be processed. In addition,
there are tools that generate lists from a nine-
quad area (the quad you pick plus the eight
surrounding quads) for CNDDB data and the
backlog, respectively. These data will be
updated monthly.
Roxanne Bittman, Lead Botanist
California Natural Diversity Database
California Department of Fish and Game
FROM THE EDITOR
Correction: In the previous issue (Mar/Apr ’04)
the photograph of the Stornetta Ranch parcel
was by taken by Julie (not Jean) Verran.
----Julia Larke
MEMBERSHIP
New Members:
Fianna Combs Gualala
Dave Jordan Gualala
Fred Schuler Fort Bragg
Sierra Smith Mendocino
Message from Bob and Marion Perkins:
“Perk and I enjoyed our association with the
Dorothy King Young Chapter but as we have
moved to southern California, we regretfully
resign. We wish the chapter continued
success.”
---Submitted by Bob Rutemoeller
STANDING COMMITTEE
CHAIRPERSONS DKY Chapter Board Meeting:
AT LARGE Patricia Bauer 937-4052 The next Chapter Board meeting will be held
CAMPING OPEN June 17, 2004 at 3:30 PM in the Record Building
CONSERVATION Lori Hubbart 882-1655 at Point Arena. Call Jon at 884-4847 for details.
fax: 882-1645; Members are welcome.
Greg Jirak 882-1660 W
EDUCATION Heidi Marshall 884-383
FIELDTRIPS OPEN
HISTORIAN Ramona Crooks 884-3585
HOSPITALITY:
North Coast Pat Howard 937-4052
South Coast Beverly Sloane 785-3134
Roberta Rams 884-4847
INVASIVES Joan Curry 937-1649
JUBATA ERADICATION OPEN
CNPS MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
LEGISLATION OPEN DOROTHY KING YOUNG CHAPTER
MAILINGS Bobbie Penney 785-9302
MEMBERSHIP Bob Rutemoeller 884-4426 Membership in the California Native Plant Society is open to
NEWSLETTER Julia Larke 964-2845 all. The task and mission of the Society is to increase
PLANT SALE Jon Thompson 884-4847 awareness, understanding, and appreciation of California
PLANT WATCH Heidi Marshall 884-383 native plants. The challenge is to preserve their natural
POSTERS Mary Hunter 785-1150 habitat through scientific educational, and conservation
PROGRAMS OPEN; Lori Hubbart (pro tem) activities. Membership includes subscription to the quarterly
PUBLICITY OPEN Fremontia, as well as our local chapter newsletter, the
RARE & ENDANGERED: Calypso.
North Teresa Sholars 962-2686 W Name ____________________________
Inland Clare Wheeler-Sias 895-3131 Address ___________________________
City _________________ Zip _________
Sea Ranch Elaine Mahaffey 785-2279
Tel ____________ e-mail ______________
Sonoma Co. Dorothy Scherer 882-2850
South Coast Mary Rhyne 884-3043
VEGETATION Dorothy Scherer 882-2850 I wish to affiliate with the DKY Chapter _______
WEBMASTER Norm Jensen Or, other chapter _____________________
webmaster@dkycnps.org (Please check, or name one, or CNPS will make an
assignment if none is specified by applicant.)
All phone numbers are area code 707 except
where otherwise noted. MEMBERSHIP CATEGORY
Student, Retired, Limited Income $20
Individual $35
OFFICERS 2004 Family, or Group $45
President Jon Thompson Supporting: $75; Plant Lover: $100; Patron: $250;
884-4847 Benefactor: $500; Bristlecone: $1000
Vice President Pat Howard Make Check out to the California Native Plant Society,
(Acting) 937-4052 mail check and application to:
Secretary Claudia Hillary Bob Rutemoeller, Membership Committee
DKY Chapter, CNPS
882-3664
PO Box 577
Treasurer Mary Hunter
Gualala CA 95445
785-1150

8 May/June ‘04