Make it Fun!

Not only is a Rare Plant Treasure Hunt a great way do some good, it's also fun! You can make any hike a treasure hunt and keep you're eyes out for rare plants. Just tell us where you'll be and we can get you set up to find them. One treasure hunter brought along her gnome to document his trip to see rare plants.

Traveling Gnome with Starved Daisy

Deadline!

In an effort to get all our data together in a timely manner we are putting a deadline on turning in survey forms. Please get all your forms into treasurehunt@cnps.org or cnddb@dfg.ca.gov by November 1st. Please email treasurehunt@cnps.org if you have any questions. Thanks!

Save the Date

Rare Plant Treasure Hunt and Training

Saturday, October 9^th, 2010

10 am – 5 pm in the Mojave, location to be disclosed

Come experience the desert in fall and

Learn how to do a Treasure Hunt!

For more information write treasurehunt@cnps.org

A Wonderful Trip

Finally I have something to post about! We just completed our first trip leader training and it went swimmingly. We had a great mix of people of all ages and backgrounds. Everyone learned how fun and relatively easy looking for rare plants can be. Hopefully they will go on their own trips or lead trips in the future.

Here is one of our finds-Erigeron miser (Starved daisy), just a little thing.

In the sunflower family, but it has no ray petals.

And it's habitat-granite outcrops

Getting a dendrochronology lesson! (Tree ring dating that is.)

Another beautiful location, love those high Sierran Lakes.

The rare Ivesia sericoleuca, Plumas mousetail.

Trip Itinerary!

I haven't been out in the field in weeks and I miss it! Can't wait to get back out there looking for rare plants. I'm excited for this trip it should be lovely! Here's the preliminary itinerary.

Tahoe Training Trip Itinerary
Sat, Jul 31, 2010:
8am depart from California Native Plant Society Headquarters, carpool
10am meet at the Kingvale Shell Station, exit 171, Hwy I-80
10:30am depart for first location,
10:45 am arrive Cold Spring Campground to look for
Erigeron miser, Starved daisy occ #13. Go over survey form protocols.
11:45 am lunch at Campground
12:30 pm Depart for next location
1pm Arrive Donner Pass Rd from Ext 176 Boreal Mountain Resort
3 mi easy round trip hike to Flora Lake to look for occurrence of Erigeron miser.
4pm Depart for campground near Donner Lake -set up camp.
6pm Potluck, Mexican night
7pm Short presentation on the Rare Plant Treasure Hunt
Sun, Aug 1, 2010:
8am Depart campground
8:45 Arrive Sage Hen Hills, look for Drosera anglica
11:45 Lunch
12:30 Depart
12:45 arrive Hobart Mills, Prosser Reservoir, look for Ivesia sericoleuca occ # 41, 10.
3pm Depart for Sacramento/ Home.

Treasure Hunt Training

Rare Plant Treasure Hunt
Trip Leader Training and Treasure Hunt
Tahoe National Forest
Jul 31-Aug 1, 2010

Target Audience: The California Native Plant Society is putting together a special treasure hunt and training for anyone interested in becoming a Rare Plant Treasure Hunt Trip Leader. If you have some botanical field experience (whether professional or not) and would like to lead a group of any size on a trip this year or next then please join us.

Location: Tahoe National Forest-Donner Pass to Sage Hen Hills. Meet at CNPS headquarters, 2707 K Street, Ste 1 Sacramento on Sat morning at 8 am to carpool or at the Kingvale Shell Station (South of exit 171 off Hwy I-80) at 10 am. Please bring all supplies you will need for camping and surveying. More camping site details to come.

This trip should be amazing and beautiful. We will be looking for Erigeron miser (starved daisy), Ivesia sericoleuca, Eriogonum umbellatum var. torreyanum and the carnivorous sundew-Drosera anglica.

Cost: Minimal, there may be a small charge for our campsite.

RSVP: Reply to Amber by Jul 27th at treasurehunt@cnps.org or at http://www.meetup.com/Rare-Plant-Treasure-Hunt.

Season Summary

The results are in. This spring season has been highly successful in the Mojave Desert!

Data has been gathered on the populations of over 180 new and historic rare plant occurences.

Over 30 separate rare plant species have been documented.

Over 395 volunteer hours have been logged.

All this information will go into the Department of Fish and Game's Database of Rare California Flora and Fauna (the California Natural Diversity Data Base) and be distributed to agencies that can hopefully conserve these populations and their habitats.

But don't worry if you haven't been involved yet, this project is ongoing into the fall and hopefully next year!

In the Western mojave-it may not look like this for long though,

this area is slated to be a wind farm