Obispoensis !

Newsletter of the San Luis Obispo Chapter of the California Native Plant Society

December 2014

Creek Dogwood (Cornus sericea) For this issue of the OBISPOENSIS I’m going out on a limb so to speak. Since the plant is a very small tree or moderately sized shrub, that limb will prove to be slen-der. The plant is the red osier, creek, or as stated in the new Jepson California flora, American dogwood (Cor-nus sericea). This dogwood is the ugly sister to the “flowering” dogwoods as it doesn’t have its clusters of tiny flowers subtended by the large white to pink bracts found in its beautiful sisters. The beautiful sisters in-clude the Sierra dogwood (C. nuttalii) and the even more famous eastern dogwood (C. florida). The indi-vidual flowers of all dogwood species are small; it’s the tight flower cluster that we see. The showy difference is ONLY the presence of the large showy bracts sur-rounding the flower clusters. If you don’t have the large bracts to go on, how do you know it’s a dogwood? Take another look at Bonnie’s drawing. Note the un-usual arrangement of the secondary veins (the ones branching from the central midrib). They don’t go di-rectly to the leaf margin but curve toward the tip where they all converge. This leaf vein pattern is relatively rare and all the dogwoods have it. I know of only one other family (Melastomataceae) that has a similar pat-tern and it’s tropical so we will encounter it only in cul-tivation. There is also a trick that can be demonstrated with dogwood leaves that takes advantage of those real-ly long veins. If you gently tear a dogwood leaf in two near its middle, the two halves will still be connected by thin “strings” arising from the veins. These strings come from the cell walls of a special type of water con-ducting cells (vessels). A drawing of a single, greatly enlarged vessel cell with spiral thickenings is shown. A stack of these cells placed end to end conduct water and dissolved minerals throughout the leaf. The thicken-ings prevent the vessel from collapsing when water is drawn through it. Water isn’t generally pushed through a vessel but is sucked through. That is, it’s more simi-lar to a drinking straw than a fire hose. We oldsters probably remember the paper straws of our childhood that soaked up liquid and collapsed before we had fin-ished our drink. Have you figured out where the “strings” come from? Yep, they’re the spiral wall thickenings found in the inter-connected stacks of ves-sels. Other leaves have secondary veins that are either too short or have vessels with different types of wall thickenings that don’t stretch, such as rings or solid wall pierced with pores. !So where would I look for the creek dogwood? As the common name, creek dogwood, correctly suggests, it is usually found growing along creek banks or other situa-tions where it can get lots of permanent water near the

surface. American dogwood is easy to explain as this variable species is found from the Pacific states to New England. It seems to not like the southeastern states. Red osier dogwood refers to its thin, willow-like stems. “Osier” is another common name for willow, another group of woody plants that prefer moist to wet soils. So, red osier dogwood is simply telling us it is a dogwood that resembles (or maybe grows with or is flexible like) wil-lows. Dogwood leaves and flowers are definitely not “willow-like.” !When I entered “Cornus sericea” into GOOGLE, there were lots of hits. Almost all of them discussed the use of this dogwood in landscaping. The trait they emphasized was the bright red twigs and white berries that are particu-larly prominent in the early fall. However, they probably aren’t a great choice for a drought tolerant garden.❀ Dirk Walters, illustration by Bonnie Walters !

President’s Notes Wouldn’t you know it? Months and months of rainless skies, and then it rains on the plant sale. In spite of the adverse conditions, it went pretty well and I want to thank all of you who came and helped out. Continuing in the horticultural vein, Susan Kryzwiki’s excellent November on low-water gardening and the CNPS Horticultural web site was presented to a full and enthusiastic house. Follow-ing up on the many suggestions provided by Susan for native gardens in a water challenged future, check out the landscape rebates offered by the StormRewards program described in this newsletter. We are heading toward elec-tion time for the 2015 chapter board, and anyone interest-ed in running should contact James Johnson who is chair-ing the nominations committee, or come to the December meeting. As most of you know, the plant sale is our big fund raiser, and we are happy to announce that the chapter board will support three Cal Poly students to present pa-pers on their botanical research projects at the CNPS Con-servation Conference to be held in San Jose in January.❀ David Chipping !

Conservation Projects before the committee include consideration of the Reissued Draft EIR for the Phillips Refinery Rail Spur on the Nipomo Mesa and the Final EIR for the Oster Quarry east of Santa Margarita. Most of the comments we made on the original DEIR for Phillips were incorporated into the RDEIR. !In a very different conservation issue, Lauren Brown arranged for a workshop on impending threats to oak in late October. The revelations of a seemingly unstoppable Golden Oak Borer beetle coming northward from San Diego County was chilling, especially with Sudden Oak

Chapter Meeting Rare Plant Hunting on California’s Central Coast !

General Meeting Speaker: Danny Slakey !Over the past two field seasons, CNPS staff and chapter members hiked, botanized, and documented rare plants on California’s Central Coast, with a specific focus on the Ven-tana and Silver Peak Wilderness Areas in Monterey County. This project was part of a statewide volunteer effort called the Rare Plant Treasure Hunt. The Wilderness Areas often challenged volunteers with rugged terrain, overgrown trails, and hot weather, but rewarded them with incredible rare plant finds, great company, and access to some of the region’s best swimming holes. Danny will share the results of the Central Coast project, with some stunning photos of the landscapes and rare plant found on the trips. Work in the region is far from complete, however, so Danny will discuss some of the taxonomic problems that still linger in these Wilderness Ar-eas. !Danny Slakey works for CNPS as a coordinator for the Rare Plant Treasure Hunt project and also as assistant botanist for the CNPS Rare Plant Program. Before working for CNPS, he studied plant invasion ecology for his master’s and worked seasonal botany jobs throughout the West. !Thursday, December 4, 7 p.m. at the Veterans Hall, 801 Grand Avenue, San Luis Obispo

Conservation continued Death disease just north of us in Monterey County. The borer is about 10 mm long, black with gold spots on the back, and emerges from the tree in “Capital D” shaped holes about 2-3 mm across the flat side. This is considered diagnostic. The larvae girdle the tree, and can persist in firewood if the dead tree is cut down. Due to the value of oak firewood, transport by campers or firewood dealers could bring the pest into our country at any mo-ment. Coast live oak is the beetle’s favored tar-get, followed by black oak and canyon live oak. For more information go to www.GSOB.org. I will bring more ID material to the December Meeting.❀ David Chipping

Chapter Elections !The SLO Chapter President has appointed Jim Johnson as nominating committee chair, and the nominating committee is preparing a slate of candidates that will be presented at the December general meeting. At that same meeting, nomina-tions will be accepted from the floor, for either yourself or another member. Election of the four officers—President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary—will be held immediately after nominations are closed.  

Our chapter has been fortunate to have a core of dedicated individuals who have filled these positions for multiple years. However, the organization needs new ideas and a broader base of involved leadership. Please consider offering yourself for one of these positions. If you prefer, give Jim a call at 528-0446 to nominate yourself or another member. He will present your nomination, identifying you as the source, at the December meeting.

Landscape to Catch the Rain in Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo and Nipomo At our November meeting program, the state CNPS horticultural director re-minded us that an excellent way to help our native gardens is to capture and keep as much rain as possible in our yards. A local program can help to make that advice a reality and provide a cost rebate of up to $1000. The StormRewards Program provides rebates and free technical assistance to implement rain gardens, rain barrels, porous pavement and other rainwater practices in the communities of Arroyo Grande, Nipomo and San Luis Obispo. By using rain harvesting practices on your property, you are utilizing more precious rainwater and protecting our environment. Rain barrels can reduce water bills and minimize water use. Other practices such as rain gardens and replacing con-crete/asphalt areas with pervious materials can reduce outdoor water use, increase rainwater infiltration into soils, reduce contact with potential pollutants and keep our creeks clean. Here’s a great opportunity to enhance your native plant garden. Find out more about the program at www.stormrewards.org or call Nicole Smith at 772-4391. The goal is 40 projects in 2015.

This rain garden collects rainwater from two downspouts slowing the water to allow infiltration.

Plant Sale Thank You !Suzette and I want to say “Job well done!” to all the volunteers who spent their Saturday helping at the plant sale. Your devotion to the group goes beyond normal expectations and we really do appreciate your outstanding efforts during one of our rainiest plant sales I can remember. With your help the chapter will be able to continue teaching the public about native plants and the importance of protecting them for future generations to enjoy. As we look forward to next year’s sale, I hope you had fun and will be willing to sign up again to help. Once again thank you for making this year’s sale a success. Your plant sale chairpersons, John and Suzette.

Planting Natives !Last month's topic on planting California natives to provide habitat for bees was well received.  Continuing on that same theme is this month's topic: native plants that provide nectar for hum-mingbirds.  Humming-birds such as Anna's (Calypte anna) live year-round on the Central Coast.  They need lots of nectar to buzz around.  Here are some of my favorite shrubs that are a hummingbird’s best friend:  manzanita (Arctostaphylos species), twinberry (Lonicera involucra-ta), fuchsia-flowered gooseberry (Ribes speciosum) and last, pitcher sage (Lepechinia calycina). Check your yard for placing your shrubs in the right location. Most require good drainage and full sun.  Many California native perennials have flowers that can provide large amounts of nectar. Some of my best picks are, penstemon (Penstemon species), Zauschneria (Epilobium canum), hummingbird sage (Salvia spathacea) and sticky monkeyflower (Mimulus aurantiacus), its old name.  So with winter rains on the way, the timing is right to set new plants in your garden.  Keeping this in mind I would like to encourage you to remember the little hummingbird. Good luck and happy gardening. John N.

CNPS Educational Grants Program adds two new grant funds this year! In 2014, two anonymous donors set up two new awards for students studying our native flora! One honors Joan Stewart, recent chair of the Educational Grants Committee and volun-teer with CNPS for over 40 years in the San Diego and Alta Peak Chapters and the other honors Karen Callahan, rare plant chair and dedicated volunteer with the Redbud Chapter (see more below!).

Each year students and researchers send in proposals by Sep-tember 30. The Educational Grants Committee reviews the proposals, scoring them on specific criteria set in the guide-lines. Then the Committee determines which type of grant is appropriate for each proposal funded and allocates the funds in late November, and announces the decisions at the December Chapter Council meeting. The funds available, number of proposals received, and the merit of the proposals determine the amounts awarded.

The CNPS Educational Grants Program was created in 1983 to award funds to students and researchers studying California’s native flora. The seven funds below were created and added to over the years through the generosity of several major donors, in honor of some of our Society’s most dedicated members and leaders. Five of the awards are endowed funds. In the 31 years of Educational grants we have supported more than 285 students and researchers. The vast majority are students.

Joan Stewart Educational Grant Award: Joan Stewart has served California Native Plant Society in many capacities for over forty years. A lifelong joy for Joan has been to mentor and to encourage students in their research. As part of her de-sire to support student research, Joan chaired the Educational Grants Committee from 2005 to 2014. The Joan Stewart Edu-cational Grant Award, established in 2014, is an educational grant to be awarded to the student whose California Native Plant Society (CNPS) grant proposal is deemed by the CNPS Educational Grants Committee to be an excellent research project contributing critical information necessary for the conservation of California native plant species and their habitats.

The Karen Callahan Scholarship Award, established in 2014, this award is offered to students engaged in study and/or research relating to native plant conservation, restoration, sys-tematic, or ecology. Such study or research must be directed to plants that grow in Placer or Nevada County habitats. Pref-erence will be given to: a) topics concerning rare plants or communities; b) students from Placer or Nevada Counties; c) students attending Sierra College; California State University, Sacramento; or, UC Davis. We honor Karen Callahan for her extraordinary efforts over the years as a volunteer in the Red-bud Chapter of CNPS—especially, her monitoring, protecting, and educating others about rare plants and rare plant commu-nities.  

CNPS Educational Grants by Josie Crawford

Saturday, December 20, 8:30 a.m., Hazard Peak, Montaña de Oro State Park: Join us to explore some of the hidden beauty of MDO State Park. We will meet at the Visitors Center located just beyond the entrance to Spooner’s Cove, walk inland along Islay Canyon, then hike up the Barranca Trail, joining the Hazard Peak Trail to the top, and finally back to the Visitors Center. We will see different plant communi-

ties from riparian, to oak woodland, and coastal sage scrub. This is a moderately strenuous nine mile hike with 1,000 ft. elevation gain and will take a minimum of four hours to

complete. Bring water and snacks. Sturdy shoes, sunscreen, hats, and jackets are rec-ommended. For more info, contact Bill Waycott, (805) 459-2103, bill.way-

cott@gmail.com. Rain or the threat of rain cancels this hike.

Field Trips

Saturday, January 10, 8:30 a.m., Reservoir Canyon and Bowden Ranch: Join us for a visit to several plant communities typically found in the coastal mountains of our county. This will be a moderately strenu-ous hike, starting in the riparian corridor of Reservoir Canyon, then up and over the backbone ridge of Bow-den Ranch, where we find serpentine derived soils along with a proliferation of associated plant species, continuing down the southern slope, and ending at the high school parking lot. This hike affords spectacu-lar views towards the south, well into Santa Barbara Co., and to the surrounding hills of the north. Please meet at the eastern corner of SLO High School parking lot near corner of Johnson Ave. and San Luis Drive. A few cars will caravan hikers to the trailhead in Reservoir Canyon (first right turn off north Hwy 101 after leaving SLO). The hike is five miles, with an elevation gain of 1000 feet, and total time of 3.5 to 4 hours. Once completed, owners of cars parked at the trailhead will be driven back to retrieve their cars. Bring wa-ter and snacks. Sturdy shoes, sunscreen, hats, and layered clothing for warmth are recommended. For more info, contact Bill Waycott, (805) 459-2103, bill.waycott@gmail.com. Rain or the threat of rain cancels

Gift Ideas for Christmas and We Pay the Tax!Before you find yourself wondering how to meet some of your Christmas gift needs, stop by the Books and T-shirt Sales Table at our December meeting.  There is a wide and varied selection of excellent nature books, some local travel guides, some excellent children’s books, as well as all things botanical and gardening books.  T-shirts come in a variety of col-ors-that SLO lupine is so beautiful, always drawing compliments.   Since we pay the tax, you receive an 8% discount. 

President David Chipping (805) 528-0914 dchippin@calpoly.edu Vice President Matt Ritter mritter@calpoly.edu Recording Secretary Kristie Haydu (916) 899-9227 pickleberry26@hotmail.com Corresponding Secretary Marti Rutherford slomire@msn.com Treasurer David Krause (805) 927-5182 dkincmbria@aol.com Chapter Council Representative David Chipping (805) 528-0914 dchippin@calpoly.edu Chapter Publications & Photography James Johnson (805) 528-0446 jw_johnson@msn.com Chapter Wholesale Contact Linda Chipping (805) 528-0914 lindachipping@yahoo.com Conservation David Chipping (805) 528-0914 dchippin@calpoly.edu Cuesta Ridge Monitor Neil Havlik Education Susi Bernstein (805) 481-46`92 fiddle58@att.net Field Trips Bill Waycott (805) 459-2103 bill.waycott@gmail.com General Sales - Book & Poster Sales June Jones (805) 772 4235 junerecycles@charter.net Historian Dirk R. Walters (805) 543-7051 drwalters@charter.net Horticulture & Plant Sales John Nowak (805) 674-2034 gritlys@gmail.com Suzette Giouard (805) 801-4806 suzette.girouard@gmail.com Hospitality Mardi Niles (805) 489-9274 mlniles@sbcglobal.net Invasive Plants Control Lauren Brown (805) 460-6329 lbrown805@charter.net Legislation David Chipping (805) 528-0914 dchippin@calpoly.edu Membership James Johnson (805) 528-0446 jw_johnson@msn.com Holly Slettland hslettel@calpoly.edu Newsletter Editor Bob Hotaling (805) 238-6044 rhotaling@charter.net Publicity Judi Young judi@judiyoung.com Rare Plant Coordinator John Chesnut (805) 528-0833 jchesnut@slonet.org Webmaster Judi Young judi@judiyoung.com

Officers & Committee Chairs CNPS  2015  Potluck  Banquet      The CNPS 2015 Potluck Banquet will be on Saturday, January 24, 2015, at the Morro Bay Community Center.  Social hour will be at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 6:30, chapter business at 7:30, and program at 8.  Cost is $10 plus a potluck item.  More information, including suggested pot luck items, will be posted on our website and in a flyer mailed in January.  Hope to see you there.  If you have any questions, please contact Lauren at lbrown805@charter.net, or 805-460-6329.  Thank you, Lauren Brown, Banquet Committee

It’s pretty hard not to know the holidays are coming up, with the incessant re-minders from businesses in the form of displays and advertising.  It really is possible to celebrate the season of sharing by not by enriching the pockets of corporations and transforming our precious natural capital into still more stuff.  How about a gift membership to CNPS for a special friend or family member?   You will be giving a gift that keeps on giving throughout the year, with ongoing Bulletins and Fremontias.  Your gift will also benefit CNPS by getting our mes-sage out to more people and building our support base.  It’s easy to do.  You can order online at https://support.cnps.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=340.  The gift mem-bership check box is a small box at the very bottom of the Individual form.  Or you can select a form to mail in with a check from that same page.   And Happy Holidays!

Contribute to the Preservation of California's Incredible Native Flora

!!!! The CNPS Conservation Conference is January 13-17, 2015 ! Celebrate the progress made in conservation throughout the past 50 years, and con-

tribute to goals and research for the future at this year’s Conservation Conference in San Jose. The main conference starts on January 15, with keynote speakers and over 300 presentations in 25 sessions by students, researchers, and CNPS chapters. Rooms must be booked online to receive the Conference rate, and must be reserved by De-cember 26, 2014. Contact Becky Reilly, Events Coordinator, for more information: breil-ly@cnps.org; view conference highlights online: http://www.cnps.org/cnps/conserva-tion/conference/2015/