January Newsletter Has Been Posted

The ABDSP BOTANY SOCIETY NEWSLETTER for January 2016 has been published. This issue features information on the Botany Study Group activities, a report on the Fall Festival & Plant Sale, a botanical brief on Catchfly Gentian by Franz Boschiero, and an installment of The Native Garden featuring Rush Milkweed by Don Rideout.

You can download the latest issue to your computer and read it on screen or print it out and read a hardcopy version. In addition, all Botany Society newsletters are now published electronically on the ezine (electronic magazine) Web site Issuu. By clicking on the link you can go directly to an index of all Botany Society newsletters and other documents. The newsletters can then be read in a professional magazine-like format.

Publishing on Issuu gives the Botany Society the ability to publish instantly and makes the newsletters available to any reader worldwide. Coincidentally, the Anza Borrego Foundation also publishes its newsletters on Issuu as well. Lastly, there are other publications focusing on botany on the site such as the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens in Claremont, California. Check it out.

Don and Shiela Rideout, editors, remind all members that their contributions to the newsletter are welcomed. You can email news briefs, blurbs, bits, and blog writings directly to Don. 

A Message from the Co-Presidents Available for Members

The December edition of "A Message from Your Co-Presidents" has been posted to the Members Area of the Web site.

This issue features dates of future Botany Study Group meetings, content of the and January sessions of the Botany Certification Course (required for membership in the Botany Society). 

If you have forgotten the password for the Members Area, send a request to thebotanysociety@gmail.com. 

Kate Barrows Will Speak January 11th on Native Landscapes for the Desert Gardener

Kate Barrows, Director, Environmental Resources, Coachella Valley Association of Governments

A plant ecologist will describe how to introduce native plants into the garden for people bedeviled by an extended drought and eager to conserve water at a meeting of the Botany Society January 11 in Borrego Springs.

Kate Barrows, director of environmental resources for the Coachella Valley Association of Governments, says “native landscapes are a wonderful inspiration for the desert gardener” and can help slow the loss of native habitats that “are increasingly being converted to urban areas.” She will discuss the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan as a way to conserve California’s native plants.

Her presentation, “Breaking the Barrier Between Nature and Your Garden: Bring Native Plants Home,” starts at 10 a.m. in the visitor center of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, 200 Palm Canyon Drive 92004. The public is invited, and there is no admission charge. Barrows is also president of the Riverside-San Bernardino Chapter of the California Native Plant Society. The La Quinta resident has been involved in the conservation of rare plants and native ecosystems throughout her career.

Who: Kate Barrows, Director, Environmental Resources, Coachella Association of Governments
What: Breaking the Barrier Between Nature and Your Garden: Bring Native Plants Home
When: Monday, January 11, 2016; 10 AM
Where: Discovery Lab, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park® Visitor Center
Cost: Free to the public

New Weed Found in Borrego Valley— The Long Story

Larry Hendrickson, Botanist, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park®, has written an article about the discovery of Volutaria sp. in Borrego Springs. This aggressive weed was discovered growing along Borrego Springs Road in the spring of 2011. The discovery of this invasive, Volutaria canariensis, is native to the Canary Islands.  This short piece of botany history, New Weed Found in Borrego Valley— The Long Story,  was published in the Botany Newsletter in October 2011.

Carl Bell to Speak at Botany Society on December 14th about Invasive Plants

Carl Bell, What's Up With Those Invasive Plants?

A weed warrior with 35 years of experience as the University of California Cooperative Extension Regional Advisor in Southern California will talk to the Borrego Springs Botany Society December 14 about “What’s up with these Invasive Plants?”

Now retired, Carl E. Bell refuses to give up the battle, and is an independent consultant offering advice, training and support to anyone wanting to join him in what he considers is an imperative battle. “Invasive plants are everywhere,” Bell says. “And wherever they are, the natives are hurting. And it’s not just the plants, native critters from insects to bighorn sheep are losing the food and shelter they need for survival.”
Bell, who has a master’s degree in botany from California State University Long Beach, will start his presentation at 10 a.m. at the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Visitor Center, 200 Palm Canyon Drive, Borrego Springs 92004. Admission is free, and the public is invited.

Who: Carl Bell, UC Cooperative Extension Advisor (Ret.)
What: What's Up with These Invasive Plants?
When: Monday, December 14, 2015; 10 AM
Where: Discovery Lab, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park® Visitor Center
Cost: Free to the public