Naomi Fraga to Speak on Rare Flora of the Amargosa River Basin

Naomi Fraga, Director, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden

The Amargosa River Basin is an ‘island’ of wet habitats fed by a large and extensive supply of underground water, surrounded by the expansive and arid Mojave Desert that receives only about 2 to 3 inches of annual precipitation a year.  That is the topic for February’s Botany Public Speaker Program. Naomi Fraga, Director of Conservation Programs at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, will join us to discuss The flora of the Amargosa River Basin in the northern Mojave Desert of California

The region is home to a suite of rare plants and animals that are associated with wetland habitats such as alkaline meadows, marshes, seeps, channel outflows, and springs.

Much of the isolated wetland habitat is protected within the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada. However, threats to these rare species still remain because the high water table is in danger of dropping due to groundwater pumping for nearby agriculture and development.

Recent efforts to aid in plant conservation of this region has included two bio-blitz events organized by The Nature Conservancy, and botanical inventory and monitoring including botanical assessments of the Wild and Scenic Amargosa River. The region is home to three federally listed species in California, the Amargosa niterwort (Nitrophila mohavensis), the Ash Meadows gumplant (Grindelia fraxinipratensis), and the spring loving centaury (Zeltnera namophila); these species rely on the ancient flow of water underground.

Calochortus striatus

Naomi intends to provide an overview of the flora of the region and provide background on the ongoing conservation efforts of the rare plants, including interesting discoveries from the two recent bio-blitz events.

Who: Naomi Fraga, Director, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden
Topic: The flora of the Amargosa River Basin in the northern Mojave Desert of California
Where: Steele/Burnand UCI Desert Research Center
401 Tilting T Drive, Borrego Springs
When: Monday, February 10, 2020
Time: 10:00 to 11:30 AM
Cost: Free lecture; public is invited.

The Botany Society is a volunteer unit of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park focused on studying, interpreting, and protecting the botanical resources of the park.

Online Native Plant Sale Has Closed

Bristly fiddleneck (Amsinckia tessellata var. tessellata)
©Arie Korporaal

Online ordering of desert native plants for this year's Plant Sale has ended.

Orders have been placed and will be available for pickup in front of the Anza Borrego Foundation State Park Store in the Mall, 587 Palm Canyon Drive, Borrego Springs 92004. All plants must be paid for and picked up on Saturday, January 25, 2020, between 9 AM and Noon.

You will receive an email confirming your order with the total amount owed. Payments can be made in ABF store by cash, check, or credit card.

Questions?: Anza-Borrego Botany Society

Chris McDonald to Speak On Invasive Plants in January

Dr. Chris McDonald, UC Cooperative Extension

Dr Chris McDonald is the Inland and Desert Natural Resources Advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension and his expertise is in managing plants in wildlands with an emphasis on managing difficult weeds, He will present a talk on Managing Invasive Weeds in Borrego Springs: Sahara Mustard and Volutaria,

Sahara mustard and Volutaria are two invasive weeds that are spreading in the Borrego region. Sahara mustard has been in Southern California for nearly a century and is a widespread problem, while Volutaria is a newer introduction and is confined to just a few locales. These two species pose a threat to desert wildlife, wildflowers and tourism.

Sam Webb, ABDSP Volunteer, holds a just-pulled sahara mustard plant

Many people have been working to contain Volutaria before it spreads across the California Desert as well as reduce local Sahara mustard populations. Learn about how to identify and manage these species, how quickly they are spreading, and how you can help make Borrego Springs a better place for yourself, your neighbors, and for the environment.

Who: Dr, Chris McDonald, University of California Cooperative Extension
Topic: Managing Invasive Weeds in Borrego Springs: Sahara Mustard and Volutaria
Where: Steele/Burnand UCI Desert Research Center, 401 Tilting T Drive, Borrego Springs
When: Monday, January 6, 2020
Time: 1:00 to 2:00 PM
Cost: Free lecture; public is invited.
Parking: Free

Mike Wells to Talk on Natural History of the Anza-Borrego Region

Mike Wells, former Superintendent of the Colorado Desert District, which includes the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Is the first Botany Society Public Speaker who leads off the new year. Wells will introduce his new book A Natural History of the Anza-Borrego Region.

The book resulted from a class taught by Wells and Marie Simovich at the University of San Diego for the past 16 years. Their book describes how the desert landscape was formed over a period of tens of millions of years and how its present climate developed. It also discusses how the desert's plants and animals are adapted to this challenging environment, and how they interact to form amazingly diverse ecological communities. The book also addresses the first human communities to enter this region and how they, through their intimate knowledge of this challenging environment were able to thrive for thousands of years.

Their book “ … is considered the ‘go to’ book for anyone wanting to understand the Anza-Borrego region. The new book will be on sale at the lecture and proceeds go to support the Anza Borrego Foundation.

Who: Mike Wells, author and retired Park Superintendent of the
Colorado Desert District
Topic: A Natural History of the Anza-Borrego Region
Where: Steele/Burnand UCI Desert Research Center
401 Tilting T Drive in Borrego Springs
When: Monday, January 13, 2020
Time: 10:00 to 11:30 AM
Cost: Free lecture; public is invited.

The Botany Society is a volunteer unit of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park focused on studying, interpreting, and protecting the botanical resources of the park.

It’s Here! The 2019 Plant Sale Order Form is Live

CC BY-SA Arie Korporaal

The Anza Borrego Botany Society has announced its popular desert plant sale. The 2019 Plant Sale Order Form is now online (see navigation bar at the top of the page: 2019 Plant Sale). All selected plants are native to this region and available in 1-gallon containers, the most economical size.

Plants must be ordered using the online form by Friday, January 10, 2020.

The payment for and pickup of your plants will be held at the Anza Borrego Foundation State Park Store in the Mall, 587 Palm Canyon Drive, Borrego Springs 92004. All plants must be paid for and picked up on Saturday, January 25, 2020, between 9 AM and Noon.

If you have questions email: The Botany Society

The order form for the desert plants you want to purchase has been posted on this website. All proceeds support the work of the Botany Society including its well-known public botany speaker series. 

Click here to go directly to the form: 2019 Anza-Borrego Botany Society Plant Sale Order Form