California Native Plant Society
Santa Clara Valley Chapter
Santa Clara Valley Chapter
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Join us for our favorite get-together of the year: the annual potluck dinner and election meeting, followed by our rare plant program, which will be our annual Brenda Butner Memorial Lecture. The evening is devoted to native plant appreciation, Chapter business, and delicious food. It’s the party of the year – don’t miss it!
This year we’ll have two programs on rare plants, by our past and current San Mateo County Rare Plant Chairs, Toni Corelli and Élan Alford.
The Plight of the Coast Yellow Leptosiphon (Leptosiphon croceus) from the 19th century to the 21st century, by Toni Corelli
Coast yellow leptosiphon (CYL) was discovered by botanist Alice Eastwood in 1901. She named this new species Linanthus croceus. At that time, Alice was a curator at the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. She and other botanical explorers traveled the rugged Old Stage Road from the Academy to the San Mateo coast to discover a unique flora. On the Pacific coast bluff top grew a bright and beautiful yellow flower that “covered the ground for several acres” – never seen anywhere else before. No other populations have been found since, so this is and was the only population in the world.
The coast yellow leptosiphon population size and number of plants have been impacted by the loss of coastal prairie habitat, and CYL is now a candidate for listing as an endangered species by the State of California. We will talk more about the petition process and what we can to do to save this species, along with other threatened and endangered plants and habitats within our geographical reach. CYL occurs in a “botanical hot spot,” associated with four other rare species.
Digging Into Our Data: Rare Plant Hotspots of the Santa Clara Valley Chapter, by Élan Alford
Where are the rare plant hotspots in our Chapter? This mapping effort was inspired by the statewide organization’s Important Plant Areas (IPAs) initiative, conversations with the late Don Mayall and a review of the East Bay Chapter’s Guidebook to Botanical Priority Protection Areas. Armed with an array of data and the free QGIS software application, now more than ever we can generate map data to help inform us where conservation efforts can be focused. This work is an initial analysis to help raise interest in rare plants and it can help support state CNPS conservation goals.
To make the maps, Élan conducted a density analysis of California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB) plant point records in our two Chapter counties, San Mateo and Santa Clara. A total of 41 hotspots were identified, with 17 in San Mateo County and 24 in Santa Clara County. In this talk Élan will review the methods and provide some caveats and critiques of the data and the resulting maps. Brief summaries of the hotspots will be provided and related to land conservation status as assessed by the Bay Area Greenbelt Alliance.
The evening begins at 6pm with our annual potluck. Bring your favorite dish, whether it be a salad, main dish, dessert, or beverage; it always works out that we have just the right amount of everything! A label identifying your dish will be helpful. Be sure to bring a plate, drinking glass, and eating utensils for yourself, as well as a bag in which to take home unwashed dishes.
If you can help with setup, please arrive at 5pm to set up chairs and tables. The potluck feast will begin at 6pm, followed by the program at 7pm. We appreciate your help with cleanup at the end of the program.
We will also have a silent auction of books and other items which will help raise funds for the Chapter. We will only be offering our best donated books for the silent auction, but we would love any other books you would like to donate, which we will sell at our book table. If you have books or other items to donate, please put them in a bag labeled “CNPS Auction” and drop them off at our (unstaffed) office at the PCC at 3921 E. Bayshore Rd. in Palo Alto on or before Wednesday, October 25th, or contact Judy Fenerty at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
CNPS general meetings are free and open to the public.
| Fri Nov 29 @ 9:00AM - Edgewood Restoration |
| Sat Nov 30 @ 8:00AM - 10:00AM Lake Cunningham Native Garden |
| Sat Nov 30 @ 9:00AM - 11:00AM Community Work Day at the Native Plant Garden in Kirk Park |
| Thu Dec 05 @ 7:00PM - 08:30PM Ten Easy Steps to Creating a Bird- Friendly Garden, a Talk by Jennifer Dirking |
| Fri Dec 06 @ 9:00AM - Edgewood Restoration |
| Sat Dec 07 @ 8:00AM - 10:00AM Lake Cunningham Native Garden |
| Sat Dec 07 @ 9:00AM - 11:00AM Community Work Day at the Native Plant Garden in Kirk Park |
| Tue Dec 10 @ 7:00PM - 08:30PM Conservation Committee |
| Wed Dec 11 @ 7:00PM - 08:30PM Wreath-Making with Native Plants, a Talk and Demonstration by Jill Sowards |
| Thu Dec 12 @ 7:00PM - 09:00PM CNPS SCV Board Meeting |
