Bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts) represent a completely different solution to the evolutionary problem of living on land. They lack the complex vascular system that has made the so-called “taller plants” so successful, but they have evolved complex solutions that will surprise you. Ken Kellman will show us how to recognize this important group of plants with a short presentation, and then we will spend the rest of the evening looking closely at many common bryophytes from the Central Coast.

Ken Kellman met his first bryophyte in 1995 during a vascular plant survey of Quail Hollow Ranch in Santa Cruz County. It did not take long for him to abandon normal botanizing in pursuit of these tiny plants. He has published A Catalog of the Mosses of Santa Cruz County and is now collecting for a similar project in Monterey and San Mateo Counties. His explorations have revealed several species new to science, and many more new to the Central Coast and the state. He is an instructor at the Jepson Herbarium weekend workshops in Bryology.