Join Don Thomas of the Santa Clara Valley Chapter and members of the Y erba Buena Chapter for our fall fountain thistle habitat restoration work p arty near the intersection of I-280 and Hwy. 92. We’ll mee t on Sunday, November 10 and work from 10am to noon.

Fountain thistle (Cirsium fontinale var. fontinale) is a federally endangered plant species that grows in an unusual specialized ha bitat, serpentine seeps, and is only found at our work location and in a fe w other nearby locations on the Peninsula.

Fountain thistle’s recover y here is a restoration success story. Once almost completely displaced by jubatagrass (Andean pampas grass), it has largely recovered here, as a resu ltoftheworkdonebyCNPSvolunteers. TheCNPS

project is a cooperative of our Santa Clara Valley and Yerba Buena Chapters. However, fountain thistle is still under threat from invasion by new jubatagrass seedlings and by oth er non-native plants such as bristly ox-tongue (Helminthotheca echioide s). It’s also threatened by native woody plants such as coyote brush, which threaten to convert the area to shrubland or woodland.

During o ur work, we expect to see some end-of-season wildflowers, such as Western g oldenrod (Euthamia occidentalis).

Sturdy gloves are recommended; you might also want to wear long sleeves/pants and bring sunsc reen, water, a hat and layered clothing. If you have them, bring tools, suc h as trowels, spades and shovels. Some tools will also be provided.

W e’ll meet at the end of Lessingia Court in San Mateo. For more information, contact Don at This email address is being prote cted from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..