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 na tive plant appreciation, Chapter business, and delicious food. It’s the par ty 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, To ni Corelli and Élan Alford.
The Plight of the Coast Yellow L eptosiphon (Leptosiphon croceus) from the 19th century to the 21st century, by Toni Corelli
Coast yellow leptosiphon (CYL) was&nb sp;discovered by botanist Alice Eastwood in 1901. She named this new species Linanthus croceus. At that time, Alice was a curator at th e Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. She and other botanical e xplorers traveled the rugged Old Stage Road from the Academy to the San Mat eo 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 acr es” – never seen anywhere else before. No other populations have been found since, so this is and was the only population in the world.
T he 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 t alk more about the petition process and what we can to do to save this spec ies, along with other threatened and endangered plants and habitats within our geographical reach. CYL occurs in a “botanical hot spot,” associated wi th 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) initi
ative, 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 tha
n ever we can generate map data to help inform us where conservation effort
s can be focused. This work is an initial analysis to help raise interest i
n rare plants and it can help support state CNPS conservation goals.
The evening begins at 6pm with our annual potluck. Bri ng your favorite dish, whether it be a salad, main dish, dessert, or bevera ge; 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, dri nking 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, f ollowed 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 o ther items which will help raise funds for the Chapter. We will only be off ering 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 t able. 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 P CC at 3921 E. Bayshore Rd. in Palo Alto on or before Wednesday, October 25t h, or contact Judy Fenerty at This email address is being protecte d from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
CNPS gener al meetings are free and open to the public.