From aceska@cue.bc.ca Date: Mon, 19 Sep 1994 11:53:01 -0700 From: Adolf Ceska To: ben@cue.bc.ca Subject: BEN # 79 BBBBB EEEEEE NN N ISSN 1188-603X BB B EE NNN N BBBBB EEEEE NN N N BOTANICAL BB B EE NN NN ELECTRONIC BBBBB EEEEEE NN N NEWS No. 79 September 19, 1994 aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca Victoria, B.C. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2 ----------------------------------------------------------- VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR BROOM REMOVAL ON MT. THZUHALEM !!! From: Evelyn Hamilton A broom removal event is scheduled for Mt Tzuhalem Eco Reserve (near Duncan) for Sept 24 and OTHER WEEKENDS UP TO OCT 12. Please spread the word and contact me (387-3650) for more info. Joel Ussery BCFN is the coordinator, his phone is 474-4105. We should meet for car pooling at Helmken Park and ride at 9:30 a.m. Bring gloves, pruners, clippers , lunch. BC Parks is hoping to get a big turnout to generate media interest. The intent of the project is to remove the broom that is threatening native species and increasing the risk of fire hazard in the reserve. The project is a cooperative one between Cowichan Valley Naturalists, FBCN, BC Parks, District of N Cowichan, Friends of ER, and the developer of the property adjacent to the eco reserve, to minimize negative effects of the development. Therefore funding from the developer and others to remove broom from the reserve is being solicited. BC Parks is funding helicopter removal of the cut broom on October 12, so the plan is to cut as much as possible before then, starting Sept 24. A number of schools, institutions and volunteer or- ganizations as well as BC PArks and District of N Cowichan are providing labour for the broom removal. Come join the fun!! Long term follow up is also planned. COMING EVENTS IN VICTORIA Sept. 20, 1994 (Tuesday): The authors of the Plants of Coastal British Columbia, Andy MacKinnon, Nancy Turner and others will discuss their popular field guide. Royal B.C. Museum, Classroom, 7:30 p.m. (Botany Night, Victoria Natural History Society) Sept. 21, 1994 (Wednesday): Syd Cannings, Conservation Data Centre: "What we're all about?" - University of Victoria, Biology Seminar, Elliott 060, 3:00 p.m. Sept. 24, 1994 (Saturday): A broom removal event is scheduled for Mt Tzuhalem Eco Reserve (near Duncan) for Sept 24 and other weekends up to Oct 12. Please spread the word and contact Evelyn Hamilton (387-3650) for more info. [See Volunteers needed !] Oct. 7-10, 1994. Schmok Foray 1994, organized by the Vancouver Mycological Society and South Vancouver Island Mycological Society will be at the Blue Lake Resort between Hope and Lillooet, off Highway 1 near the Stein Valley. Cost CDN $135.00 or US $115.00 per person. The deadline for registration Sept. 21, 1994. For more information call Hannah Nadel (604) 544-1386. BRYONIA ALBA IN THE WASHINGTON STATE ? From: Terry Taylor c/o In the beginning of July, we took a holiday around central Washington, and found an interesting plant at Walla Walla. I tentatively identified it as Bryonia alba. It forms long vines, with tendrils, hanging from the trees in Lewis and Clark Trails State Park, east of Walla Walla. The leaves are lobed, and it has black berries with flattened white seeds. The flowers are yellow with green veins. We saw what is probably the same plant at the Whitman Mission, but those ones were sterile. The plants at Lewis and Clark Trails Park looked identical to B. dioica, which I have seen in England, except for the black fruits. No Bryonia is shown in Hitchcock, but B. dioica is in the new Jepson Manual. [Note: Terry Taylor did not collect a voucher specimen for this report, thus the question mark in the title of this report. Can somebody from the area collect a specimen to document this report? Do you have any friends in Walla Walla ?- AC] GOLDEN PAINTBRUSH - CASTILLEJA LEVISECTA (SCROPHULARIACEAE) ON THE US THREATENED LIST From: Federal Register Vol. 59, No. 89, Tuesday, May 10, 1994, page 24106-24111. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to list Golden Paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta - Scrophulariaceae) as a threatened species. This species once occurred from Oregon north to Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Only 10 disjunct populations of this plant now exist, in open grasslands ranging from south of Olympia, Washington north through the Puget Sound to Southwest British Columbia, Canada. The proposal published in the Federal Register gives valuable information on the species, its distribution and problems with its protection. NEW INVENTORY OF CALIFORNIA'S RARE AND ENDANGERED PLANTS SHOWS CONTINUED DECLINE OF STATE'S MAGNIFICENT NATIVE FLORA From: California Native Plant Society Press Release [abbrev.] The new fifth edition of the INVENTORY OF RARE AND ENDANGERED VASCULAR PLANTS OF CALIFORNIA, edited by Mark W. Skinner and Bruce Pavlik, (California Native Plant Society, 1994) lists 1742 types of California native plants that are now rare, threatened, or endangered in California and elsewhere. This number repre- sents nearly 28% of California's 6,300 native plants. This summary of the latest information on the state's rare and endangered vascular plants includes ferns, fern allies, cone- bearing seed plants and flowering plants. Land resource managers, conservationists, field biologists, consultants, and botanical researchers will find the new INVENTORY an indispen- sable reference for identifying, protecting and managing California's rarest botanical resources. CNPS has simultaneously published an ELECTRONIC INVENTORY for MS-DOS personal computers. Using the state-of-the-art Microsoft Fox-Pro(tm) database, this application provides instant and simplified access to the detailed information contained in the print version. Users of the ELECTRONIC INVENTORY can search for plants based on hundreds of specific criteria, using pre- existing or customized report formats. The self-installing program requires no additional hardware or software, and takes up 8 megabytes of hard disk space. The ELECTRONIC INVENTORY will be updated regularly and will replace the print edition as the most up-to-date compilation of rare, threatened and endangered California plants. Purchasers are required to update their program every 18 months Among the 1742 special status plants in California, the new INVENTORY lists 857 species, subspecies and varieties that are "rare, threatened, or endangered in California and elsewhere", nearly 14% of the flora. This is an increase of 27% -- a net increase of 182 plants -- since the fourth INVENTORY was pub- lished in 1988. 34 plants that occurred in California are now extinct here. Since the last edition was published 13 plants thought to be extinct in California were rediscovered, however 11 other new plants are now presumed to be extinct. The book is the result of three years of intensive research and review. Mark Skinner is the California Native Plant Society Botanist and Bruce Pavlik is Associate Professor of Biology, Mills College. Ordering information: Mark W. Skinner & Bruce M. Pavlik [eds.]. 1994. Inventory of rare and endangered vascular plants of California, 5th ed. California Native Plant Society, Sacramento. 336 p. ISBN 0-943460-18-2 [softcover]; retail price: US$22.95 Electronic inventory ISBN: 0-943460-19-0; includes MS-DOS dis- kettes and manual; price US$195.- program update (required after 18 mos): US$95.- Order from: CNPS, 1722 J St., Ste. 17, Sacramento, Ca 95814. Phone: 916/447-2677; FAX: 916/447-2727