ISSN 0884-599

In this issue

Treasurer Needed: Treasurer-elect Martha Apple was unable to take office due to work-related considerations. If you are interested in helping NPSO as our treasurer, please contact Bruce Newhouse (policy), for information.

William Cusick

By Bruce Newhouse, President, NPSO

Hello, NPSO Friends and Flora Lovers!

As your new President, because most of you have no idea who I am¹, I'd like to tell you a bit about myself (but hey, if you are bored already, just skip one paragraph ahead and I'll never know!). I was born in at Good Sam² in Portland in 1955, grew up in Oregon City, then Lake Oswego through high school. My Mom and Dad and I used to go fishing up the Clackamas River and Still Creek - me and my Dad would fly fish, while my Mom poked around in the bushes admiring wildflowers, occasionally bringing home a sword fern or maidenhair fern for the garden. As I got older, I got more and more interested in my Mom's love for those ferns, and all those other plants in the woods.

Hiking with my high school buddies on Olallie Butte (near Mt. Jefferson), at the Coast, and up the Gorge, I started learning common names for plants. When I went to OSU in 1973, I foolishly opted for Forestry over Botany (probably because I didn't meet Ken Chambers when I went there with my Dad on Father-Son day³) but I ended up graduating with a pretty broad background in environmental sciences -- including botany. After county and city planning in Grants Pass and Springfield for 10 years, I broke out of my cubicle and retired from government service, and went back to my true love -- the outdoors. I've been consulting in botany, wetlands and wildlife habitat ever since, with an occasional musical sidelight as a piano player and hand percussionist.

My best friend, Dick Brainerd, joined me after a couple of years, and then we seduced Peter Zika into joining us by offering him some mid-winter vegetative grass ID opportunities, and we became Salix Associates. Peter has recently moved on to Seattle, and Dick and I miss him a lot - our mentor, for sure. With Peter and a handful of others, we formed the Carex Working Group at OSU several years ago, and NPSO has been a great support to that effort. Since the early 1990's when I found NPSO, I've been on the Emerald Chapter board most of the time, and recently, have been an at-large state board member. I feel very lucky that my work and my favorite pastime are the same thing. My partner, Peg (a wildlife biologist), is very tolerant of all my NPSO obligations and other participation on city committees here in Eugene. (She laughs at me when we go for a weekend hike -- I'm always looking for rare plants and making a plant list.) We live in a perfectly small house, with almost all-local-native landscaping. We confess to metamorphosing into myco-heads in the fall, and are co-founding members of the brand new Cascade Mycological Society.

I hope that wasn't offensively long and boring. In conclusion, I just want to add that I'm an Oregon boy, through and through (well, except for the fact I hate cows and their impacts on the environment). I love native Oregon, and am constantly astonished by us humans. We know how to live lightly, but we refuse to do it! Strange bunch we are. There is so much beauty and genius and spirit in our native Oregon biota, and such blatant disregard for it by the general public. I'm amazed, but I refuse to give up, and I hope you feel the same. I'll confess to being depressed by it sometimes, but remembering to be inspired simply by the beauty of nature keeps me a little bit sane⁴.

In yet another conclusion, I hope our members and our board can be inspired to do more and more to educate the vast, growing majority of Oregonians who have little or no knowledge about our natural heritage. Television is getting more boring and addicting by the year, and in contrast, NPSO offers real rewards! We are a happenin' bunch here, folks, and we want you, we need you, to hop on this train! Our magic number 2000 is here -- it's our millennium! Let's begin it by showing Oregonians what a wonderful natural world we are living in, and invite, nay, drag them out to pull some ivy and knapweed, and collect some native plant seeds to put in their place (followed by a some food and drink to celebrate). It doesn't get any more real than that. Let's all renew our efforts to take more people out on field trips and work parties, to make more and jazzier educational displays and take them to as many events as possible, to make our web site exciting, beautiful and educational, and to invigorate NPSO! Let's write more letters and volunteer for chapter and state board offices. More political involvement is needed to stop "business as usual" and protect some native habitat in your chapter's area. A lot of environmental destruction occurs because people just don't know any better, and if we can get the word out, they will do the right thing.

Send me your ideas and volunteer with your chapter. We need your ideas posted to the NPSO list-serve, too -- go to the web page to sign up.

Since my pleading last month didn't draw even a nibble, I'll have to try again: PLEASE folks! Somebody out there would make a great NPSO treasurer. Please consider that you might be the one. Our Vice-President is volunteering to fill the position for a short time, so we need your help soon!

Additionally, Stu Garrett requested a new East Side Conservation Chair some months ago to relieve him after a number of years in that position. Is there somebody out there that could take that one on? I'm sure there is! And I'm sure Stu would help you ease into the position.

I heretofore promise to be less long-winded if you will promise to make out a big fat check to the Oregon Flora Project right now. Send checks for the Flora Project to:

The following is the first in a series of four articles in which NPSO/ODA interns discuss their activities during the 1999 field season. Interns were selected from a pool of applicants and worked with scientists from the Oregon Department of Agriculture/OSU Plant Conservation Biology Program to carry out research related to threatened and endangered species in Oregon. Project locations ranged from coastal beaches to serpentines of southwestern Oregon to the eastside's high desert. Interns were jointly funded by NPSO, state, and federal dollars and plan to use their experience to further their careers in botany and biology. What follows here is Seth Bondís article on two endangered plants of Willamette Valley prairies. Thanks again to NPSO for contributing to botanical education and work experience.

Tom Kaye, Plant Conservation Biology Program, Oregon Department of Agriculture

My experience this summer as an NPSO/ODA intern has been unforgettable. In the past four months, I have traveled thousands of miles, observed many different plants and many different ecosystems. I have learned a lot about Oregon's native and non-native species, considering I knew almost nothing about the state's botanical content prior to the internship. With this tiny bit of knowledge, I feel more at home in Oregon and I feel my connection to the natural environment growing. In my travels through the state I saw some of the most magnificent feats of nature. I also saw areas that have been destroyed, abused and possibly forever altered by mankind.

It seems that I have spent a large portion of the past four months driving (I had no idea that botanists liked to drive so much). In May, I started my summer behind the wheel in deciduous forests of southern Ohio where I will return at the end of August. Between these two points there have been many journeys throughout Oregon in search of knowledge about rare and endangered plants. Such journeys took us to the Oregon dunes to find Abronia umbellata ssp. breviflora, the pink sandverbena. We traveled to the high desert in the east to monitor Haplopappus radiatus, the Snake River golden weed. Later, we visited the Illinois Valley to survey Lomatium cookii, Cook's desert parsley. Another trip took us to the highlands of southern Oregon in search of Frasera umpquaensis, the Umpqua swertia. We took safaris into the western Oregon mountains for Cimicifuga elata, the tall bugbane. Voyages to the upland prairies of the Willamette Valley gave us contact with Lupinus sulphureus ssp. kincaidii, Kincaidís lupine and Erigeron decumbens, the Willamette daisy. The current condition of Kincaid's lupine and the Willamette daisy serve to point out some interesting issues in contemporary conservation biology.

Kincaid's lupine is usually limited to isolated remnants of native upland prairie in western parts of Oregon. Though this species of lupine is found in prairie habitat, it is not limited to these areas. Kincaidís lupine is also found in well-developed soils of southern Oregon growing along side oak trees that are close to serpentine soils. The species is known to exist likewise in southwestern Washington. The future of Kincaid's lupine is of concern for two reasons. First, this lupine is in danger of becoming extinct. It is currently a candidate for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act. Second, it is the host plant for a very rare butterfly endemic to the upland prairie habitat. Icaricia icarioides fenderii, Fender's blue butterfly, seeks out this species of lupine to oviposit in early summer. Kincaid's lupine later serves as food for the developing Fender's blue larva. Since this particular species of butterfly prefers L. sulphureus ssp. kincaidii as the place to renew its population, the extinction of this plant would most likely cause the extinction of the Fender's blue butterfly. Therefore Icaricia icarioides fenderii is also a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Oregon state law already rightfully considers both plant and butterfly endangered species.

Erigeron decumbens var. decumbens, the Willamette daisy, is indigenous to the upland prairie and seasonal wetland areas of western Oregon. Its distribution is now limited to two areas in the Willamette Valley. These areas are unplowed bottomlands composed of heavy clay soils that support several species of bunch grass such as Deschampsia cespitosa, tufted hair grass. Willamette daisy may prove to be a useful tool in understanding evolutionary, biotic, and ecological interrelationships within the seasonal wetland and prairie ecosystem. The species is currently proposed for listing as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act, and it is already considered by state law to be endangered.

The main problem facing most of our rare or endangered species is the destruction of their habitat. This also applies to the case of Kincaidís lupine and Willamette daisy. Before European settlement, the Willamette Valley consisted mostly of grassland prairies and scattered Oak savannas. Native Americans maintained these open prairies using fire to suppress the woody plants and promote the growth of the herbaceous plants. This environment, which relied on fire disturbance to maintain its ecological consistency, was ideal habitat for Kincaidís lupine and Willamette daisy. The mixed wetland/upland communities also counted on seasonal flooding to maintain stability. European settlement brought agriculture, urban and industrial development, and the suppression of fire and floods. Due to the absence of natural disturbance, the small parcels of grassland prairie that were not cultivated or developed succumbed to the invasion of woody and non-native plants. These woody invaders, such as Rubus discolor, Himalayan blackberry; Cytisus scoparius, Scot's broom (both introduced) and Fraxinus latifolia, Oregon ash (native), use a lionís share of soil nutrients and create dense canopy cover, thus starving smaller plants of sunlight. Other non-native plants such as Arrhenatherum elatius, tall oatgrass, were introduced by settlers for agriculture or as means to stabilize soil for development. These non-native species often have such aggressive reproductive strategies that they can dominate plant communities and extinguish the native vegetation. Today, agricultural herbicides and urban development add to the list of habitat destroyers. With unnatural, human-induced limiting factors, the distribution of many native plants remains limited to small, scattered populations.

Years of ignorance and environmental abuse have set the stage for population decline and species extermination. Our neglect or lack of respect for the earth, our home, has over time created this potential environmental disaster. It is evident that if we humans do not intervene in the cycle of environmental degradation we have initiated, we may lose many species to extinction. Extinction of a species creates holes in the natural make-up of an ecosystem. The absence of key species over time will cause the disappearance of other species. This chain reaction could cripple the natural balance of the environment.

We must act to ensure that each remaining species has the opportunity to continue its natural evolutionary cycle. In short, protecting isolated fragments of aging habitat is not enough. We must strive to learn about our environment and use this knowledge to restore and maintain it. Today's conservation biologists are doing just that. In our fieldwork, we collected demographic and environmental information about plant populations in order to identify population trends, understand ecological interrelationships, and learn about the variables and limiting factors in a community. This base-line information will guide effective habitat restoration.

The success of such endeavors, however depends on a collective consciousness about the humanís place in nature. Only when we as a society know that the Earth does not belong to us can we know that we belong to the Earth. We must realize that we are merely components in the natural cycle of nature. Humans have a choice to either harmonize with this natural cycle or victimize themselves by seeking to manipulate it. By living on this planet, it is our obligation to take care of it. We need to assume the responsibility that comes with the privilege of life. If we don't, who will?

I would like to thank the Native Plant Society of Oregon, the Oregon Department of Agriculture and any other responsible parties for this opportunity to work with some really great people and learn some really interesting things. I would also like to thank the Botany Department at OSU, Tom Kaye, and my fellow botanizers for one great summer.

Seth Bond
1999 NPSO/ODA
Plant Conservation Biology Program Intern

Mushrooming at the Mountain: An intensive class for beginning "shroomers" at Mount Pisgah Arboretum. Led by Maggie Rogers, co-founder of Mushroom, The Journal of Wild Mushrooming. Saturday, October 24, 1999, 9:30 - 4 pm. Learn the hows and whys of mushrooming practices and traditions and become acquainted with 20-50 fall varieties. Course will include the life cycle of mushrooms, michorhizal relationships, the ethics of picking, and even a bit of cooking and folklore. $30 ($25 Arboretum Members). To register or for more information call 747-1504

Fall Fruits & Foliage Walk at Mt. Pisgah Arboretum: October 23, Sat., 10 am - noon. Led by Dr. Rhoda Love. Come take a peek at the Arboretum's autumn colors naturally on display as the seasons change. Learn about the many botanical changes that occur this time of year, and pick up some identification techniques. Bring a hand lens if you have one! $3 MPA members, $5 non-members. Meet at the Arboretum Visitor Center. Call 747-1504 for details.

Emerald Chapter Planning Moss and Lichen Field Trips for Fall and Winter

Summer is over. The flowers will soon be gone. Is there anything of interest to plant lovers in the wet fall and winter woods? You bet there is! This is the time when the mosses and lichens are at their most beautiful and interesting! They luxuriate in the abundance of moisture provided by the rains after hanging on through the dry summer in a state of near dormancy.

To help us appreciate this splendor, the Emerald Chapter is planning a series of field trips from October to March which emphasize the bryophytes and lichens. See the newsletter calendar for October and November trips. For more information or to volunteer to lead a trip (please!) or to suggest someone else who could lead a trip, contact Peggy Robinson (policy), for information. (Please also contact Peggy for recommended references on Northwest mosses and lichens.

The Washington Rare Plant Conservation Program is organizing a two-day conference to discuss issues related specifically to the conservation and management of rare plantsóvascular and nonvascularóand rare ecosystems in Washington. The conference is scheduled for April 17-18, 2000, and will be held at the University of Washingtonís Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle. For more information (including submission guidelines for papers and posters), please contact Sarah Reichard (policy), for information.

The Oregon Flora Project continues to make progress. A demonstration of the electronic plant Atlas and a checklist of Oregon sedges, rushes, lilies and orchids are now being prepared. The Asteraceae Checklist is still available. We of the Friends Committee are grateful for the sponsorship of NPSO as we work to raise funds to produce the new Flora of Oregon. Your donation of any size sent to the address below will help this important effort and make you a Friend of the Oregon Flora Project.

The Friends Committee has been active. Our brochure reached all NPSO members in January and we thank NPSOers for their generous donations. We have placed displays at several flower shows in May. We are now expanding our campaign to reach new individual, foundation, and corporate contributors for grants to support key staff positions. We continue to need enthusiastic folks to help us develop strategies. If you would like to help please contact Keli Kuykendall (policy), for information, or write her at the Friends address.

In 1998 and 1999, a total of five of our members were awarded the highest honor of our Society, Fellow of the Native Plant Society of Oregon. In 1998 it was awarded to Ruth Hansen, John Robotham, and Keith Chamberlain. At the 1999 Annual Meeting, Wilbur Bluhm and Kenton Chambers were honored. The Fellows Committee is now prepared to receive nominations for the year 2000.

Nominations may be made by Chapters, individual members or the State Board under the following guidelines:

• Nominees will be members who have given outstanding service to the Native Plant Society of Oregon (NPSO). They may have been instrumental in establishing the State Organization or a Chapter, or produced distinguished editorial contributions, or served as an inspirational teacher of botany. They may have contributed in other ways valuable work relating to native plants or to the goals of the Native Plant Society of Oregon.
• The Nominating group or person should prepare a formal letter of nomination for consideration by the NPSO Fellows Committee. The letter should include detailed biographical and background information about the nominee.
• After review of the nominating letter, the Committee will make a recommendation to the State Board, if the nomination is approved. Acceptance as Fellows will be by vote of the Board of Directors at a State Board Meeting. Fellows will receive a framed plaque and be featured in a Kalmiopsis article. A photo of the nominee should be provided by the nominator for the article.

The NPSO Fellows committee asks that letters of nomination for the Year 2000 be sent by December 1 to Veva Stansell,(policy), for information. The Committee will present nominations to the Board of Directors at the January Board Meeting.

July 31 and August 1, 1999
White Branch Youth Camp, McKenzie River

Saturday night, following the banquet, the newly-elected Fellows of the Native Plant Society of Oregon, Wilbur Bluhm and Kenton Chambers, were introduced by Veva Stansell and presented with their awards. Both then addressed the group praising NPSO and its activities. Following this ceremony, retiring officers and board members were thanked and new officers sworn in. The Saturday program ended with a slide presentation by author Bill Sullivan of Eugene, who spoke to us of wildflower hikes in the Cascades -- many of which are featured in his latest book, "Hiking Oregon History."

The formal Board of Directors meeting got under way at 9:00 am Saturday morning with newly-elected President Bruce Newhouse presiding. Marcia Cutler, 1999 Annual Meeting Chair and her Emerald Chapter helpers as well as the White Branch staff were thanked by the Board for a fine Annual Meeting. Next year's Annual Meeting will be hosted by High Desert Chapter.

A new Treasurer has not yet been found to replace retiring Jean France. VP Mike McKeag has pledged to watch over the Society's finances until a volunteer comes forward.

An Oregon Flora report was submitted by Scott Sundberg who indicated that the trees of Oregon and members of the genus Ceanothus are presently being mapped. The next portion of the Vascular Plant Checklist to be published will be the monocots other than Poaceae. All 16 issues of the Oregon Flora Newsletter are now on-line at http://www.orst.edu/dept/botany/herbarium. Friends of the Oregon Flora now has 96 members and contributions have passed the $6,000 mark. Jerry Igo is working on an educational video about the Flora Project. He has issued a challenge to all NPSO members to contribute $10 per person per year to the Flora Project beyond any larger amounts donated by Chapters or individuals. His challenge has appeared in the Bulletin. NPSO statewide membership now stands at 920.

Richard Greenough (bulletin@npsoregon.org) was thanked for taking over editorship of the Bulletin. His first issue appeared this August. John Robotham was thanked for his 6 years of fine work as Bulletin editor. Judy Castle (webmaster@npsoregon.org) is our new web mistress. The Board asked each chapter to send Judy a chapter profile for the web site.

Dan Luoma will head the nominating committee to choose candidates for officers and at-large board positions for the year 2000. All Chapters are asked to begin at once to recruit candidates for state office and send their names to Dan (policy), for information.

The board voted to add NPSO's name to a petition being circulated by the California Native Plant Society requesting that the Federal Endangered Species Act be modified to give endangered plants protection on non-federal lands equal to that afforded endangered animals.

This year's $1,000 Jean David Memorial Scholarship went to Puja Bichel of OSU. Puja is a former LCC student of Gail Baker and Rhoda Love.

Schedule of NPSO Annual meetings in the 21st century: Year 200óHigh Desert Chapter; Year 2001--Corvallis Chapter; Year 2002 -- Siskiyou Chapter; Year 2003 -- Portland Chapter.

Most Chapters submitted reports. All those reporting have been busy with meetings, field trips, conservation efforts and other worthwhile activities.

Next Board of Directors meeting will be Saturday, October 2, in Corvallis at 10:00 am. Reminder: All Chapter Presidents are voting members of our Board.