Getting to know the neighbors

With a swish and a thump, Beth secures an iridescent insect in her net. Seconds before, the bee was busy flying back and forth on a determined path, visiting a network of dangling flowers, ripe with sweet nectar. Swoop! Another bee in the jar. I snag a tiny wasp covered in pink pollen. The rush of watching tiny insects jump between flowers in a coordinated dance enthralls us. Suddenly Pauleen shouts “time is up!” and we lay down our nets.

Lewisia kelloggii in all her glory

We’re here to support Lewisia kelloggii-a rare plant of the Eldorado National Forest that makes its living on exposed lava caps and decomposed granite soils. The prostrate rosette of fleshy leaves emerges after the snow melts in spring, and the brilliant white flowers follow soon after. Pollinators flock to the exposed sites, feasting on a diverse array of nectar producers. As they buzz from tiny annuals to bushy perennials, they create a pollinator network; a web of interactions which enables both insects and plants to thrive.

After being pollinated, L. kelloggii sucks its flowers and leaves underground where the seeds develop. The seeds are potentially distributed by moles which we’ve seen evidence of at at every site!

Our work will help the research team at Cal State East Bay build an understanding for what pollinators are in the network of our rare Lewisia. We will then be able to collect seeds from the plants that flower earlier and later in the season, supporting the pollinators and in turn supporting the Lewisia.

A nice lunch spot

The first few weeks of the field season have been an exciting time! We’ve already dealt with a fire scare, stuck vehicles (not ours hah), flat tires (also not us) and the onslaught of new knowledge that happens when moving to a new place and staring at the ground all day. It has been wonderful, and I can’t wait to deepen my relationship with this place and all the creatures that inhabit it.

Calochortus clavatus var. avius being pollinated by a Bombus

Montana has More Cows than People

I’ll admit I was quite nervous to start this job and move to Montana. Coming from MA, one of the most densely populated states in the US, to MT, one of the least populated states, was quite intimidating. I was preparing myself for quite a difficult adjustment, but I have actually been having a lovely time and the adjustment has been easy.

So far I have been doing A LOT of learning. Being from the east coast I had to learn a bunch of new flora that I have never seen before. I have found a lot of comfort seeing plants like Mountain Bluebells and Glacier Lilies which are very similar to species we have where I am from. The whole structure of forests and other ecosystems here are entirely different than what I am used to, but it has been a fun challenge. Coming from a place with mostly deciduous forests it was surprising to see the forests full on conifers. All of the pines make the forests smell so good and I love walking around in them or just sitting next to a stream and taking in my surroundings. People told me Montana was beautiful, but there is no way to understand the true beauty of Montana without seeing it.

Now, about the cows. Everywhere you go in Montana you will see cows, you might not see a person, but the cows are ever present. After one of our scouting trips we were driving back to the Ranger station when we realized we were approaching animals in the road. Being that we were in a national forest I was preparing myself for deer or maybe even a bear. That is when we realized it was a bunch of loose cows! For a little we just stared at the cows and they stared back at us. Eventually my partner had to get out of the car and clap to heard the cows out of the road. I have a feeling that will not be our last cow encounter in the field.

First Month in California

I’m off to a good, but very busy, start to this internship. It has been nearly a month of training, moving across the country (North Carolina to California!), settling in, and having an intense crash course on California botany. 

Having been an east coast, big city person all of my life, arriving out west was a surreal experience. After a busy week of training in Chicago, I flew from Chicago to Phoenix, then Phoenix to Reno, then had my Forest Service supervisor (Andy) pick me up in Reno and drive me the two hours to what is now the quaint little town I live in: Quincy, CA. Andy gave me all the local facts as we made our way through rural mountain roads to reach the ranger station: Quincy has a population of around 5,000 people, and is the largest town in Plumas county. Which means, despite being a very small town, there’s a fair amount of restaurants and events that happen here, because it’s where everyone in the county goes for activities. I arrived at the Forest Service housing around 10 pm, got some much needed rest, and then promptly started my first day of work two days later, that following Monday.

The first week of work mainly consisted of Andy showing me and my co-intern (Sam) around the forest, giving us a tour and also teaching us a lot about California plants. We drove all around to different areas of the forest, hopping out of the truck whenever Andy got excited about a roadside plant for us to try to guess an ID.

Later in the week we started more serious ID practice, using both the Jepson manual and a more specific local flora, to brush up on our keying skills. We walked through all kinds of habitat; rocky outcroppings on mountain tops (where we found some rare plants!), meadows, wetlands, mixed conifer forests. Some really cool species of note we saw in the first couple of weeks include: some HUGE Douglas firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Sugar pines (Pinus lambertiana, which produces the largest pine cones in the world), plenty of really cool myco-heterotrophic plants including Phantom orchids (Cephalanthera austiniae), Coral root (Corallorhiza maculata), Pinedrops (Pterospora andromedea), and more.

The myco-heterotrophic plants often have such striking colors to them because they don’t produce chlorophyll, which is what makes most plants characteristically green. Instead, these plants are essentially parasitic, taking nutrients from nearby tree roots by tapping into the mycorrhizal fungi associated with the tree.

Once we got a little acquainted with the plants here in northern California, Andy had us shadow him for a few days to help out with rare plant surveys so that we could continue to practice our ID skills and also have a lot more exposure to help remember all the plants we learned. I was the one transcribing one of our surveys, and we got over 150 different species! I am surprised at how well Sam and I are picking things up, but it still is a lot to remember, and I’m sure it’ll take some time before all the information really sinks in.

Last week, our third, we finally got our own Forest Service truck, which meant Sam and I were able to start going out on our own to begin scouting for plants on our native species list. We got to it immediately, because a few of our species are already beginning to go to seed. It’s been a lot of work trying to organize and plan everything in an efficient way, but so far we’ve developed a good system for staying organized with our data and seeds, and we’re reminding ourselves it’ll only get easier as we get more practice. 

That’s month one in summary! It’s been overwhelming at times but overall very exciting and rewarding.

May 2024

Tired and hungry after my long journey from Wisconsin, I pulled into the dusty driveway of my new home for the summer, deep in the heart of the Black Hills. This is where my story begins and will most definitely end, in the quaint government house nestled among the pines on Maggie Lode Road (still don’t know why the street was named this but someone must’ve hit it big! [a lode describes a vein of ore within rock, something the Hills are known for]). The moment I’m writing this post I have now spent about a month and a bit here in South Dakota. Let me tell you what I’ve discovered in my short time living in this new, fascinating and beautiful corner of the earth:

Part one, the pines are in bloom…

What is that yellow dust covering my shoes? Maybe just some saw dust from someone logging nearby. Fairy dust possibly… But it covers my car, too. Must’ve been a big log! But wait, it’s in my room, and on the tables, and in my ears and all over my feet, too!

The pines are in bloom and everything is covered in a thin layer of yellow dust. Thanks to a quest I received from a fellow traveler at the Renaissance Fair in Lead, I was able to understand that this happens every year and lasts for a few weeks in late May and early June.

The Hills are dominated by a single species, Pinus ponderosa, or Ponderosa Pine. The bark smells a sweet vanilla caramel and the pinecones drop from meters above; I’ve been fortuitous enough to be bonked on the head by one, a goal of mine ever since seeing them fall from the canopy with such force. In fact, I thought my dad had thrown it at me but, looking directly at him, realized that I had not seen him move his arms… what a treat!

So, after our few weeks enveloped in this pale powder, the pines stopped their pollination procession, happy with their success. This powdery parade didn’t stop me, however, from exploring our massive “backyard” (endless forest service wilderness) and other parts of the Hills. Along with my roommates/coworkers (room-workers or co-mates [still working on the name]), I’ve gone on many breathtaking hikes and botanized until my brain is spinning with latin. Some highlights include the big hole I found (planning on descending soon, sorry Mom [she doesn’t like this idea]), the Billy Jack (a $5 deal at the Chute rooster which indulges all the senses with a shot of cheap whisky, a PBR, and a cigarette), jumping off rocks into a lake for $20 (thanks to Jimmy? Rodney?, a high schooler from Sturgis or something for daring me to do this thing I was already planning on doing), and my parents coming to visit me so we could all camp together South Dakota style.

During this time, I also spent my time working (I know, weird right!) with the RMRS (Rocky Mountain Research Station, an entity within the US Forest Service) in the field learning new plants and ecological concepts, watching storms form, counting grass, sweating a lot, seeing Bison, and making constant jokes with my awesome co-workers. This is where part two of my adventure begins…

Part two, Sweet Clover invasion

Most of my June was spent out in the Buffalo Gap National Grassland, sitting in a field of lady bug larvae, Red-Winged Black birds and these funky structures that simulate drought conditions by preventing 50% of rainfall over a certain area, an integral part of the project I’m working on. This cool and awesome project, developed by Jaqueline Ott and Amy Symstad (two amazing ecologist, sooo smart), aims to better understand how flash droughts, paired with cattle grazing, affect plant species growing in the grasslands. The data we’re collecting hopefully will allow ranchers to better manage their cattle vis-a-vis climatic changes in order to preserve the native grasses and plants on which they allow their cattle to graze.

Before heading out into the field, we were warned about myriad threats, rattlesnakes, badgers, heatstroke, and hazards of all sorts, but one thing exceeded all my expectations of what a pest could look like. Imagine thousands of acres of yellow stretching for miles around. A sweet, intoxicating smell of delicate flowers, charming and bright, fills your nose. And when the wind runs through the rolling hills of the plains, the aroma and the herbage create a hypnotizing dance as thousands of these alluring plants sway their stems and stalks to the trills of the Meadowlark songs.

I also hate it. I’m covered in their little flowers: in my hair, in my shoes, in my pockets, everywhere. I’m also convinced they are actively untying my shoes, because I’m retying them probably 5-10 times a day, and I’m constantly walking through this stuff. It has become so tall that it creates a hot microclimate unbreachable by any solace of wind, so when you’re laying down looking at grasses you are swamped with sweat. I swear I hear the sweet clover looking down and laughing. It also hogs all the water and nutrients for itself so everything around it is sad and underdeveloped. I don’t know for how long yellow will remain my favorite color.

Part three, revenge

Now, at this point in the field season, we have to collect clippings of plants before we mow everything down to determine productivity. You probably see where this is going… Yes, I do have fun cutting the stems of this flagrant plant, shoving it into bags destined to the heat of hot ovens. Some stems do test the sharpness of my blade, but when they finally cede to my deadly snip, I feel nothing but joy. Our meager impact will not, however, dry out the will this plant has to come back every two years to scourge the plains with its yellow invasion.

So far though, I’ve had a great time working, playing, and learning in this wholly new experience. Looking forward to the next month and a bit.

Thank you for reading, see you in July.

Carston

Im melting and everything is hot and might burn but at least that Clarkia is pretty

Writing this post in a fervor, fearing the inevitable power outage that comes in the afternoons on days that are way too hot. It’s fire season here in Plumas National Forest and this week we have started to feel it. Yesterday, PG&E turned of the power as a precaution because of a several thousand acre fire growing in Oroville, just 65 miles away. We returned from a weary day in the field to a powerless and wifi-less town and ranger station. Most concerningly, we had lost power to our fridges in the bunkhouses and our newly purchased pints of Ben and Jerry’s were slowly melting away. June 21st may have technically been the first day of summer, but on July 2 here in Quincy we celebrated the real start of summer, aka fire season, eating ice cream soup in the dark.

Besides this slight unpleasantness, the start of my CLM internship here in Plumas NF has been fantastic – especially botanically. Plumas is often referred to as the “Lost Sierra” due to its lack of prominence on travel websites and Instagram location tags. Because of this, besides the occasional music festival and ‘Rainbow Family Gathering’, the area does not experience many tourists. The more beauty for us then. My co-intern Andrea and I spent the first couple weeks of this month cruising around secluded mountain ‘roads’, swamping through wet meadows, and traversing rocky ridgetops in an effort to get familiar with the varied and interesting botanical members of this community. Guided by the resident forest service botanist and our mentor, Andy Fiel, we have seen hundreds of species. To learn plants quickly, Andy had us shadow him on this rare plant surveys. We walked transects through timber plots, recording every vascular plant we saw with a specific focus on rare plants in the area. Keying out whatever we didn’t know either in a local flora or what must be the 5000lbs Jepson, we grew more acquainted with our leafy (and sometimes achlorophyllous) friends.

If I wanted to I could just fill this entire post with all of the cool plants we’ve been lucky enough to come across but I will show some restraint. Above are some sweet Ericaceaes and a fantastic orchid that Andy was particularly excited to see. It warranted a lengthy photo session from all of us. We certainly didn’t learn every plant out here in these first couple weeks and likely won’t even come close by the end of the summer, but these surveys helped us build confidence in figuring things out. With this training and the eventual procurement of our government rig, a charmingly rickety forest green 2008 F-150, we were able to leave the nest and begin seed work!

The past week or so has been a lot of scouting, scouting, scouting and the occasional session of scouting. Driving around with the passenger’s head practically hanging out the window looking for grasses with just the right shaped inflorescence or a patch of lupines with only slightly ciliate keels. Its nice to feel the wind in you hair and have a target species with a large population in your sights. Slowly but surely, Andrea and I are building out a map of populations to return to and watch develop throughout the season. Yesterday marked our first collection day! A large population of Calyptridium umbellatum that we’d been monitoring for a week or so was finally crispy enough to harvest. It was quite satisfying to fill up several envelopes of what is ultimately mostly chaff but seemingly quality seed nonetheless. Admittedly, some of that seed went flying around our truck on the drive home because the envelopes broke open. Still plenty of kinks to work out but it is wonderful to be off the starting block and along the way!

One Day at a Time

As other CLM folks will likely attest to, the first month of interning with the forest service can be quite shocking. New challenges present themselves often and in interesting ways. Working with a botany crew will show you how much you really do not know about plants. Having your sleeping bag break on a cold night will show you how little prepared you are to take on a Bear Grylls style survival situation. And yet, even though the challenge persists, you get better at handling it as the days go by. You’ll find yourself saying crazy things like “You see those palmate leaves? Obviouslyyy a lupine”. Or not so crazy things like “We should probably pack an extra sleeping bag.”

Pictured: a blue/purple lupine with palmate leaves. Photo by Josue Lopez.

Luckily, just as challenges present themselves, wonderful examples of how to face them also do. When I feel overwhelmed about being far from home, I think of my courageous cat Skateboard, who braved the journey from West Virginia to Montana, taking in all the smells on the way. I also think of the wise advice given by our crew lead Riley, who reminds us not to expect ourselves to know everything right away. Instead, she says to take our time, try our best, and enjoy the challenge.

Pictured: Skatie relaxing for her first road trip at 9 years old. Old cats can learn new tricks!

Between seed collection and botany fieldwork, there have been a plethora of opportunities to nerd out and learn as much as possible. So far, some of my favorite projects have been rare plant monitoring in Big Hole National Park and nonlethal bee collection for the Montana Bee Atlas Project. I’ve learned so much from our botany crew, including our entomology intern, who taught me how to set up beetle traps this week! The list of plants I can reliably identify in the field grows (slowly) every day. I’m excited to see how much I have learned by the next blog post. Until then, I’ll take things one day at a time.

Pictured: Jess Pessina (entomology intern, right), Mikhaela Ferguson (CLM intern, left). Photo by Josue Lopez.

A Tale of Sensitive Species

Deb day. Tuesday June 18th. Fourth day on the job.

I had been hearing about Deb, this mysterious woman who had decades of Botany experience in the Bitterroot National Forest. She was going to be taking us out into the field today and schooling us on the ways of the plants. Li, a Montana Conservation Corps fellow, had arrived in Montana a few weeks before and already had a “Deb Day.” She talked highly of Deb’s teachings, specifically her tips on how to scale the steep slopes.

We piled into the truck and rumbled along towards the forest. As we turned into the cover of the trees she began to point out various birds and plants, and talked about the geological history of the Bitterroots. Winding up the West Fork, we squeezed by branches and bumped over holes and rocks. Eventually, we came to an opening at the base of a steep hill where two sensitive species grow.

Deb had been a seasonal botany technician for 17 seasons, and when she talked about plants it was clear she had invaluable botanical wisdom. She pointed out plants as we went along, showing us how we could distinguish serviceberry from spirea by the curve of the leaf veins, but also elk sedge from pinegrass by running our fingers along the leaves. I ran my hand along the elk sedge and it felt wiry and stiff, and the pinegrass was fine and smooth. Once I did this, their similar looking leaves seemed less confusing.

As we made our way up the hill we spotted some brilliant red among the green. It was one of our rare plants: Castilleja covilliana, or Coville’s Indian Paintbrush. Deb showed us how C. covilliana’s leaves are spidery and thin, compared to the thicker leaves of its more common counterpart, C. hispida. There was one individual, the one in the picture below, that looked totally covilliana-y to my new Montana-botany eyes, but there were other individuals around that I would have thought were C. hispida. Deb talked about how these plants are very plastic, meaning their features can vary a lot depending on the environment they live in. Leaves in particular are plastic, which is unfortunate considering leaves are an important distinguisher between C. covilliana and C. hispida. This all made me feel very confused.

I also learned later that Castillejas can hybridize, meaning two individuals from different species can “break the rules” and mate, forming a plant that is neither C. covilliana nor C. hispida. So not only are the leaves plastic, they might also genuinely be a mix of the two species. So I imagine the entire season I will be asking myself “are these leaves spidery enough to be C. covilliana?”

Castilleja covilleana

Deb then announced that we were looking for Allium parvum, or small onion. We scoured the rocky ground for the onion. I would take a few steps, then scan, take a few steps, then scan. I saw nothing. After awhile, Deb announced that she found one. We scrambled over to her, and I looked around on the ground, and saw nothing. Then she pointed to a tiny, pale wisp on the tan gravel. It was nearly the same color as the rocks around it, was less than an inch wide, and had detached from any leaves. I thought to myself that there was no way I would be able to spot this by myself.

Hidden Alliums

As Li made her way over to us she spotted another onion. This one was slightly more conspicuous: still connected to the ground, connected to its leaves, and less dried out. It was a cute little thing, but still seemed hard to spot with its somewhat transparent petals and tiny stature.

Allium parvum

After the Allium, we made our way back down the hill, ate lunch in the bed of the truck, and then headed to a second site. Again, we wound up curvy gravel roads, with steep drop-offs that made me feel a little dizzy. The next site was a hill of coarse granite pebbles. But gorgeous blue and purple flowers poked from the gravel. This was Penstemon lemhiensis, the rare penstemon. It has bigger flowers than its lookalike Penstemon albertinus, and has a white mid-vein on its leaves. This one was my favorite of the day: easily spotted, no confusing leaf evaluations, and flowers that seemed to glow in the sunlight.

Penstemon lemhiensis

I was surprised to learn that these rare/sensitive species tend to be on seemingly inhospitable slopes. I imagined the all the sensitive species being in hidden oases with crystal-clear water, not on harsh, gravel slopes. But I’ve seen them and they are there!

As we ended the day with Deb, I remembered how good it feels to be able to know and recognize the plants around me. Coming to Montana was a bit of a botanical shock, in the sense that I went from knowing a good portion of the plants in St. Louis, to knowing almost none. While I still have a lot of learning to do, it has been rewarding to feel myself getting familiar with the Montana flora.

Until next time,

Cicely

What’s in a name? Turns out, Shakespeare, quite a lot

Starting a new job means learning a lot of new names, and not just my coworkers’.

“Do you know who this is?” William asked, staring at a stem of grass in each hand.

I looked at Cicely, my fellow CLM intern, and then back at William. We were at a loss, and honesty is the best policy. “Um, no.”

He broke into a huge grin, shoving the plants into our hands. “It’s Timothy! In the boot!”

We quickly learned that our newest friend was Timothy grass, aka Phleum pratense, and “in the boot” is botany slang for when the panicle is still developing in the leaf sheath (read: the fluffy part of the grass hasn’t popped out yet). Cicely and I have only been working for about two weeks now, and our time has been mostly split between threatened species surveys and trainings. Lots of matching the face to the name, morphology to binomial nomenclature.

At this all-day grass workshop that William was leading, we spent most of the day going through dichotomous keys and practicing identification skills. There is nothing like sitting on the forest floor and measuring awn length through a loupe. Truly nothing like it.

Our group with botanist William Schlegel in Lolo National Forest

Our training also included “Deb Day” where Deborah Goslin, a retired botany technician and wellspring of knowledge, drove us around various sites and showed us many of the species our Forest Service site monitors. Deb really instilled in us a ‘stop and smell the ponderosas’ attitude. I am developing a reverence for the ecology of this forest: green on verdant green, strong-standing Douglas firs protecting the nodding onion in the understory below, how the tubular scarlet gilia is shaped so perfectly for the Rufous hummingbird’s beak. In the most literal sense of the term, it is awesome.

From left to right: me, Cicely, Li, and Deb at the top of Painted Rocks
“Baby’s first federally listed sensitive species!”: Castilleja covilleana

I feel like I’m learning so much every day that my brain is going to expand into my skull Megamind-style. Something that botany is teaching me is how names hold so much meaning. Take, for example, Lewisia rediviva (pictured below). Genus Lewisia is named for Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, who ate this root on his journey and collected specimens for Western botanists. The term rediviva comes from its ability to ‘revive’ from roots that could seem dead or dry – a useful skill in hot, rocky environments and intermontane grasslands. However, long before it had a Latin name, it went by several Indigenous names, including the Salish sp̓eƛ̓m̓ (spetlum) which means ‘bitter’. French trappers and traders also noted the bitter taste and called it racine amère, which translates directly in English to bitterroot!

From just a few words you can see the plant’s life cycle and its history with humanity. Isn’t that incredible? I saw my first bitterroot in bloom while on a hike in Missoula, before even entering the eponymous valley. It’s hard to name the feeling I had, seeing the plant that is so integral and defining to this place. Gratitude, responsibility, and joy are all true, but don’t seem to cover the depth of it. Regardless, those pink petals were the warmest welcome anyone could ask for. I’m so excited for the rest of the season in Bitterroot National Forest.

The famous root!

Until next time,

E

From Desert Heat to Forest Green: First Weeks at Umpqua NF

My journey to the Umpqua National Forest began in Tucson, Arizona, just as summer temperatures were beginning to soar above 100°F—truly perfect timing. As I traversed through Nevada, the landscape stretched out into endless desert, a stark contrast to the lush greenery that awaited me in northern California and Oregon. Having lived my entire life amidst the color palette of earthy reds, oranges, and browns of southern Arizona, the sudden transition to Oregon’s verdant scenery felt like stepping into another world entirely. Towering trees and dense foliage surrounded me upon my arrival, hiding rivers, lakes, and waterfalls within their depths. Mosses, ferns, and wildflowers thrive beneath the canopy, painting the forest floor with bursts of color.


My experience thus far working in the Umpqua National Forest has been both magical and educational. Coming into this internship with limited knowledge of plant physiology and identification, I initially felt a bit nervous. However, any uncertainty quickly dissipated when I met my coworkers and incredible supervisor. Working alongside such kind and knowledgeable botanists who patiently answer my questions has not only allowed me to learn a wealth of new information in just two weeks but has also been an absolute delight. The sense of community and welcoming atmosphere here is truly remarkable. I deeply appreciate the effort they put into planning group gatherings and events, especially for those of us who are far from home and may feel a bit lonely during this internship.

During my short time here, I’ve learned to identify numerous native species that call this forest home, some of which we will later collect seeds from. I’ve also been sharpening my hiking, navigation, and mapping skills. Furthermore, I’ve been gaining valuable experience in restoration work, including identifying and properly removing invasive species.

In the past few weeks, I’ve seen some of the most breathtaking sights and more stunning wildflowers and vegetation than I have in my entire life. It’s still surreal to me that I get to spend my summer in this beautiful place, and I’m eagerly looking forward to embarking on new adventures and absorbing more knowledge each day!

Clarkia amoena
Aquilegia formosa
Toketee Falls

Onward and Upward

The field season has just begun and there is so much to be done. We have had the opportunity to participate in a few field surveys with the botanist crew on our forest, during which time we have been scouting for potential seed collection populations. Last week in particular, we scouted along the way to a botanist survey that needed to be completed alongside the dam of a small mountain lake. That’s how I learned that the word “road” is used very loosely by forest service folk. Personally, I think the term “rocky hill of death” might be more applicable for this particular instance, but hey, what do I know? I’m just an intern.

The following week, after we gave our internal organs time to settle back into their rightful places, we pursued some coordinates for potential seed collection populations. These we obtained from looking at local herbarium records. We were able to track down a population of Penstemon eatonii. This was particularly exciting because at least 100 times before we had enthusiastically announced that we spotted populations of Penstemon eatonii from the car, only to find upon exiting the car that they were actually Scarlet Star Gilia. Unfortunately, the Penstemon eatonii population was too small for seed collection, but it was a productive trip, nonetheless.

Small Cottonwood Canyon, Ogden UT

Upon similar scouting ventures, we were lucky to find many harvestable populations for seed collection. To date, we have harvestable populations for the following species: Lomatium grayi, Lomatium dissectum, Lomatium triternatum, Balsamorhiza sagittate. Artemisia tridentata, Purshia tridentata, Eriogonum umbellatum, and Eriogonum heracleoides. Now that we have scouted the populations, it’s simply a matter of checking up on them periodically so as not to miss the ideal collection period.

Last week, we completed our first seed harvest which was of Lomatium grayi. The collection went well, although it was taxing work because it was so hot that day. The population itself was somewhat small so it only took us a few hours to collect 20% of the available seed. It’s so exciting to have finally harvested. I hope that those little seeds go on to produce many more native seeds to aid in restoration projects across the forest. Currently, the seeds are laid out to dry in our office, gracing us with a fragrant celery-like smell. Thank you Apiaceae.

L. grayi and L. dissectum seeds laid out to dry

Perhaps one of my favorite experiences of the internship thus far, came in the form of an element occurrence survey. We were asked to check up on a population of Brownie Lady’s Slippers (Cypripedium fasciculatum) that was put in our GIS system several years ago. The species is on our sensitive species list for the forest. The trip to get there was long and often felt treacherous. Again, I learned that the word “road” is relative around here. Once at the top of the mountain it was only a short hike to the survey location. It was clear that the fuels crew had been working in this area in months past, so we had concerns about being able to find the Lady’s Slippers. However, we were happy to see that the small population is still thriving and that it has migrated up the slope a little. As a budding botanist, finding rare plants feels akin to finding rare gems, and always warrants a photo opt.

Brownie Lady’s Slippers (Cypripedium fasciculatum)

Our Lomatium dissectum population should be ready to harvest either this week or next. Until then, we will continue scouting for more populations and monitoring the ones that we already have.