I will start with the story of the grass right behind our backs. Henry, my co-intern and I were keying out potential SOS plants we had collected to find the species out and see if they were native. We had just put down two sedges  (Schoenoplectus americanus and Schnoenoplectus maritimis) and began a long tackle on the grass we collected. Hitting many dead ends in the key and starting over in the POACEAE several times, we finally had our mentor, Sheila, come in to take a look at the unruly grass.  While she was looking in the dissecting scope, Henry pointed to a grass on a BLM native plants promotional poster that was hanging behind us in the cube.  “This foxtail barley kind of looks like our grass,” He said. We found our mistake in the key (what we thought were bristles were really glumes reduced to awns and several sterile spikelets) and where did we key it to in about 10 minutes? The foxtail barley (Hordeum jubatum) on the poster! It had been staring at our backs the whole time! I know keen observation of the field surroundings is always helpful, but I am now going to be more aware of our office surroundings!

Last week we had the opportunity to go out with a couple wildlife biologist interns. We accompanied them to a site where they were monitoring pinyon jays. A group of pinyon jays had been captured and radio transmitters were attached to their tail feathers. We were tracking their signals with receiver equipment (pictured). The pinyon jay is a species of special concern in San Juan County; it is an especially important species in the local ecosystem due to its symbiotic relationship with the pinyon pine. It was really cool to see the different kind of “hands on” approach wildlife biologists use to monitor species. As a botanist, I appreciate being able to get up close and personal with the species I am studying.

Last week we also made our first Seeds of Success (SOS) collections in conjunction with Native Plant Materials Collection. Andrea and Alicia from the Chicago Botanic Garden were visiting Farmington and we helped them collect Plantago patagonica, Heterotheca villosa, Descurainia pinnata. It was helpful to have the SOS training workshop prior to making an SOS collection. It also was pleasantly nostalgic to see Chicago Botanic Garden logo on the car while at our field site in New Mexico!