I had a wonderful opportunity recently. I went on my first seed collecting trip! I know it doesn’t sound exciting but it was…I will tell you why.
· First, I got to go on this seed collecting trip with two senior scientists. One of the individuals is from our USGS field office and the other is from a USDA field office in Utah. Not only did I have the opportunity to work with two fantastically smart people I was a part of an inter agency cooperation project.
· Second, I learned how to collect black brush (Coleogyne ramosissima). For an individual who is easily amused, which I am one of them, this was a blast. The process of collecting C. ramosissima is rather simple, it goes like this:
Grab a large canvas net (hopper)
Grab a sturdy stake
Take both of these objects with you and walk up to a bush. Place the hopper under the massted bush and beat it! Yes, beat the bush with a stick. How great is that?…It is pretty fantastic!
· Third, I visited many areas to asses black brush distribution and to collect seeds from massting individuals within various populations.
o Lake Powell’s surrounding area
Lake Powell is a blue beauty that appears in the red rocks winding through the surrounding canyon.
o Little Colorado
The Little Colorado River feeds into the Grand Canyon. The red and white striped walls of the canyon rise high and cast magnificent shadows across the landscape. The black brush likes to hang out on the benches/plateaus of the mesas. (Honestly, I thought the Little Colorado was more beautiful than the Grand Canyon)
o Grand Canyon National Park
This is a vast Canyon, crazy deep with many extending benches and plateaus, much of which was covered in black brush. The canyon is full of colors… and very very large.
o Zion National Park
Zion was perfect! I was privy to a private, one of a kind, tour given by the senior scientists I was traveling with. Zion is beautiful from the moment you enter the canyon area, even before you reach the park entrance. The beauty only increases as you travel into the park. It is green with plant life, the rock provide a color palate of red, white and yellow. It is a majestic place!
It was the best trip ever! I felt as thou I was a child who was taken to Disney World. I had never been to any of these places, so being able to experience them with people who knew the area was beyond amazing. Every question was answered and a lot of information was given and I tried to soak it all up. Now, we did work while going to all of these places and the presence and absence of black brush was documented through-out the whole trip, unfortunately we could not collect ion the National Parks.