Work continues to go well for me here in Lander, Wyoming. In the recent weeks, my partner and I began familiarizing ourselves with the Seeds of Success protocol and have done some preliminary surveying for potential collections.

After the plentiful precipitation we have received this month, many plants are finally beginning to flower. One of the steps of the SOS protocol involves collecting voucher specimens of the species you will be collecting seed from. These vouchers specimens are usually collected before the plant goes to seed because the flowers are useful aids in the identification process.

My partner and I went out to a location called Red Canyon and located 6 potential collections there. These species include Aletes sessiliflorus, Pteryxia terebinthina, Lomatium triternatum, Dodecatheon conjugens, Balsamorhiza incana, and Oxytropis sericea.

Red Canyon

Balsamorhiza incana

Other species that we have collected vouchers for include Allium textile, Vicia americana, Erigeron sp., Lomatium foeniculaceum, Cerastium arvense, Astragalus oreganus, Townsendia incana, and Thermopsis rhombifolia.

We recently returned to all of the sites to check the progression of seed set.  Nothing is ready quite yet, but a few species are getting close.  We should be able to begin collecting next week.

Erigeron sp.