New Collections: (Back to Top)

Flora of the San Joaquin Roadless Area, Mono Co.
HSC has completed the mounting of Helen Constantine-Schull's thesis voucher specimens (>800 specimens!), collected from a pristine area located between Mammoth and June Lakes in the eastern high Sierra (Species List). Helen's collection has added several new species to the HSC inventory, and her attention to detail in collecting and pressing makes these specimens especially attractive. We are pleased to announce that they are available now for viewing.

Flora of Northern California Peatlands
HSC has started mounting Gordon Leppig's (former Herbarium Botanist) voucher specimens from his recently released thesis: "A Phytogeographic Study of Northern California Peatlands" (Species List) . Gordon's study includes a floristic comparison between four bogs and fens located in Humboldt, Lassen, Mendocino, and Siskiyou counties. This project documented 203 vascular plant species in 118 genera and 52 families, including several rare and endemic species. Gordon's thesis resides at the HSC and HSU libraries.

Flora of Humboldt Dunes and Wetlands
The mounting of voucher specimens is just getting started for an upcoming field guide on the flora of the local dunes and various types of wetlands. This collaborative effort between Andrea Pickart, ecologist with US Fish & Wildlife Service, and Gordon Leppig, botanist with California Department of Fish & Game, has generated a checklist numbering more than 350 species. (Back to Top)

Taxonomic Highlights: (Back to Top)

Compositae Changes
Some of our larger, well known Compositae genera have recently been split into several smaller genera. In some cases, these changes reflect the elevation of sub-genera to genus level; and in other cases, the changes are reversions back to older names and circumscriptions of taxa. Here are some of the changes we've made at HSC:

• Aster ----> Almutaster, Canadanthus, Doellingeria, Eucephalus, Eurybia, Ionactis, Oligoneuron, Oreostemma, Sericocarpus, Symphyotrichum (Synonym List of HSC holdings)
  Note: the genus Aster still exists, but now resides primarily in the Old World.
• Gnaphalium ----> Euchiton, Gamochaeta, Gnaphalium, Omalotheca, Pseudognaphalium (Synonym List of HSC holdings)
• Hymenoclea ---->Ambrosia
• Senecio ----> Delairea, Packera, Senecio, Tephroseris
  (Synonym List of HSC holdings)

Liliaceae Conundrum
Several scenarios have been proposed to split the Lily family into segregate families. One of the more conservative proposals would place the native lilies of California into 11 different families! Not only does it make our knees shake to think of rearranging our collection to accomodate this new taxonomy, but, the lack of unity amongst leading research botanists in deciding the best circumscription of the families has led us to postpone splitting Liliaceae s.l. For now, HSC has limited changes in Liliaceae to:

• Disporum ----> Prosartes
• Tofieldia occidentalis ----> Triantha occidentalis
• Trillium rivale ----> Pseudotrillium rivale

Woody Genera Moved
Look for these familiar California trees and shrubs in their new families:

• Acer ----> Sapindaceae
• Aesculus ----> Sapindaceae
• Sambucus ----> Adoxaceae
• Viburnum ----> Adoxaceae

Grass and Graminoid Tidbits

• Hierochloe ----> Anthoxanthum
  H. occidentalis ----> A. occidentale
  H. odorata ----> A. nitens
  
• Puccinellia erecta ----> Torreyochloa erecta
  P. pauciflora ----> Torreyochloa pallida var. pauciflora
• We've segregated Vulpia back out of Festuca! (The Curator has given in)
• We're keeping Stipa and Elymus!
• Scirpus ----> Isolepis, Schoenoplectus, Scirpus
• Many of our Juncus specimens have been recently annotated by Dr. Peter Zika (WTU), and our Collection now includes two new species: J. laccatus and J. hesperius.

Local Species (Back to Top)

• Heracleum lanatum ----> H. maximum

Local Opportunities: (Back to Top)

Advanced Agrostology Resurrected
After a brief hiatus, Advanced Agrostology is again being offered as a Directed Study course through the Herbarium (Biol 499). This 1 unit course gives students the opportunity to hone their keying skills while further studying the wondrous diversity of the grass family. Agrostology (Bot 354), or equivalent experience, is a prerequisite.

Volunteer at the Herbarium
The Herbarium welcomes volunteers to help with daily tasks including: mounting and filing specimens, processing loans and exchanges, and general plant adoring. We also have federal work study positions available for Herbarium Assistants for qualifying undergraduate and graduate students. Come by the Herbarium (SD 161) or call (826-4801) for details.

Donate Specimens
The Herbarium accepts from knowledgeable botanists nicely pressed, labeled specimens for mounting and accession into the Collection. For submission guidelines, please contact the Collections Manager. Graduate and undergraduate students are strongly encouraged to submit Voucher Specimens of plants studied during the course of their projects.

Western Lily Project
The 2003 field season for the rare Western Lily (Lilium occidentale) has begun! This year's research includes: the annual census and monitoring of life history plots for populations located at Table Bluff and Crescent City, as well as, surveys for new populations from the Oregon border south to the Mattole River in southern Humboldt County. We are always looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help count lilies! For further information, contact Robin Bencie (mrb1@humboldt.edu) or Kyle Wear (layia@tidepool.com).

Looking for a Senior Project?
The Western Lily Project is looking for a budding botanist to do a preliminary investigation on the morphology of western lily, comparing two populations located in very different habitats: spruce forest and coastal marsh. Interested seniors or volunteers should contact Robin at the Herbarium.

The Herbarium encourages and academically supports student projects involving plant identification and the creation of species checklists for local areas. Interested students should contact the Collections Manager for suggestions.

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