Professional Documents
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NEWSLETTER
Volume No. 2, Issue No. 4 apsdev.org November 2008
Would you like the opportunity to study Our Annual Meeting begins Friday
the penstemons common in northern afternoon, September 4, with an
Mexico? Exploratory trips these past enjoyable visit to the Chihuahua Desert
two years have shown us that we can Botanic Gardens. Then we will share a
expect to see Penstemon ambiguus, P. Welcome Dinner at the Hilton Garden
stenophyllus, P. campanulatus, P. Inn, where we will stay that evening --
faciculatus, P. kunthii, all on the UTEP campus.
P. miniatus, and P. barbatus. And, then
there is certain to be the annual Saturday morning our Mexican
discussion concerning Penstemon adventure begins when we board our
gentrii. first-class charter bus. Our six-day
Basic Trip, with a night in Cuauhtémoc,
Our guides will be the most 3 nights in Creel, and then a night in
knowledgeable botanists for that area: Nuevo Casas Grandes, as we return to El
Dr. Rich Spellenberg of New Mexico Paso by a different route, affords us
State University., Las Cruces and many opportunities to “stop and smell
the flowers”. An optional extension of
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membership dues.> > Dues for 2009 are Moffat County, is where many of the
now due. Please note that there are still seventeen species can be found
77 of you who have not paid 1988 dues including all three endemics.
yet. Please check your records and
include these with your 2009 dues. Topping the list for everyone will be
Penstemon yampaensis named after the
Please send your yearly dues ($15 US Yampa river and closely related to P.
and Canada/ $20 other countries) to the acualis. Other beautiful Penstemon that
address below, using the form at the end should be in peak bloom include P.
of the newsletter. You may also go to humilis, P. pachyphylus var. mucronatus,
www.aps.org and pay through PayPal. P. fremontii, and
Be sure to include your current email P. scarious. Various other species may
address along with your payment. APS be spotted along with a well-rounded
only uses your email address to save assembly of late spring wildflowers.
costs in distributing periodic mailings. It
will not be made available beyond
APS..Thank you.
>>
American Penstemon Society (APS)
Memberhip Secretaries
c/o Joan and Truel West P. yampaensis Mike Evans
1050 Camino Rancheros
Santa Fe, NM 87505 Craig, a ranching and now energy boom
EMail: APS.Membership@yahoo.com town, will be home base for a few days.
Both short and longer trips are planned
to give everyone a chance to see at least
NORTHWESTERN a few Penstemon in the wild. We should
COLORADO all be in for several interesting and
APS 2010 ANNUAL MEETING fulfilling days, especially if moisture
Mike Kintgen, Denver, Colorado conditions cooperate for 2010. I hope to
see many of you in Colorado.
It’s a good thing that Penstemon and
Mother Nature are unaffected by the
current market conditions so mark you SISKIYOU MOUNTAINS
calendars for the first weekend in June APS 2011 ANNUAL MEETING
2010! Ginny Maffitt, Sherwood, Oregon
While often bypassed for the The Siskiyou Mountains are the oldest
snowcapped peaks of the central part of part of Oregon, thus growing many
the state, Northwestern Colorado has unusual and beautiful penstemons and
much to offer Penstemaniacs. The many other genera. Since the mountains
American Penstemon Society lists have been folded and reshuffled over the
seventeen species of Penstemon being eons, many different rock types can be
present in Moffat County, three of which found, but the most unusual are the
are endemic to the area. Brown’s Park, serpentine or manganese areas. Since it
an area in the northwestern part of is mildly toxic, it has the effect of
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stunting growth of trees and shrubs, so The second day’s trip would be about 30
many appear to be ‘bonsai-ed’ by a miles north, going west from Grant’s
master hand. The blooms will be best Pass into the serpentine areas of Rough
between 5000 and 6000’ in early July. and Ready, Eight Dollar Mountain, the
Illinois river, Fiddler and Onion Peaks
With the Annual Meeting being planned and through the edges of the burned over
three years in advance (second week of forest (of 2004), now recovering well.
July, 2011), exact tours and speakers are Penstemons along this route are P.
still under advisement. We are hoping rupicola, P. newberryi and their hybrids,
some co-chairmen will soon step up to P. davidsonii and others.
share the logistics jobs and the fun of There are other drives that will be
telling everybody “where to go”! suggested for pre- or post-tours on
Friday or Monday. These include Pilot
Rock, Wimer Road, and Babyfoot Lake.
I already have plant lists and mileage
marker lists from all these places
courtesy of Dave Dobak of Portland,
who led an AGS trip of English folks
here several years ago. Experienced
local botanist Viva Stansell is sending
me her maps and plants as well.
So how can we, as individuals and as an Advocacy is another way that members
organization, further this goal? In a can contribute their time to conserve
somewhat arbitrary fashion, our penstemons. Advocacy takes many
potential contribution can be broken forms from just sharing your joy over
down into skills, knowledge, time, and penstemon and other native plants with
money. I say arbitrary because sharing friends, to supporting land-use policies
knowledge and skills invariably requires that benefit native plants and pollinators,
a time commitment and, as we have all or even writing letters to land managers
been taught, time is money. So just send about your concerns over specific threats
money. to penstemon species and their habitats.
As a society, we might consider
Just kidding! Let’s look at these more developing position statements on topics
closely, beginning with skills and relevant to plant conservation.
knowledge. We have all come to
gardening along our individual paths. In future issues of the newsletter, I will
No doubt like many of you, I inherited have more to say on all of these topics as
my love of gardening, in my case from well as on some of the particular
my father who inherited it from his challenges of plant conservation. In the
father. Plant conservation, however, meantime, if you have ideas about how
when well-practiced is a science, and members of APS can contribute to
like gardening, botanists come to it penstemon and native plant
along many paths. Many, perhaps most, conservation, know of particular
of these paths have not passed through a conservation efforts that may be
garden. So our knowledge of how to interested in our assistance, or have any
propagate and grow plants is one of our topics or questions that you would like
most valuable assets that we can share to me to address, please send them to me at
further our conservation goal. slcaicco@sbcglobal.net. You can also
post them to Penstemon-L where
Time, of course, is always in short subscribing members to this list can join
supply and our spare time is of equal in an open discussion.
value to our skills and knowledge. There
are many ways we can directly
contribute our time, whether it be NEW ADDRESSES
helping to conserve a rare penstemon or
assisting in more broadly-focused efforts We have a new Yahoo e-mail address for
to conserve the habitats of other plants, the APS Treasurer's office:
or even animals, that associate with APS.Treasurer@yahoo.com
penstemons, rare or not so rare. Perhaps
our closest allies in such efforts are the And, we now have a new PayPal account
various native plant societies. Based on related to the new e-mail address. It is
my observations at the annual APS this APS.Treasurer@yahoo.com
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