|
BACPS | Newsletter |
| Fall 2009 |
| Next Meeting: Saturday, January 9, 2010 |
| Meeting Minutes | |
| Predatory Plants | |
| Treasurer's Report | |
| Upcoming Events | |
by Geoff Wong
Location: University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley
Program: "Carnivorous Plants -- Home and Abroad: In the States,
Mexico, Italy, and Australia," presented by Ron Parsons
Time: Noon-4:00 p.m.
At the next BACPS meeting Ron Parsons will treat us to a photo tour of CPs in their native habitats around the world. Starting close to home in California, he will take us up to the Canadian border, down to Florida, over to Mexico, across the Atlantic to Europe, and finally to Australia on the opposite side of the globe.
Ron is a well-known local photographer and intrepid traveler. Every spare weekend and vacation you will find him hunting for wildflowers of all types, orchids, in particular, CP, bromeliads, cacti and succulents, gesneriads, and anything else interesting. Ron has co-authored two books, Masdevallias: Gems of the Orchid World and Calochortus: Mariposa Lilies and Their Relatives, and is currently working on a book on miniature orchid species. He lectures internationally, giving over two dozen presentations each year.
Please bring plants for the show and tell table. Donations are gratefully appreciated for the raffle and auction, which are our major fundraisers. Members are also welcome to bring plants to sell or auction. (A portion of proceeds will be collected as part of our fundraising, 10% for BACPS and 10% for the UC Botanical Garden.)
Attendees are asked to bring a snack or drink to share. As a token of our appreciation, donors will receive a free raffle ticket.
For directions to the Botanical Garden, visit the website at botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu.
by Judith Finn
Date: November 21, 2009
Location: University of California Botanical Gardens, Berkeley
Attendance: 65+, 5 vendors
Member count: 700+
Joe Mazrimas announced that the next Annual BACPS Show will be held on June 19, 2010, at Lake Merritt's Lakeside Garden Center. The plants for judging should be there by 9:00 A.M. The judging will be over at noon, and the exhibit will be open to the public from noon to 4:00 P.M. There is a $5.00 parking fee inside the park.
The attending members agreed to having the existing board remain for 2010.
Geoff Wong announced that the next meeting on January 9 will feature Ron Parsons speaking on the plants of Australia and Mexico. Ron is also an avid orchid collector and a very good photographer.
Ernesto Sandoval, Director of the U.C. Davis Botanical Conservatory, on a botanical expedition that he made to South Africa in January and February of 2008. You can check out photographs from that trip at flickr.com/planthead667.
U.C. Davis offers a quarter abroad to its students, so Ernesto tagged on
as an assistant botanist on this one where they went to many nature reserves
including Table Mountain in Capetown, South Africa, which is a UNESCO
Heritage Site. Ernesto showed how our Monterey Pines are grown for lumber in
the nutrient-poor soils at the base of the mountain.
At Table Mountain, Cork Oaks, once cultivated for wine barrels, grow as weeds. Because of the milder climate the wood is not sufficiently dense. His group visited the famous Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, which specializes in exclusively growing native plants of South Africa. They display plants grown for medicinal purposes, a "Garden of Extinction," and an "Economic Garden" that featured sorghum which was, historically, their main grain. They feature a cycad garden (Encephalartos sp. and Stangeria) that was planted in the early 1900s.
There are 20,000 species of plants in South Africa, with 9,000 in the Cape Floristic Region and 7,800 species in the fynbos area. Compare this to California's 5,000 species and you get the magnitude of their diversity. The west coast has winter rainfall and the north and northeast have summer rainfall. The West Coast National Park in Langebaan Lagoon has the fynbos (meaning fine bush) vegetation, composed of small-leaved bushes, many of which are members of the Ericaceae (heather family). The poor soils support very few annuals but very interesting plants like the Proteas and Restios grow in the coastal mild climate.
They lived in the Stellenbosch Valley with its vineyards and many wonderful assortment of bulbs. The renosterveld vegetation, with its finer soils, sported many plants in the Asteraceae (daisy family).
Throughout their many trips they got to view some carnivorous plants. Ernesto showed pictures of Drosera trinervia, D. madagarensis, and the very familiar D. capensis. These were growing in coarse soil -- sandy and fairly dry. At the Fernkloof National Reserve grows Roridula gorgonias. They obtain their food by attracting the capsid leaf bug, which eats insects and then deposits its feces to be used by the plant.
Ernesto showed us photos of the beautiful Ericas and Proteas that are used
by the floral industry and lovely Fabaceae (pea family). He showed Aspalanthus
linearis which produces Rooibos tea. It is grown only in a small area in
the Cedarberg Mountains. We all enjoyed seeing pictures of the exotic
sunbirds pollinating Proteas and the sugarbirds pollinating Watsonias.
The national flower is the King Protea, which grows in the Jonkershoek Valley. Members of the Restionaceae family are used instead of grass. They are also used to thatch roofs. In the DeHerberg Reserve, a military base, plants are being studied and preserved. He showed us a series of cool plants:
Because of time constraints we did not get to this section of the meeting.
Large plant of Pinguicula gigantea, Sarracenia oreophila 'Sand Mountain', S. alata × flava, S. oreophila × moorei, Nepenthes khasiana × burkei.
Two Pinguicula gigantea, three P. 'Pirouette' hybrids, four P. emarginata, two P. laueana, P. gypsicola, Utricularia quelchii, Nepenthes alata cutting, live sphagnum.
by Josh Brown
Predatory Plants is a new carnivorous plant nursery owned by BACPS member Josh Brown. He is offering an introductory 20% discount on all of his plants and supplies to BACPS members through the end of the year, and a 10% discount starting in 2010. Simply make an order on his site (www.predatoryplants.com) and enter BACPS as the coupon code upon checkout.
by Joe Mazrimas
| BACPS TREASURY REPORT November 21, 2009 | |||
| ASSETS | DEBT | BALANCE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction | $46.00 | ||
| Raffle | $104.00 | ||
| Sellers | $187.00 | TOTAL | $337.00 |
| Oakland Show rental | $675.00 | ||
| UC Fund | $93.00 | ||
| TOTAL | $768.00 | ||
| Current balance (11-21-09) | -$431.00 | ||
| Previous balance (7-18-09) | $5596.72 | ||
| TOTAL | $5165.72 |
April 10, 2010: Spring Meeting,
University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley
June 19, 2010: Annual Show and Sale,
Lakeside Park Garden Center, Oakland
July 31, 2010: Summer Meeting,
California Carnivores: Potluck, Larry Mellichamp.
October 30, 2010: Fall Meeting,
University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley
All photographs -- Tony Gridley
The BACPS Newsletter is a quarterly publication produced by the Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society. Please send newsletter submissions to Tony Gridley (tgridley@comcast.net). For more information on membership, subscriptions, or events, please visit our website: www.bacps.org.