Meetings and Events

February 7, 2013: Reno - John Weiser, currently NNPS Reno co-chair for field trips. John will give us a program entitled “Natives for a High Desert Garden” and it features locally endemic plants he grows in his dry-land garden. It will definitely interest those of us who desire incorporating more native plants into our own gardens and the necessary horticultural requirements to do so.

March 7, 2013: Reno - Christopher Kopp, graduate student in the Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego and a 2012 recipient of NNPS' Margaret Williams Research Grant for Botanical Research, will present a program on his research entitled "The impacts of climate change on plant species in the White Mountains". 

April 4, 2013: Reno - Erin Hourihan is an Ecological Site Inventory Specialist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Reno. She luckily gets to do lots of field work in her current job and she will provide us with a presentation on her UNR research. Her program is entitled “Climatic controlled recruitment pulses of 4 species/subspecies of Artemisia in Nevada”.

May 2nd – Our offsite garden meeting will be held at the May Arboretum and Botanical Garden in Rancho San Rafael Park at 6pm. Park either in the parking lot at the (north) end of Washington Street, or the parking lot on San Rafael Drive accessed either from Washington Street or Sierra Street and Putnam Drive. The group will gather at the picnic tables just south of the May Museum. Bring finger food and beverages for yourself or to share. We will enjoy self-guided visits to the Loring and Margaret Williams Memorial Garden, the xeriscape garden, and other nearby garden areas. The park closes at dusk.

September 5th - Barbara Ertter, Curator Emeritus, Jepson Herbarium, UC, is now living in Idaho. She will give a talk entitled "Plants and Peshmerga: Botanizing in Iraqi Kurdistan."

Southern Nevada

February 4, 2013: Henderson - We will accept and discuss nominations for a replacement for our Program Coordinator as well as upcoming presentations.  We will also discuss 2013 field trips with Jim Boone.  Rob Smith, graduate student in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas will present his thesis work.  His thesis abstract:

As wildfires in the Mojave Desert increase in frequency, extent and severity, the recovery of desert mosses is threatened by changes that impact dispersal, soil-bank storage and colonization, making this a timely issue for botanists and resource managers in addition to the general public. This presentation will explore the role of dispersal in maintaining diversity in non-vascular plant communities along gradients of elevation and wildfire disturbance at Red Rock Canyon, and will provide insights into the importance of bryophyte conservation in the region.

March 4, 2013: Henderson - Leslie DeFalco, Research Plant Ecologist with the USGS Western Ecological Research Center, will present her recent work on the recovery of the Mojave ecosystem post-fire.

April 1, 2013: Henderson - Dr. David Charlet, professor of Biology and Environmental Science at the College of Southern Nevada, will present some of his recent work in mapping vegetation communities in Southern Nevada. 

May 6, 2013: Henderson - BRING YOUR HAND LENS!!!!!!!!! We will be offering another Plant ID workshop during our monthly meeting.  This year, we will focus on reviewing several plant families that are in full bloom this time of year and then work through a few of the more common species together using the Jepson Desert Manual.  Feel more than welcome to bring that species that has been stumping you this spring.  We can all learn together how that stumper keys out.  If you have the following, please bring along: hand lens, Jepson Desert Manual, and dissecting tools.  We will provide several dissecting scopes, dissecting tools, and other technical keys that are more cumbersome to carry.  

September 6, 2012: Reno - Jackee Picciani, local botanical consultant, will present the evening program titled Churchill Narrows Buckwheat: "Discovery" and Subsequent Investigation. 

September 10, 2012: Henderson - To be announced.

October 1, 2012: Henderson - Doug Merkler with NRCS will give a presentation on some of his recent projects.  Title to be announced.

October 4, 2012: Reno - Dr. Robbin Thorp, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, will discuss his expertise in a talk entitled “Bees: Their diversity and lifestyles”  making an argument for their importance to plants and need for conservation.

November 1, 2012: Reno - Ann Pinzl, long standing member of NNPS and botanist, will give a program on her recent travels to desert regions of southern Africa. Join her for the talk entitled "Maybe not all deserts are that similar? A look at Botswana and Namibia". 

November 5, 2012: Henderson - Julie Thompson with the Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalition, based in Ely, NV, will present some of their recent projects. Title to be announced.

December 3, 2012: Henderson - Annual holiday potluck and member slide shows!

February 2, 2012:  Reno - Michelle Hunt with the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Reno will present "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Schoolyard Habitat & Outdoor Classroom Program".

February 6, 2012: Henderson -Daniel Thompson, Ph.D, Life Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas will present "The Influence of Host Plant Characteristics on Endemic Butterflies of the Spring Mountains."  An overview of new information about locations of butterfly eggs, larvae, and adults and the ecological characteristics of their host plants.  Case studies of several threatened endemic butterflies of the Spring Mountains will illustrate how key features of host plant distributions and ecology influence butterfly habitat suitability. 

March 1, 2012: Reno - Dean Tonenna, botanist with BLM Carson City District, will give a presentation on "A survey of BLM conservation projects in western Nevada and eastern California".

March 5, 2012: Henderson - Gary Reese will give a presentation on "Endemic Gypsum Badlands Plants on the Middle Red Member of the Moenkopi Formation." 

April 5, 2012: Reno - Jerry Tiehm and Jan Nachlinger will feature a program on interesting plants and habitats in southern Nevada from several trips taken early and late in the 2005 floriferous field season. NOTE MEETING ROOM FOR THE APRIL MEETING. We will meet in Room 104 of the Knutsen Resources Center at 1000 Valley Road. This is one building north of where we have been meeting. Enter from the courtyard on the south side of the building.

April 9, 2012: Henderson - Asteraceae identification workshop - co-led by local members.  We will briefly review the important characteristics to observe in identifying Asteraceae and then work together in identifying a few specimens as a group and on our own.  Please bring any spring specimens that you may like assistance in identifying.  Also, bring a loop and any identification books you prefer to use.  We will bring several copies of Jepson, Intermountain Flora, and Utah Flora as well as other useful identification aides at our disposal. 

May 3, 2012: Reno - Carol and Howard Thomas, past President and past Vice President of NNPS, respectively, will graciously host members at their home and garden in Verdi. They’ve emphasized native plantings including Penstemon and Eriogonum species, cold hardy cacti, alpine rock garden species, and they also have a vegetable garden. Please email them at plantweaver@sbcglobal.net or call 775-345-0161 for directions. Be there at 6 pm with a potluck dish and beverages to share for a fun evening.

May 7, 2012: Henderson - "Succession after Disturbance in the Mojave." Cayenne Engel with the UNLV Applied Ecology Research Group will be describing patterns her research group have observed about changes in the plant communities and soil structure after two major types of distubances: post-fire (over 30 years), and areas that were formerly submerged by Lake Mead.  The focus of the work is to examine the processes for native plant recruitment, concurrent dynamics of invasive species encroachment, and how the altered environment may affect these dynamics.

June 4, 2012: Henderson - Ben Jurard with the UNLV Applied Ecology Reserach Group will present the results of his Master's thesis investigating the longevity of red brome seeds in soil seed banks and the dynamics of seed densities after wildlifes.  His research explored several untested aspects of the seed bank characteristics of red brome (Bromus rubens), an invasive winter annual grass in southwestern arid lands.

Full Circle compost will hold their annual seed swap on Saturday, March 3, 2012. They will also have workshops on topics such as: growing native wildflower seeds in your garden, building raised beds, and preparing your soil.  Click here for details.

December 5, 2011: Henderson - Annual potluck and picture share. Bring a dish to share and your best botanical pictures (known and unknown) from this year.


November 7, 2011: Henderson
• Speakers - Hermi and John Hiatt
• Elections: Please think about whether you are interested in running for any office! Nominations for office must be in by October 28, 2011. Please send nominations for officers to Pat Neyman at secretary@nvnps.org.


November 3, 2011: Reno
• Janel will present photos from our field trip to Winnemucca Lake.
• Elections: Nominations for office must be in by October 28, 2011. Please send nominations for officers to Pat Neyman at secretary@nvnps.org.


October 6, 2011: Reno - Jason Alexander, Curator of Utah Valley University Herbarium, will present a program titled The Intermountain Block Checklist Project & the role of herbaria as a tool for monitoring the long-term effects of climate change.

October 3, 2011:Henderson - Grass identification workshop. We will have some local botanists that enjoy the challenge of keying and identifying grasses, and we'll provide some dissecting scopes, hand lenses, a whole pile of guides and grass specific keys, some samples.

This could be an opportunity for those with samples but haven't taken the time to key them out to work on it and have some folks to discuss them with, or, for those that are novices, we'll start from the beginning with diagramming and discussing the important plant parts and we'll have some samples to play with.

Bring along samples or just interest.

September 12, 2011 (Later date due to Labor Day Weekend): Henderson - Dr. Jason Alexander, curator of the Utah Valley University herbarium, will give a presentation entitled “The Intermountain Block Checklist Project & the role of herbaria as a tool for monitoring the long-term effects of climate change”.
At this meeting, Sharon Schafer, artist of the new eastern Mojave wildflower poster will be available for poster signing. The image depicts 46 eastern Mojave wildflowers. Actual size of the poster is 22 x 33.75 inches. Retail price is $15 ($12 NNPS members, 5 poster limit) with all proceeds going to the Nevada Native Plant Society. We will be looking for some volunteers for filling orders
starting at the September meeting and NNPS is currently working out sourcing and pricing for mailing posters to enable online ordering.

September 1, 2011: Reno - Lee Turner, Nevada Department of Wildlife, will present Vegetation Restoration in Nevada: The Good, the Bad, and the Native versus Non-Native


June 6, 2011: Henderson - John Brinda will be presenting information on bryophyte diversity and distribution at Joshua Tree National Park and Grand Canyon - Parashant National Monument.

May 5, 2011: Reno - NNPS member John Weiser will host the evening meeting at his home in Sparks to show his garden of Penstemons, Eriogonums, cacti, and wildflowers. Please call John at 775-331-4485 for directions to his garden. DO NOT GO TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING ROOM ON VALLEY ROAD. Arrive about 6:00 pm with potluck appetizers to share and beverages for an early evening outdoors. Here’s a link to his photo sharing site for a preview of plants we may see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sierrarainshadow/


May 2, 2011: Henderson - Kent Ostler will be giving a presentation about rare plants on the Nevada National Security Site.

April 7, 2011: Reno – Gary Reese, Senior Biologist with Logan Simpson Design, will give a program entitled State of Change: using rephotographic survey photography to detect 140 years of change to Nevada's cultural and biological landscapes.

April 4, 2011: Henderson – Gary Reese, Senior Biologist with Logan Simpson Design, will give a program entitled State of Change: using rephotographic survey photography to detect 140 years of change to Nevada's cultural and biological landscapes.

March 7, 2011: Henderson Chris Roberts will be presenting results from his thesis work resampling vegetation plots in the Newberry Mountains after 30 years to look at patterns of vegetation change through time.

March 3, 2011: Reno – Sarah Kulpa, Botanist with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will present a talk on Historic and Contemporary Vegetation on Anaho Island, NV.


February 7, 2011: Henderson - Adria DeCorte will give us an overview of the results of her masters thesis work on the establishment of exotic grasses in relation to sites with a heavy biological soil crust presence versus on desert pavement, and how carbon addition can affect those establishment rates, and Jared DeCorte will talk about the goals and techniques used by their "Cactus Rescue" company based out of Las Vegas (http://www.cactusrescue.com), and Nevada Division of Forestry nursery manager, Amy Dunn, will talk about the native species propagation capabilities and facilities there,

February 3, 2011: Reno - Holly Bromley, Certified Arborist and avid gardener, will humorously present Plant Faux Pas covering planting problems, staking, plant placement and more.