Upcoming CNPS SCV Events and Activities - January 18, 2022

[CNPS-SCV News]

Dear CNPS Santa Clara Valley members,
Check out our chapter's upcoming events:

[1] Treasure Hunting after the 2020 Fires - a talk by Amy Patten
Wednesday, January 19, 7:30 PM
https://www.meetup.com/California-Native-Plant-Society-Santa-Clara-Valley-Chapter/events/282837816/

In 2021, CNPS staff and collaborators visited the burn area of the CZU Complex and SCU Complex Fires to conduct post-fire rare plant and vegetation surveys. CNPS Rare Plant Treasure Hunt Manager Amy Patten will share photos, stories, and rare plant discoveries from field work in the burn zones of the Santa Cruz Mountains and Diablo Range.

Amy Patten is a staff member at the CNPS state office in the Rare Plant Program. Amy manages the Rare Plant Treasure Hunt, a
community science effort which collects up-to-date information on rare plant populations to improve conservation and management and provides botany skills training to volunteers. Amy is a longtime resident of Santa Cruz County and is passionate about our local natural history and conservation. Amy earned a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from U.C. Santa Cruz in 2009.

View talks on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/c/CNPSSantaClaraValley

[2] Keying with Natives: Basics of Plant Morphology
Friday, January 21, 6:30 PM
https://www.meetup.com/California-Native-Plant-Society-Santa-Clara-Valley-Chapter/events/282837936/

Keying with Natives - two special sessions. The KWN group is where we learn plant keying by practicing on plant samples. To help keep our keying skills sharp during the pandemic, Dee Himes of the KWN group will teach two special online classes in January and February.

We will go over the basics of Plant Morphology on Friday January 21 and the basics of Plant Taxonomy on Friday February 18, from 6:30 - 8:30pm on Zoom. These classes will cover the basic principles of morphology, which is the study of the form, external structure and development of plants; and the basic principles of taxonomy, which is to learn and look at different plant families. These two classes will form a great crash course for beginners who are enthusiastic about learning how and why some plants are named - and for others they'll form a refresher.

By knowing the basic morphological characteristics of plants, a plant's name will become obvious. Once the plant has been identified, it can be placed within categories, a plant family, a classification system that is part of plant taxonomy.

Although these meetings will be virtual, as you attend you may want to have ready: a copy of Plant Identification Terminology, An Illustrated Glossary, by James G. Harris and Melinda Woolf Harris, 2nd Edition; some cuttings of your favorite native plants from your garden to show as samples; and a hand lens.

Register for the class on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMtdu2uqT0iGdNaN0HhzlmxiLTPj-es5TS2

[3] Habitat Restoration at Lake Cunningham
Saturday, January 22, 8:00 AM
https://www.meetup.com/California-Native-Plant-Society-Santa-Clara-Valley-Chapter/events/qvfrpsydccbdc/

VENUE: Native Garden Parking Lot

Join us to restore habitat (weeding and mulching) in the Native Garden at Lake Cunningham Park, San Jose.

We follow City of San Jose guidelines for volunteering during the pandemic: face covering and social distancing. Bring your own bucket and a weeding hoe (and knee pad, if you prefer that). Wear a face covering, hat, gloves, sturdy garden shoes. Bring plenty of fluids and hydrate often. We start with a 10-minute orientation, then walk to the site, so please be on time.

First-timers: Bring a signed waiver form available at https://lakecunninghamnativegarden.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/2020-volunteer-status-and-waiver-of-liability.pdf

First timers: please follow directions in this meetup to get to the native garden. It is a very large park (200 acres) with two entrances. You want to head to the Google map pin for "Lake Cunningham Native Garden".

Workdays are sometimes rescheduled or canceled. Always RSVP to confirm, and check the latest updates Friday night. If you can't make it, please change your RSVP so we know and wait-listers get a chance.

Here are some events from other chapters and organizations:

[4] The California Native Plant Society is seeking a Conservation Intern.

The Natalie Hopkins Conservation Intern is a temporary part-time to full-time position that will support ongoing initiatives and campaigns to increase CNPS capacity to advance the conservation of California wildlands and the species and natural communities they support. The Hopkins Intern's primary role will be to assist volunteers and program staff in advocacy related to wildfire and vegetation management by creating an annotated bibliography of peer-reviewed scientific publications. The deadline to apply is January 21, 2022.
https://californianativeplantsociety.applytojob.com/apply/uu63Q56Evk/Natalie-Hopkins-Conservation-Intern

[5] Plant Talk Panel, featuring Yerba Buena’s Susan Karasoff – PG&E
January 18, 11:30 AM
https://www.cnps.org/event/plant-talk-panel-featuring-yerba-buenas-susan-karasoff

[6] Resilient Landscaping: Gardening in the Defensible Space Zone – Milo Baker Chapter
January 18, 7:30 PM
https://www.cnps.org/event/resilient-landscaping-gardening-in-the-defensible-space-zone

Questions about any of the events? Do not reply to this email - instead, please direct your questions to: info @ cnps-scv.org.

California Native Plant Society, Santa Clara Valley Chapter
Find us on the web at cnps-scv.org, and follow us on Facebook, Meetup, Instagram, and Twitter.