CONSERVATION ARTICLES 2

SPECIAL APPEAL 3

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES 5

CLASSES & EVENTS 6 & 7

MEMBER INFORMATION 8

EVENTS & MEETINGS INFORMATION 9

Riverside/San Bernardino Chapter

California Native Plant Society

Chapter Contacts

President: Katie Barrows (760)564-2413 or

kate.cnb@verizon.net

Vice President: Nominations requested -this office can be shared!

Secretary: Volunteer(s) requested!

Co-Treasurers: Susan Jett and Michael Duval (909)625-8767 x 246 or Susan.Jett@cgu.edu & m_l_duval@hotmail.com

Newsletter & Membership: Nancy Rutherford (909)986-8004) or njrutherford@surfside.net

Education, Public Outreach & Programs: Lorrae Fuentes (909)625-8767 x 243 or

lorrae.fuentes@cgu.edu

Conservation: Alison Shilling (909)789-1304 or

awshilling@earthlink.net

Rare Plant Coordinator: Fred Roberts

(760)439-6244 or antshrike@earthlink.net

Committees and Special Activities

RSB Chapter WebMaster & Plant Photography Representative: Rolf Muertter 909-686-1193, or

rolf@dslextreme.com

www.rolfmuertter.com/cnps.html

Field Trips: Volunteer(s) requested

Chapter Contact: Sheila McMahon, 909-683-8850

OUR FEATURED PLANT

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden Biologists find rare plants

Contributed by Scott D. White

Astragalus tricarinatus (triple-ribbed milk-vetch) is an endangered species and probably one of the rarest plants in southern California. Its natural history is poorly known. It seems to be a short-lived perennial, but also can function as an annual. The plants have deep taproots and die back to the ground in summer. Plants that survive the summer drought develop woody bases which leaf out again the following spring. Its seed dispersal mechanisms, environmental cues for germination, seed longevity in the soil, specific habitat requirements, pollinator associations, symbiotic relationships with soil microorganisms, and any ecological relationships it may have with wildlife and surrounding vegetation are all unknown.

Astragalus tricarinatus has only been documented at a few sites, generally in washes and in mountain foothills near the northwestern end of the Coachella Valley. The only sites where more than a single plant have been seen are in the southeastern San Bernardino Mountains (Whitewater Canyon and Mission Creek) and adjacent southwestern Little San Bernardino Mountains (Dry Morongo Canyon, Big Morongo Canyon and Little Morongo Canyon). At these sites triple-ribbed milk-vetch has been seen in sandy and gravelly soils in dry washes, at the bases of canyon slopes, and (less commonly) on steep scree slopes of decomposed granite. Astragalus tricarinatus’s numbers fluctuate widely from year to year and it may remain dormant in drought years. Even in the canyons where it has been documented repeatedly, it almost always occurs as just a few scattered plants, and it cannot be dependably found at any particular site.

Triple-ribbed milk-vetch’s habitat and geographic range as now understood are probably incomplete. There is one known “extralimital” occurrence (of a single plant) in the Santa Rosa Mountains, and a few unsubstantiated reports in or near Joshua Tree National Park and much farther to the southeast in the Orocopia Mountains. The few canyons where it is well known have been visited regularly by botanists, but many similar canyons have

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