Hi Bob: Very interesting!! Ever since I started tramping around the mountains looking for plants, I have been of the opinion that there are vast uncharted territories out there, probably full of new colonies of bulbs or even new species. Not far from where I live there appears to be a new species of Calochortus. Not my find - I went looking on a tip. It's a beauty, too. The days of field botanists seem to be long over, and there doesn't appear to be a lot of exploration here at home any more except for a few enthusiasts (or nuts, as other people call them). I am very happy to hear of your find, and I'll bet there are more out there. Diana Telos ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Werra" <robertwerra@sbcglobal.net> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2004 4:23 PM Subject: Re: [pbs] Rare Fritillaria found > Dear Mary Sue and all; Regarding the new report of > Fritillaria biflora var. grayana on the Mendocino, > Calif. coast, I found a colony of what looks identical > last spring a few miles west of Ukiah. To my knowledge > neither F. biflora or F. biflora v. grayana has been > reported this far north and east. Sincerely, Bob Werra > --- Mary Sue Ittner <msittner@mcn.org> wrote: > > > Dear All, > > > > I've written before about Fritillaria roderickii > > (syn. F. biflora biflora, > > F. grayana, F. biflora var. grayana, F. biflora var. > > roderickii). Part of > > the problem with what to call it is that not > > everyone agrees that this > > plant should be considered F. biflora so some people > > cling to older names. > > I wrote about it: > > > > > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbslist/old.php/… > > > > The coastal population of this plant has not been > > seen for several years. > > One of my CNPS (California Native Plant Society) > > friends, Mary Rhyne, has > > been looking for it every year. She had found some > > of the last plants and > > rescued them when they would have been lost because > > of work on Highway One, > > but the ones she relocated she has not found > > recently and she thinks they > > may have been eaten by rodents or died. The other > > populations she knew > > about she hasn't seen either. > > > > This spring she found it again. She found it very > > close to a temporary > > bridge that CalTrans (the name for the group in > > California that builds > > roads) has put in to replace part of Highway One > > when a winter storm > > several years ago caused one lane to slip into the > > ocean. They were set to > > replace that part of the highway and because of this > > plant, that has been > > delayed. > > > > I thought you all might be interested in knowing > > that Cal Trans has a > > biologist and that they are going to try to save any > > that might be found > > where they are going to reroute the road. The ones > > she found they plan to > > put a fence around to protect. Mary and I have > > offered to help if they do > > indeed find them and need some one to care for them > > until they are > > replanted in another site they will have chosen. > > Whether we would be > > satisfactory as they were looking for a suitable > > "commercial nursery" I > > don't know. We both rather doubt they will find them > > and even if they do > > rescuing them when they are dormant when they plan > > to do the work could be > > a challenge. But it is exciting that Mary has once > > again found some of > > these plants on the Mendocino Coast and that there > > will be an attempt to > > protect them. > > > > Mary Sue > > > > > > Mary Sue Ittner > > California's North Coast > > Wet mild winters with occasional frost > > Dry mild summers > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pbs mailing list > > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php