TUCSON CHAPTER
President Doug Ripley
The Tucson Chapter evening programs will resume in September. Monthly programs are held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month from September through May, beginning at 7:00pm at the Arizona Game & Fish Office, 555 N Greasewood (west side of road between Speedway & Anklam). Look for the AZNPS sandwich board that marks the driveway. We often have raffles for native plants or related books at each meeting, so be prepared! For information about the Tucson Chapter, please email us.
Message from Tucson Chapter President
Hello, my name is Douglas Ripley and I am the new Tucson Chapter President of the Arizona Native Plant Society. I’m really excited about the many interesting and worthwhile projects and other activities sponsored by the Tucson Chapter. I hope that I will be able to contribute toward the continuation those fine traditions and also help to develop new undertakings as well. Opportunities for conservation of our native flora, public outreach and education, and activities for our individual members are just some of the areas in which I hope we’ll continue to excel.
-Douglas Ripley, Tucson Chapter President
Speakers scheduled for the Fall Season:
September 10: Richard Felger
Topic: Trees, Turtles and humanity: lessons from the Sonoran Region
October 8: Tom Van Devender
Topic: Rare Plants and Conservation in Northeastern Sonora
To keep up with the latest information, join the Tucson Chapter e-list. You will be contacted about events, conferences, outings, workshops, and volunteer opportunities in our area. Contact Nancy Zierenberg to be added or subtracted! Don't forget to keep us updated on email address changes, as well as postal address changes. It will save AZNPS money!
Friday-Sunday, August 1-3. Botany, bats and bugs in Ruby.
The Conservation Committee’s PAPAZ (Plant Atlas Project of Arizona) site at Ruby proved to be an exciting project. Since it is private property (300 acres or so), a plant list or flora for the area has not been developed. As the crow flies, it is located five miles from the Mexican border. Since it has been excluded from grazing for perhaps 25 years (except for the errant cows from the neighboring grazing allotments), we have been able to find quite a diversity of plants with a mix of Sonoran and Chihuahuan vegetation.
There is a healthy population of Rock Trumpet (Macrosiphonia macrosiphon), a shrub with fragrant white flowers which could be incorporated into Tucson landscapes, and also of the beautiful Velvetpod Mimosa (Mimosa dysocarpa). The display of Mexican Yellowshow (Amoreuxia palmatafida), with their large orange flowers highlighted with red pollinator guides, was a bonus in this recent summer trip. The stunning Mala mujer (Cnidoscolus angustidens) was in bloom, and we saw blooms and fruits on the numerous Ragged Jatropha (Jatropha macrorhiza) plants. There are also some interesting Acacias, and Greg’s Ash (Fraxinus greggii)is found there.
If you’d like to help with this on-going effort, watch for announcements in Happenings about future trips.
Field Trip: Saturday, August 23 Botanical Exploration of Ft. Huachuca led by Douglas Ripley.
Historic Fort Huachuca, established by the U.S. Army in 1877 and located near Sierra Vista, Cochise County, Arizona, was the site for a field trip attended by 31 AZNPS members and guests. Mr. Sheridan Stone, a longtime AZNPS member and Fort Huachuca’s wildlife biologist and natural resources manager, supervised the visit and led an excellent tour that introduced the participants to the rich biological diversity to be found on one of the Army’s most historic and biologically rich installations. The trip began with an opportunity to explore the eastern oak grasslands where numerous interesting grasses were seen along with a nice assortment of herbaceous wildflowers and insects, including many spectacular butterflies.
The remainder of the day was spent exploring the famous Garden Canyon that provides habitat for a rich assortment of plants and animals. Following lunch at an elevation of 5350, Sheridan led the group to a nearby population of the federally listed endangered Huachuca Water Umbel (Lilaeopsis schaffneriana var. recurva). Although not in flower, this rare little herb was fascinating to see.
Following lunch, everyone was free to explore the remainder of the canyon by either hiking or driving up the remaining 2.5 miles of road. Along the way more showy wildflowers appeared, such as the blue larkspur (Delphinium andesicola), Plains beebalm (Monarda pectinata), Mexican Star Thistle (Centaurea rothrockii), and the Scruffy Prairie Clover (Dalea albiflora).
As in the grasslands, interesting and often beautiful insects were encountered and there were even early Native American pictographs to be seen on several of the steep walls of the upper canyon.
The higher elevations of the canyon rewards the visitor with a number of interesting trees, including the Arizona Madrone (Arbutus arizonica), Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica), alligator juniper (Juniperus deppeana), and four species of pine: border, Apache, Chihuahua, and ponderosa.
Greatly adding to the enjoyment of the day was the superb weather with temperatures in the mid 80’s.
Sabino Canyon Wildflower Walks. Join the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists for their weekly flower strolls on Mt. Lemmon. They start in June and continue through September. Walks can be anywhere from Prison Camp to the Mt. Lemmon summit. The walks are scheduled for Thursday, meeting at Palisades Ranger Station at 9AM. The Sabino Canyon Wildflower Walks occur on Tuesday mornings at 8:30am, beginning in November continuing through April. Joan Tedford and Bob Porter lead the walks. The group welcomes new participants. For info contact Joan Tedford.
Tohono Chul Park Plant Walks Every month of the year, and are included in the admission price. No reservations necessary:
- Connecting Plants and People. 1st Saturday of the month at 10:00am
Discover the edible and useful plants of the Sonoran Desert. - The Great Xeriscape. 3rd Saturday of the month at 10:00am. Unearth the how-to’s for using native and arid-adapted plants in water-saving landscapes.
- Walk in the Park.Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 9:00am. Experience Tohono Chul Park while learning some of the basics of the ecology of the Sonoran Desert.
AZNPS members with the Sonora Native Plant Society on a field trip in November 2007
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