Tuesday, October 15: Rich Crawford, "A Vascular Flora of the Rugged Little Colorado River Gorge"
Rich Crawford, a graduate student at NAU, has compiled a checklist of the vascular plants of the very remote and rugged Little Colorado River Gorge. His flora documents the lower 54 miles of the LCR below Cameron where the river descents 1,400 feet on its way to the confluence with the Colorado. The last 10 miles of the stretch are fed by travertine springs combined with steep canyon walls to create a dramatic and rugged landscape.
Rich will present on the way groups of plant species function together in communities within the LCR Gorge, distributions of Grand Canyon native plants found only within the LCR Gorge, and notable collections, including a new species (!!!!!) of Loeseliastrum in the Polemoniaceae (Phlox) family.
This event takes place at the Shepherd of the Hill Lutheran Church at 1601 N. San Francisco Street at 7:00pm. Easy to find! Easy to park!
Saturday, October 19: Walk in the Elden Pueblo/Picture Canyon area
Susan Holiday will lead October's walk on SATURDAY, October 19 in the Elden Pueblo/Picture Canyon area. Meet at the Elden Pueblo Site parking area on Highway 89 across from the Townsend/Winona Road at 9:00 am. Please note that the day and meet-up location are not the usual ones.
This walk will be the kick-off event for a new PAPAZ (Plant Atlas Project of Arizona) work project. PAPAZ is a collaborative project of the Grand Canyon Trust, Deaver Herbarium at NAU, and the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, which teaches interested volunteers to identify native plants and how to collect specimens properly for herbariums.
During this first event, participants will be verifying a plant list for the area and collecting any new specimens found under the direction of botanist Susan Holiday. In 2014, the project will continue visits to Elden Pueblo/Picture Canyon during each season to identify and collect plants as they mature and blossom.
The Elden Pueblo/Picture Canyon area is of interest because it is a modern urban-forest interface area and because the ancient Sinagua people used it as a settlement area. The plant lists that are developed will be used by the Arizona Archaeological Society when they give tours and by various groups that use the Picture Canyon area.
It is expected that Saturday's event will last until approximately 3:00pm. Please wear appropriate clothes for the weather including a hat and hiking shoes, and bring plenty of water, snacks and a lunch. Susan will be at the trailhead come rain or come shine.
EVERYONE is welcome, not just volunteers who have taken the PAPAZ training. You may find out that you would like to take the training next year!! I'm a "graduate", and going on these PAPAZ walks and collecting trips has been a highlight of many summers for me.
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