Learn more about native plants
7 p.m. fourth Thursday of the month
Carnegie Room, McMinnville Public Library
March 25 Wilbur Bluhm of Salem will show slides and speak about Ericaceae, the heath family, one of most fascinating and colorful of Oregon's native plant families. It includes some of the more common and useful cultivated native species. A former OSU Extension Service staff chair, Wilbur Bluhm volunteers with the Oregon Flora Project and has been honored as a Fellow by the Native Plant Society. Learn about identifying characteristics of the Ericaceae family.
April 22 Dr. John Syring, assistant professor of botany at Linfield College, will present a program on the amazing conifers of the world: parasitic, behemoth, arctic, tropical and especially those native to Oregon. Dr. Syring, a researcher, author and presenter, served as coordinator of the Oregon Flora Project in 2001.
May 27 Dr. Kareen Sturgeon, past president of the Cheahmill Chapter of the Native Plant Society, will show slides and speak about Atop and Around Steens Mountain: A 20-year Retrospective. As professor of evolution and botany at Linfield College, she led many field trips to the Malheur area, including Steens Mountain, the Alvord Desert, Mickey Basin and Cottonwood Creek. You will learn about the amazing diversity of wildflowers found in juniper woodland, shrub steppe and desert scrub vegetation zones, in lithosols ("Indian grocery stores") and on alkaline playas, and the plants' adaptations to these challenging environments.
Your host: Native Plant Society
of Oregon, Cheahmill Chapter
Information: 503-835-1042
or e-mail marna@onlinemac.com <mailto:marna@onlinemac.com>.