It s Time to elect Officers!

Transcription

1 Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei Volume 9 December 2006 Number 12 THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BAKERSFIELD CACTUS & SUCCULENT SOCIETY This Month's Program Linda Cooley s Ariocarpus in bloom The Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society % Stephen Cooley, editor thecactuspatch@bak.rr.com Holiday Potluck, Auctions, Raffles, Fun! Monthly Meeting Tuesday, Dec 12 Olive Drive Church, 5500 Olive drive at 6:00 PM (West of 99 freeway on corner of Olive drive & Victor street) It s Time to elect Officers!

2 Volume 9 Number 12 December 2006 The Cactus Patch is the official publication of the Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society (BCSS) of Bakersfield, California. Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at the times and places noted within. GUEST ARE ALWAYS WELCOME 2006 Officers President Vonne Zdenek Vice-President Steve Crippen Treasurer - Maynard Moe Secretary Anne Lee Editors - Stephen Cooley Linda Cooley 2006 Directors CSSA Representative - open Past President Matt Ekegren 2006 Chairpersons Hospitality - Bill McDonald Librarian James Parker Field Trips Lynn McDonald Historian open Show & Sale Maynard Moe Material in The Cactus Patch may be reprinted by non-profit organizations (unless such permission is expressly denied in a note accompanying the material) provided that the proper credit is given to the BCSS & the author and that one copy of the publication containing the reprinted material is sent to the editor. Reproduction in whole or part by any other organization without the permission of the BCSS editor is prohibited. Contact thecactuspatch@bak.rr.com 2 Notes from the November Meeting: In the absence of both the president and vice-president, treasurer (and tonight s speaker) Maynard led the meeting. Our most recent Show and Sale was one of our most profitable ever. Ed Colley, one of our founding members, has decided to put his name in to be considered for president in Would anyone else like to help the club by being an officer? Available positions are: Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Newsletter Editor. The December meeting will be our annual Holiday Potluck and Silent Auction. (read more about this in the December s Meeting section). A big Thank You goes out to everyone that has been working at the succulent garden at Cal State it really looks good, and that ugly cage over the pump has finally been moved! Maynard is has tentatively set the date of December 2 for going over to Cambria to pick up plants for December s meeting. Anyone interested in coming along should get in touch with him. Maynard gave us a great presentation on the taxonomy of succulent plants. We learned how botanists separate one type of plant from another using mostly flower structure. Great photographs accompanied 3

3 his talk and we even took a quiz or two. There were several questions from the members that Maynard answered and we all came away with a better understanding of just how diverse these plants that we collect really are. Field Trips WIND WOLVES PRESERVE Work party dates: Dec 9, Jan 15, Feb 10, Mar 10, Apr 14, May 12, June 9. This month's project will be acorn planting. Meet at Petro Truck Stop - north side of Mobil Station off LAVAL ROAD WEST exit from I-5 DECEMBER S PROGRAM ANNUAL HOLIDAY POTLUCK & AUCTION Once again we will have our annual Potluck & Auction. This is always one our best meetings. We will be starting a little earlier, with set-up at 6:00 PM. The rules for the potluck are simple: there are no rules. Bring any kind of dish you want to share. This has always worked out great in the past. You may want to bring your own forks and knives as the ones the club have are bit flimsy. There should be plenty of paper plates and cups on hand. The whole family is invited! We will also have our Silent Auction, where members bid on special plants. We are also thinking of having a bag auction you can buy tickets to place in a bag next to the item you want and then a drawing is made to see who wins (the more tickets you place in the bag, the better chance that you will win). If you have a special item you d like to donate to the auctioned, please bring it and add it to the table Some of the genera we will have at the December auction are: Senecio, Mammillaria crest, Haworthia, Euphorbia crest, Gasteria, Oreocereus, Melocactus, Jatropha, Trichodiadema. Nick also donated a couple nice pots for the auction. Maynard 4 One must RSVP by Dec 7, if you wish to partake of the afternoon BBQ [I know it s short notice, but some of you may get this newsletter by then editor] Call to rsvp. We will plan the trip to SLOB for after the New Year. Lynn McDonald Red Sands & White Pans A Letter From Bruce On the 17th of October I joined a Millennium Seed Bank trip to the dry southwest of Botswana. (The MSB is sponsored by Kew Gardens in England and is collecting seeds from rare and endangered species. The seeds are stored both in the country of origin and in the UK.) Our first stop was at Sekoma Pan, which is about 200 km (125 mi.)due west from Gaborone. Here we expected to find Orbea knobelii, but instead found Ruschia cononotata. This was my first time to see wild Ruschia in Botswana (although I saw plenty in Lesotho). We had it in the herbarium, but not from Sekoma. Then we proceeded south to Tshabong where we camped at Berry Bush Farm. The berries are not commercial ones. The name 5

4 refers to the abundance of Grewia bushes with edible (and fermentable) fruits. The only problem with the place were the constantly calling peacocks. (The pigs, chickens and camel were not a problem.) The owners invited me for burritos and sangria that evening. The third day we followed the Malopo River bed (both a road and the boundary with South Africa) to the south west. The sand in the riverbed was damp and we found plants of Anacampseros subnuda in the rocks. We reached the Bokspits area at the southwest corner of Botswana and stayed at the Vaalhoek Village Development Centre rest house. Only two of us paid the P15 ($3) for rooms. The rest camped in the courtyard (I guess they want to spend their per diem elsewhere).they did use the kitchen (only P5 or $1 per night). On the 20th we set off to the north through the red dunes. (These are destabilized due to overgrazing in a dry climate. Most of Botswana is wetter and has stabilized sand with trees and grass but that is changing.) Our first stop was to collect seed of Parkinsonia africana, the green-hair tree, which looks a lot like its American cousin the palo verde. Next we tried to find Hoodia gordonii but only managed to find a large dead one which had previously been seen alive. I guess our garden plants were not the only ones killed by rain this year. Further north we stopped at a calcrete ledge on the Nosop River bed and found lots of Ruschia. Camel munching on berry bush (Grewia) Next day we met with the chief and climbed the hill in town (and once more failed to find Euphorbia rectirama which I saw there in the distant past). Then we went to the pan east of town (the one in town is ruined) and found more Ruschia as well as Sarcocaulon salminiflora, both of which were expected and had flowers and fruit. Once again we failed to find Orbea knobelii which is recorded for there. I also found a young leopard tortoise, some spotted sand lizards and three-striped mice. We then had lunch in town and headed south. Just a short ways out of town we found a population of Euphorbia duseimata with one in flower. This is the first time I have seen more than one plant at a time, so it will allow me to make observations on variations and the relationship with E maleolens. It differs from the latter in being sand-adapted with a long thin tuber and branches that start below the surface. 6 Adenia oleifolia We failed to find the Stapelia flavopurpurea which has been collected from there. I have never seen it in the wild. From there we proceeded north into the Kgalagadi 7

5 Transfrontier Park. Many of the plantings at the Botswana entry had died, but we did find Euphorbia bergii in flower and Adenia oleifolia in fruit. There was also a black tree skink, a ground agama and some more spotted sand lizards. We went to the shop at the South African entrance and bought cold drinks. They also had a dead Hoodia but there was a live one as well. Next to the Hoodia was the look-alike Pine-cone Cactus ( Tephrocactus articulatus var. inermis) from Argentina! We also saw a planting of this at a village in Botswana. Next we went back toward Bokspits and collected seeds of Aloe hereoensis (from the few survivorsmost died years ago). We also located Tridentia marientalensis and more E. bergii. That night I was glad I had a room as it dumped rain! This was welcome as it broke the intense heat. Next morning we went to pay for the room and found a number of plants of Calotropis procera. The older plants had dead stalks and we were told this is due to the cold winters. This may help slow down the invasion. Another invader in the area is mesquite. This one is quite serious! Proceeding back east we found a calcrete cliff with more Ruschia and plants of Zygophyllum pubescens in flower and fruit. We also drove aways back into the dunes, but there was nothing interesting. Next we stopped at a house above a calcrete ledge. There was a huge nest of sociable weavers next to the road up. At the house there were ordinary prickly pears (Opuntia ficus-indicus), spiny prickly pears (also Opuntia ficus-indicus although some call it O. megacantha) and the Boxing-glove Cactus (Opuntia sp.). Only the Boxing-glove had spread, although the others have invaded elsewhere in Botswana. Most horrible of all were the tumble weeds (Russian Thistle) there. This is a new pest in Botswana. On the plus side we found a pair of Eagle-Owl Chicks on the ledge! We spent the night back at Berry Bush Farm and returned to Gaborone on Monday. As if this weren't enough, the MSB held a regional workshop in Gaborone starting on the 30th of October. There were representatives from South Africa, Namibia and Malawi as well as Botswana and Kew Gardens. We had presentations on work in each country so far and ended with a discussion of the future. The program ends in three years. What then? Various ideas have been put in motion, including mine which is to get funding from the tourist industry which has a stake in protecting the environment. On Wednesday we all went out to an area near Kanye where a rare Rhus species was once collected. (Fortunately none of the species here are dangerous like the related poison oak.) Just as we were about to return for lunch I found a Rhus, but it was only about 10 inches tall! I suggested the ubiquitous goats might be 8 responsible for the size. I also found a five-headed plant of Euphorbia maleolens. The workshop ended with a dinner at the Livingstone Room at the Grand Palm -all you can eat buffet including Mongolian BBQ. It hasn't all been MSB. We heard Vivaldi's Gloria sung by a new choir (I think ours can retire now) on the 28th and went to a wedding for Polly's friend Dineo's son down at Good Hope on the 29th. I went to the museum in Mafikeng on the 4th of Nov. to find out about the stagecoaches which ran from there through Bechuanaland to Bulawayo. They had a display which mentioned Palapye as a stop, but there was no mention of Gaborone. I guess the old building in our Botanic Garden just wasn't an important stop. The film club continues to show fantastic movies. On the 12th of October they showed "11'09"01" which was done with 11 directors from 11 countries each segment lasting 11 minutes, 9 seconds and one frame. All used the twin tower attack as a theme but in quite different ways. Originally this was scheduled for the anniversary of the attack, but mechanical problems delayed the showing. Another remarkable film was "Moolaade' ", filmed in Burkina Faso by the Senegalese writer and director Ousmane Sembe'ne. I had never seen any of his films but have read his book "God's Bits of Wood" (which is a little better in the original French). The film tells the story of women who stand up against genital mutilation in a remote village. They succeed, but the price is high. Finally, I received a book from Ian Martin of the Eden Project in Cornwall. (This is a remarkable Botanic Garden built in a quarry.) He had visited Botswana (he is curator for arid and semiarid lands) and asked if I wanted a copy of "A Brain for All Seasons - Human Evolution and Abrupt Climate Change" by William H. Calvin (2002, U. Chicago Press). In some ways it is a strange book (He calls the Kalahari a desert while stating the Namib is much drier and talking about the comparable area in East Africa as Savanna!), but the overall message is important. In commenting on the debate as to whether climate change is "natural" or man-made he says, "It's like estimating the time until the bathtub overflows when the water is left running: it makes a lot of difference if there is also a kid in the tub, bouncing around." Incidentally, at the MSB workshop we were presented with horrible statistics regarding the future of plants at the present rate of global warming. It seems the hardest hit areas will be the succulent-rich Cape, Karoo and Namib areas of Southern Africa. They have nowhere to go and will become extinct. 9

6 THE SUCCULENT GARDEN AT CAL STATE December 3, 2006 We had quite a turnout to work today! Thanks to Bill and Lynn, Sidney, Sasha and Andy, and Steve H. for coming out to work. It turned out to be a fine day for working--not cold or hot, just a slight breeze, and sunny. After the freezing weather, it was quite a treat to be out in the garden without being cold! We accomplished several tasks: we finished the retaining wall in the Old World section; we installed 2 short sections of railroad ties to finish the borders of the walkway; and we experimented on a section of walkway, concocting "soil cement" to fill it in. We will see how it works out! We also did a little bit of pruning and rock moving. It was a very productive morning! It looked like most of the plants had no trouble with the freezing weather, There were a couple of mesembs that looked unhappy, but time will tell if they are damaged beyond repair or not. For now, it's "wait and see" time! Just a reminder: we will be meeting to work in the garden on the first Sunday of every month until summertime! See you next time, Linda Cooley 10 UPCOMING EVENTS Dec 12 BCSS Meeting 6:30pm Olive Drive Church Program: Annual Holiday Potluck and Silent Auction Jan 7 Garden Workday at Cal State Jan 9 BCSS Meeting 6:30pm Olive Drive Church Feb 4 Garden Workday at Cal State May CSSA 32nd Annual Convention. Seattle Airport Doubletree. Membership in the Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society costs $10 per year for an individual and only $15 a year for a family. This extraordinarily reasonable price not only includes twelve issues of but entitles you to participate in club field trips to far-off (out-of-town) and exotic places (more exotic than Bakersfield). You will also receive a nifty name tag that will be your ticket to a members only plant raffle. All this is in addition to the wonderful programs and people at the meetings. To become a member contact: Maynard Moe, treasurer Lithops44@bak.rr.com contact the editors for more information Stephen Cooley Linda Cooley thecactuspatch@bak.rr.com 11