Ahart Herbarium
Ahart Herbarium presents
All Things Botanically Related (Series)
California Native Salvias – from Wildlands to Gardens
Presented by John Whittlesey
Garden designer, nurseryman, author, and bee enthusiast
Thurs, April 17, 2025
7pm - 8pm
Register for zoom >>(opens in new window)
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
The genus Salvia encompasses nearly 1,000 species worldwide. They are found throughout Asia, the Mediterranean, South Africa, North America, Central and South America, in varying habitats - from mountain meadows, Peruvian cloud forests, and dry deserts. California is home to 19 species, which grow in some of our hottest and driest ecosystems. These 19 species have given rise to numerous horticultural selections, making them popular plants in climate-appropriate home landscapes.
In this presentation, John will talk about the evolution and adaptation of Salvias generally, their specific California habitats, and the pollinators with whom they co-evolved. Because Salvias are beloved by gardeners everywhere, a section of John’s talk will explore Salvias for the California garden - species, hybrids and horticultural selections and the many reasons for growing them: colorful flowers, fragrant foliage, and the wealth of pollinators they attract.
John Whittlsey is a board member of the Friends of the Ahart Herbarium and author of The Plant Lovers Guide to Salvias (published by Timber Press). Recently retired from a career as a nurseryman, garden designer and landscape contractor, John spends his time on his 10-acre homestead studying and photographing bumble bees and observing the diversity of life to be found in a foothill, blue oak grassland ecosystem..
Altered fire regimes threaten rare cypress species in Northern California
Presented by Kyle Merriam
Ecologist, USDA Forest Service, Sierra-Cascade Province
Thurs, May 15, 2025
7pm - 8pm
Register for zoom >>(opens in new window)
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Baker cypress (Hesperocyparis bakeri) and Macnab cypress (Hesperocyparis macnabiana) are rare serotinous conifers found in scattered, isolated populations in northern California. These cypress species depend on high severity fire to reproduce, and populations require at least 30 years to accumulate enough cones to replace the parent generation after a fire. Altered fire regimes, including a recent increase in the frequency of high-severity fire, pose a serious threat to both species of cypress.
Kyle Merriam
Over half of both Macnab and Baker cypress populations have burned in the past 15 years and are now comprised primarily of immature seedlings. Four Macnab cypress and one Baker cypress population have been extirpated due to repeated fires that killed immature seedlings before they produced cones. Neither species of cypress has protected status at the federal or state level and over half of Macnab cypress groves occur on private land. In this talk we will review the status and distribution of these two rare conifers and discuss efforts to protect and conserve these two iconic, fire adapted species in northern California.
Kyle Merriam has been working as an ecologist since 1997, including positions with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Geological Survey, and the US Forest Service. She has worked in the Sierra Cascade Ecology Program, serving the Modoc, Lassen, and Plumas National Forests, since 2005. As part of the Regional Ecology Program, Kyle’s career has focused on providing the best available ecological science to help inform natural resource management.
Upcoming Speakers:
June 19: Rachel Schleiger and Adrienne Edwards - firescaping with natives for habitat
All Things Botanically Related - Past Presentations:
Lawrence Janeway
The Ahart Herbarium: Collections, Databases, and Collecting for the Future
Presented by Lawrence Janeway
Curator of the Ahart Herbarium at California State University, Chico
Thurs, March 20, 2025
7pm - 8pm
View presentation recording >> (opens in new window)
The Ahart Herbarium at California State University Chico contains almost 130,000 specimens. Most of these specimens are vascular plants, with important holdings also of bryophytes, lichens and slime molds. These specimens form an invaluable record of plant diversity and distribution, especially for the northern California region. They are frequently used by students and researchers from throughout California and North America and sometimes beyond.
The presentation will be an overview of the collections at the Ahart Herbarium, with an introduction to how the herbarium stores and manages the different parts of the collection. We’ll explore the herbarium database, which is managed at the Consortium of California Herbaria portal in Symbiota. And we’ll discuss the importance of collecting plant specimens, how anyone can do it, and get some helpful hints on how you can ensure that what you collect is useful to the herbarium and researchers in general.
Lawrence Janeway
Lawrence Janeway obtained a B.A. in Botany from Humboldt State in 1993 (now Cal Poly Humboldt), and a M.S. in Botany from Chico State in 1991 working with the genus Carex. Although recently retired as a District Botanist on the Plumas National Forest, he continues as the Curator of the Ahart Herbarium, a position he has held since about 1992. As much as possible, Lawrence spends his “off” time getting into out-of-the-way places in northern California for general personal exploration and to fill plant presses with plant specimens for the Ahart Herbarium and other herbaria and researchers, and to help him make "Selected Plants of Northern California and Adjacent Nevada" a more useful and complete field guide for botanists in northern California.
Staff and students at the first cultural burn on the CSU Campus in over 170 years, coordinated by Don Hankins. Photo by Jake Hutchison, Enterprise-Record
Dr. Don Hankins
Restoring Land with Fire
Presented by Don Hankins
Professor of Geography and Planning at California State University, Chico
Thurs, January 16, 2025
7pm - 8pm
Fire is an integral process in many California Ecosystems which have largely been shaped through Indigenous fire stewardship. The departure from active landscape burning resulting from land use changes, policy, and other factors has made these systems vulnerable. Restoring fire to maintain ecosystem health and other benefits is critical, but obtaining desired outcomes is nuanced. This presentation will illustrate the interconnected nature of Indigenous knowledge to shape ecocultural relationships through fire stewardship to restore ecosystems and enhance climate and social resilience.
Dr. Don Hankins is a Professor of Geography and Planning, as well as the University Reserves Land Stewardship Coordinator at California State University, Chico. He has a B.S. in Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of California, Davis. His interests and expertise are in pyrogeography, ecohydrology, landscape ecology, intervention ecology, conservation, environmental policy and Indigenous stewardship. Don has been involved in various aspects of environmental planning, stewardship, conservation, and regulation for a variety of organizations and agencies including federal and tribal governments. Drawing from his academic and cultural knowledge he is particularly interested in Indigenous traditional knowledge and policy and their application as a keystone process to aid in conservation and stewardship. He has published several articles specific to Indigenous prescribed fire and the social dynamics of colonization on cultural burning. Amongst other projects his current research includes longitudinal studies of fire effects on biodiversity, cultural resources and hydrology and overall environmental resiliency in riparian forests, oak woodlands, and meadows in California and Eucalypt and tea tree woodlands in the Cape York Peninsula, Australia. These projects involve working with local Indigenous communities in the respective areas to achieve a broader framework of collaborative stewardship and learning. Don has also been active in policy related to Indigenous stewardship particularly as related to fire and water management.
California Phenology Thematic Collections Network
Ahart Herbarium is actively photographing specimens in the collection and linking the images to the collection information for each species. This information is accessible through the California Phenology Thematic Collections Network (www.CCH2.org(opens in new window)). Through a National Science Foundation grant, the Herbarium will be imaging over 30,000 specimens in the collection which will be similar to the one here. Collectively, over 23 different herbaria and collections across California will be located on CCH2. Check out the website!(opens in new window)
Ahart Herbarium passed another minor milestone by accessioning over 125,000 specimens – see the number 120,000 stamped in the middle of the Herbarium logo on the lower left side of the sheet in the left photograph. This specimen is another fine example of the collecting and specimen mounting of Lowell Ahart – his collection number 21,434 from last summer.
Located in Holt Hall room 129, the Herbarium is the most complete repository of plant specimens from northeastern California. The emphasis is on the northern California flora, and includes a great number of rare, threatened, and endangered plant species. Established with specimens donated by the late Professor Vesta Holt in the 1950's, the herbarium now contains more than 107,000 dried and mounted plant specimens. The majority of samples are flowering plants, conifers, and ferns, but bryophytes, lichens, and especially slime molds, are also well represented. The herbarium is used extensively for identification of sensitive and other plant species by various agencies and individuals. Loans of herbarium specimens are made to any higher academic institutions who request them.
Facilities available to visitors to the herbarium include the use of high-quality dissecting scopes, a compound microscope, an extensive reference library, an internet-connected computer, an internet connection for personal computers, and, with suitable training, access to the collection of specimens.
Users of the herbarium facilities and collection are encouraged to make plant collections during their field excursions and donate them to the herbarium. This is how the collection grows and increases its utility and importance to the whole botanical community.
Jim Jokerst
Field Botany Grant Award in Support of Research
Application deadline:
March 16
- Supports student field research in botany and plant ecology
- Graduate students and advanced undergraduates may apply
- Up to $1000 is awarded by Friends of the Ahart Herbarium in spring semester
(PDF)
Completed application packages should be submitted in PDF format to: Dr. Adrienne Edwards, aledwards@csuchico.edu
Friends of the Ahart Herbarium Workshops!
May 31, 2025
California oak pests and diseases
presented by Michael Jones, UCANR
Check back soon for more information!
View the Friends of the Herbarium Calendar >>(opens in new window)
Ahart Herbarium is open to the public!
Hours are Fridays 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, and by appointment.
Visiting the herbarium is by appointment only, by contacting the Curator at ljaneway@csuchico.edu.