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Friday, 3 November 2006
I have been criticized by a person whose name for the time being shall
remain anonymous, for my "relentless pursuit" of the "rare"
plant Lobelia cardinalis, the reports of which have been included
in this log page on 9 September and 23 September. My "relentless
pursuit" has consisted of approximately three outings in search of
this plant, which incidentally although a difficult one to find in Southern
California, is not a rare plant, and is in fact listed by the US Department
of Agriculture as being present in 41 states. It is also not listed in
any category by the CNPS Inventory of Rare Plants. I had received information
from this person about a possible location for this species, information
which was detailed and freely offered, and given in the full knowledge
that I was going to go to that location. The subsequent remarks of this
person to me after I put my report online pursuaded me to rewrite my report
and delete mention of its specific location. However, this was apparently
not satisfactory, and several continuing communications to me were so
intemperate and so paranoid, suggesting that I was deliberately encouraging
people to go off trails in search of rare plants, that I had an ulterior
motive in approaching this person, and that I was trying to make this
person look bad in the botanical community, that I felt I had to clear
the air. I have never encouraged anyone to disturb sensitive areas, and
I have endeavored to respect such areas whenever it has been clear either
through public information or posted signage that they should be left
alone. I had never met this person or had any communication with this
person, and had absolutely no reason whatsoever to try to cast him or
her in any negative light. Such a suggestion was ridiculous on its face,
and angered me greatly. I have received information subsequently that
I am not the first person to have been the target of this person's ire.
As to my "relentless pursuit," which this person clearly considered
a bad thing, I am reminded of the botanical collector and authority on
ferns Daniel Cleveland, who set out to rediscover all the plants of the
San Diego area that had been found only once. The entry for him in my
Botanical Names website contains the following: "He was one of the
founding members of the San Diego Natural History Society, founded the
herbarium of the San Diego Natural History Museum, and was author of The
Best Way of Collecting and Preserving Specimens, The Ferns of San
Diego County, and Bee Range and Honey and Pollen Producing Plants
of San Diego County. He also donated a collection of minerals to the
San Diego Natural History Museum." I in no way compare myself to
him or to any of the excellent botanists whom I have been very fortunate
to have had contact with over the past decade, but a determination to
accomplish something and not let setbacks deter one is generally considered
a good thing, and therefore I choose to take this person's usage of that
phrase as a compliment. And I will continue to search for the Lobelia,
while at the same time making every effort to not disturb sensitive areas
or publicize their locations to others who might have fewer scruples than
I.
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Friday, 10 November 2006 (Botanical Gardens)
Lately I have taken a break from my work on native plants, which seemed
appropriate given that there isn't much blooming at this time of the year.
Instead I have been trying to reorganize my Flora
of South Africa website and have been making repeated visits to photograph
South African plants at various botanical gardens, such as the Huntington,
the Quail Botanical Gardens, the Los Angeles Arboretum, the UC Riverside
Botanical Garden and the Mildred Mathias Botanical Garden at UCLA. I have
added a substantial number of new species, including many in bloom, but
it will be some time yet before I put the new site on line. I now have
pictures of 67 different species of Aloe and 32 species of Euphorbia.
One new site which I have created has grown out of this endeavor, and
that is What's
Blooming at the Los Angeles Arboretum, which is intended to be a monthly
photographic display of some of the more notable and showy flowers that
I have found there. The Arboretum is only about a five minute drive from
my house, so I will be able to make frequent visits there.
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November to March
NOTE: For the dozen or so people who might actually have encountered this
page and who might have wondered whether I had succumbed to some rare
form of poison oak poisoning, I want to explain that partly because of
the dry year we are having which may turn out to be the driest on record
and partly because of my work at the LA County Arboretum, I have not been
doing any field work of any significance. However, I do have a visit to
Anacapa Island and a number of Jepson Herbarium field trips coming up
which I hopefully will be reporting on in some detail. Stay tuned.
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