Nemacladathon at Pinnacles?
@nrmorin @arbonius @keirmorse @euproserpinus @catchang @damontighe @dgreenberger @tiwane @kueda @matsonburger
Hi all,
This journal post is my attempt to see if anyone is interested in hunting for Nemacladus at Pinnacles this spring. I've started to get a pretty good bead on Nemacladus secundiflorus var. robbinsii, thanks to input from Nancy Morin (Nemacladus treatment author), and to some help from some of you in finding new locations (and my own searches), but we can always benefit from more records. It's some other potential species I am really interested in exploring:
Nemacladus ramosissimus
Nemacladus gracilis
Nemacladus gracilis has always been on our plant list, and we have two herbarium specimens. You can't really key it from the specimens, though, since the flowers don't really preserve well. To me, it looks like N.s.robbinsii and Nancy also thought that likely and noted N. gracilis was used as a bucket for a lot of inconspicuous Nemacladus in "the old days" that have now been identified as distinct species. Still, she says it would not be at all surprising to find it at PINN. The herbarium records, if you are interested: https://museum.nps.gov/ParkObjdet.aspx?rID=PINN%20%20%20%201768%26db%3Dobjects%26dir%3DCR%20PINN%26page%3D46
https://museum.nps.gov/ParkObjdet.aspx?rID=PINN%20%20%20%201322%26db%3Dobjects%26dir%3DCR%20PINN%26page%3D46
Nemacladus ramosissimus has never been listed from PINN, but I came across these photos from Keir Morse on CalPhotos: https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=308099&one=T and https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=308102&one=T. He said they really ARE from Pinnacles and they were initially IDed as N. gracilis but Nancy corrected them to N. ramosissimus. He said he recalls them being in a gap in chaparral a little ways upslope of the Old Pinn trail.
So, this means I have good reason to believe this species has been cryptically hanging out at Pinnacles flying under the radar.
If anyone is interested in looking for (and documenting) this and any other Nemacladus, please comment. You could either just come on your own, or if folks are interested, I could reserve an administrative campsite (aka free) for folks and we could have a mini plant-a-thon and/or mini bioblitz.
Depending on timing and interest, folks could also look for the undescribed (in prep) Jewelflower species at Pinnacles, as well as other rare plants like Eriogonum nortonii or whatever else you are interested in.
Other interested nature nerds are welcome, though we'll need to keep it a manageable sized group.
Amelia Ryan
Vegetation Ecologist
Pinnacles National Park
