Bill Lindemann, a retired exploration geologist, has served twice as the president of the Native Plant Society of Texas. In his retirement, he is currently active in the Friends of the Fredericksburg Nature Center, the Hill Country Land Trust and the Hill Country Historical Foundation. He has written a weekly column on "Birding in the Hill Country" for the past eleven years. He is a frequent speaker on nature subjects in the Hill Country and throughout the state.

Lindemann will discus how the 5,000 native plant species found in Texas have developed their niches for thriving in the natural landscapes of the state dependent on rainfall, temperature, and soils occurring within the 10 vegetative zones. Other facts favoring native plants are resistance to pathogens, compatibility with birds and butterflies, and low maintenance and water requirements. He will discuss the factors that influence where, when and which flowering native plants can be considered for specific landscape conditions. He will begin with the soil conditions, but will also discuss other factors that affect our Hill Country native plants, including soil types, sun vs. shade, moisture and season.

Dr. Turner is a past-President of Austin's chapter of NPSOT and current Program Chair. He was a presenter at the 2007 NPSOT Fall Symposium speaking on prairie plants. His presentation at April's meeting will center on his new book, just published by the University of Texas Press, Remarkable Plants of Texas: Uncommon Accounts of our Common Natives. The presentation will cover some of the major regions of Texas and their plants with unusual historical connections to man. He will be bringing copies of his books for sale and signing.

Excerpt from his book Remarkable Plants of Texas: "Matt Warnock Turner is a naturalist, teacher, and freelance writer who works at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. An active member of the Native Plant Society of Texas, he has written articles and given lectures on botanical topics, as well as conducted nature walks at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center."

Ann is an Illinois transplant uprooted over thirty years ago. Her education and occupation is in healthcare. Fortunately for us, Ann's favorite pastimes include hiking with her husband Jimmy in the great American desert regions including the Big Bend and the sky islands of West Texas. Ann and Jimmy have many xerophytes at their Kendall County residence, and they enjoy growing them and selling them. Ann is a member of the San Antonio Cactus and Succulent Societies, the Texas Association of Cactus and Succulent Societies, and the Cactus and Succulent Society of America.

This presentation will explain the term "Xerophyte" and how xerophytes differ from other plants and will include a slide presentation plus a show and tell of representative individuals.

"Patty Leslie Pasztor has a B.S. in Range and Natural Resources Management from Texas A&M University. She worked for over 9 years as the Horticulturist for the Native Plant Areas of the San Antonio Botanical Gardens and then held the position of Park Naturalist at Friedrich Wilderness Park. Patty is co-author of the book, Texas Trees, A Friendly Guide with Paul W. Cox. She currently teaches workshops on landscaping for birds and butterflies, plant identification and ethnobotany (Native American and pioneer uses of plants) for landowners, teachers and archeologists. Patty also conducts botanical surveys throughout the state and plant identification hikes for several Texas state parks." [http://www.shumla.org/imagine/instructors/pasztor.htm]

Ms Pasztor will be presenting how this month's NICE! plant, nolina, was used by Native Americans for making baskets, thatching, and ties for bundles. She will show examples of how nolina and many other native plants were used by Native Americans and pioneers for making utilitarian and artisan objects such as clothing, baskets, medicine, soap, dye, and building material.

Kip Kiphart's interest in native plants is hereditary; he got it from his son Tim. Active involvement with the Native Plant Society of Texas, the Texas Master Naturalists and the Monarch Larval Monitoring Project have shaped Kip's perspective on land stewardship.

"Monarchs Ask: What Is A Garden?" presents an eclectic approach to sustainable sub-urban/"sub-rural" gardening utilizing basic ecological principles. The presentation explores value judgments on gardening and wildlife, and encourages gardening for a purpose. Kip and June's butterfly - hummingbird garden is on the Cibolo Nature Center - Boerne NPSOT Tour of Yards.

Jackie Poole
Botanist, Wildlife Diversity Program, TPWD
Jackie Poole received her B.A. in Botany from the University of Texas at Austin. Her Master's Degree, also from UT-Austin, was a taxonomic revision of the genus Acleisanthes in the family Nyctaginaceae. She worked in curatorial positions at Harvard University and UT-Austin. In 1983 she became the botanist for the Texas Natural Heritage Program which eventually morphed into the Wildlife Diversity Program at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. She is on the board of the Flora of North America project as well as taxon editor for several small families and the South Central Regional Coordinator. She has collected plants in the western US as well as Central and South America. In 2004 she received the Charles Leonard Weddle Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Plant Society of Texas. She has produced floral inventories for numerous state and national parks, written dozens of status reports and recovery plans for rare and endangered plants, and published several articles on taxonomic subjects, rare plant habitats and demographics. Her primary research consists of long-term demographic studies of several endangered plants. She co-authored the first book on the rare plants of Texas, and recently with additional co-authors updated the work to cover over 230 species.

Jason Singhurst
Phytogeographer, Wildlife Diversity Program, TPWD
Jason Singhurst, was born in Richardson, Texas (Collin County), where he spent his childhood stomping around the Austin Chalk Limestone Prairies and Creek Bottoms on North Central Texas and "Flint Hill" prairies and hardwoods of southeastern Kansas where his family settled in the 1850's. Jason earned a B.S. and M.S. at Stephen F. Austin State University, where he had the great fortune to work with Dr. Elray Nixon on the book Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines on East Texas and grew to have an affinity for the eastern Texas flora. He has worked for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department from 1995 to present as a staff Botanist, Plant Community Ecologist, and conducts Geographic Information Science and Remote Sensing projects state wide. He has published more than 30 journal articles on the flora of Texas, most recently describing a new plant species to science: Carr's rattlesnake root (Prenanthes carrii) -- endemic to Bandera, Gillespie, Kerr, and Real Counties in Texas. He is also a co-author of the Rare Plants of Texas book published by A&M Press. Jason last spoke to the NPSOT Boerne chapter on October 5, 2004.

Their presentation will be followed by a book sale and signing of "Rare Plants of Texas", written by Jackie Poole, Bill Carr, Dana Price, and Jason Singhurst. This hot-off-the-press book is one of a kind!