May 2007 Vol. IV No. 9

Directors & Officers

Ruth Loper, Director

Lynn Sherrod, Director

Sonnia Hill, President

Phone 903-849-5357

Sonnia36@hotmail.com

Jim Showen, VP Programs

Elizabeth Parks, Secy/Treasurer

Liz Soutendijk, VP Field Trips

Herb Jarrell, VP Membership

Kay Fleming, Newsletter Editor

FROM THE PRESIDENT

The following chapter members have all volunteered to serve as Tyler Chapter officers next year. I will present this slate at our May 7th meeting for approval by the members. If you are interested in serving as one of these officers, let me know and we can include you as we select our 2007-2008 officers. Sonnia Hill

Directors: Lynn Sherrod and Ruth Loper

President: Clyde McKinney

Membership V/P: Marjorie Sherrod

Secretary/Treas.: Elizabeth Parks

Field Trip V/P: Ron Loper

Programs Officer: Liz Soutendijk

Newsletter Editor: Herb Jarrell

MAY PROGRAM

Our May 7th program will feature Linda Chance from Louisiana presenting a program on "Bog Restoration." Linda has a degree from Louisiana State University. She was an Intern Botanist at Ft. Polk, Lousiana with a personal research project on Pitcher Plant Bogs. She has worked as a Research technician and temporary curator at NSU Herbarium and is working with a research/restoration project on Pitcher Plant Bogs. She is completing her thesis defense for a graduate degree in Landscape Architecture. Her LSU thesis is related to building on botanical sensitive sites. Jim Showen

FIELD TRIPS

Back by popular demand……Our May field trip (Saturday May 26^th) will be to the BIG THICKET.  As before, we will be visiting some of our favorite places on this trip.  I’ll make arrangement for those that are staying overnight on Friday the 25^th to stay at Motel 8 in Kountze, TX.  I’ll take a count during May’s chapter meeting on how many motel reservations to make. 

On Saturday we will leave the hotel at 9:00 am and go to Geraldine’s place. After touring her preserve we can visit the Sundew and Turkey Creek Units.  We’ll have lunch sometime before we visit the main building at the Big Thicket.  I’ll write out the directions to the Hotel when I send out the reminder notice about the trip.  We can carpool from the Hotel to Geraldine’s.  Although I have never been on this trip, I am really looking forward to it.  I’ve heard wonderful stories about what a treasure this place is.  I’m planning to read Geraldine’s book on the Plant Ecology of the Big Thicket before the visit.  I was told that it is about a 4 hour drive from Tyler to Kountze.  Please let me know via e-mail if you plan to go on this trip and if you will also be staying overnight on Friday or Saturday. 

My e-mail is Liz@soutendijk.com. Please feel free to bring guest.  I am looking forward to seeing many of you on this trip. Liz Soutendijk

NEW MEMBERS

We want to welcome our new members to the Tyler Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas. It’s great to have you with us! If you haven’t come to one of our meetings or our field trips you are missing out. Also if you have recently joined our chapter and you’re not listed below, let us know. Sometimes our State office is slow in getting the word to us.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

The 3rd Annual Anderson County Master Gardeners Spring Conference will be at Elmwood Gardens www.elmwoodgardens.com, in Palestine on May 11th. This year’s conference is titled “Let's Talk Water!” Pre-registration and pre-payment is required by Friday, May 4th. Check in from 8:00 to 8:45 A.M. Conference ends at 3:00 P.M.

Speakers will include:  Dr Monty Dozier of Texas A&M University (Water Harvesting), Dr John Nielsen-Gammon of Texas A&M University (Climatology), Mr. Keith Hansen; Smith County Agricultural Extension Service (Mulch-Compost), and Dr Dotty Woodson; Tarrant County Agricultural Extension Service (Lets go Natural – Plants Native to Our Area).

Lunch will be provided by Elmwood Gardens.  There will be plenty of time between speakers for strolling through the gardens and/or visiting a wide variety of exhibits/vendors. Door prizes will be given.

For additional information go to:  http://aggiehorticulture.tamu.edu/anderson

PONDERINGS

Death -Camas

By Kay Fleming

Since this is my last issue as editor of the Tyler Chapter Newsletter, I thought it appropriate to write on one of the most poisonous native plants in East Texas. I sort of consider this article my “Last Will and Testament” as editor.

I collected my first Death-camas back in 1997 for my plant taxonomy class at the University of Texas - Tyler. It was growing along a roadside in Freestone County. What inspired this interest once again was a beautiful stand of the plants along highway 19 just north of Athens. I had seen these plants in this location before but had not realized that I had never collected it in Henderson County. I am fascinated with poison plants like Barney Lipscomb of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Barney has presented the Tyler Chapter with an excellent program on Poisonous plant but I don’t remember if he included the Death-camas in his program.

The Death-camas is a beautiful and showy plant with creamy flower clustering at the top of a 1 to 2-foot stem. From afar it resembles an onion plant with its long slender grass-like leaves that arise from a bulb. However, unlike the onion, the bulb and leaves are highly toxic due to high concentrations of zygacine and other steroidal alkaloid toxins. All parts of the plant are reportedly poisonous to livestock and humans. It is considered the most toxic of the plants in the genus. The plants on Highway 19 in Henderson County are right next to a pasture and are probably within reach of livestock that are willing to stick their head through the fence.

Back in 1997 when I first collected the Death-camas, the plant was in a different family, and had a different genus name than today. Its old genus name Zigadenus will always be my favorite. It just sounded dangerous. Now the plant is called Toxicoscordion nuttallii and is the Melanthiaceae Family. It used to be Zigadenus nuttalli and was in the Liliaceae Family. We can thank recent chromosome comparisons along with molecular and morphological studies for the change. I can only imagine what the next round of technological studies might decide. With the right slant scientists might classify our Death-camas in the family Ranidae - a frog. (I sure liked Zigadenus!)

I am hoping Tyler Chapter members will continue to support our new newsletter editor by providing information and writing articles for the newsletter. It is tough when you are trying to put together an informative and interesting newsletter and you have nothing to put in it. Don’t be afraid to submit things for our newsletter. Even if the editor does not have space for it in the current newsletter he will appreciate your contribution. Without the support of the membership you cannot have an effective newsletter.

Contributions to Newsletter

The newsletter is normally printed monthly, September through May. Members are encouraged to submit articles for publication in the newsletter. Contributions will be considered on the basis of interest, suitability, and available space. Grammar and spelling corrections will be made at the discretion of the editor. Email your articles and announcements to the editor.

If you have never attended one of our meetings, and you are interested in learning more about native plants and their habitats, we invite you to give us a visit. Our meetings are held at the Walter Fair United Methodist Church in Tyler on the first Monday of each month, September through May. Walter Fair United Methodist Church is located just off 5th Street (Highway 64) at 1712 Old Omen Road, east of Loop 323.