The Genus Clarkia – Botanical Adventures and Conservation Potential
May 19, 2022
7:00 – 8:00 PM (Via Zoom)
Dr. Steve Laymon
Wildlife Biologist, Bureau of Land Management
View the presentation here.
Steve will give a brief overview and history of the Clarkia genus including overall range of the genus, major researchers, species distribution within the range, issues with using the Jepson key, and which taxa are common and widespread and which are rare and have small ranges. He will then tell about his adventures and exploration in relocating and photographing populations of all the taxa at locations where they been collected in the past. Lastly, he will discuss the taxa that are in the most danger and plans to preserve them.
Steve Laymon is currently a wildlife biologist working for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Redding, CA. He did his PhD research on the California Spotted Owl in the Sierra Nevada and has done much of the baseline ecological research on the Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo. His botanical interests accelerated when he was hired by BLM as a Restoration Ecologist to manage the Atwell Island Land Retirement and Restoration Project in the Tulare Basin. His immersion in the genus Clarkia began 20 years ago while working on a plant list for the Deer Creek Watershed in Tulare County where 10 taxa of the genus occurred. Since then he has found and photographed populations of all North American taxa of Clarkia.
Clarikia amoena ssp. huntiana
Photographer: Steve Laymon
CalFlora
Clarkia speciosa ssp. nitens
Photographer: Steve Laymon
CalFlora
Clarkia xantiana ssp. parviflora
Photographer: Steve Laymon
CalFlora