Flowering Plants of the Sierra Nevada, a new book by Joanna Clines and Stephen Sharnoff (Heyday, 2025)
May 21, 2026
7:00 – 8:00 PM (Via Zoom)
with Joanna Clines
Botanist—Sierra National Forest
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://csuchico.zoom.us/meeting/register/7WUjGbJ6R0Olh9Pv07i0jw
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Joanna Clines will describe her work with photographer Stephen Sharnoff to produce this rather large but quite lovely new book featuring over 1,000 species of flowering herbs and shrubs. The book covers the entire Sierra Nevada range, from the western foothills over the crest to about 6,000 ft elevation on the east slope. Countless photography trips were made throughout the Sierra over many years, and all but a few photos have a corresponding herbarium specimen, to be housed at UC/Jeps (the Jepson Herbarium was a major sponsor and supporter). Joanna will show photos of landscapes where the photos were taken, from foothill super-blooms to alpine rock gardens; and spectacular post-fire flower displays. The constant learning process called plant identification will be touched upon.
Joanna Clines was born and raised in Fresno, CA (except for a year in France and two years in Lesotho, Southern Africa). She attended Fresno City College where she took an introductory biology class taught by Bob Winter, and become enthralled with biology. Having found her calling, Joanna earned a BA in Environmental Biology, then a master’s in botany at CSU Fresno. Her thesis research was on the reproductive and fire ecology of the rare shrub Carpenteria californica. She has been the Forest Botanist for the Sierra National Forest since 1990. Joanna served on the statewide board of directors of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) and the California Invasive Plant Council. She was president of the Sequoia Chapter of CNPS during the 1990s. Joanna began working on this book project with photographer Stephen Sharnoff in 2008. She has lived in the Sierra Nevada north of Oakhurst for 26 years.
PHOTOS: Provided by Joanna Clines