Spring happenings at the Chico State Herbarium

Herbarium happenings
Linnea Hanson, board member of the Friends of the Chico State Herbarium, sent me an email recently about some interesting herbarium events in the month of May:

• The Students’ Plant Photo Contest for sixth- through 12th-grade students: Submit photos of plants in 8-by-10 format as both hardcopy and digital file (jpeg); and include a note with the title or subject, your name, school name, grade level and contact information (such as address, phone number, email address). Photos will be on display during the herbarium’s upcoming Open House on May 17, from noon to 4 p.m., in the Chico State Herbarium, in Holt Hall, room 120, on the Chico State campus.

Cash prizes will be awarded for first-, second- and third-place winners. No fee for submissions; maximum of two entries per participant. All entries must be received by May 10.

Submit prints in person to the Gateway Science Museum Ticket Office or by mail to: 2013 Plant Photo Contest, Chico State Herbarium, CSU, Chico, Chico, CA, 95929-0515. Submit digital file and any questions to Paul at friendsoftheherbarium@gmail.com. “Photos may not be returned and will be modified as needed for display purposes,” Hanson said.

• Poaceae I—Springtime Grasses of the California Valleys and Foothills workshop: This May 11 workshop “is designed to introduce the basics of grass identification using species commonly found during spring and early summer months in California’s valleys and foothills,” said Hanson. The workshop will be taught by California botanist and consultant John Dittes.

“Beginners, as well as those more advanced wishing to brush up on their skills, are invited. Please bring forceps (tweezers), dissecting needle and a 6-inch millimeter ruler. You are also invited to bring any grasses you may have been wondering about,” says the herbarium’s website.

The workshop will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Chico State’s Holt Hall, room 129. Registration is $100; attendees are asked to please register in advance. For more information, call the Chico State Biology Office at 898-5356 or send an email to jbraden@csuchico.edu.

Detailed workshop descriptions and sign-up forms are available on the herbarium’s website: www.csuchico.edu/biol/Herb/Events.html. “Proceeds from herbarium workshops will help fund the curator of the herbarium,” Hanson said.

“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want—oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”—Mark Twain

“Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.”—Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke

“I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become, I will always plant a large garden in the spring. Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy that one gets from participating in nature’s rebirth?”—Edward Giobbi