- Author: Robert J Keiffer
The UC Hopland Research & Extension Center houses a fine herbarium collection that contains almost 700 vascular plant species that have been collected from the Center over the last 60 years. The majority of the collections were done by Mr. Harold Heady and Mr. Alfred Murphy during the 1950s and 1960s, with significant additions added by botanist Kerry Heise during the 1990s and 2000s. There a a few of those species that were collected initially that have not been relocated on the Center since, and may have been lost from the Center due to a variety of environmental manipulations over the decades. Or, perhaps they are just few-and-far-between and have just remained hidden from knowledgeable eyes.
One of those plant species is the showy Chaparral Lily (also called Redwood Lily) (Lilium rubescens) which was collected on HREC during the 1950s. It is a rare perennial of dry wooded and brushland ridges and slopes. The white trumpet flowers are extremely fragrant, and they gradually turn to pink as they age. This photo is from an area of north-facing slopes located a few miles away on federal Bureau of land Management lands - South Cow Mountain Recreation Area, which borders the UC-HREC property on the northeast side.
- Author: Robert J Keiffer
From late June to early August the Common Wood Nymph (Cereyonis pegala) butterfly flits over the dry understory of the oak woodlands. Males search for females with a dipping flight pattern over the ground-layer vegetation, usually in areas of dappled sunlight and shadows. The females lay eggs singly on host plant leaves, but when the caterpillars hatch they hibernate until spring instead of feeding. California Oatgrass of the genus Danthonia is one of the local host plants.
This butterfly of the family Nymphalidae is widespread throughout the United States and southern Canada, and the spots on the wings can be quite variable. This photographed-one from the UC Hopland Research & Extension Center is probably of the subspecies C.p.ariane.
- Author: Robert J Keiffer
Several common names are given to this common but unique plant that survives on steep rock faces throughout California. Canyon Dudleya, or Canyon Liveforever or Rock Lettuce are all names for the succulent plant Dudleya cymosa which is in the family Crassulaceae (stonecrop family). The genus is named after the first head of the Stanford University botany department, Professor William Russell Dudley (sounds like we are at Hogwarts!). The yellow-red flowers are displayed on short stems emerging from fleshy green succulent leaves. The plants are widespread throughout the state where they are commonly found clinging to vertical rock outcroppings.
Canyon Dudleya is an excellent hummingbird plant, and is also the larval host plant for the Sonoran Blue butterfly. It is common at the UC Hopland Research & Extension Center.
- Author: Robert J Keiffer
Chaparral Pea (Pickeringia montana) is monotypic species within the genus Pickeringia. It is a native evergreen shrub found within mature, mixed chaparral vegetation communities. The plant spreads mainly by sprouting rhizomes and damaged plants can sprout from the roots or root crowns. Having evolved in a fire-dominant community, following a brushland fire this plant repopulates into the initial plant community by seedling establishment and root and crown sprouts.
The flower is a brilliant pink "pea-type" flower (the "Beauty") but the plant is adorned with sharp spike-like thorns (the "Beast"). Chaparral Pea browse is rated as excellent to good for black-tailed deer and they carefully pick out leaves and flowers from within the thorny stems. Protein levels are notably higher than most other chaparral plants, and can reach as high as 19% on new growth in early spring. The plant is endemic to California where it is distributed from the Santa Monica Mountains in the south to Mendocino County brushlands in the north, and is rather common at the UC-Hopland Research & Extension Center.
- Author: Robert M. Timm
On July 1, 1951, the University of California purchased the "Roy L. Pratt Ranch", a 4,630-acre property east of Hopland, CA, for the sum of $200,000 ($135,000 for the land; and $65,000 for the buildings, including three residences and several large barns, ranch equipment, supplies, 1,135 head of sheep, and 7 horses). This property became the "Hopland Field Station", a multidisciplinary research facility where studies in animal science, range and watershed management, entomology, parasitology, plant science, wildlife biology, and other disciplines soon were initiated. This week, on the 60th anniversary of what is now the Hopland Research & Extension Center, we celebrate our role as the most diverse (and we believe, the most productive) field research facility within the UC's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. We've now tallied more than 1,450 scientific publications resulting from research done at Hopland (about 25 per year). Thanks to the foresight of those who sought, purchased, and developed this Center, we have both a rich legacy and a bright future.
photo from 1951 (l to r): Alfred H. Murphy, Station superintendent, 1951-1986; C. V. "Vic" Tuck, Pratt Ranch foreman from 1943 onward and Station animal technician; Donald T. Torell, animal science research specialist.
