At Cal Poly Humboldt, Arcata, CA.
All-day Workshop 9am – 5pm,
March 17, 2025
Sponsored by The California Native Plant Society, North Coast Chapter and the Natural History Museum of Cal Poly Humboldt
Carex is the most speciose genus of flowering plants in California and North America, with over 80 taxa on the North Coast alone. It is also the largest genus of US Army Corps wetland indicator plants in California and the US. As well, there are more rare taxa in the genus than in any other genus in Northern California. Thus, the ability to sight-recognize and efficiently key sedges is critical to conducting wetland delineations, habitat assessments, rare plant surveys, and vegetation typing, as well as implementing habitat restoration and management plans.
With a strong emphasis on Northern California taxa, this workshop offers an intensive immersion into sedge terminology and morphology, and focuses on the identification and ecology of coastal and inland taxa. It begins with a basic review of sedge biology, morphology, and keying terminology. The rest of the workshop will be dissecting and keying specimens using a microscope and the Jepson Manual 2nd. Ed. or Jepson eFlora.
Workshop Objectives: This introductory workshop is suitable for those with beginning to intermediate experience with keying Carex. Principal workshop goals are to 1) increase understanding of common morphological terms used in the Jepson Manual 2nd. ed., the Jepson eFlora, and other floras; 2) demystify challenging or unclear key couplets; 3) review several complexes of similar or closely-related taxa, and; 4) increase familiarity with and improve sight-recognition of many common and rare Northern California taxa.
Cost: $35 for Cal Poly Humboldt or College of the Redwoods students; $150 for California Native Plant Society (CNPS) or Natural History Museum (NHM) members; and $200 for non-members.
Registration: Opens January 21, 2025, in person at the Natural History Museum of Cal Poly Humboldt (1242 G Street, Arcata, CA 95521) or through the Natural History Museum website: https://natmus.humboldt.edu/workshops
About the Instructor: Gordon Leppig is a retired Senior Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and has been a student of sedges and wetland plants for over 30 years. He has taught CNPS Sedge workshops since 2003.