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Awkward Botanical Sketches #5: Leaves of Yellowstone Edition

Earlier this month, I met up with Eric LoPresti and others at Yellowstone National Park to help take a census of Abronia ammophila, a rare plant endemic to the park and commonly referred to as Yellowstone sand verbena. Abronia (a.k.a. the sand-verbenas) is a small genus of plants in the family Nyctaginaceae that is native to western North America. Several species in the genus have fairly limited distributions, and as the common name implies, members of this genus generally occur in sandy soils. A. ammophila is no exception. A report written by Jennifer Whipple and published in 2002 described it as “restricted to stabilized sandy sites that lie primarily just above the maximum splash zone along the shoreline of [Yellowstone Lake].” Despite the large size of the lake, A. ammophila is not widespread. Most individuals are found along the north shore of the lake, and even there it has been declining. According to Whipple’s report, “Yellowstone sand verbena has been extirpated from a significant portion of its original range along the shoreline of the lake due largely to human influences.”

Like other sand verbenas, A. ammophila has sticky leaves to which sand particles easily adhere, a phenomenon known as psammophory and an act that may help in defense against herbivory. The plant grows prostrate across the sand and produces attractive, small, white, trumpet-shaped flowers in groups of up to 20 that open wide when light levels are low, such as in the evening and in times of heavy cloud cover. The flowers are self-fertile, but insects may also play a role in pollination. It is imperative that questions surrounding its pollination biology, seed dispersal, and other factors regarding its life history are answered in order to halt any further decline of the species and ensure its survival for generations to come.

While in Yellowstone, I enjoyed looking at the all plants, several of which were new to me. I decided to sketch a few of the leaves that I found common around our campsite. I was particularly interested in discolored, diseased, drought-stressed, and chewed-on leaves, since they are more interesting to sketch and color. While I was at it, I attempted to draw a Yellowstone sand verbena seedling as well.

wild strawberry (Fragaria sp.)
Richardson’s geranium (Geranium richardsonii)
lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta)
veiny dock (Rumex venosus)
cinquefoil (Potentilla sp.)
seedling of Yellowstone sand verbena (Abronia ammophila)

More Awkward Botanical Sketches

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Book Review: The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food

If you’re new to gardening, starting a garden can be quite intimidating. The learning curve can seem steep and the barriers to entry can feel vast. Having a beautiful, productive garden like those you might see around your neighborhood can seem like an unreachable goal. What isn’t obvious when encountering nice gardens are the mistakes made, the lessons learned, and the years of trial and error that brought the garden and gardener to where they are now. Even the most experienced gardeners continue to fail and learn from those failures, which is part of what makes gardening such an exciting pursuit. The looming question for beginners, though, is where do I start?

Luckily, resources abound for new gardeners – from countless books and magazines, to YouTube videos and podcasts, to university and college courses and degrees. Easily one of the best places to start if you live in the United States are extension services of land-grant colleges and universities. One of their main reasons for existence is to help people grow successful gardens. But while the dream of having a garden is exciting, the information one needs to absorb in order to get there can be overwhelming. Rote learning of basic instructions presented in a dry way can turn people off from wanting to proceed, which is why I find Joseph Tychonievich and Liz Anna Kozik’s recent book, The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food, so refreshing. Just about everything can be made more entertaining when presented in comic book form, and gardening tutorials are no exception.

As with most comic books, The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food tells a story. Mia is a computer programmer who lives next to George, an avid gardener. One day, Mia finds George having trouble sending photos to his grandchildren. Mia offers to help; George reluctantly accepts. In return, George gifts Mia a basket of spring greens and daffodils from his garden, which prompts Mia to share her dream of one day having a garden. George jumps at the opportunity to help, and thus begins a new friendship and yearlong mentorship as George helps Mia start her first garden.

George guides Mia along each step of the way – from choosing a location in her yard, to deciding what to plant and when, to helping her deal with pests and diseases, to knowing what and when to harvest, and to, finally, encouraging her to throw a garden party to share her bounty with friends. Much more is explained along the way, often with George starting the conversation with, “The #1 rule of gardening…”, and Mia cringing at yet another #1 rule to remember.

Planting too early can be deadly for frost sensitive plants. Don’t be fooled by fake spring.

The story is simple and easy to follow, and the information is basic but solid. There are greater details to explore, but for a beginning gardener, this book is an excellent starting point. The resource section at the end of the book will get the reader to those greater details when they’re ready. I found George’s harvesting guide particularly useful. As a gardener living in the semi-arid Intermountain West, I had to laugh when George claimed that some years he doesn’t water his garden at all. A vegetable garden in our climate typically wouldn’t survive long without regular, supplemental irrigation. However, if you live in a region that reliably receives rain in the summer, watering may be unnecessary. Thankfully, there is a “Cheat Sheet” included in the book with a great flowchart to help you determine if and when to water.

Joseph provided the text for this book and is a skilled garden communicator, something he’s been doing for much of his life. Without his words, this book would not be the stand-out resource that it is. However, it was Liz’s artwork that sold me on this book. Having followed her work on twitter for a while now, I was thrilled to learn she had a book out. Much like Joseph’s lessons in gardening, Liz’s artwork is simple and approachable, yet accurate enough to recognize exactly what plant is being represented even without the finer details found in the botanical illustrations of many field guides. This book is honestly worth having just to be able to hold in your hands a collection of Liz’s beautiful artwork.

A selection of easy herbs to grow from The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food

Buy the book, but also check out the personal websites of the author and illustrator: