About

Our Mission

Our Mission is to promote knowledge, appreciation, conservation, and restoration of Arizona native plants and their habitats.

Our Current Work

Currently, the Society has eleven chapters, based in Cochise County, Peach Springs, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Prescott, Santa Cruz County, Tucson, Upper Gila, White Mountains, Upper Gila and Yuma. Happenings, a newsletter about chapter activities, comes out quarterly. The current issue of Happenings is available on the website. Our state journal, Plant Press Arizona, is published twice a year and contains articles about native plant research, publications, and other related articles. All previous editions of Plant Press Arizona can be found on our website.

The conservation efforts of the Society over the past 15 years have been considerable. Through the years, the dedicated members of the Society have worked to strengthen native plant protection laws and enrich the knowledge of Arizona’s native plants. We have contributed countless volunteer hours to public education about the value of using native plants in the landscape, water conservation, and habitat protection. Valuable research has also been contributed on non-native invasive species and habitat restoration on desert and riparian canyon landscapes. Much of Arizona’s flora is highly diverse and unique and we are working to ensure the native plant diversity is around for future generations.

We invite you to join us in working to preserve Arizona’s native plants and to increase knowledge and appreciation of them. Our programs are open to the public and are generally free. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Arizona Native Plant Society, please view our membership information page.

History

Interest in starting an Arizona Native Plant Society spawned an organizing meeting in Fall 1976. The dozen people who met to create our state group were all professionals in plant-related fields or worked for a related governmental agency. Because of the diversity of interest in arid landscaping, the founders agreed that the new society would focus not only on Arizona’s native plants, but also on xeric-adapted plants from other areas and their growth in our landscapes.

The second meeting established goals for the new society. These included a Society publication, a speakers bureau, school programs, the promotion of Arizona rare plant studies and a journal for publishing such studies. Additional goals were involvement with public policy decision-making regarding Arizona’s native plants, including salvage and programs encouraging use of xeric-adapted plants in landscaping.

To promote the Society’s educational and outreach goals, an Urban Landscape Committee was tasked with developing materials about the use of native and other arid-adapted plants in local landscaping. A series of pocket guides aimed at homeowners was developed at a price low enough to promote wide usage.

A 1998 membership survey on the direction of the Society and program emphasis indicated that most members wanted more focus on Arizona native plants, leaving the promotion of non-native arid-adapted plants to nurseries. The mission statement was subsequently altered to reflect the Society’s change in goals.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Arizona Native Plant Society, please view our membership information page.

Leadership