The Tucson chapter holds meetings between September and May each year, with a summer break. We meet on the second Thursday of each month at 7:00 pm. We hold “hybrid” meetings, where we meet both in person and also on Zoom. The live meetings will be in the ENR2 (Environment and Natural Resources 2) building at the University of Arizona, located on 6th street near Park. We meet in Room S215. Parking is available in the 6th St parking garage adjacent to ENR2. A credit card is required to pay for garage parking. If you are not on our mailing list and wish to attend one of our meetings on Zoom, email us at NativePlantsTucson@gmail.com to request the Zoom link. Videos of past meetings can be found on our YouTube channel.
JOIN OUR CHAPTER E-LIST
Join Our Chapter E-list: If you would like to receive announcements about field trips and meetings via e-mail, send a note to the Tucson Chapter email to be added to the list. Stay informed by joining us on Facebook.
Usually, the most up-to-date information about upcoming chapter events can be found on our Facebook page.
Caring for agave and baby cacti? Consider volunteer opportunities at the Pima County Native Plant Nursery! Located at 5845 N. Camino de la Tierra, the Pima County Native Plant Nursery grows native plants for public projects and is looking for volunteers to help with weeding, watering and propagation. The nursery is open Monday to Friday 7:00am to 3:30 pm. Email Amy for available times/days and details. Plant salvage at Cortaro Farms from Camino Del Oeste to Thornydate prior to road improvement project.
Chapter News
March Chapter Meeting Notice
Posted on Feb 05, 2025
The March program, featuring author Melissa Sevigny will be on Monday, March 17 at the usual time and place (7:00 pm at ENR2 Room S225 and on zoom). NOTE- this is MONDAY, not Thursday as is our traditional meeting day. Melissa is the author of Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon. Her book has won several awards, including the National Outdoor Book Award for History/Biography, and was a New Yorker Best Book of 2023. Ms. Sevigny is a science journalist at KNAU Public Radio in Flagstaff. She will also be appearing at the Tucson Festival of Books, March 15 and 16.
Christmas trees get re-used to preserve rainfall in the Sonoran Desert.
Chapter meeting January 9, 2025
Posted on Jan 02, 2025
The Amazing World of Yuccas and Their Pollinators Presented by Wendy Hodgson, Senior Research Botanist at the Desert Botanical Garden
Yuccas are a widespread and important keystone species in our desert and mountain landscapes throughout the Southwest. Wendy will share the story of the incredible relationship between yuccas and hesperoyuccas and their pollinators. She will highlight incredible research by passionate investigators from the time these pollination relationships were first announced to the scientific world to the present, focusing on species occurring within our Sonoran and Mohave deserts. She will also address important questions as to how these pollination mutualisms will be affected by climate challenges.
Wendy has lived in and loved the Sonoran Desert for 55 years. She is Herbarium Curator Emerita and Senior Research Botanist at the Desert Botanical Garden. She studies southwest U.S. and northern Mexico floristics, with an emphasis on the Grand Canyon region. She also investigates the ecology of rare and endemic plants of the Southwestern US and northern Mexico and conducts research on the taxonomy and systematics of Agave, Yucca, and Hesperoyucca, including the study of pre-contact agave domesticated species. As an ethnobotanist, Wendy also specializes in Sonoran Desert food plants and is the author of Food Plants of the Sonoran Desert. She has collected over 33,500 herbarium specimens, including housands of specimens in difficult groups like Agavaceae and Cactaceae. Wendy works to foster diverse participation and collaboration in science by all interested parties, including community scientists and especially Indigenous Peoples, whose voices we have neglected to hear for far too long. Come to learn from Wendy about the fascinating stories of yuccas and their pollinators!
Meeting, Presentation, 7pm in person and on Zoom U of A campus, Environment and Natural Resources Building (ENR2), Room S225 1064 E. Lowell Street, Tucson
Save the date: February 13, at 7:00 pm. Pinau Merlin will talk about parasitic plants.
