About Us

We currently have several vacancies on our governing board.  Most urgently, we are in need of a Vice President-program coordinator.  Click here to see how you can help fill the gap.

Interested in leading a field trip?  With several thousand feet of elevation difference, field trips can start as early as March and continue right into September, or even October for a fall colors tour.  We have plenty of plant lists ready to make it easier on trip leaders and can create more at your request.  Visit our Events page to learn about upcoming field trips, and take a look at our currently available plant lists.

We hold an annual native plant sale, as well as provide native plants for purchase at our local annual Pollinator Garden Fest.  Growing and selling thousands of plants takes many hands!  Visit our Gardening and Plant Sales page and watch for upcoming opportunities on our News and Events page.

Our chapter maintains the Mary DeDecker Native Plant Garden in Independence.  We occasionally host work days as needed at the garden in Independence.  Learn more about the DeDecker Garden here, and watch for work day announcements on our News and Events page or our Facebook page.

Have an expertise to share?  An interesting botanical topic to explore?  A good collection of photos??  We are always looking for speakers to present at our chapter meetings, in person or remote if needed.  Contact a board member if interested.  We’re a friendly audience!

See more ways to get involved on our Volunteer Opportunities page!

Recommended Books and other Resources for anyone visiting the Eastern Sierra region:

General Natural History | Floras | Trees | Conservation | Gardening | Where to Buy

General Natural History

• Deepest Valley edited by Genny Schumacher Smith
• The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada (California Academy of Sciences) by John Muir Laws
• The Secret Sierra: The Alpine World Above The Trees by David Gilligan
• Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley by Robert P. Sharp and Allen F. Glazner
• Natural History of the White-Inyo Range, Eastern California (California Natural History Guides #55 – OUT OF PRINT, but available used)
• Sierra Nevada Natural History, Revised Edition, by Tracy I. Storer, Robert L. Usinger, and David Lukas

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Plant Guides and Keys

• Wildflower Hotspots of the Eastern Sierra – Inyo National Forest Publication. Available at visitor centers in the eastern Sierra, and now you can also download a pdf version here. The Bristlecone chapter helped fund a part of this booklet, and it is very well-done! Be sure to check it out.
• California Desert Plants – by Philip Rundel, Robert Gustafson, and Michael Kauffmann, CNPS publication
• The Jepson eFlora
• A Manual of California Vegetation, Second Edition, by John Sawyer, Todd Keeler-Wolf, and Julie Evens – also online!
• Flora of the Northern Mojave Desert by Mary DeDecker (OUT OF PRINT (?), but available used)
• Mojave Desert Wildflowers by Jon Mark Stewart
• Introduction to California Desert Wildflowers by Philip A. Munz, Diane L. Renshaw, and Phyllis M. Faber
• Flowers and Shrubs of the Mojave Desert By Janice Emily Bowers (OUT OF PRINT (?), but available used)
• Vascular Flora of the Upper Rock Creek Watershed, Eastern Sierra Nevada, California, by Joy England. Aliso
• The Best Spring Ever – Why El Niño Makes the Desert Bloom, Photography by Carll Goodpasture, Text by Janice Emily Bowers, Edited by Steven L. Hartman
• Cacti, Agaves, and Yuccas of California and Nevada, by Stephen Ingram
• Rock Creek Wildflowers, by Cathy Rose, photos by Stephen Ingram
• Bristlecone Forest Wildflowers, by Cathy Rose, Karen Ferrell-Ingram and Stephen Ingram
• Wildflowers of the Eastern Sierra and Adjoining Mojave Desert and Great Basin, by Laird Blackwell
• Introduction to California Mountain Wildflowers by Philip A. Munz, Dianne Lake, and Phyllis M. Faber
• Native Plants of Southern Nevada, an Ethnobotany by David Rhode
• Working Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the White Mountains, CA and NV, by James D. Morefield and Dylan Newbauer. Updated July 2022.
• Sierra Wildflowers: A Hiker’s Guide, by John Muir Laws

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Trees

• Conifers of the Pacific Slope, by Michael Edward Kauffmann
• Conifers of California by Ronald M. Lanner
• The Bristlecone book: A Natural History of the World’s Oldest Trees, by Ronald M. Lanner
• A Garden of Bristlecones: Tales of Change in the Great Basin by Michael Cohen, and Robert D. McCracken

History and Conservation Issues

• Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water by Marc Reisner
• Water and Power: The Conflict over Los Angeles Water Supply in the Owens Valley by William Kahrl
• Introduction to Water in California by David Carle
• The Owens Valley, by Jane Wehrey

Native Plant Gardening

• State CNPS Bookstore Selections on Gardening with Native Plants
• What are Native Plants and Why are they Important?
• Bloom! California Native Plants for a Bright Tomorrow
• CalScape – helping Californians restore nature and save water one garden at a time. We do this by showing people which plants are really native to any location in the state, helping them figure out which ones they want, and where to buy them and how to grow them.
• Native Plant Landscaping guide for the Bristlecone Chapter / Eastern Sierra (pdf)
• Calscape native plant database now includes host plant information for California native butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). For these insects, host plants are those on which they can lay their eggs and their caterpillars can eat — and only specific plants will do.

Places to find these and other books locally

• Inyo National Forest Service Visitor Centers (White Mountain (Bishop), Mammoth, Mono Lake (Lee Vining), Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, and the Eastern Sierra Interagency Visitor Center in Lone Pine)
• Mono Lake Committee in Lee Vining
• Spellbinder Books in Bishop

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Links to other local conservation organizations

Each of the following links will open an external website. Should you find a broken link, please email us at about@bristleconecnps.org so we can resolve the problem.

Local Organizations | Nearby CNPS Chapters | Research Facilities | Botanical | Miscellaneous

Local Organizations:

• Basin and Range Watch
• Desert Fishes Council
• Eastern Sierra Audubon Society
• Eastern Sierra Land Trust
• Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association
• Friends of the Inyo
• Great Basin Resource Watch
• Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District – featuring Various Air Quality Cams
• Maturango Museum
• Mono Lake Committee
• Owens Valley Committee
• Sierra Club–Toiyabe Chapter Range of Light Group
• Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Foundation
• Yosemite Conservancy

Nearby CNPS Chapters (organized south to north):

• Mojave Desert Chapter
• Kern Chapter of CNPS
• Alta Peak Chapter
• Sequoia Chapter
• Sierra Foothills Chapter
• Tahoe Chapter

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Research Facilities:

• Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve (Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory (SNARL) and Valentine Camp)
  • SNARL Spring Lecture Series
• White Mountain Research Center
  • WMRC Winter Lecture Series

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Botanical:

• Calflora – information on wild California plants for conservation, education, and appreciation
• Calphotos: Plants
• California Native Plant Link Exchange – a resource for people interested in gardening with California native plants. This website will help you select local native plants for any location in the state, and find out who sells them. There is also a plant checklist generator.
• California Invasive Plant Council
• Fire Effects Information — see the Plant Species section; most of the California natives on the autecological accounts list come from this website, and it includes many more
• Jepson Online Interchange California Floristics – provides the latest information on identification, taxonomy, distribution, ecology, relationships, and diversity of California vascular plants.
• Jepson eFlora – The eFlora includes all of the taxonomic treatments of the print Manual and has in addition treatments for taxa that were excluded from the print Manual because of doubts about naturalization status. Interactive distribution maps linked to specimen data from the Consortium of California Herbaria are included. Words that were abbreviated to save space in the print Manual have been expanded. Keys are linked to the treatments to which they refer. Accepted names and synonyms can be searched for. The eFlora is linked to the Jepson Online Interchange, and from there to numerous electronic tools.
• Nevada Natural Heritage Program
• Species Specific Sites:
  • The Ancient Bristlecone Pine
  • Eriogonum Society
  • Genera of the Nitrogen Fixing Trees
  • American Penstemon Society
  • A Bibliography on Great Basin Blue Sage (Salvia dorrii) by Tom Schweich (useful work-in-progress; go from here to his home page for additional interesting web pages)
• Other CNPS chapter websites have many interesting articles and photo galleries

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Miscellaneous Regional Organizations:

• Sierra Nevada Alliance is an alliance of conservation groups that are based or work in the Sierra Nevada region. There are over eighty member groups that span the entire 400 mile mountain range.
• Planning and Conservation League Foundation
• Sandy Steinman’s Blog: Natural History Wanderings – often has wildflower reports for our region and great photos!