Matt Fairbarns’s scientific contributions

Castilleja victoriae is described from the vicinity of southwestern Victoria, southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada and from San Juan Co., Washington, U.S.A. It is an annual member of subg. Colacus (Jeps.) T.I. Chuang & Heckard, sect. Oncorhynchus (Lehm.) T.I. Chuang & Heckard, formerly placed in the genus Orthocarpus Nutt. It is apparently most closely related to either Castilleja ambigua Hook. & Arn. or Castilleja tenuis (A. Heller) T.I. Chuang & Heckard. The new species differs primarily in its uniformly dull reddish-brown floral bracts and calyces, bicolored and unspotted corollas, and restrictive habitat requirements. Several historic populations are extirpated, and of the three extant populations only one consists of enough individuals in a protected location to be considered reasonably secure. We advocate additional surveys of its limited habitat and conservation measures to protect the species.

Pink sand-verbena, Abronia umbellata, is an endangered plant found at only a handful of sites in coastal sandy beach and dune ecosystems from Baja California to southern British Columbia. Threats include demographic collapse, habitat alteration and disturbance, and invasive species. In Canada, pink sand-verbena is known from just three localities, with only one occurrence in the last 75 years, at Pacific Rim National Park Reserve (PRNPR) in 2000 & 2001. As per its mandate under the Species at Risk Act, Parks Canada is leading a recovery plan for the species, with the objective of restoring at least three populations within its previous national range. Here we discuss the results of the first stage of a three-year recovery programme. We conducted population and habitat surveys of 75 sandy beaches, centred on and extending beyond the species' known range. These surveys located no new or recurring pink sand-verbena populations, but identified 20 sites of moderate to high suitability for reintroduction. In order to generate a source of sand-verbena plants for future experimentation and reintroduction, we instigated a greenhouse propagation programme with seeds collected at PRNPR in 2000 and 2001. Despite the naturally low germination rates for this species, we reared two plants through to seed setting, providing an initial source of additional propagules. Although pink sand-verbena in Canada occurs on the edge of the species' range, populations here may be adapted to more variable conditions than those to the south, and are thus of international conservation value. For Parks Canada, pink sand-verbena has proven to be a tractable species with which to begin a programme to restore coastal dune ecosystems; future recovery efforts will be carried out in the context of an ecosystem-level recovery plan.

IdentIfIcatIon tIps Although coastal Scouler's catchfly is the only native perennial Silene species in Garry oak ecosystems, two introduced perennial species, bladder campion (Silene vulgaris) and white cockle (S. latifolia) may be found in the same range. Bladder campion has a hairless, inflated calyx whereas the calyx in coastal Scouler's catchfly is hairy and not inflated. White cockle lacks the prominent lateral teeth on the blades of the petals.