2012 APS Annual Meeting - June 22-24, 2012 in Laramie, Wyoming

Click here to see some images of Penstemons from the Laramie area, courtesy of Dorothy Tuthill

Click here to see Penstemons and other flora from the region (courtesy Mike Kintgen).

The Laramie plains include a host of beautiful penstemons, including Penstemon eriantherus v. eriantherus, P. secundiflorus, P. virens, P. radicosus, P. angustifolius (may be gone by), P. glaber v. alpina, P. strictus, P. whippleanus, P. procerus, P. rydbergii, and P. laricifolius v. exilifolius in bloom only if we’re lucky. After long drives, P. gibbensii, P. haydenii and possibly P. albidus may be seen as well.

Some other plants we hope to see: Sphaeromeria simplex (Laramie false sage), Aquilegia laramiensis, Eriogonum acaule, E. exilifolium, Astragalus tridactylicus.

To prepare for the meeting, the following books are suggested and/or recommended;
Rising From the Plains by John McPhee. A fictional piece with great descriptions of the geology of Wyoming.
Mountains and Plains; The Ecology of Wyoming Landscapes by Dennis H. Knight. A guide that explains how whole ecosystems work.
Vascular Plants of Wyoming 3rd Ed. by Robert Dorn (2001). THE go to guide to plants in Wyoming.
Wildflowers of Wyoming by Diantha and Jack States (Mar 2004). A picture filled tome. Quite pricey.
Flora of North America by the Flora of North America Editorial Committee
For a much less formal treatment, try any of the Joe Pickett novels by C.J. Box.

Several great online resources include;
Wyoming Natural Diversity Database (our “Heritage Program”: http://www.uwyo.edu/WYNDD/index.html)
Rocky Mountain Herbarium (http://www.rmh.uwyo.edu/index.php). A great tool for finding species within a self created polygonal area.

2010 Annual Meeting, Medford, OR. - Article and photos by Ginny Maffitt.