President’s Message, March 2021

I like to take a stroll through Parkville Cemetery in Anderson at this time of year. Yesterday, the Lewis’ Woodpeckers were active, and so were the earliest wildflowers. I saw soap-plant leaves, appropriately wavy; purple sanicle, appropriately bipinnatifid (don’t blame me for the name); and spring saxifrage. Yellow-carpets (Blennosperma nanum) and redmaids (Calandrinia menziesii) were also blooming.

California saxifrage. S. Libonati-Barnes. — Hooker’s saxifrage, *Micranthes integrifola,* at Parkville Cemetery, Anderson, on February 26, 2021.
Photo by Susan Libonati-Barnes.

I like the historic graves (“unknown old mule skinner”) and the more modern: that of former Shasta Chapter president Dave Dubose. Dave was a naturalist extraordinaire, a vivid teacher, and an all-around great character.

Purple sanicle. S. Libonati-Barnes. — Purple sanicle, *Sanicula bipinnatifida,* at Parkville Cemetery, Anderson, on February 26, 2021.
Photo by Susan Libonati-Barnes.

I must mention the recent passing of Shasta Chapter CNPS member Linda Bernstein Aldrich. I knew Linda for almost 48 years, from the water mold lab at University of Washington in Seattle, to Wintu Audubon in Redding. She always staffed a table at Shasta Chapter CNPS events to promote interest in birds and butterflies. She will be missed.
~Susan Libonati-Barnes, President