Creekside staffer Lech Naumovich teamed with the East Bay Regional Park District and the California Native Plant Society of the East Bay in order to bring together a workshop on rare plant seed collection methods. Our project took place in Redwood Regional Park, on a restored serpentine area known as the Serpentine Prairie. This site is home to one of the two largest populations of Presidio Clarkia (Clarkia franciscana). We’ve been working to learn how to best maintain the existing population and how we can use human stewardship to bolster resiliency of the site and its rare plants.
UPDATE 9/26/2014: Project highlighted in KQED Science Friday Blog.
Here’s a quick synopsis of key topics we covered.
Thanks to everyone who came out and learned and participated in this project!
Sowing the last of the seeds onsite.
Seed count estimation subgroup.
Soil/Site preparation with superficial soil disturbance in targeted areas.
A picture of the Prairie circa May, 1969.
Lunchtime gathering overlooking the northern portion of the prairie.
Hunting for Presidio Clarkia on the east slope.
seed collection and screening
Creekside Science 
Leave a Reply