Month: September 2026

Thank you for a fantastic Intermountain Botanical Foray 2026, The Rubies! For those of you who missed this year, the Rubies did not disappoint! Our iNaturalist project already has over 2,893 observations and 576 species! Action shots from the foray can be found on Box through this link: usu.box.com/s/… . And the long-awaited Plant of the Foray! This year it was tricky, and we opted for a 2.5-way tie. First is Pearce Lucas’ extraordinary Opuntia fragilis, a first collection for Nevada and the Great Basin!
inaturalist.org/observations/385107226. The other 1.5 plants of the Foray are a pair of sedges that haven’t been reported for Nevada since Bassett Maguire collected them in the early 1940s, one of which was from the same location that we collected it. It was a nice feeling to be following in Maguire’s footsteps, given his formative role in the Intermountain Herbarium. inaturalist.org/observations/385327715
inaturalist.org/observations/385792929
We are grateful to everyone who participated and will see you all next year.

The Rothfels lab is proud to congratulate Caleb Akogwu in receiving the Volunteer Recognition Certificate in recognition of his service with TreeUtah and The Red Cross. Caleb’s service to the community extends far beyond this and he is always searching for ways to give his time, energy, and talents to great causes. He was given this award by the State of Utah in partnership with The Utah Commission on Service and Volunteerism as part of the America 250 celebration. Caleb is a great example to all of us of the values of charity, diligence, service, and kindness. We are lucky and happy to have him with us.

Check out TreeUtah’s Facebook and Instagram posts about Caleb!