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/385327715inaturalist.org/observations/385792929We are grateful to everyone who participated and will see you all next year.
