Curious about the beautiful and varied cone-bearing trees and shrubs of the Sierra Nevada? At September’s Second Saturday workshop at the Placerville Library, you’ll get to know the pines, firs, hemlock, yew, California nutmeg, junipers and cypresses of our mountains, and the Giant sequoia, too. These stalwarts of our forests as well as foothill and montane chaparrals are fascinating in their diversity and in their many different adaptations. We will have cones and branches of many of the Sierra conifers to explore, hold, and smell, as well as a presentation with photos to see them in their habitats and learn about why they’re so important to other inhabitants of the forests and chaparrals. By the end of the workshop, you’ll know how to identify conifers using clues including cones, leaves (aka “needles” and “scales”), bark, and growth habit (tall tree, low shrub, etc.), and a great little book called The Pacific Coast Tree Finder. We’ll also have other books on conifers for you peruse.

A follow-up field trip is in the planning stages, perhaps as a “conifer caravan”, when we’ll gather in a carpool and travel up the mountain, making stops along the way to see the conifers at various elevations and habitats. Stay tuned and check the “Field Trips” page for date and details.

Please RSVP!