Natural History Wanderings

2013  ANNUAL MEETING – FOUR CORNERS (NM, CO, AR, UT) September 19-22, 2013

The annual meeting includes field trips, eriogonum Id labs, and speakers. For schedule of events, registration and more information go to:  AMeetings2013.

Welcome to Four Corners Country

The fourth annual conference and meeting will be based in Farmington, New Mexico, the most populous city in the Four Corners region. This region is the only location in the United States where the boundaries of four states meet. The majority of the region belongs to semi-autonomous Native American nations, the largest of which is the Navajo Nation, followed by the Hopi, Ute, and Zuni tribal reserves and nations.

Protected areas in the Four Corners area include Canyon de Chelly Nation Monument, Hovenweep National Monument, Mesa Verde National Park and Monument Valley.

Botanical Interests

The Four Corners/San Juan River Basin Floristic Province is an area of great diversity. With a range in altitude from 14,083 feet atop Mt. Eolus down to the confluence of the San Juan and Colorado rivers at 3,708 feet, and with topography from alpine tundra to Ponderosa forests, mesas, sand dunes, and stark cliffs, the botanical richness is immense. According to the June 2005 Catalog of the Four Corners Flora by Kenneth D. Heil and Steve I. O’Kane Jr., there are some 2565 ‘unique botanical entities’.

Of primary interest to the Eriogonum Society are the listed 35 Eriogonum ‘entities’, but other biological treasures abound. Of great general interest would be the members of the Cactaceae, including several narrow endemics, the genus Penstemon, which is well represented, and the diversity of hardy native shrubs from many genera.