Dear Arboretum Friends, The authorities at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum have asked me to address the issues of the history and scientific value of the Desert Legume Program (DELEP). In 1988, I held the position of Director of Arboretum Affairs at the University of Arizona. In this capacity, I was able to fulfill my long-held vision as to the merits of collecting, preserving, and sharing seeds of legumes that evolved under arid land conditions. Some history is in order. My connection with legumes began in 1942, when as a high school student, I became a paid worker in the forage crops program at N.C. State University. Legumes are important forages. I went on to become a forage crops professional. My Master’s thesis at NCSU involved a study of the root system of alfalfa, which had evolved under arid lands of the Middle-East. At the University of California Davis, my PhD thesis was on ladino clover, another important forage legume. Along the way, I was formally schooled in the ecology of plants. With the above background in mind, I found myself in the Spring of 1975, contemplating the prospect of moving to Arizona to become head of the Plant Sciences Department at the University of Arizona. During this contemplation, I came up with the idea of studying the legumes that evolved under arid lands. My hope was that my administrative duties in Arizona would allow me some time for an academic project such as the study of desert legumes. Thirteen years would elapse before I found myself with the flexibility to implement the idea on desert legumes I had long held. The idea for DELEP was born out of academic curiosity – one of the benefits to society of having professors who are free to follow their instincts when deciding what to investigate. But my curiosity about an arcane subject resulted in a program with great importance, as I shall now relate. The population of our planet with an immense variety of plant species occurred over millions of years. Through the process of evolution, new species appeared uniquely adapted to every soil and climate setting that
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existed. Arid lands required unique plant traits if plant species were to survive and reproduce. The end result is that thousands of legume species now present in arid lands represent plants with distinctive genetic traits. These traits are the result of unique DNA patterns that constitute the chromosomes and the genomes of the species involved. The traits such as drought tolerance and heat resistance are two simple examples. There are many more. Additionally, desert legumes contain unique chemicals that could have medical or industrial implications. All of these traits remain hidden, waiting to be discovered. Best Wishes,
Dr. Phil Upchurch
Professor Emeritus, DELEP Founder, Previous Director of Arboretum Affairs, University of Arizona
Robert Phillip Upchurch “Phil” was an administrator in the Ag College of the University of Arizona, 1975-1995. For the University, he had oversight responsibility for the Arboretum.
CONTENTS 8 | DELEP’S 30-Year Anniversary BOYCE THOMPSON ARBORETUM STAFF Dara Heward | Editor Joseph Pacheco | Graphic Designer CONTRIBUTORS Cathy Babcock, Matthew Johnson, Jacqueline Soule PHOTOGRAPHERS & ARTISTS Dara Heward, Joseph Pacheco, Annie Wolf, Kenneth Coppola, Jacqueline Soule
BOARD OF DIRECTORS President | LeRoy Brady Past President | Ian Thompson Vice President | Jim Reynolds Secretary | Rick Gibson Treasurer | Kent Ennis Mila Besich-Lira Shelly Esque Joseph Giacobazzi Sabrina Helm Jared Langkilde Bobbie Miller Jay Ream Marcia Thompson SAY HELLO TO US 37615 E. Arboretum Way Superior, Arizona 85173 602.827.3000 BTAinfo@ag.arizona.edu cals.arizona.edu/BTA JOIN OUR SOCIAL COMMUNITY facebook.com/btarboretum instagram.com/btarboretum twitter.com/BoyceThompson youtube.com/btarboretum PUBLICATION DATE ©Boyce Thompson Arboretum | August 2018
10 | The Wallace Desert Garden Update 14 | Mesquite Bean Harvesting 18 | A 30-Year Seed Bank Community 22 | The Plant Geeks 26 | Why Seed Banks are Important UPCOMING EVENTS JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER HOURS DAILY FROM 6:00 - 3:00 | GATES CLOSE AT 2:00 Summer hours continue daily through September 30. SEPTEMBER 2 | 10:00 A.M. PICTURES FROM OUR PAST - SLIDESHOW & HISTORY TALK SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 16 | 9:00 A.M. BEGINNERS PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP AND OUTDOOR SHOOT BYE - BYE BUZZARDS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 7:00-8:30 VULTURE VIEWING WITH ASU PROFESSOR DAVE PEARSON 8:30-10:00 GUIDED BIRD WALK WITH DR. PEARSON AND FRIENDS
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Why Should You Give a Hill o’ Beans About Legumes? Text from educational exhibits of the Taylor Family Desert Legume Garden here at Boyce Thompson Arboretum
The legume family is one of the most economically and agriculturally important plant families in the world. It is, in fact, the third largest family of flowering plants with over 18,000 species. Legumes are a major component of ecosystems worldwide including the Sonoran Desert. As a food source, legumes are second in economic importance only to the Grass Family (wheat, corn, rice, etc.)
Uses of Legumes: 1. Food:
Legumes are a major source of dietary protein. The leaves, pods and/or seeds of many are eaten fresh or cooked. Examples are Beans, Peas, Peanuts, Carob, Fenugreek, and, Licorice.
2. Ornamentals:
Within this diverse family are trees, shrubs, annual and perennial herbs and vines valued for their beauty and usefulness in landscaping. Examples are Wisteria, Mimosa, and Redbud.
3. Medicines:
Plants are living chemical factories. 80% of our medicines today originate from plants. Legumes are also used in many traditional medicines. Examples are Senna, Cancer Bush, and, Kidneywood.
4. Industry:
Legumes provide many chemicals essential to industry for dyes, tannins, gums, oils, etc. Tree legumes are often used for timber and fuel. Examples are Indigo, Mesquite, and Sweet Acacia.
5. Fodder:
The foliage and pods of many legumes are eaten fresh or dried as hay for livestock. They also provide valuable forage for wildlife. Examples are Alfalfa, Vetch, and Clover.
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Food
Why do so many people eat beans? Legumes are a major food source for many cultures throughout the world. They provide sugars, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, fiber and flavoring, as well as protein. Soybeans are composed of 38% protein, whereas steak contains only 25% protein – and beans are much cheaper to produce than meat.
prescription medicines originated from plants. Many legumes can enhance your well-being and can be used to treat disorders and diseases. •
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Beans are a great source of protein. Roots provide many untapped riches. Pods are crammed with carbohydrates and sugars. Sprouts are rich in rare vitamins, minerals, and trace elements. Gums are used to stabilize and thicken many foods. Flowers produce pollen and nectar.
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Ornamentals
Why do artists and landscapers love legumes? For their many beautiful forms, textures and colors! The Legume family contains more than 18,000 species worldwide. It is so diverse that botanists divide it into six subfamilies, for example, blue palo verde, baja fairy duster, and sweet pea. If legumes are so diverse, what do they have in common? Most legumes produce fruits (pods) that split open along two sides.
Medicine
How do legumes affect your health? Plants are living chemical factories. Most traditional medicines and more than 50% of all
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Circulatory & endocrine systems - Soybeans, Glycine max, can lower cholesterol, increase hormone levels and regulate insulin. Fenugreek, Trigonella foenum-graecum, can lower cholesterol and is used in treating diabetes. Digestive System - The leaves, twigs, and gum of Velvet Mesquite, Prosopis velutina, are used to treat ulcers & stomach inflammation. Immune system - The traditional Chinese herb, Astragalus membranaceus, enhances immune system function. Skin & Respiratory System - Tea made from the twigs and leaves of Red Bird-of-Paradise, Caesalpinia pulcherrima, is used to treat dermatitis and respiratory infections. Nervous System - L-dopa, originally identified in Fava Beans, Vicia faba, is used to treat Parkinson’s disease. Antibiotics - Kidneywood, Eysenhardtia texana, has antifungal and antibacterial properties. Cancer Bush, Sutherlandia frutescens, has been used in Africa as a traditional treatment for cancer.
Industry
What legume gave us the blue in blue jeans? Before the development of aniline dyes, a major industry produced indigo from leaves of Indigofera. The leaves are soaked in water in large earthenware pots or pits in the ground. As the indigo leaves rot, a blue color is released. After several days of fermentation, lime paste is mixed in. The blue paste that settles is collected and can be stored for many years.
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What are some of the uses of legumes? • •
Essential oils are used to make perfumes. Gums are used to make foods, cosmetics, inks, polishes and drugs. • Fine woods are used to make musical instruments, sculptures and furniture. • Tannins are used to make leather. • Fibers are used to make ropes & textiles. • Woods are used for fuel and to make charcoal.
Fodder
Alfalfa is an important forage crop that covers more than 20 million acres in the United States.
Because alfalfa contains 20% protein, it is an excellent food for livestock. Legumes actually enrich the soil they grow in! •
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Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plants. Although the atmosphere contains a lot of nitrogen, it is not a form that can be absorbed by plants. About three-quarters of all legumes have special root nodules where bacteria live. These bacteria trans form atmospheric nitrogen into a form that the plants can use. The bacteria get a place to live as well as some nutrients from the plants, and the legumes get this essential fertilizer.
To learn more, come visit the Boyce Thompson Arboretum’s Taylor Family Desert Legume Garden, a living collection of Arid Land Legumes & Educational Exhibits. The construction of the Taylor Family Desert Legume Garden at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum was funded by the family of the late Keith Taylor Sr. and contributions from the green industry in Arizona. The purpose of the garden is to demonstrate to the public the diversity and utility of legumes drawn from deserts around the world. The garden provides educational exhibits showing the existing and
potential utility of desert legumes as food crops, forage crops, sources of industrial products, medicinal products, fuel crops, ornamental plants, sources of nitrogen, and cover crops for soil stabilization and improvement. The Desert Legume Garden also provides illustrations as to the importance of wild desert legumes as a source of genes for existing domesticated legumes.
From the Herbarium
First Collected Specimen from Boyce Thompson Arboretum
Work on the BTA Herbarium collection began in 1926. The first accessioned specimen (# 0000001) is a beautifully pressed and mounted specimen of desert honeysuckle, Anisacanthus thurberi. This specimen was collected on the Arboretum grounds by Fritz Berger in June of 1926. Desert honeysuckle is a locally common native shrub along Queen Creek. Even after 92 years, this first specimen appears as if it could have been collected and pressed only months ago.
In the fall of 2017, the Boyce Thompson Arboretum Herbarium was relocated to Tucson where it is currently managed by the Desert Legume Program. There is not adequate space for this collection of dried plant specimens at BTA’s current facilities, and it had not been actively curated for many years. The BTA Herbarium will eventually include preserved specimens of all plant accessions in BTA’s living collection as well as specimens documenting the flora of east central Arizona. Long term plans call for the construction of facilities at the Arboretum to house this important collection.
Uniquely Labeled Specimen
-Matthew B. Johnson
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Boyce Thompson Arboretum’s Desert Legume Program Celebrates 30-Year Anniversary BY MATTHEW B. JOHNSON | PROGRAM MANAGER & CURATOR
The Desert Legume Program (DELEP) marks its 30th anniversary this June. DELEP was created in 1988, by Dr. R. Phillip Upchurch as a joint project of Boyce Thompson Arboretum and The University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. DELEP contributes to the research component of BTA’s mission and fills many other roles as well.
The mission of DELEP is:
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To acquire and preserve in perpetuity seed of legumes native to the arid and semiarid lands of the world, To learn more about the nature and utility of these unique species,
To share this germplasm with professionals and laypeople having a legitimate interest, and To aid in the preservation and conservation of desert legume biodiversity through both in situ and ex situ means.
DELEP is unique in focusing on wild species of legumes (Fabaceae) from dry regions. This group of plants was selected for several reasons: 1.) The Fabaceae is the third largest plant family worldwide, with nearly 20,000 species, and is well-represented in the floras of dry regions. 2.) Wild legumes are understudied in terms of their economic potential. 3.)As a group, legumes are second only to the cereal grains in terms of their importance to humanity. 4.) Legumes are utilized in many ways including food crops, forage crops, green manure, forestry, sources of medicines, industrial compounds, erosion control, shade and shelter,
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and as landscape and amenity plants. Many species of legumes have the ability to convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form usable by the plant through symbiosis with bacteria on their roots. DELEP has developed an extensive collection of Fabaceae from the southwestern U.S. and around the world. Most programmatic activities are tied into this seed bank. The seed bank has a total of 4,108 accessions representing 1,409 species in 224 genera that have originated in 67 countries on six continents, making this truly a global collection. The USDA-ARS National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation maintains a portion of the seed collection in secure, backup storage at their facilities in Fort Collins, Colorado. The USDA’s Genetic Resources Information Network coordinates with DELEP to process seed requests for this germplasm. In 2011, DELEP became the third organization from the U.S. to have seeds placed in long-term storage in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, in the Norwegian Arctic. DELEP is a member of Botanic Gardens Conservation International, and receives seed requests through that organization. DELEP also has an Index Seminum on its website which includes instructions on requesting seeds. Since 1989, the seed bank has processed over 1,100 requests for seeds to recipients across the globe for a diverse range of uses. DELEP serves citizens, businesses, academia, and government agencies in Arizona and around the world by providing seeds, plant material, and information as a public service. DELEP works with students and researchers at the University of Arizona and participates extensively with collections development at the Boyce
Thompson Arboretum. DELEP and BTA staff have undertaken expeditions in Arizona, Texas, and several international destinations to document the plant composition and appearance of wild plant communities as part of the development of the ecogeographic regions displayed at the Arboretum; legumes feature prominently in many of these regions. The program has collaborated on projects with private industry, researchers at other academic institutions, USDAARS botanists, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Arizona State Land Department, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. DELEP staff participate in numerous public presentations and events at BTA and elsewhere in Arizona. In addition to a small paid staff, DELEP has had an active volunteer program since 1989. Volunteers help process seeds at monthly meetings at DELEP’s headquarters at the UA Campus Agricultural Center, in Tucson. Volunteers also participate on seed collecting trips around the Southwest, assist with plant maintenance in the nursery, and work in the BTA herbarium which is currently located at DELEP’s Tucson facilities and managed by DELEP personnel. Volunteers are invaluable in supporting the work of the staff. In 1994, the Desert Legume Advisory Board was established to provide guidance for program activities and to assist in seeking funding sources. DELEP has achieved remarkable progress over the past three decades with a small staff assisted by a dedicated group of volunteers, and with limited funding and physical resources. The program has achieved an international reputation for excellence and will continue to serve as a resource to Boyce Thompson Arboretum, the University of Arizona, and the global community.
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WALLACE DESERT GARDEN FAQs: BY CATHY BABCOCK | PHOTO BY DARA HEWARD Boyce Thompson Arboretum’s newsletter of January 2016 introduced readers to the Wallace Desert Garden project. The article on page 10 in that journal explained who H. B. Wallace was, how the estate garden came to be, what he collected, and why it ended up in Superior, AZ. As the article further explains, the plants in the collection are from all over the world. Please visit wallace.btarboretum. org for further information. Did BTA take every single plant from the Wallace Desert Garden? No. All plants were inventoried by Native Resources International (NRI), including all of the native trees and shrubs. Boyce Thompson Arboretum (BTA) was not allowed to take certain native plants unless they were in the building envelopes. BTA and Logan Simpson, an architectural design group with whom we have been working, went out to the Wallace Desert Garden (WDG) and, over the course of several months, assessed the health of each plant and tagged the plants BTA wished to salvage. BTA then worked with NRI, and tagged the plants to be
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salvaged with a box size and the season in which they should be moved. How many plants were relocated? Between December 2015 and October 2017, just over 2,000 plants were boxed and transported to BTA by NRI. They were moved 75 miles from Sincuidados in north Scottsdale to BTA, which took a total of 100 semi-truck loads. A little more than 3,000 plants were hand-dug by BTA staff between May 2015 and October 2017 and placed in shaded holding areas. Approximately 230 of the plants are legumes that were grown from seed by DELEP, our Desert Legume Program, and given to WDG. When all was said and done, 5,052 plants were salvaged, comprising 1,457 taxa (species, cultivars, hybrids, varieties, etc.). Of these, about 300 are unique and new to the existing collections. Where will the new trail be located? We are creating a brand new trail which will be called The Wallace Desert Garden at Boyce Thompson Arboretum. At the time of this writing, almost half of the boxes have been planted. The
new trail begins off of the west end of the Demonstration Garden, crosses Queen Creek, and continues on the south side of the creek. There will be 2 loops on the side of the mountain, a main loop around a promontory, and a “barrier free” section of trail planned for wheelchair access when the creek isn’t running, at least until funds are raised for a bridge by the picnic area and High Trail. With the existing topography, and Picketpost Mountain as a backdrop, the new garden will be quite stunning. The 2 loops, although not long, are steep in places, making them challenging. The main loop will be flat and easy. Except for the entrance section and mesquite bosque, there will not be a lot of shade along the trail. In all, the new trail will add about a mile to the existing system. When will the new trail be open to the public? The grand opening is slated for the fall of 2019. Even though all of the boxed plants should be in the ground by the end of 2018, we still have the smaller, under story plants to install. In addition, there is much fine tuning to do. To name a few things: construction of the entrance memorial; finessing of pathways; installation of signage; and accessioning of plant material. Plus, it takes time to plan a grand party! Who will take care of the trail? Will BTA need to hire additional staff? After the deal to move the garden was struck, two dedicated groundskeepers were hired strictly for the Wallace project. Their jobs were to assist with the plant relocation, unload plants from the semis as they
arrived, place them in rows according to plant type, work directly with NRI in bringing plants down from the staging area for planting, and maintain the health of the plants after they are in the ground. Is funding still needed to complete the Wallace Desert Garden project? Absolutely. We still need funding to build a bridge to connect the trail to the picnic grounds and provide year-round access. Without a bridge crossing, the trail will have to be closed when Queen Creek is flowing. There are also a number of large specimen cacti and succulents that need protection year round from sun and cold. The grand plan is to construct a state-of-theart pavilion. A temporary structure needs to be built in the interim. Funding is also necessary for the entrance within the Demonstration Garden, signage throughout the new trail, and an east end irrigation system tied to the new well to take the burden off of the west well. Seating areas are being planned, and benches will be available for purchase throughout the trail.
To contribute to the conservation of the Wallace Desert Garden, please call 602.827.3000 or mail a check to: Boyce Thompson Arboretum 37615 E. Arboretum Way Superior, AZ 85173
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Come experience Boyce Thompson Arboretum’s Annual Event And say goodbye to the Summer Heat!
September 23 | 7 – 8:30 a.m. $15.00 per person $5.00 ages 5 – 12 Ages 4 and under are FREE Admission includes unlimited access to the Gardens!
Join the Arboretum Social Community! “Phil & Friend #wildmanphil #LizardWalk” Photo by Jill Cockrum
@seanstubbenwildlife: “Cactus Wren, the state bird of Arizona. I took this picture at Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park last fall. There was a huge prickly pear cactus with lots of ripe fruit, so it was a magnet. Photo by Sean Stubben @aflowergirl: “This morning we were greeted by Echinopsis cacti in bloom. It is a South American cactus, sometimes known as an Easter Lily Cactus.” Photo by Angie Zeis Dale @huntj18: “This photo is quintessential Arizona to me. A Curve Billed Thrasher on a pipe organ cactus. The desert exhibits at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum are awesome. So many species of cacti that I had never even seen before. Also, I love the intensity of these thrashers’ eyes.” Photo by Jacob Hunter @davidinlegalI: “Got up close and personal with a screaming #coopershawk today at the #boycethompsonarboretum! This juvenile was one of, I think, six in the area. They were amazing to watch all morning soaring in and out of the trees, catching and eating lizards, and chasing each other all around the Arboretum. Nothing beats a morning with the birds!” Photo by David Campbell
“Stunning Hummer at BTA” Photo by Thom Bell @woodsywondersphoto: “We visited our local arboretum this morning. Such a beautiful location!!! We are falling in love with Arizona all over again.” Photo by Erica Williams
@eganeyesphotography: “This handsome little dude is about to turn 2! So we headed out this morning for a little fun and exploring with him+mom+dad! Isn’t he just so stinkin cute!” Photo by Misha Egan
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Harvesting Mesquite A quick guide on how to safely harvest mesquite BY DR. JACQUELINE A. SOULE | ILLUSTRATION BY ANNIE WOLF
Harvest Early, Harvest Dry
Harvest mesquite pods before the summer rains, and never wet or wash your pods. Harvesting dry pods and keeping them dry reduces the growth of molds (fungus) on pods. The problem is an invisible fungus (Aspergillus flavus) which forms the chemical aflatoxin B1, a known carcinogen. Recent research at the University of Arizona by Dr. Nick Garber, Dr. Sadhana Ravishankar, and the Mesquite Harvest Working Group showed a clear correlation between aflatoxin levels and rainfall. Many mature pods harvested after the monsoons started were unsafe due to high aflatoxin levels. These same studies found mesquite pods harvested before the rains had safe aflatoxin levels—well below the minimum levels allowed by aflatoxin sampling of food products.
Harvest off the Tree
Ripe pods range in color from yellowish tan to reddish or purplish (not green), and are dry and brittle. They come off the tree easily. Always harvest pods from the tree, not the ground. When you harvest from the ground there is greater risk of the pods having come into contact with fecal matter, herbicides, pollutants, fungus from the soil, or irrigation water that may increase the amount of fungus or mold on the pods. You can find quality pods on trees that grow in washes, small drainages, backyards, and along low-traffic neighborhood streets. Often, city trees are the most abundant producers because they receive supplemental water in the form of runoff from nearby rooftops, patios, and streets—especially when people have set up water-harvesting earthworks around or beside the trees.
Harvest
Pick ripe pods from the tree. Taste one! Always judge sweetness before continuing to harvest from that particular tree. Flavor varies from tree to tree. The sweeter the better! A good-tasting pod will have no chalkiness, no slight burning sensation in the throat, no drying out of your mouth, and no bad aftertaste. Pull gently and the pods should come right off. If you have to pull hard, they’re not ready yet! Pick only those pods that are good-tasting, clean, and nice-looking (free of black mold). Annie Wolf is a writer and artist from the Gold Canyon area who specializes in nature watercolors and acrylic animal portraits. She has been painting for as long as she can remember, and wants to use her art to help support the Boyce Thompson Arboretum and its endeavors.
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Dry Carefully
Dry pods should snap easily in two when you try to bend them. If they are not dry, lay them out in the sun on a cloth, metal roofing, or the hood of your car until they pass the snap test. Drying may take 1 to 3 days.
Store
Once pods are dry, store them in a dry, rodent-free place until milling day. Store in food-grade containers or bags. Used, clean food-grade buckets make good storage containers. You can get these buckets (with lids) from donut shops, grocery-store bakeries, or sandwich shops. Note: Plastic garbage cans are NOT for storing food because the plastic in the cans often contains harmful biocides.
Don’t Be Bugged
Bruchid beetles may hatch out of the pods during storage—they are what make the small holes in the pods—but they are harmless! Allow the bruchid beetles to escape and most will leave on their own accord. If the storage container is open to insects, beneficial tiny wasps can also enter the container to become predators upon the bruchid beetles. To avoid beetles, freeze your pods. Remember, though, to thaw and dry pods at least three days before milling so they snap easily in two when you bend them.
Mill into Meal or Flour
A scant handful of dried pods can be ground in a blender to make mesquite meal. If you want flour, take your mesquite pods to the Desert Harvesters milling events. Be sure the pods you bring for milling are clean and free of mold as well as gravel, dirt, or any other debris that could damage the mill or contaminate your flour or that of people whose pods are milled after yours. Only properly prepared pods will be milled!
Economics
It takes about 2 leisurely hours to pick, clean, dry, store, and mill 5 gallons of whole pods into 1 gallon (or 5 pounds) of mesquite flour. You can sell mesquite flour for about $10 per pound, assuming you sell directly to customers. Depending on how fast you work, you could earn $25 per hour for the combined tasks of picking, drying, storing, milling and packaging! The economics are especially favorable if all of the activities occur within or near your neighborhood. Of course, you can also just enjoy and share your harvest for free. arboretum.ag.arizona.edu | Boyce Thompson Arboretum | 15
GLUTEN-FREE MESQUITE MUFFINS
1/8 Cup Mesquite Flour
1/8 Cup Flax Seed Meal
1/2 TSP. Alum-Free Baking Powder
Add a Pinch of Salt
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1 TBSP. Sweetener to Taste (stevia, honey, molasses, sugar)
1 TSP. Oil (olive oil, butter, coconut oil) 1 egg
Recipe by Dr. Jacqueline A. Soule Since 2012, the Desert Legume Program has been a part of Science City at The Tucson Festival of Books. Since 2016, we have been a part of “The Science of Food” and have shared tasty treats made from a local desert legume – the pods of the mesquite tree. When offering samples to the public we purposefully do not add any sweetening. We want people to taste how sweet mesquite can be on their own.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Use a microwave safe mug or pyrex measuring cup, sprayed with cooking spray. Mix the flour, meal, baking powder, salt, and any dry sweetener. Add in the oil, egg, and any wet sweetener. Stir well. Microwave for 1 minute. Remove from the cooking dish right away.
You can quadruple this recipe and cook it in a loaf pan for a loaf cake, but cook for less time, generally 3-½ minutes.
Optionally, you can drizzle this cake with a light icing, which makes a quite elegant coffee cake.
About the Author: Dr. Jacqueline A. Soule is the chair of the Desert Legume Program’s (DELEP) advisory board. DELEP is a joint program with the Boyce Thompson Arboretum and the University of Arizona. Jacqueline is a Tucson-based writer with a number of books about gardening in the Southwest, all available at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum’s Gift Shop, including “Southwest Fruit & Vegetable Gardening,” with an entry about mesquite. She gives a number of public lectures about gardening: check the Events page on southwestgardening.com for more.
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A 30-Year Seed Bank Community The Desert Legume Program grows desert legumes in Tucson - and even a bigger global community. TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY DARA HEWARD
I
f legumes weren’t around, we wouldn’t have many of the benefits that they provide. After all, they are the second most important plant family agriculturally. These benefits are wide ranging: nitrogen fixation; providing nutritional benefits for humans and livestock; improving soil quality; helping provide nitrogen availability for crops; countless medicinal benefits; and in usage as low-water landscape plants. Plus, the scientific name is outright fun to pronounce, similar to a Harry Potter spell: Leguminosae (alternatively Fabaceae).
With the Desert Legume Program (DELEP), we have many species of legumes from the arid landscape regions of the world saved and put aside for research and conservation. As a joint venture of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum and The University of Arizona College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, DELEP is a very unique project. To learn a little more about DELEP, the seed bank, and the field sites (where a lot of these seeds come from), I took a trip down to Tucson, Arizona where they are housed. DELEP is located at the University of Arizona Campus Agricultural Center (CAC) and housed in the Arizona Crop Improvement Association building. They are neighbors to the USDA Bee Research Lab. How cool, I thought, to have field sites of legume flowers so close to the bee lab, where bees could help pollinate DELEP’s plants and DELEP could help feed the bees. In Tucson, under the gray gloom of an Arizona monsoon, I walked into the DELEP offices. I 18 | Boyce Thompson Arboretum | Summer 2018
greeted Ken Coppola, DELEP’s horticultural specialist. His office was covered in pictures of plants, naturally. Ken is a charismatic guy with a vibrant personality. Soon after, Matt Johnson walked in and greeted me. Matt is the Program Manager and Curator of DELEP, a tall man with a contagious smile. It’s a rarity and a delight when I see these two colleagues, since I work in Superior at the Arboretum and they are housed in Tucson. I’m not sure if I have more fun when they talk “plant talk”, saying the various names of surrounding plants, or when they fight over what plants need to be moved out of the shade house and field sites. It’s as if they speak their own language, in this case, we could call it “Legumish”. Ken took me on a tour of the field sites next. He took me to Field Site 1 and Field Site 3. Since his first day at DELEP, 30 years ago, Coppola has helped provide the support of age-old trees. I began to grasp the importance of these two colleagues and the role they had on the long-standing legume program. He not only knew every plant by its name and the year it was planted, but he kept data on each plant – how much each one flowered, how many seeds it produced, environmental factors of that year, how much water they received, how much wind they got, and so on and so forth.
Ken Coppola (right) shows me one of the many legumes at one of the DELEP field sites housed at the University of Arizona Campus Agricultural Center (CAC).
Matt Johnson holding a big bean pod from Entada gigas, common names include sea bean, sea heart, and monkey ladder. It is a liana (woody vine) that is native to parts of tropical America and Africa. The seeds are often found on beaches after floating down rivers and into the ocean, and then washing ashore.
While telling me about his day in the life of a important he was to the continuation of DELEP. DELEP horticulturist, he stopped and pointed He has the history, the knowledge, the language, out a dragonfly sitting on top of one of the and most importantly, the enthusiasm. I felt like shrubs, “See, this area is special for many reasons. I got to know Ken better by sharing a stroll in his Dragonflies come here time after garden. After working at the Arboretum time and use the field sites along for a year now, I have realized how “The Desert with countless other wildlife. We do special each horticulturist is to their Legume Program area more than just research and conserve of specialization. The area, in a wouldn’t be legumes. We provide a community for sense, becomes that person, whether plants and wildlife.” He continued possible without that’s intricate, creative, passionate, to tell me about each tree, “This full, modern and simple, meditative, the long-term one is a Rhynchosia pyramidalis. strategic, etc. Each horticulturist The Native American Pascua Yaqui has brought their own values to the knowledge Tribe used the seeds in ankle rattles. gardens. With Ken, I could tell just There are about 250 known species of many of us have by walking through the sites that he Rhynchosia and the Desert Legume accumulated was very in tune with nature, natural program seed bank has 11 of them.” cycles, understanding the weather, in the last 30 and He then named another legume, an really understanding each plant years. These Acacia kempeana (Witchetty bush), as an individual. an Australian Acacia. He told me plants and seeds Ken told me about two different plants that Australian Aborigines use the “wood” for making harpoons and depend on us.” of the same species, one produced many seeds, the other did not. We discussed obtaining grubs from the roots. theories on why this could have happened. He One thing that I noticed was how intricately continued to tell me each plant, not by name, Ken kept the field sites. By walking through the but by their uniqueness. After, I told Ken how sites with him, I began to understand just how impressed I was with the program and his role 20 | Boyce Thompson Arboretum | Summer 2018
A glimpse into DELEP’s seed bank. The seeds are kept in either a big walk-in freezer or box freezers.
in it, he said something that stuck with me, “The Desert Legume Program wouldn’t be possible without the long-term knowledge many of us have accumulated in the last 30 years. These plants and seeds depend on us.” I have known this all along, but seeing the work of the past 30 years manifest in person made me realize his statement was something to be shared. Back at the DELEP offices, Matt told me that he originally got into plants because one of his earliest memories was helping his mom in the garden with peas. Ever since, he’s been hooked. A local of Tucson, Matt didn’t grow up far away from where he now works. He showed me his office. I turned the corner and immediately saw the biggest seed pod I have ever seen! “Is that real?!” Yes of course it’s real, I couldn’t expect anything less of Matt: keeping the coolest of legumes in his office because he has traveled all over the world collecting seeds for the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. Next, he showed me the seed collection, the Boyce Thompson Arboretum’s herbarium, and the lab where many seed germination experiments have taken place. Matt tells me that, just in the last month, there have been a record 20 seed requests. He
showed me some of the requests – “This one is for four accessions of Lupinus argenteus being sent to a researcher at the Northern Arizona University School of Forestry, for use in a greenhouse study of the soil mesocosm in relation to plant performance in untreated vs. thinned and burned pine forest. This one is a request for Vigna vexillata to a researcher in South Africa at the University of the Western Cape Department of Biotechnology for genetic studies, to evaluate response of the plants to drought and heat stress.” If there was one constant theme of the day, it was community. The community between the bees and the plants; the community of the research efforts between Boyce Thompson Arboretum and the University of Arizona; the community between the plants and the wildlife, which end up calling north central Tucson their home because of the field sites; and the global community, which depends on the survival and endless value of DELEP’s seeds in conservation and research.
arboretum.ag.arizona.edu | Boyce Thompson Arboretum | 21
Desert Legume Program, 1988 to……infinity TEXT AND PHOTOS BY KEN COPPOLA
T
hirty years ago, the Desert Legume Program began with optimistic goals and an uncertain future. The idea for developing a comprehensive collection of dryland legume seeds probably seemed exciting enough to create a massive global yawn to some; fortunately, a group of enthusiastic volunteers and two graduate students created a vortex of energy that rarely f lickered. I arrived as horticulturist for DELEP near the end of that first year and I became enthused by the energy of this group of plant geeks who were strangers to me. Having also been a plant geek for my entire life, I immediately agreed on the importance of DELEP’s goals and I became a section in the Desert Legume Program quilt. The Boyce Thompson Arboretum and University of Arizona campus contained a tapestry of native, nonnative, and desert-adapted plants that provided a comprehensive palette of seeds for our young seed bank. Public outreach through our newsletter ARIDUS helped the program grow, and occasional seed contributions added to the diversity and volume of species in our seed bank. Plants were grown in fields and greenhouses to increase seed numbers from those carefully cataloged plant accessions. During the first ten years we grew and stewarded thousands of plants, subsequently collecting seeds from hundreds of species, and allowing DELEP to be one of the greatest seed sharing organizations in the
22 | Boyce Thompson Arboretum | Summer 2018
world. In recent years, portions of our seed collections were accepted for backup storage and protection at the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Ft. Collins, Colorado and at the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway. Several dozen species have been introduced into the landscape industry as the result of our work, and we are happy to share seeds and knowledge in reciprocal relationships with several gardens. Volunteers continue to be a major force of the program. Part of my job is as the coordinator of DELEP’s volunteer program. More than 200 volunteers, in groups of 5 to 45 individuals, participated at 280 monthly volunteer sessions during our first 29 years. Some even volunteered from remote areas. Volunteer time commitments were larger during the first 15 years of the program, but their passion for helping us fulfill our missions has never ceased. Volunteers have helped in our participation at The Tucson Festival of Books for 8 years. Spanning from those first days in mid-1988 to now, volunteers have worked 40,600 hours doing plant propagation in greenhouses and in fields, plant care and seed collection, field work in Tucson and Yuma, AZ, laboratory research, literature review, donor relations, mailing projects, and event hospitality. Several dozen student employees made significant contributions to our work during our first 15 years. Many of them found careers in horticulture
and natural resources fields after working at DELEP. Plant scientists from around the U.S. and in the local area have been active with our advisory board. We continue to rely on the expertise of these professionals in guiding us into our 30th year. As time passes, our work with seeds balances a garden of plants that were rarely seen in cultivation before DELEP. Please contact us at Boyce Thompson Arboretum to be a part of the fun.
Thornless Honey Locust - Gleditsia triacanthos
Top from left to right: Kathy Stadt, Cathy Babcock, Matt Johnson, Doug Stadt, and Gonzalo Ruiz wrap a tree preparing it for transport to the Arboretum. Bottom: Joe Principe and Matt Johnson
arboretum.ag.arizona.edu | Boyce Thompson Arboretum | 23
Tucson Festival of Books & the Desert Legume Program TEXT AND PHOTOS BY DR. JACQUELINE A. SOULE
T
ucson Festival of Book s ( TFOB) is wor th the visit – ever y year! It is now the nation’s third largest book festival, and t wo days are simply not enough time to see ever y thing. There are so many authors, books, and people presenting their book related “stuf f ” - not to mention Science Cit y! Science Cit y is where all the cool kids hang out – showing of f all manner of science related projec ts and book s, and we are there – both the Deser t Legume Program (DELEP) and folk s representing the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.
Why should a seed bank go to a book fes tival? The DELEP Mission Statement is four-fold – f irst to acquire and preser ve seed of legumes native to the arid and semiarid lands of the world; second, to learn more about the nature and utilit y of these unique species; third, to share legume germplasm; and perhaps most impor tant - to aid in the preser vation and conser vation of deser t legume biodiversit y. This last objective, preser ving and conser v ing legume biodiver sit y, can only be achieved by educating the public about why legumes are impor tant and why biodiversit y is critical for human sur vival on this planet. DELEP star ted being par t of the Tucson Festival of Book s in 2012. Armed with a dissec ting scope, some seeds, and lot s of literature, we invited people to learn more about legumes, and about a “best kept secret ” Arizona State Park – the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. We kept track , and when the dus t set tled, we had personally interac ted with over 120 0 visitors in t wo days. Many more did not t alk to us but picked up the handout s. Mind you, the organizers es timated that over 120,0 0 0 people v isited TFOB that year, so we f igure we did good. Since DELEP was par t of Science Cit y, we have stressed the scientif ic aspec t of the work at DELEP, and had hands- on ac tivities for visitors to our area ever y year. One year, folk s were invited to
24 | Boyce Thompson Arboretum | Summer 2018
hypothesize: which emerges from a legume seed f irst - the root or shoot? Then they “planted ” the seeds in a transparent grow bag so they could carry it home and obser ve for themselves.
The Desert Legume Program’s Publications
In 2014, over 1000 visitors learned that obser vation is an impor tant par t of science, and were invited to obser ve and record growing seeds. Some of the younger visitors were amazingly ar tis tic, and quite pains t aking with their obser vations. Obser ving can use more senses than just vision. Our “ Sonoran Sounds ” in 2015 was a real hit, with the opportunity to make sounds with deser t legume wood and legume pods. Ever yone (that wanted to) then decorated legume seed pods with glit ter and took them home with them. A gain, over 10 0 0 people par ticipated in the ac tivit y, wearing out the volunteers! In 2016, DELEP became been par t of “ The Science of Food ”, and since then we have shared thousands of t as t y treats made with f lour from the pods of mesquite, a local deser t legume now grown around the world in arid areas, in par t due to the ef for t s of DELEP. The recipe for gluten-free mesquite muf fins is elsewhere in this newslet ter. Each year, the DELEP volunteers interact with over 1,000 visitors during the t wo days of the Festival of Books, and while it may not sound like many sit ting in the comfor t of your home and reading this, I invite you to join us at TFOB in 2019, and help us talk to a frac tion of the thousands of people that f lock to Science Cit y! If interacting with total strangers is not your cup of tea, we have other activities that could use your help. Volunteers meet once a month, September through May, on the second Wednesday, to assist with seed processing and storage. We also welcome help on f ield trips to collec t wild seed, work with living plants, and help in the of f ice. To volunteer, please contac t Ken Coppola: (520) 6 47-24 60 or email: kcoppola@ag.arizona.edu.
Aridus
DELEP published a newsletter, Aridus, from 1989 to 2010. Back issues of the newsletter are available on request. Beginning with the April 2005 issue, Aridus is also available online at www.cals.arizona.edu/ desertlegumeprogram/pub.
Desert Plants
Desert Plants is a journal published by Boyce Thompson Arboretum with support and guidance from the Desert Legume Program. To learn more, visit www.cals.arizona.edu/desertplants
Legumes of Arizona: An Illustrated Flora and Reference - Projected publication in 2018
Published by Boyce Thompson Arboretum Legumes of Arizona: An Illustrated Flora and Reference, will provide an up-to-date, scientific description of all native, naturalized and cultivated legumes in Arizona. For further information, please visit www.ag.arizona.edu/herbarium/projects/az_legumes or contact Kirsten Lake, Managing Editor, Legumes of Arizona, The University of Arizona Herbarium, PO Box 210036, Herring Hall, Tucson, Arizona 85721 or at klake@email.arizona.edu.
Cacti, other Succulents, and Unusual Xerophytes of Southern Arizona Matthew B. Johnson
This pocket-sized field guide features 83 species of cacti and other succulent plants that may be found in southern Arizona. It is available through CALSmart, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Arizona, 4042 N. Campbell Ave., Tucson, Arizona, 85719. Toll free: 1-877-763-5315, 520318-7275, online: http://cals.arizona.edu/calsmart. Proceeds from the sale of this handbook support the Desert Legume Program. It is also available at the BTA gift shop.
arboretum.ag.arizona.edu | Boyce Thompson Arboretum | 25
Why Seed Banks Are Important
By Dr. Jacqueline A. Soule
There are three main reasons why seed banks are critical in today’s world:
1 2
Seed banks store the seeds of crops for restarting crops in cases of crop failure.
Seed banks preserve wild crop relatives and crop varieties that are no longer grown, to help maintain agricultural diversity. These plants contain genetic traits that may have value for crop breeding. In this regard, seed banks are vital for global food security, as they provide plants that may have traits that impart tolerance to higher temperatures, drought, and increased disease and pest outbreaks predicted with global climate change.
3
Seed banks are also important for the preservation of biodiversity and the conservation of rare plants.
T
here are approximately 1,300 seed banks worldwide. Efforts are ongoing to store as many wild plant species and crop varieties as possible. Most seed banks store additional sets of their collections at separate sites as insurance against loss.
• In the 1970’s, a rust fungus was threatening the entire U.S. corn crop. Scientists turned to gene banks and the seeds of wild corn stored. In the stored seeds they found germplasm (genes) that was resistant to the fungus, and it was used to breed new, rust-resistant, corn varieties. • Following the devastating 2005 tsunamis in Asia, the seed bank of the International Rice Research Institute was able to supply farmers with seed of a rice variety that would grow in soils which had been covered by seawater. • The importance of backup seed storage was recently demonstrated in Aleppo, Syria with the International Center for Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) seed bank. When ICARDA’s facilities were captured by Islamic State fighters in 2014, the staff was evacuated, but it was not possible to save the seeds. Fortunately, duplicates of 87 percent of the seed collections were in backup storage in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, in Norway. New ICARDA facilities are being set up in Lebanon and Morocco where seeds which had been stored at Svalbard will serve as the basis for renewed research and future seed banking. 26 | Boyce Thompson Arboretum | Summer 2018
What is a Seed Bank? A seed bank is a place designed for the long-term storage of many seeds collected in many different places. Depending on the species, seeds are dried to a low moisture (usually less than 5 percent). Then the seeds are stored at -18°C or lower. Because seeds degrade over time, the seeds need to be replanted periodically and fresh seeds collected for another round of long-term storage.
The Desert Legume Program Seed Bank The Desert Legume Program (DELEP) focuses on wild species of plants in the legume family, also known as the pea or bean family (Fabaceae) - and specifically legumes from dry regions around the world. The DELEP seed bank currently has over 4,100 seed collections representing nearly 1,400 species of arid land legumes originating in 67 countries on six continents. DELEP distributes seeds upon request to researchers, governmental and nongovernmental agencies, and private individuals around the world. These seeds are used for many purposes, including: crop breeding and improvement; pasture and forage crops; biomedical research; soil improvement; erosion control; forestry; wildlife habitat improvement; botanical garden displays; education; and for landscape trials. DELEP’s seeds are housed at the Agriculture Experiment Station in Tucson. Many of the collections are backed up and stored in the USDA’s National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation, in Fort Collins, Colorado. Some collections are also stored at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a select honor. The Desert Legume Program seed bank is an accredited collection of the North American Plant Conservation Consortium. DELEP is a joint project of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum and the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
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$1,200 Jeffrey Heimer and Linda Brock $1,000.00 Covert and Lea Bailey Mary Faul Rick and Lexia Gibson Imre and Lorna Kertesz $500.00 Rick and Suzy Clarke Tracy Kralicek and Dave Lunn Barbara Miller and Steven Trimble Rusty Wilkinson $400.00 Matthew Johnson and Patricia Rorabaugh $300.00 James R. and Jane L. Jones Mark and Deborah Vinsen $250.00 Lloyd and Marian Alaback Paul and Jacklyn Horton Charles Tuomi $200.00 Ann Beisser and Kandy Kendall Ken and Rose Elkins Paul and Sandra Everett Claudia and Art Helfgott Dorothea Ludeman Rea and Jim Ludke Delia and Kelly Neal Barbara Peters Daniel and Janis Ramirez $150.00 Edgardo Rivera Michael and Judy Mitchell David Glaeseman Melvin and Silvia Werre $125.00 Kathy Jones $100.00 Jim and Marie Akridge John and Sue Alcock Ken and Dannetta Alt Ray and Ruth Bayless Robert and Sandra Bennis George and Millie Bilotta Nikki Blanchard
Lee Brownson Charles and Jeanne Ann Brush Verna and Jim Burkett Russ and Jeanie Carlson Christina Clark William and Cynthia Collings Linda and Philip Draper Linda Drew and John Cropper Robert and Kathryn Elsaesser Jay and Karen Evans Marvin Flygare and Thomas Clary Harold and J. Anne Frede Warren Goff George and Jan Gruel Richard and Sandi Heidinger Jack and Marilyn Hensley Richard and Carole Holmes Robert and Tonya Hunt Don Johnston and Laura Goin Dick and Sandy Joyce Glen and Anita Kegler Kathy and Timothy Keister U. Kelasa Fred Kuykendall Jr and Olga Kuykendall David and Cathy Laffler Georganna Lagen and Carlene Dundas Susan and Keith Laidlaw John and Janet Laut Anne W. and Katie Leight Wayne and Bonnie Lichtenberger Carrie Lipka and Robert Gansman Gary and Heather Loechelt James and Marilyn Maddon Robert and Mary Marzke John and Catherine Matthews Thomas and Kathy McDonald Dianne McGee and Robert Bickes Pierce McIntosh Jon and Lisa McLin Virginia Moore Duane and Margaret Morse James Nafziger Pearl Nancarrow John and Kay Nelson Mark and Diane Ochs Derek and Alyssa O’Neill Wally and Fay Quanstrom Rylan Schimelpfenig and Leslie Peaslee Marc and Rikki Schmidt Donald and Ingeborg Senuta Charles and Peggy Snow Wayne and Carole Sobieski John Stuhlmuller and Elizabeth Pearcy Mike and Carol Thompsom David Wall and Connie Chen Kay Wiesner Pete and Karen Willman Penny Wilson Jeff and Jenny Winkler Barry and Cecilia Woody Patricia World Dennis and Mary Young $75.00 Richard and Carol Andrews Jason and Shelley DiGiacomo
THANKS TO OUR MEMBERS AND DONORS! $50.00 Wayne Anderson and Maggie Dunbar Bobby and Marsha Armstrong Burt and Ying Baker Charles Martin Ball and Michael Martin George and Paula Bradbury Ralph Castaneda Julie Anne Castilla and Steve Nunn Howard and Linda Clark Sean and Barbara Clark Jane Conrow Dennis and Laura Coppage David and Elizabeth Cronk John and Diana Crummey Janet and Jack Dale John and Cathy Dirickson Karen M. Dix Mark and Susan Dobson Paul and Bobbi Downing John and Connie Drilling Craig and Carole Eberle Alan and Cheryl Edwards Jeff Falk and Annie Lopez Lisa Fitzner and Terry Phillips Jack Friedline and Roxanne Pierson Ronda Gates Joyce and Peter Godfrey Loren and Cherie Hallin Lois and Peter Hammer Verle and Jan Hammer Melody Hannon Carl and Margaret Hedlund Shirley and Steve Holmquist John Horzepa and Marjorie Fitchew Barbara Huff Perry L. and Shahara V. Hughes Jim and Jean Humphries Carol and Ray Johnson Judy and Neil Johnson Bruce and Connie Jorgensen William Knight and Sarah Harris Patrick and Diana LaClair Jim Lewis Raul and Mary Nell Leyba George Lloyd and Shu Yin Liang Gary Long Gilbert and Jenny Maw Laura and Walter McGourty Earl and Dorothy Montgomery Chris and Clarence Needham Don and Ruth Newton Jean Nuesse and Joan Baxter James C. and Patricia Partch William and Phyllis Perkins Ray and Karolette Peterson Roger and Mildred Pitchford Andrea T. Polecheck Danette and Mark Rabago David Rachor and Sharon Hansen Random Boutique, Jenny Holmquist David Raring and Kathleen Putek Cynthia Riley Michael Robinson and Patricia Millns
Jane Roosen Charles V. and Maria Ruiz Craig and Sally Salo John L. and Louise M. Sherman David and Kathleen Shields Brian and Pat Smith Morgan and Crystal Spencer Joyce Sterling Claudia Stoecker and Randy Gordon Delores Sullivan and Teri Bryant Joseph and Carolyn Szatkowski Jim and Judy Taylor George Thoeming and Mirjana Mladinov William Thompson and Indra Nathasingh David and Irene Totel Lowell and Gail Ann Ulrich Angel and Loraine Valadez Ralph Van Dusseldorp and Marilyn Kay Johnson Michael and Susan VanTrojen Mark and Deborah Vinsen James and Elizabeth Walker James P. Ward and Hildy Reiser Tom and Linda Watson Phyllis E Wells Beth Whittam Don and Jo Wilson UP TO $40 Lyle Brewer Mark Coryell Robert and Elizabeth Cyzan Joan Gilbert Nancy Haddorff and Jody Gerst Kristie and Tom Kotsonas Georganna Lagen and Carlene Dundas Meradel and Angela Romain Bill and Martha Scott $25.00 Tom and Jeannie Alben Michael and Meredith Ann Andrews ANONYMOUS Mel and Pat Bach Debbie and Gary Bachler Sandy and Ron Balsley Carole Bien and Sonia Reid Jimmy and Ann Black Wayne Boisvert Susan and Doug Burks Bruce Burton Danny Carlisle and Judie Carlisle Dale and Joanna Chesnut Ann Cook Chuck Cusack and Helene Irving Josephine Davis Ken and Linda de Masi Julia DiGiuseppe and Michele Ryerse Peter and Palma DiPietro Shari Eady Keith and Mena Eickstaedt Ed Ericksen and Kris Panas Robin and Patrick Fitch Chris and Janet Garton
Nancy and Mike Grant Joanne and Jim Greenert Herman and Connie Gunther Shannon and Sabrina Harwell Wendy Hehemann and Suzanne de Keizer William and Kathleen Hibbets John and Penny Hicks Ruth and Jerald Huber Dale and Mary Jensen Ann-Marie and Stan Johnson George Jones and Kent Levine Monroe and Hazel Kauffman Richard and Marlys Keller Carol and Brad Klock Charles and Mary Kloeckner Tim and Cathy Lee Raeleen Lohse Pedro and Eufrosina Lozada Barbara and George Mahoney Judy Malstrom Kenneth and Peggy McCollester Tom and Anne McCoy Stacy Meader Cathy and Dan Melvin Pam Meredith Jessica Mitchell Oscar and Bertha Montano Carleton and Diane Moore Bud Morgan and Tena Morgan Kate O’Hara and Sharon Bushart Marilyn Osborne Terrie Palmer and Marvin Styrbicky Lawrence and Rachel Pollack Stephan Price and Maureen Cain Milana and James Ramsey Keith Rhoden Manuel and Patricia Romero Gary and Lois Roorda Steve Rowe and Ginne Sonne David and Donna Ruehl Jay and Peggy Scott Robert and Delores Shaw Todd Skinner and Diane Ehlers-Skinner Carmen Slough and Aurora Wallace Betty and Lee Stewart Leroy and Beverly Svoboda Samuel Martin Swaney Edward and Virginia Tworek Denise Van Keuren Jack and Donna Walker Jim and Dana Warnecke Peter and Lisa Warren Jorja Watts W.C. and Nancy L. Weisenhaus Ken Werner Suzanne Whittinghill and Bruce Dorrbecker Janet and George Wildeboor Darrel and Gail Wilder Steve Wile Joan Williamson and Denise White Joyce and Steven Yingling Kathleen Zavala UP TO $20 Joe and Doris Acosta Joe and Lila Bartoszek
Jeanette Dickson and Gloria Karch David C. and Betty L. Florez Russell and Doris Frame Olga Hubbell and Kirk Stockhausen Jennifer, Cam & Beverly Mewhorter Ann Nelson John and Patricia Percival Richard and Connie Ray Don and Eden Thompson Gerd and Barbara Weigert Jackie Whitcomb
UNRESTRICTED DONATIONS
$1,250 Jim and Elizabeth Fordemwalt $750.00 Gregory and Lorraine Scaven $500.00 Richard E. Weaver $400.00 Robert Weaver $250.00 Alice Grosbach David Wall and Connie Chen $140.00 Thomas and Sharron Moody UP TO $125 Ned Rhodes Connie Struve UP TO $50 Patricia Ann Hannon Cassandra Joos Ronnie and Kirby Knutson Lynette Lord-Evans and Jim Green Nancy and Reid Miller Terry Stone and Lori Coletta
RESTRICTED DONATIONS MAINTENCE
$1,000.00 Terry and GM Pollock
IN MEMORY OF JANET RUBY HAMILTON
$20.00 Paula Savage
IN HONOR OF CAROLYN BAECKER
$50 Virginia Randolph
SUSTAINING DONORS
Diane and Tom Huffman Georganna Lagen and Carlene Dundas Jerry and Carol Powell
WALLACE DESERT GARDENS
$4,000.00 Peter and Judy Allard Arizona Federation of Garden Clubs INC $120.00 Lisa Ann Langell and Ben Freitag $100.00 Don and Mary Isham Lois Schneberger Richard and Karyn Shaffstall $50.00 George Cairo Liz and Steve Farquhar Clara and Vernon Page Deborah and John Yerkovich $25.00 Kathryn W. Torgeson
GIFTS IN KIND
AN ASSORTMENT OF PLANTS Arid Zone Trees AN ASSORTMENT OF PLANTS Desert Trees Nursery GENERAL GARDENING MATERIALS Jim and Jean Humphries
ENDOWMENT DONATION
FOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS Lisa Ann Langell and Ben Freitag
DELEP
BI PANEL PAINTING OF A CHICKADEE Clyde and Arlene Powers
DELEP
SIX BOOKS FOR THE GIFT SHOP Amy Robinson
$1,000.00 Jim and Kally Reynolds $125.00 Jim Malusa $100.00 Adam Retzer
IN MEMORY OF JUDITH MAE MCGUIRE
$100.00 Peter and Kay Johnson
PICKETPOST MOUNTAIN PAINTING Darrell and Jenny Sheppard
VOLUNTEER OR SUPPORT THE DESERT LEGUME PROGRAM! VOLUNTEER PROGRAM
CONTRIBUTIONS
DELEP has an active volunteer program with over 40 individuals from many walks of life, including several retired University of Arizona professors, who participate in various program activities on a regular basis. Volunteers gather once a month, nine months of the year to assist with DELEP activities and learn more about desert legumes.
To Contribute to DELEP send a check, payable to UA Foundation/DELEP, or call the DELEP office concerning a pledge, a restricted gift, or estate planning.
Dedicated volunteer labor is an integral component of DELEP. Our volunteers work on a variety of projects including seed processing, wild seed collecting, organization of special events and assistance in the DELEP office. To volunteer telephone the DELEP office (520) 647-2460 or email kcoppola@ag.arizona.edu.
Send to: Desert Legume Program 2120 E. Allen Road Tucson, AZ 85719 Contact Information: Matthew Johnson - (520) 647-2460 mjohnson@ag.arizona.edu Ken Coppola - (520) 647-2460 kcoppola@ag.arizona.edu
arboretum.ag.arizona.edu | Boyce Thompson Arboretum | 31
Non -Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE 37615 E. Arboretum Way Superior, AZ 85173
PAID
SBSDM
Boyce Thompson Arboretum’s Mission To instill in people an appreciation of plants through the fostering of educational, recreational, research, and conservation opportunities associated with arid-land plants.
“Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work.” -Mark Twain Happy Monsoon Season!
Photo by Dara Heward