How to Identify Wildflowers

Do you enjoy the large variety of colorful wildflowers that pop up around Los Alamos in the summer, but wish you knew more about what you were looking at? This class is your chance to learn from two local experts, Terry Foxx and Craig Martin, how to identify wildflowers - by actually doing it!

This program will run every Wednesday evening for four weeks in a row, beginning July 30. The first class on July 30 will be a classroom session at PEEC, and the remaining three sessions (August 6, 13 and 20) will be conducted in the field. The group will go to different elevations to see plants that grow in different habitats, for example Camp May, Ponderosa Pine, and Piñon-Juniper. Participants should dress for hiking, bring water, and other materials. The hikes will be easy and generally very slow, because the group will be discussing about various plants and spending time working with keys and text.

Advance registration is required and only 15 spots are available, so be sure to sign up for this fun and informative class!

Teralene Foxx is a plant ecologist, writer, and artist. She has taught classes and led hikes for over 40 years, including teaching Plant Taxonomy at UNM-LA in the 1970s. Terry has worked in conservation ecology at the Laboratory for over 20 years, and she has spent years studying the impact of fire on the ecosystem.

Along with Dorothy Hoard, Terry wrote the book entitled Flowers of the Southwestern Woodlands. Now, she and ecologist Craig Martin are revising the book and are retitling it Flowers of the Jemez Mountains. Students will have an opportunity to help test keys as well as learn about plants of the area.

For more information about Terry’s books and experience, go to www.teralenefoxx.com.