Upcoming Events
Botanical Tea in the Herbarium: California Plant Rescue Program
Night at the Conservatory Lecture Series and open greenhouses
Volunteer Sunday afternoons at the Center for Plant Diversity Herbarium
Biodiversity Museum Day: free exhibitions at 10+ campus science collections, including the Herbarium and Conservatory!
Volunteer Sunday afternoons at the Center for Plant Diversity Herbarium
Recurring Events
Our goals:
* To share our knowledge and educate each other about plant taxonomy.
* To discuss and learn about our California plant communities.
* To practice identifying plants.
* To use The Jepson Manual (Second Edition) and become more familiar with plant terminology.
* To have fun!
Herbarium Tea - Every January, welcoming both students and DBS members, this annual event is co-sponsored by the Herbarium and the Davis Botanical Society. Informational displays with light refreshments. Past exhibitions include: 2024 January 17 Botanical Tea, 2023 January 19 Poisonous Plants, 2020 January 22 Rare Plants of California.
Nights at the Conservatory:
Lecture Series & open greenhouses: Pershang Hosseini & Alison Colwell: Growing Native and Noxious Species of Parasitic Plants (Orobanchaceae)
Botanical Conservatory Greenhouses, north side of Kleiber Hall Drive
Grant Recipient Presentations:
Fall Student Seminars, Spring Student Seminars
Short talks from Student Recipients of Davis Botanical Society Grants.
Student grants are an important part of Davis Botanical Society's program and these talks are a wonderful opportunity to hear from and encourage the students we have funded. We hope you will come and enjoy fascinating botany, good company and refreshments.
Field Trips:
Davis Botanical Society Membership Required
Bring your own water, snacks, sunscreen, watch out for Poison Oak at some locations!
Contact individual field trip’s leader for more information.
Arboretum Fall & Spring Plant Sales: Davis Botanical Society Members receive admission to members-only plant sales at the UC Davis Arboretum. A printed list of active members will be distributed to the Arboretum prior to each sale.
Monthly Plant Identification session with Ceanothus (CA Field Botanists Association), led by Mike Bower -
Ceanothus ~ See, I Know This! ~ Third Saturdays, 9 am–12 pm, March - October
Location: Center for Plant Diversity, 1026 Sciences Laboratory Building.
We are an association of professional, hobby, and student field botanists interested in educating each other to KEEP BOTANY ALIVE! Our desire is to create a supportive environment to learn botany identification skills from one another and to share our knowledge of plants and plant communities. We meet regularly in northern California to practice keying out plants using The Jepson Manual and other plant identification resources.
Unlike this vintage microscope, our modern equipment has lighting and some even have a digital screen.
Picnic Day: https://picnicday.ucdavis.edu/
Emerging from humble beginnings as a tour of the University Farm’s new dairy barn, Picnic Day now offers a wide variety of entertainment and provides a host of opportunities for visitors to the Davis campus.
Spring Meeting and Program: Blanchard Room, Davis Public Library.
Free parking available.
Volunteer Sundays:
Volunteer Sunday afternoons at the Center for Plant Diversity herbarium, look for announcements in our calendar.
Biodiversity Museum Day: https://biodiversitymuseumday.ucdavis.edu/
PAST EVENTS 2024
Here are a few examples of recent events. Over time, past events announcements will be archived and available for viewing. In the meantime, here are some of our recent events.
Monthly Plant Identification session with Ceanothus (CA Field Botanists Association), led by Mike Bower
Center for Plant Diversity, 1026 Katherine Esau Science Hall. For more info, visit: Center For Plant Diversity Plant Identification Page.
3rd Saturdays hereafter through November 2024
Nights at the Conservatory Lecture Series & Open Greenhouses:
Jason Liu, Orchid Pollination: Evolution of Flora scents, pigmentation and plant-pollinator interactions.
Botanical Conservatory Greenhouses, north side of Kleiber Hall Drive (Hourly visitor parking available at Hutchinson Pavilion Garage) Thursday, May 9, 2024, 6:00 pm
Spring Meeting & Program: Mathew Gilbert, Title: Bark: a story of how bark forms and how time changes California’s iconic trees
Blanchard Room, Davis Public Library. Free parking available. Wednesday, May 8, 2024 6:45–8 pm
Joint community science field opportunity with Jepson CNPS Chapter: Vacaville Open Space plant checklist survey
For more information, contact Alison Colwell, aelcolwell@ucdavis.edu Saturday, May 4, 2024 10 am – 2 pm
Field Trip: Molok Luyuk/Walker Ridge. Leader: Jake Schweitzer
Attendance limited. To register, contact Kate Mawdsley, wfm-kfm@pacbell.net Saturday, April 27, 2024
Picnic Day: Botanical Conservatory Open House
Campus-wide open house, watch for details on: https://picnicday.ucdavis.edu/ Saturday, April 20, 2024 11 am–3 pm
Nights at the Conservatory Lecture Series & open greenhouses: Pershang Hosseini & Alison Colwell: Growing Native and Noxious Species of Parasitic Plants (Orobanchaceae)
Botanical Conservatory Greenhouses, north side of Kleiber Hall Drive Thursday April 18, 2024 6 pm
Field trip: Conifers of Bothe-Napa State Park. Leader: Jason Carter
Attendance limited. To register, contact Jason Carter, jason.will.carter@gmail.com Saturday, April 6, 2024
Past Events 2023
Spring Meeting and Program: Dr. Jennifer Funk speaking on: “Drought strategies of native grassland species”
Blanchard Room, Davis Public Library. Free parking available. Thursday, May 4, 2023 6:45–8 pm
Field trip to Buttermilk Bend Trail at South Yuba River SP, Leah Gardner
Attendance limited, to register, contact Leah Gardner at: Leah.Gardner@parks.ca.gov Saturday, April 22, 2023 8 am–3 pm
Picnic Day: Botanical Conservatory Open House
Campus-wide open house, watch for details on: https://picnicday.ucdavis.edu/ Saturday, April 15, 2023 11 am–3 pm
Field trip to Vernal Pools at Glide Tule Ranch, Kristi Lazar & Jennifer Buck-Diaz
Attendance limited. To register, contact Kristi Lazar: Kristi.Lazar@wildlife.ca.gov Saturday, April 8, 2023 10 am–4 pm (Trish find pix)
Student Grant Applications Due
Contact Kate Mawdsley, DBS President–Elect at: kfmawdsl@ucdavis.edu Monday, March 7, 2023 5 pm
Botanical Tea in the Herbarium: Poisonous Plants
Center for Plant Diversity, 1026 Sciences Laboratory Building. Wednesday, January 19, 2023, 4:30–6:30 pm
Museum Day: free exhibitions at 10+ campus science collections, including the
Herbarium and Conservatory! Saturday, February 18, 2023
DBS Winter Open House at the Botanical Conservatory
Botanical Conservatory Greenhouses, north side of Kleiber Hall Drive Saturday, Nov 19, 2022, 12–4 pm
Fall Student Seminars: Short talks from Student Recipients of Davis Botanical Society Grants.
Announcements will be sent in the mail. Pizza will be served! Location is Plant & Environmental Sciences (PES), Room 3001 Thursday, November 17, 2022 5:45–7 pm
Volunteer Sunday afternoons at the Center for Plant Diversity herbarium
Center for Plant Diversity, 1026 Sciences Laboratory Building. Limited participation, call herbarium at 530-752-1091 to RSVP. Sundays, 2–5 pm: Nov 6, 2022, Dec 4, 2022, Jan 29, 2023
Arboretum Fall Plant Sales: October 1st sale is for DBS and Friends of the Arboretum members only
In person at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery, 1046 Garrod Drive Saturdays Oct 1st, 22nd and Nov 5th, 2022 9 am–1 pm
Leskea Moss Identification session with CaBF (California Bryoflora Forum) Saturdays TBA
Center for Plant Diversity, 1026 Sciences Laboratory Building. To sign up, contact Stephen Rae, sprae@ucdavis.edu Saturdays Fall 2022
Monthly Plant Identification session with Ceanothus (CA Field Botanists Association), led by Mike Bower
Center for Plant Diversity, 1026 Sciences Laboratory Building. For more info, visit: http://ceanothusfieldbotanist.blogspot.com Third Saturdays, 2022 9 am–12 pm