Artemisia

“In any California biome you visit, you’ll find Artemisia. For many of us, its sweet fragrance and soft palette evoke a sense of being home,” said Gordon Leppig,  an editorial board member and retired senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We can’t think of a more beautiful way to honor both the past and future of our much-loved journal.”

The CNPS board of directors unanimously voted to rename Fremontia in recognition that John C. Frémont, from whom dozens of California plants derive their names, was responsible for the massacres of Native Americans in the Sacramento Valley and Klamath Lake. (Learn more about the board’s decision, and the history that informed it, in the Vol. 48., No. 1 edition of the journal, here, and on the website of the California Native American Heritage Commission, here.)

“History impacts all of us, including the life of organizations,” said CNPS Board President Cris Sarabia. “We can’t rewrite the past, but we can do better, and this is a small but important step to ensuring the California Native Plant Society is welcoming to all people in California and honors the deep connection between native plants and California’s Indigenous people.”

Going forward, Artemisia will continue to publish great plant science and perspectives, a tradition that dates back to the journal’s origin in 1973. “Artemisia is the place to find engaging articles on the many plant communities that make California unique, from coastal sage scrub to serpentine grasslands, and scientifically-informed discussions of urgent issues like wildfire and climate change,” said CNPS Publications Editor Emily Underwood. 

Recent issues of the journal have tackled topics such as California’s complex relationship with fire, and the need to include tribal perspectives in ecological restoration. The June 2021 issue on California plant genetics features articles by a distinguished lineup of authors on topics including drought-resilience in sugar pines, the impacts of climate change on valley oaks, and the importance of cryptic diversity in conservation. 

The journal is published twice a year and is free to CNPS members. To learn more and view the issue archives, please see below.