Artemisia

The Original CA Native Plant Journal

Juniperus grandis alpine. Credit J. Bisbee.

The California Native Plant Society is pleased to announce the new name of its scientific journal: Artemisia. After extensive consideration by the journal’s editorial board and CNPS leadership, the society has selected the name for its beauty and the ubiquity of this remarkable plant across California.   

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“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.

Vol. 49, No. 1

Mapping California

Mapping California Artemisia cover

In this issue:

  • Vegetation Mapping in California: Recent History & Innovations
  • A Vegetation Mapping Boom Across the Bay Area
  • Historical Ecology Deepens our Understanding of Place
  • California’s Role in the Global Effort to Protect Important Plant Areas

CNPS Scientific Journal, Artemisia, is a print magazine available to CNPS member

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Recent Issues

Vol. 48, #2

In this issue: A Primer on Plant Genetics and the California Flora, Amplifying Resilience to Drought in the Lake Tahoe Basin, Rapid Evolution of Native Plant Populations: the Bad, the Good and the Hopeful

Vol. 48, #1

In this issue: Recentering Ecological Restoration with Tribal Perspectives, Seed-Based Restoration: Scaling up for the Future, Restoration: Reintroducing Disturbance and Variability, Ethics of Plant Reintroduction in the 21st Century

Vol. 47, #2

In this issue: Reestablishing Balance Between People, Plants, and Fire in California; Nexus Between Wildfire, Climate Change, and Population Growth in California;
Wildfires and Forest Resilience; and CNPS Fellows: Celebrating Those Who Speak for Native Plants

CNPS Scientific Journal Archives

Volume 47

  • Vol. 47, #1
    In this issue: Revisiting California’s Big Trees, Piute Cypress, A Once and Future Forest, and Forest Resilience & Mortality in the Sierra Nevada
  • Vol. 47, #2
    In this issue: Reestablishing Balance Between People, Plants, and Fire in California; Nexus Between Wildfire, Climate Change, and Population Growth in California;
    Wildfires and Forest Resilience; and CNPS Fellows: Celebrating Those Who Speak for Native Plants

Volume 46

An exciting issue on urban-wildland interface, sponsored by the Schwemm Family Foundation.

In this issue: Beyond Plants: Wetlands for  Wildlife, Paleobotany of Coastal Californian Wetlandscape, Vernal Pools: Biodiversity, Biogeography, Threats, and Conservation.

Volume 45

Enjoy this issue’s deep dive into lichens and bryophytes. Plus bigcone Douglas-fir and Tejon Ranch revisited.

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Flora articles you can read today

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