A non-profit organization to promote the study and conservation of Alaska native plants.
The Alaska Native Plant Society (AKNPS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to studying and conserving Alaska native plants. General membership meetings are open to the public and are held on the first Monday of every month from October through May. Various guest speakers give presentations on topics related to native plants and AKNPS members give informative slide shows, plant family, and mini- botany talks. During our October meeting, members share photos from their summer adventures. See our Recent News to learn about recent activities.
There are numerous volunteer opportunities including leading public hikes, invasive plants control, plantings and cooperative work with other local groups. Local events are listed on the Upcoming Events page.
General Information
The Alaska Native Plant Society was formed in 1982 by a small group of enthusiastic amateur and professional botanists for the purpose of educating Alaskans about their native flora and the growing need for its protection. We accomplish this through:
- Monthly meetings, held on the first Monday of each month, October through May (with occasional exceptions due to holidays), at 7 PM via Zoom and/or in person at the Campbell Creek Science Center in Anchorage. All interested persons are welcome.
- Field Trips, ranging from half day local outings to multi-day excursions throughout Alaska. Some prior trips have been to Kodiak, Seldovia, Chitina / Kennicott, and Denali National Park.
- Displays at local malls during “Celebrating Wildflowers” periods.
- Publication of Borealis, our bi-monthly newsletter for members, October through May.
- Compilation of Alaskan flora references in a bibliography.
- Recommended publications for Alaskans interested in collecting seed and propagating native plants.
- This website which is an ongoing project for which volunteers are welcome.
Recent News
Guest Post: Fireweed Galls By Ramsey Sullivan, AK citizen scientist & AKNPS member There’s a lot of buzz about our native plant of the year, fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium), well known for its aesthetics, usefulness, and important ecological roles. Less known, however, are its galls. A gall is a growth on a plant made of plant tissue but caused by another organism. The inducer lives out a portion of its lifecycle in the gall, receiving the benefits of food and shelter at the cost of the host plant. Under normal conditions, most galls cause little harm to their hosts. One of the most abundant yet overlooked fireweed galls is that of Dasineura epilobii, a circumboreal midge barely several millimeters in length, which galls the flower buds of fireweeds. The rounded galled buds never bloom and are easily distinguished from the slender non-infected buds. D. epilobii have multiple generations per year, with the last generation overwintering in the soil and emerging as adults in the spring to start the cycle over again. But don’t fret for the fireweed, nature has many checks and balances and this parasite has parasites of its own. Several parasitic wasps seek out the eggs and larvae of the midge, thus keeping populations in check. We'll have more information about this midge and the other galling organisms of fireweed in the plant society's fall newsletter! Photo description: Top Left: Enlarged fireweed bud gall from the right image. Middle Left: Dissected bud gall showing the midge larvae. Bottom left:...
