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. Events are listed on the Upcoming Events page. If you are in Interior Alaska, please also consider joining the Interior Chapter-Alaska Native Plant Society, which is loosely affiliated with our organization and also hosts educational programs and field trips.
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.
- Educational booths at community events and coordinating outreach including Alaska Native Plant Month.
- 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
The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service, in collaboration with the Alaska Native Plant Society, is hosting a series of free webinars to highlight native plants and animals and the challenges they face.
All webinars will be from noon-1 p.m. on Wednesdays during May, which is Alaska Native Plant Month. Register using the online form or visit https://bit.ly/NativePlantMonth.
On May 6, Todd Eskelin, a biologist at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, will feature rufous hummingbirds, an important pollinator that is in decline. Eskelin will talk about current research into how rufous hummingbirds interact with native plants and what is needed to expand the hummingbirds’ range.
On May 13, Lisa Strecker, with UAF’s ethnobotany program, and Jessica Newton, of the Kenaitze Tribe, will talk about how people develop relationships with plants that tend to grow well in human-impacted habitats. They will focus on how people can interact with plants for holistic well-being through the lens of Alaska Native plant traditions and ethnobotany.
On May 20, Maddie Dong, with Pollinator Partnership, will review the two new ecoregional planting guides for Alaska. She will discuss how the guides were developed in collaboration with Alaska-based plant and pollinator experts. The guides provide targeted native plant recommendations that support pollinators throughout the growing season.
On May 27, Gino Graziano, Cooperative Extension invasive plants instructor, will explain how some wildflower seed mixes can carry varieties that can spread beyond where they were planted and, in some cases, become invasive. He will discuss which species to...
All webinars will be from noon-1 p.m. on Wednesdays during May, which is Alaska Native Plant Month. Register using the online form or visit https://bit.ly/NativePlantMonth.
On May 6, Todd Eskelin, a biologist at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, will feature rufous hummingbirds, an important pollinator that is in decline. Eskelin will talk about current research into how rufous hummingbirds interact with native plants and what is needed to expand the hummingbirds’ range.
On May 13, Lisa Strecker, with UAF’s ethnobotany program, and Jessica Newton, of the Kenaitze Tribe, will talk about how people develop relationships with plants that tend to grow well in human-impacted habitats. They will focus on how people can interact with plants for holistic well-being through the lens of Alaska Native plant traditions and ethnobotany.
On May 20, Maddie Dong, with Pollinator Partnership, will review the two new ecoregional planting guides for Alaska. She will discuss how the guides were developed in collaboration with Alaska-based plant and pollinator experts. The guides provide targeted native plant recommendations that support pollinators throughout the growing season.
On May 27, Gino Graziano, Cooperative Extension invasive plants instructor, will explain how some wildflower seed mixes can carry varieties that can spread beyond where they were planted and, in some cases, become invasive. He will discuss which species to...
Thank you to everyone who volunteered or stopped by our table at the Midtown Mall Spring Garden show today!
If you are in Anchorage tomorrow (Saturday, April 18), come visit the Alaska Native Plant Society booth at the Midtown Mall’s annual Spring Garden Show.
Doors open at 10 a.m. and a number of our Anchorage members will be staffing the AKNPS booth.
We’ll have a limited quantity of free native seed packets available (surplus from our mail distribution program). We will also have some merchandise including 2026 Native Plant of the Year shirts/hoodies and copies of the Wildflowers for Northern Gardens book, helpful for propagating native plants in Alaska gardens.
We’ll also have free handouts on gardening with native plants, promo materials for Alaska Native Plant Month, volunteer signup sheets, flyers for upcoming events, and much more!
📷: April 30, 2023, Scouler's willow, Turnagain Arm
Doors open at 10 a.m. and a number of our Anchorage members will be staffing the AKNPS booth.
We’ll have a limited quantity of free native seed packets available (surplus from our mail distribution program). We will also have some merchandise including 2026 Native Plant of the Year shirts/hoodies and copies of the Wildflowers for Northern Gardens book, helpful for propagating native plants in Alaska gardens.
We’ll also have free handouts on gardening with native plants, promo materials for Alaska Native Plant Month, volunteer signup sheets, flyers for upcoming events, and much more!
📷: April 30, 2023, Scouler's willow, Turnagain Arm
Introducing our 2026 Native Plant of the Year, 𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘶𝘮 (tall cottongrass). Our forthcoming Borealis newsletter includes an essay on this plant written by University of Alaska Fairbanks research scientist Martha Raynolds. Following is an excerpt:
"One of the benefits of living in northern latitudes is we get to share it with a most appealing sedge known as 𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘶𝘮 Honck.
In the summertime, this sedge fills our wet boreal and Arctic landscapes with dense stands of white tufts tossing in the wind on long stems.
Sedges throughout the 𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘮 genus have uncommon charisma. Pollinated by wind, not bugs, their flowers develop into seed-bearing spikelets made up of white bristles at the top of their peduncles (flower stems)."
🔗 Read the full piece https://aknps.org/wp-content/uploads/Cottongrass_web-article.pdf
📷 Photo of 𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘶𝘮 by @bheitz ((CC BY-NC) via iNaturalist. The photo was taken in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska during a vegetation survey led by the UAA: University of Alaska Anchorage's Alaska Center for Conservation Science.
"One of the benefits of living in northern latitudes is we get to share it with a most appealing sedge known as 𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘶𝘮 Honck.
In the summertime, this sedge fills our wet boreal and Arctic landscapes with dense stands of white tufts tossing in the wind on long stems.
Sedges throughout the 𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘮 genus have uncommon charisma. Pollinated by wind, not bugs, their flowers develop into seed-bearing spikelets made up of white bristles at the top of their peduncles (flower stems)."
🔗 Read the full piece https://aknps.org/wp-content/uploads/Cottongrass_web-article.pdf
📷 Photo of 𝘌𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘶𝘮 by @bheitz ((CC BY-NC) via iNaturalist. The photo was taken in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska during a vegetation survey led by the UAA: University of Alaska Anchorage's Alaska Center for Conservation Science.
Many of our members post and search iNaturalist.org observations on a regular basis, and participate in iNaturalist flora projects like the Flora of Chugach State Park Project - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/flora-of-chugach-state-park. If you've wanted to learn more about using iNaturalist, this upcoming webinar might be be a good opportunity!
Identifying observations for others is one of the most impactful things you can do on iNaturalist — and you don't need to be an expert to start.
Join us on March 19th (Taxonomy Day!) at 9am PT for a free webinar on how to make identifications on iNaturalist, with tips for sorting plants and navigating the platform. The event will be recorded — register to get the recording link sent to you afterward!
Register for free: https://tr.ee/7Opp8zGkIQ
Join us on March 19th (Taxonomy Day!) at 9am PT for a free webinar on how to make identifications on iNaturalist, with tips for sorting plants and navigating the platform. The event will be recorded — register to get the recording link sent to you afterward!
Register for free: https://tr.ee/7Opp8zGkIQ