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
Come see us at our booth tomorrow (Saturday, April 19) at the Spring Garden Show in Anchorage, starting at 10 a.m.
Stop by for:
+ free educational handouts
+ free native plant seeds (while supplies last)
+ volunteer signup sheets for summer work parties
+ upcoming events (workshops, hikes, etc.)
+ samples of our 2025 Native Plant of the Year willow t-shirts and hoodies
+ copies of Pat Holloway’s Wildflowers for Northern Gardens propagation book for sale
+ our ‘traveling library’ of Alaska native plant-related books that you can thumb through
Curious about plants that eat bugs in Alaska? How about our native iris species?
The public is invited to join the Alaska Native Plant Society Meeting coming up on Monday (April 7). You can attend in person at the Campbell Creek Science Center in Anchorage or via Zoom.
We will have a potluck from 6-6:45 pm and the meeting begins promptly at 7 pm. The meeting includes a short business meeting followed by our speaker program.
We'll have a 5-minute talk on Iridaceae (the Iris family) from Glenn Brown, part of our Plant Families series featuring monocots. Our featured speaker is Bob Armstrong, a retired Juneau biologist who has studied, photographed and written books and articles about Alaska's fish, birds, mammals, plants and insects. He is coming to Anchorage to present to us on "Plants That Eat Bugs In Alaska."
If you cannot attend in person and need the Zoom link, join our Meeting Link: Alaska Native Plant Society Facebook group.
📷: Photos of various Alaska native iris species and carnivorous plants courtesy Glenn Brown and Bob Armstrong.
Attend in person if you can!
Bob Armstrong is coming to Anchorage to present on "Plants That Eat Bugs In Alaska" during the Alaska Native Plant Society Meeting on April 7.
We'll also have a 5-minute talk on Iridaceae (the Iris family) from Glenn Brown, part of our Plant Families series featuring monocots.
See the flier for meeting details.
Also, if you would like to receive regular email announcements from the Alaska Native Plant Society and our Borealis newsletter, become a member! Learn more and sign up at https://aknps.org/membership.
FYI - We are planning to share some surplus native seed during today's seed exchange at the Alaska Botanical Garden. Please arrive early for better chances of securing seed before our supply runs out and/or or volunteers get too chilly and leave.
All event details are in the shared post and this page will not be monitored during the event. We will have many packets of donated Hedysarum alpinum (Indian potato/alpine sweetvetch), a large amount of Angelica lucida, and a few packets each of about a half-dozen other native plant species. The Hedysarum seed was collected in 2021 but seed of this species can remain viable for six years or longer if stored properly.
Interested in learning more about Alaska seaweeds and sedges? How about the medicinal uses of spruce pitch?
You'll hear about these topics and more during the Alaska Native Plant Society Meeting tomorrow (Monday, Feb. 3) at 7 pm, in person at the Campbell Creek Science Center in Anchorage and via Zoom. We will have a potluck from 6-6:45 pm and the meeting will begin promptly at 7 pm. This includes a short business meeting followed by our speaker program:
+ Main Topic: “Seaweeds," presented by Marilyn Barker
+ Plant Families: Cyperaceae (Sedges), presented by Kitty LaBounty
+ Mini-Botany: Medicinal Plants, Spruce Pitch, presented by Cinthia Campos-Hernández
Non-members who want to join the meeting via Zoom can join our "Meeting Link" group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/480059036764461 to obtain the meeting link.
If you would like to receive regular email announcements from the Alaska Native Plant Society and our Borealis newsletter, become a member! Learn more and sign up at https://aknps.org/membership.
7:30 PM UPDATE: Thank you for all the interest! Similar to last year, demand was extremely high and outstripped the available supply of seed. We are now closed to new orders.
Our mail distribution program for Alaska native seed has opened! Nearly 40 species are available, while supplies last. Submit your request here: https://bit.ly/2025_ak_native_seeds
