Flora of Nevada

During 2019, inspired by a superbloom season across the high country of Nevada, and inspired by my years of botanical work in the state, I undertook writing a new Flora of Nevada. Here I’ll post sporadic updates, photos of exceptional plants, and videos about Nevada’s plants as this work progresses in a running ticker format.

13 Dec. 2021

As the year begins to draw towards an end, about 65% of the Flora of Nevada is now complete. Myself and the nearly one dozen contributors are expecting a submission for publication date sometime in 2023.

28 May 2021

The mark of 350 draft manuscript pages was surpassed this month. I estimate a bit over half of the hard work to be completed and a potential first draft for review usage to be ready by next spring.

I am welcoming treatments from expert taxonomists working with large and complex groups occurring in Nevada. Some of these are already being worked upon or completed, while others are wide open. It is worth an inquiry, if interested: mathew.sharples@colorado.edu

Videos around Nevada (and sometimes elsewhere) continue to be uploaded, and recent ones deal with hunting for spring during historical drought.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMbMoHT8Tl9ArgFDSjVTFCQ

19 Feb. 2021

Work continues swiftly. The draft manuscript surpassed 300 pages this month, with most families now treated, with mostly just larger families and their larger genera to be, er, largely treated.

14 Sept. 2020

A productive spring with many new field discoveries led into a drought-stricken summer, and southern Nevada is about to surpass drought records in its recorded history. Study of specimens and a few choice summer destinations (e.g., the Snake Range, the far north) have been my primary pathways towards new progress after the bountiful spring, and all told, I’ve been able to chip into 230 pages of the new book to date. Here is to hoping for precipitation to end the region’s drought misery.

17 videos across a diversity of Nevada’s ecosystems have been uploaded this year. The most recent upload takes place at Spirit Mountain, Sentinel of the South:

26 March 2020

A S NV superbloom is in progress, helped by weeks of cloudy, cool, and wet weather. Up to 3,000 ft. or so seems to be a peak elevation at present:

4 March 2020

With spring in full progress along the lower Colorado basin I have been working on many of the annual borages. I’ve temporarily relocated to the lower Colorado for the spring to track the S NV bloom across elevations. The flora just reached the 23,000 word mark.