The Jacksonville Woodlands Association has bought and set aside several hundred acres of land here to serve as a permanent home for the Gentners’ fritillary and other rare species.
My twin brother, Larry Smith, has been teaching school since 1965...almost 45 years. He is still subbing. Over those years he took photos of his students and their activities. He has now scanned in the negatives, photos and slides from those years. He has organized the 6,460 photos into 27 Picasa albums. He hopes his former students will find these albums after he posts them on http://www.jvwoodlands.org To contact Larry Smith: jvsmith@clearwire.net To contact Lloyd Smith: Lsmithtwin@comcast.net
The Fritillaria gentneri, one of the rarest native plants in the world, is found only in isolated populations in Southern Oregon. The largest concentration of this rare and showy red bell is found in the woodlands immediately surrounding Historic Jacksonville, Oregon. The Jacksonville Woodlands Association has bought and set aside several hundred acres of land here to serve as a permanent home for the Gentners’ fritillary and other rare species.
Growing mostly in dry, open fir and oak woodlands, the FG grows to a height of 20 to 50 inches with two to 13 large dark red (maroon) bells that are mottled with pale yellow. The sturdy stems range from glaucous green to purple. The Jacksonville Woodlands Association has bought and set aside several hundred acres of land here to serve as a permanent home for the Gentners’ fritillary and other rare species.
Laura Gentner Dunwald 87-Year-Old Woman Searches for the Endangered Flower That Shares Her Family Name It's bloom time for wildflowers in the Cascade foothills and at low elevations across the Northwest. OPB Reporter Amelia Templeton went searching for an endangered lily that only grows on a few hillsides in Southern Oregon. Laura Gentner-Dunwald: “I’m Laura Gentner-Dunwald. I love the spring flowers the most. My father was an etymologist. Taught us the love of nature. We used to be able to dig wildflowers and bring them into our garden which I did when I was in high school.” The Jacksonville Woodlands Association has bought and set aside several hundred acres of land here to serve as a permanent home for the Gentners’ fritillary and other rare species. Photo: OPB
Amelia Templeton / OPB Laura Gentner-Dunwald One of the flowers she brought home while growing up in Medford was a red lily shaped like a little bell. Botanists at Oregon State University said it was a new species. They called it Gentner’s fritillary, after Laura and her dad. That was seventy years ago. Laura Gentner-Dunwald: “They’re just gone. And it always makes me sad to see that.” Gentner-Dunwald says houses have been built on the slopes where she used to find the red lily. Now it’s endangered. The Bureau of Land Management guesses about 1200 of the flowers mature each spring. The Jacksonville Woodlands Association has bought and set aside several hundred acres of land here to serve as a permanent home for the Gentners’ fritillary and other rare species. Photo: OPB
87-Year-Old Woman Searches for the Endangered Flower That Shares Her Family Name Laura Gentner-Dunwald: “Oh my isn’t this pretty. Oh look at this. I love it.” We’re on a trail just outside the town of Jacksonville looking for a fritillary. Dozens, sometimes a hundred of them, grow up here. Larry Smith: “We’re on a dry oak hillside, south-facing.” That’s Larry Smith, with the Jacksonville Woodlands Association. He’s helping Laura Gentner-Dunwald look for her flower. Larry Smith: “And this is absolutely the perfect environment for them, near the trail. They like a little disturbance.” A little disturbance, yes. But not a lawnmower. The wild lily is legally protected if it blooms on public land. But not on private land. Smith says there is no law against killing an endangered plant if it’s growing in your backyard. Back on the hillside, Laura Gentner-Dunwald sees a flash of red. Laura Gentner-Dunwald: "Oh, there it is, and I found it." Photo: OPB
JACKSONVILLE'S SIGNATURE FLOWER The FRITILLARIA GENTNERI is one of Oregon's rarest wildflowers. This showy lily with 2 to 13 large reddish maroon bells is scattered in isolated populations across Southern Oregon, with its greatest concentration found in and around Historic Jacksonville.
This aluminum flower sculpture of the fritillaria is artist Mike Smith's concept of this rare beauty. We hope it promotes conversation which brings awareness to its unique story and endangered status.
Artist Mike Smith visiting with hike a thon attenders This project is a cooperative effort between Mike and Heidi Smith of "All About Metal", located in Central Point, and the Jacksonville Woodlands Association. Since 1989 the JWA has been working to protect the natural and cultural heritage of Historic Jacksonville. jvwoodlands.org To learn more about Mike and Heidi's metal sculptures check out: allaboutmetal@msn.com Or call Mike at: (541) 772-9889
This project is a cooperative effort between Mike and Heidi Smith of "All About Metal", located in Central Point, and the Jacksonville Woodlands Association. Since 1989 the JWA has been working to protect the natural and cultural heritage of Historic Jacksonville. jvwoodlands.org To learn more about Mike and Heidi's metal sculptures check out: allaboutmetal@msn.com Or call Mike at: (541) 772-9889
This project is a cooperative effort between Mike and Heidi Smith of "All About Metal", located in Central Point, and the Jacksonville Woodlands Association. Since 1989 the JWA has been working to protect the natural and cultural heritage of Historic Jacksonville. jvwoodlands.org To learn more about Mike and Heidi's metal sculptures check out: allaboutmetal@msn.com Or call Mike at: (541) 772-9889 On behalf of the Jacksonville Woodlands Association, I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to the Jacksonville community for your financial support to the JWA which provides the funds to develop and maintain the Jacksonville Woodlands Historic Natural Park and Trail sytem. For more information, please view the JWA website: jvwoodlands.org To make a donation, please make checks payable to the Jacksonville Woodlands Association, PO Box 1210, Jacksonville, Oregon 97530 Charley Wilson, President Jacksonville Woodlands Association
Metal artist Mike and Heidi Smith With their family and Mike's giant Frit. Displayed for the first time at our 2011 Hike-A-Thon This project is a cooperative effort between Mike and Heidi Smith of "All About Metal", located in Central Point, and the Jacksonville Woodlands Association. Since 1989 the JWA has been working to protect the natural and cultural heritage of Historic Jacksonville. jvwoodlands.org To learn more about Mike and Heidi's metal sculptures check out: allaboutmetal@msn.com Or call Mike at: (541) 772-9889
In 1944, Dr. Louis Gentner, an entomologist and assistant superintendent of the Southern Oregon Branch Experiment Station in Medford, reported what appeared to him an undescribed species of Fritillaria. The previous year one of his daughters, Laura, had collected for her garden a plant that she had assumed was the fairly common Fritillaria recurva or red bell. But when her plant flowered it was noticeably different. By this time, however, she had forgotten where she had originally collected it. The family made numerous trips to locate the plant in the wild, but had no luck. The following spring another daughter, Katherine, recognized the rare lily in a flower arrangement in the home of a friend who then led them to the hillside where the plant was growing.
In the late 1940s Dr. Helen Gilkey, Oregon State University Botany Department Curator, studied this "new" fritillary and determined that the flower was indeed a distinct species. In 1951 Dr. Gilkey officially described this plant, new to Western science, and named it in honor of the Gentner family who had discovered it.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the fritillaria Gentneri on the federal Endangered Species List in December, 1999.
The Jacksonville Woodlands Association is working with the City of Jacksonville, the Bureau of Land Management, Southern Oregon Land Conservancy, and Trust for Public Land to protect fritillary habitat by purchasing and receiving donations of land. The City of Jacksonville also provides habitat protection in its pioneer cemetery and other natural open species surrounding Jacksonville.
April 2011 Beekman Woods
