历史沿革与创始背景
美国马里兰本地植物协会（Maryland Native Plant Society，下文简称 MNPS）是一家于 1992 年在马里兰州注册成立的本土植物保护非营利组织，距今已有 34 年历史。其最早的内部通讯 Native News 自 1992 年起发行，1999 年改名为 Marilandica，2002 年起进一步拆分为刊登学术与田野调查文章的 Marilandica 与聚焦活动信息的 Native News 两份姊妹刊物，2009 年合并为现在的半年刊彩色通讯 Marilandica，沿用至今。从 2007 年起，MNPS 在 Native News 第 15 周年纪念刊中系统总结了创会 15 年来的成就；从 2011 年起每年发布公开的年度报告，会员地理分布图覆盖马里兰、弗吉尼亚、华盛顿特区、宾夕法尼亚、特拉华、纽约、新泽西、北卡、西弗吉尼亚等十余州。MNPS 同时是马里兰州 Botanical Heritage Work Group（BHWG）的发起单位之一，该工作组于 2013 年由马里兰州议会通过 Chapter 655 法案成立，由 MNPS 主席 Kirsten Johnson 担任主席，向州长和议会提交本土植物保护评估报告。
组织架构与会员服务
MNPS 的法定通讯地址为 P.O. Box 4877, Silver Spring, MD 20914，是马里兰州注册并获美国国税局认定的 501(c)(3) 公共慈善机构，所有会费与捐赠依法享有税前抵扣资格，款项一律通过 Wild Apricot Payments（AffiniPay）安全网关处理，支票处理周期为 4–6 周。日常运营完全依靠志愿者推动，不对任何郊游、田野调查或工作坊收取费用，仅年度秋季大会象征性收取注册费以补贴科研资助项目。协会设有会长、副会长、秘书、财务与多名理事组成的董事会，下设 Marilandica 编辑委员会、研究资助评审委员会、年会策划委员会、入侵植物立法行动小组等专项委员会，与弗吉尼亚本地植物协会、Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission 共同运营 NativePlantsEast 邮件列表（NativePlantsEast@groups.io）。联系方式包括通用邮箱 info@mdflora.org、郊游事务 fieldtrips@mdflora.org、苗圃名录 nurserylist@mdflora.org 以及大会联系 conference@mdflora.org。
科普教育、学术出版与年度项目
MNPS 的科普体系由月度在线讲座、田野调查日、工作坊与年度秋季大会四条主线组成。月度讲座以 Zoom 形式向公众免费开放，容纳前 300 名与会者，2026 年已邀请 University of Maryland College Park 助理教授 Dr. Dan Buonauito 谈气候变迁下的本土植物景观规划、Georgetown University 生物系 Dr. Martha Weiss 谈植物-昆虫互作与城市觅食策略、Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission 的 Corinne Stephens 介绍 Weed Warrior 志愿者项目（自 1999 年延续至今）。学术出版方面，《Marilandica》半年刊迄今已出版至第 16 卷第 1 期（2025 年春夏号），2026 年还另设《Carex 薹草之年》专题系列。旗舰出版物包括《Landscaping with Native Plants》（2024 年再版，售价 2 美元）、《Piedmont Region, Maryland Native Plant Guide》（2025 年版，售价 10 美元）、《Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas, Field Guide》（Swearingen & Fulton 2022 年版，售价 7 美元）以及《Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping》（U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2003 年版）。年度科研资助自 2013 年起累计支持超过 50 个以假设驱动的本土植物研究项目。2026 年秋季大会将于 9 月 12–13 日召开，与 University of Maryland Extension 及 University of Maryland School of Landscape Architecture 联合主办，设 Sedge $250 / Spicebush $500 / White Oak $1000 三档赞助级别。
入侵植物立法、保护修复与社区倡导
在入侵植物立法领域，MNPS 自 2011 年马里兰州入侵植物法立法、2022 年 HB15/SB7 法案要求 Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas 收录的物种走评估流程，到 2024 年 HB979/SB915《生物多样性与农业保护法》通过，全程参与立法倡导；2026 年 6 月协会就 Maryland Department of Agriculture 发布的实施条例（将苗圃禁售植物清库期由 2 年延长为 5 年、在地栽培植物由 1 年延长为 2 年）发起公众评议动员，联系 MDA Program Manager Kimberly Rice、Secretary Kevin Atticks、Director of Legislation Rachael Jones 三位负责人提交意见。MNPS 同步推动反 Umbrella Mitigation Bank 行动，支持 Sierra Club 马里兰分会反对 Davey Resource Group 拟在 Howard 县 Lake Elkhorn 项目中以工程化渠道替代天然河岸的做法。物种层面，协会协助 Maryland Department of Natural Resources 跟踪 Cypripedium parviflorum、Delphinium tricorne、Hybanthus concolor、Kalmia angustifolia、Myosotis verna、Primula media 等 S3 级「观察名单」物种，鼓励会员通过 Maryland Biodiversity Project 上报精确分布以防盗采。MNPS 苗圃名录收录超过 70 家马里兰本地苗圃与供应商，涵盖 Adkins Arboretum、American Native Plants、Appalachian Headwaters、Archewild Native Nursery 等；2018 年起 Amur honeysuckle、Yellow flag、Shining geranium、Lesser celandine、Wintercreeper、Incised fumewort 六种入侵植物被列入马里兰州禁售清单。
战略合作、田野网络与公众参与
MNPS 的战略合作网络覆盖政府部门、高校、独立科研机构与姊妹协会四大类：政府端与 Maryland Department of Natural Resources（State Botanist Christopher Frye 与 Wesley Knapp）、Maryland Department of Agriculture、Maryland Department of the Environment（Denise Clearwater）、Maryland State Highway Administration（Kevin Wilsey）保持长期协作；学术端与 University of Maryland Extension、University of Maryland School of Landscape Architecture、University of Maryland College Park、Georgetown University、Columbia University Center for Environmental Research and Conservation 互设讲座与学分课程；保护端与 NatureServe（Anne Frances, PhD）、Plant Conservation Alliance（Jil Swearingen）、Sierra Club of Maryland、Maryland Botanical Heritage Work Group、Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission 共同推进立法与栖息地修复；姊妹协会网络包括 Virginia Native Plant Society、NativePlantsEast 邮件列表、Irvine Nature Center、Mount Cuba Center、Environmental Concern, Inc.、Adkins Arboretum 等。田野调查网络遍及 Adkins Arboretum（Caroline 县）、Patuxent Research Refuge、Suitland Bog（Prince George 县）、Cosca Regional Park、Millington Kent 县、Piedmont 西部与 Delmarva 海湾等关键生态区。公众参与渠道包括「Year of the Carex」公民科学项目、月度 Zoom 讲座、New Germany State Park 的 Weed or Wildflower 志愿除草系列（Sessions 2–4 of 12），以及 Facebook 主页与 Plants To Identify 全球识别小组。
Founding History and Origins
The Maryland Native Plant Society (MNPS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit plant conservation organization founded in 1992 and incorporated in the State of Maryland, with more than three decades of continuous work promoting awareness, appreciation, and conservation of Maryland’s native plants and their habitats. Its first newsletter Native News began publication in 1992, was renamed Marilandica in 1999, split into the scholarly Marilandica and the events-focused Native News in 2002, and was consolidated into the current biannual full-color Marilandica in 2009. MNPS began publishing open annual reports in 2011 and, in its 2007 Native News fifteenth-anniversary retrospective, documented the Society’s first fifteen years of work. MNPS initiated the Maryland Botanical Heritage Work Group (BHWG), established in 2013 by Chapter 655 of the Acts of the Maryland General Assembly, which is chaired by MNPS President Kirsten Johnson and reports to the Governor and the General Assembly on native plant conservation.
Governance Structure and Member Services
MNPS is registered as a 501(c)(3) public charity incorporated in Maryland, with its official mailing address at P.O. Box 4877, Silver Spring, MD 20914. Membership dues and donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law and processed through Wild Apricot Payments (AffiniPay), with check processing taking four to six weeks. The Society is run entirely by volunteers; field trips, monthly programs, and workshops are offered free of charge, with only the annual Fall Conference charging a registration fee to subsidize the research grants program. Governance is provided by a board of directors chaired by the President (currently Kirsten Johnson), with standing committees for Marilandica, research grants, conference planning, and invasive-plant legislative action. The Society maintains the NativePlantsEast@groups.io listserve jointly with the Virginia Native Plant Society, and its public-facing contacts include info@mdflora.org, fieldtrips@mdflora.org, nurserylist@mdflora.org, and conference@mdflora.org.
Education, Publications, and Annual Programs
MNPS delivers education through four parallel channels: monthly public Zoom lectures, field trips, workshops, and the annual Fall Conference. The 2026 monthly program series has featured University of Maryland College Park Assistant Professor Dr. Dan Buonauito on climate-resilient native plant landscaping, Georgetown University biologist Dr. Martha Weiss on plant–insect interactions and urban foraging, and Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Natural Resources Specialist III Corinne Stephens on the long-running Montgomery Parks Weed Warrior program (established 1999). Marilandica is now in its 16th volume (Spring/Summer 2025 issue), with a 2026 thematic series on Carex sedges. The flagship publications are Landscaping with Native Plants (2024 edition, USD 2.00), Piedmont Region, Maryland Native Plant Guide (2025 edition, USD 10.00), Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas, Field Guide (Swearingen & Fulton, 2022, USD 7.00), and Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2003). Since 2013, MNPS research grants have supported more than fifty hypothesis-driven projects on Maryland’s native plants. The 2026 Fall Conference will be held September 12–13, co-hosted with University of Maryland Extension and the University of Maryland School of Landscape Architecture, with sponsorship tiers Sedge ($250), Spicebush ($500), and White Oak ($1,000).
Conservation, Advocacy, and Legislative Engagement
MNPS has played a sustained role in Maryland invasive-plant policy since the 2011 invasive-plant law, the 2022 HB15/SB7 assessment-process legislation, and the 2024 HB979/SB915 Biodiversity and Agriculture Protection Act. In June 2026, the Society mobilized members to comment on Maryland Department of Agriculture draft regulations extending the prohibited-plant sell-off phase-out from two to five years for in-ground woody stock and from one to two years for other plants, contacting Program Manager Kimberly Rice, Secretary Kevin Atticks, and Director of Legislation Rachael Jones. MNPS also opposes the proposed Umbrella Mitigation Banking Instrument and the Lake Elkhorn project led by Davey Resource Group, joining the Sierra Club of Maryland campaign to reject engineered stream-channel mitigation. The Society helps the Maryland Department of Natural Resources track S3 watchlist species including Cypripedium parviflorum, Delphinium tricorne, Hybanthus concolor, Kalmia angustifolia, Myosotis verna, and Primula media, channeling records to the Maryland Biodiversity Project. MNPS publishes a nursery list of more than seventy Maryland-area native plant vendors, including Adkins Arboretum, American Native Plants, Appalachian Headwaters, and Archewild Native Nursery, and references the 2018 state list of six prohibited invasives (Amur honeysuckle, Yellow flag, Shining geranium, Lesser celandine, Wintercreeper, and Incised fumewort).
Strategy, Partnerships, and Member Engagement
MNPS partnerships span government agencies, universities, independent research institutions, and sister societies. Government partners include the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (State Botanist Christopher Frye and Wesley Knapp), Maryland Department of Agriculture, Maryland Department of the Environment (Denise Clearwater), and Maryland State Highway Administration (Kevin Wilsey). Academic partners include University of Maryland Extension, University of Maryland School of Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland College Park, Georgetown University, and the Columbia University Center for Environmental Research and Conservation. Conservation partners include NatureServe (Anne Frances, PhD), Plant Conservation Alliance (Jil Swearingen), Sierra Club of Maryland, the Maryland Botanical Heritage Work Group, and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Sister-society partners include the Virginia Native Plant Society, the NativePlantsEast@groups.io listserve, Irvine Nature Center, Mount Cuba Center, Environmental Concern, Inc., and Adkins Arboretum. Field-trip sites span Adkins Arboretum (Caroline County), Patuxent Research Refuge, Suitland Bog (Prince George’s County), Cosca Regional Park, Millington in Kent County, and the Piedmont and Delmarva Bays regions. Public engagement channels include the 2026 Year of the Carex citizen-science campaign, the monthly Zoom program, the Weed or Wildflower volunteer sessions at New Germany State Park (Sessions 2–4 of 12), the MNPS Facebook page, and the global Plants To Identify Facebook discussion group.
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