协会历史与早期沿革
北美原生植物协会 (North American Native Plant Society, 简称 NANPS) 是加拿大境内专门研究、保护和推广北美原产植物的非营利组织,总部位于安大略省的大多伦多-汉密尔顿地区 (GTHA),会员遍及加拿大和美国各地。1985 年,一群关注环境保护的人士把它以「加拿大野花协会」 (Canadian Wildflower Society) 的名义成立起来,同年创办了北美最具影响力的原生植物杂志《Wildflower》。1999 年,协会考虑到会员已经遍及北美,而植物本身又从不理会这些人为边界,正式更名为北美原生植物协会 (NANPS)。创始会长 Jim French 在 2010 年协会成立 25 周年时出版了回忆录《Silver Memories》,记录下协会头二十五年的主要工作。协会按加拿大《非营利公司法》注册,在 2013 年 12 月通过了修订后的章程及内部条例。
保护地产与重要物种
NANPS 目前直接管理两块自然保护地产:Shining Tree Woods 位于安大略省诺福克县的卡罗莱纳森林带,1992 年 10 月由当时的加拿大野花协会购入,面积约 50 英亩;Zinkan Cove 位于布鲁斯半岛西岸的休伦湖边,2003 年由当时的财务主管 Trish Murphy 牵头购入,面积约 12 英亩,属于省级自然与科学兴趣区 (ANSI)。两块地产分别拥有至少十种国家级稀有植物,其中 Shining Tree Woods 是北美黄瓜树 (Magnolia acuminata) 在加拿大的主要栖息地之一,还有美国栗木、鹅掌楸、黑色甘蜜树、猪油根兰、黄假油楠等稀有物种;Zinkan Cove 以白冷杉、颤杨、香脂白桦等为主要树种,湖岸的白花虎克拟兰 (Goodyera oblongifolia) 在安大略省一度被认为相当稀有。协会在这两块地产上奉行「最小干预」原则,除了安全原因伐除个别危险树木之外,不进行商业采伐或化学药剂作业。
种子交换与传粉者项目
NANPS 的种子交换活动始于 1988 年,是协会最具延续性的项目之一。每年由会员义务采集、清选并寄送种子,协会再把处理好的种子包装成袋,提供给会员和非会员购买。最近一年,协会一共处理了 1078 份种子袋,在春季种子集市 (Seedy Saturday) 和五月多伦多植物园的年度苗圃义卖上分发。温带北美原生维管植物超过一万种,种子交换让会员可以在自家花园里扩繁其中的一小部分。为了支持城市传粉者,协会与 TD Friends of the Environment Foundation 合作,出版了《Pollinator Gardening: 9 Quick Tips》传粉者园艺小贴士,又联合 David Suzuki Foundation 推出《NANPS How to Create a Pollinator Garden》初学者指南,鼓励居民在自留地和街角种植本土花卉。
会刊《Blazing Star》与公众教育
协会刚成立时创办的《Wildflower》是北美最早系统介绍原生植物的杂志,2004 年前后因财务原因停刊;停刊之后协会推出了 16 页的季刊《Blazing Star》 (中文意为「炽热之星」),继续把研究、园艺实践和活动讯息带给会员。后来《Wildflower》的刊名被授权给德州 Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center 继续使用,协会本身则把出版重点放在《Blazing Star》和电子报《The Local Scoop》上,后者专门报道南安大略本地与原生植物相关的政策、新闻和逸事。协会还持续举办讲座系列 (Speakers Series),话题覆盖传粉者保护、城市生态、苗圃实操和入侵植物识别,最近一年举办过的讲座嘉宾包括 Robert Pavlis、Joey Santore 与 Anthony Ayers 等。
会员体系与合作伙伴
NANPS 几乎完全由志愿者运营,没有常设雇员,日常工作包括编辑会刊、清理和包装种子、在年度苗圃义卖现场回答公众提问、参与 Shining Tree Woods 和 Zinkan Cove 两块地产的实地保育,以及维护官方网站的原生植物数据库 (Native Plants Database)。协会与多伦多植物园、万锦市 (City of Markham) 保持长期合作,共同举办公共讲座和园艺活动;在出版方面,曾与安大略自然人联合会 (Federation of Ontario Naturalists) 联合出版《Plants of Carolinian Canada》,这也是加拿大第一本系统介绍卡罗莱纳植物区系的小册子。在地产保护方面,Zinkan Cove 的购置由尼亚加拉悬崖生物圈保护区 (Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy) 居中协调并保留地役权。会员以个人和家庭形式参与,设有董事会、奖项评选委员会、种子交换委员会等多个工作小组。
Founding and Early History
The North American Native Plant Society (NANPS) is a Canadian registered non-profit dedicated to the study, conservation, cultivation and restoration of North America’s native flora. Founded in 1985 by a small group of dedicated conservationists as the Canadian Wildflower Society, NANPS launched North America’s foremost native plant magazine Wildflower the same year. In 1999, the membership had grown across the border and the society acknowledged that plants do not recognize political boundaries, so it was renamed the North American Native Plant Society. Founder and Honorary President Jim French published Silver Memories in 2010, recounting the society’s first twenty-five years. NANPS is incorporated under the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act and updated its Articles of Transition and Bylaw-2 in December 2013.
Conservation Properties and Key Species
NANPS directly manages two conservation properties. Shining Tree Woods is a 50-acre parcel of Carolinian forest in Norfolk County, Ontario, purchased in October 1992 when the society was still the Canadian Wildflower Society. It hosts at least ten nationally rare plants, including the cucumber tree (Magnolia acuminata), American chestnut, tulip tree, black gum, putty-root orchid and yellow mandarin. Zinkan Cove is a 12-acre alvar on the west shore of the Bruce Peninsula on Lake Huron, purchased in 2003 thanks to then treasurer Trish Murphy and brokered by the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy, which holds an environmental easement on the land. Its shoreline supports roundleaf ragwort (Senecio obovatus) and Menzies’ rattlesnake-plantain (Goodyera oblongifolia), once considered rare in Ontario. NANPS follows a minimal-intervention approach on both properties, prohibiting logging and biocides and letting the adjacent old field regenerate naturally.
Seed Exchange and Pollinator Programs
The NANPS Seed Exchange has run continuously since 1988. Each year volunteers collect, clean and package seeds contributed mainly from members’ gardens, with ethically sourced wild collections kept under 10% of a healthy population. In the most recent year the program processed 1,078 seed packs, distributed at Seedy Saturday events and the May plant sale at the Toronto Botanical Garden. Temperate North America supports more than 10,000 species of vascular plants, and the exchange offers members a way to multiply a small selection in their own gardens. NANPS has also partnered with TD Friends of the Environment Foundation on the Pollinator Gardening: 9 Quick Tips sheet and with the David Suzuki Foundation on the beginner guide NANPS How to Create a Pollinator Garden, encouraging homeowners to plant natives for native bees and other pollinators.
Blazing Star Newsletter and Public Education
The Wildflower magazine that NANPS founded in 1985 was North America’s first publication dedicated to native plants. After it ceased publication around 2004, the society launched a 16-page quarterly, The Blazing Star, to keep delivering research, gardening practice and event news to members. The Wildflower name lives on as the magazine for members of Texas’s Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. NANPS also publishes an e-newsletter, The Local Scoop, focused on native-plant stories from southern Ontario, and runs a Speakers Series on nature, environment and native plant gardening. Recent webinar guests have included Robert Pavlis on soil science, Joey Santore of Crime Pays but Botany Doesn’t, and Anthony Ayers on native bees in cities.
Membership and Cross-Organization Collaboration
NANPS is essentially volunteer-run: members edit the newsletter, clean and package seeds, staff the annual plant sales, care for the two conservation properties and maintain the Native Plants Database on the website. The society collaborates with the Toronto Botanical Garden and the City of Markham on public lectures and garden events, and co-published Plants of Carolinian Canada with the Federation of Ontario Naturalists, the first booklet on Carolinian Canada’s native flora with both conservation and horticultural guidance. The Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy brokered the purchase of Zinkan Cove and continues to hold an environmental easement on it. NANPS awards recognize individuals and groups contributing to native plant conservation, and committees coordinate activities ranging from the seed exchange to nominations and outreach.
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