Intro to Conifers & Ginkgo
Introduction to Conifers & Ginkgo (Coniferophytes)
Leader: Sterling J. Sam, Professor of Botany
Please sign up on Meetup. Registration Link opens April 1, 2025. Limit 20
Conifers are ancient plants that play a critical role on our planet. These magnificent plants date back over 300 million years. Conifers are a group of plants that include cedars, firs, cypresses, junipers, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, and spruces. They have flourished since the Triassic, existed in many forms and were the dominant plant species, long before the rise of flowering plants. You’ll see one conifer thought to be extinct until it was found in 1994! We will see a plant that is the source of a potent chemotherapy drug used for ovarian, lung, Kaposi’s sarcoma, and early-stage breast cancer. Unlike what you may think, not all conifers are evergreen; there are deciduous conifers, and you’ll see a couple examples.
Prof. Sam will also point out a tree which produces one of the most commonly used herbal supplements used in the world, shown to be effective in stabilizing and improving cognitive performance as well as social functioning of dementia patients, improving depressive symptoms, blood circulation, macular degeneration, and glaucoma.
We will start by learning the conifers in and around the Marin Art & Garden Center in Ross. We will then walk to other conifers in Ross and Kentfield, to see such conifers as Taxus and Taxodium. Participants should be able to comfortably walk 2-3 miles.
Ticket price – FREE, if you shut off your cell phones, watches, and other electronics for the duration of the field trip. $50 payable to the instructor, if you insist on leaving them on.
Directions: Meet at the Marin Art & Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Ross
Bring: a snack/water. Dress in layers. Rain cancels. 20 participants maximum.
Please: Sign the Waiver for Marin Chapter 2025, if you have not done so already.
- Practice clean trail etiquette. Pocket Guide – Every Step Counts and Cleanliness Tips for Hikers
- No dogs on this trip.
