Visitors to California's Bohemian Grove campground have a unique tool for
identifying the trees and flowers they see -- an album of photographs and
copies of identifying leaves assembled by Bill Hewlett. For nearly 50 years,
Bill has been studying the plants and trees in all the places where he has
spent time.
An avid outdoorsman all his life, Bill's career as a part-time naturalist
was sparked when the Army stationed Bill and his late wife, Flora, in Washington
D.C. during World War II. On one of their frequent visits to Rock Creek
Park, he realized that he didn't recognize any of the trees in the area.
And when he returned to California, he realized he didn't know much about
the trees and flowers here, either.
After reading to acquire a background in botany, he was soon photographing
and identifying the trees and wildflowers he saw on camping, hiking, mountain
climbing, and fishing trips. Over the years, his collection of photographs
has grown to more than 400 different trees and flowers, from areas as diverse
as the Santa Cruz and Sierra mountains of California, the American Great
Plains, and the mountains of Europe.
Among his favorites from all the beautiful flowers he has photographed are
those with the common name Mariposa, including the White Mariposa (Calochortus
venustus). The name ties these flowers to the butterflies and Sequoia
groves in the foothills and mountains of Mariposa County in eastern California.
The dream of every naturalist, amateur or professional, is to discover an
as yet unnamed flower or plant and bring it to the attention of the scientific
community. While this has not happened in Bill's years as a naturalist,
he still enjoys the challenge of making a difficult identification.
"It is not too hard to make an educated guess as to the genus,"
he said. "It is the species that is difficult, but the average person
is not interested in whether it is an 'Iris douglandiana' or an
'Iris macrosiphon.' Except for the expert, it is sufficient to
know that it is an 'Iris.' But there is a challenge to try and find out
the species. It is the difference between a job well done and a job half
done."
And, as he notes happily, "there will always be new plants to identify."
