PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN

A Publication of the Botanical Society of America, Inc.

September 1974 Vol. 20 No. 3

Contents

The Missouri Botanical Garden   Alwyn H. Gentry and Peter H. Raven 34
Botanical Potpourri   38
Special Treasurer's Report   C. Ritchie Bell 39
Personalia   40
Professional Opportunities   40
Books Received by PSB for Review   40

Book Reviews
Tropical Crops: Monocotyledons. J. W. Purseglove   (H. G. Baker) 42
Progress in Phytochemistry, Vol. 3. L. Reinhold and Y. Liwschitz (eds.) (Joseph Arditti) 43
Vegetation of New Jersey. Beryl Robichaud and M. F. Buell. (Arthur Cronquist) 43
Molecular Biology of Plants, a Test-manual. J. H. Cherry   (R. Klein) 43
Flora of the Pacific Northwest; an Illustrated Manual. C. L. Hitchcock and Arthur Cronquist.   (Murray Evans) 43

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THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN

Alwyn H. Gentry and Peter H. Raven Missouri Botanical Garden St. Louis, Missouri

First opened to the public in 1859, the Missouri Botanical Garden is the second oldest botanical garden in the United States and one of the leading botanical institutions in the world. The Garden now includes both a 70-acre area near the center of the City of St. Louis and a 2200-acre arboretum at the edge of the Ozarks, some 35 miles to the southwest. A sizeable scientific staff concentrates on the vascular plants and bryophytes of tropical regions, on land-use planning, and on ethnobotany, utilizing the Garden's herbarium of some 2.4 million sheets and its library. Graduate and undergraduate students from Washington University; St. Louis University; Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville; and the University of Missouri, St. Louis; use the Garden's facilities, and dozens of students have carried out their research for graduate degrees at the Garden. In addition, the primary and historical Garden functions of display and public education are still of vital importance.

The Missouri Botanical Garden is the principal legacy of Henry Shaw, a wealthy merchant with a keen interest in plants, who came to St. Louis in 1819 at the age of 19. Retiring from an active business life in 1840, Shaw set out to travel to Europe, and finally built two homes, starting construction on both in 1849. Tower Grove House (fig. 1), around which the Garden grew up, was his country home, surrounded initially by open prairie. It was built at a site which was then about three miles outside of the city of St. Louis, which in 1849 had a population of some 70,000 people. Becoming increasingly preoccupied with this home, and spending more and more of his time there, Shaw built his garden near it; his keen interest in plants, and in St. Louis, ultimately culminated in one of the earliest and finest examples of philanthropy in the Midwest. Shaw died in 1889, after personally managing the Missouri Botanical Garden for :30 years and, in effect, serving as its first director. As specified in his will, his town house was moved to the Garden in 1908 to house class-rooms, administrative offices, and the Garden's herbarium and library for some 64 years.

According to the terms of Henry Shaw's will, the Missouri Botanical Garden, often known locally as "Shaw's Garden," was to be dedicated to "the cultivation and propagation of plants, flowers, fruit and forest trees, and other productions of the vegetable Kingdom; and a museum and library connected therewith, and devoted to the same and to the science of Botany, Horticulture, and allied objects . . ." Shaw originally conceived of the Gar-den primarily as a place to view ornamental and useful plants and to learn about them, but he was influenced over the years by George Engelmann, a noted pioneer physician and accomplished botanist, to expand its activities to include scientific research also. Engelmann called upon Asa Gray, J. D. Hooker, and other leading botanists of the day, and they responded with letters to Shaw urging him to develop the Garden's scientific resources also. Eventually, purchases of herbarium specimens and books were made in Europe to form the nucleus of the Garden's collections.

To some extent, the Missouri Botanical Garden was modeled on the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which had passed from the Crown into the public domain in 1840 and which was setting up its own scientific program, her-barium, and library for the first time in the 1840's, following the appointment of W.J. Hooker as director. The Museum at the Missouri Botanical Garden, where the herbarium and library were first housed, was built following the plans for the first wing of the herbarium at Kew. These plans, however, were never put into effect in England but, were replaced with the larger, but still similar, version that through the years has been added to and expanded into the Kew Herbarium we see today. Kew, The New York Botanical Garden, and the Missouri Botanical Garden remain among the few examples of cornprehensive botanical institutions built on this sort of a concept.

Over the years, the education of plant scientists has been one of the most important activities at the Missouri Botanical Garden. At the time he founded the Garden, Henry Shaw also established a School of Botany at Washington University in St. Louis. Together, the Henry Shaw School of Botany (now a part of the Department of Biology) and the Missouri Botanical Garden have constituted an important center for graduate training in botany, especially in plant systematics. Many of the staff members at the Garden have adjunct appointments at Washington University; St. Louis University; the University of Missouri, St. Louis; and Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and faculty members from each of these universities have adjunct appointments at the Garden and are afforded research facilities. Seminars are held weekly for the systematic and evolutionary botanists of the St. Louis area. Both graduate and undergraduate students carry out research projects at the Missouri Botanical Gar-den, and in many cases are in residence for periods up to several years. Thus the Garden, although a private institution and completely independent, serves as an important resource for each of the local educational institutions, and they in turn employ faculty who support the Garden's overall program.

The effectiveness of the teaching program at the Missouri Botanical Garden can perhaps be demonstrated most easily by a brief list of some of its graduates — scientists who are employed at virtually all botanical institutions in the United States. Among those still active, these include: Caroline K. Allen, Henry N. Andrews, William C. Burger, Robert L. Dressler, George J. Goodman, Charles B. Heiser, C. L. Hitchcock, Richard W. Holm, Ding Hou, Hugh H. Iltis, Lee W. Lenz, Mildred E. Mathias, Robert. H. Mohlenbrock, Jr., L. I. Nevling, Jr., Joan W. Nowicke, Gerald B. Ownbey, Marion Ownbey, Howard Pfeiffer, David J. Rogers, Jonathan D. Sauer, Russell J. Seibert, .Julian A. Steyermark, Louis O. Williams, and many others.

The quality of student turned out by the Missouri Botanical Garden largely reflects the sustained interest in teaching and varied scientific background of the staff. For example, a list of its directors — William Trelease, George T. Moore, Edgar Anderson, Frits W. Went, David M. Gates, Peter H. Raven — includes scientists with a wide array of interests: plant taxonomy, population biology, cytogenetics, plant physiology, biophysical ecology, pollination biology, evolutionary biology. Other staff members who have contributed much to the graduate program over the past fifty years include: Henry N. Andrews, Edward A. Burt, Carroll W. Dodge, Calaway H. Dodson, Robert L. Dressler, Benjamin M. Duggar, .Jesse M. Greenman,

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David H. Linder, Norton H. Nickerson, Lee O. Overholts, Ernest S. Reynolds, George B. Van Schaack, Robert W. Schery, Hermann von Schrenk, Rolla M. Tryon, and Robert E. Woodson, Jr.

Public education has also received a good deal of attention at the Garden, especially in recent years. The Education Department presents programs and educational displays for both children and adults. More than 30,000 visits are made to the Arboretum and Garden each year by participants in the Education Department programs or the guided tours. Saturday Nature Classes for children 7 to 16 years of age have been one of the most enduring pro-grams; some classes draw as many as 600 people. During the school year, students from third grade through high school attend the one-hour lectures and ninety-minute workshops which make up the Garden's Plant Science Program. Each summer since 1958 the Pitzman Summer Nature Study Program has taught children 7 to 15 years old to collect leaves, make butterfly nets, take bird walks, hike along trails, and participate in other nature study projects under the supervision of experienced instructors. Many short courses for adults on horticulture, botany, and related topics are given throughout the year.

While fulfilling the educational mandate of Henry Shaw's will, the Missouri Botanical Garden has continued to be a horticultural showplace and remains one of the leading tourist attractions of St. Louis. In addition to extensive collections of roses, water lilies, and orchids the Garden boasts the Climatron, a giant, controlled-atmosphere, geodesic dome designed on the Buckminster Fuller concept (fig. 2). In the 15 years since its completion, the Climatron has become a symbol of the Garden. It houses ponds, a waterfall, an underwater tunnel, and a varied collection of tropical plants, nearly all labelled with scientific and common name and place of origin. Among its more than two thousand species are such botanical novelties as the only Degeneria in cultivation, the recently discovered Australian Idiospermum, and germinating 30-pound seeds of the double-coconut Lodoicea. Nor is the Climatron only a collection of exotic plants: in cooperation with the St. Louis Zoo, such animals as hummingbirds, turtles, iguanas, tropical fish, pheasants, and several water birds have been introduced. The Desert House, flanking the Climatron, is planted with representative species of desert plants. Another large conservatory adjacent to the Climatron is scheduled to be reopened soon as a Mediterranean House, and includes plants from the five areas of the World with a mediterranean climate. The Linnaean House, completed in 1883, contains a large collection of camellias and is the focus of a midwinter camellia show. Horticultural greenhouses, a floral display house, the carefully restored and renovated Tower Grove House, and the mausoleum where Henry Shaw is buried are among other noteworthy features of the Garden.

The outdoor plantings include many of the trees and shrubs of temperate regions that are hardy in St. Louis. In recent years an attempt has been made to introduce a greater variety of woody plants with Asian species especially being added to the collections. Representative of these more recent plantings is a tall Metasequoia-lined avenue near the herbarium. As part of the current effort to make the Garden an even more enjoyable and educational place to visit, a master plan for the Garden has been developed by Environmental Planning and Design of Pittsburgh. This plan is in the first stages of implementation, and includes the establishment of new public buildings and plantings, including a boxwood garden dedicated to the memory of Edgar Anderson. The three-

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acre lake constructed in 1908 near the southwestern corner of the Garden will be doubled in size and made the site of a Japanese Garden planned by Koichi Kawana of Environmental Design Associates of Los Angeles. A Scented Garden for the Blind has already been established near the south end of the Knolls, and the South Rose Garden has been greatly expanded and made more beautiful with the addition of a magnificent new fountain in memory of A. Wessel Shapleigh, longtime member of the Garden's Board of Trustees.

The plans for the improvement of the plantings in the Garden, and of the horticultural area in general, will be implemented under the direction of Robert Dingwall, Chief Horticulturist, with the assistance of several new appointees. John Elsley, Curator of Hardy Plants, who was formerly Chief Botanist to the Royal Horticultural Society at its Wisley gardens, has overall responsibility for outdoor plantings. Walter Brian Ward, who also received his early horticultural training in England and has come to St. Louis from Hodges Gardens in Louisiana, was appointed Grounds Superintendent in July, 1974. Charles A. Huckins, recent graduate of Cornell University, assumed responsibility for the Climatron and two display green-houses in August, 1974; his doctoral dissertation was a systematic monograph of the apples, Malus. The horticultural tradition is strong at the Garden, as exemplified by the notable career of George H. Pring (1885-1974) who served the Garden for 57 years (1906-1963) as foreman of the orchid department, floriculturist, horticulturist, and superintendent.

The Missouri Botanical Garden cooperates closely with many local and national horticultural groups. The National Council of State Garden Clubs has its handsome headquarters building on a seven-acre site at the south end of the Garden. The American Iris Society has its national headquarters in one of the Garden's buildings. Test plantings of new introductions of several kinds of popular ornamental plants are conducted each year. As the Gar-den's record-keeping system is improved, its plants will be better integrated with those of other botanical gardens nationally and internationally.

The sustained support of the public in the St. Louis area is one of the major reasons for the continued success of the Missouri Botanical Garden through the 115 years since it first was established. The Garden receives no direct tax support from any source: about a quarter of its budget comes from endowment funds, approximately a third from research and development grants, and the re-

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mainder from memberships, admissions ($1 for adults, 25c for children 6-12), and a multiagency charitable drive con-ducted by the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis. Sales at the Garden Gate Shop and sales of living plants also supplement the Garden's income.

Each year the more than 5200 members of the Missouri Botanical Garden receive the Bulletin ten times, free admission to the Garden and to Tower Grove House, a discount on Garden sales, as well as invitations to sever-al parties, mostly in conjunction with the opening of seasonal flower shows. The members are also the principal source of the several hundred volunteers who work regularly at the Garden and supplement the efforts of its staff of approximately 140.

A feature of which the Missouri Botanical Garden is very proud is its 2200-acre Arboretum and Nature Re-serve, located 35 miles southwest of St. Louis at the edge of the Ozarks. Purchased in 1925, when it was feared that air pollution might force the Garden to abandon its city location, the Arboretum includes extensive plantings of evergreens, large natural areas of upland woodland, lime-stone glade prairie, and flood plain forest, crisscrossed by a network of trails. Educational programs are offered to students and the general public, in part in cooperation with the National Park Service. In recognition of its out-standing value as an outdoors classroom, the Arboretum was designated in 1972 by Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton as a National Environmental Education Landmark, one of 16 such sites in the country.

In May, 1972, a tremendous boost was given to scientific research at the Garden with completion of the mod-ern $2.2 million John S. Lehmann Building. This hand-some, three-level 50,000-square-foot building, covered with one-way reflecting glass which mirrors the stately dawn redwoods in front of it, enhances the physical beauty of the Garden. Named for a late St. Louis lawyer who was a member and then President of the Garden's Board of Trustees for a total of over 25 years, the construction of the Lehmann Building was made possible by a local capital fund drive and an award of $600,000 from the National Science Foundation. It houses the Garden's library, herbarium, education department, an auditorium, and offices of the Director, herbarium staff, and graduate students. Henry Shaw's reconstructed Town House, which formerly housed the herbarium and library, is now being remodeled step-by-step to provide space for other Garden activities.

The Lehmann Building now houses the herbarium and library of the Missouri Botanical Garden. With some 2.4 million specimens of vascular plants and bryophytes, the herbarium is the fourth largest in the United States and about tenth in the World; it is unusually rich in types, with about 75,000. The herbarium specimens are housed in six large, movable, electrically controlled storage cabinets called compactors, each with a capacity for some 600,000 specimens (fig. 3). Without them, about 85% more space would be required to store the collection, cutting into working space and restricting other activities. Important collections include the Bernhardi Herbarium; Engelmann's personal herbarium of some 100,000 specimens, many from early expeditions to western North America; very large holdings from Panama; and the major collection of African plants in the New World, a collection which is actively being built at present. The her-barium, which includes an unusually rich worldwide representation of taxa, is visited by about 200 systematists each year, many from foreign countries (fig. 4).

The library is perhaps one of the three finest in systematic botany in North America, and includes some 200,000 items. Among these are an important collection of Linnaean and pre-Linnaean books, including a large set of herbals. Today the library is consulted by Garden staff, visiting researchers, and, through interlibrary loans and xeroxing, by botanists throughout the world. James Reed is the Head Librarian.

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The scientific staff at the Missouri Botanical Garden includes the following systematic botanists: Jim D. Conrad (tropical American plants), William G. D'Arcy (Solanaceae, flora of Panama), Gerrit Davidse (grasses), John D. Dwyer (legumes, Rubiaceae, tropical American plants), Alwyn H. Gentry (Bignoniaceae, Apocynaceae, tropical American plants), Peter Goldblatt (Iridaceae, African plants), Walter H. Lewis (cytology, palynology), Ronald L. Liesner (tropical American plants), Scott Mori (tropical American plants, Lecythidaceae), and Viktor Muehlenbach (adventives, weeds). Thomas S. Croat, Curator of Phanerogams, specializes on Sapindaceae, Araceae, and tropical American plants; Marshall R. Crosby, Curator of Cryptogams and Chairman of the Botany Department, is a specialist on tropical mosses. Hugh C. Cutler is a student of ethnobotany. William M. Klein, Assistant Director, specializes on Oenothera (Onagraceae) and directs the Garden's growing effort in land-use planning. The Garden's Director, Peter H. Raven, is a student of Onagraceae, of biogeography, and of taxonomy in general. During the past five years this group has produced well over 200 scientific papers.

Among the Garden's Research Associates are Richard C. Keating, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville (plant anatomy); John E. Averett, University of Missouri, St. Louis (phytochemistry); John C. Semple, University of Missouri, St. Louis (cytology); Alan P. Covich, Washington University (plant ecology); Owen J. Sexton, Washington University (ecology); William Meijer, University of Kentucky (flora of Indonesia, Ceylon; tropical botany); Alan Graham, Kent State University (palynology); Frank C. Seymour, Gainesville, Florida (floras of Nicaragua and of New England); John W. Andresen, University of Toronto (forestry); and Fred Utech (cytology, taxonomy). A major focal point of Missouri Botanical Garden re-search is the Flora of Panama, which has been published in the Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden since 1943, and which will be completed in 1978. In addition, members of the Garden staff are active in collecting and studying plants in many other tropical countries, including during the past year many African countries and Madagascar, as well as Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, and Venezuela. As can be seen from this list, one of the major points of emphasis of the Missouri Botanical Garden at present is

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tropical plant exploration. In the face of rapid and continuing destruction in the tropics, it is estimated that any at-tempt to record the rich and little known flora of the lowland tropical forests must be completed before they are completely destroyed by the end of this century. Particularly valuable in these efforts has been the Garden's tropical field station at Summit Gardens, Canal Zone, which is maintained in cooperation with the Panama Canal Company.

Among the other activities at the Missouri Botanical Garden are publications and symposia. The Bulletin of the Missouri Botanical Garden is published ten times per year, and contains articles of general interest about the Garden and its staff, and about horticulture in the Mid-west. The Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, now quarterly and in its 61st volume, publishes some 800 pages per year and includes in addition to the Flora of Panama scientific papers submitted both by staff and, occasionally, outside researchers. Symposia have frequently been published in recent years also, including some of the annual Systematics Symposia. These meetings are held each year in October with National Science Foundation sup-port, and are attended by some 300 botanists and zoologists; registration for the 21st (October 1974) was filled by July.

Henry Shaw's legacy to plant science has clearly been an enduring one, and the Missouri Botanical Garden continues to try to improve its efforts in scientific research, public education, and horticulture. In the future, it will continue to play its role in the local, national, and inter-national field of botany, and is ready to afford to all students of plants whatever assistance its facilities and staff will make possible.

BOTANICAL POTPOURRI

THE RESULTS OF THE RECENT MAIL BALLOT for the officers for 1974 are:

President - Peter H. Raven; Vice President - Barbara F. Palser; Secretary - Patricia Holmgren; Member Editorial Board, American. Journal of Botany - Robert Ornduff. The Treasurer, C. Ritchie Bell, and Program Chairman, Augustus E. DeMaggio, continue in office for 1974.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA/AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGISTS CHARTER FLIGHTS COMMITTEE met in Tempe, Arizona, on June 15, 1974, and selected Finnair as the charter carrier and the American Travel Association as our official travel agent.

Finnair, the national airline of Finland, was selected because of its solid reputation and excellent safety record as well as its comfortable seating arrangements (a "regular" 185-190/plane vs 211-252 for charters) and low prices. People who wish to fly by charter but have not yet registered should contact the Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Joseph Arditti, Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92664/714-833-5241. Late registrations are possible even if no guarantee can he made that seats will be available. However, it is possible that if there are enough new registrants, an additional plane may be obtained. Also, the Committee does maintain a waiting list and cancellations are possible.

The American Travel Association, Ltd. (ATA), Suite 511, 815 15th Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. 20005 (202-347-7780) was selected as the sole official travel agent for land arrangements because of its substantial reputation and close-working relations with Finnair. In-tourist, the official and only Russian tourist agency, re-fuses to deal with individuals and requires an official agent. As an Intourist wholesaler, ATA will derive its in-

 

PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN

Robert W. Long, Editor Life Science Bldg. 174 University of South Florida Tampa, Florida 33620

Editorial Board Elwood B. Ehrle, Mankato State College Adolph Hecht, Washington State University Donald R. Kaplan, University of California (Berkeley) Beryl Simpson, Smithsonian Institution Richard M. Klein, University of Vermont

September 1974   Volume Tewnty   Number Three

Changes of Address: Notify the Treasurer of the Botanical Society of America, Inc. Dr. C. Ritchie Bell, Department of Botany, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 26514.

Subscriptions for libraries and persons not members of the Botanical Society of America are obtainable at the rate of $4.00 a year. Send orders with checks payable to "Botanical Society of America, Inc." to the Treasurer.

Manuscripts intended for publication in PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN should he addressed to Dr. Robert W. Long, editor, Life Science Bldg. 174, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 31620. Announcements, notes, short scientific articles of general interest to the members of the Botanical Society of America and the botanical community at large will be considered for publication to the extent that the limited space of the publication permits. Line illustrations and good, glossy, black and white photographs to accompany such papers are invited. Authors may order extracted reprints without change in pagination at the time proof is submitted.

Materials submitted for publication should be typewritten, doublespaced, and sent in duplicate to the Editor. Copy should follow the style of recent issues of the Bulletin.

Microfilms of Plant Science Bulletin are available from University Micro-film, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106.

The Plant Science Bulletin is published quarterly at the University of South Florida, 42117 Fowler Ave., Tampa, Fla. 33620. Second class postage paid at Tampa, Florida.

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come from Intourist commissions and will charge members only an $8.00 visa fee (retail agents may add 10-20% the cost of land arrangements). All land arrangements such as hotel and tour reservations as well as visa applications should be made through ATA since centralization will help reduce problems. The man to contact is Mr. Aston A. F. Fallen. ATA will also handle visa and land arrangements for Congress participants who will get to the USSR by means other than the charter flights.

Please do not contact the Committee for land arrangements or ATA for the charter flights.

AFTER 1 NOVEMBER 1974, MANUSCRIPTS FOR THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY should be submitted to the new editor, Professor Ernest M. Gifford, Jr., Department of Botany, University of California, Davis 95616. Correspondence concerning manuscripts in process of review or revision, or those being edited for the January-March 1975 issues, should be addressed to the present editor, Dr. Norman H. Boke.

WINNER OF THE GEORGE R. COOLEY AWARD at AIBS meetings at Tempe was: Ernest Small (Plant Re-search Institute, Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa, Canada) for his paper on "The Systematics of Cannabis."

THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL PALYNOLOGICAL CONFERENCE will be held at Lucknow (India), from 29th December 1976 Co 5th January 1977. The first circular was issued in April 1974. Those who have not received the circular but wish to receive it, kindly write to the Secretary-General, IV International Palynological Conference; 53, University Road, Lucknow 226007, India.

Special Treasurer's Report

As expected the fiscal report for 197:3 at the annual meeting of the Society in Tempe in June contained some good news and some had news. The bad news was that the Society again ran a deficit for the year. The good news was that the deficit was only $6,888.90, instead of the $40,919.00 that was projected for the year at the 1972 meetings! Some $25,000 of the "savings" was accomplished by a reduction in payments to the AJB ac-count and by changing publication plans for the 1972 symposium. The remaining $9,000 savings was a joint effort in premeditated parsimony by the officers of the society — and especially the treasurer! The $6,888 needed to balance for the year came from our savings.

The interim report for 1974 showed an estimated total income for the year of $39,750 and total disbursements of $64,450 for a projected 1974 deficit of $17,100. This estimated deficit was cut to a managable $7,000 by again reducing the amount transferred from the regular Society account to the Journal account. (However, it should be pointed out that this is a mere "sleight of book-work" expedient since the Journal account, under the AJB Business Manager Richard Popham, still has its publishing bills to pay and the deficit must still be made up from Society funds!) We have $:36,000 in savings in the regular Society accounts, so the expected $7,000 deficit for 1974 can be covered.

Publication costs — for the Journal, for Plant Science Bulletin, for the yearbook, and for abstracts of papers presented at annual meetings — account for the greatest part of our Society operating expenses, and these costs seem to have inflated even faster than many other costs in our present economy. For 1975 the following (summary) budget was adopted by vote of the membership at Tempe:

Payment to American Journal

of Botany account   $20,000*

Plant Science Bulletin   5,150

Abstracts   2,500

Reprint Careers booklet   2,500

   TOTAL FOR PUBLICATIONS   $30,150

Secretary's Office Expenses   5,500

Treasurer's Office Expenses   5,000

Program Director Expenses   500

Sectional Expenses   2,500 Travel of Officers and

Representatives to meetings   2,050

Awards; AIBS affiliation, etc.   1,300

Employment taxes (city, state, federal)   :3,500 TOTAL ALL OTHER SOCIETY COSTS $20,350

TOTAL 1975 BUDGET APPROVED   $50,500

Since, under our present dues structure, the 1975 budget would result in another sizable deficit and since membership dues must again start covering a more realistic share of the publication costs of our Journal, the Council recommended, and the membership approved, a change in the dues for all categories of membership in the Botanical Society of America as indicated in the new dues schedule chart (see below). As compared with other botanical and biological societies, membership in the BSA, with its subscription to the AJB and PSB, is still a four star "best buy"; as compared with membership cost in the professional societies of many other sciences it is a downright steal! *

*'Only $5.00 per member, versus a Journal publication cost of over $16.00!

1975 DUES AS APPROVED BY THE MEMBERSHIP
18 June 1974 at Tempe, Arizona

Dues if paid and received   Discounted dues if paid

during calendar year in   and received before Dec. 31

which membership is   of the preceding year in

effective.   which membership is
effective.

Regular $25.00   $20.00   (Save $5.00!)

Family $30.00   $25.00   (Save $5.00!)

Student $12.50   $10.00   (Save $2.50!)

Retired $12.50   $10.00   (Save $2.50!)

Note: A person wishing to join the Botanical Society of America for the first time may do so at any time during the calendar year at the discounted rate.

PLEASE DON'T DRIBBLE!

Most of our members pay their dues within a few weeks of receipt of their annual dues notice each fall and their membership and Journal subscription continue uninterrupted into the next calendar year. However, about 20% of our membership more or less dribbles in over a period of months well into the new calendar year. Such members are, of course, most welcome even when a bit late, but late payments do cause an interruption in Journal subscriptions and are a considerable added expense to the Society through increased postage and handling costs to send out, on an individual basis, the back copies of the Journal and other publications.

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Under the new dues schedule a generous "reward" of 20% is given for 1975 dues payments that are received (not dated, mailed or postmarked, but received, delivered, in hand) prior to 31 December 1974. The dues notices will be sent out near the end of October. Please don't dribble! When you get your dues notice, figure about how many weeks it will take the Postal Service to get your dues envelope to Chapel Hill, add a few weeks for federal holidays and mail early in the day! This year promptness will pay!

C.R.S.

PERSONALIA

David L. Dilcher, Department of Botany, University of Indiana is the new Secretary-Treasurer of the Paleobotanical Section 1974-1977. Correspondence regarding membership and activities of the Paleobotanical Section should be addressed to Dr. Dilcher.

Dr. Charles W Good was the recipient of the best paper award at this year's Paleobotanical Section Contributed Paper program for his paper.

Dr. Thomas N. Taylor has moved to The Ohio State University where he has assumed the duties of Professor and Chairman of the Department of Botany.

Dr. Joe Hilliard recently joined Cambrian Processes Limited, a subsidiary of Agra Industries, where he is the Senior Scientist in the Company's Rapeseed Research Program.

He was formerly a Research Scientist in the Department of Crop Science at the University of Guelph. While there he developed and installed systems for analyzing proteins, and evaluating carbohydrates in crops. In addition to his analytical work, he held the position of Di-rector of the Physiological Laboratory and was an Associate in the Food Industry Research Institute.

D. J. Weber and W. M. Hess (Department of Botany and Range Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah) organized and conducted the Second International Fungal Spore Symposium which was hosted by Brigham Young University during the week of July 15-19 at Timp Lodge near Provo, Utah. Approximately ninety scientists from several foreign countries and various states attended. Six-teen symposium talks were presented with emphasis upon dormant and germinated spores. The presentations were concerned primarily with biochemistry and ultrastructure. The proceedings will be published by Wiley Interscience.

Beginning 1 September 1974 Dr. Jerry J. Brand and Dr. Stephan J. Kirchanski will be joining the Department of Botany, University of Texas at Austin, as assistant professors.

Dr. T. Delevoryas will assume the chairmanship of the Department on 1 September.

PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

THE DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY AND PLANT PATHOLOGY, Oregon State University, announces an open position in Plant Physiology effective immediately. Duties associated with the position will involve technical assistance in the area of biochemical and biophysical investigations on aspects of hydrogen metabolism of micro-algae.

The appointment will be on a 12-month basis at the rank of Research Assistant Unclassified and for a 1 year minimum duration. Continuation would be dependent upon performance and upon continued funding of the re-search project. A B.S. degree is required and preference will be given to applicants who have experience with techniques of microbiology and biochemistry. Experience with plant systems desired, but not absolutely essential.

Oregon State University subscribes to a policy of active recruitment of women and ethnic minority persons and invites all interested and qualified persons to apply. Application and inquiries should be addressed to:

Dr. Norman I. Bishop

Department of Botany and

Plant Pathology

Oregon State University

Corvallis, Or 97331

Application should include a curriculum vitae, transcripts of academic records, letters of recommendation and any other pertinent information.

Books Received by PSB for Review

The following books, of interest to botanists, have been received by the Editor for possible review in the Plant Science Bulletin during the past year. Because of limitations of space we are not able to include reviews of all books submitted to PSB, but as many of the advanced treatises and certain particularly useful texts are re-viewed. In the list below those titles that are starred have been assigned to reviewers and the books will be described in PSB.

Readers will note that this list is somewhat longer than the one published last year at this time. The Editor will continue to attempt to choose from the many books sent to him reviews that appear to be of special interest to the members of the Society. Highly specialized mono-graphs and freshman texts unfortunately must often be passed by.

If any of the titles listed here that are unassigned to reviewers are of particular interest to a member of the Society who would like to review it, he should write the Editor directly. —ed.

Allison, F. E. Soil Organic Matter and Its Role in Crop Production. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, 1973, Amsterdam, $52.00.

*Alston, H. Aquatic Plants of Australia.Melbourne University Press, 1974, Melbourne, $34.65.

*Baker, K. F. and R. J. Cook Biological Control of Plant Pathogens. W. H. Freeman and Co., 1974, San Francisco, $12.50.

*Benson, D. W. and A. H. Sparrow (editors) Survivial of Food Crops and Livestock in the Event of Nuclear War. AEC Symposium Series, 1971, $9.00.

Bishop, L. E. Inventory - Honolulu Botanic Gardens. Friends of Foster Garden Press, 1973, Honolulu.

"Bohlmann, F., T. Buckhardt, and C. Zdero Naturally Oc-
curring Acetylenes. Academic Press, 1973, $36.50.

Carson, E. W. Jr. (editor) The Plant Root and Its Environment. University Press of Virginia, 1974, Charlottesville, Va., $12.50.

Carson, H. L. The Ecology of Drosophila Breeding Sites. Lecture No. 2 Harold L. Lyon Arboretum Univ. of Hawaii, 1971, Honolulu, $5.00.

*Cherry, J. H. Molecular Biology of Plants: A Text-Manual. Columbia University Press, 1973, New York, $12.00.

Doelle, H. W. (editor) Microbial Metabolism. "Bench-mark Papers in Microbiology" Dowden, Hutchinson, and Ross, Inc., 1974, Stroudsburg, Pa., $25.00.

41

Drouet, F. Recision of the Nostocaceae with Cylindrical Trichomes (Formerly Scytonemataceae and Riuulariaceae). Hafner Press, Inc., 1973, New York, $14.95.

*Ewan, J. (editor) Flora Boreali- Americana Vol. I A. Michaux, Classica Botanica Americana. Hafner Press, Inc., 1973, New York, $42.50/set.

*Ewan, J. (editor) Flora Boreali- Americana Vol. II A. Michaux, Classica Botanica Americana. Hafner Press, Inc., 1973, New York, $42.50/set.

Flowers, S. Mosses: Utah and the West. Brigham Young
University Press, 1973, Provo, Utah, price not set.

*Fogg, G. E., W. D. P. Stewart, P. Fay, and A. E. Walsby. The Blue-green Algae Academic Press, 1973, London, $19.60.

*Fogg, G. E. Photosynthesis, Second Edition. American Elsevier Publishing Co., Inc., 1973, New York, $3.95.

Gibbs, A. J. (editor) Viruses and Invertebrates (Frontiers of Biology, Vol. 31). American Elsevier Publishing Co., Inc., 1973, New York, $60.00.

"Gindel, I. A New Ecophysiological Approach to Forest-Water Relationships in Arid Climates. Dr. W. Junk B. V., Publishers, 1973, The Hague.

*Good, R. The Geography of the Flowering Plants, Fourth
Edition. Longman, Inc., 1974, New York, $27.00.

*Graham, A. (editor) Vegetational History of Northern Latin America. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., 1973, New York.

Halherg, F., et al (editors) International Journal of Chronobiology Vol. 1, No. 1 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd., 1973, London, $34.00 yearly.

Hall, J. L., T. J. Flowers, and R. M. Roberts Plant Cell Structure and Metabolism. Longman, Inc., 1974, New York, $14.50.

*Hamzah, A., M. Toha, and C. G. G. J. van Steenis. The Mountain Flora of Java. E. J. Brill, 1972, Leiden, $58.50.

*Hardin, J. W. and J. M. Arena. Human Poisoning from Native and Cultivated Plants, Second Edition. Duke University Press, 1974, Durham, $6.75.

Hartt, C. E. Mechanism of Translocation in Sugarcane Lecture No. 4 Harold L. Lyon Arboretum. University of Hawaii, 1973, Honolulu, $5.00.

Henrickson, J. Fouqueriaceae DC. World Pollen and Spore Flora 1. The Almquist and Wiksell Periodical Co., 1973, Stockholm, $11.50.

*Hoff, J. E. and J. Janick. Food- Readings for Scientific American. W. H. Freeman and Co., 197:3, San Francisco, $11.00.

Iseley, D. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden Vol. 25, No. 1 Leguminosae of the United States: I. Subfamily Mimosoideae. New York Botanical Gar-den, 1973, Bronx, New York.

*Jeffrey, C. Biological Nomenclature (Special Topics in Biology Series). Edward Arnold, 1973, London, $6.75.

Jensen, W. A. The Embryo Sac and Fertilization in Angiosperms Lecture No. 3. Harold L. Lyon Arboretum, 1972, Honolulu, $5.00.

*Koch, W. J. Plants in the Laboratory. The MacMillan Company, 1973, New York, $5.95.

Kreeb, Karlheinz. Okophysiologie der Pflanzen. Veb Gustav Fischer Verlag Jena, 1974.

*Lesham, Ya'acov. The Molecular and Hormonal Bases for Plant Growth Regulation. Pergamon Press, 1973, Oxford, $7.50.

Lind. E. M. and M. E. S. Morrison East African Vegetation. Longman, Inc., 1974, New York, $17.50.

Mangelsdorf, Paul C. Corn: Its Origin, Evolution, and Improvement. Harvard University Press, 1974, Cam-bridge, Mass., $20.00.

Marx, D. S. and C. B. Dugdale Leaf Prints of American Trees and Shrubs. Littlefield, Adams, and Co., 1974, Totowa, New Jersey, $4.95.

*Moore, H. E. Jr. The Major Groups of Palms and Their Distribution. Reprinted and Repaged from Gentes Herbarium 11(2):27-141, 1973.

Moore, T. C. Research Experiences in Plant Physiology. Springer-Verlag, 1973, New York, $9.50.

"Morey, P. R. How Trees Grow. Edward Arnold Limited, 1973, London, $3.60.

Moseley, M. F. Jr., and W. K. Purves. Botany in the Lab-oratory. Hamilton Publishing Co., 1974, California, $6.95.

Naegele, J. A. (editor) Air Pollution Damage to Vegetation. Advances in Chemistry Series No. 122 American Chemical Society, 197:3, Washington, D. C., $9.95.

Nobel, P. S. Introduction to Biophysical Plant Physiology. W. H. Freeman and Co., 1974, San Francisco, $13.50.

*Pitard, J. and L. Proust Les Iles Canaries, Flore de L'Archipel. Reprinted by Otto Koeltz Antiquariat, 1973, Koenigstein-Ts./B. R. D., $6.00.

Puri, P. Bryophytes - A Broad Perspective Atma Ram and Sons, 197:3. Delphi, India, $4.55.

*Rechinger, K. H. Flora Aegaea, Reprinted by Otto Koeltz Antiquariat, 1973, Koenigstein - Ts./B. R. D., $155.60.

*Robichaud, B. and M. F. Buell. Vegetation of New Jersey. Rutgers University Press, 1973, New Brunswick, $12.50.

Sattler, R. Organogenesis of Flowers - A Photographic Text Atlas. University of Toronto Press, 1973, New York, $27.50.

Schuster, R. M. The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America. Volume 3 Columbia University Press, 1974, New York, $25.00.

'Shishkin, B. K. (editor) Flora of the U.S.S.R., Volume XIV Geraniales, Sapindales, Rhamnales. Israel Program for Scientific Translations. Keter Press, 1974, Jerusalem, $48.00.

*Shishkin, B. K. (editor) Flora of the U.S.S.R., Volume XVI Umbelliflorae. Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Keter Press, 197:3, Jerusalem, $56.00.

Smith, A. C. The Pacific as a Key to Flowering Plant History. Lecture No. 1 Harold L. Lyons Arboretum, 1970, Honolulu, $5.00.

Stern, K. and L. Roche Genetics of Forest Ecosystems Ecological Series Volume 6. Spriner-Verlag, 1974, New York, $29.60.

Stevens, R. B. (editor) Mycological Guidebook. University of Washington Press, 1974, Seattle, $15.00.

*Steward, F. C. (editor) Plant Physiology A Treatise Volume VI B. Physiology of Development: The Hormones. Academic Press, 1972, New York, $21.00.

*Stones, M. and W. Curtis The Endemic Flora of Tasmania Part IV. The Ariel Press, 1973, London, $38.00.

Street, H. E. (editor) Plant Tissue and Cell Culture. University of California Press, 1973, $32.50.

"Tackholm, V., G. Tackholm, and M. Drar Flora of Egypt. Reprinted by Otto Koeltz Antiquariat, 1973, Koenigstein-Ts./B.R.D., $185.20 (3 Volumes).

Thomas, M., S. L. Rnason, and J. A. Richardson Plant Physiology, Fifth Edition. Longman, Inc., 1973, New York, $2:3.50.

`'Tornabene, F. Flora Sicula. Reprinted by Otto Koeltz
Antiquariat, 1973 Koenigstein-Ts./B.H.D., $40.00.

Troughton, J. H. and F. B. Sampson. Plants A Scanning Electron Microscope Study. John Wiley and Sons Australasia Pty, Limited, 1974, Adelaide, $8.50.

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Wallace, H. R. Nematode Ecology and Plant Disease. Crane, Russak, and Co., Inc., 1974, New York, $19.75.

*Walter, H. Vegetation of the Earth in Relation to Climate and the Eco-physiological Conditions. Springer-Verlag, 1973, New York, $5.90.

*Wagner, R. H. Environment and Man, Second Edition, W. W. Norton and Co., Inc., 1974, New York, $7.95.

*Weber, G. F. Bacterial and Fungal Diseases of Plants in the Tropics. University of Florida Press, 1973, Gainesville, $22.50.

Weier, T. E., C. R. Stocking, and M. G. Barbour. Botany An Introduction to Plant Biology, Fifth Edition. John Wiley and Sons, 1974, New York, $13.95.

Whitmore, T. C. (editor) Tree Flora of Malaya Volume 2, A Manual for Foresters. Longman Group. Limited, 1972, London, $40.00.

BOOK REVIEWS

PURSEGLOVE, J. W. Tropical Crops: Monocotyledons. Halsted Press Divn. of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1973. Vol. 1, x, :334 pp., 23 illus., $12.00; Vol. 2, vi, 263 pp., 9 illus., $12.00.

Here is the completion of a magnum opus. In 1968, John Purseglove published the first two parts of his comprehensive treatment of tropical crops and the plants that comprise them. These two parts dealt with Dicotyledons; now the two volumes on Monocotyledons complete this magnificent work. The preparation of these volumes was begun while he was Professor of Botany and Plant Pathology at the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of the West Indies (nee The Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture) at St. Augustine, in Trinidad. Here was the library to complement the vast experience that Professor Purseglove had accumulated in Africa and Asia, as well as the New World Tropics. The works were completed in England where he has now assumed administrative, advisory and teaching responsibilities, all connected with tropical crops. There simply is no one better qualified to have written these books which will surely stand the test of time as definitive accounts.

Every author has the right to his own preferences, based on his own experience, and if anyone is surprised to see a disquisition on ornamental orchids (as well as the usually lonely Vanilla) among the economic plants it is because he or she does not appreciate the growing importance of these beautiful plants to the economy of such countries as Singapore (or the attention that has been given to their breeding under Professor Purseglove's supervision there and in Trinidad).

Otherwise, the monocotyledonous crop plants that are treated are more or less those that one would expect and desire to be seen in a work such as this. Commendably, there is a simplicity in their arrangement that every author of a compendium (including a flora) ought to imitate: the families, the genera within them, and the species within them are all arranged in alphabetical or-der. This is a series of books in which you can find some-thing - quickly - especially as, in addition to the regular text, an appendix is provided in which the information for each species is summarized in tabular form (in addition to an index where the vernacular names of the crops are used).

The accounts of each species are remarkably complete. Thus, for the African Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis

Jacq.), a general treatment of the genus is found on page 479, the chromosome number of the species is given on the same page. Uses of the Oil Palm cover two full pages of text, the origin and distribution run from page 481 to page 483, a treatment of the major cultivars occupies the pages up to 485, and ecology of the species requires three more pages. Structure of oil palm plants is given detailed treatment on pages 487-492 (including some handsome drawings by Miss Marjorie Wong), accounts of pollination and germination occupy three more pages, husbandry takes us to page 502 and is followed by an excellent account of oil palm diseases (pages 502-504) and major pests (page 504). Improvement programs for the Oil Palm are dealt with on pages 504-507 and, lastly, relevant figures for production and trade occupy two more pages. All this is topped off with eighteen helpful references.

Not all crop species get quite as much space as the Oil Palm but a number get much more. The treatment of rice (Oryza ssp.) is thoroughly up-to-date (including the contributions of the "Green Revolution") and detailed, as befits one major cereal crop of the tropics. The maize story is slightly less up-to-date because there have been major developments since these volumes went to press. Even so, John Purseglove is always very good at presenting the evidence by which the putative wild ancestors of crop plants may be traced (a matter of great importance in view of the need for better breeding programs for adapt-ability, disease-resistance, etc., in many of them in the future). It is not his fault, but rather the antiquity of the original domestications of many of these plants, that often causes the ancestors to escape positive identification.

Of course, in all these pages, one can expect to find statements with which one will disagree. My disagreements mostly involve the pollination and breeding system descriptions - but that is because they are my specialty - and even there I am picking out just one or two items from a vast array of statements. (Nevertheless, I do boggle at a key to the genera of cereal grasses that includes the statement "Dioecious with bisexual spikelets"!)

Lest anyone believe that these books are a dull catalogue, let me emphasize that they contain a wealth of extremely interesting material for students of the human condition as well as botanists. The intriguing description of "citemene" cultivation (page 154-5), and "ash-planting" system indigenous to Zambia, is just one case where the common view that all native tropical agriculture follows a common pattern of shifting cultivation dependent on natural soil-fertility can be disputed from evidence in these books. We have much to learn from these cases. Another item of considerable biological interest relates to what James Parsons has called "The Africanization of the American Tropics" in modern times. Professor Purseglove shows clearly how the botanical characteristics of such grasses as Pangola Grass (Digitaria decumbens Stent.), which developed under heavy grazing pressure in southeast Africa, have made them important pasture grasses now that large-scale cattle raising is the order of the day in much of the American tropics. Dioscorea is in volume 1, and all "pill"-users and takers of cortisone should find the information relating to that genus of interest. And there is much, much more.

These hooks are the best kind of gold-mine and, for a modest outlay (considering their quality), anyone interested in (or teaching about) plants in relation to man is guaranteed a bonanza.

Herbert G. Baker University of California (Berkeley)

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REINHOLD, L. and Y. LIWSCHITZ, (eds.). Progress in Phytochemistry, Vol. 3, Wiley Interscience, New York, 1973. xi plus 375 pp. $26.00.

Not very long ago, just before molecular biology became the rage, the elucidation of biochemical pathways was very in. It is still being done today, but perhaps not as much. Hence, the chapter on this subject is very welcome. Brown and Wetter have written a good and useful chapter which includes a sufficient number of practical pointers (for example, on the possibility of "H exchange, p. 9). However, I am not at all happy with the implication (p. 34) that the contamination of precursor-containing solutions should have been accompanied by a warning since some of these compounds can be damaging to plants.

Ergot alkaloids, derivatives and preparations have an interesting past, a present which may cause concern and an exciting future: Gangrene epidemics due to ergotized rye were known in the Middle Ages; bad "trips" due to LSD do occur at present and agroclavine may lead to a morning-after pill. Thus, the chapter on this subject by Thomas and Bassett is as timely as it is interesting.

The first isolation of orchid sterols occurred not very long ago. As a result, I have wanted to read more on the subject; and I have found the chapter by Goad and Good-win informative. My only disappointment is that it did not list the few orchids in which sterols were found (Wan et al. Phytochemistry 10: 2267-2269, 1971).

The comparative sequence of amino acids is a powerful taxonomic tool. If properly developed, it can become very fruitful. The chapter by Boulter will, no doubt, help in that direction.

Since they include compounds with names like cornmunic acid, bicyclic deterpenes may well be listed on subversive lists, or those working with them may be investigated by the "plumbers". And, agathic acid may generate some interest among jewelers. On the whole, however, I found that chapter by Hanson to be in-formative and interesting.

The last chapter of Takeda deals with a single family (Dioscoreaceae) and their steroidal sapogenins. Inasmuch as the family includes Dioscorea mexicana (the Mexican yams are the most important sources of steroidal hormones), it deserves the careful treatment given to it.

On the whole, I feel that this volume is valuable. Unfortunately, its high value ($26.00) may limit it to library shelves only. But, then, a trip to the library may be good for you.

Joseph Arditti University of California (Irvine)

ROBICHAUD, BERYL and MURRAY F. BUELL. Vegetation of New Jersey. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick. 1973. 340 pp. $12.50.

This book is a synthesis, at the semipopular level, of what is known about the vegetation of New Jersey: What is there, why it is there, and what might have been there in the absence of human disturbance. It is an outgrowth of a doctoral thesis at Rutgers University by Dr. Robichaud, under Dr. Buell's direction. The emphasis in both text and bibliography is on descriptive synthesis and interpretation, rather than on the detailed presentation of data and mathematical analysis. The authors have done a good job of what they are trying to do. The book will be useful to educated laymen and to botanists who want a well-founded, quick, and painless introduction to its subject.

Arthur Cronquist The New York Botanical Garden

CHERRY, JOE H. Molecular Biology of Plants. A Text-Manual. Columbia University Press, N. Y. ix + 204 pp. illust. 1973. $12.00.

At irregular intervals, a book on technique appears whose time has come. Machlis and Torrey's Plants in Action, Jensen's Botanical Histochemistry, Hewitt's Sand and Water Culture Methods used in the Study of Plant Nutrition, H. B. Sprague's Hunger Signs in Crops are still on our shelves and are still used regularly. I think that the book under review will join this group. The research techniques used in macromolecular biochemistry, worked out over the past fifteen years, are now sufficiently foolproof so that they can be learned and applied by advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students and many researchers who have hesitated to get involved in this area.

The author notes that his interest and expertise in nucleic acid and protein methodology has resulted in a manual strong in these techniques but he has included analyses for plant growth substances and a mixed bag of cell constituents. The section on photosynthesis is frankly weak and in subsequent editions Professor Cherry might consider having a photosynthesizer contribute a chapter to round out the coverage of the manual.

For each procedure, a conceptual base is provided, the listing of required supplies is given and the technique presented in step-by-step detail. The selected references might have been enlarged to assist the more advanced practitioner. The illustrations are adequate, but a list of suppliers of the more esoteric chemicals and supplies would have been helpful. The only obvious typographical error was my first initial.

Richard M. Klein University of Vermont

HITCHCOCK, C. L. and ARTHUR CRONQUIST. Flora of the Pacific Northwest; an Illustrated Manual. University of Washington Press, Seattle. 197:3. XIX, 730 pp. $25.00.

This manual is a more accomodating companion to the authors' five-volume work, Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest, prepared by Hitchcock, Cronquist, Marion Ownbey and J. W. Thompson, published serially from 1955 to 1969 by the University of Washington Press. This single volume presents an eminently readable and usable compilation and a pleasant new idea in manual writing. The whole volume is essentially a series of illustrated keys. There is no formal presentation of each species with its usual description, flowering and/or fruiting period, synonomy, distribution, etc. Instead, the species are identified in keys which include distributional data, synonomy, when particularly pertinent, common names and generally a more extensive list of characters than is usual with treatments where abbreviated keys are followed by longer and often rather redundant descriptions of each of the taxa. There are marginal line drawings of many of the taxa alongside the keys. These may illustrate the whole plant or only pertinent amplification of the characters used in the keys, so that a particular taxon may only be illustrated by a flower or fruit. In numerous instances a character in the key is illustrated in the margin in addition to illustrations of the keyed taxa. The keys are very readable, and the illustrations built into the key should greatly help the person either not already familiar with taxonomic plant characters or without a fair knowledge of the flora covered in the manual. About 150 abbreviations and signs are used extensively to reduce the volume of text material. A list of these are included with the introductory remarks. A practicing taxonomist should

44

find little need to refer to the explanatory list except for the regional geographic terms, and interested amateur taxonomists should have little trouble accomodating to the abbreviated style.

In addition to the keys to species and varieties, the manual provides a traditional detailed description of each genus, and in monotypic genera also a detailed description of the single species. One is a little surprised, then, at the overbalance of descriptive material available for a single taxon in a monotypic genus as compared to genera with more than one species represented in the flora. The families are arranged in the traditional Englerian sequence except that the monocots follow the dicots and are arranged according to Cronquist's The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants, 1968. The genera are alphabetical within families, again a welcome convenience in large families.

An additional feature of convenience, perhaps, and not without its humorous implications, is that the manual is provided with two keys to the families, one by each author. One is tempted to fantasize conversations between the two authors as they argued over which type of key was best and which could write the better one, the outcome being that they both decided to try their luck and let the reader decide. The differing philosophies of the authors are expressed in that the synoptical phylogenetic key is written by Cronquist and the illustrated artificial key is written by Hitchcock. Again the attempt is to make the hook usable by anyone and bridge the gap between the professional manual and the amateur guide, an admirable goal, which I think the authors achieve.

In summary, one is left with the strong feeling that the authors have striven in every way possible to produce an authoritative work that will be useful to as broad a community of botanically interested people as possible. I think they succeed admirably. The complexities of taxonomy and its terminology are inevitably there but are so consistantly cross-referenced with illustrations at the immediate point of need that the manual should be useful to diligent and serious beginners as well as professionals. Redundancy has been reduced to a minimum and all materials are arranged to provide quick access to the most information in the least space without making the appearance cramped.

Both philosophically and technically, this volume is a fine addition to the taxonomic literature, which both combines and breaks through some of the stereotypes of this kind of literature and should attract the attention of a much broader audience than do many regional manuals.

A. Murray Evans The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

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