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Plant Science Bulletin archiveIssue: 1996 v42 No 4 Winter
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| PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN Editorial Committee for Volume 42 | |
| Robert E. Wyatt (1996) Institute of Ecology University of Georgia Athens GA 30602 |
Allison A. Snow (1998) Dept. of Plant Biology Ohio State University Columbus OH 43210 |
| James D. Mauseth (1997) Dept. of Botany University of Texas Austin TX 78713 |
Nickolas M. Waser (1999) Dept. of Biology University of California Riverside CA 92521 |
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P. Mick Richardson (2000) |
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BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA OFFICERS LIST FOR 1996 - 1997
* = Members of the Council (retirement date)
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*PRESIDENT |
*EDITOR, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY |
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*PRESIDENT-ELECT |
*EDITOR, PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN |
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*SECRETARY |
*BUSINESS MANAGER |
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*TREASURER |
*PAST PRESIDENT, 1996 |
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*PROGRAM DIRECTOR |
PAST PRESIDENT, 1995 |
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`COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE |
PAST PRESIDENT, 1994 |
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SECTIONAL OFFICERS
(* = Section Representative to the Council)
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BRYOLOGICAL AND LICHENOLOGICAL SECTION *Chairperson (1998) |
ECOLOGY SECTION |
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DEVELOPMENTAL AND STRUCTURAL SECTION *Chairperson (1998) |
Vice-Chairperson (1998) |
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Program Director (1997) |
Secretary (1998) |
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Treasurer (1996) |
ECONOMIC BOTANY SECTION *Chairperson (1998) |
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Secretary-Treasurer (1997) James S. Miller |
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GENETICS SECTION |
MYCOLOGICAL SECTION |
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Vice Chairperson (1997) |
Chairperson (1998) |
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Secretary-Treasurer (1997) |
Vice Chair (1998) |
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Editor, Newsletter (1999) |
Secretary/Treasurer (1997) |
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HISTORICAL SECTION |
PALEOBOTANICAL SECTION Chairperson (1997) |
| Vice-Chairperson unfilled | |
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*Secretary-Treasurer (1997) Laurence J. Dort- |
*Secretary-Treasurer (1998) |
Page 102
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(Paleobotanical section, con't) |
(Phytochemical Section, con't) |
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PHYCOLOGICAL SECTION *Chairperson (1998) |
Treasurer-Editor (1997) |
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Secretary (1999) |
PTERIDOLOGICAL SECTION |
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PHYSIOLOGICAL SECTION *Chairperson (1997) |
*Secretary-Treasurer (1998) |
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Program Director (1997) |
SYSTEMATICS SECTION |
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PHYTOCHEMICAL SECTION *Chairperson (1997) |
Secretary-Treasurer (1996) |
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TEACHING SECTION |
(Tropical Biology Section, con 't) Secretary/Treasurer (1998) |
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Vice-Chairperson |
MIDCONTINENT SECTION *Chairperson (1999) |
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*Secretary/Treasurer (199?) |
Vice Chairperson (1999) Randy Allen |
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Program Coordinator |
Secretary/Treasurer (1998) |
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TROPICAL BIOLOGY SECTION Chairperson (1998) |
Vice Secretary/Treasurer (1998) |
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*Program Chair (1997) |
NORTHEASTERN SECTION *Chairperson (1996) |
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(Northeastern Section, con't) Treasurer (1996) |
SOUTHEASTERN SECTION *Chairperson (1997) |
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PACIFIC SECTION |
Activities Committee Chair (1998) |
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*Secretary-Treasurer (1996) |
Secretary-Treasurer (1995) David R. Hill |
Reports from the Sections Paleobotanical Section
The Paleobotanical Section currently has 289 members (212 regular members, 18 emeritus regular members, 33 affiliate members, 8 emeritus affiliate members, and 18 honorary members). This represents an increase of 59 members since last year.
During the past year the Section established a Paleobotany News List (PALEOBOT) on the internet and a home page on the World Wide Web. Charles Daghlian, of Dartmouth College, is managing both the list and the home page. To subscribe to the list, interested persons should send an e-mail message to PALEOBOT@ dartmouth.edu containing the following message: sub-scribe PALEOBOT your name. The WWW home page can be visited at: http://www.dartmouth.cd/–emczar/ paleo.html
The Section has a program for the Seattle meeting with 12 contributed papers and is co-sponsoring the symposium on "Use of Global Morphological Characters in Green Plant Phylogeny and Evolution." The annual business meeting is scheduled for 2:15 pm on Monday, August 5; it will be followed by a mixer and dinner later in the day. The Section is also sponsoring a pre-conference field trip, led by Wesley Wehr of The Burke Museum - University of Washington, to The Ginkgo Petrified Forest at Vantage, WA.
The relatively small number of contributed papers at the Seattle meeting this year is due to the fact that over 90 members of the Section attended the Fifth Quadrennial Conference of the International Organization of Paleobotany (IOPC-V), which was held at the University of California-Santa Barbara on June 30 - July 5, 1996. In addition, the Paleobotanical Section was involved in several other aspects of the IOPC-V. The six members of the Organizing Committee are all Section members, and the Section contributed funds specifically to defray the registration costs for 25 students, half of which were international students. The Section also held a business meeting at the IOPC-V.
The Bibliography of American Paleobotany for 1995, edited by Steven R. Manchester of the University of Florida, was distributed to members at the IOPC-V and will also be available for those at the Seattle meeting. Members not attending either conference, as well as 38 institutional subscribers, will receive the Bibliography by mail. Copies will be provided for the BSA Archives and for the editor of the Plant Science Bulletin. Others may purchase copies for $18 each.
—Jeffrey M. Osborn, Secretary-Treasurer
Economic Botany Section
At the 1996 AIBS meetings in Seattle, Washington, the economic botany section of the Botanical Society of America sponsored three events. The Symposium on Economic Botany, Sustainable development and Conservation of Botanical Resources was held Monday afternoon, August 5, and later that same evening Hugh H. Iltis, of the Univeristy of Wisconsin, presented a special lecture entitled "New Wine in an Old Bottle: Homeotic Sexual Translocations in the Origin of Maize (Zea mays)." On Tuesday, August 6, the economy botany section hosted a buisness lunch, and Chi llean Prance, the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, presented a talk entitled "Economic botany: the View from Kew."
At the buisness meeting, Dr. David Lentz was elected chairperson for the economic botany section, and he will serve for a two year term that ends in 1998. Dr. Lentz will also serve as the economic botany sections' representative to the council of the BSA.
It was decided that the economic botany section would again sponsor a symposium at the 1997 AIBS meetings to be held in Montreal and that David Lentz and Jim Miller would plan the symposium over the next few months. It was also decided to actively solicit contributed papers in the sectional mailing that will be sent out by Miller early in 1997, in the hopes that the economic botany section could sponsor a section of contributed papers as well. It is hoped that the economic botany section will continue to sponsor interesting programs that are as enthusiastically received as they have been for the last two years.
-James S. Miller, Secretary -Treasurer
Symposium: "WIRED Biology: Using Computers and the Internet to Enhance Teaching and Learning"
This symposium, being organized for the 1997 BSA meetings in Montreal under auspices of the Teaching Section, will feature presentations by our more technically talented colleagues who are already using computers and the Internet to enhance teaching and learning in their classrooms. Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company is sponsoring the symposium for the third year.
Plan now to attend the formal presentations tentatively scheduled all day Monday, August 4. Then stay on into Monday evening when the presenters will be joined by others for a hands-on "electronic poster session" where you can click the mice and try these applications for yourself.
Dr. David W. Kramer, Department of Plant Biology, Ohio State University, is organizing this fourth symposium of its kind. If you are a webmaster, programmer, or an innovative teacher who has learned to use technology effectively as a teaching tool, share your talents with colleagues. Offer to be a presenter in either or both of the sessions by contacting Dr. Kramer at (419) 755-4344 or kramer.8@osu.edu.
WWW Report to the Council
The Executive Committee has endorsed the establishing of a Society WWW home page. At the moment, the page is located at http://falk.ucdavis.edu/ bsa/bsa.htm. This site has information regarding society officers and committees, section officers, organization representatives, interesting botanical links and society publications. At the moment, American Journal of Botany is the only publication with any information. Soon Allen Press will begin making cover images and table of con-tents of pending issues available to us. These will be put on the pages as available. Scott D. Russell at OU has agreed to link his web version of Careers in Botany to the Society page.
Announcements are also listed on the Bot Soc pages. Submissions for announcements should be routed through Joe Leverich, Editor of Plant Science Bulletin.
Sections are urged to set up web pages and link them to the Society page. Contact Rick Falk (rfalk@ucdavis.edu) to have him add a link to your Section pages when they are ready. The Paleobotanical section pages maybe viewed at http://www.dartmouth.edu/ -emczar/paleo.html for examples of links to the BSA pages.
In the future we would like to add membership information to the web site, as well as information regarding future meetings and other information of interest to members.
A start has been made, but much work is needed to make the Bot. Soc. web site as striking and useful as it could be.
—Charles P. Daghlian
Plant Biology Education
The BSA Education Committee is swinging into action with the intention of achieving several goals from the "Botany for the Next Millennium" report. A major objective is to improve plant biology education at all grade levels, kindergarten through the university. Several activities are being launched that need the support of all BSA members including retired and student members:
A New Web Page
The Botanical Society's home page (http:// falk.ucdavis.edu/bsa/bsa.htm) will have a new page added to it, "Educational Resources." One of the features of this page will be links to botany resources on the World Wide Web.
Dr. Scott D. Russell, Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, recently opened a web page of this type which is being supported by the BSA Education Committee and used as a model. "Scott's Botanical Links" (http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ bot-linx/) is updated daily with a link to anew and exciting web page for botany (or biology). This "hot bot" link feature of Dr. Russell's page is an important means of enticing students and teachers to return to the page frequently and reinforces what we know: that plant biology is a very active and exciting field of study.
Dr. Russell and the committee need your help! If you want to invite visitors to your personal botany web site or want to nominate your favorite botany site, send the URL with a descriptive paragraph to Dr. Russell at srussell@ou.edu. Then stand back and watch those budding botanists get caught in your web!
Our Educational Resources page will also have information about books, posters, equipment, supplies, specimens, software, films, videotapes, videodiscs, and other classroom materials. If you know of any of these resources that are especially good, please send the information to Dr. David W. Kramer, Ohio State University, 1680 University Drive, Mansfield, OH 44906 or e-mail to kramer.8@osu.edu.
Teacher Workshops
Those of us who have been involved in designing and offering plant biology workshops for teachers know that these are very effective in promoting and improving science education. Schools in many states recently have adopted new science curriculum guidelines and teachers are designing new hands-on lessons. This is a perfect time for professional botanists to involve our-selves in those efforts to assure that students are well grounded in plant biology.
We are interested in BSA sponsorship of plant biology teacher workshops at national and regional meetings of science teachers such as NABT (National Association of Biology Teachers) and NSTA (National Science Teachers Association). If you would be willing to present a workshop at those meetings, contact Dr. Robert J. Reinsvold, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO 80639 or send e-mail to rjreins@bentley.univnorthco.edu.
Many botanists are willing to offer teacher workshops but might not know what "works" and what doesn't. If you have conducted a teacher workshop, please send the Education Committee an outline of your design, budget information (income and expense), recruiting plans.... all the information you are willing to share. Don't hesitate to tell us what does NOT work as well as what does work! Send this information to Dr. Reinsvold.
The Education Committee plans to publish your ideas in a kind of "Teacher Workshop Organizer's Kit" that will help your colleagues get started. Watch, too, for a "Workshop on Workshops" as part of the 1997 meeting in Montreal.
Botanical Images
The Botanical Society, thanks to the efforts of the Teaching Section over several years, owns a wonderful collection of 35mm slides useful for teaching. Subjects include whole organisms, morphological details, anatomy, photomicrographs, electronmicrographs, habitats, etc. Copies of these slides can be ordered through the Business Office. For slide lists, prices, and ordering information contact Kim Hiser, Business Manager, Botanical Society of America, 1735 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1293; Phone: 614/292-3519; E-mail: khiser@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu.
The Education Committee is looking for ways of making these valuable images more widely available. For example., the slides could be digitized for distribution on the Internet and/or on CD-ROM. If you are interested in helping with this project, please contact Dr. David W. Kramer, Ohio State University, 1680 University Drive, Mansfield, OH 44906 or send e-mail to kramer.8 @osu.edu. This would be a wonderful project for our retired members... a way for you to continue to support teaching and learning.
The committee is seeking possible sources of funding for this project and if we don't get volunteers from BSA to head the project, we might look to commercial publishers.
Ask A Botanist
As students at all levels increasingly use the Internet as an information resource, their inquiries soon move beyond the boundaries of their own classrooms and perhaps beyond the expertise of their own teacher or professor. Occasionally they need the advice of a professional botanist. While we would discourage members from supplying lazy students with ready answers, there are exciting opportunities to assist intelligent, energetic, curious, and creative students. The Education Committee wants to develop a means of facilitating this consulting role without it becoming intrusive. If you have ideas for organizing this BSA activity, contact Dr. Kramer.
—David W. Kramer
Draft Guidelines for Professional Ethics for Botanical Society of America
During the past two years a guideline for ethics of the BSA has been developing. This thrust has been related to the fact that many other professional scientific societies have developed such guidelines for their memberships. This thrust has been further promoted by such organizations as the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Council for Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP), both of whom BSA is affiliated with.
In keeping with the intention that societies should have a code of ethics, the present draft is being submitted for consideration of adoption by the BSA membership. The draft includes all of the area cited in other ethics guidelines. Before a vote is take on these guidelines, the members of BSA are being asked for comments, suggestions, and additions to this printed document. Please send your input to: Harry T. Homer, Department of Botany, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-1020 by January 15, 1997.
Draft Guidelines for Professional Ethics Botanical Society of America
In conducting their research, teaching, and service, botanists often must confront difficult ethical issues related both to their field of specialty, data collection needs and methods, and to the dissemination and use of their findings both in research and teaching. Since botanists are a diverse group with varying scientific backgrounds and professional affiliations, their ethical problems are both diverse and complex. This document presents guidelines for professional behavior for members of the BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA.
1. MEMBERS OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES TO THE PUBLIC.
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They will strive to use and disseminate their knowledge, skills, and training to enhance the well-being of humankind through teaching, research, and service. They will specifically refuse to work professionally on any research or teach concepts that in their judgment will result in misinformation or harm being done to anyone.
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They will strive to maintain professional competence and will not offer advice on subjects on which they are uninformed.
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They will not engage in nor allow the dissemination of information about botany that is false, misleading, or will lead to the destruction of rare and endangered species.
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They will expose any misconduct and/or unethical behavior to the appropriate authorities.
2. MEMBERS OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES TO THE RE-SEARCH COMMUNITY.
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They will communicate clearly and honestly to all with whom they work, the objectives and possible consequences of their research by oral and/or printed means. They will support the peer review process. If the research has a commercial objective, researchers will make that explicit, and will disclose what the commercial results might reasonably expected to be.
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They will comply with all rules and limitations that local people, their communities, or their institutions place on the research. They will not "trick" people into revealing "secret" information. They will offer to supply any reports or materials resulting form research.
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They will respect any request for confidence made by those providing date or materials, provided that the maintenance of such confidence does not compromise other ethical considerations.
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They will respect individuals rights to anonymity and the rights of privacy of those they work with when it is requested.
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When materials or information obtained from those people can reasonably be expected to have commercial payoff, they will arrange with employers for equitable economic compensation for those who have provided the information and/or plants and will do all in their power to ensure that compensation is paid.
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They will refrain form any activity where there seems to be a conflict of interest.
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They will ensure humane treatment of animals when they are used for plant experimentation.
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They will adhere to the authorship and publication practices of the profession and the American Journal of Botany.
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3. MEMBERS OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES TO HOST GOVERNMENTS AND OTHER HOST INSTITUTIONS.
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They will comply honestly and completely with all regulations requesting disclosure of project objectives, sponsorship and methods, as well as supply reports and specimens to perform specified services (e.g., seminars and training).
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They will, when the situation requires, make clear that they will not compromise their professional ethics as a condition of their receiving clearance to do research. Specifically, they will provide no secret information or reports that might jeopardize people they have worked with or other individuals.
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They will assist their collaborators in enhancing the physical and human resources of their institutions and nations.
4. MEMBERS OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES TO THE PROFESSION.
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They will maintain a level of integrity and professional behavior in the field so as not to jeopardize future research by others.
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They will not present as their own the work of others.
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They will not allow, to the limits of their abilities, their materials to be used for fraudulent or harmful purposes.
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They will not allow nor condone discrimination and/or harassment in any form.
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They will serve as mentors, where appropriate, and maintain a professional image both within and outside the profession toward botany.
5. MEMBERS OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA HAVE RESPONSIBILITIES TO THOSE WHO SUPPORT THEIR RESEARCH, TEACHING, AND SERVICE THAT ARE CONSISTENT WITH THE ETHICAL GUIDELINES OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA.
Other News
Plant-ed: an Electronic Newsgroup for Plant Biology Educators
A BIOSCI newsgroup called "Plant-ed" exists for plant biologists involved in teaching courses on plants. The newsgroup allows instructors, lab preparators, and graduate assistants to exchange information pertaining to their undergraduate and graduate-level plant courses. Like other BIOSCI newsgroups, Plant-ed can be used through e-mail by subscribing, or through USENET news software. In addition, all past messages are stored in a searchable archive at the URL: http://www.bio.net:80/ hypermail/PLANT-EDUCATION/. Currently there arc about 350 subscribers from over 20 countries. Discussions are wide ranging and informative. Answers to specific questions are usually only minutes away!
The charter describing the purpose of Plant-ed is located at the URL: http://net.bio.net/bioarchives/ PLANT-EDUCATION/CHARTER. The newsgroup is intended to be
I . a resource for the exchange of laboratory methodologies and classroom activities,
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a source of quick help for last-minute troubleshooting, conditions for plant growth, sources of materials, and practical advice,
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a forum for discussing open-ended investigative laboratory projects,
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a forum for discussing textbooks, and
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an archive of searchable information for future use by instructors of plant courses.
To subscribe to Plant-ed by e-mail, send the message:
subscribe plant-ed
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to one of the following addresses: "biosciserver@net.bio.net" (if you are in the Americas or the Pacific Rim), or "biosci@daresbury.ac.uk" (if you are in Europe, Africa or Central Asia). Once you have sub-scribed you may send messages to all subscribers using the address: "plant-ed@net.bio.net". Replies will automatically go the sender unless forwarded to the entire group. 13eing unmoderated, the newsgroup is subject to occasional advertisements. BIOSCI urges subscribers to ignore these messages rather than reply to them.
General information about the BIOSCI newsgroups, subscribing, unsubscribing, searching BIOSCI archives, and FAQs can be obtained at the URL: http://net.bio.neii. For more information please contact either of the discussion leaders:
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Jonathan D. Monroe |
Susan R. Singer |
Refocus of Research at Fairchild Tropical Garden
During the winter and spring of 1996, Fairchild Tropical Garden carried out a peer review of the science programs at FTG by scientists of international reputation. This review made a number of recommendations from which we developed a strategic plan for plat research and conservation. It is own aim to maximize our strengths of geographical location and superb living collections, re-duce the possibility of duplicating work done at other institutions, and make the most effective use of our funding. Beginning in November 1996, the Garden will pursue four primary areas of research and conservation with a mixture of external and core funding: South Florida Plants and Environments, Caribbean Biodiversity, Palm Biology, and Tropical Fruit Crops. Other areas that are appropriate to the Garden's mission will be pursued with external funding. It is also our intention to expand our partnerships with research associates and to attract more graduate students to enhance our research efforts.
Since Hurricane Andrew blew through in 1992 (see the cover of American Journal of Botany issue of December 1994), Fairchild has made a remarkable recovery. New green houses and a conservatory, numerous international expeditions for new wild-collected material, and new plantings have enhanced the beauty, taxonomic breath, and scientific value of the collections. In addition to the projects carried out by staff and research associates, the Garden is the site of school science trips, university classes, professional workshops, active conservation projects with local agencies, and an important source of material for botanical and medical research.
For further information, contact: Jack B. Fisher, Director of Research, Fairchild Tropical Garden, 11935 Old Cutler Rd., Miami FL 33156
HHMI Issues Beyond Bio 101 in both Printed and WWW Formats
One of the first books ever released simultaneously in print and on the World Wide Web has been published by the nation' s largest philanthropy. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute published Beyond Bio 101: The Transformation of Undergraduate Biology Education to describe how science education is changing at college campuses nationwide.
An 88-page printed version, available free, is filled with original reporting and color photographs from many of the 220 colleges and universities that have received more than $335 million in grants from the Institute since 1988 to enhance undergraduate biology education. The electronic version on the Institute's World Wide Web site enables readers to jump quickly between chapters to follow a topic of interest or click to related Web sites. The address is http://www.hhmi.org/ BeyondBiol01.
The Institute is a medical research organization whose scientists conduct medical research in HHMI laboratories at 62 outstanding academic medical centers and universities nationwide. Through its complementary grants program, HHMI also supports science education in the United States and a select group of researchers abroad. Its headquarters are in Chevy Chase, Md.
The primary audience for Beyond Bio 101 is biology faculty and other science educators at colleges and universities, a group that uses the Internet regularly. By creating a special Web version of Beyond Bio 101, the Institute hopes to reach many people who might not see the printed version, and make it easier for them to pursue other sources of information about biology education.
The editorial team that prepared Beyond Bio 101 modified the printed version substantially for the Web. It encountered many interesting questions that other publishers also may face in the future:
•Creating a layout to accommodate readers with varying Web browsers and connection speeds.
•Modifying chapters with several thousand words to become a series of shorter computer screens.
•Reformatting photos and graphics to reduce the download time for readers with slower connections.
•Reorganizing sidebars so they are connected to the text by computer links rather than by the eye.
•Identifying and establishing links with other Web sites of interest to readers.
The Web version of Beyond Bio 101 is richly illustrated with color photographs and navigational icons, and filled with useful links. A reader interested in efforts to encourage women to pursue biology, for instance, might click from a story about a program at Wellesley College to a list of resources for women science students. A story on curriculum reform links to profiles of student research projects.
The publication says big changes in science education are taking hold at diverse colleges and universities nationwide. Large numbers of undergraduates, for example, are now helping to carry out original research with modern biological equipment and techniques in-stead of just memorizing facts. Technological innovations such as computerized animations and "virtual" experiments are helping to bring complex biological concepts to life. Campuses have developed programs to attract more women and underrepresented minorities to careers in the biological sciences. They also have begun working with science teachers at nearby schools to improve science education for millions of younger Americans.
Beyond Bio 101 says the impact of these trends extends beyond college campuses. "It is a story whose outcome affects not only scientists and educators, but also a larger society that is facing difficult choices about health care, the environment, the economy, and many other issues involving biology," writes Purnell W. Choppin, president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, in his foreword.
The printed version is available free upon re-quest from: Office of Communications, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 4000 Jones Bridge Road, Chevy Chase, MD 20815-6789. The Institute's Web site, http:// www.hhmi.org, contains extensive material on biomedical research and science education.
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Announcements
Personalia
Engler Medal Awarded to Grady Webster
Dr. Grady Webster, Professor Emeritus of Plant Biology and Director (Emeritus) of the Herbaria at the University of California at Davis has been awarded the Adolph Engler Medal of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy. This was presented to him at the International Congress for Systematic and Evolutionary Biology in Budapest on August 24, 1996. The Engler Medal is one of the most prestigious awards in the field of plant taxonomy, and it is given periodically to the author of the single most outstanding work published in botanical systematics. Dr. Webster's award is for his synopsis of the genera and suprageneric taxa of Euphorbiaceae, published in the Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden in 1994.
Webster has served as President of the Botanical Society of America and President of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists. He has also been a Smithsonian Senior Fellow, Regional Coordinator and Taxon Editor of the Flora North America project, President, California Botanical Society, Fellow of the California Academy of Science, Fellow, Royal Society of Lon-don, John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, and Program Director for Systematic Botany, National Science Foundation
Grady has been described as one of the band of intrepid plant explorers. His research has taken him to Ecuador, Australia, Brazil, Kenya, Tobago, Trinidad, Surname, Venezuela, Peru, Costa Rica, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Hawaii, Fiji, Dominica, Puerto Rico, Karakoram Range in Pakistan and, in the olden days, to Cuba. He has organized half a dozen or more symposia and has published more than 100 papers, mainly focusing on the family Euphorbiaceae.
1996 Lawrence Memorial Award
Amy J. Litt at the New York Botanical Garden is the recipient of the 1996 Lawrence Memorial Award. A student of Dr. Scott Mori, Ms. Litt has undertaken a study on the phylogeny of the Vochysiaceae. She will use the proceeds of the Award for travel in Cameroon for field research. Commemorating Dr. George H. M. Lawrence, founding Director of the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon University, the biennial Award of $1,000 is made to an outstanding doctoral candidate for travel in support of dissertation researchin systematic botany or horticulture, or the history of the plant sciences, including literature and exploration.
OSU's Stone Laboratory Receives Endowment Gift for Aquatic Plants Course
Ronald L. Stuckey, Professor Emeritus of Botany at The Ohio State University, announced his gift of $15,000 to the Franz Theodore Stone Laboratory, on the occasion of the Laboratory's 100th Anniversary Celebration on Gibraltar Island, Put-in-Bay, Ohio, on August 24, 1996. The donation establishes an endowment whose income will provide annual financial support to staff a course in vascular aquatic plants. The aquatic plants course was Stuckey's chief instructional responsibility at the Laboratory during the majority of the summers he taught there, from 1966 to 1991. Stuckey's association with Stone Laboratory spans five decades, dating from his student days at Heidelberg College in 1959. He is currently writing the 100-year history of the Laboratory.
In Memoriam
The Botanical Society has been notified that the following members have passed away:
Elizabeth (Lee) Greene Boardman of Davis, California, a former member of the Botanical Society.
E. J. H. Corner of Cambridge, England, a Corresponding Member of the Botanical Society. Professor Corner was a member of the BSA since 1985.
Robert M. Kosanke of Lakewood, Colorado, formerly of the Paleontology and Stratigraphy Branch, U.S. Geological Survey, a member of the Botanical Society since 1943. An article on Dr. Kosanke appears in the June, 1996 issue of Palynos, the newletter of the International Federation of Palynological Societies.
Anton Lang of Oxford, Ohio, formerly of the DOE Plant Research Lab, Michigan State University, a member of the Botanical Society since 1949.
Milton A. Petty of San Diego, California, a member of theBotanical Society since 1965.
Clarence Sterling of Davis, California, Professor Emeritus of Food Science and Technology, University of California, Davis.
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Educational Opportunities
Systematics of Tropical Plant Families
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Cycads & Monocots 19-23 May 1997
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Dicots 25-30 May 1997
As part of the NSF Chautauqua Short Courses for college faculty, these workshops are designed to facilitate instructors in incorporating tropical plant materials in their courses. They will be conducted at Fairchild Tropical Garden and the Montgomery Foundation, Miami, Florida, where participants are encouraged to photograph and collect specimens. Short lectures will pro-vide orientation to field and technical characters, systematic placement and subdivision, and uses of the major tropical families. Costs include only travel, lodging, incidentals, and a $40 registration fee. Applications available from the Science Education Center, Univ. Texas (512) 471-7354. For questions about content, contact the instructor, Roger Sanders, Botanical Research Inst. Texas, Fort Worth (8I7) 332-4441; rsanders@brit.org.
Biodiversity of Tropical Plants, 23 June - 19 July 1997
Harvard University Summer School in collaboration with Fairchild Tropical Garden will offer the following course, as in previous years: Biology S-105. Biodiversity of Tropical plants at Fairchild Tropical Gar-den (4 units). Limited enrollment. June 23 - July 19, 1997. Instructor: Professor P. Barry Tomlinson, E.C. Jeffrey Professor of Biology, Harvard University.
Instruction is carried out within the educational facilities of Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami, Florida, whose living collections, the largest collection of tropical plants in the continental United States, provides the main focus of teaching activity. Field instruction will further involve the diversity of natural ecosystems in South Florida. Emphasis will be on reproductive biology, morphology, and anatomy within a strong systematic frame-work. Groups (both systematic and biological) of special interest include cycads, palms, tropical monocotyledons, epiphytes, lianes, mangroves, and sea grasses, as well as breeding mechanisms and architecture of tropical trees. The objective of the course is to provide advanced students of botany with a guided introduction to the diversity of plant form and function in the lowland tropics.
Prerequisites: Reasonably extensive training in the botanical sciences and familiarity with the major plant groups.
Admission is based on the Summer School application and a supplementary statement that includes the following information: course work in biology and related fields, relevant experience, travel experience in the tropics, and reasons for wanting to take the course. All application materials must be received at the Harvard Summer School by March 31, 1997. Preference will be given to graduate students.
Partial tuition and partial travel support are available for qualified students. Students will be housed collectively in comfortable and reasonably inexpensive accommodations close to Fairchild Tropical Garden.
Estimated expenses: Tuition: $1,470; Application fee: $40.00; Food and Accommodation: $30 per day.
For further information and supplementary application forms: Professor P.B. Tomlinson, Harvard Forest, Harvard University, P.O. Box 68, Petersham, MA 01366 or Christine Santos, Division of Continuing Education, Harvard University 51 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Tropical Dendrology Course, Costa Rica 23 June - 11 July 1997
The Tropical Science Center will offer the Fifth Tropical Dendrology course (in English) 23 June to 1 1 July 1997 at several biogeographic regions in Costa Rica. The course is for professionals and lay persons in biology, forestry, biodiversity, ornithology, ecology, and other areas in the natural resource field. The objective is the field identification of neotropical trees and shrubs down to the family, to the genus, and, in some cases to the species level. Instructors will be Dr. William A. Haber, Missouri Botanical Garden, Dr. Humberto Jimenez Saa, Tropical Science Center, Lic. Luis Poveda, Universidad Nacional, and M.Sc. Pablo Sanchez. Cost is US$2,500 or its equivalent in Costa Rica colones for fees, materials, lodging, meals, insurance, course-related local transport, farewell dinner, and diploma (airfare not included). For additional information, contact Dr. Humberto Jimenez Saa, Tropical Science Center, P.O. Box 8-3870-1000, San Jose, Costa Rica, fax: (506) 253 4963, telephone: (506) 225 2649, (506) 253 3267, e-mail: cecitrop@sol.racsa.co.cr
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Funding Opportunities
A.H.S. Student Research Fellowship
The American Hemerocallis Society solicits applications for an A.H.S. Fellowship from graduate or undergraduate students using daylilies as experimental organisms in original thesis research projects. A grant award will be made to successful candidate(s) for a maximum amount of $2000 for the Calendar year. Two renewals of the grant may be made for a total of three years of support, based on submission of a satisfactory annual report in October of each year. A final report will he required, and A.H.S. financial support must be cited in any publications resulting from the grant.
Interested candidates should submit an outline of the research project, describing background, goals and techniques. Letters of recommendation should be sent by the candidate's departmental chairperson and his/her thesis advisor/supervisor. Receipt of proposals is open and continuing, however, it is hoped that an award can be made by June 1997.
All aspects of scientific research on Hemerocallis will be considered. Fundamental areas of investigation are encouraged, such as, banded chromosome preparations, gene mapping, fine structural studies of vegetative or reproductive parts, microscopic analysis of the ontogeny of flower scapes in the crown, effect of various hormones on plant growth and formation of proliferations on scapes, floral pigment (anthocyanins and carotenoids) analysis, etc. Likewise, practical areas of study are encouraged, such as, hardiness of various cultivars in differentclimatic zones, the use of microtubule degradants (i.e., trifluralin, oryzalin, amiprophosmethyl) to produce polyploids, seed dormancy factors, and pests and diseases (i.e., crown rot, spring sickness, bulb mites).
Applications should be sent to James Brennan, Chairman, Scientific Studies Committee, 37 Maple Avenue, Bridgewater MA 02324
International Water Lily Society Research Grants
The International Water Lily Society (IWLS) will award a small number of research grants, normally ranging from $500 - 1,000, for 1997 to support scholarly activity in the area of aquatic plant research. This pro-gram provides support to graduate students, faculty and other professionals pursuing scholarly activity leading to recognition in their discipline. Grants may be used to purchase needed equipment, conduct travel or supplement salaries. Proposals focused on the ecology, taxonomy, systematics, conservation, propagation, or horticultural aspects of water lily taxa (Nymphaeaceae, Cabombaceae, and Nelumbonaceae) will be given preference. Deadline for applications is March 1, 1997. For applications write to: Ed Schneider, S anta B arbara Botanic Garden, 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93105 USA. Applicants who wish to request and/or submit electronic applications may do so by contacting: schneid@lifesci.lscf.ucsb.edu
National Research Council Associateship Programs
The National Research Council announces the 1997 Resident, Cooperative, and Postdoctoral Research Associateship Programs to be conducted on behalf over 100 research laboratories throughout the United States representing nearly all U.S. Government agencies with research facilities. The programs provide opportunities for Ph.D. scientists and engineers of unusual promise and ability to perform research on problems largely of their own choosing yet compatible with the research interests of the sponsoring laboratory. Initiated in 1954, the Associateship Programs have contributed to the career development of over 7500 scientists ranging from recent Ph.D. recipients to distinguished senior scientists.
Approximately 350 new full-time Associateships will be awarded on a competitive basis in 1997 for research in: chemistry; earth and atmospheric sciences; engineering, applied sciences and computer science; life, medical, and behavioral sciences; mathematics; space and planetary sciences; and physics. Most of the programs are open to both U.S. and non-U.S. nationals, and to both recent doctoral recipients and senior investigators.
Awards are made for one or two years, renew-able for a maximum of three years; senior applicants who have held the doctorate at least five years may request shorter periods. Annual stipends for recent Ph.D.' s for the 1997 program year range from $30,000 to $45,500 de-pending upon the sponsoring laboratory, and will be appropriately higher for senior Associates.
Financial support is provided for allowable relocation expenses and for limited professional travel during duration of the award. The host laboratory pro-
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vides the Associate with programmatic assistance including facilities, support services, necessary equipment, and travel necessary for the conduct of the approved research program.
Applications submitted directly to the National Research Council are accepted on a continuous basis throughout the year. Those postmarked no later than January 15 will be reviewed in February, by April 15 in June, and by August 15 in October. Initial awards will be announced in March and April — July and November for the two later competitions — followed by awards to alternate candidates later.
Information on specific research opportunities and participating federal laboratories, as well as application materials, may be obtained from the: National Re-search Council, Associateship Programs (TJ 2114/D3), 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington DC 20418 Fax: (202) 334-2759, E-mail: rap@nas.esu, Internet: http:/ /www.nas.edu/rap/welcome.html
Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships for Minorities
The National Research Council plans to award approximately 20 ford foundation Postdoctoral Fellow-ships for Minorities in a program designed to provide a year of continued study an research for Native American Indians, Alaska Natives (Eskimo or Aleut), Black/African Americans, Mexican Americans/Chicanos, Native Pacific Islanders (Micronesians or Polynesians), and Puerto Ricans. In a national competition, Fellows will be selected from among recent doctoral recipients who show greatest promise of future achievement in academic re-search and scholarship in higher education.
This fellowship program, sponsored by the Ford Foundation, is open to citizens of the United States who are members of the designated minority groups, who are engaged in a teaching and research career or planning such a career, and who have held the PhD or ScD degree for not more than seven years.
Awards in the Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships for Minorities Program will be made in the behavioral and social sciences, humanities, engineering, mathematical, physical sciences, and life sciences, or for interdisciplinary programs composed of two or more eligible disciplines. Awards will not be made in professions such as medicine, law, public health, nursing, social work, library science, and in areas related to business, administration, management, fine arts, performing arts, health sciences, home economics, speech pathology, audiology, personnel, guidance, and education.
Each Fellow selects an appropriate not-forprofit institution of higher education or research to serve as host for the year of postdoctoral research. Appropriate institutions include universities, museums, libraries, government or national laboratories, privately sponsored not- for-profit institutes, government chartered not-for-profit research organizations, and centers for advanced study.
The deadline for submission of applications is January 3, 1997. Address all inquiries concerning application materials and program administration to the Fellowship Office, TJ 2039, National Research Council, 2101 Constitution Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20418.
Positions Available
Cell Biology/Biochemistry, Eastern Connecticut State University
Assistant Professor Cell Biology/Biochemistry. Applications are invited for a tenure-track position in the Biology Department, Eastern Connecticut State University. Ph.D. required, postdoctoral training and expertise in plant, fungal or insect systems an advantage. Demonstrated interest in undergraduate teaching essential. Duties include teaching introductory and advanced courses to majors and non-majors, academic advising, professional development, and working with the Physical Sciences Department to establish a Biochemistry pro-gram. Information about the department can be found at http://biology. ecsu.ctstateu.edu. Please send a curriculum vitae and the names of three references by December 1st to: Dr. Charles Booth, Cell Biology/Biochemistry Biology Search Chair, Biology Department, ECSU, Willimantic, CT 06226. ECSU is an affirmative action/ equal opportunity employer.
Plant Systematist, Hope College
Hope College seeks a broadly trained botanist for a tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level. The successful candidate will develop a vigorous re-search program with active participation by undergraduate students. While the particular research area is open, we seek someone who uses modern systematics techniques to address evolutionary or ecological questions of fundamental significance. S/he will teach a course in vascular plant systematics, an introductory course at the organismal or population level, and an additional course in his/her area of expertise.
Hope College is a distinguished liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,800 and a faculty of more than 180. The college maintains a strong tradition of "teaching through research" in the sciences. The Department of Biology has 13 full-time and 3 part-time faculty, and is well-equipped to maintain its commitment to a broad program in biology. Hope College is affiliated with the Reformed Church in America.
Qualified applicants should arrange to have a curriculum vitae, transcripts, statements of research interests and teaching philosophy/competencies, and three
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letters of recommendation sent to: Dr. ChristopherBamey, Chair, Department of Biology, Hope College, 35 East 12th Street, Holland, MI 49422-9000. Applications received by 8 November will be assured full consideration. Additional information about Hope College is available through the college's home page, http://www.hope.edu. Hope College complies with all legal requirements prohibiting discrimination in employment. Women and persons of color are strongly encouraged to apply.
Plant Systematic Biologist, North Carolina State University
The Department of Botany, North Carolina State University, invites applications for a 12-month tenure-track position as Assistant Professor, available 1 July 1997. We are seeking an individual to establish an innovative, competitively-funded research program in vascular plant systematics, with complementary teaching activities. Responsibilities will include supervision of graduate students and academic advising of undergraduates. The incumbent will also be responsible for curating the NCSU Herbarium. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to participate in interdisciplinary research are required. Postdoctoral experience is preferred. Send resume, statements of teaching and research interests, and three letters of recommendation to: W.F. Thompson and T.R. Wentworth, Co-Chairs, Plant Systematist Search Committee, Department of Botany, Box 7612, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7612. Applications received prior to 1 January 1997 will be assured of full consideration. North Carolina State University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
Botany, Conservation Biology and Cellular/Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska at Omaha
The Department of Biology of the University of Nebraska at Omaha invites applications for three tenure-track positions at the Assistant Professor level, for the 1997/98 academic year. We seek individuals who are committed to excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching, as well as research. All positions require applicants with a Ph.D. and research areas are open. The Botany position requires teaching an introductory course for majors which includes units on plant form and function, and a survey of protist, fungal and plant kingdoms. Depending on his/her specialty, the candidate will also contribute to existing, upper-level and graduate courses. Post-doctoral experience is preferred. The Conservation Biology position requires teaching in an introductory environmental biology course that enrolls both majors and non-majors, an upper-level conservation biology course and appropriate graduate-level teaching. Experience with private or government agencies is preferred.
The eukaryotic Cellular/Molecular Biology position re-quires post-doctoral experience and will involve teaching in introductory and upper-level courses in the area of cellular/molecular biology. In addition to baccalaureate and master's degrees in Biology, The department of Biology offers undergraduate degree programs in Biotechnology and Environmental Studies. For more information visit the biology home page at http:// www.unomaha.edu/biology. Applications should include a curriculum vitae, a statement of teaching and research interests, and the names, addresses phone and FAX numbers of three references. Please specify the position and forward applications to Dr. William D. O'Dell, Chair-man, Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182-0040. Review of applications will begin December 15 and continue until the positions are filled.
Plant Molecular Biologist and Evolutionary/Ecological Statistician San Francisco State University
The Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, invites applications for two tenure-track positions at the Assistant/Associate Professor level for Fall 1997. Ph.D. is required and postdoctoral experience is preferable. Successful candidates must have an established research record, the potential for extramural funding of a research program that includes supervision of M.A. students, and a commitment to excellence in teaching that includes general courses as well as area of specialty. We seek:
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A Plant Molecular Biologist with research interests in molecular genetic mechanisms underlying plant processes and extensive training in plant biology. Responsibilities will include teaching upper division and graduate courses in molecular and plant molecular biology, and participation in lower division introductory biology.
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A Statistician with a broad understanding of statistical theory and methods, and a research record in statistics applied to any area of ecology or evolutionary biology. Responsibilities will include teaching under-graduate and graduate courses in biometry, and consulting with graduate students and faculty on statistical is-sues.
Send letter of application, curriculum vitae, a statement of teaching interests, a statement of research goals and three letters of reference by January 2, 1997 to either the Plant Biology or Statistician Search Commit-tee, Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132. Women, ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities are especially urged to apply. SFSU is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. E-mail address for inquires for plant molecular biologist: stujod@sfsu.edu (John Stubbs), or for evolutionary/ecological statitician: routman@sfsu.edu (Eric Routman)
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Systematics and Evolution of Land Plants, University of Michigan
The Department of Biology and the University Herbarium seek to fill a tenure-track position in the systematics and evolution of land plants at the level of Assistant Professor, although applications from candidates at all ranks will be considered. People who work with all groups of land plants and use all research methods are encouraged to apply, but preference will be given to those who study bryophytes or pteriodytes and to those who incorporate molecular techniques and data in their research. The successful candidate must be qualified to teach undergraduate and graduate courses in biology and plant evolution and systematics and must develop an active research program in the systematics and evolution of land plants. Candidates must have a Ph.D. in Biology, Botany, Plant Sciences, or a related area, and postdoctoral or comparable experience. Applications should include a curriculum vitae, a letter describing teaching and research interests, and reprints of up to three publications. Send these materials and arrange to have three letters of recommendation sent to the following address: Land Plants Position, Search Committee Chair, University of Michigan, Department of Biology, 830 N. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048. Deadline for receipt of application materials is January 31, 1997. The University of Michigan is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer.
Biology/Botany, Washburn University
Washburn University of Topeka invites applications and nominations for a tenure-track position as assistant professor of Biology/Botany beginning August 1997. The successful candidate must be a broadly trained botanist with evidence of potential for successful teaching, research and service in a strong liberal arts undergraduatebiology program. Responsibilities include teaching courses in general botany, plant anatomy, plant physiology, and plant systematics as well as participating in teaching introductory biology and ecology courses. The botanist must establish a research program suitable for undergraduate research as this is a biology major requirement. The candidate must have a good knowledge of Great Plains flora and be willing to assist in directing the use of a 30 acre natural study area that includes an on-site laboratory. Qualifications must include a Ph.D. in Botany and some teaching experience. Review of applications will begin January 15, 1997 and continue until a suitable candidate is identified. Applicants should send their statements of teaching philosophy and research interests, curriculum vitae, transcripts, and three letters of reference to : Dr. Betty J. Cole, Chair, Department of Biology, Washburn University of Topeka, KS 66621-0001. Washburn University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
Plant Systematist, University of Wisconsin
The University of Wisconsin, Department of Botany seeks a distinguished Plant Systematist to assume a tenured professorial position preferably at the Associate Professor level. Duties include teaching, research, and directorship of the Wisconsin State Herbarium. The Department and Herbarium seek candidates whose training and/or abilities will expand the University's and Department's breadth in biosystematics including, but not limited to, tropical systematics, plant animal interactions, paleobotany, morphological evolution, or fern systematics. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the development of systematic biology on the campus, provide leadership in the Herbarium, and develop an active program of research and instruction. Applicants should send a curriculum vitae, a statement of research and teaching interests, current and long-term goals, and three letters of recommendation. The deadline for receiving applications is January 15, 1997, and the earliest start date is August 20, 1997. Send applications to: Professor Kenneth J. Sytsma, Chair of Search Committee, Botany Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706.
Symposia, Conferences, Meetings
Eucarpia Tomato 97 - 19-23 January 1997
The XIII Meeting of the Eucarpia Tomato Working Group will take place in Jerusalem, Israel January 19-23, 1997. The topics of the scientific progam will be fruit quality, resistance to biotic stress, breeding for resistance to abiotic stresses, and new techniques for tomato breeding. For information, contact the Secretariat at ISAS Seminars, P.O. Box 34001, Jerusalem 91340, Israel, tel. 972-2-6520574, fax 972-2-6520558, e-mail isas@netvision.net.il.
Temperature Stress in Plants - 26-31 January 1997
A Gordon Conference on Temperature Stress in Plants will be held at the Colony Harbortown Hotel, Ventura, California, from January 26-31, 1997. The conference will focus on metabolism at low temperature, temperature sensing and signal transduction, stress proteins, membranes, vernalization, climate change, plant biotechnology and crop production in stressful environments. The organizers are Donald Ort, chair, and Charles Guy, vice chair. For additional information, contact Gordon Re-search Conferences, University of Rhode Island, P.O. Box 984, West Kingston, RI 02892-0984; telephone 401-783-7644, fax 401-783-4011, e-mail grc@grcmail.grc.uri.edu
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Midweatern Rare Plant Conference - 19-21 February 1997
The 1997 Midwestern Rare Plant Conference will be held February 19-21, 1997 at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. The meetings are intended to provide a forum for exchanging research results on rare Midwestern plants, for setting regional plant conservation priorities, and for developing and implementing collaborative plant conservation projects in the Midwest. The first two days will be dedicated to scientific papers and posters, and the last day will he given to a conservation task force meeting organized by the Center for Plant Conservation. Authors are invited to submit abstracts of papers or posters they would like to present. Proceedings will be published. For further information contact: Dr. Kayri Havens, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, 63166. Telephone (314)577-9487; e-mail - havens@mobot.org.
13th Symposium Morphology, Anatomy and Systematics - 6-11 April 1997
A symposium will be held in Leuven, Belgium at the University of Leuven from April 6-11, 1997, entitled "13th Symposium Morphology, Anatomy and Systematics." Further information can be obtained from the Symposium Secretariat, Laboratory of Plant Systematics, Botanical Institute, KU Leuven, Kardinaal Mercierlaan 92, B-3001 Leuven (Belgium) - Telephone: (**32)16 321545; Fax: (**32)16 321979.
ASC Annual Meeting - 24-26 April 1997
The 1997 ASC Annual Meeting will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 24-26, 1997. The meeting will immediately precede the 1997 meeting of the American Association of Museums (AMM). The Meeting will be held jointly for the first time with the Association of Science Museum Directors (ASMD).
The theme of the meeting, "The Collections-Based Mission of Natural History Collections," is meant to focus on the core mission of institutions with natural history collections, which is to maintain those collections for use in research and the education of a broad public constituency. The connection between the collections, research derived from the collections, and public programming will be explored by several nationally-known speakers, and will be the subject of a workshop session co-sponsored by the AAM Education Committee.
Information on hotels and registration forms will be available shortly from ASC. Contact us at our web site, <www.ascoll.org>, ask for information by email to asc@ascoll.org, or wait for our mailing to members, if you are an ASC representative.
In Vitro Biology Congress - 14-18 June 1997
The Society for In Vitro Biology will hold its annual meeting 14-18 June 1997 in Washington, D.C. The theme for the Congress will be "Defining Cellular Mechanisms In Vitro." The abstract deadline is 17 January 1997, and the Hotel and Meeting registration deadlines are 14 May 1997. For further information, contact Tiffany McMillan, tel (410) 992-0946, fax (410) 992-0949.
XIII International Symposium on Environmental Biogeochemistry - 21-27 September 1997
XIIIth Interntional Symposium on Environmental Biogeochemistry (ISEB XI LI) "Matter and Energy Fluxes in the Anthropocentric Environment." September 21-27, 1997, Monopoli (Bari), Italy. Contact person: Prof. N. Senesi, Instituto di ChemicaAgraria, University of Bari, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 - Bari, Italy. Tel. +39.80.5442853, fax +39.80.5442813, e-mail nsensi@mail2.clio.it.
Brassica 1997 - 23-27 September 1997
The ISHS Symposium on Brassicas and the Tenth Crucifer Genetics Workshop are scheduled 23-27 September 1997 at Rennes, France. Brassica 1997 is sponsored by the International Society for Horticultural Science, the Crucifer Genetics Cooperative, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, and Ecole Nationale Supērieure Agronomique de Rennes. For information, contact Secretariat Brassica 1997, ISHS Symposium on Brassicas/Tenth Crucifer Genetics Workshop, Ecole Nationale Superieure Agronomique de Rennes, Dr. Gregoire Thomas, Science du Vegetal, 65 Rue de Saint-Brieuc, F 35042 Rennes Cedex, Telephone (33) 99 28 54 76, Telefax (33) 99 28 54 80, e-mail brassica@rennes.inra.fr
Sixth International Mycological Congress - 23-28 August 1998
The Sixth International Mycological Congress - IMC 6 is scheduled to take place from August 23-28, 1998 in Jerusalem at the ICC Jerusalem International Convention Center. The Congress Program encompasses a wide array of themes structured of symposia sessions and workshops, daily plenary lectures, social activities, and a special program for accompaning persons. For further information please contact : Congress Secretariat, P.O. Box 50006, Tel Aviv 61500, Israel. Tel: 972 3 5140014, Fax: 972 3 5175674/514007. E-mail: for Compuservc users: ccmai 1: MYCOL at Kenes; for internet users: MYCOL@Kenes.ccmail.compuserve.com
Information on the Sixth International Mycological Congress may be found on: www:http://Isb380.plbio.1su.edul index.html
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Book Reviews
In this Issue:
Economic Botany:
p. 118 Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food, Drugs and Cosmetics, 2nd ed. A.Y. Leung and S. Foster, 1996 — Michelle A. Briggs
p. 119 Plants, People, and Culture: The Science of Ethnobotany. Michael J. Balick and Paul Alan Cox. 1996 — Mark A. Schlessman and Arnie Fishman
Historical:
p. 119 An All Consuming Passion. Origins, Modernity, and the Australian Life of Georgiana Molloy. William J. Lines (1994) — Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis
p. 120 Charles Darwin's Letters. A Selection. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt (1996) — Brian Charlesworth
Horticultural:
p. 121 Water Gardening: Water Lilies and Lotuses. P.D. Slocum and P. Robinson (with F. Perry) (1996) — Don H. Les
p. 123 Hardy Perennials. Graham Rice (1995) — Michael A. Vincent
p. 123 Garden in Winter. Rosemary Verey (1995) — Dawn M. Gatherum
Molecular Biology:
p. 124 The Impact of Plant Molecular Genetics. B.W.S. Sobral, ed. (1996) — C. Neal Stewart, Jr.
Mycological:
p. 125 Fungal Biology: Understanding the Fungal Lifestyle. D. H. Jennings and G. Lysek. (1996) — Samuel Hammer
Structural and Developmental:
p. 125 Wind and Trees. M.P. Coutts and J. Grace, eds. (1995) — N. Michele Holbrook
p. 127 The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants. Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz and Aristid Lindenmayer (1996) — Samuel Hammer
Systematic:
p. 127 Flowering Plant Origin, Evolution and Phylogeny. D.W. Taylor and L.J. Hickey, eds. (1996) — James E. Eckenwalder
p. 128 Molecular Systematics, 2nd ed. D. M. Hillis, C. Moritz, and B. K. Mable, eds. (1996) — Steve L. O'Kane, Jr.
Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food, Drugs and Cosmetics, 2nd ed. A.Y. Leung and S. Foster, 1996. ISBN 0-471-50826-8 (cloth, US $120.00) 649pp. John Wiley & Sons. Inc., 605 Third Ave., New York 10158 — If there is one topic that lures plant-phobic biology majors into appreciating plants, it has to be the medicinal and poisonous aspects of plant secondary chemistry. But the field of medical botany can quickly frustrate researchers (students and faculty alike) because there are few reputable, easily obtainable, well-referenced andup-to-dategeneral sources. A copy of Leung and Foster's Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients arrived in our library during a semester I was teaching Medicinal and Poisonous Plants. To be honest, I did a small dance of joy when I first saw the book, because it excels in all these areas.
The focus of Leung and Foster' s book is not the well-known medicinal plants, like Digitalis purpurea. Instead, the authors concentrate on plant ingredients in over-the-counter drugs (including my grandmother's fa vorite, castor oil). They also include plants used as common processed food ingredients such as carrageenan, pectin and spices — who knows that black pepper can raise your blood pressure? There is also a short section on 23 natural Chinese cosmetic components. However, considering the surging interest in health foods, and the confusion about the biological actions of some of these products, their medicinal herb coverage is most useful. Leung and Foster include over 500 natural
ingredients in their encyclopedia, and incorporate a wide range of information about each product. The highly detailed indexes are easy to use; plants are listed under common names, scientific name, and plant family, with a separate index for chemicals. Although textual coverage
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is brief, with each natural ingredient getting about one and a half pages, wording is clear and concise.
Natural ingredients are listed alphabetically in the encyclopedia, and each listing includes a brief plant description, a list of known chemical components and references. As a plant biologist, I feel the most important feature is their coverage of pharmacology (including toxicity), and product uses in health foods and traditional medicine. This information is difficult for U.S. researchers to obtain, since most of this work is still done in Europe, China and Japan.
Will this book be the only reference you'll need if you are interested in natural ingredients or medicinal plants? No. The book does not contain any pictures for identification, there are no chemical structures (a blessing for some, an inconvenience for others), and there are no names of foods or drugs that contain these natural ingredients. But I feel the book is a vital part of any college library. It will also be a welcome addition to personal collections of anyone interested in natural compound chemistry, pharmacognosy, food science, medical botany or economic botany. It contains a huge amount of information in a tidy package. Simply put, it is the first book I reach for when my students express an interest in researching a medicinal plant topic. — Michelle A. Briggs, Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA
Plants, People, and Culture: The Science of Ethnobotany. Michael J. Balick and Paul Alan Cox. 1996. ISBN 0-7167-5091-9 (hard cover US$32.95) 229 pp. W. H. Freeman & Co., 41 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10010. —This highly readable, beautifully illustrated book is an excellent introduction to the multi-faceted field of ethnobotany. As part of the Scientific American Library series, it is written for a scientifically literate general audience. Balick and Cox develop a general definition of ethnobotany as "the study of the interactions of plants and people, including the influence of plants on human culture." They elaborate on this definition throughout the book by addressing ethical, religious, economic and environmental issues that are current concerns of ethnobotany.
Plants, People and Culture is divided into six chapters: People and Plants (introducing ethnobotany), Plants that Heal, From Hunting and Gathering to Haute Cuisine, Plants as the Basis for Material Culture, Entering the Other World (religion and spirituality), and Biological Conservation and Ethnobotany. The text is informative and extremely accessible, full of short narratives that elucidate concepts and hold the reader's interest. Frequently, the conclusion of one story provides an introduction to the next. Thus, Balick and Cox have woven their "selected cases" into a coherent whole (And it is difficult to put the book down!). For example, the concluding paragraph of a story about the Anasazi and maize asserts that agricultural surpluses can be "translated" into political power only if the surpluses are not perishable, and then notes that food storage is a quite different challenge in the tropics than it is in temperate climes. This sets the stage for a fascinating story about Polynesians and ma, a fermented breadfruit paste. Occasionally, the sequence of stories is interrupted by sections of textbook-like explication. But even then, the contexts in which those sections are placed help the reader follow through. For example, what could be a rather dry admonition on the importance of well prepared herbarium specimens is placed in the context of the importance of vouchers for ethnopharmacological studies.
Plants, People and Culture does include a fair number of technical terms, many scientific names of plants, and a few structural diagrams of chemical compounds. These are always appropriate, but a general understanding of plant taxonomy and basic chemistry are necessary to fully comprehend some of the material. Species that receive substantial attention can be found in the index under their common names as well as their scientific names. Lists of suggested readings for each chapter provide direction toward primary sources.
A distinguishing virtue of Plants, People and Culture is that Balick and Cox offer their view not only of what ethnobotany is, but also of what ethnobotanists should be and do. Because so much of the book is based on the actual experiences of the authors, and their col-leagues and teachers from both indigenous and western cultures, this theme is pervasive and readers cannot fail to recognize it.
Although itis not a traditional college textbook (it would look at home on a coffee table as well as a library shelf), Plants, People and Culture is appropriate reading for undergraduate courses in economic botany, ethnobotany, or "plants and people," and it deserves a place on supplemental reading lists for general botany. Given the interdisciplinary nature of ethnobotany, Plants, People and Culture may be of interest to colleagues outside your botany or biology department. On our campus ethnobotany is a shared pursuit of biologists and anthropologists. We feel that both groups will find the book accessible and fascinating. It will ignite interest in students with no previous knowledge of ethnobotany as a discipline, and also propel those already interested to-ward further study. — Mark A. Schlessman and Arnie Fishman, Dept. of Biology, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
An All Consuming Passion. Origins, Modernity, and the Australian Life of Georgiana Molloy. William J. Lines 1994. First paperback printing 1996. ISBN 0-520-20422-0 (paper US$44.95) 398pp. University of California Press, 2120 Berkeley Way, Berkeley CA 94720 — This wonderful book is organized around the life of an under-appreciated nineteenth century Australian botanist by the name of Georgiana Molloy (1805-1843). Born in England into an upper-class
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English-Scottish family, Georgiana Kennedy left for Australia shortly after marrying Captain John Molloy, a veteran of the Napoleonic War. The Molloys were part of an eager group of British settlers who hoped to make their fortunes in the largely open frontier of Western Australia, especially in the southwest region along the Swan River. Like other settlers in parts of the British Empire, the Molloys were closely linked, if not completely dependent, on other families who shared the same hardships of the colonial experience.
Although she was well integrated into the settler community, Georgiana departed from settler's colonial attitudes in at least two respects: she did not always share their depreciation of the aboriginal peoples of the region, and unlike other settlers, she quickly appreciated the wildness of the natural environment. As her Australian life unfolded, Georgiana became more and more involved with the native flora of south-west Australia, becoming completely enamored of the Australian "bush." Despite the hardships of no less than eight "inescapable" pregnancies, frequent conflicts with aboriginal peoples, and the interminable loneliness of her pioneer existence, she became an avid collector of previously undescribed plant species. Her carefully prepared collections miraculously made their way safely back to England for examination and permanent housing with the encouragement and unflagging support of Captain James Mangles, an English horticulturist interested in the flora of southwest Australia. By the end of her all-too-short life (she died at the age of 37 from complications resulting from her eighth pregnancy), she had emerged as one of the leading authorities of the Australian flora.
Although the book is based on an especially vivid reconstruction of Georgiana' s life in the Australian bush based on her numerous letters and journals, the book also includes nearly equal emphasis to the other settlers, the colonial history of Australia, as well as the environmental history of the continent. The Bussell family, who shamelessly exploited Australian aborigines and their habitat, are featured prominently in the story. As representatives of the most reprehensible aspects of colonial-ism, the Bussells and their attitudes make possible a more balanced view of Australian colonial history, as well as serving as the backdrop for settler life in southwestern Australia. Their inclusion makes possible an enhanced appreciation of Georgiana's unique attitudes towards Australian community and natural history.
The sensitivity of the author to the colonial experience, to the difficulties encountered by pioneer women, and to the richness — and eventual loss — of Australian natural history is also worthy of praise. The writing is lucid, and the inclusion of relevant detail is so masterful, that the author manages to capture the entirety of Georgiana's world. The end result is a book that reads like a rich novel, while at the same time upholding a commitment to historical accuracy, and the scholarly enterprise.
Botanists will be especially pleased to make the acquaintance of this nineteenth century botanical heroine, who has received little historical notice. They will also appreciate the role of other such "amateur" collectors, including native guides (Georgiana worked closely with aboriginal assistants), all of whom worked under colonial rule and most of whom have received little scientific or historical recognition for their efforts. The book concludes with a useful list of the plants associated with Molloy. The list includes 96 species. Sadly, only one species was named after her: the Tall Boronia or Boronia mnolloyae. — Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis, Department of History, University of Florida, Gainesville
Charles Darwin's Letters. A Selection. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt 1996. ISBN: 0-521-56212-0 (cloth US$21.95) xxvi+272 pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011 — If Charles Darwin had done nothing else than publish his books and papers on botanical subjects, he would have ranked among the greatest biologists of the nineteenth century. For this reason, this volume of his selected letters should be of great interest to plant scientists, even if they have little interest in evolution. The letters span Darwin's career from his enrollment at medical school in Edinburgh in 1825 to the aftermath of the publication of the Origin of Species at the end of 1859, which established his reputation as the most important biological thinker of all time.
The letters in this book are selected from the complete, multi-volume, set of published letters being produced by Cambridge University Press. Since most working scientists will lack the time to read these heavy tomes, this attractively reproduced and well-annotated selection is extremely welcome. The letters provide an intimate portrait of Darwin, both as a man communicating with his family members and friends, and as a scholar. Darwin comes both across as an intensely warm-hearted person, and as a firmly rational scientist, dedicated to understanding nature by careful investigation of a multitude of subjects. His tender-heartedness is evident in his letters to Emma Wedgewood on their engagement, and on the death of their daughter Annie. His thorough-going rationalism is apparent in such comments as these on his doctor, who subjected him to the futilities of a 'water-cure':
no-one knows in disease what is the simple results of nothing being done, as a standard with which to compare Homeopathy & all other such things. It is a sad flaw, I cannot but think in my beloved Dr. Gully, that he believes in everything... (p. 116).
It is perhaps fortunate that Darwin did not live to experience such late twentieth-century idiocies as New Age "thought" and Creation Science!
Of most interest to biologists will be the series of letters in the 1850's to other scientists, especially Gray, Hooker, Lyell and Wallace, developing his views on evolution. This, of course, culminated in the famous episode of Darwin's receiving Wallace's manuscript on
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natural selection, at a time when his baby son was dying of scarlet fever, and he was under tremendous emotional strain. Stephen Gould, in his introduction, makes the snide comment that
By a week later, Darwin's numbed shock had given way to strategic thought, and he hinted (not at all subtly) to Lyell how his legitimate priority might be honorably preserved (p.xx).
In my own view, it is clear both Darwin and Wallace behaved in an exemplary fashion, over the issue of priority in what both protagonists must have known would rank as their most significant contributions to science.
This book provides much illumination of Darwin's personal and scientific development, and can be read with pleasure by anyone with an interest in the history of biology. One can only hope that one or more later volumes, which cover the post-Origin period when Darwin achieved world-wide fame, will appear before long. — Brian Charlesworth, Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago
Water Gardening: Water Lilies and Lotuses. P.D. Slocum and P. Robinson (with F. Perry), 1996. ISBN 0-88192-335-4 (cloth US $59.95), 322 pp. Timber Press, Inc., The Haseltine Building, 133 S.W. Second Ave., Suite 450, Portland, Oregon 97204.-This book is organized into two sections: Part One: Water and Bog Gardens by Robinson and Perry (10 chapters, 156 pp) covers history, design and construction, care and planting of water gardens and is embellished with 105 color plates and 41 figures. Part Two: An Encyclopedia of Water Lilies and Lotuses by Slocum (eight chapters, 166 pp), covers taxonomy, species and cultivars of water lily genera (Nyrnphaea, Nuphar, Victoria, Euryale, Barclaya, Ondinea) and lotus (Nelumbo) with 341 color plates and 35 figures.
Proclaimed as "two books in one," this volume asserts to provide "the most complete and useful exposition ever published on water gardening" as well as a comprehensive description of water lily and lotus species, cultivars and hybrids. Although such characterizations are typically exaggerated, this treatise comes with good credentials. The incomparable gardener Frances Perry began the book a decade ago, although she did not live to see it published. Perry's contribution was continued by Peter Robinson who has an extensive background in water gardening. Perry Slocum is a distinguished water gardener and water lily breeder. However, water garden books are often laden with beautiful pictures, but remain weak in technical botanical content. This book is no exception with nice pictures of water lilies and water gardens, but a bunch of botanical bloopers.
A history of water gardens (chapter 1) augments the summary provided in Perry's first book (Perry, 1938). Part of the information (e.g. the section dealing with the ancient Egyptians) is simply paraphrased from earlier works (Perry, 1938; 1981). Although some of the historical information has been presented elsewhere (e.g. Sculthorpe, 1967), there is expanded coverage of Asian and European water garden history. Overall, the historical section summarizes the history of water gardens in a clearly stated and nicely illustrated manner. Some discrepancies occur between accounts. Sculthorpe (1967) concluded that Nelurnbo was not the flower adorning ancient Egyptian tomb walls, having been introduced into Egypt after 525 B.C. The present authors state that Nelumbos were "... widely represented on tomb wall paintings ..." of ancient Egypt. Chapter 2 presents an informative overview of the major water lily hybridizers and provides an interesting insight into the people who began and improved the pastime of water gardening. Chapter 3 provides helpful advice for constructing a natural (unlined) pool, or one fabricated from concrete, rigid (preformed) liners, or flexible liners. Color plates (Plates 1-29) illustrate impressive examples of water gardens of most construction types. The use of various accessories (pumps, fountains, filters, and lighting) is addressed adequately. Advice given for growing water plants in artificial ponds (chapter 4) should be helpful to those with little experience with this type of gardening.
An encyclopedic treatment of floating, submersed, and emergent aquatic growth forms follows (chapters 5-8). Although this format is derived from Perry's earlier work (Perry, 1938), the coverage of taxa is less comprehensive. By my count, 592 taxa (in addition to water lilies and lotus) are described; 40 `floating', 116 `submerged', 104 `marginal' and 332 `moisture-loving' taxa. This compares to the 3rd ed. of Perry's original book (Perry, 1961) which contained descriptions of 60 'floating', 201 `submerged', 232 `miscellaneous' aquatics (mainly emergents), and an additional 343 taxa of ferns, orchids, carnivorous plants, grasses and sedges. Despite characterization of this work as the most complete book ever published on water gardening, it actually includes roughly 30% fewer taxa than Perry's revised original work (Perry, 1961). Plate 32 shows a large stand of Spirodela polyrhiza misidentified as `Lemna minor' . The authors distinguish `marginal' species (that survive in saturated sediments) from `moisture-loving' species (which grow in moist but well-drained soil). I found this distinction difficult to apply given that `good' wetland indicator species such as Asclepias incartata, Chelone glabra, Lobelia cardinalis, Lythrum salicaria, Sarracenia purpurea and Taxodium distichum were categorized as `moisture loving' along with terrestrial species such as Actaea alba, Aster novae-angliae, Cornus canadensis, Gaultheria procumbens and Jeffersonia diphylla. Plate 26, which shows a specimen of Taxodium "growing out of the water", also contradicts this odd segregation of species. Useful information on animals associated with water gardens and methods of keeping pests under control is summarized (chapters 9-10).
I was dismayed by the coverage of some species in chapters 5-8. Some rare species (e.g. Hottonia inflata) are listed without caution that these should never be collected from the wild. On the other hand, many species are included without warning that they are noto-
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riously weedy in parts of the world. Egeriadensa (a North American weed) is touted as an excellent oxygenator. Hygrophila polyspenna (a serious weed in Florida) is characterized as "a good background plant". Hydrilla verticillata (one of the world's most serious aquatic weeds) is simply characterized as "troublesome in parts of Florida". Myriophyllum aquaticum (a pest in NW USA) is described as a "popular" species. Books that furnish information to gardeners with wide access to non-indigenous species should emphasize that they must never be grown in situations where they could escape to natural waters. Failure to do so essentially constitutes an endorsement by the authors for their propagation. In fairness, the threat of some species (e.g. Lythrum salicaria) is clearly stated.
Chapter 11 (Taxonomy of the water lily family) is the worst section of the book. It is prefaced as being "devoted to a descriptive taxonomy of the Nymphaeaceae" but is mainly a reiteration of Conard's (1905) classification of Nymphaea to which has been added 2 additional species of the `Apocarpiae' group and seven additional species of subg. Hydrocallis as recognized by Wiersema (1987). Seven Australian Nymphaea species are dismissed as varieties or forms of Nymphaea gigantea with-out specific justification. There are also taxon `lists' (with authorities) for Nelumbo, Nuphar (following the outdated classification of Beal), Victoria, Euryale, Barclaya, and Ondinea but no descriptive taxonomy. Slocum's over-view of water lily relationships should impress any evolutionary systematist as nothing less than heretical. He acknowledged that anatomical, morphological, phytochemical and molecular studies, "... demonstrate that Nelurnbo (lotus) should not be considered a member of the water lily family." However, he concluded: "Yet, because of ecological convergence shown in flower parts, leaves, rhizomes, and aquatic preferences with the other genera of the family, I treat Nelumbo here as a member of the water lily family." Obviously, Slocum is not a proponent of evolutionary classification. There is also a peculiar diagram (Fig. 43) that shows "The seven genera of the water lily family" depicted on what appears to be a `tree' of some sort. There are `clusters' ('?) grouping Nuphar with Nymphaea, Victoria with Euryale, and Barclaya with Ondinea. These three clusters (with Nelumbo sandwiched among them) are connected in an unresolved network. I'm not sure if this is supposed to represent the author's own perspective of intergeneric relationships because no further explanation for the figure is provided in the text. The arrangement of taxa is not in agreement with most recent studies.
The remainder of the book (chapters 12-18) is an inventory of water lily species, cultivars and hybrids. Fairly good descriptions are provided for most taxa and some contain additional `comments' on their cultivational history, etc. Many taxa are depicted in sharp color plates of spectacular quality. However, several of the plates in my copy (Plates 63-66; 75-76) were traversed with wrinkles and the captions of some were so badly 'smeared' that they could scarcely be read. Why include expensive color plates and then print them poorly?
Many of the 76 black and white figures were original. Some illustrations are overly simplistic such as (Fig. 71) the "Cross section of an Euryale ferox flower" (which is actually a longitudinal section) where arrows pointing to `carpels', `filament' and `ovary' depict regions that are vaguely defined (or difficult to discern). Other figures are quite good such as the next drawing (Fig. 72) that shows a much better and more clearly labeled representation of a Barclaya flower. However, this longitudinal section is also mislabeled as a "cross section." Similarly mislabeled longitudinal sections occur in Plate 107 and Figures 68, 69, 70. The caption: "Ovaries (containing developing seeds)" on the diagram of a Victoria flower (Fig. 70) indicates that each developing seed is enclosed in its own ovary (actually, each flower is syncarpous and has a single ovary). The flowers of different Barclaya species (Figs. 73-76) are too simplistic to pro-vide any meaningful comparison.
The Glossary is generally good but contains a number of errors. `Tomentose' is simply defined as hairy (which is same as `pubescent') when the term actually describes densely hairy or `wooly' structures. `Turion' is defined as a terminal bud (although many are actually axillary) that grows from "a submerged rootstock" al-though this term is normally restricted to cauline structures. An `awn' is defined as "a group of sharp, bristly fibers" rather than as a bristle-shaped structure. `Hastate' is defined as "a triangular shape like a spearhead" al-though this would simply be sagittate; in hastate structures, the basal lobes are turned outward rather than backward. `Peltate' is defined as "shaped like a shield" but does not indicate that peltate structures must also be attached from their lower surface. `Hardy water lily' is defined as "A perennial aquatic herb". This definition would imply that Myriophyllum is a hardy water lily when actually it is hardly a water lily.
Most water gardeners should find this to be a useful reference. However, after reading the book as a botanist, I had mixed feelings. Although there is certainly much information presented in this work, a considerable portion of the technical botanical and scientific coverage is incorrect, inappropriate or misleading.— Don H. Les, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs
Literature Cited
Perry, F. (1938). Water Gardening. London: Country Life Ltd. Perry, F. (1961). Water Gardening (3rd ed.). London: Country Life Ltd.
Perry, F. (1981). The Water Garden. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.
Conard, H. S. (1905) [1991 facsimile reprint]. The Waterlilies: A Monograph of the Genus Nymphaea, Suffolk: Lark Publications.
Sculthorpe, C. D. (1967). The Biology of Aquatic Vascular Plants. London: Edward Arnold Ltd.
Wiersema, J. H. (1987). A monograph of Nymphaea subgenus Hydrocallis (Nymphaeaceae). Systematic Botany Mono-graphs 16: 1-112.
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Hardy Perennials. Graham Rice 1995. ISBN 0-88192-338-9 (US$27.95, cloth) x + 198 pp. Timber Press, 133 SW Second Ave., Suite 450, Portland, OR — After an initial disappointment with the limited number of photographs of hardy perennials, I settled down to trudge through this small book to fulfill my obligation to write a review. What a surprise I got! This is not a "pretty picture book," although the photographs are stunning (there are 42 by Rice, John Fielding, and Peter Ray), and the line drawings by Jean Emmons are wonderful. Reading this book is like taking a long walk through the author's garden, with periodic stops where Rice points out special favorites.
The format of the book is uniquē: it is a guide to the four seasons of a garden, with highlights of each seasoned with anecdotes and poetry. There are four main sections of the text, following the seasons, and each is divided into several chapters on various genera of perennials, as well as a chapter on other noteworthy plants of the season. At the end of the book is a chapter called "Hardly a Bibliography," in which Rice discusses and makes comments on books that he has been reading, which is enlightening. The book is enjoyable reading, but more than that, it is packed with ideas on design and commentary on cultivars (a word which Rice refuses to use as being "ugly"), as well as commentaries on many other topics. While I do not always agree with his commentaries on such topics as changes in nomenclature, Rice expresses his opinions with courtesy, acknowledging, for example, that sometimes nomenclatural changes are necessary, even if he does not like them! As we walk along, the author discusses the histories of the species under consideration, their special needs (soils, light, moisture), diseases, propagation, and so on; in short, what makes each "happy" or "sad". The author also issues warnings on plants which are apt to become invasive in the garden.
The book opens, as does early spring in a garden, with the hellebores, irises, and hepaticas, and winds its way through a tangle of bergenias and celandines to Spring in its glory. Arums and hostas give way to euphorbias, pulmonarias, and primroses; this takes fully half the book! It is not a boring trek, however. Rice is constantly expressing his opinion about one cultivar over another, describing in a very poetic way the appearances of each species, and how they interact with each other.
As I continue on in the book, summer bursts forth with Campanulas — a wonderful choice, and well written. Rice's "personal enthusiasm for Campanula persicifolia as one of the finest of all perennials" echoes my own, and spills over nearly three pages, with other members of the genus crowded in at the end of the chapter. Delphiniums, geraniums, phlox, and penstemons march by, with a long stop at grasses, and a final parade of late summer plants to top it off. Finally, autumn's array of composites and sundries rounds out the book.
There are many books written on hardy perennials (a quick search located twenty titles published in the last five years), but none quite like this one. Graham Rice discusses not only the commonly grown perennial species, but also less well known plants or those new on the gardening scene. If you are looking for a "how-to" book, or a photographic manual of hardy perennial species, this is not the book for you. This is an idea book, one that will help the gardener come up with fresh ideas on which plants to grow, and in which combinations. I highly recommend this book as a companion to the standard manuals on herbaceous perennials. It is truly delightful! — Michael A. Vincent, Miami University, Oxford Ohio
Garden in Winter. Rosemary Verey, 1995. ISBN 0-88192-337-0 (cloth US$24.95) 168pp. Timber Press, Inc., 133 S.W. Second Ave., Suite 450, Portland OR 97204 — This book is easy read. It contains enough information to get the beginner started and is detailed enough to give the accomplished gardener ideas and a new perspecti ve of gardening. The photographs add beauty and clarity to the book.
One often looks to winter as drab and cold, but the topic "A Plea for the Garden in Winter" describes how winter can be lightened and warmed by the beauty of its garden. As the season changes and the plants exhibit there individual character one sees that summer is not the only season for beauty in the garden.
The foliage of summer, with all its work and shaping, soon gives way to the true "Space, Structure, and Pattern" that are uncovered when winter winds and cold bring foliage drop and flowers no longer the center piece. As so aptly put by the author while quoting Sir Roy Strong,
What fascinates me about the garden in winter is that it is the true test of garden design, for without foliage and shrubs a garden stands or falls for its compositional value on clipped evergreens, evergreen trees and shrubs and the exact placing of statuary, urns and gazebos. It reminds one that gardening, as it emerged in the grand manner during the Renaissance, did not depend on flowers for its effect. In a way the garden becomes like a church in Lent, stripped of its furnishings, so that one's eye falls back on to the purity of the architecture devoid of the distraction of ornament.
While the garden allees lead one to size and shape, the vistas lead you to an eternity of perspective imagination of a world not seen nor imagined at any other season. These "Winter Pictures" are dependent on the day, time, sun angle, height of view, moisture (frost, rain, or snow), plant size, plant shape, and plants winter color. Each day brings a change in the "Winter Color" that is so dependent on proper placement and form of the plants.
As winter lingers and times slows there is plenty to do to get ready the seasons as they approach. "Work and Pleasure" gives timely suggestions to do what when and why.
"Work in the Vegetable Garden" covers a timeline of preparation for the bountiful harvest to follow
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if kept on schedule. I really like Rosemary's suggestion that vegetable and flower gardens should not be in competition as so beautifully put by William Lawson,
Herbs are of two sorts, and therefore it is meet that we have two gardens; a garden for flowers and a Kitchen garden.... Your garden flowers shall suffer some disgrace, if among them you intermingle onions, parsnips, etc...
Finally the "Plant Portraits" are well done and very descriptive of each plant addressed to include the beauty of their winter bark, foliage and flowers and the color, scent, form and texture that they bring to the garden throughout the year. Of great importance is that she has zoned these plants so they can be a guide to American gardeners. — Dawn M. Gatherum, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah
The Impact of Plant Molecular Genetics. B.W.S. Sobral, ed. 1996. ISBN 0-8176-3802-4 (cloth US$89.50) 348pp. Birkhauser Boston, 675 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge MA 02139 — No scientist working in the plant sciences would argue that molecular techniques have not had a great impact in basic and applied plant research. A priori, this impact reaches from gene cloning, to plant transformation, to plant physiology, to crop improvement, to conservation biology, to taxonomy. Therefore, the alluring title of the book, a seeming catch-all, is a bit deceptive since it is impossible to thoroughly treat all these areas with equal quality and quantity in 348 pages. Therefore, the uninitiated reader cannot know what to expect. However, we learn in the editor's preface what to expect: that the work is "concentrat[ed] mostly, but not solely on tropical agriculture."
There is something for everyone in this book, but even if one is interested in tropical agriculture, this book may not be very satisfying. Stated another way, there are some extraordinarily good chapters, but these are widely interspersed with chapters that do not especially pertain to molecular genetics, nor the its impacts on tropical agriculture. It is a book containing chapters widely variable in quality and impact.
The book is divided into six parts: I. Genetics and breeding, II. Evolution and phylogenetics, III. Micro-organisms in agriculture: two examples, IV. Tools: soft-ware and hardware, V. The experience of molecular marker-assisted breeding, and VI. Examples of social and economic impact of new technologies. Surprisingly absent in these segments are chapters dealing with plant transformation and gene cloning, arguably two areas of molecular genetics that have had the greatest impacts in plant biology. Instead there are chapters about polyploidy, validation of QTL mapping, and other chapters that deal with molecular biology per se. Of course it is understood that these areas of research have been affected by molecular techniques, but the inclusion of these has been, seemingly, at the cost of including the impacts of more profound biotechnologies. As an aside, one surprise was finding the cute poem at the end of the polyploid chapter. It also had nothing to do with molecular biology (but it was cute!). It includes the racy phrase "sweating through the bathroom."
Not all chapters are mediocre or irrelevant; there are some gems in this book. One of these is a chapter on "the potential impacts of apomixis" by Richard Jefferson and Ross Bicknell. Their fascinating vision of the impact of molecular genetics is clear: to engineer a system enabling any plant species to reproduce a genet by apomixis. First, they first make the case why it would be profoundly beneficial to make plants apomictically re-productive, then readily admit that we cannot do that using existing technology. Where this chapter really shines is in the authors' speculation of needed experiments and their suggestions of model species that would help bring their visionary systems into existence. These authors clearly received the charge that the editor made to them which is stated in the preface: "...to speculate about both current bottlenecks and the future of their subfields of research."
Another very pertinent chapter was "Molecular markers in plant conservation genetics" by William Hahn and FrancescaGrifo. An unexpected strength of the book is on conservation biology and taxonomy. The authors survey the strengths and weaknesses of various types of biochemical and molecular markers and their use in conservation biology. The only criticism of this chapter is the low emphasis on microsatellite markers, clearly a class of sequences that will become increasingly important in conservation genetics. There are other good chapters not mentioned here, but there are quite a few chapters that the leaves the reader pondering "why are they in this kind of book?"
The potential book buyer who is interested in tropical agriculture may find more items of pragmatic interest than did the reviewer. However, the reviewer reads books with such futuristic titles to transfer the ideas practiced in another sub-discipline to his own subdiscipline; with the goal of making the reviewer's research more pertinent and fundable. This book, by-and-large, did not help with that. Approximately half of the chapters contained up-to-date and usable information for the practicing molecular biologist; only a few were exciting. However, many of the chapters would be happier housed within a plant breeding book. In fact, a fairer title would have been: "Molecular genetics and plant breeding: its potential impacts on tropical agriculture (with a cute poem)." — C. Neal Stewart, Jr. Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
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Fungal Biology: Understanding the Fungal Lifestyle. D. H. Jennings and G. Lysek. 1996. ISBN 1-85996-150-9 (paper US$33.95). Bios Scientific Publishers, Ltd., P.O. Box 605, Herndon VA 22070 — As biology becomes an ever more specialized discipline (or set of disciplines) it becomes easy to lose sight of the meaning of the word biology: the study of life. Here is a fine little book on fungal biology, in which fungi are embraced wholeheartedly as living things. One challenge that our authors face is how to circumscribe the diversity of life that we encounter in the fungi. They find a satisfactory solution in a "lifestyle" approach, where two perspectives, both of which are indispensable to mycology, provide a focus. Nutrition and reproductive life cycles are the themes that the authors use to describe a wide array of fungal life. The approach works in part because it is so broad, and in part because eating and sex are such interesting things to study.
The reader's attention is drawn right away to the unusual line drawings by H. Liinser. I wish that there were more of them. The clarity of the drawings and complementary figures is admirable. As a teacher I appreciate the excellent diagrams, photographs, and tables, which can only help the cause of organismic mycology, for most of us are visual learners. Students especially need inviting figures to draw them into the text, to excite their interest, and to illustrate difficult concepts.
While we're discussing difficult concepts I should add that our authors (in a very short book—only 156 pages) have tackled their share of rough spots in descriptive mycology. For example, look at the section on nuclear relationships in the fungi. It is concise, peppered
with diagrams and tables, and blessedly short. Yet concepts such as compatibility, parasexuality, and dikaryotization are discussed and summarized. My major criticism is the single reference at the end of the chapter, written in 1967. Has there been no progress worthy of
reference since then?! An even more dated reference (from 1958) appears at the end of a section on competition. While I believe strongly in an historical approach, I think our authors could have added a few more recent studies. But the limited references are a limited problem. As the authors state, this text is aimed at first- and second-year biology or microbiology students, who might find a more advanced treatise somewhat daunting. I take their statement to mean that this text is not intended to supplant the excellent and comprehensive Introductory Mycology, recently edited and updated by Blackwell et al. Rather, it seeks a different niche. This is the first book I've seen that invites molecular biologists to view their research in a broader perspective. The authors' creative approach may encourage all of their readers to understand the unique properties of fungi. To paraphrase our authors, fungi are a diverse group of organisms that utilize natural organic substances efficiently, essentially without spatial or temporal limits, and with infinite flexibility. Wow! I sometimes wonder whether biologists mimic the organ-
isms they study. I suspect our authors have learned a thing or two from the fungi, as reflected in the flexible approach offered here. The book is organized to excite discussion and exploration. Look at the chapter headings. "Using light," "Oxygen and lack of it," and "Water: living with desiccation" are typical titles. As our authors point out, fungi live on the edge, and like their organisms, the authors have taken things down to the basics, without seriously compromising accuracy or rigor. — Samuel Hammer, Boston University
Wind and Trees. M.P. Coutts and J. Grace, eds. 1995. ISBN 0-521-46037-9 (cloth US$94.95) Cam-bridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011 — Most people like to look at mountain rivers, and bear them in mind; but few care to look at the winds, though far more beautiful and sublime, and though they become at times about as visible as flowing water (John Muir, "A Windstorm in the Forests of the Yuba," Scribners Monthly, November, 1878)
At the sound of a windstorm how many of us are content to remain "crouched deprecatingly beneath a roof," instead of following John Muir's lead out into the forest to make a "delightful study" of the varied gestures of the trees? Muir, in his famous essay, recounts how he was not able to remain as even a mere pedestrian observer when all above him the tree tops "were rocking and swirling in wild ecstasy." Climbing to the top of a 100' Douglas Fir tree, Muir was able to recognize the different tree species at a distance of several miles by their movements alone: "young sugar-pines, light and feathery as squirrel-tails, were bowing almost to the ground; while the grand old patriarchs, whose massive bole had been tried in a hundred storms, waved solemnly above them...silverpines...colossal spires two hundred feet in height waved like supple golden-rods chanting and bowing low as if in worship... Nature was holding high festival, and every fiber of the most rigid giants thrilled with glad excitement." Coutts and Grace's edited volume entitled "Wind and Trees" presents a modern-day sequel to Muir's endeavor, celebrating and exploring the complex physical and biological interactions that occur when air is "poured" over and through forested terrain. The book resulted from a conference on "Wind and Wind-Related Damage to Trees" held in Edinburgh in 1993. Although the overall focus is silvicultural, the volume brings together meteorologists interested in understanding factors influencing airflow over complex, vegetated terrain, engineers whose work addresses the mechanics of trees under both static and dynamic wind loading, physiologists who examine the growth responses of trees to wind-induced stresses, and foresters whose management goals require that the risks of wind-related damage be assessed and minimized. Read cover-to-cover, the book gives a broad overview of the complex phenomena of this interplay between moving air and trees. Yet the would-be reader should not venture forth expecting the lazy summer breezes of Kenneth Graeme' s "Wind in the Willows" ! This book is a true
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gale, requiring the reader to embrace a wide array of mathematics, mechanics, soil physics and biology. Yet in this diversity and rigor lies its strength and value. Muir was content to record his impressions of a forest wind-storm; Wind and Trees provides the tools to understand the underlying processes.
The first section of the book deals with airflow over topography and in forests. In Finnigan and Brunet's chapter on "Turbulent airflow in forests on flat and hill terrain" I learned that while early models of turbulent flow in plant canopies thought that the high levels of turbulence were due to eddy shedding from plant organs, actual measurements have not demonstrated the expected fine scale turbulence compared with canopy height. In-stead, large-scale intermittent turbulent eddies dominate transport of scalars and momentum within the canopy air space and many of the characteristics of these energy-containing eddies suggest that they result from hydrodynamic instability of the mean velocity profile (set by momentum absorption capacity of the canopy as a whole) within the roughness sublayer (ground level to twice the canopy height). Furthermore, infrequent but strong horizontal and vertical gusts are typically combined into "sweeps" — fast-moving, downward incursions of air which can be responsible for > 50% of momentum transport even though they occupy < 1/20th of the total time. This is cool stuff! I like it because it helps me follow Muir's advice of trying to look on winds in the same way that one would watch a stream flowing down a mountain canyon. In the second chapter, Gardiner starts with the observation that trees blow down at windspeeds less than predicted from static pulling tests under calm conditions and asks what is the importance of resonance and the role of large coherent gust structures in causing damage. What his measurements show, however, is that trees behave as lightly damped harmonic oscillators and that they act as filters that absorb energy from the moving air and then reemitt it as wake turbulence at much higher frequencies. This provides an effective method for rapidly dissipating energy absorbed from the wind to scales at which viscosity can act, thus short-circuiting the normal energy cascade process. Resonant frequencies of branches correspond to harmonics of whole-tree frequencies allowing for efficient energy transfer to higher frequencies. Their measurements show no evidence for increased amplitude of motion with successive cycles, suggesting that tree damage does not result from trees resonating with wind components. The fact that damping also increases with windspeed may help explain this. Two chapters in this section use both wind tunnel studies and field measurements to address windflow patterns at forest edges with the management goal of understanding effects of forest removal patterns on subsequent wind-induced damage. Finally, two chapters deal with wind flow models applied to complex terrain as a means to predict windspeeds and thus to determine planting patterns that will minimize wind damage.
The second section moves on to consider the mechanics of trees under wind loading. At the heart of this section is the hypothesis of adaptive growth: patterns of tree growth and structural reinforcement reflect pat-terns of experienced stresses leading to economical de-sign and stress equalization. However, Wood's chapter on "Understanding wind forces on trees" points out that it is impossible to design a tree stem that has uniform stress under both direct wind forces and sway vibration. The two types of loading require different shapes. Examination of actual tapers of Sitka spruce stems suggests that, if the adaptive growth hypothesis is correct, that direct wind loading is the normal growth experience and under these conditions the trees should be equally likely to break at any point along the stem. So why do the majority of Sitka spruce trees fail during windstorms by uprooting? Wood suggests that this may be due the fact that while trees can adapt their structural and mechanical properties to their experienced stresses, the soil cannot. This topic of root:soil interactions is continued in the chapters by Rodgers et al. and Watson in which actual measurements of root stresses and soil pore water pressures demonstrate that in wet soils hydraulic fracturing in the rootplate can occur at bending moments much less than what would be required to uproot the tree. Once hydraulic fracturing has occurred, however, the tree becomes easier to rock back and forth, thus making it susceptible to being overturned by winds of lesser magnitude. This section of the book is particularly valuable for its discussion of measurement techniques and technical approaches.
Wind and Trees then goes on to consider physiological responses to wind-induced stresses. These include changes in leaf level processes and transport within the stem as well as alterations in biomechanical properties that increase the tree's ability to withstand these applied loads. In Telewski's chapter on "Wind-induces physiological responses", the effects of wind is separated into a primary mechanical stress and a secondary stress due to alteration of the local environment. Although it is clear that mechanical stresses lead to marked developmental responses, the signal transduction pathway is not fully known. The involvement of stretch-activated channels and rapid changes in both cytosolic Ca levels and gene expression in response to bending may provide part of the perceptive mechanisms allowing trees to respond to wind-induced movements. The remainder of the chapters in this section deal with the much less studied area of how wind influences root growth and morphology. Particularly interesting is Ennos chapter on the development of buttresses in rainforest trees. Ennos measured strains on both the tops and sides of developing buttresses in young trees which were bent over using a winch. Strains were concentrated along the places of maximum growth (tops of developing buttresses), indicating that buttress development is controlled by the mechanical environment of the tree.
The final two sections of the book focuses on the effects of wind damage on natural forests and ecology (section IV) or managed systems (section V). In both
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cases the emphasis is on predicting, quantifying, and assessing the risks of wind damage to forests. Foster and Boose discuss hurricane disturbance regimes in both tropical and temperate forests including the effects of local topography of damage patterns and ecosystem level processes associated with forest recovery. Everhamm introduces a method for quantifying catastrophic wind damage that includes both mortality and structural loss as measured by decrease in basal area. Methods for assessing wind damage are clearly needed as the remaining chapters emphasize that wind-induced damage is a major factor limiting the productivity of managed forests. In addition, the ability to predict such damage (risk assessment) is also a necessary component of any management plan and several chapters in the final section discuss techniques towards this end.
Overall, Wind and Trees is a valuable book for increasing one's appreciation of the aerodynamics, mechanics, and physiological responses that results from moving air and trees. Although I will be glad to have this book on my shelf as a useful reference, I am even more pleased that, having read it, I am certain to be unable to remain inside during a windstorm. Instead I will follow Muir out to the forest to see what I can learn from "these storm-streams of air in the woods." There is a lot to be learned from the motions of trees. As Muir wrote "We all travel the milky way together, trees and men; but it never occurred tome until this storm-day, while swinging in the wind, that trees are travelers, in the ordinary sense. They make many journeys, not very extensive ones, it is true; but our own little comes and goes are only little more than tree-wavings — many of them not so much." — N. Michele Holbrook, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
The Algorithmic Beauty of Plants. Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz and Aristid Lindenmayer. 1996. ISBN 0-387-94676-4 (paper US$29.95) 228pp. Springer-Verlag, P.O. Box 19386, Newark NJ 07195-9386 — The plant, the algorithm, the virtual laboratory. The reader, eager for instruction, searches for evidence that "beauty is bound up with symmetry." Questions develop. Like the "L-systems" touted in this book, the questions branch, they spiral, they zig-zag. Is the plant an algorithm? Is the algorithm beautiful? Does this sound like Gertrude Stein? If we are in search of algorithms, we have Niklas' allometry. For beauty, one may refer to Adrian Bell's Form in Plants. Consider Tomlinson's statement, "branching is a process, not a concept." But this is a book of biomathematical concepts masquerading as processes. Like a Fibonacci series it is at once fascinating and dead. All is there, wrapped in an shroud of numbers. Abstract the processes of growth, and as you approach the limit of abstraction you hold in your hand not a plant, but an equation. Equations, rather algorithms, are what the authors of this book have provided. But beauty is another thing. And so is botany. The volume is a series of computer applications, whose relationship to beauty and plants escapes this reader. Truly repulsive are the 3-dimensional color graphics that represent various plants and fruits; pineapples, spruce cones, sunflowers, and the like. The "lilac inflorescences" will not, I suppose, contend for the poster award in honor of lilac Sunday at the Arnold Arboretum. Nor will the computer generated lily pond (to which we are treated more than once) replace Monet. Why spend all those hours in front of a screen to reproduce a capitulum? I don't know, and the authors don't suggest a rationale. But it seems there is an audience out there. I was amazed to read some of the titles in the bibliography. Apparently there are titles around like The Book of L, published by reputable outfits like Springer. Readers who are interested in the biomathematical models of Thom may find this an interesting addition to their library, although Thom offers much more in the way of theory. More likely, if you are interested in other titles the authors cite, such as Fractals Everywhere or, Computer Lib and Dream Machines, this book is for you. — Samuel Hammer, College of General Studies, Boston University.
Flowering Plant Origin, Evolution and Phylogeny. D.W. Taylor and L.J. Hickey, eds. 1996. ISBN 0-412-05341-1 (cloth US$75.00) 403 pp. Chapman & Hall, 115 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10003 —The appearance every few years of new published symposium volumes on the origin and evolution of angiosperms (e.g.,. Beck 1976, Ditcher & Crepet 1984, Friis et al. 1987, and the present volume) might seem to be excessive, but is justified by two circumstances that make each successive book a real contribution. First, the past 20 years have seen extraordinary progress with the early fossil record of the angiosperms at the same time as our ability to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships among extant angiosperms continues to be enhanced by new methods and new data, both molecular and morphological. Secondly, each of the symposia has had a different emphasis. For example, the contributions in Beck (1976) highlight mechanisms involved in angiosperm origins and diversification, those in Dilcher & Crepet (1984) describe reproductive micro- and megafossils, while those in Friis et al. (1987) emphasize the environmental context and impact of the origin, spread, and diversification of the flowering plants. These differences in content are accompanied by substantial differences in the lists of contributors.
The present volume stands out among it predecessors in being much more focused on a single hypothesis, the literal chloranthaceous hypothesis of angiosperm origins favored by Taylor and Hickey, the editors of the volume and the organizers of the parent symposium, held at the AIBS meeting in Ames, Iowa in 1993. Asasideline, this hypothesis tends to favor gnetophytes as the closest
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known relatives of the flowering plants. Contributors seem to have been chosen to bring a broad array of evidence to bear on the chloranthaceous hypothesis, al-though not all of them arc sympathetic to it. The editors themselves contribute 4 of the 12 chapters, one in collaboration with Gretchen Kirchner. Apart from the introduction, these chapters address the evolution of carpels, flowers, and vegetative features.
The chapter on carpels and ovules (by Taylor and Kirchner) does a nice job of integrating current genetic studies of floral development with comparative morphology. The authors come down strongly against the now traditional megasporophyllar carpellary theory in favor of an interpretation of the carpel as a subtending bract enclosing its axillary dwarf reproductive shoot. This interpretation facilitates the search for homologies with gymnosperm reproductive structures compared to the standard interpretation (Rudolf, circle the pine cones!). The analysis presented is plausible, but lacks the elegance and simplicity that would immediately lead us to embrace it as "right" (whether or not we were justified in so doing by the evidence). Like the other pro-chloranthacean chapters, this one essentially assumes the correctness of the hypothesis and explores how you would assemble the angiosperms from a chloranthaceous ancestor. It's a fair game, and many interesting suggestions follow from it, but here, as elsewhere, I'd like to see a little more self-doubt, a little more discussion of the kind of evidence that would lead Taylor to abandon his cherished hypothesis.
The editors' floral chapter continues the theme, deriving angiosperm diversity through the pseudanthial elaboration of chloranthacean simplicity. It seems as strained in their hands as it has in previous formulations. Finally, their chapter on "herbaceous origins" explains a wide range of ancestral angiosperm characteristics (all based on the chloranthaceous hypothesis) in terms of their role as adaptations and goes on to unite these in a common scenario of angiosperm origins. There are no tests pro-posed for this scenario and the chapter includes a section of "compatible evidence" but no significant discussion of inconsistent or awkward evidence.
Among the other chapters, only Brenner's ac-count of the earliest angiosperm pollen (from a rich Lower Cretaceous section in Israel) and Cornet's detailed description of anew putative gnetophyte (Archaestrobilus cupulanthus) effectively endorse the chloranthaceous hypothesis, while Trivett and Pigg's thorough survey of reticulate venation among tracheophytes doesn't address the issue. Ranged against it (sometimes only weakly) are Carlquist's assessment of vessellessness and origin of vessels in angiosperms, Tucker and Douglas's floral developmental study of "paleoherbs", Thorne's descriptions of the "least specialized" angiosperms, Loconte's cladistic evaluation of alternative hypotheses, and Sytsma and Baum's synthesis of (and hard look at) the available molecular evidence. Most of these favor assignment of the Chloranthaceae to a lauralean or magnolialean Glade well removed from the Piperales and other "paleoherbs" regarded as related by Taylor and Hickey. In their detailed discussions of ancestral characters, Taylor and Hickey often draw on these "other paleoherbs" to supplement chloranthaceous features, so the fact that they may well not be related to Chloranthaceae has rather important consequences for their hypothesis.
In contrast to the generally lukewarm treatment of the chloranthaceous hypothesis by most of the authors, there is remarkable support for the acceptance of gnetophytes as sister group to the angiosperms. Only Carlquist, whose close reading of the details of the gnetophyte vessel elements suggests to him that they are linked to coniferophytes, explicitly rejects this relation-ship. The only other discordant evidence is the rRNA phylogeny presented by Sytsma and Baum, but their rbcL and combined phylogenies support the relationship.
This book should be read by anyone interested in angiosperm origins. Although some important lines of evidence are left out, like cytology and secondary compounds and their possible roles in angiosperm success, this is still one of the most comprehensive reviews of the subject to date. Personally, I find the chloranthaceous hypothesis unconvincing, partly because of the complete commitment to it by its authors, but it is so well fleshed out here that it provides an excellent basis for further discussion and debate. It may well be, after all, that many of the individual components and suggestions of this hypothesis arc actually correct, even if the whole is not. Whether or not we agree with the editors that the remaining mysteries associated with the origin of the angiosperms will be solved within the next 20 years, this book lies squarely in the road to those solutions. — James E. Eckenwalder, Department of Botany, University of Toronto
Literature Cited
Beck, C.B. (ed.) 1976. Origin and early evolution of an-
giosperms. Columbia University Press, New York.
Dilcher, D.L. & W.L. Crepet (eds.) 1984. Historical perspectives on angiosperm evolution. Annals, Missouri Botanical Garden 71(2): 347-630.
Fries, E.M., W.G. Chaloner & P.R. Crane (eds.) 1987. The origins of angiosperms and their biological consequences. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
Molecular Systematics, 2nd ed. D. M. Hillis, C. Moritz, and B. K. Mable, eds., 1996. ISBN 0-87893-282-8 (paper US$51.95) 655 pp. Sinauer Associates, Inc., 23 Plumtree Road, Sunderland, Massachusetts 01375-0407. — As molecular systematics as a field of inquiry grows and matures, researchers and students find it increasingly hard to find a reference that can lucidly and more or less completely cover the field. Botanists have needed to wade through a burgeoning reprint collection for necessary theoretical papers and for descriptions of protocols; have looked to Li and Graur (1991) for a basic primer on molecular evolution; and have consulted Soltis et al. (1992) for examples of applications in plants and Crawford (1990) for a cursory overview of the subject. The multi- authored first edition of Molecular Systematics (Hillis and Moritz 1990) admirably filled "the need for a book on molecular systematics [that] has been evident for many years." The editors of the
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present edition recognize that "the field of molecular systematics has grown and matured since the first edition ... appeared six years ago." And indeed it has. Like its predecessor, the second edition of Molecular Systematics is not merely a recommended title for the systematist's library; it is a necessary reference for both the theoretician and the bench scientist.
The book has two purposes: one pedagogical and the other practical. Pedagogically, the authors lead the reader through the various aspects of molecular systematic research. The subject is introduced with a discussion of the context of molecular systematics in the broader field of systematics and a brief review of current controversies such as molecules versus morphology, gene trees versus organismal trees, homology versus similarity, the molecular clock, and neutrality. In the next chapter on sampling design one is cautioned and guided to carefully design a study so that sampling strategies and sample sizes produce statistically satisfactory results and that the proper kind of data are gathered given the questions to be asked of the experimental system. Following this chapter is one on collecting and storing tissues.
By this point the reader is ready for hands-on application of a chosen technique. Chapters are devoted to the main experimental techniques of molecular systematics: proteins, molecular cytogenetics, and nucleic acids (DNA- DNA hybridization, polymerase chain reaction, restriction sites and fragments, sequencing and cloning). Each chapter on experimental methods provides an introduction to the method covering theory and principles. Summaries and comparisons of possible permutations of the method are also given. For example, in the chapter on restriction fragments and sites, nuclear, mitochondrial, and chloroplast genomes are covered as are minisatellites, microsatellites, anonymous single copy sequences, and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPDS). Each type of analysis is explained and possible uses are explored.
The practical aspects of conducting molecular systematics are covered as a compendium of protocols and appendices listing common reagents given at the end of each methodological chapter. These protocols have been boiled down to tried and true methods that are carefully presented as step-by-step procedures complete with tips on troubleshooting and interpretation and the time required for each procedure. I noticed an error on page 379 where the volume for 2X CTAB buffer is not given (500 ml). The beauty of the protocols and appendices is that, except for unusual procedures, rare modifications and non-radioactive detection, one does not need to consult other manuals, even for the components of reagents.
After examining the various experimental techniques, the book closes with chapters on intraspecific differentiation, phylogenetic inference, and applications of molecular systematics. Intraspecific differentiation is covered as a discussion of F statistics: background, sampling, analysis, and interpretation. The chapter on phylogeny reconstruction is perhaps the most useful and valuable in the book. Here the authors, in a version much-expanded from that in the first edition, cover all of the major methods and theories of phylogeny reconstruction in a remarkably even-handed way. In fact, they have attempted to "deliberately avoid controversial assertions about issues where there is room for legitimate disagreement" and to "provide sufficient background so that readers will be able to make informed decisions" concerning which technique to use and how to interpret their results. Covered are the various types of data (sequences, restriction enzyme data, isozyme data, etc.) and how they are analyzed (various types of parsimony, maximum likelihood, distance methods, Lake's method of invariants, etc.). Each method of analysis includes a detailed description of its rationale, implementation, and implicit and explicit assumptions. Especially welcome is the much-amplified material, compared to the first edition, on assessing the reliability of inferred trees. Students of systematics in general will want to add this chapter to their reading list. The final chapter in the book, also greatly expanded from the first edition, examines the applications of molecular systematics and continues the discussion presented in the chapter on project design. Here, for example, is given a table comparing various molecular techniques and their applicability to studies of gene evolution, paternity testing, hybridization, species boundaries, phylogeny reconstruction, and others. Also continued is the discussion of controversies in the application of molecular systematic techniques.
Molecular Systematics, 2nd ed. is largely re-written and updated from the first edition. Over the six years since the first edition appeared, comments from workers in the field have contributed to the significance and usability of the text. Conspicuously, the growing use of PCR has engendered many of these changes, e.g., an entire chapter on PCR and sections on RAPD analysis, sequencing of PCR products, and the use of PCR in microsatellite studies. RAPD markers, microsatellites, and minisatellite markers were not discussed in the first edition. Absent from the new edition is the chapter on immunological techniques because the editors deemed that these are now rarely used in systematic studies. Although the protocols are excellent, no attention is given to non-radioactive detection methods, methods useful to many researchers, especially at smaller institutions where waste disposal can be a problem. The book itself is hound in a paper "lay flat" binding, with pages glued to a cloth backing, that facilitates its use at the bench and its read-ability at the desk; the first edition was available as either hardback or spiral bound. Readability is further enhanced by a new two-column format and a crisper font. I highly recommend this book to systematists of all stripes and to advanced undergraduate and graduate students as an excellent introductory text and resource. — Steve L. O'Kane, Jr., Department of Biology, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0421
Literature Cited
Crawford, D. J. 1990. Plant Molecular Systematics. John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Hillis, D. M., and C. Moritz, eds. 1990. Molecular Systematics. Sinauer,Sunderland, MA.
Li, W.-Fl., and D. Graur. 1991. Fundamentals of Molecular Evolution. Sinauer,Sunderland, MA.
Soltis, P. S., D. E. Soltis, and J. J. Doyle, eds. 1992. MolecularSystematics of Plants. Chapman & Hall, NY.
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Books Received
If you would like to review a book or books for PSB, contact the Editor, stating the book of interest and the date by which it would be reviewed (15 February, 15 May, 15 August or 15 November of the appropriate year). Send E-MAIL, call or write as soon as you notice the book of interest in this list, because they go quickly)—Ed.
* = book in review or declined for review ** = book reviewed in this issue
The Anther: Form, Function and Phylogeny D'Arcy,William G. & Richard C. Keating, eds. 1995. ISBN 0-521-48063-9 (cloth US$80.00) 351pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011-4211
Atlas of Nevada Conifers: A Phytogeographic Reference Charlet, David Alan 1996. ISBN 0-87417-265-9 (paper US$35.00) 334 pp. University of Nevada Press, Reno NV 89557-0076
Biology of Citrus Spiegel-Roy, P. & E.E. Goldschmidt 1996. ISBN 0-521-33321-0 (cloth US$54.95) 230pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011-4211
A Century of Mycology Sutton, Brian C., ed. 1996. ISBN 0-521-57056-5 (cloth US$90.00) 398pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011-4211
Crop Evolution, Adaptaton and Yield Evans, L.T. 1996. ISBN paper 0-521-29558-0, cloth 0-521-22571-X (paper US$32.95 cloth US$95.00) 500pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011-4211
Diversity and Evolutionary Biology of Tropical Flowers Endress, Peter K. 1996. ISBN cloth 0-521-42088-1; paper 0-521-56510-3 (cloth US$84.95; paper US$37.95) 51 l pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011-4211
The Divine Origin of the Craft of the Herbalist Budge, E.A. Wallis 1996. ISBN 0-486-29169-3 (paper US$4.95) 112pp. Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola NY 11501
The Ecology of Insect Overwintering Leather, S.R., F.A. Walters & J.S. Bale eds. 1996. ISBN paper 0-521-55670-8, cloth 0-521-41758-9 (paper US$29.95 cloth US$89.95) 255pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011-4211
The Ecology of Tropical Forest: Seasonal Rhythms and Long-Term Changes Leigh, Egbert G. Jr., A. Stanley Rand & Donald M. Windsor, eds. 1996. ISBN 1-56098-642-5 (paper US$29.95) 503pp. Smithsonian Institution Press, P.O. Box
960, Herndon VA 22070-0960
Ecology of the Southern Conifers Enright, Neal J. & Robert S. Hill, eds. 1996. ISBN 1-56098-617-4 (cloth US$60.00) 342pp. Smithsonian Institution Press, P.O. Box 960, Herndon VA 22070-0960
Fire and Vegetation Dynamics: Studies from the North American Boreal Forest Johnson, Edward A. 1996. ISBN 0-521-34943-5 (paper US$19.95) 129pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011-4211
The Flora of Guadalupe Island, Mexico Moran, Reid 1996. ISBN 0-940228-40-8 (cloth US$40.00) 190pp. California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, SanFrancisco CA 94118-4599
The Food Web of a Tropical Rain Forest Reagan, Douglas P. & Robert B. Waide, eds. 1996. ISBN 0-226-70600-1 (cloth US$110.00, paper US$39.95) 616pp. The University of Chicago Press, Order Department, 11030 South Langley Avenue, Chicago IL 60628
Fungi and Environmental Change Frankland, J.C., N. Magan & G.M. Gadd, eds. 1996. ISBN 0-521-49586-5 (cloth US$95.00) 351pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011-4211
Genome Mapping in Plants Paterson, Andrew H. 1996. ISBN 0-12-546590-4. 330pp. Academic Press Inc., 525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego CA 92101-4495
Guide to Colorado Wildflowers Guennel, G.K. 1995. ISBN 1-56579-119-3 (paper US$24.95) 352pp. Westcliffe Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 1261, Englewood CO 80150
Healing with Plants in the American and Mexican West Kay, Margarita Artschwager 1996. ISBN 0-8165-1646-4 (paper US$19.95 cloth US$50.00) 315pp. University of Arizona Press, 1230 N. Park Avenue, Suite 102, Tucson AZ 85719
How Nature Works: The Science of Self-Organized Criticality Bak, Per 1996. ISBN 0-387-94791-4 (cloth US$27.00) 212pp. Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., P.O. Box 19386, Newark NJ 07195-9386
Index to Plant Chromosome Numbers 1992-1993 Goldblatt, Peter & Dale E. Johnson, eds. 1996. ISBN 0-915279-38-X (paper US$17.00) 276pp. Missouri Botanical Garden, P.O. Box 299, St.Louis MO 63166-0299
An Introduction to the Mathematics of Biology Yeargers, Edward K., Ronald W. Shonkwiler & James V. Herod, eds. 1996. ISBN 0-8176-3809-1 (cloth US$64.50) 417pp. Birkh~user Boston, P.O. Box 19386, Newark NJ 07195-9386
Life's Splendid Drama: Evolutionary Biology and the Reconstruction of Life's Ancestry, 1860-
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1940 Bowler, Peter J. 1996. ISBN 0-226-06921-4 (cloth US$37.95) 538pp. The University of Chicago Press, Order Department, 11030 South Langley Avenue, Chicago IL 60628
*The New Flower Arranging from your Garden Macqueen, Sheila 1996. ISBN 0-88192-358-3 (paper US$17.95) 128pp. Timber Press, Inc., 133 SW Second Avenue, Suite 450, Portland OR 97204-3527
Null Models in Ecology Gotelli, Nicholas J. & Gary R. Graves 1996. ISBN cloth 1-56098-657-3, paper 1-56098-645-X (cloth US$65.00, paper US$30.00) 368pp. Smithsonian Institution Press, P.O. Box 960, Herndon VA 22070-0960
Ornamental Conifers for Australian Gardens Rowell, Raymond J. 1996. ISBN 0-86840-239-7 (cloth US$44.95) 167pp. International Specialized Book Services, Inc., 5804 N.E. Hasalo Street, Portland OR 97213-3644
Passion Flowers Vanderplank, John 1996. ISBN 0-262-22052-0 (cloth) 224pp.The MIT Press, Massachusetees Institute of Technology, Cam-bridge MA 02142
Patterns in Fungal Development Chiu, Siu-Wai & David Moore, eds. 1996. ISBN 0-521-56047-0 (cloth US$54 95) 226pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011-4211
Peyote: The Divine Cactus Anderson, Edward F. 1996. ISBN 0-8165-1654-5 (paper US$19.95 cloth US$50.00) 272pp. University of Arizona Press, 1230 N. Park Avenue, Suite 102, Tucson AZ 85719
Physiology of Plants Under Stress, Volume 1: Abiotic Factors Nilsen, Erik T. & David M. Orcutt 1996. ISBN 0-471-03152-6 (cloth US$125.00) 689pp. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York NY 10158-0012
Phytoplankton Dynamics in the North American Great Lakes Volume 1 Lakes Ontario, Erie and St. Clair Munawar, M. & I.F. Munawar 1996. ISBN 90-5130-115-7 (cloth US$103.50) 282pp. SPB Academic Publishing, P.O. Box 11188, NL-1001 GD Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Physiology of Woody Plants Kozlowski, Theodore T. & Stephen G. Pallardy 1997. ISBN 0-12-424162-X (cloth US$69.95) 411pp. Academic Press Inc., 525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego CA 92101-4495
Plant Alkaloids: A Guide to Their Discovery and Distribution Raffauf, Robert F. 1996. ISBN 1-56022-860-1 (cloth US$69.95) 298pp. Food Products Press, 10 Alice Street, Binghamtom NY 13904-1580
rPlant Response to Air Pollution Yunus, Mohammad & Muhammad Iqbal, eds. 1996. ISBN 0-471-96061-6 (cloth US$89.95) 545pp. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York NY 10158-0012
Plants of Desert Dunes: Adaptations of Desert Organisms Cloudsley-Thompson, J.L., ed. 1996. ISBN 3-540-59260-1 (cloth US$99.00) 177pp. Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., P.O. Box 19386, Newark NJ 07195-9386
Plants That Merit Attention Volume II, Shrubs Poor, Janet Meakin & Nancy Peterson Brewster, eds. 1996. ISBN 0-88192-347-8 (cloth US$59.95) 363pp. Timber Press, Inc., 133 SW Second Avenue, Suite 450, Portland OR 97204-3527
Protein Analysis and Purification: Benchtop Techniques Rosenberg, Ian M. 1996. ISBN 0-8176-3717-6 (cloth US$120.00) 434pp. Birkhauser Boston, P.O. Box 19386, Newark NJ 07195-9386
*Restoring Diversity: Strategies for Reintroduction of Endangered Species Falk, Donald A., Constance I. Millar & Peggy Olwell 1996. ISBN cloth 1-55963-296-8, paper 1-55963-297-6 (cloth US$39.95, paper US$27.50) 512pp. Island Press, 1718 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20009
Sea Life: A Complete Guide to the Marine Environment Waller, Geoffrey, ed. 1996. ISBN 1-56098-633-6 (cloth US$49.95) 504pp. Smithsonian Institution Press, P.O. Box 960, Herndon VA 22070-0960
Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry Paul, E.A. & F.E. Clark 1996. ISBN 0-12-546806-7 (cloth US$39.95) 340pp. Academic Press Inc., 525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego CA 92101-4495
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