|
|
Plant Science Bulletin archiveIssue: 1998 v44 No 2 Summer
|
| PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN ISSN 0032-0919 Published quarterly by Botanical Society of America, Inc., 1735 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH 43210 The yearly subscription rate of $15 is included in the membership dues of the Botanical Society of America, Inc. Periodical postage paid at Columbus, OH and additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Kim Hiser, Business Manager Phone/Fax: 614/292-3519 email: hiser3@osu.edu |
49th Annual AIBS Meeting
Baltimore, Maryland, August 2-6 1998
The Botanical Society of America will meet along with a number of other societies at the 49th Annual AIBS meeting this August in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore Convention Center will serve as the meeting location for the 49th Annual Meeting. The theme of the meeting is "Managing Human-Impacted Systems."
In addition to the full agenda of the BSA Annual Meeting, there are a number of workshops, field trips, social events, and sight-seeing excursions scheduled.
Students wishing to reduce the cost of attending this meeting can apply to work as an audio-visual projectionist or registration clerk/"go-fer" and receive a registration fee refund for 12 hours service.
Several deadlines remain for the upcoming meeting this August in Baltimore:
| 12 June | Conference Pre-Registration Deadline Workshop form due Field trip form due Social event and Tours form due Audio-Visual Projectionist/Go-fer application due |
|---|---|
| 19 June | Roommate form due |
| 2 July | Official Housing Form Due |
| 10 July | Registration cancellations due in writing at AIBS. No refunds after this date. |
For additional information, contact Marilynn Maury, AIBS Meetings Manager703-834-0812, x203 voice, 703-834-1160 fax, <mmaury@aibs.org email>
The website for the 49th Annual Meeting of AIBS is < http://www.aibs.org/meeting/1998/>. Additional information about the Botanical Society' Annual Meeting is available on the Society's website <http://www.botany.org/>
Editorial Committee for Volume 44
| James D. Mauseth (1997) Department of Botany University of Texas Austin, TX 78713 |
Allison A. Snow (1998) Department of Plant Biology Ohio State University Columbus, OH 43210 |
Nickolas M. Waser (1999) Department of Biology University of California Riverside, CA 92521 |
| P. Mick Richardson (2000) Missouri Botanical Garden P.O. Box 299 St. Louis, MO 63166 |
Vicki A. Funk (2001) Department of Botany Smithsonian Institution Washington, D.C. 20560 |
BSA Symposia for 1998 Annual Meeting
News from the Committees
E-Botany Moves Ahead
Latest News @botany.org
- Electronic publications status:
PSB electronic publication has been implemented (beginning in 1997) and is available in full-text on the WWW. Tables of Contents are also available through email by listserv subscription. For PSB online, go to the BSA Home Page or type in URL: http://www.botany.org/bsa/psb/AJB electronic publication of abstracts and tables of contents has been implemented (beginning in 1997). The materials are usually available from three weeks to one month before the hardcopy of the Journal is available. As with PSB, Tables of Contents are available through email by listserv subscription. Full-text publication of AJB with online reprints will begin in 1999 and be available to all subscribers to the Journal beginning at that date. For AJB abstracts & information online, go to the BSA Home Page or type in URL: http://www.botany.org/bsa/ajb/
The Botanical Society is currently negotiating with JSTOR to provide back issues of AJB online from volumes 1-80 (1914-1993) within the next year. JSTOR's members include a consortium of over 270 member universities whose patrons will be able to view any of these issues. More information about the JSTOR project (and their participants) is at their website (http://www.jstor.org/).
- Annual meeting program:
All abstracts to the BSA Annual Meeting at Baltimore are online and searchable. Utilities allow the abstracts to be viewed by author, title, key words, by section or as a single online document. The entire program for the BSA meeting is now available at URL: http://www.botany.org/bsa/baltimore/Registration, housing and field trip information is available at the AIBS site at URL: http://www.aibs.org/
- Online membership materials:
The BSA website has a member locator (online directory), links for section home pages, lists of officers and committee members, bylaws and other membership materials, and some online pamphlets of information about botany that have appeared in hardcopy previously (includes "Botany for the Next Millennium" and "Careers in Botany"). - Announcements:
Announcements of interest to botanists can be posted at the website at no cost to members. These are similar to the type of announcements that appear in PSB, but there are no deadlines for submission. Announcements should be sent by email to the BSA Webmaster (email address: srussell@ou.edu). Announcements that appear in PSB are also linked to the site, as available.The location of the BSA Home Page is URL: http://www.botany.org/
Scott D. Russell
Chair, Webpage Committee
Education Committee Stays BusyEducation Committee Chair David Kramer recently sent a sample of the Committee's latest project to the Plant Science Bulletin office. The product he sent was a handsomely printed page on heavy beige cardstock, a reduced version of which is reproduced on the page to the right. These pages were printed for distribution at the National Science Teachers Convention in April (see the report from the Teaching Section). Not only informative, but useful, the perforated "Bookmark" can be removed from the page to provide an easy reminder of the Society's website address. David says copies will be available at the BSA table in Baltimore this August, giving members one more reason to stop by! |
News from the Sections
Teaching Section Sees Action in Las Vegas ? With ASPP and National Science Teachers Association
The teaching section of the BSA joined with ASPP educators to support a plant education booth at the annual meeting of the National Science Teachers Association meeting in Las Vegas this April 16-19. The booth included numerous living plants such as the rapid-cycling brassica (Fast Plants) and dwarf wheat used in the Farming in Space growing systems, C-Ferns, liverworts/club mosses in miniature bottle biology gardens, and Sockheads. About 2,500 teachers stopped by to find out more about the plants and plant teaching materials. Paul Williams, Dan Lauffer, and Coe Williams from ASPP were joined by Ethel Stanley and Rob Reinsvold from the BSA Teaching Section to support nearly continuous teacher participation in the booth projects and widespread interest in using plants in the classroom. Located diagonally from the NASA booth which featured the Fast Plants/NASA Collaborative Ukranian Experiment, the booth proved to quite popular. Tom Dreschel (NASA) would send teachers over to our colorful, plant-crowded booth as they began to ask about the plants featured in the Farming in Space Exhibit. BSA materials such as the brochure on Careers in Botany, Botany for the Next Millennium, and Next Millennium posters were quickly picked up as were Fast Plant materials describing several projects focused on classroom experimentation with rapid-cycling brassicas and the ASPP Plant Cubes. (Note: A special thank you to Kim Hiser and Julia Schmitt for their help in getting the BSA materials to the site!) In addition, the booth personnel conveyed their enthusiasm and expertise in using plants as model organisms for learning biology.
We are quite pleased to share the success of this collaboration with plant educators from the ASPP with the BSA members and would like to ask individuals who are interested in future collaborations to contact Teaching Section officers Ethel Stanley (stanleye@beloit.edu) or Rob Reinsvold (rjreins@bentley.UnivNorthCo.edu) by email or meet with us during the AIBS meeting in Baltimore.
Ethel D. Stanley
Chair, Teaching Section
| Get a free bookmark from the meeting: <blink>Click here!</blink> |
Ecology Section Meeting
3 August 1998
The Ecology Section will meet over lunch on Monday, August 3 at the annual meeting in Baltimore. The purpose of the meeting is to plan the business and financial activities of the section for the coming year. Members should make an effort to attend.
Brenda Casper
Chair, Ecology Section
1998 Annual Meeting of the
|
Presiding: CRAWFORD, DANIEL J.
BSA PAST-PRESIDENT'S SYMPOSIUM: G. Ledyard Stebbins and evolutionary biology in the next millenium. Organized by: CRAWFORD, DANIEL J., Department of Plant Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210. 614/292-2725, email: crawford.13@osu.edu.
8:30 BSA 42.1 LEVIN, DONALD A. University of Texas, Austin. Species and speciation: from G. L. Stebbins to tomorrow.
9:15 BSA 42.2 ARNOLD, MICHAEL L. University of Georgia, Athens. Paradigm lost: natural hybridization and evolution.
10:00 Break
10:15 BSA 42.3 SOLTIS, D. E.* and SOLTIS, P. S. Washington State University, Pullman. Plants, polyploidy, and the origin of species.
11:00 BSA 42.4 CHASE, MARK W. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, United Kingdom. The impact of molecular data on ideas concerning the origin and radiation of the angiosperms.
Presiding: HARRIS, ELIZABETH M. and KAMPNY, CRISTINE M.
SYMPOSIUM: Heterochrony in plants. Developmental and Structural section. Organized by HARRIS, ELIZABETH M. Botany Department, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL 61920. 217 581-6608, e-mail: cfemh@eiu.edu; and KAMPNY, CHRISTINE M., Botany Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, 352/335-6343, e-mail: cmk@flmnh.ufl.edu.
1:25 BSA 49.1 KAMPNY, CHRISTINE M. University of Florida, Gainesville. Introduction.
1:30 BSA 49.2 CHRISTINE M. KAMPNY AND HARRIS, ELIZABETH M.* University of Florida, Gainesville, and Eastern Illinois University, Charleston. Heterochrony: the basis of floral shape evolution.
2:00 BSA 49.3 FRIEDMAN, WILLIAM E.* AND JEFFREY S. CARMICHAEL. University of Colorado, Boulder and University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. Heterochrony and developmental innovation: evolution of female gametophyte ontogenies in seed plants.
2:30 BSA 49.4 POETHIG, R. SCOTT. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Timing is everything: genetic and temporal regulation of leaf identity.
3:00 BREAK
3:15 BSA 49..5 DEMASON, DARLEEN A.* AND PHILIP J. VILLANI. University of California, Riverside. Roles of the Af and Tl genes in pea leaf development: homeosis or heterochrony?
3:45 BSA 49.6 STEIN, WILLIAM* AND JAMES BOYER. SUNY-Binghamton, NY. Beyond heterochrony: assessing the logic of developmental systems underlying the evolution of primitive vascular plant form.
4:15 BSA 49.7 KAMPNY, CHRISTINE M. University of Florida, Gainesville. Symposium summary and discussion.
.
Presiding: FORSETH, IRWIN N.
SYMPOSIUM: Consequences of plant responses to spatial and temporal
heterogeneity. Organized by FORSETH, IRWIN N. and WAIT, D. ALEXANDER, Department of Zoology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, 301/405-1629; e-mail: if2@umail.umd.edu or await@wam.umd.edu. Joint session with the Ecological Society of America (Vegetation Section).
1:00 BSA 13.1 FORSETH, IRWIN N. University of Maryland, College Park. Opening Comments.
1:10 BSA 13.2 STELTZER, HEIDEMARIE* and WILLIAM D. BOWMAN. University of Colorado, Boulder. Influence of plant species on community structure through the control of spatial heterogeneity in nitrogen cycling in the alpine tundra.
1:35 BSA 13.3 WAIT, D. ALEXANDER*, IRWIN N. FORSETH and BRENDA B. CASPER. University of Maryland, College Park and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Spatial and temporal heterogeneity effects on interspecific interactions, drought tolerance, and population structure of a semi-desert perennial.
2:00 BSA 13.4 GEBAUER, RENATE L. E.*, SUSANNE SCHWINNING and JAMES R. EHLERINGER. University of Utah, Salt Lake City. The responses of desert plant functional types to rainfall events at different times of the year - a mechanism for community change?
2:25 BSA 13.5 SCHWINNING, SUSANNE*, RENATE L. E. GEBAUER and JAMES R. EHLERINGER. University of Utah, Salt Lake City. The role of inter-annual rainfall variation in structuring communities of desert plants - conclusions drawn from a simulation study.
2:50 BREAK
3:05 BSA 13.6 JONES, H. ROBERT*1, PAUL P. MOU1, and ROBERT J. MITCHELL2. 1Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, and 2Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center, Newton, Georgia. Spatial heterogeneity of soil resources in early successional forests: effects of different disturbances and responses of plants.
3:30 BSA 13.7 JOBBAGY, ESTEBAN. G.* WILLIAM T. POCKMAN and ROBERT B. JACKSON. University of Texas, Austin. Root and soil nutrient distributions: global patterns modified by local variability.
4:00 BSA 13.8 BATTAGLIA, LORETTA. L.* and REBECCA R. SHARITZ. University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Aiken, SC. Hurricane disturbance increases spatial complexity of the environment: implications for regeneration patterns in a floodplain forest community.
4:25 BSA 13.9 GRIME, J. PHIL* and SARAH M. BUCKLAND. The University of Sheffield, UK. Immediate, filter and founder effects of plant diversity on ecosystem function and responses to extreme events.
4:55 BSA 13.10 Concluding Comments
Presiding: REINSVOLD, ROBERT J. and LENTZ, DAVID L.
SYMPOSIUM: Economic botany and ethnobotany: subjects that generate interest in plants. Economic Botany and Teaching sections. Organized by and LENTZ, DAVID L., Graduate Studies Program, The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458, 718/817-8171, email:dlentz@nybg.org. and REINSVOLD, ROBERT J., Department of Biological Sciences, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, 303/351-2716, e-mail: rjreins@bentley.univnorthco.edu.
8:30 BSA 23.1 SCHLESSMAN, MARK A.* and JOHNSON, L. LEWIS. Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY. An interdisciplinary course in Native North American Ethnobotany.
9:00 BSA 23.2 BARNETT, NEAL. University of Maryland, College Park. Economic botany at UM: capitalizing on life experience.
9:30 BSA 23.3 SIMPSON, BERYL. The University of Texas, Austin. Botany for apathetic premedical profession students.
10:00 Break
10:15 BSA 23.4 GYLLENHAAL, CHARLOTTE *; SOEJARTO, DOEL, and MAHADY,GAIL. University of Illinois, Chicago. Contemporary pharmacognosy in science curricula.
10:45 BSA 23.5 BATES, DAVID M. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Ethnobotany meets biotechnology.
11:15 BSA 23.6 LENTZ, DAVID L. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx. Botanic training for the next millennium: the role of economic botany.
Presiding: HAMILTON, MATTHEW B.; ALDRICH, PRESTON R.; KRESS, W. JOHN, and DICK, CHRIS.
SYMPOSIUM: Population genetics and gene flow in tropical plants. Genetics and Tropical Biology sections; joint session with Association for Tropical Biology session 5.
Organized by HAMILTON, MATTHEW B., Smithsonian Institution, National Zoological Park, Genetics, 3001 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008, phone 202/673-4677, e-mail: mhamilton@igc.apc.org; ALDRICH, PRESTON R., Smithosonian Institution NMNH, Department of Botany, MRC-166, Washington, DC 20560, phone 202/357-4808, e-mail: aldrichp@nmnh.si.edu; KRESS, W. JOHN, Smithosonian Institution NMNH, Department of Botany, MRC-166, Washington, DC 20560, phone 202/357-3392, e-mail: kressj@nmnh.si.edu; and DICK, CHRIS, Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138, phone 617/496-2380, e-mail: cdick@oeb.harvard.edu.
8:30 BSA 24.1 HAMILTON, MATTHEW B. National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. . Successful seed dispersal measured with chloroplast DNA polymorphism is highly localized in a Brazilian canopy tree, Corythophora alta (Lecythidaceae).
8:45 BSA 24.2 YAMAZAKI, TSUNEYUKI. Kyushu University, Japan. Molecular polymorphism and population structure of several Tropical tree species in southeast Asia.
9:00 BSA 24.3 KRESS, W. JOHN. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Phylogeny, pollinator diversification, and patterns of gene flow in tropical plants: tales from the understory.
9:15 BSA 24.4 STACY, ELIZABETH. Boston University, MA. Cross-compatibility in tropical trees: associations with outcrossing distance, inbreeding, and seed dispersal.
9:30 BSA 24.5 DICK, CHRISTOPHER W. Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA. The effect of Africanized honeybees on gene flow and fecundity of trees (Dinizia excelsa: Leguminosae) in Amazonian rain forest fragments.
9:45 BSA 24.6 HAMRICK, J. L.* and PRESTON R. ALDRICH. University of Georgia, Athens, and Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Temporal variation in the breeding structure of fragmented Enterolobium cyclocarpum populations.
10:00 Break
10:30 BSA 24.7 WHITE, GEMMA M.*, POWELL, WAYNE and BOSHIER, DAVID. Scottish Crop Research Institute, Dundee, and Oxford University, United Kingdom. The dynamics of pollen flow detected in a fragmented population of Swietenia humilis (Zucc.) using ISSRs as a marker system.
10:45 BSA 24.8 HUSBAND, BRIAN C.* and BARRETT, SPENCER C. H. University of Guelph, ON. Population genetic structure in the tropical plant Eichhornia paniculata: implications for gene flow in ephemeral habitats.
11:00 BSA 24.9 MOLLER, CAMERON G.*, CHASE, M. R., KESSELI, R. V., BAWA, K. S., DOLE, J. and DAYANANDAN, S. University of Massachusetts, Boston. Dissection of gene flow and population structure using microsatellites in fragmented populations of tropical trees.
11:15 BSA 24.10 APSIT, VICTORIA J.*, HAMRICK, J. L. and NASON, JOHN D. University of Georgia, Athens. Genetic consequences of fragmentation in a Costa Rican dry forest tree species.
11:30 BSA 24.11 NASON, JOHN D. University of Iowa, Iowa City. Parentage analysis and the study of dispersal in tropical trees.
11:45 BSA 24.12 ALDRICH, PRESTON R. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Gene flow and dispersal of pollen and seed with respect to population and forest structure.
Presiding: STRAUB, PETER F.
SYMPOSIUM: American Beachgrass: An interdisciplinary focus on science and management. Organized by STRAUB, PETER F., Biology Program, Natural Science & Math, Richard Stockton College, Pomona, NJ 08240.
1:30 BSA 37.1 STRAUB, PETER F. Richard Stockton College, Pomona, NJ. Introduction
1:40 BSA 37.2 MAUN, M. ANWAR. University of Western Ontario, London. Population biology of American beachgrass on coastal sand dunes.
2:10 BSA 37.3 SKARADEK, WILLIAM BRYAN. Cape May Plant Materials Center, New Jersey. The USDA Cape May PMC. Research associated with Ammophila breviligulata.
2:45 Break
3:00 BSA 37.4 SELISKAR, DENISE M. University of Delaware, Lewes. Threats to American beachgrass on coastal dunes: pathogens to ponies.
3:30 BSA 37.5 STRAUB, PETER F. Richard Stockton College, Pomona, NJ. Genotyping American Beachgrass (Ammophila breviligulata) with RAPD DNA.
4:00 BSA 37.6 WALKER, PETER J., CATHY A. PARIS*, AND DAVID S. BARRINGTON. University of Vermont, Burlington. Taxonomy and phylogeography of the North American beachgrasses.
PTERIDOLOGY SECTION/AMERICAN FERN SOCIETY (AFS)Conservation biology of pteridophytes (full day). Organizer: Thomas A. Ranker, EPO Biology, Campus Box 334, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309; phone 303/492-5074, fax 303/492-8699, e-mail <thomas.ranker@colorado.edu>.
SYMPOSIUM: Conservation biology of Pteridophytes, Part I. Pteridological section; joint session with the American Fern Society session 2.
SYMPOSIUM: Conservation biology of Pteridophytes, Part II. Ptreridological section; joint session with the American Fern Society session 3.
Presiding: GUALA, GERALD F.
SYMPOSIUM: The relation of phylogeny and species distribution to spatial environmental parameters. Systematics section. Organized by Guala, Gerald F., Department of Botany, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, 352/846-2017, email: stinger@ufl.edu.
1:00 BSA 39.1 GUALA, GERALD F. University of Florida, Gainesville. INTRODUCTION: The relation of phylogeny and species distribution to spatial environmental parameters.
1:15 BSA 39.2 BEAMAN, REED S. University of Florida, Gainesville. Phylogeny of Elatostema (Urticaceae) from Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, and the relationship between distribution and endemicity to environmental characteristics.
2:00 BSA 39.3 CORNEJO, DENNIS O. University of Texas, Austin. Biogeography of North American columnar cacti: mapping phylogeny, morphology, and architecture on environment.
2:45 Break
3:00 BSA 39.4 NIX, HENRY A. Australian National University, Canberra. Modelling plant and animal distributions in Terra Australis (Australia and New Guinea) in space and time.
3:45 BSA 39.5 GUALA, GERALD F. University of Florida, Gainesville. A Revision of Homozeugos (Poaceae: Andropogoneae) and the relationship of spatial environmental variables to distribution and speciation.
Presiding: MORIN, NANCY R.
SYMPOSIUM: Plants on Demand: Research using living collections in botanical gardens and arboreta. Systematics section; joint session with the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta (AABGA). Organized by MORIN, NANCY R., AABGA, 351 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, PA 19248, 610/925-2500, email: morin@mobot.org.
1:00 BSA 51.1 MORIN, NANCY R. American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta, Kennett Square, PA.. Overview of living collections in North American botanical gardens and arboreta.
1:25 BSA 51.2 DUNN, CHRISTOPHER P. The Morton Arboretum,Chicago, IL. Botanic gardens as centers for plant conservation.
1:50 BSA 51.3 FAY, MICHAEL F*., MICHAEL MAUNDER, and MARK W. CHASE. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Collections of living plants in botanic gardens and conservation studies—Genetic fingerprinting comes of age.
2:15 Break
2:30 BSA 51.4 HAVENS, KAYRI* and MARLIN BOWLES. Chicago Botanic Garden and The Morton Arboretum, IL. Implications of genetic analyses for rare plant restoration projects.
2:55 BSA 51.5 PORTER, J. MARK Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA. The Importance of living and preserved collections for broad and synthetic systematic research at botanical gardens: Examples from Polemoniaceae.
3:20 BSA 51.6 BARABE, DENIS. Jardin botanique de Montreal, PQ. Morphological and Systematic studies in Begonia and Araceae using collections at the Montreal Botanical Garden.
3:45 Break
4:00 BSA 51.7 WILKEN, DIETER H. Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, CA. The role of living collections in assessing plant reproductive biology.
4:25 BSA 51.8 KORNEGAY, JULIA. Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami, FL. Living collections for comparative research and as germplasm collections: The special value of tropical botanical gardens.
ASPT Colloquium: Systematics of the North American Senecioneae (half-day). Organizer: Theodore Barkley, Herbarium-Division of Biology, Ackert Hall, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506; phone 913/532-6619, fax 913/532-6656, e-mail <herbksc@ksu.edu>."
COLLOQUIUM: Systematics of the North American Senecioneae. Systematics section; joint session with the American Society of Plant Taxonomists session 11.
SESSION 11-COLLOQUIUM-SYSTEMATICS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN SENECIONEAE.
Presiding: THEODORE M.BARKLEY, Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, (785/532-6619), email: herbksc@ksu.edu
8:30 ASPT-11.1 THEODORE M. BARKLEY. Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan. Systematics of the North American Senecioneae: Introduction to the Colloquium.
8:45 ASPT-11.2 HAROLD ROBINSON. Smithsonian Institution, Department of Botany, Washington DC. Misadventures in the Senecioneae.
9:00 ASPT-11.3 LORAN C. ANDERSON. Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee. Cacalia in America: from Arnoglossum to Yermo.
9:15 ASPT-11.4 JOSÈ L. VILLASEÑOR. Departamento de Botanica, Instituto de Biologìa, U.N.A.M. Apartado Postal Mèxico. Patterns of geographical distribution of Mexican Senecioneae (Asteraceae).
9:30 ASPT-11.5 JOHN P. JANOVEC. Department of Biology, Texas A & M University, College Station. An overview of floral micromorphology in the Senecioneae (Asteraceae) with emphasis on some neotropical species.
9:45 ASPT-11.6 JOSE L. PANERO*, JAVIER FRANCISCO-ORTEGA, A. SANTOS-GUERRA, and ROBERT K. JANSEN. Department of Botany, The University of Texas, Austin; Departamento de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain; and Jardin de Aclimatacion de La Orotava, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Molecular evidence for the origin and evolution of the Macaronesian endemic genus Pericallis.
10:00 ASPT-11.7 Discussion
10:15 Recess
10:30 ASPT-11.8 A. MICHELE FUNSTON. Flora of China, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis. Cluster analysis of the genus Roldana (Asteraceae: Senecioneae).
10:45 ASPT-11.9 ROBERT R. KOWAL. Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Cytology of the Senecioneae with Emphasis on North American Genera.
11:00 ASPT-11.10 JOACHIM W. KADEREIT and AARON LISTON*. Institut für Spezielle Botanik und Botanischer Garten, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany; and Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis. The phylogenetic and biogeographical affinities of four annual species of Senecio native to western North America.
11:15 ASPT-11.11 BONNIE L. CLARK. Division of Biology, Kansas State Univesrity, Manhattan. A revision of the Senecio segregates Pittocaulon, Telanthophora, and Villasenoria (Senecioneae: Asteraceae).
11:30 ASPT-11.12 JOANNE L. GOLDEN, JILL S. YATES, and JOHN F. BAIN*. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. Intrapopulational haplotype diversity in four Packera species from southern Alberta.
11:45 ASPT-11.13 ALISON MCKENZIE MAHONEY. Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Packera paupercula -- predatory compilo-species or mare’s nest of convergent species-in-progress?
12:00 ASPT-11.14 P. LESZEK D. VINCENT. Department of Botany, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa. A clarified generic concept of Senecio based on micromorphological and molecular data.
12:15 Discussion
Commentary, Personalia, Obituaries
Commentary
Botany-Zoology Merger at EIU?
Editor:
Hi. My name is Kevin Franken. I'm a senior Environmental Biology major here at Eastern Illinois University. Currently, there is a proposal to merge the Botany and Zoology Departments into the Department of Biological Sciences. The vast majority of the Botany faculty here oppose it because they fear the high-quality Botany program here will suffer (and for many other reasons). In past mergers at other universities, it has been said that Botany faculty and course offerings decline after such mergers.
What I'm looking for is data/evidence to support that idea. Do you or anyone you know have access to such data or can get a hold of such data showing a decline of Botany faculty and course offerings after a merger with a Zoology Department? If you have such information, please show the Botany faculty numbers and course offerings before the merger and after. If yes, could you send that information to me via e-mail or regular mail? My fellow students and I are trying to bring evidence to our Student Senate, Faculty Senate, and administration. Such information would be very useful.
Do you have any advice for our movement here? Do you know any names/e-mails of faculty at other universities who I could contact regarding this?
Also, EIU currently offers BS degrees in Botany and Zoology and Environmental Biology, if the merger goes through, only a BS in Biological Sciences will be offered, with an option in Environmental Biology, and a concentration in Botany (and other areas). I don't think a degree in Botany is the same thing as a concentration in Botany, do you?
Thank you for your time.
Kevin Franken
103 Taylor Hall
Charleston, IL 61920
217-581-2003
<kfranken@hotmail.com>
In Memoriam:
| The Botanical Society has been notified that Dr. Joe M. Anderson of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, a member of BSA since 1948, passed away March 7, 1998. |
John J. Wurdack, 1921-1998
John J. Wurdack, Curator Emeritus of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, died of cancer May 13, 1998 in Lanham, Maryland.
John was well known as a specialist in the systematics of neotropical Melastomataceae, preparing book-length treatments of the family for the floras of Venezuela (1973), Ecuador (1980), and the Guianas (1993). He published more than 130 scientific papers and an amazing 905 taxa of flowering plants, including 19 genera and 701 species.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he received a B.S. (1942) from the University of Pittsburgh. In late 1942 he was inducted into the U.S. Army and during World War II was stationed at Parnamirim Air Field, Natal, Brazil, where he served as a sanitary engineer. In an era before jet airplanes, Natal was an important stop on the air ferry route to Africa, Europe, and Asia. After the war John was posted to Japan. Already interested in plants, he took advantage of opportunities to collect scientific specimens in Brazil and the Far East.
In 1948, he completed a B.S. in Sanitary Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana. He then turned his full attention to botany and began a decade long association with the New York Botanical Garden; first (1949-1952), as a technical assistant while he studied for his Ph.D. (granted by Columbia University in 1952), and then (1952-1960) as an Assistant and Associate Curator. It was during this period that he participated in a series of scientific expeditions organized by Basset Maguire, which took him to many of the remote mountains of the "Lost World" of Amazonian Venezuela. He traveled thousands of miles by river and on foot and became the first scientist to explore or to collect botanical specimens on a number of tepuis in the Venezuela Guayana. Most notably, in 1953 he was with Maguire and others when Cerro de la Neblina was first discovered, named, and climbed. Cerro de la Neblina, a large massif on the Venezuelan-Brazilian border, was one of the last major mountain ranges to be discovered in the world.
In 1960, he accepted an appointment as an Associate Curator in the U.S. National Museum (now National Museum of Natural History) and began a new phase in his career, working principally with the scientific collections in the U.S. National Herbarium and the tens of thousands of specimens sent to him as gifts for determination. Several times he made extended trips to Europe to study historical and type material. Typically this was done just as he was about to finish a major floristic project. He made one last extended collecting trip to Peru (1962) and then shorter, and less strenuous, trips to Venezuela and Jamaica. He had a playful disdain for "so called" modern expeditions where botanists seldom left their car (or helicopter) and he was fond of stating that botanical exploration was for younger botanists, certainly those who were less than forty, since the work demanded stamina. No doubt it did.
After his formal retirement as Curator in 1991, John continued his scientific research and came to the museum daily until medical complaints hospitalized him in December 1997. John was especially fond of Latin American visitors to the U.S. National Herbarium and always ready to invite them to lunch in the "Castle" to talk about South America. It is unfortunate that more of his stories were not recorded. Reminiscences of his student days in New York were published in Brittonia (48: 359-361. 1996) and letters describing his collecting in Venezuela are excerpted in the Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden (64: 1-28. 1990).
John obviously was held in high esteem by his peers, who have named more than 140 plants in his honor (including three genera). In 1997, a Festschrift was published to celebrate his career and 75th birthday. It was printed in Caracas, Venezuela, as BioLlania, Edición Especial No. 6 and almost 50 scientists world-wide contributed papers.
John was as passionate about plants at home as he was at work. He was a keen gardener, growing exotic and native species at his Beltsville, Maryland home. He also was a charter member of the Potomac Valley Chapter of the American Rock Garden Society.
John's wife, Marie L. Solt, died in 1978. He is survived by two sons, Kenneth of Chapel Hill (also a botanist), and Douglas of Silver Spring, Maryland.
Laurence J. Dorr,
Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C.
Call for Applications, Positions Available
Calls for Applications
The Rupert Barneby Award
The New York Botanical Garden is pleased to announce that Basil Stergios of the Universidad Nacional Experimental de Los Llanos Occidentales "Ezequiel Zamora," Mesa de Cavacas, Venezuela, is the recipient of the 1997 Rupert Barneby Award. Dr. Stergios will be working on the general caesalpinioid legumes of Latin Amercia and floral treatments for Flora Neotropica and Flora of the Guianas.
The New York Botanical Garden also invites applications for the 1998 Rupert Barneby Award. The award of $1,000.00 is to assist researchers to visit the New York Botanical Garden to study the rich collection of Leguminosae. Anyone interested in applying for the award should submit their curriculum vitae and a detailed letter describing the project for which the award is sought. Travel to NYBG should be planned for sometime in 1999. The letter should be addressed to Dr. James L. Luteyn, Institute of Systematic Botany, The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458-5126 USA, and received no later than December 1, 1998. Announcement of the recipient will be made by December 15th. Anyone interested in making a contribution to The Rupert Barneby Fund in Legume Systematics, which supports this award, may send their check, payable to The New York Botanical Garden, to Dr. Luteyn.
Positions Available
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
Plant-Herbivore Interactions
Bucknell University
Plant-Herbivore Interactions postdoctoral position is available (2 yr. or more duration) 1 September 1998 to study the interactions ofgoldenrods or oaks, gall-inducing insects, and natural enemies (see articles: Evolution 50: 777-786, 47: 1696-1710, 46: 1674-97, Oecologia 104: 52-60, 90: 323-332, or book: Abrahamson, W.G. and A.E. Weis 1997. Evolutionary Ecology across Three Trophic Levels, Princeton University Press). Areas of interest include host-race formation/speciation, plant resistance particularly secondary chemistry, herbivore impacts on hosts, population regulation, genetics, or intersections of phylogeny and ecology. Applicant review begins 15 June and continues until the position is filled. Send CV and have three references sent to: Dr. Warren Abrahamson, Department of Biology, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837, e-mail: <abrahmsn@bucknell.edu> Bucknell University encourages applications from women and members of minority groups (EEO/AA).
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
Origins of Modern Conifer Families:
Ohio University
Evolutionary Ecology and Phylogenetic Systematics of Fossil and Living Taxa
Ohio University is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to participate in an ongoing program of seed plant phylogenetics. The position is for a minimum of one year, beginning September 1, 1998, with salary of $28,600 including benefits.
Qualifications:
- Ph.D. completed.
- Experience with phylogenetic approaches employing fossil evidence.
- Experience with preparation of fossil gymnosperms in various modes of preservation, preferably coniferophytes or conifers.
- Proficiency with manuscript and grant preparation.
Responsibilities
- Prepare fossil and modern specimens
- Conduct phylogenetic analyses
- Capture and process digital images
- Write manuscripts and prepare grant proposals
- Take responsibility for laboratory operations
Applications should send curriculum vita; statement of research interests; names, e-mail addresses and phone numbers of at least 3 references; and copies of relevant publications to: Dr. Gar W. Rothwell, Department of Environmental and Plant Biology, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701. Inquiries and applications may be directed to: <rothwell@ohiou.edu>
Director
Georgia Southern University
Botanical Gardens
Georgia Southern University seeks a dynamic Director of its Botanical Garden, a ten acre site highlighting natural habitat gardens with turn-of-the-century farm buildings, nature trails, and a native plant collection. The Garden offers an energetic individual an exciting opportunity to provide leadership for the development of programs and the implementation of an ambitious, evolving master plan.
The Garden Director must be able to communicate effectively with the general public as well as the university community and must possess experience with proposal development and fund raising, and have a knowledge of successful garden or museum programs.
The Director will provide leadership for the staff (Assistant Director, Education Program Director, student assistants), work with volunteers and advisory board members, and report to the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. A baccalaureate degree and training in plant science are required; a masters degree or Ph.D. and administrative experience are preferred. The position is a 12 month appointment with the possibility of academic rank and non-tenure track faculty status.
Applicants should send a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, and the names and addresses of three references to Mrs. Nancy Wright, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, PO Box 8142, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460-8142. Applications must be postmarked no later than July 1, 1998. The desirable start date is September 1, 1998.
The names of applicants and nominees, vitae and other non-evaluative information are subject to public inspection under the Georgia Open Records Act. Individuals who need reasonable accommodation to participate in the application process should notify the search chair. Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer.
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
Plant Molecular Systematics and Evolution
Michigan State University
An NSF-funded two-year postdoctoral position is available to study plant molecular systematics and evolution, with a focus on phylogenetic reconstruction of hybrid speciation using sequences of single-copy nuclear genes. Please e-mail or send curriculum vitae and names of two references to: Tao Sang, Dept. of Botany and Plant Pathology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824. E-mail: <sang@pilot.msu.edu> Web site: http://www.msu.edu/user/sang/
Assistant Superintendent
Arboretum of Los Angeles County
Location: Arcadia, California.
Duties: Assists in the direction of arboriculture and plant propagation activities, designs and develops garden collections, and supervises gardening staff. Reports directly to the Superintendent.
Qualifications: BS or equivalent from accredited college in botany, horticulture, or related field & 4 years' supervisory experience in a horticultural establishment, including grounds maintenance and public contact; & CA Class "3" Driver Lic. Those who've completed at least 2 years in accredited college including 36 semester units of botany, horticulture or related subjects qualifying exp for educational requirement on yr-for-yr basis. $3,250-$4875/Mo.
Obtain official application from: County Dept of Parks and Recreation, 433 S. Vermont, Los Angeles, (213) 738-2995. Filing will close when Dept's needs are met.
Manager, Botanical Development
Technical Specialist, Botanicals
Perrigo
Founded in 1887, Perrigo has grown to become the nation's largest manufacturer of over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical, personal care and nutritional products for the store brand market. Our commitment to quality and our sound future-directed strategies are driving new growth. We currently have the following openings at our Greenville, SC facility.
Manager, Botanical Development
Qualifications: Degree in Pharmacy, Chemistry or equivalent; 5 years experience with Botanical products; extensive knowledge and background with domestic and European issues and an understanding of all available monographs.
Technical Specialist, Botanicals
Qualifications: Degree in Pharmacy, Chemistry or equivalent and a solid understanding/experience with botanical product formulation development.
We offer an excellent salary, benefits and relocation package. Forward resume, with salary history, to: Perrigo, Human Resources, 515 Eastern Avenue, Allegan, MI 49010, Fax: (616) 673-9328, Email: jobs@perrigo.com
EOE. Visit our website at: http://www.perrigo.com/
Visiting Assistant Professor
Plant Molecular Biologist
Chatham College
Chatham College is seeking qualified applicants for an assistant professor in biology. The successful applicant will be able to teach cell and molecular biology and courses in the area of plant sciences. Additional expertise in the areas of horticulture and/or histotechniques would be welcome. This is a one-year appointment with the possibility of renewal or reappointment in a tenure track capacity. Qualifications: earned doctorate, teaching experience at the college level, ability to direct senior research projects in the listed areas, and an interest in academic advising.
Founded in 1869, Chatham College is a private, non-sectarian institution, offering baccalaureate degrees only to women. Master's degrees are offered to women and men. The College, a pioneer in curricular progress, is dedicated to enabling its graduates to make an impact on the world around them. Students and staff have easy access to Pittsburgh's dynamic cultural and entertainment opportunities and can share in educational and social offerings of nine other area colleges and universities.
Please send curriculum vitae, summary of qualifications, and the names of three references to: Chatham College, Human Resources Department, Job #263, Woodland Road, Pittsburgh PA 15232. Chatham College is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Non-Tenure Track Faculty Position
University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus
The Biology Department of the University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus seeks applicants for full-time, non-tenure track Assistant Professor positions to begin August, 1998 for the academic year 1998-99. Responsibilities include teaching undergraduate and advanced courses in various specialties in the Biological Sciences. Doctorate degree and a strong commitment to excellence in teaching and involvement of students in research are required. Applicants must be bilingual, fluent in Spanish and English. Submit curriculum vitae, statement of teaching philosophy and research interests, and arrange to have three letters of recommendation sent to the: Chairperson of the Biology Department, Cayey University College, Cayey, PR 00736, Tel (787) 738-2161 Ext. 2036 Fax: (787) 263-6426, E-mail: <M_Rubin@cucac.upr.clu.edu>. Applicants accepted until all positions are filled. UPR is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Faculty Position
Tel Aviv University
Tenure track Faculty Position. Applications are invited for a tenure track faculty position starting 1999. The successful candidate is expected to develop independent research focusing on organismic botany, plant ecology, plant cell biology and/or plant physiology using modern tools. The qualified individual is expected to participate in teaching of either Introductory Botany, Introductory Ecology, Introductory Plant Cell Biology or Introductory Plant Physiology. Please direct inquiries, including a curriculum vitae, bibliography names of three references and a statement of future research plans to: Prof. Adina Breiman, Chairperson of the Department of Plant Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
Updated Positions Available:
Current position announcements are maintained on the Botanical Society's website Announcement page at URL http://www.botany.org/newsite/employment/. Please check that location for announcement which have appeared since this issue of Plant Science Bulletin went to press. To post an announcement, contact the webmaster: <srussell@ou.edu>. |
Symposia, Conferences and Meetings
"Fruits, vegetables and flowers:
Super-realistic paintings by Masao Saito"
13 April - 4 September 1998
The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation of Carnegie Mellon University will display artworks by Masao Saito of Tokyo from 13 April through 4 September 1998.
The Hunt Institute’s exhibition is Saito’s first one-person exhibition outside Japan. The artist is a free-lance illustrator specializing in acrylic watercolor. A master of airbrush technique, Saito has written books on super-realist illustration, including botanical subjects, and made videos on his technique of illustrating fruits, vegetables, and other food. He has won awards in Japan and in London for advertising, calendars and posters. His "Motorcycle 750" and "Strawberry Cake" are in the collection of the Miyagi Prefectural Museum in Japan.
The Institute is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Telephone (412) 268-2434 for additional information.
American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta
1998 Annual Conference
16 - 21 June 1998
The American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta (AABGA) and a consortium of gardens in the Delaware Valley are pleased to announce the 1998 AABGA Annual Conference, June 16-21, 1998. This year’s Conference highlights the rich horticultural heritage of the Delaware Valley with numerous tours, workshops, and educational sessions. Designed to attract and challenge the public garden professional and enthusiast, this year’s Annual Conference theme is Redefining the Garden, and numerous sessions and tours will explore the ever-changing landscape of public horticulture and the nonprofit world.
For information, contact AABGA at 351 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania 19348, Telephone: 610/925-2500, Fax: 610/925-2700, Email: AABGA@voicenet.com, Web Site: http://www.mobot.org/AABGA/
Columnar Cacti and their Mutualists: Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation
29 June - 3 July 1998
Columnar cacti are the dominant plants in many and ecosystems in North, Central, and South America. Interest in the evolution, ecology, and conservation of these impressive plants and their pollinators and seed dispersers has increased markedly in the recent years. These topics will be the majors themes of a five-day workshop to be held in Tehuacan City, Mexico on 29 June - 3 July 1998. This workshop will bring together scientists studying many aspects of the biology of these cacti and their mutualists. It will include invited talks, posters, informal discussions, and a field trip. For further information, please contact Ted Fleming (email < tfleming@umiami.ir.miami.edu>, tel3O5-284-6881, fax 305-284-3039) or Alfonso Valiente-Banuet (email < avaliente@miranda.ecologia.unam.mx>, fax 52-56228995 or 52-5616-1976).
Canadian Botanical Association / l'Association Botanique du Canada
Annual Meeting "Saskatoon 1998"
27 June - 1 July 1998
This meeting will be held at the Universityof Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. The theme is Plants and Biotechnology, and the plenary symposium is "Biotechnology of plants" (speakers M. Hinchee, K. Kartha, W. Keller). Three other confirmed symposia are "Biocontrol of weeds" (D. Johnson, K. Bailey, S. Darbyshire, R. DeClerk-Floate, M. Schwarzlander, Z. Zhang); "Medicinal plants" (J. Blackburn, R. Marles, J. Moes, E. Murray, G. Towers); and "Weed communities" (D. Derksen, N. Kenkel, A. Legere, G. Thomas, P. Watson). Registration fees are $175 Can (regular delegates) and $100 Can (students); early deadline is March 31, 1998. All participants will visit Wanuskewin Heritage Park (1/2 day field trip; lunch and supper included) and receive a banquet ticket. Other field trips to Last Mountain Lake Wildlife Refuge; biodiversity and agroecosystems; southern boreal forest; fescue prairie; are possible.
For further information about registration, abstract submission, accommodation and other activities, please contact the website: http://www.usask.ca/biology/cba.html; Vipen Sawhney or Art Davis, Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5E2. Phone: (306) 966-4417 or 966-4732; email: sawhney@admin.usask.ca or davisa@duke.usask.ca.
Pollen and Spores: Morphology and Biology
6-9 July 1998
This is the fourth in an occasional series of palynological conferences organized by the Linnean Society. Palynology Specialist Group (LSPSG) in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Natural History Museum, London. The previous conferences were: The Evolutionary Significance of the Exine (1974); Pollen and Spores: Form and Function (1985) and Pollen and Spores: Patterns of Diversification (1990). The conference is timed to coincide with the retirement from Kew of Keith Ferguson, founder and first Secretary of the LSPSG (1974-1998). There will be a mixture of invited and contributed papers and posters on the following topics: Pollen development; Anther and tapeturn; Pollen-pollinator interactions; Pollen-stigma interactions; pollen morphology in systematics and evolution; Ultrastructure (fossil and living groups); Pre-Cretaceous palynology; Cretaceous palynology; Tertiary palynology; Quaternary palynology; Pollen and archaeology; and Preparation and techniques. The proposed registration free will be around 130 sterling with reduced rates for students. Registration forms will be included with the second circular. For more information, contact Lisa von Schlippe, Conference Administrator, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey,TW9 3AB, fax 44-0181-332-5176, e-mail: l.von.schlippe@rbgkew.org.uk
IOPB VIIth International Symposium
10-15 August 1998
The Universiteit van Amersterdam will host the VII International Symposium of the International Organization of Plant Biosystematists, with the support of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, the Royal Dutch Botanical Society, the Hugo de Vries Foundation, the Faculty of Biology, and the City of Amersterdam. The theme of the Symposium is "Evolution in Man-Made Habitats." Correspondence concerning general matters of the Symposium should be addressed to: VIII IOPB Symposium, Dr. Hans den Nijs, ISP-Hugo de Vries Laboratory, Kruislaan 318, 1098 SM Amsterdam, The Netherlands, tel +31 20 5257660, fax +31 20 5257662, email <IOPB98@bio.uva.nl>
Tenth Wildland Shrub Symposium
12-14 August 1998
The Shrub Research Consortium in concert with the Great Basin Environmental Education Center is sponsoring the Tenth Wildland Shrub Symposium, August 12-14, 1998 at Snow College, Ephraim, Utah. The symposium theme is Shrubland Ecotones. There will be a mid-symposium field trip to the Great Basin Experimental Range and to hybrid zones in Salt Creek in the Uinta National Forest. Contributed papers and posters on succession within and between communities; biodiversity; the role of boundaries in the biology, management, and restoration of various shrubland communities and their interfaces with other communities; hybrid zones; and other shrubland biology subjects are invited. The proceeding will be published by the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. If you would like to present a paper, send a title and abstract (² 200 words) to Dr. E. D. McArthur, Shrub Sciences Laboratory, Rocky Mountain Research Station, 735 North 500 East, Provo UT 84606 by January 15, 1998 (tel. (801) 377-5717, e-mail /S=E.MCARTHUR/OU1=S22@MHS-FSWA.ATTMAIL.COM). To receive pre-registration materials and additional information please contact: Dave Lanier, Great Basin Environmental Education Center, 150 East College Avenue, Ephraim, UT 84627 (tel. (801) 283-7261, e-mail davel@storm.snow.edu).
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 Compuserve users: ccmail:MYCOL at Kenes; for Internet users: MYCOL@Kenes.ccmail.compuserve.com Information on the Sixth International Mycological Congress may be found on: the WWW at: http://lsb380.plbio.lsu.edu/ima/imc6.html
International Elm Conference
1 - 3 October 1998
The Morton Arboretum, a leader in the search and development of disease-resistant hybrid elm trees, will host an International Elm Conference on October 1-3, 1998. The conference will provide an international exchange of information about current research to develop new trees and established and emerging methods of saving remaining elms.
The Morton Arboretum is accepting 150-word abstracts of papers describing elm research, breeding, management, and the future of elms in the urban forest until June 30 for possible presentation, poster session, and publication in proceedings. Deadline for submission of abstract is June 30. To submit a paper or to learn more about the International Elm Conference, contact: Dr. Christopher Dunn, Director of Research, The Morton Arboretum, 4100 Illinois Route 53, Lisle, IL 60532 USA, 630-719-2423; fax 630-719-2433; e-mail: <cdunn@mortonarb.org>
VII Latin American Botanical Congress
18 - 24 October 1998
The Latin American Botanical Society is sponsoring the VII Latin American Botanical Congress from 18-24 October, 1998 in Mexico City. For the open programme posters on any branch of botany will be welcome, and students are particularly encouraged to come and present their work. Registration will be open to any person interested in botany. Fees: After March 31: All members 150.00 USD. Submission of Abstracts Deadline: May 15, 1998. Abstracts should be sent to: Dr. Ramon Riba, Presidente del VII Congreso Latinoamericano de Botanica, UAM-Iztapalapa, Apdo. Postal 55-535, 09340 Mexico, D.F. For further information write to: < socbot@alquimia.encb.ipn.mx> < clb@xanum.uam.mx>
1998 Midwest Rare Plant Conference
4-6 November 1998
The 1998 Midwest Rare Plant Conference, sponsored by the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Center for Plant Conservation will be held November 4-6, 1998, at Glencoe, Illinois. For information, contact Kayri Havens, Program Chair, Rare Plant Conference, Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Rd., Glencoe IL 60022.
XVI International Botanical Congress
1-7 August 1999
The XVI International Botanical Congress will be held in St. Louis, Missouri at the America's Center on 1-7 August 1999. This promises to be a major scientific event, and marks the first time the IBC has been held in the United States since 1969 in Seattle. The Secretariat has a web site up and running (" http://www.ibc99.org/") For further information, contact the XVI International Botanical Congress, Missouri Botanical Garden, P.O. Box 299, St. Louis MO 63166-0299, USA; tel: (314) 577-5175; fax: (314) 577-9589; e-mail: ibc16@mobot.org
INQUA XV International Congress
3-11 August 1999
We intend to organize a Workshop for the International Union for Quaternary Research during the INQUA XV International Congress in Durban (3-11 August, 1999) with the following topic: "Migration of Asiatic (Turanian) and ecosystems to East and South Africa during the Miocene-Pliocene and the environmental conditions contributing to evolution of Hominidae (Kovalev's hypothesis)". This problem might include the following issues. 1. The Messinian climaticcrisis (6.7-5.3 Myr) and the formation of ecosystems involving C4 plants of the aspartate type in Southern Turan. Migration of riparian ecosystems (with Tamarix, Phragmites, Caroxylon and Populus as dominant elements) from Southern Turan to East and South Africa, where they replaced the climate-affected tropical rain forest. Comparison of such communities with their modem analogs (the South African relic communities and the North American saltcedars of the Asiatic origin). 2. Traces of the faunal migration accompanying the spreading of the Turanian plant assemblages and the possible Asiatic origin of the early hominoids (e.g., migration of Sivapithecus). 3. Developing of such communities in Africa during the Pliocene. The influence of these exotic (adventive) plant assemblages upon the African mammalian fauna, causing its essential pauperization and providing relatively safe conditions for the early hominid inhabiting (in contrast with the intensive predators' pressure in the savannahs). Contacts: Dr. Oleg V.Kovalev, Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, 199034 St.Petersburg, Russia; e-mail: kov@zisp.spb.su, and Dr. Sergey G.Zhilin, Dept. of Palaeobotany, Komarov Botanical Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, 197376 St.Petersburg, Russia; e-mail: zhilin@herb.bin.ras.spb.ru; fax: (812)234-4512
International Conifer Conference 1999
22-25 August 1999
The 4th International conference follows the tradition of the Royal Horticultural Society in organizing conferences addressing the major developments in conifers. The conference will be held 22-25 August 1999, Wye College, Kent, England. This conference is designed to promote maximum interchange of information between all users of conifers. Keynote sessions will address major subject areas of current interest. The conference will have a worldwide geographical coverage from the arctic to the tropics.
Main scientific sponsors: Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Royal Horticultural Society, Forestry Commissions and The International Dendrology Society. For more information contact: Miss Lisa von Schlippe, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE. Tel.: 0181 332 5198, Fax.: 0181 332 5197, E-mail: L.von.schlippe@rbgkew.org.uk
VIII International Aroid Conference
9-11 August 1999
The VIII International Aroid Conference, sponsored by the Missouri Botanical Garden and the International Aroid Society, will meet 9-11 August 1999 at Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri. This is a three-day conference directly following the XVI International Botanical Congress and will provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of all aspects of aroid biology, ecology, taxonomy and horticulture. Over 50 presentations are scheduled and will include discussions of Araceae in large and small floristic regions, revisionary works of a variety of genera, glimpses of the best public and private Araceae collections, and descriptions of successful horticultural and breeding techniques currently in use. An unlimited number of poster sessions will also be made available to those who prefer to have their presentations on display for the duration of the conference.
Congress highlights include a barbeque at Tom Croat’s house, a banquet held at the gardens, evening lectures and a welcoming address given by Peter Raven, Director of Missouri Botanical Garden. We would also like to organize an aroid seed and seedling swap to make a variety of aroids available for all attendees.
Book Reviews
In this Issue:
Book Review: Ecology
Plants and UV-B: Responses to Environmental Change Lumsden, Peter, ed., 1997. ISBN 0-521-57222-3 (cloth US$105.00) 375 pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011 - In the early 1980’s, evidence first indicated that ozone concentrations in the Earth’s atmosphere were decreasing. By the late 1980’s, the role of chloroflurocarbons (CFC’s) in depletion of the ozone layer was established. Reduction in ozone concentrations results in an increase in flux of energetic UV-B (250-280 nm) radiation. Over the next few decades a projected depletion of the ozone layer of 15% may lead to an increase in UV-B flux of 30%.
While popular accounts of the depletion of the ozone layer and the increase in UV-B reaching the Earth’s surface have highlighted the direct danger to humans, including an increase in the incidence of skin cancer and eye damage, less attention has been given to the effects on plants and the associated indirect effects upon us.
Plants and UV-B arose from seminars held at the 1996 annual meeting of the Society for Experimental Biology in Lancaster, England. It is a comprehensive look at current research on the effects of UV-B on plants. The book is a collection of papers organized into three sections. The first part consists of three papers on the ozone layer and UV-B radiation. The second part is a collection of papers on the effects of UV-B at the cellular level and the third and final part contains those papers on the effects of UV-B at the whole plant and community level.
The first section begins with observations by J. A. Pyle on the history and causes of ozone depletion and continues with papers on monitoring UV-B radiation and on the action spectra for UV-B in plants. UV-B effects at the cellular level are discussed in 6 papers which cover key issues, including DNA damage and repair, photosynthesis, and photoinhibition. The final section includes 8 papers which discuss the effects of UV-B on aquatic ecosystems, field crops, agro- and forest ecosystems, heathlands, and subarctic communities. The book concludes with a paper by M. M. Caldwell on alterations in competitive balance and a paper by N. D. Paul on interactions between trophic levels.
The collection of papers presented is an excellent choice, covering a broad range of work. The range of approaches, from biochemical and cellular studies to discussion of ecological effects, represents the best of a modern, integrative approach to biology. The selection of papers not only describes what is known but also highlights the incomplete state of our current knowledge on the effects of UV-B on plants. For example, the paper on UV-B perception and signal transduction by Jenkins, Fuglevand, and Christie makes clear that we have yet to fully understand the identity of the blue light and UV-B receptor molecules, and the details of the signaling which results. Imagine if our knowledge of visual photoreceptors and signaling in humans were so incomplete! Björn and coworkers point out the incomplete state of knowledge of the effects of UV-B on ecosystems with the statement: "Before our field experiments in Northern Scandinavia were started in 1991, no experiment had been conducted in which a natural ecosystem with plants, animals, and microorganisms was exposed to increased UV-B".
Plants and UV-B is a fascinating volume, as much for its ability to highlight the gaps in current knowledge as for its broad and integrative approach. By raising so many questions, it should serve as a catalyst for much future work. I highly recommend it for plant biologists and for graduate students who are interested in biochemistry, physiology, ecology, and environmental sciences. - Thomas J. Herbert, Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables.
Book Review: Genetic
Methods for Risk Assessment of Transgenic Plants II. Pollination, Gene-Transfer and Population Impacts. Kjellsson, G., V. Simonsen, and K. Ammann, eds., 1997. ISBN 3-7643-5696-0 (cloth US$74.50) 308 pp. Birkhauser Boston, 675 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge MA 02139 - This text is a timely and immanently usable guide for those requiring a quick reference for methodologies for transgenic risk assessment. The volume is a follow-up to a previous book (Kjellsson and Simonsen, 1994) which addressed competition, seedling establishment and ecosystem level effects of the introduction of genetically modified plants into natural environments. This text focuses on methods for estimating likelihood of transgene escape via gene flow from modified crop plants to sympatrically occurring wild relatives, and possible population level impacts of such events.
The volume is a good first tool for identification of appropriate field testing methods to address specific questions regarding risk assessment of transgenic plants. However, I think it would be a useful reference for anyone interested in research methods in plant population genetics and ecology. The introduction provides a clear and concise statement of the purpose of the book as well as a good explanation of how to use it. The editors have arranged their volume in a hierarchical and almost intuitive manner, that once familiar with the terminology, the reader will be able to navigate with relative ease.
The book begins with an extensive glossary of terms used throughout the volume that is surprisingly comprehensive given its size. The bulk of the remaining chapters consist of listings and descriptions of key word categories, and subcategories, and the corresponding research methods that each author suggests to be appropriate. Categories are broad terms relating to general life history characteristics of plants. Subcategories are more narrowly defined terms that relate to specific aspects of plant life history. For example, the category "Pollen development and production" has the subcategories "pollen competition, pollen germination, pollen production, and pollen viability." The subcategories can then be used to refer you to a suggested research tool or method that would be appropriate to collect data relevant to risk assessment.
The volume’s strengths lie in its organization and conciseness. The chapters presenting the synopsis of the categories and subcategories provide good working definitions for the reader. The authors include recommendations for methods along with references to the primary literature or reviews on the subject. Also in these synopses are brief statements on what sorts of data are lacking, but still required, and what sorts of tests still need to be developed. This sort of presentation is most useful particularly to those who are new to this area of research.
The chapter on research methods is equally well organized, as tests are numbered and listed in alphabetical order. For each research method one will find a descriptive statement, as well as a brief list of the assumptions and restrictions for the test. The editors try to provide as much information about the method as possible, generally in the space of a single page. Each section provides information on the test system (i.e. lab, field, etc.); opinions about the advantages and appropriateness of each method, and a scaled index for method characters as, sensitivity, equipment requirements, time, and cost. The methods chapter does a fine job of distilling what would otherwise be a dizzying amount of information into synopses that will prove to be good starting points for a proposal or experiment.
The book concludes with review chapters on plant biotechnology and risk assessment in general. The editors have included a chapter on modification techniques, one on the types of traits being inserted into plants, and a concluding review on risk assessment procedures and practices. These chapters, however well written, do not really add to the volume unless this is the first work on risk assessment of transgenic plants you have picked up. I was pleased by the objectiveness of the reviews included. There are no value judgments made regarding biotechnology or its applications, simply a presentation of the techniques and reasons for performing risk assessment in the field.
Overall, I found this book to be a very good reference tool, particularly so for those who are new to this area of research. The editors have put together a comprehensive, yet concise book that is well organized and highly navigable. Though some of the information in the text is outdated, this is not entirely unexpected due to the dynamic nature of this field. However, I do not think that some outdated information distracts from the usefulness of this book as a place to begin exploring research possibilities in risk assessment. The chapter authors point towards World Wide Web resources that can be useful for updating specific information. This is one text I would recommend having on the shelf as a good quick reference tool for anyone interested in risk assessment, or ecological genetics. - Paul E. Arriola, Department of Biology, Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, IL
Literature Cited
Kjellsson, G., and V. Simonsen. 1994. Methods for Risk Assessment of Transgenic Plants I. Competition, Establishment and Ecosystem Effects. Birkhauser Verlag, Basel, Switzerland.
Book Review: Historical
The Natural History of the Long Expedition to the Rocky Mountains (1819-1820). Evans, Howard Ensign, 1997. ISBN 0-19-511184-2 (cloth US$30.00) 0-19-511185-0 (paper US$15.95) 288 pp. Oxford University Press, 198 Madison Ave., New York NY 10016 - The Natural History of the Long Expedition to the Rocky Mountains (1819-1820) is one of the most recently published accounts of Major Stephen H. Long's expedition to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Several of the previous accounts focused on the historical or anthropological aspects of the expedition, often to the neglect of the biological aspects. Retracing Major Stephen H. Long's 1820 Expedition: The Itinerary and Botany (Goodman and Lawson, 1995) emphasizes the botanical aspects of the trip, but disregards many of the entomological and zoological contributions made by Thomas Say. In The Natural History of the Long Expedition to the Rocky Mountains (1819-1820), Evans focuses on all the components of the natural history of the Long expedition, and does not seem to sacrifice much of the historical information either.
Evans begins the book by "setting the stage," putting the Long Expedition into historical context. This is the Evans main power for the rest of the book. He tells you of the past events leading to the expedition, the events that occurred on the expedition, and the future significance of these events. These anecdotal narratives are sometimes depressing as Evans points out that many of the spectacular areas described by the explorers are now strip malls and golf courses.
The main body of the text tells the story of the expedition in chronological order. Evans effectively uses direct excerpts from the explorers journals to provide first-hand insight to the life and hardships of early 19th century naturalists. The excerpts allow the reader to feel the explorers exhilaration of reaching Pikes Peak, the trepidation of meeting unfriendly natives, and the fear of starvation and dehydration. The book does not end upon the completion of the expedition. Instead, Evans provides a brief history summarizing the future exploits of each member of the expedition.
While Evans prose could easily stand by itself, he does not leave the reader wanting for other forms of visual stimulation. The text is periodically interrupted with the sketches of Titian Peale, the expeditions assistant naturalist who often doubled as their artist. The author also peppers the text with black and white photographs of various insects and plants to which the text refers. These sketches combined with periodic maps allow the reader to visually keep up with the expedition and their discoveries. The biological discoveries of the expedition are also arranged into three appendices. One appendix contains a list of plants discovered on the Long Expedition. The other two appendices contain systematic lists of insects and other animals that Thomas Say described from the Long Expedition. These appendices are a testament to importance of this expedition in the Midwests biological history.
The Natural History of the Long Expedition to the Rocky Mountains (1819-1820) distills mountains of historical information into a format that will be of particular interest to professional and amateur natural historians. This book would be especially interesting to biologists from the region that the expedition covers, and anyone interested in the adventuresome spirit of Americas pioneer days. As usual, Evans style of writing makes this book easily accessible to any reader, and is recommended to all. - Michael A. Wall, Department of Botany and Microbiology, Auburn University, Alabama
Literature Cited
Goodman, G.J., and C.A. Lawson. 1995. Retracing Major Stephen H. Long's 1820 Expedition: The Itinerary and Botany. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK. (see PSB 44(1): 23-24 for a review)
Book Reviews: Horticultural
A Guide to Species Irises: Their Identification and Cultivation The Species Group of the British Iris Society, (ed.), 1997. ISBN 0-521-44074 (cloth US$105.00) 386 pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011. - A Guide to Species Irises: Their Identification and Cultivation, edited by the species group of the British Iris Society, follows The Genus Iris, written by W. R. Dykes early in the twentieth century, as a major and complete treatment of the genus Iris using the same pattern as the monograph by Dykes. It is intended primarily for specialists working on irises, such as those in taxonomy, horticulture, and floriculture. This book was written by a group of contributors drawn from the members of the Species Group of the British Iris Society. Most of the contributors live in the United Kingdom, with one in each of France and the United States.
A Guide to Species Irises is divided into a series of chapters, some of which have multiple authors. First come chapters with general information and then chapters which give information on particular species. The first is "The Iris in History" providing a brief but interesting examination, e.g. of the historic place of irises in the French coat of arms. Then comes a chapter on the cultivation of the genus Iris, a challenge since Iris contains members of such broad distribution and range of cultural requirements that it is possible to have irises in bloom continuously throughout the year in some climates. The chapter on chromosomes in the genus Iris follows with a discussion on the significance of those data for Iris taxonomy. The reader then comes to an identification guide for plants as they are received after purchase, considering bulbous irises, pseudobulbous irises, the subgenus Iris itself including bearded irises, evergreen irises, border irises, herbaceous irises, and miniature irises.
A simple and taxonomically obvious pattern is employed through the rest of the book, discussing each subgenus in turn; and within each subgenus, each section, series, and species, in descending taxonomic order. The bearded irises or pogons, subgenus Iris, come first, followed by subgenera Limniris, Nepalensis, Xiphium, Scorpiris, Hermodactyloides, and one putative species of undetermined classification. For each species described, the distribution is given along with a complete physical description. Cultural notes are included based on the literature and on the experience of the author of the species description or on the experience of others, usually drawn from the Species Group of the British Iris Society.
A list of references and a selective bibliography follows along with a handy glossary, which emphasizes iris biology. Maps of the geographic distribution of each section of each subgenus are given along with two types of illustrations. A botanical line drawing represents each section of each subgenus, and then a section with a total of 128 color photographs covers a similar taxonomic range.
In general, this volume is clearly and simply written with abundant useful information. Given the group from which its authors come, the information may be considered to be highly reliable. This is especially true since, as a group, they have done an excellent job of avoiding the trap of including only what would be of interest to British iris fans. The comments made about a given species or form tend to be objective, reasonable, and based on good evidence. This book makes a more advanced companion to the recent volume by Brian Matthew, reviewed in an earlier issue of the BSA Bulletin. Matthew is one of the authors of the volume considered at present. More color pictures, which are placed closer to the relevant text, are found in Matthew’s book, and many of the plants treated in A Guide to Species Irises would not be dealt with by the average amateur.
A Guide to Species Irises is strongly recommended for the professionals who are its intended audience, and it could be useful on the reading list for certain classes, especially advanced horticulture or taxonomy classes which deal with Iris. However this book would be of limited usefulness for introductory classes in these subjects, or in general botany, because of its scope and detail. University libraries should purchase a copy. - Douglas Darnowski, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana.
Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs Dirr, Michael A., 1997. ISBN 0-88192-404-0 (cloth US$69.95) 493 pp. Timber Press, Inc. 133 SW Second Avenue, Suite 450, Portland OR 97204-3527. - Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs by Michael Dirr weighs heavily both in the hand and in its influence on landscaping in cooler areas of the United States. The author, who personally shot all of the photographs in this lavishly illustrated volume, brings wide experience to this task, with many years of relevant teaching and research at major universities. He presents a book which reviews major and minor species of hardy plants with a focus on those suitable for USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 3-6, even though many of the plants are also suitable outside of that range.
Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs has a very simple format. In alphabetical order by genus and then species, hardy plants are presented along with relevant common name(s), followed by a paragraph or two describing the general habit of the plant, the size range for members of the species, foliage and fruit characteristics, and other relevant details. Important or notable cultivars are included where relevant. A very wide range of species is covered from osage orange (Maclura pomifera; Moraceae) to trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata; Rutaceae) to grape (Vitis spp.; Vitaceae). Finally, the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone rating is given along with the geographic area from which the plant was brought into cultivation. Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs concludes with sections including lists of plants with specific attributes useful for specific planting purposes such as salt tolerance or columnar habit, a USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, and a metric conversion table.
One real flaw of this book is some of the unnecessary comments made by the author which are merely matters of personal taste rather than of objective fact. Of course he should point out various difficulties presented by a given plant species, such as susceptibility to fire blight, but some comments are pointless such as "I have never recommended, at least when conscious, a poplar." (p.291) After all: "The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm...if every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness and there would be no wild flowers to make the meadows gay." (The Story of a Soul, The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, trans. John Beevers, p.20, Image Books, 1957) This criticism should be taken with caution, since Dirr is not William Robinson, alienating many with vitriolic phrases. It is just that a few comments need not have been put into print.
Some other flaws exist in this otherwise fine volume. The pictures, which are highly touted by Timber Press, and which are very useful for plant identification and comparison, are mostly muted in tone. Sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua, often has brilliant, multi-hued fall coloration; with red, yellow, orange, and purple on the same branch; yet the picture on p. 228 is rather bland. This may be the fault of the reproductions made, rather than of the author’s photographs, but the reader cannot tell.
A few commercial details strike the reader as not completely accurate—the pawpaw, Asimina triloba, can be obtained from more than "specialty mail-order firms" (p.48) as can be seen from a look through some commonly available garden catalogs such as Burpee or Gurney’s. It would also be useful to have the plant family name listed in the entry for a given species, and unfortunately, this volume is too large to be conveniently transported for use outdoors. A smaller version would make a handy field guide for cultivated hardy woody plants.
All-in-all, Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs is an important and valuable reference work which no life sciences library should be without. The scope of the book and its eminent practicality make it useful for someone who is looking to make plans for their own landscape or for professionals in the trade. This volume belongs on the reading list of many courses such as those dealing with landscape architecture. Even students new to botany would find it a useful bridge between their immediate experience of plantings where they live and the study of plant biology. The limitation to plants which can be grown in at least some of USDA Zones 3-6 will reduce the usefulness of Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs especially for those in the Deep South and for some overseas readers. For example, the mild British climate will mean that many species useful there will not be found in this book. Even so, this book is a classic. - Douglas Darnowski, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana
Gardening With Climbers Grey-Wilson, Christopher, and Victoria Matthews, 1997. ISBN 0-88192-399-0 (cloth US$27.95) 160 pp. Timber Press, Inc. 133 SW Second Avenue, Suite 450, Portland OR 97204-3527. - The popularity of gardening has generated a continuum of colorful and beautiful texts that, while attractive, generally provide limited information to a serious gardener. Timber Press, however, leads the way in quality garden books and Gardening with Climbers is no exception. The quality of photos, paper, and page layout are so good, it is hard to believe this 160 page text with 198 color photos retails for just $27.95. This book is one of the better I’ve seen with regard to covering the vast array of hardy, half hardy, and annual climbers that can be used in the landscape. It contains some discussion on plant selection, training, and pruning, although the subjects are not covered at depth. There are interesting chapters that contain diagrams and discussion on the methods of climbing, maintenance calendars for specific types of climbers, structures suitable for climbing, training and pruning tips, seasons of interest, and unique and useful discussion on co-planting species to attain a longer season of interest. One very useful addition is a "code symbol" for pruning type at the base of each page, that refers to plants on that page. Symbols near each plant or plant type are given for correct light exposure, and minimum temperature tolerance.
Yet, along with the good is the bad. The book has several problems with cold-hardiness data, an important feature for garden texts. It is great that hardiness is expressed in both degrees Celsius and degrees Fahrenheit. Yet, the most "Fully Hardy" category listed is "hardy to -5F", a temperature that highly underestimates the hardiness of many of the "fully hardy" plants listed. This may dissuade a northern gardener from choosing a perfectly suitable species. To top it off, there are "hardiness" errors. For example, the authors list Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (Porcelain Ampelopsis) as hardy to only +23F. I am growing this plant in my garden where 10 below F is not uncommon. Michael Dirr, in the reputable Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Stipes Publishing Company), lists this plant as hardy to U.S. Zone 4 (equivalent to -20F). With all these "temperature" problems, the chapters "Temperate Deciduous Climbers", "Temperate Evergreen Climbers", and "Annual and Herbaceous Climbers" may group plants incorrectly for many locales in the United States.
This book also suffers from being caught between two types of books - your pretty "coffee table" garden book with lots of nice garden photos and some useful information - and an authoritative reference book that lists species by species, cultivar by cultivar, all with detailed descriptions. Here we have some horticulture and some botany, but neither is complete enough to be extremely useful. This may be a reflection of the joint authorship, which combines a botanist’s perspective (Christopher Grey-Wilson) with a horticulturist’s perspective (Victoria Matthews). If this type of book is what was intended, then the mission was accomplished. For this reviewer, it limits its usefulness. The horticulturist would not know the appearance of most of the listed plants, since the photos represent only of a fraction of the species and cultivars listed. Nor would they have any idea of pest problems, methods of propagation, etc. The botanist would be disappointed with the brief morphological descriptions. Assuming, as promoted, that the book was intended for gardeners, it would have been much wiser to list a few less plants, and describe and show the horticultural attributes of those that remained.
Nevertheless, if you have vacant vertical space in your garden and on your bookshelf this is still one of the best choices for a text devoted to climbing garden plants. If you can find photos of species that are not presented photographically and can verify the hardiness zones, I’m sure you’ll find this book of great value. Truthfully, I still thumb through it now and then thinking about those few walls I have left uncovered. I know that my potential choices have expanded well beyond the size of my house, now that I have been made aware of the hundreds of possibilities for Gardening with Climbers. - Michael Marcotrigiano, Department of Plant and Soil
Vireyas: A Practical Gardening Guide Kenyon, John, and Jacqueline Walker, 1997. ISBN 0-88192-402-4 (paper US$19.95) 96 pp., and The Succulent Garden: A Practical Gardening Guide Cave, Yvonne, 1997. ISBN 0-88192-378-8 (paper US$19.95) 104 pp., both from Timber Press, Inc. 133 SW Second Avenue, Suite 450, Portland OR 97204-3527. - Timber Press presents two new members of its Practical Gardening Guide series: Vireyas by John Kenyon and Jacqueline Walker and The Succulent Garden by Yvonne Cave. These two books deal with rather different groups of plants, since succulents usually bring to mind areas of searing sun and dry heat, while vireyas are a group of three hundred species of brightly colored tropical rhododendrons (Rhododendron; Ericaceae) from wet areas of Australasia. These two books also differ in scope, since vireyas are a botanically and geographically unified group while succulents come from many locations around the world and range taxonomically throughout both the Monocotyledonae and the Dicotyledonae.
Vireyas begins after the Introduction by first defining vireyas as a group, and then by considering the cultivation of vireyas through history, at the present, and in the future. The authors then segue with a chapter on vireyas in their wild habitats, and then, since this is intended to be a practical guide, the longest chapter in the book devotes itself to the cultivation of vireyas outdoors, from general cultural requirements to pruning and propagation.
Vireyas indoors are then considered, followed by vireyas in the landscape. Sources of vireyas and gardens featuring them prominently are listed for the US, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. This breadth is commendable, though inclusion of more information on Asian gardens could be added in a second edition since most vireyas are native to countries other than Australia. Finally, the reader comes to a list of cultivars and species which are of interest to collectors. Colorful and informative photographs pepper the text, and the writing style is very clear. One limitation of Vireyas for the members of this society is vireyas’ lack of hardiness in much of North America, so for most Americans this book deals with what are greenhouse plants for much of the year.
The Succulent Garden brings a change from tropical vireyas, creating images of hot sand and fleshy leaves. Yvonne Cave begins by discussing what puts a plant in this botanically diverse group. She considers the cultivation of succulents followed by an examination of their use in landscaping. As with Vireyas, hardiness issues will limit the usefulness of the information in this book outside the greenhouse for many American readers. A discussion of companion plants for succulents and the raising of succulents in containers precedes consideration of the propagation of succulents, problems encountered in growing succulents, and a list of popular succulents. Some of the color photographs in The Succulent Garden are particularly striking, and the author has done an excellent job in producing the illustrations for her own book.
Vireyas is probably the stronger of the two of these additions to the Practical Gardening Guide Series from Timber Press, but that may have to do with the format of the series. Though there are three hundred species of vireyas, they form a more compact group for discussion than do succulents. That compactness lends itself well to the short format of this book series, making Vireyas valuable for a professional or amateur library. Vireyas by John Kenyon is a must-buy for professional botanists, while The Succulent Garden would make a good introduction to the topic for beginning students or amateurs new to this group of plants, though the number of botanical names used will leave them turning frequently to the list of succulents and to the index. - Douglas Darnowski, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana
Vandas: Their Botany, History, and Culture Motes, Martin, 1997. ISBN 0-88192-376-1 (cloth US$32.95) 188 pp. and Carnations and Pinks for Garden and Greenhouse: Their True History and Complete Cultivation Galbally, John, and Eileen Galbally, 1997. ISBN 0-88192-382-6 (cloth US$34.95) 104 pp., both from Timber Press, Inc. 133 SW Second Avenue, Suite 450, Portland OR 97204-3527. - Two horticulturally important types of plants prized for their showy flowers come to us in two new books from Timber Press. Vandas Their Botany, History, and Culture by Martin R. Motes deals with the genus Vanda (Orchidaceae), which he believes to deserve more attention than it receives today. Also considered are close relatives which were at one time placed in that genus and which are still important for the breeding of new Vanda hybrids. Carnations and Pinks for Garden and Greenhouse by John Galbally with Eileen Galbally deals extensively with a widely popular group of flowers from the perspective of someone who observed much of its modern history. It should be noted that John Galbally died during preparation of this book, so his wife Eileen finished the preparation of the manuscript. The voice used is still John’s, as the text often refers to "my wife," so the reviewer will refer to John Galbally as the author.
Carnations and Pinks for Garden and Greenhouse deals with the genus Dianthus, so the author begins by examining the individual species from this genus important for cultivation and their hybrids. Then the history of carnations and pinks is discussed, followed by the cultivars from various groups such as pinks and Malmaison carnations. General cultural information for indoor and outdoor growing follows, along with details for commercial cultivation and a consideration of pests and diseases. Finally, carnation and pink breeding concludes the book along with information on exhibition of the blooms. Appendices give the reader a list of monthly reminders; societies and suppliers in the US, UK, Europe, and New Zealand; and a USDA Plant Hardiness Zones map. A section of color plates clearly illustrates the various classes of carnations and pinks.
The writing in Carnations and Pinks for Garden and Greenhouse displays some flaws. The author is no shrinking violet when it comes to his own importance: "Records of the 1996 National Show reveal that I competed for all seven open-class border carnation trophies, won them all, and was unbeaten in 22 classes entered" (p.50). Unfortunately, the author also tends to ramble in the section on history. "Peter Fisher, born in Dowally, Perthshire, Scotland, and naturalized in the United States in 1893, started as an apprentice gardener at the age of 15 years. He was nicknamed ‘Honest Peter’ because of his principle to give value for money. It is said that when about to sow the seed that eventually became "Mrs. Thos. W. Lawson", Fisher realized it was 1 April (April Fool’s Day), so he postponed sowing until the following day" (p. 43). You really have to love carnations to care about that last fact.
In contrast to Carnations and Pinks for Garden and Greenhouse, Martin Motes’ Vandas Their Botany, History, and Culture is a much more compact and clearly written volume. The author succinctly takes the reader through the history of vandas, their botany, and the history of their hybridization. Various species important for breeding vandas are considered, including V. coerulea and Euanthe sanderiana. This species was formerly included in Vanda, and it continues to play an important role in the hybridization of that genus, justifying its inclusion in this book. New directions are proposed for Vanda breeding, and Vanda culture is described. Appendices which discuss troubleshooting Vanda culture and list all of the species in Vanda or formerly in Vanda round out the book along with a glossary. The figures catch the eye with their vivid colors.
Carnations and Pinks for Garden and Greenhouse will be of great value for professionals or experienced amateurs who are truly devoted to carnations and pinks, and its usefulness will extend over a wide geographic area. This book does not belong on the reading list of most university courses, perhaps with the exception of some advanced horticulture courses, because of its heavy emphasis on British growing conditions and supplies and the confusing nature of some of the text, especially the history chapters. While Vandas Their Botany, History, and Culture is the better written of the two books considered here, its audience may be more limited. It deals with a smaller group of plants, with fewer growers, particularly within the geographic scope of the BSA. Even so, Vandas Their Botany, History, and Culture should be included on the reading lists of appropriate advanced courses in fields such as floriculture, and it makes a valuable addition to university libraries, the personal collections of academic and trade professionals, and the libraries of interested amateurs. - Douglas Darnowski, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana
Book Review: Physiological
The Physiology of Tropical Orchids in Relation to the Industry. C. S. Hew and J. W. H. Yong. 1997. ISBN 9810228554-ISBN (cloth) World Scientific, O. B. 128, Farrer Rd., Singapore 912805 and Suite 1B, 1060 Main Street, River Edge, NJ 07661. - When I started to write Fundamentals of Orchid Biology (John Wiley & Sons, New York) my intent was to produce a 200-300 page book on the science of orchids. The book somehow escaped from me and became a 691-page colossus. I suspect that the sheer bulk and weight of the book (Dr. Eric Christenson suggested in his review of the book that a special sturdy table may be required for it) could scare away some potential readers. That is why I wondered if writing a shorter version of the "big book" may be a good idea. Having examined the Hew and Yong (both are from the Department of Botany, now School of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore; for many years the NUS Department of Botany under the superb leadership of Prof. A. N. Rao was my second academic home and I often wished it were the first due to the negative attitude toward plant sciences at UCI) book in detail, I am now sure that: 1) writing a shorter book is an excellent idea, and 2) I must never try to do it because Physiology of Tropical Orchids in Relation to the Industry (TO) is excellent and it would be hard to beat or even equal. Having gotten ahead of myself in offering praise, I would like to give reasons for my high opinion of TO.
The book deals primarily with physiology, but functions are never left "hanging." They are almost always related to or buttressed by details about structure (I do not know if Haberlandt ever visited Singapore, but his lesson was learned well there). For example, information of photosynthesis (in chapter 3) becomes clearer after reading pp. 22, 23 and 25. Structural details about roots (pp 23, 24, 26-29) facilitate understanding of their functions as photosynthetic and uptake organs. This is important when dealing with orchids because some species are leafless and have stems that are reduced to almost nothing. Species like Taeniophillum in Asia, the African Microcoelia and American Polyrrhiza. depend on their roots for most, perhaps all, physiological functions. Structure, function and physiology of flowers and other parts of orchid plant are covered similarly.
One of the more interesting details to emerge from the structure-function approach is a discussion of stomata on floral segments (including sepals and petals) of Arachnis, Aranda, Arundina, and Oncidium. But these stomata are "probably vestigial and practically nonfunctional." Until not very long ago the conventional wisdom was that there are no stomata on petals and sepals (I recall interesting discussions on the subject with Prof. Klaus Raschke who was at Michigan State University at the time) . Photosynthesis, the subject of chapter 3, was studied extensively at the Botany Department, National University of Singapore by the authors of TO, former head of the department (now retired) Prof. A. N. Rao, Prof. P. N. Avadhani (retired), Dr. Paul Clifford (now at the Queens University in Belfast, Ireland), several students and visitors to the Department as well as myself. Therefore it is not surprising to find a highly informative, well illustrated and extensively referenced chapter on the subject.
As correctly pointed out by the authors, a review of orchid physiology published in 1959 (but probably written several years earlier) listed only two publications on respiration by orchids (there may have been 2-3 additional reports published as well as dissertations which are nearly impossible to find). Chapter 4 (Respiration) in this book lists about 30 references which deal specifically with respiration. Remarkably most of them are by the authors (primarily Hew) and their associates. The reasons for this is simple: most of the research in this area during the last 10-12 years is by this group. These papers and some by others have greatly enhanced our understanding of orchid respiration. To be useful the information had to be not only summarized but synthesized into a coherent body. The chapter on respiration does that admirably. It also provides just enough background information (as does the chapter on photosynthesis) to place orchids in the general context of plants.
There are endless discussions on "how to feed your orchids" in the horticultural literature, on-line news groups and orchid meetings. Many of these discussions depend on anecdotal information for lack of a proper crop physiology review-synthesis. TO provides just such a review and should be welcomed b all those who are interested in orchids.
It is no secret that orchids are grown for their flowers, except for Vanilla (to produce vanilla; just try to imagine life without "plain vanilla" ice cream!) and some of the so-called jewel orchids whose main attribute are their leaves. Orchid flowers are a major crop is Singapore (but "are" is changing to "was" as the government is de-emphasizing agriculture), Malaysia (which has always had an orchid industry of its own and is benefiting from the Singapore downsizing because many growers from Singapore move their farms across the causeway to Johor) and Thailand (which started the orchid cut flower business in South East Asia). Therefore, control of flowering is very important as a means of adjusting production to market demand. Literature on the subject is substantial, but not easily available to the general public. Furthermore, the most recent review are getting old and is oriented only toward basic science. This chapter updates the basic information and also deals with practical aspects.
In addition to flowering by mature plants TO deals with flowering in vitro, but unfortunately in chapter 9 (one of the few shortcomings of TO is this separation; all discussions of flowering should have been placed in one chapter). This coverage is very important scientifically (because orchids provide a not very well known and certainly underused system for: 1) in vitro research on flower induction and development), 2) practically ("bottle baby" orchids in full bloom should attract many buyers especially in Changi Airport in Singapore, the present Subang, and 3) historically (to set the record straight after a tragicomic boast and/or claim of priority in last year’s Malayan Orchid Review).
Also related to flowers is chapter 8 which deals with senescence and post harvest. Again, the latest extensive reviews are either getting old and/or are not oriented practically. Chapter 8 in TO updates the information and adds usable facts (much of the new information is a result of research by C. S. Hew and his associates in Singapore, H. Nair and her group at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, S. D. O’Neill and her laboratory at the University of California, Davis, and A. H. Halevy and his co-workers in Rehovoth, Israel and University of California, Davis). The coverage includes several aqueous solutions which can be used to extend the life of flowers and facilitate shipping.
Chapter 7 deals with partitioning of assimilates in orchid plants, a field created almost entirely by Hew and his associates, the most notable among them being Paul Clifford who was in Singapore for a while. This chapter is primarily basic in nature.
Orchids were the first plants to be propagated in vitro from seeds (almost a century ago) with a fungus (i.e., symbiotically) or axenically (about 75 years ago) and through tissue culture (for the first time in 1949 by Gavino Rotor at Cornell University and definitely not by Georges Morel in 1960 in France). Since orchids are slow growing plants, tissue culture propagation is (also known as micropropagation or mericloning) is a topic of great interest to growers. Again previous reviews are old (1974, 1977 and 1993), brief (1984; authors’ names omitted on purpose) and/or simply devoid of content (1986; omission of author’s name is intentional). This chapter discusses the subject in general terms and updates information.
Every chapter has a list of general and specific references. The book also has a subject index which is its only serious drawback because listings may not be detailed enough. Organism name and persons indexes would be welcome.
Altogether TO is well written in a clear, easy to read style; contains a large amount of good information in its 331 pages; is excellently produced and bound; was well copy edited despite a lapse on page 288 (". . . details in media . . ." should be". . . details on media . . . " ), and to my narrow mind blessedly free of color photographs (except pretty covers) which are always thrown in into orchid books. My review copy did not have price information, but I think that except if priced in the hundreds of U. S. dollars range this book would be a bargain. - Joseph Arditti, Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine
Book Review: Plant Pathology
The Gene-for-Gene Relationship in Plant-Parasite Interactions Crute, I.R., E.B. Holub, and J.J. Burdon, eds., 1997. ISBN 0-85199-164-5 (cloth US$115.00) 427 pp. CAB International, 198 Madison Ave., New York NY 10016 - This book covers aspects of the physiology, genetics, molecular genetics, and population genetics of plant/pathogen interactions, retaining as a major theme the gene-for-gene concept. The gene-for-gene relationship refers to a type of host-parasite interaction where for each avirulence gene in the pathogen, there exists a resistance gene in the host. A host is phenotypically resistant to the pathogen if the pathogen carries the avirulence gene corresponding to the resistant gene present in the host. The gene-for-gene system, originally worked out by Flor (1971), has been demonstrated for various types of plant/pathogen interactions, in both agricultural and natural systems.
This book originated from a presidential meeting of the British Society of Plant Pathology in 1995, following the theme "Gene-for-gene specificity in host-parasite interactions at the molecular, cell, plant and population levels of organization." The book is a collection of 22 chapters, divided into three major sections: Genetic Analyses and Utilization of Resistance (5 chapters); Population Genetics (9 chapters); and Cell biology and Molecular Genetics (8 chapters). This great diversity renders a succinct summary of this book difficult, however one common theme is the quality of the different chapters. The chapters are informative, well written and accessible for non-specialists in a particular discipline. Ecologists, evolutionary biologists, molecular and cell biologists, and plant pathologists and physiologists alike should find chapters of interest in this book, and can read about current developments in the other disciplines studying the gene-for-gene relationships in plant-parasite interactions.
The gene-for-gene concept impacts various biological disciplines and this book provides a good overall perspective of the topic. The gene-for-gene concept has important practical applications, as race-specific resistance genes are commonly used in agriculture (Cultivar Mixtures in Intensive Agriculture, Chapter 4; and Crop resistance to parasitic plants, Chapter 5). The resistance genes used in a crop can act as strong selective agents on the pathogen population (The UK Cereal Pathogen Virulence Survey, Chapter 6; and Modeling virulence dynamics of airborne plant pathogens in relation to selection by host resistance in agricultural crops, Chapter 10). Moreover, understanding the factors which influence the diversity of virulence genes in the pathogen population should help us design better strategies to deploy resistance genes in the crop and consequently improve crop yield (Adaptation to Powdery Mildew Populations to Cereal varieties in relation to durable and non-durable resistance, Chapter 7; Virulence dynamics and Genetics of cereal rust populations in North America, Chapter 8; and Interpreting population genetic data with the help of genetic linkage maps, Chapter 9).
Polymorphisms for resistance genes are commonly found in natural populations (The Genetic Structure of Natural Pathosystems, Chapter 13), and if the resistance genes carry such a strong selective advantage one must wonder why such genes are not driven to fixation in the population. In natural populations, genetic, epidemiological and ecological factors can affect the distribution and maintenance of genetic polymorphisms for resistance and virulence genes (Epidemiological approach to modeling dynamics, Chapter 11). Within population (frequency-dependent selection) and metapopulation approaches have been proposed to explain the distribution and maintenance of genetic polymorphisms for resistance and virulence genes in natural populations (Modeling gene frequency dynamics, Chapter 12; and The Evolution of gene-for-gene interactions in natural pathosystems, Chapter 14).
Recent advances in the molecular biology of resistance genes have led to a flurry of studies in the area of host/pathogen interactions. Over 40 avirulence genes have now been cloned and characterized (The Molecular genetics of specificity determinants in plant pathogenic bacteria, Chapter 16; Molecular Characterization of Fungal avirulence, Chapter 17; and The Molecular genetics of plant-virus interactions, Chapter 18). Various plant resistance genes have been cloned (Organization of resistance genes in Arabidopsis, Chapter 1; Genetic fine structure of resistance loci, Chapter 2; and Mutation analysis for the dissection of resistance, Chapter 3). Studies of physiological variation in phenotypic response of different resistance genes are also under way (Phenotypic expression involving fungal and bacterial pathogens, Chapter15). It is becoming clear that resistance genes often occur in clusters and that some resistance genes can respond to more than one elicitor. Some genes are implicated in recognition; many genes are often involved in the signal transduction, while some are implicated in the disease resistance response. Thus, disease resistance is a process that results from several gene products working in concert.
Do these molecular finding jeopardize the gene-for-gene concept? (Molecular genetics of disease resistance: an end to the gene-for-gene concept?, Chapter 19). The gene-for-gene concept refers to the differential responses of plants to different races of pathogens. This differential response of plants implies that the recognition stage is involved as mutations in the later stages of signal transduction and plant defense response would affect all pathogen races similarly. Thus, so far, the findings of molecular biology can easily be reconciled with the gene-for-gene concept.
This book presents a nice overview of various developments related to the gene-for-gene concept in plant-pathogen interactions. Efforts to combine molecular, natural populations and agricultural problems are welcome as only then can one understand the impact of the gene-for-gene concept in plant biology. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in plant-pathogen interactions. - Johanne Brunet, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis
Book Reviews: Systematics
The Ferns and Fern Allies of New England Tryon, Alice F., and Robbin C. Moran, 1997. ISBN 0-932691-23-4 (cloth US$49.95) 325 pp. Massachusetts Audubon Society, 208 South Great Road, Lincoln MA 01773. - As a resident of western New England and an avid hiker of Massachusetts woodlands, I looked forward with great anticipation to receiving this book to review, and I was not disappointed. Tryon & Moran have put together an exquisite book on the ferns and fern-allies of New England that should be on the shelf of every botanist, ecologist, horticulturalist, and field naturalist. This book should be admired not only for its scholarly treatment of the plants by two acknowledged experts in the field, but also for the astonishingly beautiful photographs of each species, most taken over 50 years ago.
The Ferns and Allied Plants of New England describes the ninety-two native species and several additional varieties of ferns and fern-allies (Equisetaceae, Lycopodiaceae, Selaginellaceae, and Isoëtaceae) that occur in the six-state New England region of the United States (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island). Following a brief introduction, which includes references to ferns in literary works, a workable key to all the genera in the book is provided. Nomenclature follows the recent Flora of North America, North of Mexico (vol. 2, Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms). Each genus is treated separately, following standard botanical ordering (unlike the standard field guide for the region, Boughton Cobb’s A Field Guide to the Ferns and Their Related Families, Houghton-Mifflin, 1956). For genera with more than one species in the region, a key to the species precedes the species descriptions. Presentation of each species’ description is standardized, and includes: distinguishing characteristics; a description of the habitat in which it can be found; its range in New England; its global range; chromosome number; spore structure; and additional remarks to aid in identification and distinction; discussion of its nomenclatural derivation; and interesting accounts from history and lore. County-level dot maps illustrate the New England range; the data for creating these maps are based on collections in the herbarium of the New England Botanical Club, with additions from other regional herbaria and other published (and unpublished) works. Because the ranges of many ferns and fern-allies of New England extend outside of the region, their global ranges are plotted as well.
Each species is illustrated with a photograph of the plant in its natural habitat. All but two of the ferns were photographed between 1934 and 1942 by the amateur naturalist and photographer, Robert L. Coffin, of Amherst, Massachusetts. These photographs, mostly from the Amherst area, were taken with a large-format (9 x 12 cm negatives) camera, and so the details are not obscured by the minimal enlargement needed for printing. The fine level of preservation of these photographs is a tribute to Coffin’s careful work; they were rediscovered in Coffin’s son’s home by Walter Hodge (of the University of Massachusetts) and the authors. Hodge himself took most of the photographs of the fern- allies, while other photographs were provided by David Barrington (University of Vermont), W. Carl Taylor (Milwaukee Public Museum), and the late William Drury (College of the Atlantic).
The book closes with several appendices of additional value. First is a set of scanning electron micrographs of the spores of all the species of ferns and fern-allies described in the text. Like the plant photographs, these SEM images are brilliantly printed. Second is a description of the geology and climate of New England that places the regionally high species diversity of ferns and fern-allies into the appropriate temporal context. The last appendix is a short section on gardening with ferns, with emphasis on purchasing ferns and spores from reputable nurseries as opposed to illegally collecting them in the field (as many species are rare or endangered). A glossary of technical terms and short, but useful reference list end this book.
There’s no denying the lasting value and utility, and the sheer beauty of The Ferns and Allied Plants of New England. Buy a copy today, buy more for your friends and colleagues, and carry it with you in the field. And call your local Audubon Society preserve or office and make sure they have a ready supply on hand to sell. - Aaron M. Ellison, Department of Biological Sciences, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075
Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 3: Magnoliophyta: Magnoliidae and Hamamelidae. Flora of North America Editorial Committee, ed. 1997. ISBN 0-19-511246-6 (cloth US$85.00) 590 pp. Oxford University Press, Inc., 198 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. - It would be presumptuous of me to attempt to review the Flora of North America for plant taxonomists. There are probably very few North-American taxonomists who are not involved in one way or another in this huge project, creating what Taylor (1993) called "a very broad sense of ownership within the community". However, floras are used by botanists other than taxonomists, and some of you may not have followed the development of the FNA project. I will therefore approach this flora from the viewpoint of a plant ecologist, who is considering whether this book should be on his shelf or at least on the shelf of the nearest library.
FNA volume 3 includes taxonomic keys and treatments of the Magnoliidae and Hamamelidae, including families such as the Magnoliaceae, Lauraceae, Nymphaceae, Ranunculaceae, Ulmaceae, Juglandaceae, Fagaceae, and Betulaceae. It therefore includes the majority of angiosperm forest tree species, as well as treatments of such large genera as the buttercups (Ranunculus) and the larkspurs (Delphinium). All in all it includes 128 treatments of genera and 741 treatments of species. As in all FNA volumes, all treatments of species and subspecies are accompanied by small maps of the distribution on the North American continent North of Mexico. Although it is the stated policy of the FNA editorial committee to illustrate approximately a third of the species, almost exactly half of the species and subspecies treated are illustrated, although many of these illustrations are limited to floral or fruit morphology. The illustrations are detailed and excellent, many are very beautiful. Check out the oak illustrations for examples or the Magnolia - Liriodendron illustration. Many treatments include comments on medicinal or other ethnobotanical uses.
What sets the FNA apart from comparable projects such as the Jepson Manual (Hickman, 1993) or the Flora Europaea is the inclusion of discussions of the taxonomic status of difficult taxa. Authors were asked to explain their decisions and mention other treatments with appropriate references. This is where the real value of the FNA lies. Contrary to popular opinion, taxonomy is in constant flux, and many problems are far from solved. Because floras of the past have not included such information, they have tended to foster the impression in non-taxonomists that the classification and naming of plant species outside of the tropics is a finished task and that taxonomists are no longer needed in universities. Granted, any profession tends to justify its existence when given a chance, but the FNA project may be the first chance for American plant taxonomy to do so in a long while. Because difficulties are openly discussed and contrary opinions cited, FNA volumes are extremely informative and very honest books.
I should like to add one caveat about honesty, though. All maps are lies, and one should not put too much confidence in many of the distribution maps in the FNA, simply because there is not enough information about the distribution of many species to produce very reliable maps. However, having these maps is much better than having no maps at all, and, as I know from personal experience, the necessity to create these maps forces contributors to do their homework and actually work from field- and herbarium-specimens instead of copying information from previous treatments. But far be it from me to imply that members of the editorial committee had such an effect at the backs of their minds!
With so many contributors, disagreements about standards for the recognition of species, subspecies and varieties are unavoidable. For example, one wonders whether the authors of the treatments for the three oak subgenera in any way coordinated the consistency of their taxonomic treatments. The only check on the consistency of treatments in the FNA is peer-review, and reviewers differ in their opinions about standards for delimiting species just as much as contributors do. One may call this anarchy, as G. Ledyard Stebbins did in FNA volume 1, or one may accept this as an unavoidable reflection of genuine disagreements. (But many thanks to Dr. Stebbins for envisioning this mind-boggling leap from taxonomy to anarchy!)
Because the FNA project draws upon the expertise of the entire community of systematic botanists, the flux in taxonomic knowledge is very apparent in these books. Floras of the past, written by one or two authors, who could not possibly be experts in all the groups, tended to be a lot more conservative in their treatments. Updating taxonomy means changing names, and such changes, especially where widespread, threatened, or otherwise important species are involved, are usually very unpopular with ecologists. But that is a small price to pay for the contribution that the FNA project makes to botanical knowledge by inspiring re-evaluation of taxa on a continental scale. New species and new name changes are not published in FNA, but quite a few have been published as byproducts of the FNA project. For example, 13 of the species in volume 3 had been published as new. This invigorating effect on plant taxonomy will hopefully continue for many years, at least until the last of the 30 volumes is published, and very likely beyond that. Last not least, the FNA will certainly play an important role in conservation issues in days to come when more and more "species" will be declared threatened or endangered.
Finally, I should point out that the content of FNA volumes can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.fna.org/, which also has additional information on the FNA project. When I last checked, illustrations to volume 3 were not yet online, but treatments and distribution maps were. The fact that the whole FNA database will be available online of course raises the question whether there is any reason to buy these books. The FNA is certainly not much use in the field, and for keying species most users will prefer a state- or local flora. My recommendation to North-American botanists is to check the FNA out and at least consider the purchase. These are beautiful books with a lot of information and they are not very expensive. If you are at all inclined to buy, start now. Volume 2 and 3 together include up-to-date treatments of the vast majority of North American forest trees and of all the ferns, certainly information worth having. - H. Jochen Schenk, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Barbara, California
Literature Cited:
Hickman, J.C., ed. (1993). The Jepson manual: higher plants of California. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Taylor, I.E.P. (1993). Flora of North America, a landmark, maybe a renaissance, in floristics: Commentary. Canadian Journal of Botany 71: 1535-1536.
Malesian Seed Plants. Vol. 1: Spot-characters. An aid for identification of families and genera. van Balgooy, M.M.J., 1997. ISBN 90-71236-31-5 (paper Dfl.50.00) 154 pp. Backhuys Publishers, P.O. Box 321, 2300 AH Leiden, the Netherlands. - Malaysia, indeed much of eastern and tropical Asia, enthralls Tertiary paleobotanists. Not only for potentially colorful travel slides, but also because these regions still harbor genera and even families that dominated or characterized Tertiary floras in Europe and North America but have long since died out there. Symplocos (Symplococaceae) and members of the Mastixiaceae (sometimes considered a subfamily of the Cornaceae), to name but two taxa, had fruits in the Miocene that European paleocarpologists are particularly fond of.
It was thus with happy anticipation that I picked up Malesian Seed Plants, not knowing, however, exactly what was in store for me. I discovered a book that appealed to me not as a worker on fossil plants, but to my sensibilities as a botanist, systematist, and morphologist.
This book follows in the scholarly tradition of Dutch botanists in southeastern Asia in that it preserves the knowledge and experience of decades of work with Malesian plants. It is actually the published manifestation of botanical notes on characters that distinguish certain genera and families in the Malesian flora which were initially made by C.G.G.J. van Steenis and continued 20 years thereafter by M.M.J. van Balgooy.
Malesia, incidentally, is a region that not only encompasses the country of Malaysia but also the nation states of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Singapore.
This volume of Malesian Seed Plants is the first book of a three-part series. The first contains lists of spot-characters that will guide a reader with some botanical training to identification to the family or genus level, while the second will present "portraits" (i.e., brief characterizations) of tree families, and the third, "portraits" of non-tree families.
"Spot-characters" are distinctive characteristics that are particularly evident in herbarium material. As listed in the table of contents, these include characters regarding habit, stem or branches, exudate, smell, indument (surface coverings such as trichomes), glands, stipules, petioles or rachis, lamina, inflorescences, flowers, fruits, and seeds.
The book is nicely organized with an easy-to-read and follow format. Each character — let’s take "smell", for example — is divided into categories — in this case "fenugreek" and "foetid". Under fenugreek, we find a list of genera and their familial affiliation that emanate this smell which is typical of a herb known here in Central Europe as "maggi" and is commonly added to commercially prepared soup mixes. Plants with a fetid odor, of course, smell foul. You’d be surprised how many genera are scented like soup (18) and how many stink of rotting flesh (at least 17, including the massive flower of Rafflesia, which all budding botanists find out in their first year of intro).
There is a concise, imaginative, but totally apt description to rely on when the botanical adjective under discussion fails to bring up a mental image. Nigrescence, for instance, is a condition when you find "leaves turning blackish upon drying as in many Rubiaceae, Diospyros etc.", whereas flagelliflory occurs in a "inflorescence long and pendent, usually terminal, e.g. Barringtonia and Parkia".
The book contains good, skillfully executed line drawings illustrating the distinguishing characters, excluding the odoriferous ones, naturally. Good quality paper is used, and the front and back flaps of the soft-bound cover can be folded into the book to mark pages of interest.
As announced on the title page, this book is intended as "an aid for the identification of families and genera," and thus does not present information in the manner of a dichotomizing key or a formal floral treatment. A mere checklist of plants exhibiting certain characters may seem of less utility than a key or flora, but I could imagine a situation in which you are desperate to unmask the identity of a plant of which you have only fragments showing at most one or two distinctive characteristics. (In fact, this is the starting point of many a great paleobotanical investigation.) This book could give you that well-needed but gentle shove in the right direction. - Carole Gee, Institute of Paleontology, University of Bonn, Germany
Flora Malesiana. Series 1, volume 13: Rafflesiaceae, W. Meijer; Boraginaceae, H. Riedl; Daphniphyllaceae, T.-C. Huang; Illiciaceae and Schisandraceae, R.M.K. Saunders; , Loranthaceae and Viscaceae, B.A. Barlow. 1997. ISBN 90-71236-33-1. (Dfl 125 = ca. U.S. $62.50) Rijksherbarium / Hortus Botanicus, Publications Department, P.O. Box 9514, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands. - This flora project, begun in 1950, proposes to be an illustrated, systematic account of the Malaysian flora, including keys for determination, diagnostic descriptions, references to the literature, synonymy, and distribution, with notes on the ecology of its wild and commonly cultivated plants. This has to rank as one of the most ambitious undertakings of its kind in the history of taxonomic botany.
It takes as its range Sumatra and the Malayan Peninsula to the west, Borneo, all of Indonesia, the Philippines to the north, all of New Guinea and the islands off its northeast coast. Superimposed on an outline map of North America, as used to be done in the earlier volumes of the series, this immense tropical area extends west to east from San Francisco to Trinidad and north to south from James Bay in Canada to Jamaica and Puerto Rico. Superimposed on a map of Europe, the flora area extends west to east from Ireland to Soviet Central Asia, and north to south from Lapland to the Adriatic Sea.
Earlier volumes were published on pulpy paper. The photographs were sometimes grainy, but still useful and helpful. The drawings then and now are the best: diagrammatic and rendered with the greatest care to reveal the diagnostic characters. Notes on possible medicinal values are routinely mentioned.
Today, we have glossy paper and color photographs. But all the best characteristics are retained: lengthy descriptions, full citations of types, careful comments about troublesome species, and the fullest discussion of problems and difficulties. This latest volume includes treatments of palynology, phytochemistry, and anatomy among the various families. A useful feature is citation of the range of a species outside Malesia, and then a more detailed range statement for its distribution within the flora area. Exsiccatae are not cited; the volumes would be unmanageably large if they were. The herbaria each author consulted might at least have been mentioned, but they never are.
In so large a tropical area, there are inevitably many species yet to be named to science. One of the great benefits of this fine work is that, once the monographer has cleared away some of the underbrush, as it were, the recognition of new species is facilitated. As a result, some of the earlier pieces are now quite "out of date," precisely because the work was so good.
One cannot help wondering whether this huge work will ever be finished, in the sense that every family will have got some kind of treatment in print. I suspect not, if one considers the array of large families still to be treated, such as Rubiaceae and Poaceae. Nonetheless, one stands in awe of the industry shown by such an array of contributors over nearly half a century. - Neil A. Harriman, Biology Department, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Book Reviews: Briefly Noted
Shakespeare’s Flowers. Kerr, J. 1969; reprinted 1997. ISBN 1-55566-202-1 (paper US$14.00) 86 pp. Johnson Books, 1880 South 57th Court, Boulder, CO 80301. - Shakespeare’s Flowers, written by Jessica Kerr and illustrated by Anne Ophelia Dowden, is a beautiful and delightful book recently reissued by Johnson Books. Full of drawings and full-color botanical portraits, this volume guides the reader through the various plants which play prominent or frequent roles in the plays of Shakespeare. The text frequently includes speculation about the encounters which Shakespeare himself may have had with the plants in question while considering the general significance of each species for English cooking and culture during the Elizabethan Age. With its light tone and clear writing, Shakespeare’s Flowers both educates and entertains. Its level is appropriate for anyone from an amateur gardener to a professional working in the plant sciences, and it would take an appropriate place on the reading list for non-majors courses in biology or botany. Buy a copy. - Douglas Darnowski, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana
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 to <leverich@slu.edu>, 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
Advanced Molecular Biology: A Concise Reference Twyman, R.M., 1998. ISBN 0-387-91560-5 (cloth US$38.95) 499 pp. Bios Scientific Publishers, Springer-Verlag New York, 175 Fifth Ave., New York NY 10010-7858.
Applications of PCR in Mycology Bridge, P.D., D.K. Arora, C.A. Reddy, and R.P. Elander, eds., 1998. ISBN 0-85199-233-1 (cloth US$110.00) 357 pp.. CAB International, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4314.
Biological Neural Networks: The Hierarchical Concept of Brain Function Baev, Konstantin V., 1998. ISBN 0-8176-3859-8 (cloth US$95.00) 273 pp. Birkhauser Boston, 675 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139.
Body Explorer Bulling, A., F. Castrop, J. Agneskirchner, W. Ovtscharoff, L. Wurzinger, and M. Gratzl, 1998. ISBN 3-540-14681-4 (CDROM US$39.95) 250 images, for Pentium PC, Windows 95 or NT. Springer-Verlag New York, 175 Fifth Ave., New York NY 10010-7858.
British Plant Communities, Volume 1: Woodlands and Scrub Rodwell, J.S., ed., 1998. ISBN 0-521 23558-8 (cloth US$160.00) 0-521-62721-4 (paper US$54.95) 395 pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211.
British Plant Communities, Volume 2: Nfires and Heaths Rodwell, J.S., ed., 1998. ISBN 0-52139165-2 (cloth US$195.00) 0-521-62720-6 (paper US$54.95) 628 pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211.
British Plant Communities, Volume 3: Grasslands and Montane Communities Rodwell, J.S., ed., 1998. ISBN 0-521-39166-0 (cloth US$195.00) 0521-62719-2 (paper US$54.95) 540 pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211.
British Plant Communities, Volume 4: Aquatic Communities, Swamps and Tall-herb Fens Rodwell, J.S., ed., 1998. ISBN 0-521-39168-7 (cloth US$105.00) 0-521-62718-4 (paper US$54.95) 283 pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211.
Desert Wildflowers of North America Taylor, Ronald J., 1998. ISBN 0-87842-376-1 (paper US$24.00) 359 pp. Mountainb Press Publishing Co., P.O. Box 2399, 1301 S. Third Street W., Missoula, Montana 59806.
Flora of China, Volume 18: Scrophulariaceae through Gesneriaceae Wu Zhengyi and Peter Raven, eds., 1998. ISBN 0-915279-55-X (cloth US$85.00) 449 pp. Science Press, Beijing, and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, P.O. Box 299, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-0299.
Flowers of the Himalaya: A Supplement Stainton, Adam, 1998. ISBN 0-19-564415-8 (paper US$14.95) 86 pp. + 128 pp. color plates. Oxford India Paperbacks, Oxford University Press, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4314.
Forage Seed Production Fairey, D.T., and J.G. Hampton, eds., 1998. ISBN 0-85199-190-4 (cloth US$120.00) 420 pp.. CAB International, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4314.
Grassland Dynamics: Long-term Ecological Research in Tallgrass Prairie Knapp, A.K., J.M. Briggs, D.C. Hartnett, and S.L. Collins, eds., 1998. ISBN 0-19-511486-8 (cloth US$65.00) 364 pp. Oxford University Press, 198 Madison Ave., New York NY 10016.
*The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Camellias Macoboy, Stirling, with Roger Mann, 1998. ISBN 0-88192-421-0 (cloth US$39.95) 304 pp. Timber Press, 133 S.W. Second Ave., Suite 450, Portland OR 97204-3527.
Information Technology, Plant Pathology, & Biodiversity Bridge, P., P. Jeffries, DR. Morse, and P.R. Scott, eds., 1998. ISBN 0-85199-217-X (cloth US$90.00) 478 pp.. CAB International, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 1001 64314.
Intellectual Property Rights and Biodiversity Conservation: an Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Values of Medicinal Plants Swanson, Timothy M., ed., 1998. ISBN 0-521-47112-5 (cloth US$59.95) 0-521-63580-2 (paper US$24.95) 271 pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211.
John Charles Fremont, Botanical Explorer Welsh, Stanley L., 1998. ISBN 0-915-27949-5 (cloth US$49.95) 450 pp. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, P.O. Box 299, St. Louis, Missouri 63166-0299.
Molecular Genetics of Plant Development Howell, Stephen H., 1998. ISBN 0-521-58255-5 (cloth US$85.00) 0-521-58784-0 (paper US$39.95) 365 pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211.
Mutation Breeding: Theory and Practical Applications van Harten, A.M., 1998. ISBN 0-521-47074 (US$120.00) 353 pp.. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211.
Phytomedicines of Europe Lawson, Larry D., and Rudolf Bauer, eds., 1998. ISBN 0-8412-3559-7 (cloth US$115.00) 324 pp. American Chemical Society, distributed by Oxford University Press, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 100164314.
Pioneer Naturalist on the Plains: The Diary of Elam Bartholomew Bartholomew, David M., 1998. ISBN 0-89745-221-6 (paper US$24.95) 322 pp. Sunflower University Press, 1531 Yuma, P.O. Box 1009, Manhattan KS 66505-1009.
Plant Family Album: an Interactive Botanical Review: Vol. 1: Rosidae Waterway, Marcia J., and Helen C. Rimmer, 1998. (CD-ROM US$ 49.95) for 486 PC, Windows 3.1 or higher. Plant Science Department, Macdonald Campus, McGill University, 2 I,l II Lakeshore Rd., Ste-Anne-deBellevue, Quebec, Canada H9X 3V9.
Plant Life in the World's Mediterranean Climates: California, Chile, South Africa, Australia, and the Mediterranean Basin Dallman, Peter R., 1998. ISBN 0-520-20808-0 (cloth US$50.00) 0520-20809 (paper US$29.95) 257 pp. California Native Plant Society and University of California Press, 2120 Berkeley Way, Berkeley CA 94720.
Plant Nematode Control Whitehead A.G., 1998. ISBN 0-85199-188-2 (cloth US$120.00) 384 pp. CAB International, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4314.
Principles of Ecology in Plant Production Sinclair, T.R., and F.P. Gardner, 1998. ISBN 0-85199220-X (paper US$28.00) 189 pp. CAB Intemational, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4314.
**Seeds: Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination Baskin, Carol C., and Jerry M. Baskin, 1998. ISBN 0- 1 2-080260-0 (cloth US$99.95) 666 pp. Academic Press, 525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego CA 92101-4495.
*The Shoot Apical Meristem: Its Growth and Development Lyndon, Robert F., 1998. ISBN 0521-40457-6 (cloth US$90.00) 277 pp. Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th St., New York NY 10011-4211.
Trees of the Central Hardwood Forests of North America: An Identification and Cultivation Guide Leopold, D.J., W.C. McComb, and R.N. Muller. ISBN 0-88192-406-7 (cloth US$49.95) 509 pp. Timber Press, 133 S.W. Second Ave., Suite 450, Portland OR 97204-3527.
The Tropical Look: An Encyclopedia of Dramatic Landscape Plants Riffle, Robert L., 1998. ISBN 0-88192-422-9 (cloth US$49.95) 524 pp.. Timber Press, 133 S.W. Second Ave., Suite 450, Portland OR 97204-3527.
Vascular Morphogenesis: In Vivo, In Vitro, In Mente Little, Charles D., Vladimir Mironov, and E. Helen Sage, eds., 1998. ISBN 0-8176-3920-9 (cloth US$89.95) 265 pp. Birkhauser Boston, 675 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139.
BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA LOGO ITEMS
always available to contributors to the
BSA Endowment Fund
Short sleeved T-shirts (100% cotton) Grey with small green logo on front,
- Adult sizes S, M, L, YL, XXL - $14
- Child sizes XS, S, M, L - $12
Long sleeved T-shirts
- Adult sizes S, M, L, XL - $16
Totebags
- Cotton canvas - $12
Cricket Hats
- Sizes S, M, L, XL - $25
Cloisonné pin
- White with kelly green logo and gold border - $6
Botany for the Next Millennium Posters
- Full-color, 16"x 20" beauty - $5
(please include $3 for shipping posters)
Specify item(s), style(s) and size(s).
Make checks payable to BSA Endowment Fund. Mail to:
Kim Hiser, Business Manager
Botanical Society of America
1735 Neil Ave.
Columbus OH 43210-1293
For more info, her email address is: hiser3@osu.edu
Credit card orders (Visa and Mastercard) are also accepted at the BSA Office at 614-292-3519 (voice and fax)
Copyright © 2024 The Botanical Society of America. 4344 Shaw Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63110 · Voice: 314-577-9566 · FAX: 314-558-9184 · Email: bsa-manager@botany.org
Items posted on the Botanical Society of America's website by the author/creator are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
We value sharing, growing and learning together. In the spirit of fairness, we believe in the attribution of materials and ensuring the appropriate voices are in place when considering further use.