P
LANT
S
CIENCE
Bulletin
winter 2014 Volume 60 Number 4
In This Issue..............
Marsh Sundberg’s last issue as
editor of the PSB......p. 187
PLANTS Grant recipients and mentors at botany 2014
Applications accepted starting January 15!
The benefits of BSA membership....
p. 206
Address of BSA President Tom
Ranker at Botany 2014......p. 207
From the Editor
Winter 2014 Volume 60 Number 4
PLANT SCIENCE
BULLETIN
Editorial Committee
Volume 60
-
Marsh
Kathryn LeCroy
(2018)
Biological Sciences, Ecology and
Evolution
University of Pittsburgh
4249 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
kalecroy@gmail.com
Christopher Martine
(2014)
Department of Biology
Bucknell University
Lewisburg, PA 17837
chris.martine@bucknell.edu
Lindsey K. Tuominen
(2016)
Warnell School of Forestry &
Natural Resources
The University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30605
lktuomin@uga.edu
Daniel K. Gladish
(2017)
Department of Botany &
The Conservatory
Miami University
Hamilton, OH 45011
gladisdk@muohio.edu
Carolyn M. Wetzel
(2015)
Biology Department
Division of Health and
Natural Sciences
Holyoke Community College
303 Homestead Ave
Holyoke, MA 01040
cwetzel@hcc.edu
It’s that time of year again: preparing the last issue
(number 4) of a volume of Plant Science Bulletin. But
what to say? It’s a special issue for me---my last as
editor. First, thank you to Ann Antlfinger, Jenny Ar-
chibald, Nina Baghai-Riding, Doug Darnowski, Andy
Douglas, Norm Ellstrand, Vicky Funk, Dan Gladish,
Root Gorelick, Sam Hammer, Kathryn LeCroy, Chris
Martine, Jim Mickle, Mick Richardson, Beth Schussler,
Johanne Sharpe, Lindley Tuominen, Carolyn Wetzel,
and Andrea Wolfe who served on the PSB Editorial
Committee during the past 15 years of my editorship.
A lot has changed in the PSB, and the Society, during
that time. Beginning that first year, and with help of
Scott Russell, we began to make an HTML version of
each PSB available online. In the last 2002 issue, PSB
48(4), we announced that Bill Dahl was appointed as
the first Executive Director of the Society and that he
would be organizing the staff at a new office in St. Lou-
is. An early project was to digitize the entire previous
run of PSB to make it available online. Seven years
later, in PSB 55(4), we announced that beginning with
the first issue of 2010, articles for publication in PSB
would be peer-reviewed, thus providing a publication
outlet for members to publish scholarship not typi-
cally supported by the American Journal of Botany.
This also changed the duties of the Editorial Com-
mittee members, who assumed responsibilities as
monitoring editors of submitted manuscripts. A less
noticeable change in 2010 was a subtle reduction in
page size to better fit the format of electronic readers.
We instituted several dramatic changes in 2011. The
most obvious to the reader was the shift to a full-color
cover. More important, however, were production
changes with the BSA office staff assuming responsi-
bility for copyediting and layout (what a change in my
pre-publication schedule---thank you Rich, Beth, and
Johanne!). Despite these changes, the most important
thing about PSB has remained constant. As I noted
in my first editorial, the success of PSB “depends al-
most entirely on your input as [BSA] members and
contributors,” and it
will continue to do so.
I intend to be a faith-
ful reader and regular
contributor in the fu-
ture, and I hope you
will too.
185
Table of Contents
Society News
Judy Jernstedt Ends Tenure as AJB Editor-in-Chief .......................................................186
Marsh Sundberg Signs off as Plant Science Bulletin Editor ..........................................187
The
American Journal of Botany Centennial Celebration ends…
but its next century begins! .............................................................................................188
BSA Science Education News and Notes ....................................................
196
Editor’s Choice ............................................................................................
200
Announcements
In Memorium William A. Jensen 1927-2014 ................................................................201
Redesigned Hunt Institute Website at New URL ...........................................................203
WARF Innovation Award Winners Harness A Busy Virus,
Help Crops Bask In The Shade .......................................................................................204
BSA Membership: There’s No Place Like Home ...........................................................205
Reports
Evolution and extinction on a volcanic hotspot: Science, conservation, and
restoration in the endangered species capital of the world .............................................207
Book Reviews
Bryological and Lichenological ........................................................................................211
Economic Botany ...........................................................................................................213
Education ........................................................................................................................215
Systematics .....................................................................................................................217
Books Received ...........................................................................................
220
Shaw Convention Centre - Edmonton
July 25 - 29, 2015
Abstracts and Registration Sites open in February, 2015
www.botanyconference.org
186
“The Abominable Mystery,” and others on next-
gen sequencing, plant tropisms, global biological
change, and “Speaking of Food”: the connection
between basic and applied plant science), and the
successful celebration of the journal’s first 100
years (see the AJB Centennial Reviews published
throughout 2014, and items in the Plant Science
Bulletin). The 100th anniversary of the BSA and the
150th anniversary of publication of “On the Origin
of Species” also occurred during Jernstedt’s tenure.
It has been a good run—yet many challenges, and
opportunities, exist now and will into the future.
“
The biggest challenge has been trying to keep
up with the rapidly changing world of scientific
publishing and the increasing expectations of
authors and readers,” Jernstedt said. “It has been a
pleasure to work with the great group of thoughtful
and extremely diligent Associate Editors on the AJB
Editorial Board.
“I’ve been so impressed by AJB reviewers
—
their rigor, constructive approach, and
conscientiousness
—
and the hard-working Editorial
Office staff has been a true joy to work with all these
years. It was gratifying to see the AJB Impact Factor
creep slightly above 3 for 2010 (3.052), and I’m
confident AJB is in good hands to do this again!”
“BSA and the entire global community of
botanists has been fortunate indeed to have had our
flagship journal led by such an outstanding scholar
as Judy Jernstedt,” said current BSA President
Tom Ranker. “We are all greatly indebted for her
dedication and professionalism.”
Dr. Pamela Diggle, Professor and Associate
Head of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Department at the University of Connecticut
as well as recent BSA President, will take over as
Editor-in-Chief beginning in 2015.
There is no doubt that Jernstedt will remain
active in the BSA, after having also served as BSA
President in 2001 and Treasurer in 1997, earning
the BSA Merit Award in 2010, and serving as a
PlantingScience mentor. The BSA thanks Jernstedt
for her many years of service and looks forward to
her continued work.
Judy Jernstedt Ends Tenure
as AJB Editor-in-Chief
After serving as the editor-in-chief of the
American Journal of Botany for 10 years, Dr. Judy
Jernstedt has just completed her tenure at the end
of 2014.
Jernstedt, Professor
of Plant Sciences at
the University of California at Davis, oversaw
many changes in scientific publishing since
2005—including the evolution and continued
development of online publishing and manuscript
submission systems, the rise of Open Access
and Open Data as issues for exploration, and the
importance of helping authors promote their work,
through traditional and non-traditional (e.g., social
media) outlets. The AJB was recognized in 2009 by
the Biomedical and Life Sciences Division (DBIO)
of the Special Libraries Association as one of the
top 10 most influential journals of the past 100
years in the field of biology and medicine, which
speaks to the strong efforts of the AJB’s authors,
reviewers, and editors. Her good work has led
to higher impact factors, a greater involvement
of the journal’s editorial board, increased reader
commentaries and author responses within the
journal, a number of impressive special issues
(including one celebrating Darwin’s Bicentennial:
Society News
187
Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
whose proceeds go to support the PlantingScience
online mentoring program. (Copies are available at
www.plantingscience.org.)
“We are all grateful for the extreme dedication
of Marsh Sundberg in continually producing one
of BSA’s most valuable resources,” said current BSA
President Tom Ranker. “Under his editorship, the
PSB has evolved into an instantly available source
of extremely useful information for all interested in
botany and education.”
Dr. Mackenzie Taylor, Assistant Professor,
Plant Reproductive Biology and Development, at
Creighton University, will serve as the new PSB
editor beginning in 2015.
The BSA is honored to have had Sundberg steer
the PSB over all these years and looks forward to his
continuing work within the BSA.
Marsh Sundberg Signs off as
Plant Science Bulletin Editor
Dr. Marsh Sundberg, as noted in the PSB
Editorial in this issue, will step down as PSB Editor
after having served for 15 years. Sundberg has
worked diligently to keep the PSB---published since
January 1955---relevant and interesting to readers
looking for information in botany, from BSA news
and awards, to peer-reviewed articles that aid in
teaching, to helpful book reviews. He also worked
to digitize the entire archive of the PSBs as well as
the transition of the PSB from more than just a
hard copy and PDF; it is also available in a flipbook
format that works seamlessly with e-readers.
Sundberg’s passion for botanical education has
been prominent throughout his time heading the
PSB; in fact, readers can look forward to the fourth
part in his ongoing series on botanical education
in a future issue of the PSB. He also co-authored,
along with Gordon Uno and Claire Hemingway,
the recently released book Inquiring About Plants:
A Practical Guide to Engaging Science Practices,
Marsh Sundberg with his wife Sara.
188
Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
The
American Journal of Botany Centennial Celebration
ends… but its next century begins!
In planning for how to celebrate the journal’s centennial celebration in 2014, the AJB staff realized that
the focus had to remain on the core strengths that have sustained the journal since 1914: its research and
its contributing Society members. Throughout the year, the AJB has featured a series of AJB Centennial
Reviews---articles that have looked at key research from the past with a revamped and updated take to
find out where the field stands now and going forward. The following AJB Centennial Review articles are
already available and can be accessed for free:
• “Neurospora crassa: Looking back and looking forward at a model microbe” by Christine M.
Roche, Jennifer J. Loros, Kevin McCluskey, and N. Louise Glass [101(12):2022, 2014]
• “Ever since Klekowski: Testing a set of radical hypotheses revives the genetics of ferns and
lycophytes” by Christopher H. Haufler [101(12):2036, 2014]
• “The plastochron index: Still useful after nearly six decades” by Roger D. Meicenheimer
[101(11):1821, 2014]
• “The relative and absolute frequencies of angiosperm sexual systems: Dioecy, monoecy,
gynodioecy, and an updated online database” by Susanne S. Renner [100(10):1588, 2014]
• “Phloem development: Current knowledge and future perspectives” by Jung-ok Heo, Pawel
Roszak, Kaori M. Furuta, and Ykä Helariutta [101(9):1393, 2014]
• “The role of homoploid hybridization in evolution: A century of studies synthesizing genetics
and ecology” by Sarah B. Yakimowski and Loren H. Rieseberg [101(8):1247, 2014]
• “The polyploidy revolution then…and now: Stebbins revisited” by Douglas E. Soltis, Clayton J.
Visger, and Pamela S. Soltis [101(7):1057, 2014]
• “Plant evolution at the interface of paleontology and developmental biology: An organism-
centered paradigm” by Gar W. Rothwell, Sarah E. Wyatt, and Alexandru M. F. Tomescu [101(6):899, 2014]
• “Is gene flow the most important evolutionary force in plants?” by Norman C. Ellstrand
[101(5):757, 2014]
• “Repeated evolution of tricellular (and bicellular) pollen” by Joseph H. Williams, Mackenzie L.
Taylor, and Brian C. O’Meara [101(4):559, 2014]
• “The voice of American botanists: The founding and establishment of the American Journal of
Botany, ‘American botany,’ and the Great War (1906-1935)” by Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis [101(3):389, 2014]
• “The nature of serpentine endemism” by Brian L. Anacker [101(2):219, 2014]
• “The evolutionary-developmental origins of multicellularity” by Karl J. Niklas [101(1):6, 2014]
• “The American Journal of Botany: Into the Second Century of Publication” by Judy Jernstedt
[101(1):1, 2014]
To celebrate the contributions of the people behind the science, the PSB, throughout 2014, has featured
short interviews with some of the AJB’s most prolific contributors. This issue wraps up this special feature,
but note that many of these authors are still contributing to the journal, well into 2015!
The new year---and new century for the AJB---will bring some interesting changes and new features.
Incoming Editor-in-Chief Pam Diggle has a number of features in mind for 2015, and the journal will be
expanding its reach and exploring a new look. We look forward to the start of the next 100 years!
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
Carol and Jerry Baskin
Carol and Jerry Baskin both joined the BSA in 1969 and have gone on to serve the Society in a variety of
ways, from Jerry’s tenure as program director in 1990 to Carol’s tenure as president in 1998. Each of them
earned the Society’s highest honor, the BSA Merit Award, in 2001, and they’ve contributed 28 articles thus
far to the American Journal of Botany over the course of their careers. They recently reflected on their work
in the AJB.
The first article you published in AJB was “Germination Ecology of Phacelia dubia Var. dubia
(interior) in Tennessee Glades” in 1971. Please take us back to that period; what were you studying/
most interested in at the time?
In the late 1960s-early 1970s, the main focus of our research was the ecological life histories of herbaceous
species. In such studies, timing of events in the life cycle such as flowering and seed germination are
investigated in relation to environmental conditions, especially the seasonal changes in temperature and
rainfall. The purpose of these studies is to gain a better understanding of how the study species is adapted
to its habitat. As we were doing life history studies, we became very interested in the seed dormancy/
germination phase of the life cycle and began to design experiments to determine what environmental
factors were required for dormancy to be broken and for the nondormant seeds to germinate. Thus, seed
germination ecology, or what controls the timing of germination in nature, was becoming a focal point of
our research when we published our first paper in the American Journal of Botany in 1971.
You have a long history of very productive mutual collaboration. How did this come about? How
have you sustained it over the years?
We began to collaborate on research when we were graduate students at Vanderbilt University in the
1960s. We went to the University of Kentucky (UK) in August 1968, where Jerry had a job as an Assistant
Professor in the Botany Department. Carol did not have a job, and could not find a teaching job in central
Kentucky, so we decided to work together as a research team. In 1999, Carol became a full Professor at
UK, with the exact same salary as Jerry – down to the last 12 cents. Jerry retired from UK in June 2011, but
he is still very much involved in paper-writing; Carol is still working at UK. Thus, we are still collaborating
and working together on manuscripts.
Over the years, we have collaborated with our graduate students, as well as seed biologists from many
different countries. Since 2005, we have been to China 12 times and have become heavily involved with
seed research there, resulting in many collaborative projects/papers.
Jerry and Carol Baskin, 1979.
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
expected that our interest in seed germination
ecology would lead to a compilation of information
on the world biogeography of seed dormancy, and
we certainly did not think that the information we
acquired could be used to help us better understand
the evolutionary origins and relationships of the
different kinds of seed dormancy.
In looking back at all of the articles you’ve
published in AJB, which one or two stand out
above the others and why?
“Germination ecophysiology of herbaceous plant
species in a temperate region” from 1988 was an
invited “Special Paper,” and it was the first summary-
type paper that we wrote on seed dormancy and
germination. In this paper, we summarized our
own data on germination phenology (274 species)
and dormancy breaking experiments (179 species),
including winter annuals, summer annuals,
monocarpic perennials and polycarpic perennials.
From the experience of writing this paper, we
realized the value of synthesizing information on
seed dormancy and germination, and this was part
of our inspiration to write a book on seeds.
“Ethylene as a possible cue for seed germination
of Schoenoplectus hallii (Cyperaceae), a rare
summer annual of occasionally flooded sites”
from 2003—Schoenoplectus hallii is a rare summer
annual bulrush of eastern/central USA, and its
seeds germinate in depressions (often in cultivated
fields) in wet springs. It took 10 years to figure
out the seed germination ecology of this species.
Freshly matured seeds are dormant and require
the cold moist (but not flooded) conditions of
winter for dormancy to be broken. In spring,
the nondormant seeds will germinate if they are
exposed to relatively high temperatures, light,
flooding and ethylene (produced in the field when
soils are flooded). If any one of these requirements
is not met, seeds enter conditional dormancy
and must go through another winter before they
potentially could germinate. Thus, seeds live in
the soil for many years and only germinate when a
depression has water in the spring. Although seeds
of some species will germinate under the same
environmental conditions that break dormancy,
those of S. hallii require one set of conditions to
break dormancy and another set of conditions to
promote germination.
Your latest article in the AJB was “Temperature
regulates positively photoblastic seed
germination in four Ficus (Moraceae) tree species
from contrasting habitats in a seasonal tropical
rainforest” in 2013. Please tell us how the thread
of your research has changed over time.
Our early studies on seed germination ecology
were mostly conducted on herbaceous species
that grew in temperate eastern North America,
primarily Tennessee and Kentucky. We studied
species that grew in a wide variety of habitats,
including cedar glades and other rock outcrops,
forests, roadsides, fields and pastures. Eventually,
we worked in collaboration with people in other
parts of the USA and from other countries on
species outside our home range.
In the 1980s, while writing our book “Seeds:
Ecology, biogeography, and evolution of dormancy
and germination,” we undertook a survey of
the world biogeography of seed dormancy and
collected information from all the major vegetation
types on earth; we had data for 3580 species. Since
publication of our book in 1998, we have continued
to collect information on the biogeography of
seed dormancy and in collaboration with many
colleagues continued studies on seed germination
ecology of species growing in various places.
A second edition of our book was published in
early in 2014, and it contains information for more
than 14,000 species. Information on the world
biogeography of seed dormancy has stimulated
us to have a deep interest in the evolutionary
origins and relationships of the various kinds of
seed dormancy (and nondormancy). Recently, in
collaboration with people in the National Center
for Evolutionary Synthesis (Duke University),
our data for about 13,000 species in 281 families
have been analyzed from a dormancy transition
perspective. Thus, we have expanded our research
interests from the timing of germination of seeds in
the cedar glades to middle Tennessee to the world
biogeography and evolutionary relationships of the
different kinds of seed dormancy.
In looking back over the course of your
research, what areas have you consistently
explored? What areas did you not expect to
explore?
We have consistently been interested in seed
dormancy/germination ecology. We never
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
Why have you chosen AJB as one of the journals in which you’ve published throughout your career?
We have long been members of the Botanical Society of America and think the American Journal of
Botany is a very good journal. Thus, when we published a paper in AJB we felt that our standing as
scientists was increased.
Jerry and Carol Baskin, 2012.
Tod Stuessy
Long-time BSA member Tod Stuessy (for the past
47 years!) has contributed over 30 articles to the AJB
in his career. Stuessy, a BSA Merit Award winner in
1999, shared his thoughts on the research over his
career.
The first article you published in AJB was
“
Chromosome Numbers and Phylogeny in
Melampodium (Compositae)
” in 1971. Take us
back to that period; what were you studying/most
interested in at the time?
My first article in the AJB was part of my
Ph.D. thesis at the University of Texas at Austin. I
continued working on aspects of the genus when
arriving at Ohio State in 1968, and in fact, we are
now still working on the group using molecular
methods. I remember very well the thrill of having
this paper published in AJB. It was sole authored,
as many papers were then, and I felt really proud to
have it in one of the mainstream botanical journals.
Your latest article in the AJB was “
Genetic
variation (AFLPs and nuclear microsatellites) in
two anagenetically derived endemic species of
Myrceugenia (Myrtaceae) on the Juan Fernández
Islands, Chile
” in 2013. How has the thread of
your research changed over time?
For the past 30 years we have been working on
the evolution and biogeography of the endemic
plants of the Juan Fernández (Robinson Crusoe)
Islands, off the coast of Chile. My interest in island
biology came from reading the book “Island Life”
by Sherwin Carlquist. It seemed to me then, and
still seems to me now, that these isolated land
masses would be great places to investigate the
process of evolution. Furthermore, there is a bit of
adventure working in isolated places, and the Juan
Fernández Islands are certainly that!
In looking back over the course of your
research, what areas have you consistently
explored? What areas did you not expect to
explore?
I have maintained an interest in the classification
and evolution of Compositae, and I have chosen
to work mainly in groups of the family in Latin
America, beginning in Mexico, then into Central
America, and finally in southern South America
into Argentina and Chile. Then there is my interest
in island biology already mentioned. I have also
maintained a strong interest in the principles and
methods of biological classification and continue to
publish on this topic.
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
In looking back at all of the articles you’ve
published in AJB, which one or two stand out
above the others and why?
Quite frankly, I don’t feel that any one of
the articles I published in the AJB is more
significant than the others. I think that this is
because I remember the persons and places that
accompanied these papers, and these are personal
recollections and have little to do with the science
in the papers themselves. I suppose that the paper
most cited is the one on Paeonies with Tao Sang
and Dan Crawford (“Chloroplast DNA phylogeny,
reticulate evolution, and biogeography of Paeonia
(Paeoniaceae)” from 1997).
Why have you chosen AJB as one of the
journals in which you’ve published throughout
your career?
As a botanist, I value my membership in the
Botanical Society of America. Hence, I also
value publishing in this journal, which has always
maintained a high (but not unrealistic) level of
quality.
Ruth Stockey
Oregon State University
Ruth Stockey has been a member of the BSA for
over 40 years and was presented with the BSA Merit
Award in 2006. She has just published her 32
nd
AJB
article, and she shared her thoughts on her research
over the years.
The first article you published in AJB was
“Seeds and Embryos of Araucaria mirabilis” in
1975. What were you studying/most interested in
during that period?
I wrote this article as a part of my Master’s
thesis. At that time, I was studying araucarian
conifers from the Cerro Cuadrado Petrified Forest
of Patagonia and collecting living araucarian
specimens in Australia and New Caledonia. My
detailed anatomical work on permineralized fossil
plants started during the 1970s, a theme that I have
continued in many of my papers since. Ironically,
in 2012 I published a paper (“Seed cone anatomy
of Cheirolepidiaceae (Coniferales): Reinterpreting
Pararaucaria patagonica Wieland”) with Ignacio
Escapa and Gar Rothwell on fossils from this same
site where we reinterpreted the material described
my third paper (“Reproductive biology of the Cerro
Cuadrado (Jurassic) fossil conifers: Pararaucaria
patagonica” in 1977). With the discovery of
new and better preserved fossils, we were able to
demonstrate that Pararaucaria was a member of
the extinct conifer family Cheirolepidiaceae and
provided the first anatomical description of cones
from this family that has been known mostly from
compression fossils lacking anatomical detail.
Your latest article in the AJB was
“Hughmillerites vancouverensis sp. nov. and the
Cretaceous diversification of Cupressaceae” in
2014. Tell us how the thread of your research has
changed over time.
My areas of research have changed considerably
over the past 35 years. I started with conifer
reproductive biology. Research on coal balls in
the early days changed to include compression/
impression fossils and permineralized cherts
from Alberta and British Columbia when I
moved to Canada. Fossil plants from the Jurassic,
Carboniferous, Cretaceous, Paleocene, Eocene
and Pliocene have been investigated. Upland
conifer fossils gave way to aquatic flowering plants
including Lythraceae, Araceae, Saururaceae,
Nymphaeaceae, and Limnocharitaceae, and finally
research on fossil ferns, bryophytes and fungi.
Dr. Tod Stuessy collecting plant specimens
at Laguna Laja, Chile, in 1988.
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
In looking back over the course of your
research, what areas have you consistently
explored? What areas did you not expect to
explore?
I expected to explore conifer research, which
evolved from studies of Araucariaceae to
Pinaceae, Podocarpaceae, Cheirolepidiaceae and
Cupressaceae. I never expected to study fossil fungi,
which turned out to be some of the best preserved
material in the Middle Eocene Princeton Chert
from British Columbia and our newer site at Apple
Bay.
In looking back at all of the articles you’ve
published in AJB, which one or two stand out
above the others and why?
A couple of papers stand out in my mind because
of the interest they aroused, including “The role of
Hydropteris pinnata in reconstructing cladistics of
heterosporous ferns” in 1994 with Gar Rothwell
in which we demonstrated the monophylesis of
heterosporous aquatic ferns and the parent plant
for dispersed Parazolla spores. The plants were
rooted aquatic ferns with pinnate fronds that bore
spores inside bisexual sporocarps like Marsileaceae,
with spores like those of Salviniaceae.
Secondly would be the papers in the 2009
Darwin Bicentennial Special Issue that I co-edited
with Sean Graham and Peter Crane. For me,
“Distinguishing angiophytesfrom angiosperms: a
Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian-Hauterivian) fruit-
like reproductive structure” is a significant study
that will become more important when we describe
the entire structure (now found since the paper
was published). The seed containing structures
(“cupules”) are now known to be attached to axes
in compound cone-like structures with short
shoots in the axils of bracts. In turn, these short
shoots bear two leaves that wrap around single
tetrahedral seeds. The seeds were pollinated using
a pollination droplet and bisaccate pollen. Doylea
tetrahedrasperma will soon be placed into a new
order of gymnosperms.
Why have you chosen AJB as one of the
journals in which you’ve published throughout
your career?
The journal has always been very highly regarded
in our field and now with “impact factors,” this
still remains true and can be quantified. I always
liked the quality of the illustrations, which in
paleobotany are extremely important. In addition,
time to publication has always been good.
Jack B. Fisher
University of British
Columbia
Dr. Jack Fisher has been a BSA member for nearly
50 years and earned the BSA Merit Award in 2003.
He has published in the AJB for the past 44 years,
and he spoke about his research and publications in
that time.
The first article you published in AJB was
“Development of the Intercalary Meristem of
Cyperus alternifolius” in 1970. Take us back
to that period; what were you studying/most
interested in at the time?
This was part of my PhD thesis, carried out in the
lab of Prof. Elizabeth Cutter, who was a pioneer in
the field of morphogenesis. It was the hot topic in
plant development at that time. I was interested in
the effects of plant growth regulators on monocots
and enjoyed experimental plant anatomy.
Your latest article in the AJB was “Gelatinous
fibers and variant secondary growth related to
stem undulation and contraction in a monkey
ladder vine, Bauhinia glabra (Fabaceae)” in 2014.
How has the thread of your research changed
over time?
Most of my career was spent as a researcher
at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, with
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
its excellent collection of tropical plant life. My
continuing interest was in plant development and
structure but emphasized topics of interest to the
Garden or in collaboration with other botanists-
--ranging from tree architecture, liana xylem
anatomy and hydraulics, to descriptive palm
anatomy. I always felt very lucky to be working in
a garden surrounded by fascinating plants and by
people who appreciated them.
In looking back over the course of your
research, what areas have you consistently
explored? What areas did you not expect to
explore?
In most of my studies, I’ve been drawn to
understanding how a structure develops into its
shape and what its function might be. Also, I have
a general love of microscopes and the beauty of
plant tissues. Perhaps my most unexpected area of
botanical study was tree architecture and computer
simulations of tree forms. This occurred only
because of a chance contact and later collaboration
with Hisao Honda, a Japanese biophysicist. We
complemented each other with a mix of botanical
and computer strengths.
Of all the articles you’ve published in AJB,
which one stands out above the others and why?
I value the paper on comparing the xylem of vine
and tree forms of Gnetum done in collaboration
with Frank Ewers (“Vessel Dimensions in Liana
and Tree Species of Gnetum [Gnetales]” in 1995)
because it was recognized with the BSA’s Michael
Cichan Award.
Why have you chosen AJB as one of the
journals in which you’ve published throughout
your career?
First, to support the Botanical Society
of America as my professional society. But
equally, to have my work seen by colleagues
throughout the world who respect the journal.
The fine quality of the printing lets me present
my photomicrographs to their best quality.
Peter Raven
Peter Raven needs very little introduction! As
President Emeritus of the Missouri Botanical Garden
and a noted “Hero for the Planet” by Time magazine,
Dr. Raven has contributed nearly 30 articles to the
AJB throughout his career. Dr. Raven has been a
BSA member for 55 years, served as BSA President
in 1975, and earned the BSA Merit Award in 1977.
He spoke recently about his research in the journal.
The first article you published in AJB was
“
Chromosome numbers in Compositae I.
Astereae
” in 1960. Take us back to that period;
where were you, what were you doing, and what
were you studying/most interested in at the time?
When I was a graduate student at UCLA, I was
studying the Onagraceae, plants now referred to
the genus Chylismia, with Harlan Lewis; Mildred
Mathias, Daniel I. Axelrod, and Henry J. Thompson
were among the members of my committee. I was
busy with the group on which I was writing my
dissertation, but starting to branch out into broader
aspects of evolution in the family. M. Kurabayashi
visited Harlan’s laboratory in 1959-60, my last year
there, and we worked on the morphology of the
chromosomes in the family, publishing an article
describing how their morphology changed during
the course of meiosis and revealing patterns that
seemed to be correlated with the complex structural
heterozygosity in the family but which have not
yet been explained satisfactorily at a molecular
or structural level. At the same time, we graduate
students were counting chromosomes in the family
Asteraceae (Compositae) and finding interesting
Dr. Peter Raven while teaching at Stanford Univer-
sity in the 1960s.
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
patterns in number and morphology. I collected all
the species I could get my hands on, and with the
collaboration of Don Kyhos eventually published
a long series of articles including hundreds of new
chromosome counts.
Your most recent article in the AJB was the
introduction
to the
Special Issue on Biodiversity
in 2011. How has the thread of your research
changed over time?
What we used to call biosystematics, in which the
role of chromosome number and morphology was
of central importance, has become less fashionable
and fewer people know how to count chromosomes
or bother to do so---a pity. Now nucleic acid
analyses of sequences or even whole genomes
are stressed, to learn more much more efficiently.
The chromosome work is still valid, as is artificial
hybridization, which tells so much about the nature
of species in various groups of plants. Along the
way I collaborated a lot with Hiroshi Tobe, recently
retired as Chairman at the Botany Department,
Kyoto University, and
one of the runs of papers in
AJB
reflects that collaboration.
Since I moved from Stanford to the Missouri
Botanical Garden in 1971, I have focused more
on floristics, producing work not suitable for
publication in AJB, since floristics could be carried
out efficiently with the major herbarium and library
at MBG, and especially on conservation worldwide.
When I published my first paper in the journal, it
was not obvious that special efforts were needed for
conservation, whereas now it is completely obvious.
In looking back over the course of your
research, what areas have you consistently
explored? What areas did you not expect to
explore?
Plant systematics and evolution were my major
focus from the mid-1950s to about 1980, and
then I turned almost exclusively to floristics and
conservation, and finding support for others. I
had no idea until the mid-1960s that conservation
would become such an important part of my career,
and neither did anyone else, for the most part.
In looking back at all of the articles you’ve
published in AJB, which one stands out above the
others and why?
The joint article with Lewis and Kurabayashi
on mitotic chromosomes in Onagraceae (“
A
Comparative Study of Mitosis in the Onagraceae
”
from 1962) seems to me to have been the most
important in that it began to solve a problem of
general importance. Others in AJB have mostly
been parts of large fields of knowledge.
Why have you chosen AJB as one of the
journals in which you’ve published throughout
your career?
Excellent circulation, reputation, and format,
one of relatively few options when I began my
career, and now better than ever.
Dr. Peter Raven.
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BSA Science Education
News and Notes
BSA Science Education News and Notes is a quarterly update about the BSA’s education efforts and the
broader education scene. We invite you to submit news items or ideas for future features. Contact: Catrina
Adams, Acting Director of Education, at CAdams@botany.org or Marshall Sundberg, PSB Editor, at psb@</p>
botany.org.
21
st
Century Challenge:
Opening Student’s Eyes to
Plants in Their World
—Dr. Catrina Adams, Acting Education Director, BSA
It is a warm fall day and I’m standing behind a
booth at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s popular
“Prairie Day” event running a classic outreach
activity: guess the natural object based on touch
alone. A 9-year-old gets a quizzical look on her
face as she reaches into the “mystery box.” She
takes the egg-shaped object in her hand, and runs
her fingers over the papery scales. “Oh!” she says,
“It’s an acorn!” Pulling the pinecone out of the box,
she confirms her guess with a smile, “Definitely an
acorn.” Now I’m the one perplexed—this is the third
child today making the same misidentification.
Perhaps you have noticed students arriving in
your botany classes with very little background
knowledge about plants. As Lena Struwe put it in
an interview for a recent article on Plant Blindness
in the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Many times I have to
start from scratch. This is a petal. This is a leaf. This
is a branch.”
The September issue of CBE Life Sciences
Education has a special focus on plant science
teaching and learning and is well worth a read.
In the article “Attention ‘Blinks’ Differently for
Plants and Animals,” authors Benjamin Balas and
Jennifer Momsen apply the “attentional blink,”
an established paradigm in visual cognition, to
investigate differences in visual perception of plants
and animals. They find that plants do not capture
our attention in the same way as animals; it’s harder
to notice plants. The authors offer three ways
instructors can help students overcome perceptual
biases against plants:
1. Directly address plant blindness in instruction.
2. Increase opportunities for students to actively
attend to plants in their environment.
3. Present plant images simultaneously with text
or narration.
It’s not just students who are inattentive to plants.
Part of the problem is that many K-12 teachers do
not feel as prepared to teach about plants to their
students, and favor using animal examples to
address core concepts in biology. When surveyed
through Horizon Research’s National Survey of
Science and Mathematics Education about how
well qualified they felt to teach five fundamental
topics, high school biology teachers reported being
least confident about plant biology. Only 59% of
biology teachers report ever having had a course in
botany.
As botanists, we can make a difference by
building bridges between levels of education, and
by reaching out to younger audiences and their
teachers to share our passion for plants. What can
you do to help others pay attention to, appreciate,
and become curious about the plants that they
currently pass obliviously every day?
Could you share learning activities you’ve
developed with a broader audience through the
PlantED Digital Library?
Could you spare a few hours to communicate with
middle- and high-school student teams through
PlantingScience? Mentoring with PlantingScience
requires a small time commitment (about an hour
a week for 2-8 weeks when teams are active), with
a flexible schedule. The best part is that you don’t
need to leave your office to make a difference in
the lives of students and teachers from around the
world. We’re recruiting mentors for the upcoming
spring session until January 31. To register as a new
mentor, go to http://www.plantingscience.org.
Perhaps you are already doing outreach, having
broad impacts with your research, or volunteering
your time to local efforts. If so, please let us know
about your efforts so we can inspire other members
at cadams@botany.org!
We all know how critical plants will be to facing
this century’s global challenges. Let’s ground our
future leaders, professionals, and citizens with a
greener vision of the world around them and help
open their eyes to plants.
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
Youngest Gardeners Learn to
Love Plants
Joan Hudson is passionate about bringing
plant awareness and appreciation to the youngest
audiences, volunteering her time to design and
deliver garden programs for pre-K 4- and 5-year-
olds at the Gibbs Pre-K Center of the Huntsville
Independent School District in Huntsville, TX. She
and the other garden volunteers there involve the
young students in experiencing the garden using all
five senses.
“I just love going to the preK and working with the
many students each week. They all have a smile
when they come to the garden… It is very rewarding
– they are the next generation.”
Members Share Their Passion
for Science and Plants by
Mentoring
“I am a very scientific-minded guy with new ideas
everyday. I’m always interested in how things work
and how things are put together. I am not a very
plant oriented student and I never thought about
planting anything in my life. I rest the future of
plants in your hands.” – Quote from Planting-
Science student to scientist mentor
Middle- and high-school years are an important
time to capture students’ interest in science and in
plants, which unfortunately are underrepresented
in many K-12 classrooms. During these years
students are doing a lot of self-identification,
finding their interests and beginning to think of
themselves as “good at science” or “not good at
science.” It’s a critical time to influence students
and break through negative stereotypes about
what science is and who scientists are, and give
them a taste of what it is like to practice authentic
science, including the creative thinking required to
troubleshoot experimental designs and make sense
of data.
This past summer we had the opportunity to talk
with several PlantingScience mentors, and asked:
“Why spend your time mentoring middle- and
high-school students online?”
Dr. Rupesh Kariyat of the University of Wyoming
was a mentor with Planting Science in the beginning
years and was excited with the opportunities it
offered not only the students, but also the science
community. He believes the program has the ability
to encourage students to study science. “I never had
such an opportunity to interact with a scientist,” he
said, “and to design and execute an experiment.”
“We get the cool science,” Kariyat said. “No other
science gets this opportunity.”
Klara Scharnagl, a mycologist with Michigan
State University, has been a scientist with Planting
Science for 2½ years, and enjoys infusing an
enthusiasm for plant science in the next generation.
She gets excited about engaging people in the
discussion of what they grow and eat. In the context
that people “generally don’t know the plants in
their own backyard,” Scharnagl says the important
discussion of loss of diversity is a long way off,
but botanists have a good place to start when they
can educate young people on the basics of plant
production.
One thing PlantingScience is particularly good
at, most of the mentors agree, is showing students
that scientists are real people.
“Children picture a scientist,” Scharnagl said,
“or some version of a scientist.” That image may
be Albert Einstein or any number of caricatures of
scientists shown in the media. Then the student
meets the botanist in PlantingScience via the
mentor’s online profile and conversation or Skype
and the image becomes more real.
“It changes what people think scientists are,
and we become real people with families, pets and
hobbies.” And, students get a real look at what
botany looks like as a career. That, say the scientists,
may have a real impact on whether students start
thinking about science as a future career choice.
Dr. Emily Sessa of the University of Florida is
enthusiastic about science outreach into all levels,
including elementary education. “It teaches
important skills, including critical thinking,” she
says. “If you give a little kid a microscope, it opens
up a whole new world. It might change their life. It
is really powerful if you introduce a child to science
at a young age.”
St. Louis University’s Dr. Allison Miller is also
convinced that plants can be a hugely important
vehicle for thinking about science, but even more
important, for how we think about life on the planet.
The connections among plants, conservation, food,
and society, she explains, have created a perfect
storm of information need that botanists can fill.
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
Active young scientists like Angela Rein
McDonnell, the new student representative
on BSA’s Board, have stepped up to work on
PlantingScience. “I am interested in being a better
communicator and learning to explain complicated
things,” she said of the program.
Talking to the middle- and high-school students
is fun for her. “They are excited to hear what I think,
and that makes me excited.”
The program “grows an awareness of plants and
their value to the world,” explained McDonnell,
who herself was inspired by her father who grew a
large garden throughout her youth.
The chance to change science literacy in the next
generation is a bright beacon for botanists. Andrew
Schnabel of Indiana University South Bend says he
got involved in the PlantingScience program at its
inception, believing that “participation is important
for botany.”
“Most students coming into the university have
little background in plants. It will help if we can
get some younger children educated.” Part of that
education, Schnabel said, is showing them the
plethora of jobs that exist in botany. “There are
thousands of jobs for plant biologists.”
It’s just a matter of taking the opportunity to open
the discussion with the upcoming generations, say
these scientists.
(Thanks to Janice Dahl, Great Story!, for her help
with this segment.)
PLANTED DIGITAL LIBRARY: WE
NEED YOUR BEST RESOURCES
Many of you are already engaging your own
students with plants and have phenomenal
education resources that you’ve seen impact
the students in your classes. Why not spend an
afternoon polishing these stellar resources and
share them with a broader audience online? The
PlantED digital library is accepting submissions.
Share your best lessons with teachers and
professors around the world and get the satisfaction
of knowing you are impacting many more students
than you can reach through your own classes.
PlantED is a peer-reviewed library of teaching
resources. The peer-review process helps you refine
your resource with feedback from reviewers and
you will have a citable teaching resource when the
materials are published online. To contribute, visit
planted.botany.org.
Check out these recently
published resources from the
library:
Chemical Competition in Peatlands
Jon Swanson, Edwin O. Smith High School
Jessica Budke and Bernard Goffinet, Univer-
sity of Connecticut
These lab exercises were designed to enhance
students’ understanding of the concept of chemical
competition in ecology. They use the moss
Sphagnum to illustrate the concept, which shows
students that competition occurs between plants.
Phylogenetic Approach to Teaching
Plant Diversity
Phil Gibson and Joshua Cooper, University
of Oklahoma
Educators can use this resource as an opportunity
for students to collect structural data that can be
used to construct phylogenies, combine structural
and molecular data to construct phylogenies, gain
experience in phylogeny construction, and provide
a meaningful framework to learn the characteristics
of major terrestrial plant groups.
TOOLS FOR 21
st
CENTURY
BIOLOGY TEACHING
What is 21
st
Century Biology?
The Keynote Panel at the recent Life Discovery
Conference aimed to answer that question and to
challenge us meet 21st century biology teaching
challenges. You can view a pdf of the presentation
here: http://www.esa.org/ldc/wp-content/
uploads/2014/10/2014-LDC-Keynote.pdf
Panelists Janet Carlson and Susan Singer
brought together biology education reform efforts
from K-12 and higher education to show the
common themes. As they demonstrate, “weaving
meaningful connections across STEM learning is
beginning to echo across all levels of education.”
The panelists challenged us to see STEM focus not
as content-specific, but rather as epistemic – “the
sources, strategies, or practices from which science
knowledge comes and, in turn, is shared.” In other
words, we should be focused on communicating
the “how” of biology, not the “what.”
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
The Keynote ended with a call to action. You can
be an agent of change by:
1. Crossing boundaries between K-12 and
institutions of higher education, talking with each
other and respecting each other’s strengths.
2. Being ready for students coming from a Next-
Generation Science Standards background who are
primed to understand cross-cutting themes and the
practices of science.
3. Thinking differently about undergraduate
biology: revisit core ideas in increasing depth,
build connections between ideas and disciplines,
carefully construct a storyline and help learners
construct and build explanations using evidence.
A Pedagogical Framework for
Screencasting
Some of you may have participated in the
Coursera MOOC “An Introduction to Evidence-
Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching,” a seven-
week course this fall that explored effective
teaching strategies for college STEM classrooms. If
you missed the course, this video series by Robert
Talbert of Grand Valley State University, developed
as a part of the course, describes the pedagogical
framework for screencasting as part of a flipped-
instruction model. If you’ve considered presenting
lectures outside of your classroom for any reason,
you may find this video a helpful resource: http://
tinyurl.com/k3efayr.
Inquiring About Plants
Don’t miss Uno, Sundberg and Hemingway’s
“Inquiring About Plants: A Practical Guide
to Engaging Science Practices,” which offers
classroom-tested “tricks of the trade” for drawing
students into the practice of science. All proceeds
from the sale of the $10.95 e-book will benefit the
PlantingScience program. Print copies are available
with a donation. For details or to get your copy, see
http://www.plantingscience.org.
www.plantingscience.org
200
Editor’s Choice
What Does Online Mentorship of Secondary Science Students Look Like?
By Adams, Catrina T. and Claire A. Hemingway.
2014. BioScience 64(11): 1042-1051.
Abstract:
Mentorship by scientists can enrich learning opportunities for secondary science students,
but how scientists perform these roles is poorly documented. We examine a partnership in which plant
scientists served as online mentors to teams conducting plant investigations. In our content analysis of
170 conversations, the mentors employed an array of scaffolding techniques (encouraging; helping clarify
goals, ideas, and procedures; and supporting reflection), with social discourse centrally embedded and
fundamental to the mentoring relationship. The interplay of techniques illustrates that scientist mentors
harmonize multiple dimensions of learning and model the integration of science content and practice. The
mentors fulfilled self-identified motivation to promote their students’ interest and to enculturate students
to the science community through online discourse. The patterns of this discourse varied with the mentors’
gender, career stage, and team–mentor engagement. These findings address research gaps about the roles,
functions, and conceptions of scientists as online mentors; they can be used to guide program facilitation
and new research directions.
201
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Personalia
In
Memorium
William A. Jensen
1927-2014
Dr. William August “Bill” Jensen, Ph.D., 87,
passed away quietly on September 9, 2014 at the
Sanctuary Facility in Dublin, Ohio after a long
illness.
Bill led a very distinguished and full
professional life. He received his Ph.B. (1948),
M.S. (1950) and Ph.D. (1953) all from the
University of Chicago. During his Ph.D. he held
Atomic Energy and Public Health predoctoral
fellowships at the University of Chicago and
Carlsberg Laboratory in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Just before he began his undergraduate program at
the University of Chicago, Bill was drafted into the
service at the end of the World War II. He never
saw active duty but worked in an army hospital lab.
He continued in the reserves during his schooling
and returned to Europe to the Carlsberg Lab (with
Prof. Heinz Holter) in Copenhagen where he
completed his Ph.D. research. During his graduate
work he married his first wife Joan Sell and they
explored Europe and this set the stage for his future
love for travelling to many places in the world.
Upon returning from Europe, he carried out
postdoctoral work at the California Institute of
Technology (with Profs. Arthur Galston and
James Bonner) (1953-55) and in the laboratory
of Prof. Jean Brachet in Brussels, Belgium (1955-
56). He then accepted an Assistant Professorship
at the University of Virginia (1956-57) and then
the same at the University of California, Berkeley
(1957) where he quickly rose through the ranks
to Professor of Botany. During his tenure at UC-
Berkeley, he held positions of Chairman of the
Department of Botany and also of Instruction in
Biology, as well as Assistant and Associate Dean
of the College of Letters and Science. In 1973-
74, he was Program Director of Developmental
Biology at the National Science Foundation. Bill
was invited to move to Ohio State University,
Columbus in 1984 where he became Dean of
Biological Sciences (1984-1999) and Professor
of Plant Biology until his retirement in 2009.
Bill was a man of many talents and interests. His
early professional interests were in the areas of
cell differentiation associated with plant embryos
and embryo sac development which led him to
combine techniques of histochemistry and electron
microscopy, pioneering approaches at that time.
From this work he became a sole author of the
still popular book Botanical Histochemistry (1962).
He mentored numerous graduate students and
postdoctoral fellows who hold and have held major
teaching and research positions at institutions of
higher learning in the United States, Canada and
Europe. His research has been published in over 100
articles in a variety of excellent journals, including
14 articles in the American Journal of Botany.
Throughout his career, he developed a passion for
teaching at both the graduate and undergraduate
levels and received several important awards for
these efforts from the University of California and
the Ohio State University and the Charles E. Bessey
Award from the Botanical Society of America. At
the Ohio State University in his later years he taught
very popular large classes to non-science majors
that enjoyed his portrayals of famous scientists
and his multimedia presentations. His authoring
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
of entry-level texts in General Botany and
General Biology supported this love for making
botany and biology fun and understandable.
Bill gave generously to professional societies such
as AAAS, the Botanical Society of America, and
the American Institute of Biological Sciences.
He was a Fellow of AAAS and the California
Academy of Sciences, and received the Merit
Award (Distinguished Fellow) from the Botanical
Society of America where he served in a variety
of capacities including its President in 1978.
From an early age when he joined the high
school science club because of his interests
in biology, botany and microscopes, as well
as playing the clarinet, to his adult life where
biology, botany and microscopes continued to
be focal points, Bill was always enthusiastic,
curious, questioning, and pushing-the-envelope
kind of person who loved challenges and always
expected the best from himself and others.
His insatiable curiosity and talent for creating
beautiful, abstract, color pen drawings of images
he had studied with his electron microscope
became his passion in later years. He loved doing
them, displayed them at art shows, sold them and
sometimes gave them away as gifts. Prof. Jensen, ‘Bill’,
you lived a full life, trained, mentored and taught
countless young people to love botany and biology.
You did this with dignity, humor, humbly and with
a deep-seated love for humankind. Such a legacy
will live on through your dear wife Beverly, your
family, friends and colleagues for many years to
come. We will miss you.
---Dr. Jack Horner
Dr. and Mrs. Jensen exhibiting his artwork at Botany 2013 in New Orleans.
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
Redesigned Hunt Institute
Website at New URL
PITTSBURGH, PA—All things must come to
an end. Although huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu has
served the Hunt Institute well since 1997, it is time
for a change. With our redesigned and reorganized
website, we are migrating to a new URL (www.
huntbotanical.org).
We conducted a site-wide content review and
reorganization and turned to Mizrahi, Inc. (www.
mizrahionline.com) of Pittsburgh for a new look
and a better way to maintain and update the site.
Most of the content from our old site has been
incorporated into the new one. The reorganization
and new design just make it more accessible. Also,
we have augmented the new site with exciting,
additional content. All issues of Huntia, our journal
of botanical history, and the Bulletin, our newsletter,
are now available online as PDFs. Other relevant,
out-of-print publications will be added soon.
Descriptions are available for every exhibition since
our first public one in 1963. Publicity images and
checklists will be added to these Past Exhibitions
pages in the coming months. We added Virtues and
Pleasures of Herbs through History to the Exhibitions
Online section and revamped Botanists’ Art. Order
from Chaos will be undergoing a content review
and redesign in the future. Our existing databases
have been upgraded. We are pleased to announce
the launch of the long-awaited Archives’ database,
Register of Botanical Biography and Iconography.
We continue to add thumbnail images to the
Catalogue of the Botanical Art Collection at the
Hunt Institute database. The public domain images
will soon be available in a separate database to speed
downloading. Our marketing information has been
collected in an aptly named section where we invite
everyone to “Get Involved” with the Institute.
About the Institute
The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation,
a research division of Carnegie Mellon University,
specializes in the history of botany and all aspects of
plant science and serves the international scientific
community through research and documentation.
To this end, the Institute acquires and maintains
authoritative collections of books, plant images,
manuscripts, portraits and data files, and provides
publications and other modes of information
service. The Institute meets the reference needs of
botanists, biologists, historians, conservationists,
librarians, bibliographers and the public at large,
especially those concerned with any aspect of the
North American flora.
Hunt Institute was dedicated in 1961 as the
Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt Botanical Library,
an international center for bibliographical
research and service in the interests of botany
and horticulture, as well as a center for the study
of all aspects of the history of the plant sciences.
By 1971 the Library’s activities had so diversified
that the name was changed to Hunt Institute for
Botanical Documentation. Growth in collections
and research projects led to the establishment
of four programmatic departments: Archives,
Art, Bibliography and the Library. The current
collections include approximately 24,000+
portraits; 200+ archival collections; 29,504
watercolors, drawings and prints; 243,000+ data
files; and 30,429 book and serial titles. The Archives
specializes in biographical information about, and
portraits of, scientists, illustrators and all others in
the plant sciences and houses over 200 collections
of correspondence, field notes, manuscripts and
other writings. Including artworks dating from
the Renaissance, the Art Department’s collection
now focuses on contemporary botanical art and
illustration, where the coverage is unmatched. The
Art Department organizes and stages exhibitions,
including the triennial International Exhibition
of Botanical Art & Illustration. The Bibliography
Department maintains comprehensive data files on
the history and bibliography of botanical literature.
Known for its collection of historical works on
botany dating from the late 1400s to the present, the
Library’s collection focuses on the development of
botany as a science and also includes herbals (eight
are incunabula), gardening manuals and florilegia,
many of them pre-Linnaean. Modern taxonomic
monographs, floristic works and serials as well as
selected works in medical botany, economic botany,
landscape architecture and a number of other
plant-related topics are also represented.
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
WARF Innovation Award
Winners Harness A Busy Virus,
Help Crops Bask In The Shade
Plant research reigns at the
annual prize ceremony
MADISON, Wis. – A discovery that could
transform drug production and a fresh strategy for
feeding a hungry world have claimed top honors
from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
(WARF). The winning teams are led by professors
Aurelie Rakotondrafara and Richard Vierstra.
“We give these awards to recognize the creativity
and dedication that spark breakthroughs on
campus,” says Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director
of WARF.
This year’s prizewinners included a special
genetic sequence that could enable researchers to
produce multiple proteins from a single strand of
mRNA. The sequence, a type of internal ribosome
entry site (IRES), was discovered in a wheat virus
by UW–Madison plant pathologist Rakotondrafara
and collaborator Jincan Zhang.
“The new IRES is the first of its kind that can
be exploited in plant systems, with far-reaching
implications,” says Rakotondrafara. “The power to
express multiple genes at once could lead to better
biofuel crops and new drugs.”
The researchers found the special sequence
in the Triticum mosaic virus, which can express
its protein at a higher efficiency from its single
mRNA strand. Their discovery could change how
biopharmaceuticals are made, like the antibody
cocktail produced in tobacco plants currently being
used to treat Ebola victims.
A team led by genetics professor Vierstra also
received accolades for its work on light-sensing
plant proteins called phytochromes. These
photoreceptors play a key role in how plants
respond to shade, triggering developments such as
lanky stalks and immature fruit.
But phytochrome mutations created by Vierstra,
Ernest Burgie, Adam Bussell and Joseph Walker may
alter how plants react to their environment. That
could mean smaller crops capable of flourishing
in dense, low-light conditions, or making plants
flower and produce fruits and seeds at times of the
year when the weather might be better.
“To feed a surging world population, we’ll have
to rethink how we grow food,” says Vierstra. “This
research could be a major boon to agricultural
productivity.”
An independent panel of judges selected the
winners from a field of six finalists. These finalists
were drawn from among more than 400 invention
disclosures submitted to WARF over the past 12
months. The winning inventions each receive an
JOB OPENING
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR: BOTANY
Nine-month, tenure-track position, Department
of Biological Sciences, Emporia State University,
Emporia, KS. Ph.D. required by time of hire. Teach
plant taxonomy and lab, general biology, and
specialty courses that complement our existing
offerings at the undergraduate and graduate
level. Successful applicants will have experience
in plant systematics, plant community ecology,
or biogeography. Teaching experience desirable;
post-doctoral research experience desirable but not
required. Development of active research program
involving undergraduates and master’s-level
graduate students expected. Faculty typically teach
12 contact hours (or equivalent).
Starting date August 2015; Salary range: $50,000-
$53,000. Screening will begin January 13, 2015, and
continue until position is filled.
Send letter of application with separate statements
of teaching philosophy and research interests, CV,
unofficial transcripts, and four references including
address, telephone number, and e-mail address
to: Dr. Brenda Koerner, Search Committee Chair,
Department of Biological Sciences, Campus Box
4050, Emporia State University, Emporia, KS
66801-5415. Telephone: 620-341-5606; FAX: 620-
341-5607; e-mail: bkoerner@emporia.edu; website:
http://biology.emporia.edu.
An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity
Employer Institution, Emporia State University
encourages minorities and women to apply.
205
Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
BSA Membership: There’s No
Place Like Home
There’s no place like home if you’re a botanist.
And if you’re a botanist, there’s no place quite as
comfortable as the Botanical Society of America—
at least that’s what the scientists at Botany 2014 in
Boise, Idaho, had to say.
“I love BSA and the Botany Conference. It really
feels like family,” said Klara Scharnagl, a mycologist
from Michigan State University. “It is friendly,
open and people are willing to talk about ideas.”
She talked about the interesting mix of relaxed
professionalism, and the focus of BSA on building
up young scientists.
Dr. Marian Chau of the University of Hawai‘i
at Manoa Lyon Arboretum first got involved as
a student and said the welcoming atmosphere
hooked her. “You can walk up to anyone, even the
big names, and they will talk to you about their
research and yours,” she said. That genuine interest
in all kinds of botanical science and in scientists
at all career levels are things many BSA members
believe is unique about the Society.
“Plants are my life,” said Dr. Uromi Goodale of
Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanic Garden, Chinese
Academy of Sciences. “I couldn’t think of a better
conference to attend.” She’s been a member of BSA
and attending the conferences throughout her
career, focusing on development, networking and
training.
“I think it’s my responsibility, not only as a
scientist, but as a human being to mentor young
people willing to conserve and preserve what I call
‘green gold,’ the plants and water,” she says. Like
so many of her fellow scientists in BSA, she takes
that feeling to heart, spending every moment of the
Botany Conference talking and mentoring, hoping
to help take science to the next level through the
emotional connections made with people.
Dr. Kyra Krakos, Maryville University, sees BSA
as a way to turn science up a notch, from the student
right on up. She brings her own students to the
conferences to “introduce them to a broader world
of science without terrifying them. Attending (the
conference),” she says, “is when students decide
whether to go on into science or not.” Or even, she
explains, exactly where in science they might want
to go.
Krakos talks passionately about the effect BSA
has on its young people. “They speak science
better” after they come to a meeting. “They make
connections and contacts, and they make decisions
about their careers and course of study.”
For Dr. Emily Sessa of the University of Florida,
BSA is a fantastic place to find plant scientists with
different backgrounds and fields of scientific study.
“From the moment I leave one Botany Conference,
I am counting down the minutes to the next Botany
meeting,” she said with a laugh. “It’s a contagious
sort of environment.”
Why contagious? It’s a combination, she
says, of taking into account the education and
camaraderie. Sessa first came to BSA on a research
award as a graduate student, and talks about all the
opportunities that exist at all levels for scientists.
Dr. Allison Miller of St. Louis University’s
Biology Department echoes that sentiment,
coming to BSA as the winner of the Young
Botanist award as an undergraduate. Today, she
has a network built of friends from those first years,
with new friends added each and every year. “It
is a friendly, supportive and honest environment,
not competitive,” she said. “It becomes a place of
support, not only professionally, but personally. “
BSA member Kyra Krakos, University of Maryville-
St. Louis (top row, second from left) enjoying time
with some of her undergraduate students at Botany
2014: Adam Hoeft, Audra DeMariano, Adam Rork,
Ryan Hulsey, and Rebecca Girresch.
206
Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
Miller, like others, talked about the culture of
support and mentoring in the Society. “We all have
a huge responsibility to encourage a support people
through the rocky times and all the way through
their careers,” she said. “I have scientists here I seek
out even now. It is my responsibility to mentor
young scientists and my desire to seek out mentors.”
Networking is one way to start finding the people
who will impact your career, said Dr. Stacey Smith
of the University of Colorado, Boulder. “I always tell
my students, ‘The interview starts now.’ And it does.
As soon as you start connecting, all the foundations
you need through your career are right here at the
meeting,” she said.
“This is the group of people I am most comfortable
with,” Smith says. It has put her in contact with
some of the leading botanical scientists. As a result,
she has plotted her own career track to mirror
theirs and inspire high achievement for herself.
“You have to have a goal to aim for. All these people
had something they started with and made some
unique contributions… I can see how that path
could go.
“Having that community is hugely important,”
Smith says. “I encourage my students to go out into
that community and I can be confident they will
be well-received.” The community is broad-based,
including other students and scientists at every
stage of their careers.
Morgan Gostel, the past student representative
on the BSA Board from George Mason University,
also talked about the important role the community
plays. “There are other professionals I can network
with to share, collaborate and learn from. That
provides me an outlet for presenting and sharing
my research.” As a young scientist, that has meant
the ability to be part of a professional network, and
feeling tied-in to something important.”
If you have a colleague who isn’t a BSA member
at this point, direct him or her to http://botany.
org/membership/ or simply e-mail Heather
Cacanindin, Membership & Subscriptions Director,
at hcacanindin@botany.org.
—By Janice Dahl, Great Story!
Membership to the Society and attendance at annual Botany conferences---like this gathering at the final
night of Botany 2014 in Boise---open doors to future collaborations and even enduring friendships.
207
what can be done here and on other islands to,
hopefully, reverse habitat loss and stop the further
extinction of species.
Origins of the Hawaiian Islands
and their unique biota
The Hawaiian Islands are the most isolated,
large group of islands on Earth. North America
is the closest continent at about 4,000 km away.
The Marquesas Islands are the closest large group
of islands at a distance of about 3500 km from
Hawai‘i. The Hawaiian Islands are produced by a
nearly stationary volcanic hotspot that subtends the
Pacific tectonic plate and that is currently adding
fresh lava to the Island of Hawai‘i (aka: the Big
Island). As the Pacific plate moves to the northwest
at ca. 9 cm/year, the formation of each island ceases
and it slowly erodes into the sea over the course
of millennia. This hotspot has been active for at
least 80 million years and has produced what we
recognize today as the main Hawaiian Islands (i.e.,
from youngest to oldest: Hawai‘i, Kaho‘olawe, Maui,
Lana‘i, Moloka‘i, O‘ahu, Ni‘ihau, and Kaua‘i; 0 to ca.
5 million years old), the northwestern Hawaiian
Islands, and the Emperor Chain. The latter two
chains of islands represent former high islands that
are currently either just above sea level or below sea
level.
The interplay of two critical, environmental
factors has facilitated the evolution and
diversification of the Hawaiian biota: (1) Most of the
main islands reach elevations of at least 1000 m and
as high is 4200 m, and (2) at 19 to 20 degrees North
latitude, these high islands are within the northern
trade winds belt. This combination of nearly
constant easterly/northeasterly tropical winds with
middle to high elevations creates dramatic rainfall
gradients on both sides of mountains, including
drastic rain shadows, that present opportunities for
ecological and biotic evolution and diversification.
The known or estimated numbers of native
terrestrial species of all groups of organisms on the
Hawaiian Islands are low compared to similarly
sized regions in comparable habitats in mainland
tropical regions. The known number of flowering
plants is nearly 1100 species (W. L. Wagner, pers.
comm.), ferns and lycophytes 159 species (Vernon
& Ranker, 2013), and mosses 159 species (Staples
et al. 2004). By contrast, for example, the Mexican
state of Chiapas is about 1.7 times larger than the
Evolution and extinction on
a volcanic hotspot: Science,
conservation, and restoration
in the endangered species
capital of the world
Address of the BSA President
From Botany 2014
Tom A. Ranker
University of Hawai‘i
The theme chosen for the 2014 International
Day for Biological Diversity, sponsored by the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), was
Island Biodiversity, which coincided with the
designation by the United Nations General Assembly
of 2014 as the International Year of Small Island
Developing Nations. The CBD website provides a
succinct summary of the importance of biodiversity
on islands: “
Islands and their surrounding near-
shore marine areas constitute unique ecosystems
often comprising many plant and animal species
that are endemic—found nowhere else on Earth.
The legacy of a unique evolutionary history these
ecosystems are irreplaceable treasures” (
http://
www.cbd.int/idb/2014/). Not only do islands
present “irreplaceable treasures” of diversity,
unfortunately, they also present dramatic examples
of our current human-caused extinction crisis with
many islands experiencing some of the highest
rates of the loss of species due to direct or indirect
human activity. Fortunately, however, there is an
increasing awareness of the need for conservation
and restoration efforts on oceanic islands globally.
I have been conducting research on the flora
of the Hawaiian Islands for over 25 years. In
this presentation, I will summarize the primary
attributes of this archipelago that have both led to
the evolution and diversification of its unique biota
and to its massive loss of native ecosystems and
native species of plants and animals. The examples
provided by the Hawaiian Islands are reflective of
similar patterns and processes that have occurred
on many oceanic islands worldwide.
Lastly, I will highlight several examples of
conservation and restoration efforts and programs
present in the Hawaiian Islands to give a hint of
Reports
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
entirety of the Hawaiian Islands (simple.wikipedia.
org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_area) with a
broadly similar range of habitats but possesses
about 8000 species of vascular plants alone (Smith,
1981).
Certainly one of the most spectacular attributes
of the native Hawaiian biota is the high level of
species endemism. Here are some endemism
values: angiosperms, 89%; ferns and lycophytes,
74%; mosses, 51%; liverworts, 74%; arthropods,
99%; mollusks, 99%; birds, 81%. These are the
highest or among the highest of any place on the
planet. In addition, the Hawaiian Islands are home
to some of our most striking cases of adaptive
radiations. Among plants, the most species-rich
radiations from single colonizing ancestors include
the Silversword alliance (30 species, 3 endemic
genera; Asteraceae), the lobelioids (ca. 130 species,
6 endemic genera; Campanulaceae), and the
mallows (20 endemic species, 2 endemic genera;
Malvaceae) with each clade showing species with a
diversity of life forms and habits (e.g., see Wagner
et al., 1999).
Environmental destruction and
species extinctions
Humans first arrived in the Hawaiian Islands
approximately 1500 years ago. Since human
settlement, about 90% of the native dry forest has
been lost, 60% of mesic forest, and 40% of wet forest.
Before European contact (1778), 35 bird species
had been driven to extinction (e.g., see Armstrong,
1983) and the continued loss and degradation of
natural landscapes has led to numerous extinctions
in most groups of organisms with many additional
species currently on the brink of extinction. Over
half of vascular plant taxa are considered at risk
(Palmer, 2003; Sakai et al., 2002; Vernon & Ranker,
2013; Wagner et al., 1999), 10% of the native flora
has gone extinct since human arrival (Wagner et al.,
1999), and over 30% is federally listed as threatened
or endangered (www.fws.org). Over 40% of the
plant species listed as threatened or endangered in
the United States are native to the Hawaiian Islands
(www.fws.gov), which comprise only 0.2% of the
country’s land surface area.
Other than direct landscape modification by
human activity, the introduction of alien organisms
(accidentally or on purpose) has caused massive
changes to native ecosystems and has introduced
major threats to native species. More than 5000
introduced species have become established in
the Hawaiian Islands, many of them aggressive.
For example, 46% of vascular plants now common
on Hawaiian landscapes are introduced aliens;
43% of other terrestrial plant groups; 20–25% of
arthropods; 48% of other invertebrates; 27% of
birds; 95% of mammals; and, 100% of reptiles and
amphibians (i.e., Hawai‘i has no native reptiles or
amphibians but now has 33 species naturalized)
(see Juvik & Juvik, 1998).
Conservation and restoration
Numerous individuals, organizations, and
governmental agencies are engaged in conservation
and restoration efforts in the Hawaiian Islands
at both the level of individual species and at
landscape/ecosystem levels. Here I will highlight a
few examples.
Auwahi Dryland Forest Restoration on Mau‘i.
Tropical dry forests in the Hawaiian Islands
and other oceanic islands worldwide have been
disproportionately impacted by human activity and
are among the world’s most threatened ecosystems
(see Medeiros et al., 2014, and references
therein). In the Hawaiian Islands, less than 10%
Dr. Thomas Ranker delivers his address at Botany
2014 in Boise.
209
Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
the initiation of protection, the ecosystem was
severely damaged by off-road vehicle activity.
Vehicles were prohibited shortly after the NAR was
established and the vegetation began to recover, but
the ground-nesting seabird populations were still
severely impacted by invasive mammals including
rats, mice, dogs, cats, and mongoose. In addition,
endangered plants were unable to reproduce due to
seed predation (see Young et al. 2012 and references
therein; see link to download a PDF of this report
in the Literature Cited section).
A large-scale restoration effort of the Ka‘ena Point
NAR was begun in 2010 with the construction of a
2-m tall predator-proof fence, blocking off 20 ha,
and the removal of all predators via trapping. The
fence was completed in 2011. Details of the project
and a report of the initial impact of the project
on native species can be found in Young et al.
(2012). Surveys indicate that seabird populations
are recovering quickly; e.g., the average number
of Wedge-tailed Shearwater chicks observed per
year have increased from about 614 to 2359 and
the average number of pairs of adults attempting
to nest has increased from an average of 3265 to
4726. Laysan Albatrosses are showing similar signs
of recovery. Ongoing surveys will assess the impact
of restoration on the endangered plant populations.
Examples of conservation and
restoration programs
There are numerous programs and initiatives in
the State of Hawai‘i that focus on various aspects
of biological conservation and restoration. These
include private foundations, private companies,
botanical gardens, museums, and local, state, and
federal agencies. I will provide two examples here.
Hawaiian Rare Plant Program (HRPP) at
Harold L. Lyon Arboretum at the University of
Hawai‘i at Mānoa. The goals of the HRPP are (1)
prevent further extinction of native Hawaiian plant
species and Polynesian introduced crop plants, (2)
propagate plants for approved restoration projects
and garden use, and (3) initiate and maintain an
in vitro and seed germplasm collection of critically
endangered plants. The program consists of two
units. The Micropropagation Laboratory conducts
research on the best ways to propagate the species
of concern via micropagation (aka: tissue culture)
and to produce large numbers of plants for
ecological restoration projects. The lab is currently
growing about 17,500 individual plants from 228
plant taxa, 141 of which are listed as threatened or
endangered. The Seed Conservation Laboratory
of the pre-Polynesian contact area of dry forests
remains. The original dry forests of east Mau‘i
were destroyed by over-grazing and burning and
have mostly been replaced by large stands of an
aggressive invasive shrub Ageratina adenophora
(Spreng.) Kind & Robinson (Asteraceae), along
with a massive population of the invasive grass
Cenchrus clandestinus (Hochst. ex Chiov.) Morrone
(“kikuyu grass”; Poaceae). The spread of these and
other invasive species, along with the activities of
domestic cattle and feral ungulates, has caused
massive declines in populations of native species. In
1997 a long-term restoration project of dry forest
was initiated on the western slope of Haleakala on
east Mau‘i in an area called Auwahi. The work has
been conducted by a partnership between the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS)/Biological Resources
Division (BRD)/Pacific Island Ecosystems Research
Center (PIERC) and the Leeward Haleakala
Watershed Restoration Partnership (see: http://
www.hear.org/usgs-brd-pierc-hfs/; http://www.
lhwrp.org/). Details of this project and initial results
as of 2012 can be found in Medeiros et al. (2014).
Broadly speaking, the project involved delineating a
4 ha ungulate-proof exclosure, suppressing kikuyu
grass with an herbicide, and planting seedlings
of the formerly common native shrub Dodonaea
viscosa Jacq. (Sapindaceae). By 2012, native shrub
cover had increased from 3.1% to 81.9% and cover
of nonnative grasses had declined from 75.4%
to 3.3%. In addition, nonplanted seedlings of 14
native tree species and six native shrub species
were observed in the restoration area. Stem counts
of native woody plants increased from 12.4 to
135.0/100 m
2
and native species diversity increased
from 2.4 to 6.6/100 m
2
. New exclosures are being
constructed nearby to expand this restoration
effort.
Restoration of Ka‘ena Point Natural Area
Reserve, O‘ahu. The Natural Area Reserve (NAR)
system of the State of Hawai‘i consists of 20 reserves
on five islands and encompasses 50,000 ha of the
State’s most unique ecosystems (http://dlnr.hawaii.
gov/ecosystems/nars/). The Ka‘ena Point area on
westernmost O‘ahu is a remnant dune system
and was established as a NAR in 1983. The area
harbors one of the largest seabird colonies in the
main Hawaiian Islands, is home to populations of
three endangered species of flowering plants, and is
an important pupping ground for the endangered
Hawaiian monk seal. The primary nesting
seabirds include the Wedge-tailed Shearwater
and the Laysan Albatross. For decades prior to
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
conducts research on the best ways to achieve
long-term storage of seeds of both common and
rare, threatened, or endangered native Hawaiian
plant taxa. The lab has about 4.6 million seeds and
ca. 200,000 spores of ferns from about 475 native
Hawaiian plant species, 168 of which are listed as
threatened or endangered. More information about
the HRPP can be found on their website: http://
manoa.hawaii.edu/lyonarboretum/conservation/
hrpp/.
O‘ahu Army Natural Resources Program
(OANRP). The OANRP was established about
15 years ago and currently has a staff of over
60. It implements conservation actions for the
stabilization of 51 federally listed threatened or
endangered plant species that occur on U.S. Army
lands and surrounding areas on the Island of O‘ahu.
The general goals of OANRP are to establish and
maintain stable populations of the 51 species,
manage threats (i.e., weed control, predator
control), and to collect germplasm for storage
of genetic materials and for ex situ propagation
for restoration projects. More information about
OANRP can be found on their website: http://
www.garrison.hawaii.army.mil/sustainability/
NaturalResources.aspx.
There are numerous useful online resources that
will provide valuable gateways to conservation and
restoration activities in the Hawaiian Islands, for
example:
http://www.hawaiiconservation.org/
http://www.conservehi.org/
http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/
northamerica/unitedstates/hawaii/
Literature Cited
Armstrong, R. W. (ed.). 1983. Atlas of Hawaii, 2
nd
Edition. University of Hawai‘i Press, Honolulu.
Juvik, S. P. and J. O. Juvik (eds.). 1998. Atlas of
Hawai‘i, 3
rd
Edition. University of Hawai‘i Press,
Honolulu.
Medeiros, A. C., E. I. von Allmen, and C. G.
Chimera. 2014. Dry forest restoration and
unassisted native tree seedling recruitment at
Auwahi, Maui. Pacific Science 68: 33–45.
Palmer, D. D. 2003. Hawaii’s Ferns and Fern Allies.
University of Hawai‘i Press, Honolulu.
Sakai, A. K., W. L. Wagner, and L. A. Mehrhoff.
2002. Patterns of endangerment in the Hawaiian
flora. Systematic Biology 51: 276–302.
Smith, A. R. 1981. Flora of Chiapas. In D. E.
Breedlove, ed., Flora of Chiapas, Part 2. pp.
1–370. San Francisco: California Academy of
Sciences.
Staples, G. W., C. T. Imada, W. J. Hoe, and C. W.
Smith. A revised checklist of Hawaiian mosses.
Tropical Bryology 25: 35–69.
Vernon, A. L. and T. A. Ranker. 2013. Current status
of the ferns and lycophytes of the Hawaiian
Islands. American Fern Journal 103: 59–111.
Wagner, W. L., D. R. Herbst, and S. H. Sohmer
(eds.) 1999. Manual of the Flowering Plants of
Hawai‘i. University of Hawai‘i Press, Honolulu.
Young, L. C., E. A. Vanderwerf, C. Mitchell, E.
Yeun, C. J. Miller, D. G. Smith, and C. Swenson.
2012. The use of predator proof fencing as a
management tool in the Hawaiian Islands: a
case study of Ka‘ena Point Natural Area Reserve.
Technical Report 180. Pacific Cooperative
Studies Unit, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
http://manoa.hawaii.edu/hpicesu/techr/180/
v180.pdf.
211
Book Reviews
Bryological and Lichenological
A Field Guide to California Lichens ..............................................................................211
Economic Botany
The World as a Garden: The Life and Writings of David Fairchild ..............................213
Plant Biographies (or Plant’s Eye View of the Planet and Man) ....................................214
Education
Dispelling the Darkness: Voyage in the Malay Archipelago and the Discovery
of Evolution by Wallace and Darwin ..............................................................................215
Systematics
Trees Of Western North America ...................................................................................217
Field Guide to Wisconsin Grasses ..................................................................................217
Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of the Algarve .............................................................218
Bryological and Lichenological
A Field Guide to California Lichens
Stephen Sharnoff
2014. ISBN-13: 978-0-300-19500-2
Flexibound, US$32.50. 405 pp.
Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecti-
cut, USA
The eagerly awaited new guide to California lichens
is now available. The author, Stephen Sharnoff,
was a co-author with Dr. Irwin M. Brodo on the
monumental Lichens of North America, a more
definitive volume with an abundance of color
photographs, but not a field guide. This compact
new book (9.25 × 5.5 inches) is a handy size to take
in the field. It describes 707 of the 1500-plus species
of lichens reported in California, with about 500
color illustrations.
The foreword by Peter Raven provides an excellent
introduction to lichenology and to the wide range
of habitats found in the state. He also points out the
threats to survival of many lichen species, one of
many reasons to collect and study these organisms.
An introductory chapter by the author describes the
complexity of habitats in the state, their symbiotic
physiology, asexual reproduction, internal structure
including sexual reproduction, terminology, and
collecting methods.
The guide organizes lichens by form in three
groups: foliose, fruticose, and crustose genera,
and alphabetically within each group. Under each
genus, the more common species are described and
pictured. Spores, chemistry, substrates, frequency,
and geographic distribution in California are given,
where relevant, for each species. Comparisons are
made with similar-appearing lichens. Common
names are given, as in Lichens of North America;
these names are not “common” among collectors
in my experience, but they often add a visual clue
to particular lichens, such as “firedot lichens” for
species of the brilliant orange Caloplaca species.
The California lichen flora deserves its own
book, because the state is so ecologically diverse,
its lichen flora is huge (over 1500 species), and
because it includes many unique lichens restricted
to the Pacific coast, Baja California, and the
California Channel Islands. Habitats include ocean
cliffs, mountains, alpine environments, deserts,
chaparral, hardwood forests, conifer forests,
and sand dunes. The California Channel Islands
offer an almost pristine array of lichens that once
occupied the adjacent mainland but are now mostly
extirpated by urbanization, farming, ranching, and
fire. Genera in this group include Dendrographa,
Dirina, Lecanographa, Niebla, Phyllopsora, Roccella,
Schizopelte, and Thelomma. Desert genera, found
in California but rare elsewhere, include Heppia,
Lichinella and other Lichinaceae, Peltula, and
Texosporium.
Sharnoff tackles some difficult genera such as
Caloplaca (35 species), Lecanora (28 pictured), and
Usnea (22 species). Color photographs are often the
easiest way to tentatively identify some crustose
forms. Inclusion of common but difficult crustose
genera on rock will be especially helpful; examples
are six species of Acarospora, seven of Aspicilia,
212
Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
seven of Buellia, and eight of Ochrolechia. All are
very common genera, but species identification
requires specialized keys and diligence.
Sharnoff clearly is aware of the current status
of various lichens, and the names given are
all up to date. The book includes first reports
of several species for California: Caloplaca
arizonica, Enterographa oregonensis, Roccella
gracilis, Sphaerellothecium subtile (a lichenicole on
Seirophora), and for the basidiolichen Multiclavula
corynoides; the latter is also pictured for the first
time. An intriguing pair of photographs (p. 174)
compares Dendrographa leucophaea, a coastal
fruticose lichen, in the unparasitized form with
the same species parasitized by a third fungus or
lichenicole, Trimmatothele dendrographae, which
changes its morphology dramatically.
Two appendices discuss chemical spot tests and
recent name changes. The latter is a constant
problem in lichenology, because numerous generic
names have been changed in the past 20 years or so.
Hence referring to older books, articles, or species
lists can be confusing. A glossary, bibliography, and
index complete the book.
Drawbacks are minimal: scale bars are missing on
the photographs, but accompanying descriptions
usually give dimensions. No authorities are given
for the scientific names. One factual error is on p.
300; Lecidea brodoana is not endemic to California
as it also occurs in Arizona and Mexico. There
are a few misspellings: I noticed “asahinea” (p.
162), “Hafelia” (p. 373), “shizidia” (p. 402), and
“walrothii” (p. 403).
No key is included; the author states that he
preferred to include more species, rather than
devote space to keys. The author also notes that
when the reader finds a lichen not included in
this book, other lichen books with keys can be
consulted. Other important sources with keys and
a wider coverage of species include Lichens of North
America and the three volumes of the Lichen Flora
of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region edited by T.
H. Nash and colleagues. Another lapse is the failure
to include the old synonyms from Appendix 2 in
the index. If one knows a lichen as Fuscopannaria
leucophaea, there is nothing in the index to help
one know it is now called Vahliella leucophaea.
I recommend this lichen guide, with its stunning
photographs and modest price, to all field biologists,
amateur or professional, in California. It would
be excellent for an introductory lichen course,
particularly one aimed at field identification. It
requires only a hand lens, and does not depend
on use of a compound microscope, for most of
the species included. The book will be essential
to amateurs wanting to learn the common lichens
in the state, and will also introduce them to many
rare or unusual lichens, as well as some essentials
on lichen biology.
–Shirley C. Tucker, Research Botanist, Santa Bar-
bara Botanic Garden, and Lichen Curator, Cheadle
Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration,
University of California, Santa Barbara, California,
USA. tucker@liifesci.ucsb.edu
LITERATURE CITED
Brodo, I. M., S. D. Sharnoff, and S. Sharnoff. 2001.
Lichens of North America. Yale University
Press, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Nash, T. H., III, B. D. Ryan, C. Gries, and F.
Bungartz [eds.]. 2002. Lichen flora of
the Greater Sonoran Desert region, Vol.
1. Lichens Unlimited, Arizona State
University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.
Nash, T. H., III, B. D. Ryan, P. Diederich, C.
Gries, and F. Bungartz [eds.]. 2004. Lichen
flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert region,
Vol. 2. Lichens Unlimited, Arizona State
University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.
Nash, T. H., III, C. Gries, and F. Bungartz [eds.].
2007. Lichen flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert
region, Vol. 3. Lichens Unlimited, Arizona State
University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.
213
Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
economic Botany
The World as a Garden: The Life
and Writings of David Fairchild
David W. Lee, editor
2013. ISBN-13: 978-1-4937-6523-2
Paperback, US$12.68. xvi + 335 pp.
Createspace, West Charleston, South Caro-
lina, USA
David Fairchild (1869–1954) had a great impact on
American agriculture and horticulture in the first
half of the twentieth century. During those years,
he published five popular books (now long out of
print) on plant exploration and travels in tropical
lands and on insects under the microscope. At the
very end of the nineteenth century, he started and
directed the Section of Seed and Plant Introduction
(S.P.I.) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
which eventually expanded into the present-day
Agricultural Research Service. Thus, he initiated
the government-supported exploration and
collection of new foreign crops and ornamental
plants in a systematic way. In his later years, David
Fairchild championed tropical fruits and palms
for Florida, where he was directly involved in the
creation of four present-day botanical institutions:
USDA Subtropical Horticultural Station, Fairchild
Tropical Botanic Garden, The Kampong of the
National Tropical Garden, and Montgomery
Botanical Center. With his name associated with
these centers of gardening, botanical research,
and education, Fairchild is still recognized and
appreciated in South Florida, but he is less known
elsewhere in America. We can now be reacquainted
with his enthusiasm and love of plants and with his
influence on the variety of plants growing in our
farms and gardens.
David Lee has collected an anthology of Fairchild’s
writings that are selected from chapters of his books,
published essays, articles from National Geographic
and professional journals, and unpublished letters.
These excepts follow Fairchild’s life from his birth
at the new Michigan State University, where his
father was a professor, to his childhood on the
new campus of Kansas State University, to his final
years in Miami. Taken as a whole, the writings
give a fascinating picture of Fairchild’s life and
accomplishments. They paint a portrait of a humble
man who loved plants, travel, and the company of
fellow plant enthusiasts and his extended family.
The introductory commentaries by David Lee are
in italic font and are clearly distinguished from
Fairchild’s own words, which are printed without
italics. Lee has also selected many black-and-white
photographs, dating from the 1870s to the 1950s,
of Fairchild’s family, botanical friends, and locales
throughout his life that parallel the text. Many of
the photos are printed here for the first time from
archival material. Lee’s commentaries place the
excerpts in context with the events of the times and
with Fairchild’s life. Often, Lee discusses Fairchild’s
actions and opinions in terms of the understanding
at the time compared to what we know today about
the ecology of weeds and invasive plants, or about
genetics and eugenics.
I recommend this book for any botanist who enjoys
reading about plant exploration in “the old days,”
for horticulturists keen to learn more about how the
diversity of garden plants were introduced to this
country, and for biologists curious to know what it
was like to be a young American biologist studying
at the great German universities under famous
professors of the nineteenth century. Read how the
Japanese cherry trees in Washington, D.C., were
originally burned on arrival due to contamination
and had to be reshipped with better quarantine
controls. Fairchild writes about his father-in-law,
Alexander Graham Bell, and his association with
other botanical personalities of the twentieth
century, including L. H. Bailey, W. Swingle, and E.
D. Merrill. He describes the rugged adventures of
Frank Meyers and Joseph Rock, who he employed
as field collectors. History buffs will find the first-
person accounts of Fairchild’s involvement with
so many aspects of American agriculture and
horticulture fascinating. He writes about the need
to establish an Everglades National Park and to
develop new crops, especially tropical fruits, in
Florida. I read the book at intervals without losing
my place in Fairchild’s life story or losing interest in
the fascinating life of a true plant lover. For a very
modest price, I got hours of reading enjoyment and
experienced some of the thrill of plant exploration.
–Jack B. Fisher, Department of Botany, University
of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada
214
Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
genus, then give selected species. Synonyms are
listed, then one common name is chosen and put
in bold capitals. The plant is very briefly described:
“SAFFRON is a bulbous perennial. Native to Asia
Minor and southern Europe, it has crocus-like blue,
lilac or white flowers with protruding, orange-red
‘stamen-like spikes.’”
Although dozens of common names are given in the
Biography, one is chosen and then used throughout
the Biography (above, saffron). It is not clear how
the chosen common names were selected. Some are
British---reedmace for cattails (Typha latifolia). Of
course there is no easy answer in choosing common
names, but it will help users around the world if the
author explains her reasoning.
Following the brief description is a list of common
names, which may include dozens of languages. This
section often ends with “in flower language it is said
to symbolize….” Next the entry explains the species
epithet “Sativus means ‘cultivated’” and the (chosen)
common name: “The common name Saffron
comes from an Arabic word for ‘yellow’ assfar.…”
A generally historically arranged discussion of the
plant’s uses follows, full of interesting facts about its
relation to humans, including literary quotes. Often
information on commercial uses, current sources,
and medicinal uses in several cultures are included.
Also included for saffron is that “it is the birthday
flower of April 16th.”
Overall the nomenclature is excellent.
Apocynaceae replaces Asclepiadaceae, Morus
tinctoria sends you to Maclura tinctoria and
Mahonia aquifolium is referred to Berberis
aquifolium. Some changes are not recognized in
the list: acacias are still one huge genus, and the
chrysanthemums listed are two European species
while garden Asian chrysanthemums, for which
there are no biographies, are given as the genus
Dendranthema.
There are a number of botanical errors. The
discussion of bracken explains that “the seeds
of some [ferns] cannot be seen with the naked
eye.” Plant family names are italicized. Asteraceae
is described as a “previous family name” for
Compositae. Capitalization is somewhat
inconsistent but common names are capitalized
most of the time.
Seriously lacking are references within the entries.
With medicinal and culinary uses taking up much
of the entry, it is important to be able to determine
who is being quoted and seek further information.
Plant Biographies (or Plant’s Eye
View of the Planet and Man)
Sue Eland
2014. ISBN-13: 978-0-9576539-0-0
CD-ROM £59.99, US$100.00
http://www.plantlives.com
Complete Plant Biographies is a CD that contains
a 5506-page PDF file. A “Plant Biography” is a
compendium of published information about a
particular species or variety. The goal is to provide
‘an entertaining and fascinating insight into
the plant world’s participation in the life of the
planet…” The author’s introduction emphasizes
her enthusiasm for reconnecting people to plants.
She clearly has a solid grasp on what is being called
“plant blindness.”
The CD begins with a variety of introductory
material, including a statement of the philosophy
underlying making a huge database about plants
for a popular audience. However, the closest the CD
comes to delimiting the project is a rather vague
statement that it “already embraces some of the
most obvious plants met with in day-to-day life…”
and that “… it [will] never be possible to include
every species…” A more specific overview of which
plants are currently included and which have not
yet been added would make it easier to use the CD.
What does an omission mean, if anything? What
groups are well covered, and what groups await
future work? Despite organizing the plants by genus,
the list does not indicate how many species are in a
genus or what portion are described at this time.
Since it is written for a popular audience, I think
that is important. In my experience people tend to
underestimate botanical diversity and think that
if a reference lists only one species, say, of Cleome
hassleriana, then if the plant they are looking at is a
Cleome, it must be Cleome hassleriana.
The main work is an immense file containing the
“Biographies.” I estimate that there are 10,465
Biographies. A few ferns and fungi (truffles) are
included. Even so, since the author has gone to
great lengths to get names in many languages,
alternate English common names, and botanical
synonyms, most lines in the Biographies are cross-
references, such as:
Cubeno physic see Veronicastrum virginicum
Cubeun’s root see Veronicastrum virginicum
Cubibe see Piper cubeba
The Plant Biographies range from a paragraph
to several pages in length. Entries begin with the
215
Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
The bibliography includes 791 entries, almost
entirely books; the journals included are The Herbal
Review and Economic Botany, and the websites
are The Plant List, Tropicos and Multilingual
Multiscript Plant Name Database. The publication
date is 2013 but there are no references after 2010,
except the websites. The majority of the references
were published 1970-1994 (495, 61%), only 3.5%
(37) since 2000. Rydberg’s Flora of the Prairies
and Plains (1971) is in the bibliography but not
the Flora of North America (1993+). Also not in
the bibliography or the entries are references to
German Commission E’s work on herbal medicine
or The Physician’s Desk Reference for Herbal
Medicine, sources that I use to check information
on medicinal plants. The result is that I do not know
whether I can trust the information presented. Old
isn’t necessarily inaccurate, but the lack of recent
information is worrisome. Without citations within
the entries and 741 references, the source of the
information cannot be readily identified.
This is an amazing piece of work, compiling an
enormous array of popular facts about important
plants. There are wonderful pieces of information
included and the entries often give a good review
of the plant’s role in human history. However, with
old references and no internal citations, the quality
of particular facts is impossible to evaluate. Plant
Biographies is described as the first edition of an
ongoing project, so perhaps these problems will be
remedied in future editions.
---Kathy Keeler, A Wandering Botanist (http://awa-
nderingbotanist.com)
Education
Dispelling the Darkness: Voyage
in the Malay Archipelago and the
Discovery of Evolution by Wallace
and Darwin
John van Wyhe
2013. ISBN-13: 978-981-4458-79-5
Cloth, US$75.00. 405 pp.
World Scientific Publishing Co. Ltd., Singa-
pore.
Alfred Russel (yes, one “l”) Wallace has variously
been described as forgotten, neglected, obscure,
brilliant, “the greatest field biologist of the
nineteenth century,” co-discoverer with Darwin
of evolution, the first to write down the theory of
evolution, famous for being forgotten, as being
robbed by Darwin and Victorian society of his
priority of discovery, as having forced Darwin to
publish his theory when he did, an outsider, “more
myth than man” (p. 3), and in many additional
terms. Some have even gone so far as to suggest
that Darwin received Wallace’s essay on evolution
(the one read together with two essays by Darwin
at the Linnean Society of London meeting on 1 July
1858) weeks or even months before admitting that
he had and either borrowed from it or plagiarized
it. A few have described Wallace as a hanger-on
and others have described him as the man who
discovered evolution. Many books and essays have
been written on the subject, and together they have
created or, as this book states, helped “to reinforce
the image of a legendary Wallace who is very
different from the historical Wallace” (p. 5).
This books aims to set the record straight, and
few historians of biology are better equipped and
more qualified to write such a tome than John
van Wyhe, founder and editor of Darwin Online
(http://darwin-online.org.uk/) and Wallace Online
(http://wallace-online.org/) as well as editor or
author of a number of other books on Darwin
(full disclosure: I know van Wyhe; we lectured in
the same symposium on Darwin and Orchids in
Singapore in 2011).
The first chapter sets the scene of the times and
provides brief outlines of Darwin’s and Wallace’s
backgrounds and some of the people and writings
that may have influenced them (e.g., Malthus,
Lamarck, Ida Laura Pfeiffer, Charles Lyell). It makes
clear that Wallace came from a middle-class English
216
Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
published in 2013; see Literature Cited). This may
not be the last book those interested in Wallace may
read, but my view is that it will be one the best.
And, an explanation: My interest in Wallace was
generated by his essay and comments (Wallace,
1867a, 1867b) in support of Darwin’s suggestion
(Darwin, 1862a, 1862b) that Angraecum
sesquipedale is pollinated by a moth that has a very
long proboscis (Arditti et al., 2012).
–Joseph Arditti, University of California, Irvine,
California, USA
LITERATURE CITED
Arditti, J., J. Elliott, I. J. Kitching, and L. T.
Wasserthall. 2012. “Good Heavens what insect
can suck it”—Charles Darwin, Angraecum
sesquipedale and Xanthopan morganii praedicta.
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 169:
403–432.
Darwin, C. E. 1862a. The various contrivances by
which British and foreign orchids are fertilized by
insects and on the good effects intercrossing. John
Murray, London, United Kingdom.
Darwin, C. E. 1862b. Letter 3411–Darwin, C. R.
to Hooker, J. D. 25 January 1862. Available at
http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-3411
[downloaded and read in April–May 2011].
van Wyhe, J. 2013. Dispelling the Darkness: Voyage
in the Malay Archipelago and the
Discovery of Evolution by Wallace and Darwin
[paperback]. World Scientific Publishing Co.
Ltd., Singapore.
Wallace, A. R. 1867a. Creation by law. The Quarterly
Journal of Science 4: 471–488.
Wallace, A. R. 1867b. Letter 5637–Wallace, R. R.
to Darwin, C. R. 1 October 1867. Available at
http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-5637
[downloaded and read in April–May 2011].
family. His father was a solicitor who inherited
property that could generate a good income, but
lost it in bad investments and subsequently moved
from London to the Welsh border. Thus, reports that
Wallace came from a working-class Welsh family
are incorrect. In those days this made a difference.
At present, rising from poverty would make Wallace
look good. The Darwins were made wealthier due
to intermarriage with the Wedgwoods (dinnerware
china fame). That is why “Darwin never had a job,
unlike Wallace who would have so many” (p. 11).
Chapters 3–9 deal in great detail with Wallace’s
travels, the ships he sailed on, the locales he visited,
collecting methods, dwellings in the places he
visited, illnesses, individuals he employed, his
notes and notebooks, the start of his writings,
and even durians—the fruit famed for an odor
offensive to westerners and a taste that led Wallace
to describe it as the “king of fruits” and “a food of
the most exquisite flavor” (p. 91), and certainly a
fruit I greatly enjoy and eagerly seek out when in
Southeast Asia. What I find very impressive in these
chapters is the careful dating of events, references to
port records regarding the movement of ships, and
great attention to details. These chapters convert
Wallace from a myth to a man and explain how a
surveyor became a great naturalist.
Chapter 10 is a detective story. Did he (Darwin)
or didn’t he? Did Darwin delay publication of his
theory of evolution after formulating in ca. 1838
and if he did, why? The chapter addresses the
questions methodically and concludes that there
was... Well, those interested in the answer should
read the book. All I can say here is that van Wyhe
is convincing.
Then there is the question of when did Darwin
receive Wallace’s essay. Was it on 18 June 1858
or much earlier? Van Wyhe suggests that it was
received on 18 June 1858 on the basis of careful
reconstruction of Wallace’s movements, places and
dates of posting of mail, arrivals and departures
of five ships, and overland travel from Suez to
Alexandria (p. 225). His argument is constructed
very well and leaves no place for the suggestion that
Darwin plagiarized Wallace and/or robbed him of
fame.
Van Wyhe’s style is clear and easy to read. His facts
are carefully substantiated. He approaches all issues
even handedly. The book is well illustrated even if
the printing of a few illustrations leaves something
to be desired (but some of this was improved
and illustrations were added to a paperback also
217
Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
Systematics
Trees of Western North America
Richard Spellenberg, Christopher J. Earle,
and Gil Nelson
2014. ISBN-13: 978-0-691-14580-8
Flexibound, US$29.95. 560 pp.
Princeton University Press, Princeton, New
Jersey, USA
This is a companion volume to Trees of Eastern
North America by the same authors (in a different
order of priority). The dividing line is the 100th
meridian, deviating slightly in southeastern Texas;
if you are working in the tier of states from North
Dakota to Texas, you’ll need to buy both volumes.
If one searches for Trees of North America at amazon.
com, there are 4501 titles returned. A great many of
these are not tree books at all; nonetheless, there are
dozens, if not hundreds, of such titles in print. This
volume stands out because its coverage includes
not only the native species, both common and rare,
but also a goodly number of cultivated species. In
this latter category are Ginkgo and several species
of Araucaria, none of which escape cultivation but
which attract attention wherever they are planted.
The authors well recognize there is no firm line
between a tree and a shrub, and therefore are
generous in their choices of what to include.
There are no dichotomous keys. The general-
interest person has somehow to intuit Celastraceae
versus Anacardiaceae; by the same token, it is my
experience that non-botanists have little patience
with keys—“Just tell me what the name is.”
The nomenclature follows the current Flora of
North America (FNA), to the extent available. The
binomials are given with scientific authorities,
which lends a greater degree of precision; however,
the names of the authorities are often abbreviated,
a practice that FNA eschews. As is always true,
the authors of this book had to make choices:
for example, in the treatment of the Chinese
tallow tree, Sapium sebiferum is adopted here,
with Triadica sebifera cited at the end of the text
segment. It appears that FNA volume 12, to include
the Euphorbiaceae, will adopt Triadica. Fortunately,
the thorough index at the back of the volume
includes entries for both the common name (as
“Tallow Tree, Chinese”) and the two binomials by
which this weedy adventive is known.
The colorful illustrations by David More are an
important feature of this book. Bark, flowers, fruits,
leaves—whatever bears on identification—are
illustrated. The illustrations (and the range maps)
are identified by the common name of the plant
concerned, which makes for a bit of glancing back
and forth to the accompanying text.
There is no Literature Cited, nor is there a suggested
list of further reading or selected websites. Perhaps
it is intended that the book will be a stand-alone
reference and guide; one can only wish the authors
and their readers every success.
–Neil A. Harriman, Biology Department, University
of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA;
harriman@uwosh.edu
Field Guide to Wisconsin Grasses
Emmet J. Judziewicz, Robert W. Freckmann,
Lynn G. Clark, and Merel R. Black
2014. ISBN-13: 978-0-299-30134-7
Paperback, US$30. ix + 346 pp.
University of Wisconsin Press, Madison,
Wisconsin, USA
The authors have impressive credentials in
agrostology: Judziewicz is author of the Poaceae
treatment in Flora of the Guianas, of American
Bamboos (with Lynn Clark and others), and of
dozens of papers in the refereed literature. In
addition to American Bamboos, Professor Clark
has published widely on grass phylogeny and allied
subjects. Retired Professor Freckmann authored
the treatment of Dichanthelium for Flora of North
America, along with numerous other papers on
grasses. Ms. Black is a computer expert, responsible
for the herbarium websites maintained by
University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point and UW–
Madison.
The color frontispiece opposite the title page is
Zizania aquatica, southern wild rice; the photograph
is repeated (and labeled) on pp. 21 and 319.
The first chapter, on morphology, is a first-rate
primer on the terminology of grasses, including
how to distinguish them from sedges and rushes.
The pages are adorned with excellent color
photographs, with everything cleanly labeled. The
subject of modern classification of the Poaceae
is treated but briefly—as is appropriate in a field
manual, the genera and species are arranged
alphabetically.
218
Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
The history of agrostology in Wisconsin is a
welcome chapter on local botanical history. The
subject has little to do with field identification of
grasses, but it does put the whole enterprise into
perspective.
The keys to genera work. I tested with several
specimens. The decision was taken (wisely, I think)
to include all grasses ever collected outside of
cultivation in Wisconsin. A goodly number of these
are waifs that have not become established as part
of the Wisconsin flora; but if they showed up once,
they will probably show up again, and the book will
be of maximum usefulness if they are all there. The
authors included a segment on cultivated grasses,
which have become popular in horticulture; they
are not included in the keys.
There are no descriptions of the species, but the
drawings and photographs are very well done.
The generic names and the specific epithets are all
translated or explained. This is an unusual feature
in a field guide, but most welcome. It does much
to demystify the whole subject, for the beginner.
Where an accepted name differs from a common
reference, such as Flora of North America (2003
and 2007) or Fassett’s Grasses of Wisconsin (1951),
it is indicated. However, another major source of
Wisconsin information is the online herbarium
of UW–Madison, where some problems arise:
for example, buffalo grass (Buchloe dactyloides)
is now treated as a species of Bouteloua, but there
is no hint of that at the Madison website. This
kind of disconnect in the information stream
is unavoidable; it is not mentioned in the book,
because the “problem” might well disappear
minutes from now with a few keystrokes.
The glossary is a model of clarity and plain English.
The concluding index is labeled as “Taxonomic
Index,” which is entirely appropriate, because it
includes only Latin and common names of grasses.
If you want to re-read the history of Wisconsin
agrostology, you will have to find it by other means
(pp. 26–29).
University presses typically keep their books in
print for decades. Fassett’s Grasses of Wisconsin is
still in print; the present field guide certainly merits
a similar record for longevity.
–Neil A. Harriman, Biology Department, University
of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA.
harriman@uwosh.edu
Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of
the Algarve.
Chris Thorogood and Simon Hiscock.
2014. ISBN 978-184246-497-7
Cloth US$60.00, 272 pp.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Sur-
rey, United Kingdom, distributed in US by
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois,
USA.
Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of the Algarve is a
delightful addition to the library of field botanists,
ecologists, conservationists, nature enthusiasts and
hikers. Several features make this book exceptional
for those interested in the natural world: beautiful
photography, excellent notes on identification
and natural history, and a focus on a distinctive
geographical and diverse floristic domain that
stretches across the southernmost
region of
mainland
Portugal
, and it
s least developed region-
--the western Algarve where there are nationally
protected nature reserves.
A most noteworthy aspect of this new guide is
that it is among the first on any Mediterranean
flora based on the relatively new APG
phylogenetic arrangement. Another valuable
quality is that each family named opens with a
brief description of its unique characteristics.
The book is the result of 10 years of effort by Chris
Thorogood, a field botanist who has documented
the flora of the region and who has a particular
interest in parasitic plant speciation, and Simon
Hiscock, Professor of Botany in the Biological
Sciences Department, University of Bristol and
Director of the University Botanic Garden, who
has lead botanical field courses in the Algarve
since 2002. Prior to that, Peter Placito and David
Mabberley established a field course which for a
number of years brought students to the Algarve
to learn about the region’s rich biodiversity and
traditional agricultural practices, and who also had
established a field course for students from Oxford
which ran from 1987 to 1997. The authors brought
students from Bristol University for an annual
field botany trip to the west coast of Portugal.
These study trips, and the students involved, have
contributed to the enormous amount of work
and research required to produce this invaluable
resource dedicated to the wildflowers of this region.
Of particular interest to author Thorogood are
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Plant Science Bulletin 60(4) 2014
the parasitic plants that the Algarve holds, such
as the spectacular halophytic Cistanche phelypaea
which inhabits salt marshes around Faro, Lagos
and Alvor, and the distinctive halophytic fungus
Cynomorium coccineum, which grows on just a
few sea cliffs in the region. A section on endemic
plants also highlights the extremely rare perennial
Silene rothmaleri, previously believed to be extinct
but observed by the authors on a few remote shale
slopes of Cape St. Vincent, as well as the endemic
spurge Euphorbia monchiquensis and rock rose
Cistus palhinae. From the 50 species of endemic
plants of the entire Iberian Peninsula, 12 are found
only in the Algarve.
The guide introduces readers to three broad
geographical regions of Algarve: litoral [coastal],
barrocal [rolling limestone hills, Cretaceous
and Jurassic] and serra [mountainous, mainly
Carboniferous rock]. Plants of particular interest
to the authors were parasites, carnivorous plants,
orchids, and Arum. The habitats as defined feature
halophytes, xerophytes, salt marsh plants, and
matos, i.e., sclerophyllous plants.
Hardbound and well-bound, as one would wish
for a serviceable field guide, the photographs and
illustrations that delineate how to differentiate
taxa are of excellent quality. The guide concludes
with a 5-page glossary, an 8-page index of English
names, and a 14-page index of scientific names,
with the page indicated with bold font if it contains
a photograph (an error is observed for Silene
rothmaleri, pg. 9 in the index). Containing over
1000 species descriptions, the book is profusely
illustrated on every page with over 650 stunning
color photographs, and 780 line drawings and
distribution maps.
-Dorothea Bedigian, Missouri Botanical Garden, St.
Louis, MO
220
Ancient Plants and People: Contemporary Trends in Archaeobotany. 2014. Marco
Madella, Carla Lancelotti, and Manon Savard. ISBN-13: 978-0-8165-2710-6 (Cloth,
US$70.00) 328 pp. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
CITES and Cacti: A User’s Guide. 2014. Maurizio Sajeva, H. Noel McGough, Lucy
Garrett, Jonas Lüthy, Maurice Tse-Laurence, Catherine Rutherford, and Guilia Sajeva.
ISBN-13: 978-1-84246-485-4 (Paperback, US$50.00). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew;
distributed by University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Contemporary and Future Studies in Plant Speciation, Morphological/Floral
Evolution and Polyploidy: Honouring the Scientific Contributions of Leslie D. Gottlieb
to Plant Evolutionary Biology. 2014. Daniel J. Crawford, Jeffrey J. Doyle, Douglas
E. Soltis, Pamela S. Soltis, and Jonathan F. Wendel (eds.). ISBN-13: 978-1-78252-
077-1 (print issue £35.00). Special theme issue of Philosophical Transactions of the
Royal Society B. Biological Sciences, vol. 369(1648). Portland Customer Services,
Commerce Way, Colchester CO2 8HP, United Kingdom. sales@portland-serices.com.
Darwin’s Orchids: Then and Now. 2014. Retha Edens-Meier and Peter Bernhardt
(eds.). ISBN-13: 978-0-226-04491-0 (Cloth, US$55.00) 419 pp. University of Chicago
Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Fossil Fungi. 2014. Thomas N. Taylor, Michael Krings, and Edith L. Taylor. ISBN-13:
978-0-12-387731-4, ISBN-13 (eBook): 978-0-12-387754-3 (Cloth, US$150.00) 398
pp. Academic Press/Elsevier, London, United Kingdom.
The Genus Erythronium. 2014. Chris Clennett. ISBN-13: 978-1-84246-492-2 (Cloth,
US$85.00) 158 pp. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; distributed by University of Chicago
Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Haws: A Guide to Hawthorns of the Southeastern United States. 2014. Ron Lance.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9903689-0-8 (Paperback, US$29.95). 518 pp. Published by the
author, Mill River, North Carolina, USA. Available at www.floramontivaga.com.
How the Earth Turned Green: A Brief 3.8-Billion-Year History of Plants. 2014.
Joseph E. Armstrong. ISBN-13: 978-0-226-06977-7 (Paperback, US$45.00) 563 pp.
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Plant Behaviour and Intelligence. 2014. Anthony Trewavas. ISBN-13: 978-0-19-
953954-3 (Cloth, US$94.95) 291 pp. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA.
Soil Remediation and Plants: Prospects and Challenges. 2014. Khalid Rehman
Hakeem, Muhammad Sabir, Munir Ozturk, and Ahmet Ruhi Mermut. ISBN-13: 978-
0-12-799937-1, ISBN-13 (eBook): 978-0-12-799913-5 (Cloth, US$130.00) 752 pp.
Academic Press/Elsevier, London, United Kingdom.
Weeds of North America. 2014. Richard Dickinson and France Royer. ISBN-13: 978-
0-226-07644-7 (Paperback, US$35.00) 797 pp. The University of Chicago Press,
Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Books Received
Plant Science Bulletin
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The Botanical Society of
America is a membership
society whose mission is to:
promote botany, the field of
basic science dealing with the
study & inquiry into the form,
function, development, diversity,
reproduction, evolution, & uses
of plants & their interactions
within the biosphere.
ISSN 0032-0919
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Plant Science
Bulletin
Winter 2014 Volume 60 Number 4
PLANTS Grants—Applications Accepted
Beginning January 15
Program helps increase number of
undergraduates from underrepresented
groups to attend BOTANY meetings
For the past five years, the Botanical Society of America, with funding as-
sistance from the National Science Foundation, has offered the PLANTS
program and awards (Preparing Leaders and Nurturing Tomorrow’s Sci-
entists: Increasing the diversity of plant scientists). Over 55 talented and
enthusiastic undergrads have participated in this program. The goal
of the PLANTS program is to increase the number of undergraduates
from underrepresented groups who attend the BOTANY meetings, and
to increase their level of academic excellence and motivation to pursue
advanced degrees in the plant sciences. PLANTS alumni leave the pro-
gram better prepared for a future career in the plant sciences. The ma-
jority of alumni are pursuing careers in academia. Others have begun
careers in government, industry and non-profit work related to botany.
Science will not thrive unless it is equally accessible to students from
all backgrounds, including those from groups that are currently un-
derrepresented. Therefore, the Society encourages you to consider
contacting talented and diverse undergraduates who may be eligi-
ble for this award. This is truly an amazing opportunity for students!
The PLANTS program will fund up to 12 undergraduates from through-
out the U.S. to attend the BOTANY 2015 meeting on July 25-29, 2015 in
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. At the meeting, the students will receive
mentoring from graduate students, postdocs and faculty, and participate in
networking events including the Diversity Luncheon and career-oriented
activities. The program covers the normal costs of travel, registration,
and food and accommodation at the meeting. An overview of the scien-
tific conference will be available January 1 at www.botanyconference.org.
Applications are accepted beginning January 15 and due by March 2, 2015
and include completion of an online form providing a statement of inter-
est, a letter of recommendation, and unofficial transcripts. Applications
are welcome from all undergraduates who have interest in plant science;
the admissions goal is to create a diverse pool of students. The application
form will be located online at botany.org under the AWARDS tab. Any
questions should be sent directly to BSA Membership and Marketing Direc-
tor Heather Cacanindin at hcacanindin@botany.org.
July 25 - 29, 2015
Shaw Conference Centre
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
The Premier Scientific Conference
of the Summer!
18 Symposia and Colloquia
Field Trips and Workshops
Posters and Exhibits
Networking and Awards
Botany 2015 Plenary Speaker
Jonathan Silvertown
Professor of Evolutionary Ecology
University of Edinburgh
Sunday July 26, 2014 - 7:30 PM
Accepting Abstracts for Contributed Papers and Posters
February 2015
www.botanyconference.org
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