Issues #75 to #89 (June to Decemebr 1994)
BEN IS MOVING
Our host, old friendly cue.bc.ca, is closing down and all users,
including BEN, got their eviction notices. BEN will move to
freenet.victoria.bc.ca and we are working on setting up a
listserv that will handle mailing and subscribing automatically.
All current BEN subscribers will included on a new mailing list
and you will get more details about the listserv soon.
I would like to thank John Nemeth, the invisible man behind the
cue.bc.ca system, for all the help he gave me running BEN. I
enjoyed the way the system was set up, and I greatly appreciated
all the work John Nemeth has done for us. Many, many thanks. I
also relied on the help of Gary Shearman, who will remain in
close contact with BEN as a principal figure in the Victoria
Freenet Association.
Please, address all your mail to aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca
(any submissions to BEN - short or long - are welcome). Thanks.
- Adolf Ceska
(BEN # 75 6-June-1994)
------------------------------------------
BACK ISSUES OF BEN
All the back issues of BEN have been stored on gopher
freenet.victoria.bc.ca (as four large ASCII files - ca 350 K
each) and they are WAIS indexed. Using this index, you can
search BEN for any key word and you will get all the articles
that contain the key word. The address of the gopher is
freenet.victoria.bc.ca (in "All the Gopher Servers in the World"
this gopher is listed under "Victoria Freenet Association") and
when you connect with the freenet gopher, you select
4. Environment and Science Information / 4. Botany.
(BEN # 75 6-June-1994)
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ADVANCED AND SPECIALTY FIELD SEMINARS FOR PROFESSIONAL BOTANISTS
From: EAGLHILL@MAINE.maine.edu
The following intensive weeklong seminars will be held this
summer on the coast of Maine at Eagle Hill Wildlife Research
Station, just east of Acadia National Park and just west of
Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge. The seminars are offered
primarily for an advanced and professional audience, but also
for well-qualified university and college students and amateur
naturalists. Two graduate credits are available for each seminar
from the University of Maine. For more information, please
contact ...
Eagle Hill Wildlife Research Station
PO Box 99
Steuben, ME 04680-0099
207-546-2821, FAX -3042
EAGLHILL@MAINE.MAINE.EDU
List of seminars:
Quantitative Sampling of Vegetation (Dr. Ala S. White, June 5-
11)
Field Ethnobotany (Dr. James A. Duke, June 12-18)
Sedges - Cyperaceae (Dr. Anton A. Reznicek, July 3-9)
Northern Forest Workshop: Insect/Tree Associations (Richard
Dearborn, July 3-9)
Advanced Mycology Foray (Dr. Allen Bessette, July 10-16)
Ecology, Geology, & History of Eastern Maine Salt Marshes (Dr.
Harold Borns, Dr. George Jacobsen, Dr. David Smith, July
17-23)
Marine Botany: The Macroalgae (Dr. Arthur Mathieson, July 17-23)
Advanced Wetlands Ecology (Dr. William A. Niering, July 24-30)
Wetland Identification, Classification, and Delineation (Ralph
Tiner, July 31-August 6)
Aquatic Flowering Plants (Dr. C. Barre Hellquist, August 7-13)
Northern Forest Workshop: Soil/Site Relationships (Dr. Russell
Briggs, August 7-13)
General Lichenology (Dr. Sharon Gowan, August 14-20)
Advanced Natural History Illustration Workshop (Dennis O'Brien,
September 4-10)
Mosses and Liverworts. I (Dr. Howard Crum, September 11-17)
Mosses and Liverworts. II (Dr. Howard Crum, September 18-24)
The Science of the Professional Botanical Survey (Jerry Jenkins,
September 25 - October 1)
Fall Mushroom Foray (Dr. Samuel Ristich, September 25-October 1)
(BEN # 75 6-June-1994)
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PLANTS OF COASTAL BRITISH COLUMBIA
Pojar, J. & A. MacKinnon [eds.] 1994. Plants of coastal British
Columbia including Washington, Oregon & Alaska. - B.C. Ministry
of Forests, Victoria and Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton. 527 p.
ISBN 1-55105-042-0 [paperback] CDN$ 24.95
This book is a sequel to the very successful guide "Plants of
northern British Columbia" [see BEN # 31]. It deals with a much
larger area and with many more species than the first book. The
impressive number (1,100) of colour photographs is almost double
of that in the first book. A new feature of this guide is a
large number of distribution maps - the distribution is shown
for 794 taxa. The guide combines illustrations and 1/2 to one
page write-ups on featured species with keys, diagrams and
comparison tables.
In this book, I missed some comparison tables that were included
in the first guide: character tables of violets, lilies, poten-
tilla. --- Some keys are dangerously simplified: Carex
lasiocarpa will be identified as Carex rossii, Ceratophyllum as
Myriophyllum. --- Problems of synonyms are treated with a phrase
"also known as ...." and no distinction is made between true
synonyms (Dodecatheon pulchellum is also known as D.
pauciflorum) and different taxonomic concepts (Dryopteris ex-
pansa is also known as D. assimilis [true synonym], D. austriaca
and D. dilatata [different concepts]). I was horrified to read
that Myriophyllum verticillatum "is also known as M. spicatum
var. spicatum," endorsing a unique blunder that was made in
Hitchcock et al. Similarly, Plectritis brachystemon is mentioned
as "P. macrocera," Cornus unalaschkensis is treated as "C.
canadensis," etc. --- I don't think that it is politically
correct to segregate carnivorous, parasitic, and saprophytic
vascular plants into a group called Oddballs. Why don't the
Oddballs include Cuscuta or mistletoes? What about louseworts,
paintbrushes and other parasitic plants of the Scrophulariaceae?
In spite of this criticism, the guide is a nice piece of work
and it will serve as an excellent learning tool to all people
interested in plants of the Pacific Northwest. The authors,
editors, and publishers have done a nice job and the book fills
a very important niche in the botanical literature for this
area. The book includes a wealth of ethnobotanical information,
and is available in bookstores, or if you are interested in
contacting the publisher, Lone Pine Publishing's phone number is
1-800-661-9017.
(BEN # 75 6-June-1994)
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VASCULAR PLANTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA - PART 4: MONOCOTYLEDONS
Douglas, G.W., G.B. Straley & Del Meidinger [eds.]. 1994. Vas-
cular plants of British Columbia. Part 4 - Monocotyledons.
Special report series # 4, B.C. Ministry of Forests. 257 p.
[paperback] ISBN 0-7718-8757-4 (set); ISBN 0-7718-8761-2 (pt.4)
Cost: CDN $26.00 [Available from: Crown Publications Inc., 546
Yates Str., Victoria, B.C. V8W 1K8 (604) 386-4636 Fax.:(604)
386-0221]
The last volume of the Vascular plants of British Columbia deals
with the monocotyledons. The fourth volume is about twice as
large as any of the previous volumes and besides the treatment
of monocots (keys, synonymy and distribution) it gives the
summary chapters to the whole set (phytogeographic elements,
number of taxa in each family, etc.).
(BEN # 75 6-June-1994)
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CORDILLERA - A JOURNAL OF BRITISH COLUMBIA NATURAL HISTORY
Cordillera is to be published twice a year, initially, by the
Federation of British Columbia Naturalists and those working on,
or interested in, the natural history of British Columbia. The
first (March 1994) issue started with an important article on
"The fameflower (Talinum sediforme): Portrait of a Northwest
endemic" by Trevor Goward & Helen Knight and a review article on
serpentine soils by Bert Brink & Kay Fletcher.
Subscription orders (FCBN members CDN $15.00, others and in-
stitutions CDN $20.00) should be sent to Cordillera, Subscrip-
tion Department, Box 473, Vernon, B.C., Canada V1T 6M4; submis-
sions should be sent to The Editor, Cordillera, Box 625, Kam-
loops, B.C., Canada V2C 5L7.
(BEN # 75 6-June-1994)
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TODAY IN THE HISTORICAL SCIENCES
From: DARWIN@iris.uncg.edu
MAY 4, 1556: LUCA GHINI dies at Bologna, Italy. One of the
founders of modern botany, Ghini was born in Croara d'Imola
around 1490. He studied medicine at the University of Bologna
and taught at Bologna for many years, DEVISING A METHOD OF
PRESERVING PLANTS BY PRESSING, DRYING, AND MOUNTING THEM ON
CARDS TO PRODUCE THE FIRST MODERN HERBARIUM OR "HORTUS SICCUS".
Ghini left Bologna in 1544 to take up a professorship at the
University of Pisa, and he established there one of the first
university botanical gardens. He travelled extensively in the
vicinity of Pisa and Bologna collecting specimens for his garden
and herbarium, and his scientific correspondents sent him
botanical material from as far away as Egypt. Although he pub-
lished little during his life, Ghini numbered among his students
an entire generation of early modern European botanists, includ-
ing Andrea Cesalpino, Ulisse Aldrovandi, Luigi Anguillara,
William Turner, and John Falconer.
MAY 23, 1707: CARL LINNAEUS is born at Sodra, Smaland, Sweden.
The son of a country parson, Linnaeus will rise to be one of the
most prominent figures in the history of natural history. Fol-
lowing study in medicine and botany at the Universities of Lund
and Uppsala, Linnaeus will first spend time travelling in
Lapland, and then will move to Holland where he will receive his
medical degree. While in Leiden he will publish the first edi-
tion of his masterwork, _Systema Naturae_ (1735), which he will
revise and expand many times over the course of his life. In
1741 Linnaeus will be appointed professor of medicine at Up-
psala, and through his many students and his voluminous writings
on systematics and natural history, his influence will spread
throughout Europe and the world.
Today in the Historical Sciences is a feature of Darwin-L, an
international network discussion group for professionals in the
historical sciences. For more information about Darwin-L send
the two-word message INFO DARWIN-L to
listserv@ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu, or gopher to rjohara.uncg.edu
(152.13.44.19).
[To susbcribe send
SUBSCRIBE DARWIN-L first_name last_name to
LISTSERV@UKANAIX.CC.UKANS.EDU - you should know by now.]
[DARWIN-L is an interesting list. Its "TODAY IN THE HISTORY"
submissions are great. Interestingly enough, a large portion of
the subscribers are linguists and their main goal is to prove
that the evolution of biological species and languages have
something in common. Botanists with limited disk space can find
those discussions irritating. - AC]
(BEN # 75 6-June-1994)
------------------------------------------
QUATERNARY - A NEW INTERNET DISCUSSION GROUP
A new listserver has been created for all interested in research
in the Quaternary sciences, particularly, but not exclusively in
Canada. This listserver was established through the initiative
of the Canadian Quaternary Association, especially Dana Naldret
and Dave Liverman, with the assistance from the Memorial Univer-
sity of Newfoundland, and the Newfoundland Department of Mines
and Energy. We hope that this will be of interest to anyone with
an interest in the Quaternary geological period, including
geologists, geomorphologists, soil scientists,
palaeoenvironmentalists, archaeologists, paleontologists,
geochronologists, palynologists, geotechnical engineers, and
others.
To subscribe, send
SUBSCRIBE QUATERNARY first_name last_name
to LISTSERV@MORGAN.UCS.MUN.CA
- the list grew astronomically fast and the initial traffic was
heavy. You can put "SET QUATERNARY MAIL DIGEST" (no apostrophes)
as a next line after your "SUBSCRIBE ... " Submissions to the
list will be collected and sent to you once a day - good way to
handle busy discussion lists.
The list owner is Dave Liverman <dgl@zeppo.geosurv.gov.nf.ca>.
(BEN # 75 6-June-1994)
------------------------------------------
CARL OFFERS OPEN ACCESS TO UNCOVER
From: Edward A Riedinger <eriedin@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
posted in ECOLOG-L <ECOLOG-L@UMDD.UMD.EDU>
CARL (Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries) has for many
years been providing a table of contents service called UnCover.
Such a service gives a user the table of contents of periodicals
as they are issued so that one may decide which articles to read
or quickly survey current research and publishing in one's
field. CARL indexes over 17,000 journals world-wide (primarily
English but also many other languages), and is the largest
database of its type.
CARL has now announced that it has begun a new service called
UnCover Reveal. This service will deliver the table of contents
of the journals one chooses, directly to one's e-mail address.
There is no charge for the service, and one is free to share the
information with other individuals.
In addition to the table of contents service, CARL also provides
document delivery. If one finds an article of interest, an order
can be placed and it will be delivered by fax within 24 hours.
For this service there is a base charge of $8.50 per article,
plus any applicable copyright royalty fees or fax surcharges.
In order to initiate the Reveal service, you must access the
Uncover database, establish a profile by supplying information
about yourself (Note: you need not supply any of the financial
information if you do not intend to use the document delivery
service), and identify the journal titles you wish to have
forwarded to you.
To access the database, telnet to: 192.54.81.76.
1) At the first screen, enter your terminal type, such as VT100.
2) At the next screen, indicate that you wish to use the Uncover
file, no. 1. When you are asked for an access password, press
enter, and you will be given open access.
3) At the following screen, you can create your profile (new).
At the end of this process, you will be given a profile number.
With it, you will be able to mark the journals for which you
wish to receive the table of contents. These notices are sent
within a few days of the publication of each journal.
4) To mark with your profile number the journals for which you
wish to receive the table of contents, go into the database and
search for the journals by title [use B for BROWSE]. ["REVEAL" -
i.e, put journal on the mailing list - is one of the options in
the BROWSE mode.]
Should you have a difficulty in subscribing, you can send a
message to: database@carl.org .
(BEN # 75 6-June-1994)
------------------------------------------
RANDY STOLTMANN (1962-1994)
Randy Stoltmann died in a skiing accident in mountains near
Kitimat, B.C. on May 22, 1994.
"A native of Vancouver, Randy Stoltmann has an unquenchable
thirst for exploring, photographing and working to protect the
wilderness areas of the west coast. Combining his technical
background with his love for wilderness, Stoltmann has measured,
mapped and documented record-sized trees and ancient forests
since high school more than a decade ago. Much of his spare time
is spent hiking, bushwhacking and ski-mountaineering through the
backcountry of southwestern B.C." [from "About Author" in the
"Hiking guide to big trees of SW B.C."]
Randy was the first person to bring attention to the Carmanah
Valley and started a pleafor its protection. Randy was working
as a draftsman and decrying the lack of time in his life to
explore such wilderness places when Paul George, of the Western
Canada Wilderness Committee (WC**2) persuaded him to work full
time for WC**2. After about 3-1/2 to 4 years WC**2 had to
downsize and Randy worked independently for mountain clubs,
advocacy groups and wilderness organizations as an advocate for
protection.
Randy published three books and contributed photographs to
numerous other publications and journal articles.
Stoltmann, R. 1987 & 1991. Hiking guide to the big trees of
southwestern British Columbia. Western Canada Wilderness
Committee, Vancouver B.C., 144 p. - Second Edition, 218 p.
Stoltmann, R. 1993. Guide to the record trees of British Colum-
bia. Western Canada Wilderness Committee, Vancouver, B.C.
58 p.
Stoltmann, R. 1993. Written by the wind. Orca Book Publishers,
Victoria, B.C. & White Rock, WA. 95 p.
I met Randy only once on a field trip to survey near record-size
western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) near Port Alberni [BEN #
36]. I was deeply impressed by his intimate knowledge of "big
trees" and their ecology. He was a giant human being and his
death is a great loss. - AC
(BEN # 76 24-June-1994)
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LYME DISEASE - BORRELIA BURGDORFERI - IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
Sources: Dr. S.N. Banerjee (pers. comm.), Hospital Medicine
(August 1993: 53-64), VERONICA search on "LYME"
Lyme disease was first recognized during the 1970s when inves-
tigators analyzed an unusual cluster of juvenile arthritis in
coastal Connecticut. Erythema migrans (EM) served as a clinical
marker and field studies revealed ixodid ticks to be the vector.
In 1982 Burgdorfer visualized spirochetes in the midguts of
these ticks and serum from Lyme disease patients contained
antibodies to the spirochete. Soon thereafter, researchers
recovered and cultured spirochetes from infected humans, then
characterized them morphologically and biochemically and gave
them the name Borrelia burgdorferi.
In about 60% of the cases, a characteristic rash or lesion
called erythema migrans develops. It begins a few days to a few
weeks after the bite of an infected tick. The rash generally
looks like an expanding red ring with a clear center, but can
vary from a reddish blotchy appearance to red throughout. Some-
times there are two or more lesions. Unfortunately, in those
patients who never get a rash, the diagnosis can be difficult.
At about the same time that the rash develops, flu-like symptoms
may appear along with headache, stiff neck, fever, muscle aches
and general malaise.
The later complications of Lyme disease are quite severe. Most
common is arthritis, usually of the large joints (e.g., knees,
hips, shoulders). Other complications include meningitis and
other neurological problems such as numbness, tingling and
burning sensations in the extremities, severe pain, loss of
concentration, memory loss, confusion, loss of confidence,
withdrawal, depression, fatigue, (often extreme and
incapacitating), and Bell's palsy (loss of control of one side
of the face). Cardiac symptoms include heart palpitations and
irregular heart beat. Shortness of breath, dry mouth, voice
changes, and difficulty swallowing can occur. Eye symptoms
include conjuctivitis, double vision, and loss of vision. Remem-
ber, some patients do not get the rash and progress directly to
these later symptoms. Symptoms, including pain are intermittent
and changing, occurring in any combination and lasting from a
few days to several months and possibly years.
It is important to seek medical attention if any of these
symptoms appear, especially after being bitten by a tick or
visiting an area where Lyme disease is common. Timely treatment
with antibiotics (within a few days of symptoms appearing) will
increase chances of recovery and may lessen the severity of any
later symptoms. If ignored, the early symptoms may disappear,
but more serious problems can develop months to years later.
Chronic Lyme disease, because of its diverse symptoms, is par-
ticularly difficult to diagnose. Treatment for later stages is
more difficult and is often less successful, sometimes requiring
several months of intravenous antibiotic therapy.
In British Columbia Borrelia burgdorferi was detected in
juvenile ticks Ixodes angustus and adults of Ixodes pacificus
collected from Bowen Island, Cultus Lake, Galiano Island, Har-
rison, Hope, Lasqueti Island, Langley, Metchosin, Nanoose Bay,
Sechelt, and Squamish. According to Dr. Banerjee (pers. com-
munication) there are about 30 patients with Lyme disease in
British Columbia, 10 of them were most probably infected here in
British Columbia.
Dr. Satyen N. Banerjee studies Lyme disease in British Columbia
and is interested in receiving LIVE ticks and he would like to
scan them for Borrelia spirochete. Ticks could be sent in a
small screw-top vial in which one should add a small ball of
cotton wetted in water. The address to send the ticks is:
Tick-borne Diseases Research Laboratory
Provincial Laboratory, B.C. Centre for Disease Control
828 West 10th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C. V5Z 1L8
(Phone: 604-660-6070)
(BEN # 76 24-June-1994)
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MYOSURUS APETALUS = MYOSURUS ARISTATUS
From: Novon 4 (1994): 77-79.
In his article on "New names in North American Myosurus
(Ranunculaceae)," A.T. Whittemore is treating Myosurus aristatus
as conspecific with the Chilean species M. apetalus Gay. B.C.
plants belong to a new variety, M. apetalus var. borealis Whit-
temore characterized by 1-nerved sepals. Another variety, M.
apetalus var. montanus (G.R. Campbell) Whittemore (transferred
from M. minimus) occurs in Canada (Saskatchewan), and US (AZ,
MT, CO, NV, ND, OR, UT, WY) and has sepals 3(-5)-nerved.
(BEN # 76 24-June-1994)
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CAREX SYLVATICA NATURALIZED ON PENDER ISLAND AND SATURNA ISLAND
From: A. & O. Ceska and Jan Kirkby
In the 1970's and 1980's Harvey Janszen made several collections
of a sedge which he identified as Carex sprengelii from Pender
and Saturna Islands (part of Gulf Islands, British Columbia).
T.M.C. Taylor, A. Ceska, and others confirmed Harvey's original
identification.
During a field trip of the Pender Island Naturalists on June 12,
1994, we revisited the locality of the sedge in the "Enchanted
Forest" on South Pender Island and realized that the sedge is
NOT Carex sprengelii, but naturalized European forest sedge,
Carex sylvatica. Consequent examination of the specimens in the
Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, B.C. [V] showed that
all the specimens of "Carex sprengelii" collected on Gulf Is-
lands belong in fact to Carex sylvatica.
Carex sylvatica Huds. is a European sedge of mesic alluvial
forests. In North America it is occasionally planted in gardens
as an ornamental "grass" and was reported naturalized on Long
Island, NY (Mackenzie, K.K. 1940. North American Cariceae, Vol.
II.). C. sylvatica is indeed very similar to C. sprengelii. C.
sylvatica is "aphyllopodic" - it has several short bracts at the
base of the plant, not fully developed leaves as "phyllopodic"
C. sprengelii. C. sprengelii has a rhizome with conspicuous
fibrous remnants of old leaves.
Two other collections of Carex sprengelii from British Columbia
in the Royal BC Museum (from Williams Lake and Prince George)
were correctly identified and are C. sprengelii.
Carex sylvatica is the second sedge recently found naturalized
in British Columbia. Several years ago Richard Martin found
Carex pallescens on Hornby Island. C. pallescens grows there in
open meadows, along the roads, and in ditches.
(BEN # 76 24-June-1994)
------------------------------------------
BIODIVERSITY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA - OUR CHANGING ENVIRONMENT
Harding, L.E. & E. McCullum [eds.] 1994. Biodiversity in British
Columbia: Our changing environment. Environment Canada, Canadian
Wildlife Service, Ottawa. 426 p. ISBN 0-662-20671-1 [paperback]
Cost: CDN $29.95 Available from: Crown Publications Inc., 546
Yates Str., Victoria, B.C. V8W 1K8 (604) 386-4636 Fax.:(604)
386-0221
This is a valuable collection of papers on various aspects of
biodiversity in British Columbia. Thirty chapters are grouped
into four sections: 1) Introducing biodiversity, 2) Species
diversity, 3) Ecosystem diversity , and 4) Prospects for the
future. Botanical topics are well covered and the book gives
good discussions on rare algae (M. Hawkes), fungi (S. Redhead),
lichens (T. Goward), bryophytes (W.B. Schofield), and vascular
plants (H. Roemer, G.B. Straley, and G.W. Douglas). Native rare
vascular plants species are listed, grouped by the status
categories established by the British Columbia Conservation Data
Centre. Exotic species of animals and plants are discussed as a
threat to biodiversity. (The list of introduced plants is unfor-
tunately restricted to "Introduced Flowers" - no grasses, sedges
or rushes - and even lists as introduced some species that are
on the Rare Native Vascular Plants List - e.g. Lupinus
densiflorus.) Chapters on Ecosystem diversity deal with forests
and grasslands, with urban ecosystems and (mostly marine)
ecosystems of the Strait of Georgia. British Columbia Ecological
Reserves are listed in the "Prospects for the future" together
with an outline of the B.C. Protected Areas Strategy etc.
(BEN # 76 24-June-1994)
------------------------------------------
SWEDISH TIMBER INDUSTRY FEARS GREENER FUTURE
From: The European 1-7 July 1994, p. 25 [abbrev.]
Sweden's timber industry is launching a campaign against paper
recycling, after years of effort to develop a renewable
resource. In a letter to Sweden's government, the Swedish pulp
and paper association, Skogsindustrierna, voiced deep concerns
about plans by the country's environmental protection agency to
promote paper recycling, which would mean a fall in domestic
demand for virgin wood fibres for pulp and paper production.
Sweden already recycles almost half its total yearly consumption
of 1.9 million tonnes. A further 20 per cent is burned for
heating purposes. Only a fifth of the country's total production
of 12 million tonnes of pulp and paper is consumed domestically.
Of the ten million tonnes that are exported, 8.4 million go to
EU countries.
Through its domestic antirecycling campaign, the forestry hopes
that the Swedish government will lower its recycling demands to
the proposed EU levels, thereby protecting its European market
from growing environmental pressure. The government has already
rejected the industry's plea for broadening the definition of
recycling to include "energy extraction" - that is incineration
- as an accepted form of recycling. If the paper is burned, it
will not compete with virgin fibre as a base for pulp produc-
tion.
Over the past five years, Swedish industry has faced growing
criticism - domestic and international - for impoverishing
biodiversity. Timber companies are now changing forestry prac-
tices and trying to market themselves as a "green" industry.
So when Greenpeace Germany managed to reach a deal where four
large German paper consumers buy only "clear-cut free paper",
Sodra, the leading forestry company in southern Sweden, rushed
to Hamburg to convince their German customers and their environ-
mentalist partners that Swedish forestry has now abandoned its
old methods.
(BEN # 77 10-July-1994)
------------------------------------------
BRITISH COLUMBIA PREMIER TO COUNTER GREEN OFFENSIVE
From: Times-Colonist, July 7, 1994, p. A3 [abbrev.]
British Columbia Premier Mike Harcourt left for San Francisco
where he hopes to convince newsprint buyers that the province
has cleaned up its forestry practices. "British Columbia has
some of the most environmentally sound forest practices and
highest-quality forest products in the world," he said. "I'm
hoping our customers will appreciate the changes we're bringing
in."
Greenpeace has been advocating a California boycott against B.C.
companies that clearcut ancient forests in the province. Such a
boycott would affect MacMillan Bloedel Ltd., the largest
province's most important industry. Harcourt also faces heat
from California state Senator Tom Hayden who has introduced a
bill in the state legislature to ban the use of newsprint made
from old-growth trees. The bill is in the committee stage.
Harcourt said he will highlight his government's environmental
record during his trip to California, which buys 30 per cent of
the province's newsprint. He will point to the new Forest Prac-
tices Code, and will spotlight the government's plan to increase
protected parkland while retraining forestry workers in tree-
planting, environmental restoration and other green occupations.
(BEN # 77 10-July-1994)
------------------------------------------
ANNOUNCING CITES-L
From: conslink <conslink%sivm.bitnet@vtbit.cc.vt.edu>
CITES-L, a list for discussion and postings of issues relating
to the trade in wildlife and the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), will provide a medium for
discussions on wildlife trade and CITES related issues. The
World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), where the list will
be maintained, has had over 12 years of experience in dealing
with wildlife trade issues and maintains a database of all
reported trade in CITES-listed species on behalf of the CITES
Secretariat. WCMC has regular contact with the CITES Secretariat
in Geneva, which will also be a source of up-to-date informa-
tion. The 9th Conference of the Parties of CITES will be held in
November of this year in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA and we
hope to post decisions and results of discussions as they take
place.
Subscribing: send a one line message to LISTPROC@WCMC.ORG.UK
with the command line (in message body):
SUBSCRIBE CITES-L <Yourname>
e.g. SUBSCRIBE CITES-L Ronald MacDonald
Signing off: send a one line message to LISTPROC@WCMC.ORG.UK
with the command line (in message body):
SIGNOFF CITES-L
or
UNSUBSCRIBE CITES-L
Caution: replying to a message from the list will reply to
EVERYONE on the list unless you take precautions to make sure
that does not happen.
If you have any questions please direct them to the list
manager:
Helen Corrigan
Wildlife Trade Monitoring Unit
World Conservation Monitoring Centre
219 Huntingdon Road
Cambridge CB3 0DL, U.K.
E-mail: helen.corrigan@wcmc.org.uk
(BEN # 77 10-July-1994)
------------------------------------------
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE (LYTHRUM SALICARIA)
BRITISH COLUMBIA UPDATE - AUGUST, 1994
From: Roy Cranston <RCRANSTON@GALAXY.GOV.BC.CA>
In 1991, following rigorous host specificity testing, North
American federal governments approved the introduction of
natural agents to attack purple loosestrife. The three agents
approved for release in Canada are a root-feeding beetle
(Hylobius transversovittatus) and two leaf-feeding beetles
(Galerucella calamariensis and Galerucella pusilla).
The initial B.C. release of G. calamariensis took place in June,
1993 at the Canadian Wildlife Service property on Westham Is-
land. Subsequent releases were made to Jericho Park in Van-
couver, Burnaby Lake, the Vedder wetlands at Chilliwack, Cheam
Lake and at the Okanagan Drainage Canal at Penticton. Monitoring
has proven successful establishment at most locations evidenced
by presence of adults, larvae, eggs and feeding damage on the
leaves.
Releases of G. calamariensis continued this spring with intro-
ductions to the Fraser River shoreline in east Richmond, Bound-
ary Bay, Penticton and Kootenay Lake. The second leaf-feeding
agent, Galerucella pusilla was introduced to Campbell River and
the Kelowna area in June. The Hylobius root beetle was released
to Iona Beach Regional Park in Richmond in July. All bioagents
have been supplied from propagation facilities managed by
Agriculture Canada at Lethbridge, Alberta. Agencies currently
involved in releasing loosestrife bioagents include the Minis-
tries of Agriculture, Forests and Environment, U.B.C., City of
Burnaby, Okanagan-Similkameen, Greater Vancouver and Fraser-
Cheam Regional Districts and the Chilliwack, North Cowichan and
Okanagan Naturalist Clubs.
Monitoring to determine survival and impact of all agents will
occur over the next several years. The purpose for these initial
introductions is to establish large colonies of insects that can
be used for collection sites for eventual redistribution
throughout the B.C. range of purple loosestrife.
In its native European habitat, purple loosestrife is rapidly
controlled by natural insect agents. Once the insects ac-
climatize and begin reproducing, there is a high probability for
successful reduction of British Columbia's increasing purple
loosestrife populations.
Roy Cranston
Provincial Weed Specialist
B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
(BEN # 78 2-September-1994)
------------------------------------------
FLORA NORTH AMERICA GOPHER & WORLD WIDE WEB
From: Flora of North America Newsletter 8(3):21. [abbrev.]
Many useful Flora of North America files are now available on
the Missouri Botanical Garden gopher (gopher.mobot.org). In
addition to all taxonomic information from Volume 2, and several
sample illustration images, chapters from Volume 1 have been put
up and can be searched for words or word strings.
The gopher files are also available via the World Wide Web (WWW)
server. The URL (Universal Record Locator) for the Missouri
Botanical Garden WWW home page is:
http://straylight.tamu edu/MoBot/welcome.html
(BEN # 78 2-September-1994)
------------------------------------------
BOOK REVIEW: INTERMOUNTAIN FLORA VOLUME 5 - ASTERALES
From: R.T. Ogilvie, Royal B.C. Museum, Victoria, B.C.
<bogilvie@galaxy.gov.bc.ca>
The newest volume of the Intermountain Flora, the Asteraceae,
has just come out in July this year. The author, of course, is
Arthur Cronquist, the high-priest of the Asteraceae in North
America. In one sense this book is a memorial volume to Arthur
Cronquist since he died in March 1992 while he was making the
finishing touches to this manuscript. But since then a lot of
editing and other work has taken place to bring this volume into
print.
The Intermountain Flora is very relevant to botanists in British
Columbia. Often one can gain a better understanding of a local
species from its features and behaviour in other parts of its
geographic range. We are at the northern extremity of both the
Pacific Northwest region and also the Intermountain region. The
Intermountain region is the arid area lying between the Rocky
Mountains and the Cascade-Sierra Nevada Mountains, and with
vegetation largely dominated by sagebrush and chenopods such as
shadscale, greasewood, and winterfat. Although the northern
boundary of coverage of the Flora runs along southeastern Oregon
and southern Idaho, members of this arid flora extend well into
the dry interior of British Columbia along the southern
Similkameen, Okanagan, Thompson, Kettle, and Kootenay Valleys.
The Intermountain region is the centre of species diversity for
several genera and families, for example: Astragalus has 156
species, Penstemon has 104 species, Phacelia with 50 species,
Eriogonum with ca. 70 species, and Gilia with 33 species. The
Asteraceae is the largest family, with 130 genera; Artemisia has
27 species, Chrysothamnus has 17 species, Haplopappus 35
species, Erigeron 71 species, and Townsendia with 15 species.
The book is not arranged alphabetically by genus and species as
in the Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. The Aster
Family is divided into seven Tribes, and within each Tribe the
genera are grouped into Subtribes, and the species are ordered
within the genera by morphological similarity. This makes sense
morphologically and taxonomically; plants like Tragopogon,
Sonchus, Hieracium, Crepis, and Taraxacum are found together
rather than being separated by the alphabet. But if you don't
know that these plants are closely related and are in the Tribe
Lactuceae, then they may be hard to find in the book. There is a
key to the Tribes, and within each Tribe there are keys to
Subtribes and genera; there is also an artificial key to go
directly to genus. The index is essential if one wants to find,
for example, Artemisia to key out a specimen, or if one wants to
go to Artemisia cana to find its distribution range.
Cronquist's taxonomic concepts will be familiar to users of
Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. His genera are broad
and conventional and so are his species. In general there are
few changes from his 1955 treatment in Volume 5 of Vascular
Plants of the Pacific Northwest. Chrysopsis villosa is main-
tained separate from Heterotheca, and Chrysanthemum leucanthemum
is maintained for oxeye-daisy instead of splitting it off into
the perennial Leucanthemum. But Solidago is segregated into
Euthamia (for E. graminifolia, E. occidentalis). Aster is
segregated into Machaeranthera (for M. canescens), but other
Aster-segregate genera are not used, such as Lasallea falcata or
Virgulus for the pansus-ericoides-campestris complex.
The variety rank is used for morphological variation within
species correlated with different habitats or different
geographic ranges. For example, Chrysothamnus nauseosus has 20
regional or ecological varieties. Cronquist occasionally uses
both subspecies and varieties to deal with the pattern of
variability in complex species. For the common subalpine-daisy -
Erigeron peregrinus, the Intermountain populations are sub-
species callianthemus consisting of variety callianthemus, var.
scaposus, var. angustifolius (the Coastal populations are sub-
species peregrinus, consisting of variety peregrinus, var.
thompsonii, var. dawsonii). A similar infraspecific hierarchy is
used for the pattern of variation in Artemisia ludoviciana: the
northern populations are subspecies ludoviciana, consisting of
variety ludoviciana, var. latiloba, var. incompta; the southern
populations are subspecies mexicana variety mexicana, var.
albula (and 2 other varieties further south).
Some patterns of species variation, especially those involving
apomixis and polyploid complexes, are not given taxonomic recog-
nition. This is the situation in several species-complexes in
Antennaria and also Taraxacum. According to Cronquist there are
only 2 native species of Taraxacum in the Intermountain Region
and the Pacific Northwest (T. ceratophorum, T. lyratum); all
other native species reported for these areas are reduced to
synonyms under these two species. Populations with other dif-
ferences in achene morphology, involucre bracts, and leaf-lobing
are not recognised. As a consequence much taxonomic and
phytogeographic information is lost by reducing all this diver-
sity to 2 species. There has been recent detailed research on
the circumpolar and northern European Taraxaca, in which the
multitude of apomictic and polyploid microspecies are combined
into a manageable number of related Species Groups, and these in
turn are grouped into a small number of Sections. This approach
has been successfully applied to the arctic and polar Taraxaca
of North America; it should be used in the cordilleran and
intermountain floras.
The printing quality of the Intermountain Flora is very high
standard, as is true for all of the New York Botanical Garden
publications. The Asterales book is big, 500 pages. Several
botanical artists prepared the plant illustrations: John Rumely
who did all of the illustrations for the Asteraceae of the Vol.
5 of Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest, and all of the
new illustrations were drawn by Bobbi Angell, Anthony Salazar
and Robin Jess. The art work is very fine, but the printing
quality of some of the new illustrations is disappointing: some
of the fine details of the bracts, achenes and pappus are lost
through fading or blurring. A lot of additional work went into
bringing Cronquist's manuscript into print: besides the three
additional artists, Noel H. Holmgren and Patricia K. Holmgren
added 48 new synonyms and a list of 20 new taxa, and a lot of
editorial work was done by a number of botanists.
This big, handsome book on the Compositae is an appropriate
memorial to Arthur Cronquist; it will be used by botanists for
years to come.
The following is the information for the published parts of the
Intermountain Flora:
Volume 1: Geological and botanical History, Plant Geography,
Vascular Cryptogams, gymnosperms, Glossary. By A. Cronquist,
A.H. Holmgren, N.H. Holmgren, and J.L. Reveal. 1972. 270 pages.
$32.00.
Volume 3, Part B: Fabales. By R.C. Barneby. 1989. 292 pages.
$58.00.
Volume 4: The Asteridae Except the Asterales (Gentianales,
Solanales, Lamiales, Callitrichales, Plantaginales,
Scrophulariales, Campanulales, Rubiales, Dipsacales). By A.
Cronquist, A.H. Holmgren, N.H. Holmgren, J.L. Reveal, and P.K.
Holmgren. 1984. 573 pages. $75.00.
Volume 5: Asterales. By A. Cronquist. 1994. 506 pages. $75.00.
Volume 6: The Monocotyledons. By A. Cronquist, A.H. Holmgren,
N.H. Holmgren, J.L. Reveal, and P.K. Holmgren. 1977. 584 pages.
$40.00.
Published by: the New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.
10458-5126. [A 25% discount is given when ordering all 5 pub-
lished volumes of the flora: $210.00].
The parts of the flora remaining to be published are:
Volume 2: The Magnoliidae, Hamamelidae, Caryophyllidae, and
Dilleniidae. Key to the families of dicotyledons, and Comprehen-
sive Index for the six volumes.
Volume 3, Part A: The Rosidae.
(BEN # 78 2-September-1994)
------------------------------------------
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR BROOM REMOVAL ON MT. THZUHALEM !!!
From: Evelyn Hamilton <ehamilton@galaxy.gov.bc.ca>
A broom removal event is scheduled for Mt Tzuhalem Eco Reserve
(near Duncan) for Sept 24 and OTHER WEEKENDS UP TO OCT 12.
Please spread the word and contact me (387-3650) for more info.
Joel Ussery BCFN is the coordinator, his phone is 474-4105.
We should meet for car pooling at Helmken Park and ride at 9:30
a.m. Bring gloves, pruners, clippers , lunch. BC Parks is hoping
to get a big turnout to generate media interest.
The intent of the project is to remove the broom that is
threatening native species and increasing the risk of fire
hazard in the reserve. The project is a cooperative one between
Cowichan Valley Naturalists, FBCN, BC Parks, District of N
Cowichan, Friends of ER, and the developer of the property
adjacent to the eco reserve, to minimize negative effects of the
development. Therefore funding from the developer and others to
remove broom from the reserve is being solicited. BC Parks is
funding helicopter removal of the cut broom on October 12, so
the plan is to cut as much as possible before then, starting
Sept 24. A number of schools, institutions and volunteer or-
ganizations as well as BC PArks and District of N Cowichan are
providing labour for the broom removal. Come join the fun!! Long
term follow up is also planned.
(BEN # 79 19-September-1994)
------------------------------------------
COMING EVENTS IN VICTORIA
Sept. 20, 1994 (Tuesday): The authors of the Plants of Coastal
British Columbia, Andy MacKinnon, Nancy Turner and others
will discuss their popular field guide. Royal B.C. Museum,
Classroom, 7:30 p.m. (Botany Night, Victoria Natural
History Society)
Sept. 21, 1994 (Wednesday): Syd Cannings, Conservation Data
Centre: "What we're all about?" - University of Victoria,
Biology Seminar, Elliott 060, 3:00 p.m.
Sept. 24, 1994 (Saturday): A broom removal event is scheduled
for Mt Tzuhalem Eco Reserve (near Duncan) for Sept 24 and
other weekends up to Oct 12. Please spread the word and
contact Evelyn Hamilton (387-3650) for more info. [See
Volunteers needed !]
Oct. 7-10, 1994. Schmok Foray 1994, organized by the Vancouver
Mycological Society and South Vancouver Island Mycological
Society will be at the Blue Lake Resort between Hope and
Lillooet, off Highway 1 near the Stein Valley. Cost CDN
$135.00 or US $115.00 per person. The deadline for
registration Sept. 21, 1994. For more information call
Hannah Nadel (604) 544-1386.
(BEN # 79 19-September-1994)
------------------------------------------
BRYONIA ALBA IN THE WASHINGTON STATE ?
From: Terry Taylor c/o <rotaylor@mail.unixg.ubc.ca>
In the beginning of July, we took a holiday around central
Washington, and found an interesting plant at Walla Walla. I
tentatively identified it as Bryonia alba. It forms long vines,
with tendrils, hanging from the trees in Lewis and Clark Trails
State Park, east of Walla Walla. The leaves are lobed, and it
has black berries with flattened white seeds. The flowers are
yellow with green veins. We saw what is probably the same plant
at the Whitman Mission, but those ones were sterile. The plants
at Lewis and Clark Trails Park looked identical to B. dioica,
which I have seen in England, except for the black fruits. No
Bryonia is shown in Hitchcock, but B. dioica is in the new
Jepson Manual.
[Note: Terry Taylor did not collect a voucher specimen for this
report, thus the question mark in the title of this report. Can
somebody from the area collect a specimen to document this
report? Do you have any friends in Walla Walla ?- AC]
(BEN # 79 19-September-1994)
------------------------------------------
GOLDEN PAINTBRUSH - CASTILLEJA LEVISECTA (SCROPHULARIACEAE)
ON THE US THREATENED LIST
From: Federal Register Vol. 59, No. 89, Tuesday, May 10, 1994,
page 24106-24111.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to list Golden
Paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta - Scrophulariaceae) as a
threatened species. This species once occurred from Oregon north
to Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Only 10 disjunct
populations of this plant now exist, in open grasslands ranging
from south of Olympia, Washington north through the Puget Sound
to Southwest British Columbia, Canada. The proposal published in
the Federal Register gives valuable information on the species,
its distribution and problems with its protection.
(BEN # 79 19-September-1994)
------------------------------------------
NEW INVENTORY OF CALIFORNIA'S RARE AND ENDANGERED PLANTS
SHOWS CONTINUED DECLINE OF STATE'S MAGNIFICENT NATIVE FLORA
From: California Native Plant Society Press Release [abbrev.]
The new fifth edition of the INVENTORY OF RARE AND ENDANGERED
VASCULAR PLANTS OF CALIFORNIA, edited by Mark W. Skinner and
Bruce Pavlik, (California Native Plant Society, 1994) lists 1742
types of California native plants that are now rare, threatened,
or endangered in California and elsewhere. This number repre-
sents nearly 28% of California's 6,300 native plants.
This summary of the latest information on the state's rare and
endangered vascular plants includes ferns, fern allies, cone-
bearing seed plants and flowering plants. Land resource
managers, conservationists, field biologists, consultants, and
botanical researchers will find the new INVENTORY an indispen-
sable reference for identifying, protecting and managing
California's rarest botanical resources.
CNPS has simultaneously published an ELECTRONIC INVENTORY for
MS-DOS personal computers. Using the state-of-the-art Microsoft
Fox-Pro(tm) database, this application provides instant and
simplified access to the detailed information contained in the
print version. Users of the ELECTRONIC INVENTORY can search for
plants based on hundreds of specific criteria, using pre-
existing or customized report formats. The self-installing
program requires no additional hardware or software, and takes
up 8 megabytes of hard disk space. The ELECTRONIC INVENTORY will
be updated regularly and will replace the print edition as the
most up-to-date compilation of rare, threatened and endangered
California plants. Purchasers are required to update their
program every 18 months
Among the 1742 special status plants in California, the new
INVENTORY lists 857 species, subspecies and varieties that are
"rare, threatened, or endangered in California and elsewhere",
nearly 14% of the flora. This is an increase of 27% -- a net
increase of 182 plants -- since the fourth INVENTORY was pub-
lished in 1988. 34 plants that occurred in California are now
extinct here. Since the last edition was published 13 plants
thought to be extinct in California were rediscovered, however
11 other new plants are now presumed to be extinct.
The book is the result of three years of intensive research and
review. Mark Skinner is the California Native Plant Society
Botanist and Bruce Pavlik is Associate Professor of Biology,
Mills College.
Ordering information:
Mark W. Skinner & Bruce M. Pavlik [eds.]. 1994. Inventory of
rare and endangered vascular plants of California, 5th ed.
California Native Plant Society, Sacramento. 336 p.
ISBN 0-943460-18-2 [softcover]; retail price: US$22.95
Electronic inventory ISBN: 0-943460-19-0; includes MS-DOS dis-
kettes and manual; price US$195.- program update (required after
18 mos): US$95.-
Order from: CNPS, 1722 J St., Ste. 17, Sacramento, Ca 95814.
Phone: 916/447-2677; FAX: 916/447-2727
(BEN # 79 19-September-1994)
------------------------------------------
POLLINATION OF EPIPACTIS HELLEBORINE (ORCHIDACEAE)
From: Marilyn Light <009211@acadvm1.uottawa.ca>
[compiled from <polpal-l@herman.cs.uoguelph.ca>]
Epipactis helleborine is a European orchid that, since it was
first reported at Syracuse, New York in 1879, has spread to
appropriate habitat from coast to coast. This orchid was first
reported in Illinois by Julian Steyermark in 1954. More details
may be found in "An Introduction to the Ecology of the Illinois
Orchidaceae" by Charles Sheviak (Illinois State Museum. Scien-
tific Papers XIV, 1974). Wasps (Vespidae) were reported as
pollinators of Epipactis helleborine in Europe by Darwin 1877 in
"The various contrivances by which orchids are fertilized by
insects." William Judd reported four species of wasp feeding at
flowers of E. helleborine in "Wasps (Vespidae) pollinating
Helleborine, Epipactis helleborine (L.) Crantz at Owen Sound,
Ontario" (Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Ontario
(1971) 102:115-119). The species were Vespula arenaria, V.
consobrina and V. vidua. He also observed a Polistes fuscatus
worker feeding in the flowers.
I study native orchids including their population dynamics,
inter- and intra-clonal reproductive compatibility and mycor-
rhizal associations. I work primarily with Epipactis helleborine
and Cypripedium calceolus var. pubescens. I also have some
interest in the reproductive strategies of Platanthera psycodes.
Recent studies have included tracking the movement of pol-
linators (Vespula sp.) by colouring the pollen with a dye and
looking for dyed pollen on the stigmas of other nearby flowers.
I have found that there is a higher incidence of visits between
flowers on the same inflorescence than between plants. Another
investigation has employed ultra-violet reflectance photography
as a technique to determine whether or not a flower has been
pollinated. Pollinated stigmas of E. helleborine become par-
tially UV reflective within 15 minutes post-pollination, totally
UV absorptive within 30 minutes. Investigations of pollen ger-
minability with this species suggest a good case for pollen
competition.
While I have never seen Polistes feeding in the flowers, I have
observed Vespula visits. The orchid flower has two pollinia
attached to a sticky projection (viscidium). These pollinia are
fragile sacs which fragment fairly readily after they are taken
from the flower. The wasp alights, bends forward to lap nectar
from the flower lip, and while doing so brushes the viscidium
with the head. When the wasp backs out of the flower, it carries
the pollinia on its head. Wasps can collect quite a few pollinia
over time. Each time a pollen-carrying wasp visits a flower,
pollen is left on the stigma. Occasionally an entire pollinium
is deposited intact.
Wasps visit flowers repeatedly, whether or not the flowers have
been previously visited/pollinated. Visits normally last 2-5
seconds although they can be considerably longer if the wasps
get 'drunk' on the nectar. On August 9 I observed a wasp carry-
ing one pair of pollinia enter a virgin flower, leave then re-
enter the same flower a few seconds later. It then visited two
other previously pollinated flowers on the same stem. The same
wasp then moved to another plant 25 cm distant and visited
Flowers 8,6,5,8,1,3,2, all of which had been previously pol-
linated. It then left the site. (Flowers are numbered from the
base of an upright inflorescence.) This inflorescence had 42
buds/flowers, 11 of which were open. I had just self-pollinated
Flower 11 approximately five minutes prior to the pollinator
visit and had removed Flower 10 for photographic record.
I have observed some anomalies which may be of interest. Most
orchids such as E. helleborine produce pollen in tetrads. I have
observed some plants producing monads interspersed amongst the
tetrads. These monads are essentially giant undivided grains.
They do not germinate in vitro. Another plant produced tetrads
with two of the four elements shriveled. In this instance, all
the tetrads were similarly affected. Normal elements germinate
in vitro. Any suggestions as to what might be causing such
anomalies would be appreciated.
Marilyn Light
University of Ottawa Chairman, Conservation Committee, Canadian
Orchid Congress
(BEN # 80 24-October-1994)
------------------------------------------
GIVE-AWAY JOURNALS - MADRONO
From: "Jo Bohanan" <jo_bohanan@library.lib.ncsu.edu>
(Natural Resources Library, North Carolina State University)
We have the following issues of the journal Madrono (A West
American Journal of Botany published by the California Botanical
Society) available to anyone who would like to have them:
Jan. 1957-Jan. 1973.
If interested, please send e-mail to
jo_bohanan@ncsu.edu
(BEN # 80 24-October-1994)
------------------------------------------
PLANT SYSTEMATIST POSITION - UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
From: Mary Piper <piper@U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
The Department of Botany invites applications and nominations
for a tenure-track position at the assistant professor level in
systematics of higher plants.
The successful candidate must be qualified to teach under-
graduate and graduate courses in plant systematics, develop a
rigorous research program in molecular plant
systematics/phylogeny/evolution, and curate a major Herbarium.
There is extensive opportunity to develop collaborations within
the Department of Botany and with other units on campus as well
as the potential to attract graduate students in systematics
through departmental fellowships.
A Ph.D. in Botany or a related area is required. Postdoctoral
experience is desirable. Candidates should exhibit potential for
independent and innovative research and teaching, and a willing-
ness to cooperate with a broad spectrum of biologists on campus.
Salary: Commensurate with education and experience.
Position available: September 16, 1995 but may be extended if
suitable candidates are not found.
To apply: Send a letter of application with a statement of your
teaching and research experience and interests, curriculum vitae
and a list of publications (up to three reprints may also be
sent), and arrange to have three letters of recommendation
forwarded to: Dr. E. Van Volkenburgh, Chair Search Committee,
Department of Botany, KB-15, University of Washington, KB-15,
Seattle, WA 98195.
Phone: 206-543-1942, FAX 206-685-1728, e-mail Mary Piper,
piper@u.washington.edu.
Priority will be given to applications received by 30 November
1994.
The University of Washington is building a culturally diverse
faculty and strongly encourages applications from women and
minority candidates.
(BEN # 80 24-October-1994)
------------------------------------------
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Goward, Trevor, Bruce McCune, & Del Meidinger. 1994. THE LICHENS
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, ILLUSTRATED KEYS. PART 1, FOLIOSE AND
SQUAMULOSE SPECIES. Special Report Series No. 8, B.C. Ministry
of Forests, Victoria, B.C. 181 p. ISBN 0-7726-2194-2 [soft
cover]
Available from Crown Publications Inc., 521 Fort Street, Vic-
toria, B.C. V8W 1E7, Phone: (604) 386-4636, Fax: (604) 386-0221,
Price: CDN$ 32.00
Hurd, Emerenciana G., Goodrich, Sherel, & Nancy L. Shaw. 1994.
FIELD GUIDE TO INTERMOUNTAIN RUSHES. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-306.
Ogden UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Inter-
mountain Research Station. 56 p.
Abstract. This guide provides technical descriptions of 23
Intermountain rushes (Juncus spp.), including the common and
several less abundant species. Line drawings and color or black
and white photos illustrate diagnostic characteristics of each
species. An illustrated morphology and a glossary acquaint the
layperson with the terminology used to classify rushes. The
guide is intended as a tool to aid in classification; it is not
inclusive.
Greuter, W., J. McNeill, et al. 1994. INTERNATIONAL CODE OF
BOTANICAL NOMENCLATURE (TOKYO CODE) 1994. Adopted by the Fif-
teenth International Botanical Congress, Yokohama, August-
September 1993. Regnum Vegetabile Vol. 131. Koeltz Scientific
Books, Koenigstein. 389 p.
Available from: Koeltz Scientific Books, P.O. Box 13 60, D-61453
Koenigstein, Germany. Phone: (+49) 0617493720, Fax: (+49)
06174937240, Price DM 60.00
(BEN # 80 24-October-1994)
------------------------------------------
THE CEREMONY HONOURING PROF. DR. VLADIMIR J. KRAJINA IN PRAGUE
From: Vladimir J. Korelus, Victoria, B.C., Canada
On June 1, 1994, the urns containing the ashes of Prof. Dr.
Vladimir J. Krajina and his wife Marie were ceremoniously
deposited in the Vysehrad Cemetery in Prague, Czech Republic --
their homeland. The day marked the first anniversary of
Krajina's death, and the third year after his wife's departure.
Prof. Krajina's family and friends, and representatives of the
President of the Czech Republic, the Czech Government, the
Charles University, and the Canadian Embassy assembled in the
newly restored church of St. Peter and St. Paul.
The urns -- covered with the Canadian flag -- were displayed
together with Krajina's many decorations, including the Order of
Canada and the Czechoslovak Order of the White Lion. While Boy
Scouts kept the guard of honour, four ministers celebrated an
Ecumenical Mass. The Canadian anthem was played as the Canadian
flag was being lifted, and the former Czechoslovak anthem was
played while the Czechoslovak flag was put in its place. This
symbolized the formal return of Krajinas' ashes to their
homeland.
The celebration continued with speakers recollecting Krajinas'
lives and deeds. The poem of Frana Sramek "If I were a keeper of
horses" ("Kdybych byl pastevcem koni"), and an excerpt from
Dostoyevsky's "The brothers Karamazov" were read. Then, the
procession with the urns left for the cemetery only to assemble
again in front of the church to listen to more eulogies by some
members of Krajina's former political party. Finally, the
procession reached the memorial of Dr. Milada Horakova, a
fighter against fascism, and a victim of the communist regime.
At the memorial, the urns were deposited among those of other
national heroes.
Several days before the ceremony, on the occasion of the release
of Krajina's book of memoirs called "High Game" ("Vysoka hra"),
there was a press conference held in the Botanical Institute of
the Charles University. The book deals mostly with his political
life, and his fight against totalitarian regimes. On Krajina's
request, the book was edited by Jiri Dolezal and published in
Czech in Prague by the publishing house EVA.
So a life circle was closed of one brave man, and woman who
influenced the lives of so many, both in the former Czecho-
slovakia and in Canada.
(BEN # 81 13-November-1994)
------------------------------------------
DR. ROY L. TAYLOR - IN CALIFORNIA
From: ASTP Newsletter Oct. 1994
Dr. Roy L. Taylor has accepted the position of Executive Direc-
tor of the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA, USA.
He assumed his new duties on 1 November 1994. Dr. Taylor was
currently President and Chief Executive Officer for the Chicago
Horticultural Society and Director of The Chicago Botanic Gar-
den.
Born in Alberta, Canada, Dr. Taylor received a BS in Biology
from Sir George Williams University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Prior to his appointment in Chicago in 1985, he was Director of
the Botanical Garden and Professor of Botany at the University
of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. From
1965 to 1968 he was Chief of the Taxonomy and Economic Botany
Section for Canada Agriculture in Ottawa, Ontario. Dr. Taylor
has published extensively on plant taxonomy and horticulture and
was co-author with James A. Calder of the Flora of the Queen
Charlotte Islands (1968).
(BEN # 81 13-November-1994)
------------------------------------------
ECOTOURISM IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
From: Andy MacKinnon <amackinnon@galaxy.gov.bc.ca>
From the latest edition of "Super, Natural Islands" from the
B.C. Tourism Association:
Saturna Island (things to do)
"Plan a picnic and a hike up Mount Warburton Pike to see the
feral goats on the ecological reserve at the top."
(BEN # 81 13-November-1994)
------------------------------------------
PLANT MOLECULAR SYSTEMATIST - UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS
From: Alan Batten <FNARB@aurora.alaska.edu>
The University of Alaska Museum, the Department of Biology and
Wildlife and the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University
of Alaska Fairbanks invite applications for a full-time, tenure-
track position in plant evolutionary biology and systematics.
The successful candidate is expected to curate the botanical
collection at the UA Museum, establish an active, externally
funded research program using modern methods of molecular biol-
ogy, teach one course per year and participate in graduate and
undergraduate training in the areas of plant systematics and
collection curation.
Rank: Assistant Professor
Salary: Up to $40,000 (9-month basis)
Qualifications: Ph.D. or equivalent in Biology or closely re-
lated field. Museum curatorial, postdoctoral, and university
teaching experience or demonstrated potential for university
teaching experience preferred.
Resources available: The successful applicant will be provided
with research space and start-up in the Institute of Arctic
Biology, access to the recently acquired automated DNA sequen-
cer, and a curatorial assistant. The herbarium has over 160,000
Alaska and holarctic specimens and is a regional resource center
for floristic and biogeographic studies.
Position available: Fall 1995.
To apply: Send curriculum vitae, statement of research and
teaching interests, copies of reprints, and have at least three
letters of reference sent to: Dr. Gerald F. Shields (907) 474-
7656, Molecular Plant Systematist Search, Institute of Arctic
Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska
99775-7000
Closing date: December 15, 1994
(BEN # 82 29-November-1994)
------------------------------------------
BRYONIA ALBA CONFIRMED IN WASHINGTON [RE: BEN # 79]
From: Adolf Ceska <aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca>
As a result of Terry Taylor's note on Bryonia alba in the Lewis
& Clark State Park in Walla Walla, Washington, I received
several specimens collected by Nancy Berlier of the Walla Walla
Ranger District office. The plant is indeed Bryonia alba L. -
Cucurbitaceae.
In her accompanying letter Nancy Berlier wrote:
"In talking to the caretaker he said that Walt Gary of the
Extension Office had sent a specimen to WSU for identification
several years ago. He could not remember the common or scien-
tific name, but did say he recalled the family name as
Cucurbitaceae..."
"In wandering through the northside of the park, we found the
habitat to be very overgrown with vines and shrubs amongst the
conifers and cottonwoods. ... This vine grows from the ground up
each spring to many feet into shrubs, hardwoods and conifers by
fall. The caretaker said it dies back in the fall as soon as the
weather cools off to 45 degrees F or so (rather than
freezing)... "
Two species of Bryonia - B. dioica L. and B. alba Jacq. - are
listed in Kartesz 1994 "A Synonymized list of the vascular flora
of the United States ..." (2nd Edition). Both are introduced
from Europe.
Distinguishing characters:
Bryonia alba: Plants monoecious; calyx as long as corolla;
stigmas glabrous; ripe fruits black.
Bryonia dioica: Plants dioecious; calyx about 1/2 of corolla;
stigmas with short hairs; ripe fruits red.
Lit.: Jeffrey, C. 1969. A review of the genus Bryonia L.
(Cucurbitaceae). Kew Bulletin 23: 441-461.
P.S. The Cucurbitaceae Newsletter is published twice a year by
The Cucurbit Network, P.O.Box 560494, Miami, Florida 33256.
Subscription is US$10/year.
(BEN # 82 29-November-1994)
------------------------------------------
TWO CASES OF MUSHROOM POISONING IN VANCOUVER
From: Vancouver Sun, November 16, 1994, p. A3
Two unrelated cases of kidney failure were reported in Vancouver
and attributed to ingestion of Amanita smithiana, mistaken for
pine mushroom - matsutake (Armillaria ponderosa = Tricholoma
magnevelare). Both victims were gourmet mushroom pickers.
(BEN # 82 29-November-1994)
------------------------------------------
ERIOPHORUM VIRGINICUM (CYPERACEAE) IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
From : Terry Taylor c/o <rotaylor@unixg.ubc.ca>
On August 25, 1994 I collected Eriophorum virginicum L. from the
northeastern part of Burns Bog, not far from River Road. The
collection came from a field-like area containing several
thousand heads. I first collected it on Aug. 16, 1992 from the
western part of the bog, and I put this collection in UBC. The
plants are scattered sporadically in this area, but are still
readily apparent, as the brownish heads are easily seen for some
distance. Don de Mille, who is very knowledgeable about Burns
Bog believes they were probably introduced with cranberries
(Oxycoccus macrocarpus) from the east, as cranberry farms are
located along the north edge of the bog. I have not found E.
virginicum in the central, undisturbed part of Burns Bog, or in
the southern part. Oxycoccus macrocarpus is a common exotic in
the bog. Frank Lomer collected E. virginicum previously in south
Richmond. On August 25 I also collected moss Campylopus intro-
flexus (Hedw.) Brid., probably also introduced from the eastern
US. It formed large, beautiful populations. Wilf Schofield
believes it may be the first report of this moss for Canada.
(BEN # 82 29-November-1994)
------------------------------------------
CATALOG OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN LIBRARY ONLINE
From: Peter Scott <aa375@freenet.carleton.ca>
telnet LIBRISC.NYBG.ORG (or telnet 192.77.202.200)
login: library
(BEN # 82 29-November-1994)
------------------------------------------
NEW BOOK: WHY CATS PAINT: A THEORY OF FELINE AESTHETICS
Busch, H. & B. Silver. 1994. Why cats paint: A theory of feline
aesthetics. 10 Speed Press Berkeley, CA 96 p. ISBN 0-89815-612-2
[paperback] US$ 14.95
The publishers of David Arora's Mushrooms demystified -
10 Speed Press - came with another obvious bestseller.
"In this lavishly illustrated and thoroughly researched book,
Heather Busch and Burton Silver outline the many different
aspects of feline creativity and offer a detailed examination of
representative works from the best-known cat artists around the
world."
(BEN # 82 29-November-1994)
------------------------------------------
PLANT SYSTEMATIST - CENTRAL WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
From: Mike Gleason <GLEASONM@cwu.edu>
The Department of Biological Sciences is seeking to hire a
tenure-track biologist at the level of assistant/associate
professor to teach and conduct research in botany and genetics.
Duties and Responsibilities: The successful candidate will share
responsibilities for teaching general botany, plant taxonomy,
genetics, evolution, and general biology, and may be asked to
teach other courses in her/his specialty area. Additionally, the
successful candidate will curate a teaching herbarium, advise
biology undergraduates, and serve on Departmental and University
committees. The successful candidate will also be expected to
engage in scholarly activity and participate in the Department's
Masters degree program.
Qualifications: Ph.D., by start date, in a related biological
field is required. Applicants must have experience in teaching;
and research experience in molecular aspects of systematics,
phylogeny, or evolution. Preference will be given to candidates
with specialization in areas complementary to the needs of the
Department.
Starting Date: 15 September 1995. This position is contingent on
University funding.
To Apply: Send a cover letter describing qualifications and
experience in teaching and research, a statement of teaching
philosophy and research interests, curriculum vitae, (unoffi-
cial) college transcripts, and the names, addresses, and the
telephone numbers of three references to: Dr. Michael L.
Gleason, Chair, Plant Systematist Hiring Committee, Department
of Biological Sciences, Central Washington University, El-
lensburg, WA 98926-7537. Screening will begin on 6 January 1995
and continue until a suitable candidate is found.
Central Washington University is located in Ellensburg, a city
of about 13,000. A two hour drive from Seattle, Ellensburg is
located on the east slope of the Cascade Mountains in Kittitas
Valley and offers a fine living environment. CWU is a comprehen-
sive state university which serves approximately 7,000 students
by offering undergraduate and graduate degrees through the
colleges of Letters, Arts and Sciences; Professional Studies;
and Business and Economics.
(BEN # 83 6-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
BRYONIA ALBA - CORRECTION
From: Adolf Ceska <aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca>
I released the last BEN one day too soon. I was still searching
for more information on the distribution of Bryonia alba in
North America after BEN was sent out, and I contacted (through
e-mail) several Cucurbitaceae experts and Dr. John T. Kartesz,
author of the "Synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of
the United States ... etc." Many of you still did not even have
BEN # 82 in your mail box when I got a phone call from Dr.
Kartesz. He told me that he had records of Bryonia alba from
Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Washington. He also told me that I
should read a paper on Bryonia alba published in Madrono 1993. I
did, and I was shocked. To speak about the "confirmation" of the
occurrence of Bryonia alba as I did in BEN # 82, was slightly
silly.
The article by Laferriere et al. (1993) in Madrono lists about
18 localities of the plant from Idaho and Washington, including
the 1985 collection of Bryonia alba from Lewis and Clark State
Park in Walla Walla Co. The earliest collection cited by the
authors was one from 1972 from near Turner, Columbia Co.,
Washington State. One of the authors, Jodi L. Engle, wrote an
M.Sc. Thesis on "The spread and effect of the vine Bryonia alba
in Whitman County, Washington" in 1988 (Department of Botany,
Washington State University, Pullman). The article gives a very
good description of the plant, and a key to the identification
of the genus Bryonia within the Cucurbitaceae family. I
apologize to BEN readers for this oversight.
Lit.: Laferriere, J.F., J.D. Mastrogiuseppe, J.L. Engle, & R. R.
Old. 1993. Noteworthy Collections: - Idaho, Montana and
Washington - Bryonia alba L. (Cucurbitaceae). Madrono 40:
180-181.
(BEN # 83 6-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
FIRE DESTROYS LABS AND FACILITIES AT LAS CRUCES, COSTA RICA
From: Carol Mozell <cmozell@ACPUB.DUKE.EDU>
via CONSLINK <CONSLINK@SIVM.BITNET>
On November 23, a fire razed the central buildings of the Las
Cruces Biological Station in San Vito, Costa Rica, site of the
Robert and Catherine Wilson Botanical Garden. The fire, which
began around 7:00 p.m. in a downstairs apartment, swept through
the Stanley Smith Science Building and the adjacent laboratory.
Lost are the living quarters for researchers, students and
natural history visitors and the kitchen, dining hall, and
library.
At the time of the fire three Costa Rican students were staying
in the facility. However, station director Luis Diego Gomez said
that no one was injured. In addition, Gomez reports that the
garden's extensive plant collections, one of the richest in
Central America, were not affected. Las Cruces is owned and
operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies, a non-profit
consortium of 50 universities and research institutions. Charles
Schnell, the head of OTS in Costa Rica, estimates the loss to be
approximately $500,000, of which insurance will cover only a
fraction of the replacement value.
Schnell reports that the station's operations will continue and
that commitments will be met. "Living quarters for researchers,
students, and guests are being improvised in the former home of
Robert and Catherine Wilson," said Schnell. "We expect Las
Cruces to continue as a major education and research site and as
an important locale for birders and natural history visitors,
though temporarily with fewer amenities and services."
OTS Executive Director Donald Stone has issued an urgent appeal
for emergency funds to sustain the Garden's operations. Stone
notes, "The potential loss of the station as an important center
for research impacting La Amistad National Park, one of the
largest parks in Central America, and for graduate training in
conservation biology and the wise use of natural resources is
devastating." Contributions should be sent to OTS/Save the
Garden Fund, Duke University, Box 90630, Durham, NC 27708-0630.
(BEN # 83 6-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
FLORA FOR FAUNA PROJECT
From: Dr. Pamela Munn <sabpam@thor.cf.ac.uk>
via B-Mail (Bee Newsletter)
A nationwide campaign to encourage gardeners to grow trees,
shrubs and flowers which are food sources for Britain's wildlife
was launched recently at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK.
This move in nature conservation commenced with thousands of
'Flora for fauna' labels, placards, posters and booklets being
distributed to selected garden centres throughout Britain. Plans
are already under way for this British project to be extended to
France and Germany, as after 1 January it will run parallel with
European Conservation Year - ENCY 95. It is being supported by
some of the most prestigious conservation and scientific or-
ganizations in Britain, as well as the Horticultural Trades
Association.
The first stage of 'Flora for fauna' is providing information
about what plants are hospitable for wildlife. Already 25,000
plant labels covering 25 species have been attached to plants
from the north of Scotland to south Cornwall as part of a six-
month pilot scheme. The information has been extracted from the
introductory 'Flora for fauna' database which highlights the
preferred plants for wildlife in British gardens. It details
what birds, butterflies, frogs, bats and other forms of wildlife
eat; what eats them; what is needed for nests and homes; what
special plants relate to different forms of wildlife; and which
cultivars of a species still have a good nectar and pollen
yields.
The next stage is further development of the database, which
will be launched in a comprehensive version in December 1995.
Bees have a good mention in the introductory publicity, and key
plants that are useful nectar and pollen sources will be high-
lighted in the database.
Details of the 'Flora for fauna' database disk and accompanying
booklet are available from: The Duchess of Hamilton, c/o The
Linnean Society of London, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London
W1V 0LQ, UK. Orders: phone (+44) 171-351-4266, fax 171-352-5655,
e.mail john@linnean.demon.co.uk
(BEN # 83 6-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
BOTANY BC 1994 - FINALLY ON BEN
From : Ted Lea <tlea@fwhdept.env.gov.bc.ca>
I finally got around to completing the writeup on Botany BC for
BEN. ... Sorry this took so long.
BOTANY BC took place June 20 to June 25, 1994 in the Haida Gwaii
(the Queen Charlotte Islands) and was one of the finest meetings
ever, comparable to the earlier Bamfield meeting of 1989. The
organizing committee of Ros Pojar, Jim Pojar, Trudy Chatwin and
Evelyn Hamilton should be congratulated for a well organized and
excellent program of both botanical and non-botanical activities
Highlights included:
A short morning session of informative talks by Jim Pojar,
Leslie Goertzen, Alvin Yanchuk, and Mike Hawkes, followed by
field tours of tidal wetlands, coastal forests and sand dunes.
The expertise of Jim Pojar, Hans Roemer, Wilf Schofield and many
others was greatly utilized by participants. We saw some inter-
esting sand dune plants: beach peavine (Lathyrus littoralis),
beach lupine (Lupinus littoralis), seashore bluegrass (Poa
douglasii var. macrantha) and beach glehnia (Glehnia
littoralis). An evening salmon feast in the sun at Tlell, was
followed by Woodhenge on the beach, celebrating summer solstice.
The site was blessed by an eagle feather which assured no rain
for the remaining days. This was also the scene for a variety of
bizarre botanical rituals. Some botanists also took the oppor-
tunity to visit the famed Golden Spruce.
The following day consisted of field tours visiting an amazing
array of bogs, including the blanket bogs with their sundew,
yellow waterlily, and natural bonsai of hemlock and yellow-
cedar, as well walks up Tow Hill and to the blow hole. That
evening incredible Hors d'oeuvres in Masset were followed by a
Haida feast in Old Masset (Haida) where botanical and piscerian
products were consumed with great relish. This was followed by
native dancing, including a male only dance for botanical
guests.
A highlight of the whole tour was the boat trip through
Skidegate Inlet to the west coast aboard the Anvil Cove, hosted
by Barbara and Keith Rowsell. Meals were again to high standard-
s, and camping in the forest was a wonderful experience without
the usual Queen Charlotte rain. Early morning sessions on marine
plants by Mike Hawkes led to the search for the elusive Sea Palm
(never found). Tidal pools teamed with interesting sea life such
as, sea cucumbers, sea anemones, starfish, many species of
marine algae and much, much more.
Unfortunately, the helicopter trip to the alpine limestone areas
and endemics, was cancelled due to low cloud, however, hearty
souls hiked as close as they could get and were treated by
seeing filmy fern, Mecodium wrightii and the Queen Charlotte
endemics: Newcombe's butterweed (Senecio newcombei), Queen
Charlotte butterweed (S. moresbiensis), curly-hair moss-heather
(Cassiope lycopodioides ssp. crista-pilosa), Queen Charlotte
violet (Viola biflora subsp. carlotae), Calder's lovage (Ligus-
ticum calderi) and Taylor's saxifrage (Saxifraga taylori). Many
people took the boat tour to Gudal Bay, and Marble Island to see
the Horned Puffin nesting sites and the speedy Peregrine Falcon.
No whales were seen, assuring a return to the Misty Isles in the
future.
The new book Plants of Coastal British Columbia was put to many
uses during the field sessions. Many keen botanist were busily
seen keying out plants, while others were seen using it as a
fine seat cushion or sun block.
For those who missed this year's BOTANY B.C., many of the magi-
cal moments were recorded by John Parminter on his camcorder and
will be shown at next year's 10th annual meeting which will be
held in the Chilcotin area.
(BEN # 84 9-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
CONSERVATION OF NORTH AMERICAN FUNGI
From: Amy Rossman
(originally posted on the Biological Conservation News-
letter No. 138 - distributed by CONSLINK@SIVM.SI.EDU)
The number of fungal species estimated to exist on earth is
approximately 1.5 million, yet little is known about the rela-
tive abundance of these species, or if any are endangered.
Nevertheless, many species of fungi appear to be declining in
Europe and in the Netherlands. Eef Arnolds points to nitrate
deposition as being responsible for the decline of many mycor-
rhizal species, which are necessary for the health of their tree
hosts. Some mycologists are also concerned about the effects of
mushroom harvest on fungal populations. The decline of these
fungi could directly affect the health of the forest, and
Europeans are taking steps to safeguard populations of
threatened fungal species by creating "red lists," which regu-
late the collection of selected species.
There are no "red lists" for fungi in North America, but recent
reports indicate that many fungi may be endangered in the
Pacific Northwest due to habitat loss. The Forest Ecosystem
Management Assessment Team (FEMAT), commissioned by President
Clinton to examine forestry practices in the Pacific Northwest,
lists 527 fungal species which are closely associated with late
successional forest ecosystems. Of these, 80 are endemic, and
destruction of their habitat could result in their extinction.
One example is Oxyporus nobilissimus, which is a polypore
restricted to old growth Abies; it is known from only 12 loca-
tions. A less dramatic but equally notable example is Tuber
rufum, a truffle which has a beneficial association with the
roots of oak. Western oak habitat is being lost to agricultural
and residential development, and as the oak goes, so goes the
truffle. The FEMAT report calls for inventory and monitoring of
western oak habitat.
The inclusion of fungi in federal ecosystem assessments is a
landmark in the history of mycology and conservation. Management
agencies are starting to acknowledge that good stewardship
includes consideration of all species, and that microbes such as
fungi occupy important ecosystem niches and require protection.
The FEMAT report can be obtained by calling (503) 326-2877.
(BEN # 84 9-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
NITROGEN, ENVIRONMENT, AND PEOPLE: AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
From: Craig MacConnell <cbmac@coopext.cahe.wsu.edu>
February 23 & 24, 1995
Everett, WA
A conference focusing on nitrogen in our environment:
What role does it play ?
What are the health concerns ?
How do we manage it successfully ?
Nitrogen, Environment, and People is a two-day conference focus-
ing on the effects and management of nitrogen in our environ-
ment. The conference is intended to provide a comprehensive view
of nitrogen to gain a better and broader understanding of its
effect on our natural resources - particularly water.
Conference topics will include the sources and movement of
nitrogen in our environment, potential health concerns, and
successful management tools for reducing nitrate contamination.
The goal: to provide the tools and understanding needed to help
achieve sustainability of our natural resources.
The conference will provide valuable information to anyone
dealing with resource sustainability issues - health officers,
land use planners, public policy makers, agricultural commodity
groups, environmental organizations, Tribes, local governments,
conservation districts, and agriculture and water quality
professionals. Those who see nitrogen as a pollutant and those
who see it as a benefit will want to attend this conference to
learn more.
The conference is designed with three concurrent sessions under
the broad categories of:
Big Picture
Health
Management
Physical Processes
The conference has scheduled 74 speakers on a wide range of
topics.
Registration is $80 before January 10, 1995. Conference
registration includes: Continental breakfast, refreshments, and
lunch both days plus all conference proceedings (including
abstracts).
For a complete electronic version of the conference brochure and
registration form send an e-mail request to:
Craig MacConnell
Washington State University Cooperative Extension
Whatcom County, Bellingham, WA
(206)676-6736/Fax(206)738-2458
Internet: cbmac@coopext.cahe.wsu.edu
(BEN # 84 9-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
DR. E.D. (TED) HAGMEIER DIED - DECEMBER 9, 1994
Dr. Edwin Moyer Hagmeier, known as Ted to most of us, was born
on March 24, 1924 in Kitchener, Ontario. He studied at Queen's
University in Kingston (B.A. 1950) and at the University of
British Columbia in Vancouver (M.A. in 1952 and Ph.D. in 1955).
He taught at the University of New Brusnwick from 1955-1961,
contributing to the herbarium there, and in 1961 he came to the
University of Victoria as an Associate Professor, and taught
Ecology, Biogeography and Limnology. He retired from the Univer-
sity of Victoria in 1987. His major contribution was the
biogeography of North American mammals. Older graduates of UVIC
know him as an author of a nifty computer program for cluster
analysis, and accidently, he was the first person who explained
to me what "nifty" meant. His many interests included zoology,
botany, and fishing. He was a warm and reliable friend to all
UVIC biology students.
(BEN # 85 15-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
BOTANIST MAYOR OF MONTREAL
From: R.T. Ogilvie <bogilvie@rbml01.rbcm.gov.bc.ca>
Pierre Bourque was elected Mayor of Montreal in the November
civic election. Pierre Bourque was director of the Montreal
Botanical Garden, and had a major role with the Garden for
25 years. Bourque was a very dynamic and creative director and
has been called the major successor to Marie-Victorin the
original founder of the botanical garden in 1931. During his
directorship there have been many innovations: the Arboretum,
Japanese Garden, the Insectarium, Chinese Garden, Ericaceae
Garden, Streamside Garden, and Rose Garden, and the Biodome - a
museum of world ecosystems. Annual visitors to the Botanical
Gardens are now more than one million. The Institute of Botany,
a partnership between the University of Montreal and the Botani-
cal Garden, was strengthened and new research laboratories were
opened. A high quality journal of botany and horticulture was
started, called "Quatre-Temps" (which is the Quebec name for
Cornus canadensis).
(BEN # 85 15-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
DELTA SOFTWARE MAILING LIST
From: Phillip Hoover <phoover@SOL.UVIC.CA>
via TAXACOM <TAXACOM@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU>
A trial DELTA (DEscription Language for TAxonomy) users e-mail
discussion list is being established in December of 1994 using
the listserver at the University of Victoria (British Columbia,
Canada). The list will be of a temporary nature, running until
April 1994.
The purpose of this list is to allow discussion regarding the
use of the DELTA system for its users and those interested in
learning the use of the system. It could allow posting an-
nouncements of new upgrades and additional programs for use with
the DELTA system and meetings and workshops of interest to DELTA
users. We are setting it up for the education of our students in
a final year undergraduate course: Taxonomy and Biodiversity.
To subscribe, send a message to the listserver
LISTSERV@UVVM.UVIC.CA (or LISTSERV@UVVM.BITNET) with a message
in the text saying:
subscribe DELTA-L your name
The subject line should be left blank.
Questions regarding the list can be sent to the list manger
Phillip Hoover (phoover@sol.uvic.ca).
(BEN # 85 15-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
SOUTH PACIFIC INDIGENOUS NUTS
From: "R. M. Bourke" <rmbourke@COOMBS.ANU.EDU.AU>
via NEWCROPS list <NEWCROPS@PURCCVM.BITNET>
[The following article was written for Tropical Forest Manage-
ment Update, published by the International Tropical Timber
organisation and posted on the New Crops electronic forum.]
Numerous indigenous tree species bear edible nuts in the South
Pacific. There are over 40 nut bearing species in Papua New
Guinea alone, many self-sown in lowland forest. Some of these
have high quality kernels which have considerable potential for
commercial development in domestic South Pacific and overseas
markets.
In 1989 commercial development of canarium nuts commenced in the
Solomon Islands where they were marketed under the name "Solomon
nuts" (Evans 1993). Canarium nut oil has also been exported for
use in personal care products by the UK based Body Shop Interna-
tional. Since then, interest in these nut species has increased
rapidly and small industries have also been established in
Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.
South Pacific Indigenous Nuts Workshop
This commercial development has received further impetus through
a recent workshop held in October in Port Vila, the capital of
Vanuatu. The South Pacific Indigenous Nuts Workshop was attended
by 55 people from the South Pacific countries of Fiji, New
Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and West-
ern Samoa, as well as from non-island countries (Australia,
Philippines, UK and USA). Participants came from a wide range of
backgrounds, with people involved in commercial development of
these nuts well represented.
Over a five day period, 22 papers were presented; and working
groups on production, processing and marketing nuts met on three
occasions. Participants saw a demonstration of a prototype
mechanical commercial nut cracker developed by a Ni-Vanuatu
engineer at the University of Hawaii; they visited local vil-
lages where nuts were growing; and they also sampled locally
produced nuts at Mr. Charles Long Wah's 'Kava Store'.
The workshop was sponsored by the US Agency for International
Development, Australian International Development Assistance
Bureau, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Re-
search and the Institute for Research, Extension and Training in
Agriculture at the University of the South Pacific Apia campus.
A workshop proceedings will be published by ACIAR.
Nut species
Most interest to date has been on canarium species. Pili nut
(Canarium ovatum [Burseraceae]) is sold in the Philippines.
Canarium vulgare nuts are processed and sold locally in
Suluwesi, Ambon and other islands in East Indonesia. Canarium
indicum is the most important species in the Melanesian
countries of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Its
natural distribution also includes eastern Indonesia. Canarium
occurs as self-sown forest trees and planted or protected trees
in woody regrowth and village areas.
A number of Terminalia species [Combretaceae] bear high quality
nuts. Terminalia catappa is the very widely distributed sea
almond. This grows on beaches and nearby areas. As well as the
South Pacific, sea almond is widely grown in South East Asia and
other regions such as the West Indies.
Terminalia kaernbachii produces a very high quality nut, some-
what similar to the almond. Its natural distribution is confined
mainly to the south side of the island of New Guinea and some
other islands. It bears poorly near the ocean, but does well in
inland locations from very low altitudes up to an altitude of
1100 m.
Cut-nuts (Barringtonia procera, B. edulis and B. novae-hiberniae
[Lecythidaceae]) are distributed from New Guinea to Fiji. Unlike
canarium species and Terminalia kaernbachii, Barringtonia
procera is not a forest species. It is planted in disturbed
sites or in villages. B. novae-hiberniae is a forest species.
The Barringtonias are quick bearing trees and produces nuts
within three years of planting, They contrasts with Canarium
indicum and Terminalia kaernbachii which do not bear until about
seven years. The compact habit of the Barringtonias is also an
advantage when they are planted with other trees. Market accept-
ance of cut-nuts has been very good in Vanuatu where it is being
processed and sold in Port Vila.
The Polynesian chestnut (Inocarpus fagifer [Fabaceae]) is a
widely distributed nut tree throughout most of the South
Pacific. It has not been developed commercially in any of the
island countries and market prospects are poorer than for the
other species.
Karuka nut (Pandanus julianettii [Pandanaceae]) grows only at
high altitude locations (1800 to 2600 metres) on the island of
New Guinea. It has not been developed commercially to date.
However, the nut is very popular in the Papua New Guinea High-
lands and is sold in large numbers during the harvesting season.
If it was to be developed commercially in Papua New Guinea or in
other countries, it is likely to be well accepted.
Country strategies
Different approaches are being pursued in the different South
Pacific countries. Commercial development of indigenous nuts
commenced in the Solomon Islands with exploitation of natural
stands of Canarium indicum and C. harveyi. After a promising
start, the industry has seen little expansion. Processing and
sales are done through the Department of Agricultural and the
government-run Commodities Export Marketing Authority.
In Vanuatu a local businessman, Charles Long Wah, has commenced
buying and processing three local nuts. These are canarium nuts
(C. indicum and C. harveyi) cut-nuts (Barringtonia spp.) and sea
almond (Terminalia catappa). Processed nuts are sold only in the
small national capital Port Vila where demand outstrips present
supply and production continues to expand from a small base.
Because of the significance of the tourist industry in Vanuatu,
future expansion will be targeted at the tourist market.
There are three developments in Papua New Guinea, all commencing
in 1994. Okari Eco-Enterprises is selling small quantities of
fresh okari nuts (T. kaernbachii) through a supermarket chain in
Port Moresby. On New Britain, two organisations started to buy
canarium nuts (C. indicum) in 1994. One is an Australian-funded
rural development project in the Kandrian and Gloucester Dis-
tricts of West New Britain. The other is a local NGO, the
Pacific Heritage Foundation, based near Kokopo in East New
Britain. organisers in both locations were agreeably surprised
at the ease with which they could buy large quantities of nuts
harvested from planted and self-sown trees in local forests.
Both organisations are seeking alternative non-timber forest
products to generate income for local villagers. Processing and
sale will commence in early 1995. Sales will be targeted at the
domestic Papua New Guinea market. Demand is expected to be good
because of the relatively large urban population (500,000) and
the proportion of PNG population who live in the highlands where
lowland nuts cannot be grown.
There has been no development of indigenous nuts in Fiji to date
but following the South Pacific Indigenous Nuts Workshop, inter-
est is focussed on two species. These are cut-nut (Barringtonia
spp.) and candle nut (Aleurites moluccana [Euphorbiaceae]).
The future
Processing and sale of South Pacific indigenous nut species is a
very new industry and only very small quantities are currently
being produced for local sales. However, some of the nuts are
high quality ones and have appeal outside the islands. Prospects
for further rapid expansion are good for sales locally, to
tourists and eventually as export crops. Labour inputs are low
compared with annual horticultural crops. The nuts have a rela-
tively high value and can absorb high freight costs. They offer
the prospect of providing sustainable incomes to villagers in
remote locations.
Lit.: Evans, B. 1993. Canarium nuts--a new cash crop for the
Solomon Islands. Tropical Forest Management Update
3(2):7,19.
R. Michael Bourke, Visiting Fellow, Department of Human Geog-
raphy, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian
National University, Canberra ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA E-mail:
rmbourke@coombs.anu.edu.au - Fax: 61-6-2494896
[Pili nuts - Canarium ovatum - are available in Vancouver in
De Azur Grocery, 18-1472 Commercial Drive.]
(BEN # 85 15-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
NEW "LIVING FOSSIL" FIND IN AUSTRALIA
From: Ken Hill <Ken_Hill@RBGSYD.GOV.AU>
originally on TAXACOM <TAXACOM@CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU>
A small stand of trees that are considered to represent a third
living genus of Araucariaceae was discovered by New South Wales
National Parks and Wildlife officers in late 1994. This, now
known as the "Wollemi Pine", occurs in a deep, very wet and very
sheltered gorge in the Wollemi National Park, in a rugged moun-
tainous area within 200 km north-west of Sydney in eastern
Australia. With only about 20 adult trees in a single stand, it
is one of the rarest trees in Australia. Of the other extant
Araucariaceae, it appears closest to Agathis, but it has many
features in common with Cretaceous and early Tertiary fossil
groups such as Araucarioides. Staff of the Royal Botanic Gar-
dens, Sydney, in conjunction with National Parks officers plan
to describe and name the new genus and species in 1995 in the
journal "Telopea". Studies of DNA and detailed morphology are
also in progress at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, together
with investigation of vegetative and tissue culture propagation.
It is, however, unlikely that plants will become available in
less than two years.
[See the good article on it in the Thursday, 15 Dec. New York
Times. Only 39 individuals (23 adults, some are large trees).
Illustrations show trunk, distichous "fernlike" foliage, and
cone.]
Another recent exciting news was that Gilbert's Potoroo
(Potorous gilberti) was rediscovered in Western Australia. A
zoology Ph.D. student trapped one at Two Peoples Bay on WA's
south coast. They haven't been seen for over 100 years and were
thought long extinct. Two Peoples Bay is where the Noisy Scrub-
bird was rediscovered in the 1960s again after being thought
extinct. Gilbert's Potoroo is a relative of the Long-Nosed
Potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) which still exists in reasonable
numbers in eastern Australia. (Potoroos are small kangaroo-like
marsupials). Andrew Taylor
(BEN # 86 28-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
INVITATION TO CARNIVOROUS PLANT LISTSERV
From: dngess01@vlsi.ct.louisville.edu (Don)
Anyone reading this is invited to join the carnivorous plant
listserve. To join, send the message:
sub cp First_name Last_name
Send this to the address:
listserv@opus.hpl.hp.com
By the way, south-west Australia has the largest concentration
of Drosera species in the world. Some people in our group are
working on in-vitro cultivation of Drosera. Anyone with ex-
perience in this area is invited to join our group. There is
also a society, the International Carnivorous Plant Society. We
are always looking for people to write articles for the quar-
terly bulletin and to supply seeds (especially Nepenthes and
Heliamphora) to our seed exchange.
If anyone wants to join the International Carnivorous Plant
Society, the dues are $15 (U.S. dollars) per year for those
living in the USA or Canada; and $20 per year for others. Send
this to:
International Carnivorous Plant Society
Fullerton Arboretum
California State University, Fullerton
Fullerton, CA 92634
USA
To supply extra carnivorous plant seed to our seed exchange, the
address is:
Gordon Snelling
300 West Carter Dr.
Glendora, CA 91740-5915
USA
(BEN # 86 28-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
NEW MAILING LIST ON BIOLOGICAL CONTROL
From: Dan Freidus <freidus@biology.lsa.umich.edu>
via entomo-l@uoguelph.ca
A new list on Biological Control have been set recently. It is
running from a listserver in Brazil, and even so the presenta-
tion message is in portuguese, I don't believe will exclude
messages written in English or Spanish.
Subscription to this list can be done by sending the message
SUBSCRIBE BIOCONTROL-L Your_First_name Your_Last_name
to listserv@ftpt.br
The owner of the list is Sidnei de Souza <sidnei@ftpt.br> or Dr.
Luiz Alexandre Nogueira de Sa' at
EMBRAPA/CNPMA
C.P. 69
13.820-000 - JAGUARIUNA - SP
(BEN # 86 28-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
NATIVE WILDFLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA
From: Brother Eric Vogel <evogel@stmarys-ca.edu>
I am in the process of producing a CD-ROM containing 2,000
pictures of 665 species of native wildflowers of California.
This is from a collection of 20,000 slides collected by Brother
Alfred Brousseau over his lifetime. It takes the form of super-
card stacks, a stack for each alphabetical (latin name) group of
flowers. The material has been sent out to a commercial disk
producer and I am in the process of checking the "one off" CD
before having multiple disks stamped out. You need a Macintosh
with a minimum of 4 MB and 256 color capability.
I have available a sample (one card, with one flower) that I
could e-mail you. It is contained in a self extracting file and
since I use Eudora as an internet interface, Eudora "binhexs"
everything it sends out. If you are using Eudora, it will auto-
matically "binhex" it back to the original form, otherwise you
need something like the program BINHEX4. The file that results
is a .sea file which self expands upon clicking, yielding a
standalone super card stack which is viewed by double-clicking.
The file is about 650K hence takes some time unless you are
directly connected to internet. I will gladly send it to you
upon request. The CD-ROM should be available early January. The
CD results from a project whose purpose is to distribute the
work of Brother Alfred, and is non-profit, hence I am asking for
a $35.00 donation for the CD.
Brother Eric Vogel
Saint Mary's College
POB 5150, Moraga, Ca. 94575
(510)-631-4296
Internet: evogel@stmarys-ca.edu
(BEN # 86 28-December-1994)
------------------------------------------
AQUATIC PLANT INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM (APIRS)
From: Vic Ramey <varamey@nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu>
[For BEN, and thanks very much for thinking of us:]
For almost 15 years, the Center for Aquatic Plants (IFAS,
University of Florida) has been building a computerized library
and database about freshwater aquatic plants: the Aquatic Plant
Information Retrieval System (APIRS). The APIRS database con-
tains more than 40,000 articles and reports from hundreds of
journals and research institutions around the world. APIRS can
be searched by topics, species, authors, keywords, and any
combinations thereof. Use of APIRS is free of charge to anyone,
in exchange for contributions of articles, reports and other
items to the database.
As of now the APIRS database is not on-line. We are working
toward that end and expect to make an announcement within the
year.
APIRS also produces the newsletter AQUAPHYTE, a semi-technical
16-pager which informs of meetings, research projects and other
topics of interest to more than 5,000 researchers, institutions
and government personnel in more than 80 countries. It is free
of charge for the asking.
In addition, the APIRS office produces various products having
to do with aquatic plants including a full-color 2' X 3' poster
and copyright-free line drawings for educational and research
purposes.
APIRS also maintains an educational videotape production unit.
We have produced about 30 programs on various aspects of aquatic
ecosystem functioning and management. Some videos are more for
aquatics manager training, and some are more for public educa-
tion purposes (such as lakeside homeowners associations).
Among the videos are seven tapes which comprise the aquatic
plant identification series. In ordinary (non-botanical) lan-
guage, 115 plants are treated in 2-minute identification seg-
ments. These, and all of our videotape programs, are available
for sale or for borrowing.
For more information about APIRS, the database, newsletter,
drawings and videotapes, contact Victor Ramey or Karen Brown at:
Information Office, Center for Aquatic Plants, University of
Florida, 7922 NW 71 ST, Gainesville, FL 32653. Voice: 904/392-
1799 Fax: 904/392-3462 E-mail: varamey@nervm.nerdc.ufl.edu
(BEN # 87 5-January-1995)
------------------------------------------
PACIFIC MADRONE (ARBUTUS MENZIESII) SYMPOSIUM - CALL FOR PAPERS
From: Paul West <pwest@eskimo.com> via bionet.plants
Unravelling the Mystery of Pacific Madrone
Why is pacific madrone declining around Seattle? Can it be
resurrected in the urban landscape? A day-long symposium en-
titled "The Decline of Pacific Madrone: current theories and
research directions" will be held Friday, April 28th, 1995 at
the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture.
The Symposium is intended to galvanize new research on the topic
of madrones (Arbutus menziesii). Topics to be addressed include:
natural ecology, pathology, soil and hydrologic factors,
landscape performance, and propagation.
For more information, contact Paul West at the Seattle Depart-
ment of Parks and Recreation at phone 206-684- 4122, fax 206-
684-4126, or e-mail pwest@eskimo.com. Valerie Cholvin of Save
Magnolia's Madrones can be contacted at 206-283-8643 or
vpchol@aol.com.
Those interested in presenting a topic with a paper for publica-
tion in symposium proceedings should contact Dr. Clem Hamilton
at the Center for Urban Horticulture at 206-543-8616, fax 206-
685-2692, or e-mail cwh@u.washington.edu by March 15, 1995.
(BEN # 87 5-January-1995)
------------------------------------------
CHEMICAL ECOLOGY DISCUSSION LIST
From: Clecio Fernando Klitzke <clecio@iqm.unicamp.br>
via ECOLOG-L
To attend people interested in CHEMICAL ECOLOGY, we created
CHEMECOL, a discussion list in this area.
To subscribe this list send a mail to
listserv@iqm.unicamp.br
with the message:
subscribe chemecol your name
After this any mail to CHEMECOL list should be sent to
chemecol@iqm.unicamp.br
Thanks,
Clecio Fernando Klitzke
chemecol list owner
clecio@iqm.unicamp.br
(BEN # 87 5-January-1995)
------------------------------------------
KOELTZ SCIENTIFIC BOOKS ON INTERNET
From: "Pamela E. Burns-Balogh" <peburnsx@prairienet.org>
Koeltz Scientific Books is now on the internet
telnet to prairienet.org
sign in as "visitor" (no apostrophes)
at command prompt type "go koeltz" (no apostrophes)
(BEN # 87 5-January-1995)
------------------------------------------
SENIOR WATERSHED ECOLOGIST FOR THE CITY OF SEATTLE, WA
From: Jim Erckmann <erckmann@CYBERSPACE.COM> [abbrev.]
Supervise and lead biology professionals to plan and implement
programs in forest and watershed ecology for City of Seattle
Water Department. Develop cooperative research programs and
environmental plans with universities, Indian tribes, and
agencies. Work with multidisciplinary staff to design timber
sales and create long-term programs to protect, rehabilitate,
and restore aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
Requires a B.S. in natural sciences plus 5 years of experience
in a related field involving developing, conducting, and super-
vising field monitoring, research, and habitat management in
wildlife biology, fisheries, or ecology. Related M.S. or Ph.D.
involving research is preferred and may substitute for 3 years
of experience. Salary $3,787/month. Send your resume by January
24, 1995, to S. Bergstrand, Seattle Personnel Dept., 1292 Dexter
Horton Building, Seattle, WA, U.S.A., 98104-1793. AA/EOE.
(BEN # 88 13-January-1995)
------------------------------------------
THE VENUS FLYTRAP TRADE IN NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA
From: TRAFFIC Bulletin 13(2): 68-72.
(Article by Jane C. MacKnight & Vonda Frantz - abbrev.)
The Venus Flytrap is a sole representative of the genus Dionaea
(its Latin name is D. muscipula Ellis), a member of the
Droseraceae family which contains Sundew (Drosera - about 80
spp.), Waterwheel (Aldrovanda - 1 sp.), and Portuguese Sundew
(Drosophyllum - 1 sp.).
Dionaea muscipula is endemic to a 320-km strip of coastal plain
in southeastern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina
where the sandy-peaty, acidic, low-nutrient soils remain wet.
Populations decline rapidly when overgrown by shrubs and taller
plants. Periodic fires are characteristic of Venus Flytrap
habitat. Unless other management techniques are employed,
drainage or suppression of fires will cause extirpation of the
habitat and Venus Flytrap populations.
The Venus Flytrap is traded as a novelty plant in North America,
Europe and Asia. In Germany, the plants are also used in a
medicine, Carnivora, which is sold as a claimed remedy for
cancer and AIDS (Ref.: Walker, M. 1991. The Carnivora cure for
cancer, AIDS, and other pathologies. - Townsend Newsletter for
Doctors. Stamford, CT, June).
The Venus Flytrap is propagated in both the USA and Europe.
Methods of propagation - by division, tissue culture, leaf-base
culture, from leaf blades or by seeds - are relatively easy and
require between one and three years for the plants to reach a
marketable size.
No commercial propagation or trade in Venus Flytrap was iden-
tified in South Carolina. Nine nurseries in North Carolina found
to trade in Venus Flytrap were visited or interviewed by
telephone. Only one nursery was found to conduct true artificial
propagation, while others either propagate by division and
continually replenish stock with wild plants or rely entirely on
wild-collected plants.
Both South and North Carolina have taken measures to protect the
species. The laws prohibit collection of Venus Flytrap from
public lands, or from private lands without the permission of
the landowner. The listing of the Venus Flytrap in CITES Appen-
dix II became effective on 11 June 1992 and requires documenta-
tion for all international exports and re-exports. All wild-
collected plants destined for export require export permits and
artificially-propagated plants require a certificate of artifi-
cial propagation.
Small-scale collecting may occur in South Carolina, but it is
not believed to be a serious problem. Illegal collection of wild
plants in North Carolina is frequent, widespread and large-
scale. The volume of Venus Flytraps collected annually in North
Carolina may be as high as several hundred thousand plants. When
the habitat of Venus Flytrap was abundant, the impact of collec-
tion was probably negligible. But the effects of development -
bulldozing and paving of habitat, drainage of large tracks for
timber extraction, and fire suppression - have diminished the
amount of habitat, and the impact of collection is magnified.
The decrease in collecting sites causes each remaining site to
be more heavily collected.
Recommendations.
The long-term preservation of the Venus Flytrap will require
a series of measures:
1) Reduce and control collection of wild plants.
2) Enforce state regulations and CITES.
3) Establish more protected areas.
(BEN # 88 13-January-1995)
------------------------------------------
PLENTERUNG, AN AGE-OLD PARADIGM FOR SUSTAINABILITY
From: Dr. Rudolf W. Becking, Research Consultant, 1415 Virginia
Way, Arcata, CA 95521-6855. Phone/FAX: (707) 822-1649
[Copyright R.W. Becking. Released with permission of the author
to the users of BEN on Internet. For any questions, additional
information or potential applications of Plenterung contact the
author directly.]
The earliest protocols regulating harvest of trees date from
1200-1300 A.D. in Central Europe. These regulations dictated
tree harvest at specific locations in the communal forests,
specified quantities or volumes to be removed and the harvest
times under supervision of an elected official, the forester!
The original harvest method was selective or individual tree
harvest, named Plenterung. In medieval times, these communal
forests played a vital role in local rural economies by supply-
ing fuel wood that was used daily for cooking meals, heating
homes, and for the manufacturing and processing of forest
products and foods. The population explosion caused the emer-
gence of commerce, the industrial revolution and urbanization
around 1600. During 1600--1800, Central Europe was ravaged by
religious and feudal wars resulting in concentrating political
powers in large industrial cities, with a capitalistic economic
control over the lands and their natural resources. Forest
resources were rapidly depleted and logging activities
encroached deep into the valleys and mountains. All the European
forests would have disappeared, except the last remnant forests
were saved by the discovery of new energy sources like coal,
oil, gas, and electricity to fuel the industrial plants.
The remaining heavily degraded forest, the so-called
"Mittelwald", was an open forest dominated by a few overstory
trees and a dense coppice of repeatedly-cut and resprouting
hardwoods to be used as a fuel wood. The conifers, lacking
sprouting ability, mostly disappeared. The age-old conservative
Plenterung system was effectively destroyed. In the 1870's, the
new science of forestry was born in Germany and France,
primarily to remedy these degraded forest wastelands for
economic reasons. The initial techniques were to remove the
entire Mittelwald and start replanting the cleared areas with
conifers, notably Norway spruce (Picea abies), white fir (Abies
alba), and Scots pine (Pinus silvestris). Thus, even-aged forest
management was born, and with it silviculture, mensuration,
forest economics, forest engineering and forest genetics. Im-
provements were made in thinning and harvesting schedules, soil
amendments, insect and pest controls, and trees were projected
as unsawn planks with $ returns! In spite of vigorous political
control efforts, Plenterung survived in isolated mountainous
communities of the Alps.
During the 20th century with an unprecedented world population
explosion, the long-term global effects of the capitalistic
even-aged forest management system created international con-
cerns and controls about global warming, preserving global
biodiversity and gene pools, threatened or endangered species,
clearcutting tropical and temperate rainforests, and loss of
top-soil and soil fertility by erosion and monocultures.
Plenterung emerges today as an alternative method to even-aged
forest management. Its science was perfected by Adolphe Gurnaud,
Henri Biolley and others around 1875, but its acceptance and
publication was severely limited. Plenterung is the only proven
silvicultural system regarding the forest as an ecosystem in
which all its components closely interact with the site, soil
and climate. Plenterung is also the unique forest management
system to maintain constantly a dynamic all-aged stand struc-
ture, volume and area controls. Plenterung relies heavily upon
local natural regeneration, intensive 100% inventories to
monitor stand growth in all size (age) classes every 5-7 years,
and harvesting trees only upon complete inventories to control
all its stand variables. Individual trees are selected for
harvest to improve spacing, growth, stand composition, diversity
in age and species, and the maintenance of the top canopy in-
fluence. Plenterung requires a permanent intensive road net,
with major haul roads and skid roads adapted to directional tree
felling, no landings, and no heavy equipment entry into the
stands. All the stand treatments are carried out simultaneously
every 5-7 years within the same permanent compartment. Before
any stand treatment, 100% inventories monitor the effects of
past treatments and adjust to maintain constancy of stand struc-
ture, volume and growth. Only the volume that can be grown
within the harvest intervals may be removed. Stand treatment
consists of maintaining a constant stand structure curve cover-
ing the entire range of 2-inch DBH-classes. Harvesting is done
on those trees in excess of the desired stand structure over the
entire DBH range. Stand growth is precisely calculated using
repeated inventories including stand ingrowth and mortality.
Using dual inventories, stand growth can account precisely for
intermediate windstorm or insect losses on a tree-by-tree basis!
Plenterung will automatically adjust to long-term cumulative
impacts and stand changes with its built-in most intensive
monitoring of stand performance and the significant stand
parameters. One of the unique features of Plenterung is that
time is no factor at all in the decision-making or stand invest-
ment. Economically it has proven to be a very stable and secure
investment with steady periodic returns while maintaining full
sustainability! This implies the total abandonment of even-aged
concepts including clearcutting.
Plenterung strives for maintaining natural processes on a com-
partment basis and, by extrapolation over all the compartments,
on a landscape basis. Another incalculable advantage is that
niches and natural habitats within the managed compartment will
be rotated among gaps and preserved within the same unit area.
This preserves natural biodiversity and gene pools.
Applications of Plenterung within the US have been hampered
because current stand conditions in a severely depleted forest
would require a lengthy period of restoration and investment.
Long time is needed to attain a suitable and profitable stand
structure of a mature late seral forest to implement and manage
for a dynamic and constant multi-storied and all-species/all-
aged stand structure. The current controversies over policies
implementing the preservation of the endangered/threatened
species like the Spotted Owl, Marbled Murrelet and Coho Salmon,
coupled with the re-enactments of the Clear Air and Clean Water
Acts, may provide a strong impetus to apply and practice Plen-
terung on a broad commercial scale, at least on public lands,
within the Pacific Northwest and the Redwood Region of Califor-
nia. Elsewhere, Plenterung has wide applications. The natural
forest types of the Cascades, Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains
are ideally suited for Plenterung application before they are
clear-cut. The Eastside forests of ponderosa pines and their
mixtures in the interior of the West are naturally structured
for Plenterung applications. Similarly, the mixed oak and con-
ifer forests of the eastern United States, including the Smoky
Mountains, have been observed to have a well defined Plenter-
structure in their original state. At the present, Plenterung
remains unknown to many foresters or is misunderstood.
(BEN # 89 15-January-1995)
------------------------------------------