BBBBB EEEEEE NN N ISSN 1188-603X BB B EE NNN N BBBBB EEEEE NN N N BOTANICAL BB B EE NN NN ELECTRONIC BBBBB EEEEEE NN N NEWS No. 37 August 26, 1992 Address: aceska@cue.bc.ca Victoria, B.C. ------------------------------------------------- TRISETUM WOLFII - NEW GRASS FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA From: George Douglas Recently, Steve Darbyshire (Agriculture Canada, Ottawa) sent me a xerox copy of a B.C. collection of Trisetum wolfii Vasey. This is a first record for B.C. and, according to the maps in Flora of Alberta (Packer 1983) and the Rare Plants of Saskatchewan (Maher et al. 1979), is a fourth record for Canada. The B.C. collection was taken in 1968 by George Scotter (CWS) in the alpine zone (2690 m) in Mt. Assiniboine Provincial Park. It is quite likely that other B.C. collections of this awnless Trisetum are hidden in various collections. The species is relatively frequent in the western U.S. from E WA and MT south to NM and CA. LOOKING FOR STUMPS OF BROAD-LEAVED TREES IN VICTORIA From: Meindert de Jong Chondrostereum purpureum is a commonly occurring fungus which will probably be developed as a biological silvicide to con- trol stump sprouting in hardwoods. It is a wound invader of broad-leaved trees. Common presence of this Basidiomycete in nature causes a natural infection danger. The intended biocon- trol may cause an added risk to non-target plants besides the already occurring natural risk. To estimate the natural infec- tion pressure, I want to perform a survey of the natural occurrence of basidiocarps of this fungus in the woods nearby Victoria. Accordingly, I would like to inspect some one year old stubs of deciduous trees, when I visit Victoria (in September?). If you happen to know some one year old clearcuts of deciduous forests (especially with Populus spp.), botanical gardens with much pruning of broad-leaved trees, stumps of felled roadside trees in the surrounding of Victoria, then I would greatly appreciate to know the exact location! ERADICATION OF MILKWEED versus PROTECTION OF MONARCH BUTTERFLY I came across an interesting posting in BIOSPH-L on a possible conflict between the protection of monarch butterfly and listing milkweed as a noxious weed. I solicited answers from Roy Cranston, weed specialist, and from Cris Guppy, entomologist. - AC biosph-l: The Monarch butterflies winter in a very small area of Mexican forest, which is in danger from illegal logging and intrusion by squatters. In the past few weeks the Mexican government has made steps to extend the Monarch butterfly's land reserves. Canada is also being urged to re-think it's classification of the Milkweed as a noxious weed. The milkweed is an essential plant to the Monarch Butterflies survival. The current act requires land owners to destroy all milkweed they encounter. Roy Cranston, weed specialist: Milkweed is not listed as noxious in the Seeds Act and Regulations administered by Agriculture Canada nor is it considered noxious under Weed Act legislation in British Columbia or Alberta. According to Bhowmik and Bandeen, Can. Journal of Plant Science, Biology of Canadian Weeds Series, July 1976, milkweed is classified noxious in Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec and Nova Scotia. I don't know what the situation is in other provinces. Cris Guppy, entomologist: Monarchs breed in southern BC, with the larvae eating milkweed. However, even if all milkweed was eliminated from the province, I do not think that the overall Monarch population would be greatly affected because too few adults are produced in BC. The Monarch population west of the Rockies overwinters in California and Baja. The Monarch population east of the Rockies overwinters in northeastern Mexico, and is the one which overwinters in the threatened forests mentioned in your memo. There were newspaper reports of a very severe (30%?) die off of overwintering Monarchs this past winter, apparently due to logging of the forests exposing the butterflies to winter storms and freezing. The eco-tourism idea has proven to have a significant protective value for the overwintering Monarchs, because the dollar value to the local villages is much higher than that received from logging. Eco-tourism has only been developed for a couple overwintering sites however. Monarch breeding in southern Canada east of the Rockies probably results in a highly significant contribution to the overwintering population. Hence reduction in the amount of milkweed available for use as a larval food plant is likely to result in a significant reduction in the size of the overwintering Monarch population, which is likely to make overwintering deaths much more significant. Ontario and Manitoba have the largest breeding populations of Monarchs, so their designation of milkweed as a noxious weed is especially significant, but some breeding occurs in every province that has milkweed. As an added note, milkweed is a very significant source of nectar for many species of butterflies and moths, as well as wild bees and other insects. It is recommended as a nectar source in all books on butterfly gardening. Milkweed is also the only larval food source for a number of insects, so if milkweed becomes rare in a province, the insects are likely to become endangered in that province. WHEN COMETH THE NEW FLORA OF CALIFORNIA ? From: Art Guppy I hear that the new version of Jepson's Manual of the Flowering Plants of California will be published this year. Has anyone any information on this? Title? Publisher? Price?