From aceska@cue.bc.ca Fri Aug 27 23:18:20 1993 Date: Mon, 5 Jul 93 01:25:11 -0700 From: Adolf Ceska To: ben@cue.bc.ca Subject: BEN # 58 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. 58 July 4, 1993 Address: aceska@cue.bc.ca Victoria, B.C. ---------------------------------------------------- NOXIOUS WEEDS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Part 1 of 2) From: Roy Cranston An Order-In-Council amending noxious weed schedule has just been approved. Weeds classed as noxious within all regions of the Province: Abutilon theophrasti Velvetleaf Aegilops cylindrica Jointed Goatgrass Avena fatua Wild Oats Centaurea diffusa Diffuse Knapweed Centaurea maculosa Spoted Knapweed Centaurea solstitialis Yellow Starthistle Chondrilla juncea Rush Skeletonweed Cirsium arvense Canada Thistle Crupina vulgaris Common Crupina Cuscuta spp. Dodder Cynoglossum officinale Hound's-tongue Euphorbia esula Leafy Spurge Linaria dalmatica Dalmatian Toadflax Linaria vulgaris Common Toadflax Matricaria maritima Scentless Chamomile Senecio jacobaea Tansy Ragwort Sonchus arvensis Perennial Sow Thistle Sonchus oleraceus Annual Sow Thistle "Regional" weeds, classed as noxious within the boundaries of certain regional districts will be listed in the next issue of BEN. OSMORHIZA BERTEROI - A NEW NAME FOR OSMORHIZA CHILENSIS According to Kertezs & Gandhi (Brittonia 45[1993]: 181-182) the well known and wide spread sweet-cicely (Osmorhiza chilensis) should be called Osmorhiza berteroi DC. Osmorhiza chilensis was described by Hooker & Arnott in The Botany of Captain Beechey's Voyage and published in December 1930. Osmorhiza berteroi (originally spelled berterii) was proposed in the 4th volume of De Candolle's Prodromus and published in late September 1930, few months earlier than O. chilensis. Osmorhiza berteroi was named after Carlo Guiseppe Bertero (1789- 1831), Italian physician, botanist, who as a naval physician travelled in West Indies (1816-1821) and settled in Chile in 1827. He died in April 1831 when the ship which was to have brought him to Valparaiso from Tahiti disappeared on the high seas. A FUNGUS FACTORY FOR TAXOL From: Science Vol. 260 - 9 April 1993 p. 154,155. Plant pathologist Gary Strobel and chemist Andrea Stierle of Montana State University sampled about 50 fungi from Pacific yew trees and found one that can produce taxol on its own. The fungus, Taxomyces andreanae [newly described genus and species], may have inadvertently picked up from the yew tree a copy of the gene (or genes) for taxol. The fungus is manufacturing taxol even when removed from its host and grown in the artificial culture. GIANT RATTLESNAKE PLANTAIN (GOODYERA OBLONGIFOLIA) ARREST From: TRAFFIC Bulletin Vol. 13, No. 2 (1992): 78. On 2 July 1992, at Marquette District court, Michigan, Heinz Pinkepank of Germany faced charges under the US Lacey Act of illegally digging and removing 85 specimens of the indigenous Giant Ratllesnake Orchid Goodyera oblongifolia (Appendix II of CITES) from the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Grand Marais, Michigan. The defendant admitted the charge and told Park Service personnel that he planned to trade or sell the plants in Europe. He was fined US$3,525. BRITISH COLUMBIA BIODIVERSITY FOR RENT A poster display on British Columbia biodiversity was prepared by the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Research Division. The display is approximately 6' tall and 8' wide and consists of four "cards" that fit into the overall self-supporting structure. If you are interested in renting the display, contact Sandy Cyr at the Forest Service Communication Section at (604) 387-7114.