From aceska@cue.bc.caTue Dec 6 10:19:33 1994 Date: Tue, 6 Dec 1994 01:12:41 -0800 From: Adolf Ceska To: ben@cue.bc.ca Subject: BEN # 83 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. 83 December 6, 1994 aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca Victoria, B.C. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2 ----------------------------------------------------------- PLANT SYSTEMATIST - CENTRAL WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY From: Mike Gleason 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. BRYONIA ALBA - CORRECTION From: Adolf Ceska 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. FIRE DESTROYS LABS AND FACILITIES AT LAS CRUCES, COSTA RICA From: Carol Mozell via CONSLINK 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. FLORA FOR FAUNA PROJECT From: Dr. Pamela Munn 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