Subject: BEN # 114

From: [email-masked] (Adolf Ceska)
Date: 9 Oct 1995 14:06:41 -0700

BBBBB    EEEEEE   NN   N             ISSN 1188-603X
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BBBBB    EEEEE    NN N N             BOTANICAL
BB   B   EE       NN  NN             ELECTRONIC
BBBBB    EEEEEE   NN   N             NEWS

No. 114                              October 9, 1995

[email-masked]        Victoria, B.C.
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 Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2
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NATIVE PLANT FORUM

A one day workshop is being planned to provide an opportunity to
hear  about  current  programs  and initiatives involving use of
native plants in British Columbia.

Where: Vernon, B.C.
When: Saturday, November 25, 1995
Time: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Cost: The workshop will be free but you will have to pay your
      own travel costs.

Proposed agenda:
Morning: Short presentations about native plants by agencies and
      individuals.

Afternoon: Workshops on
      Native plant biology and seed collection
      Native plant propagation and culture
      Species uses and programs involving native plants
      Formation of a BC Native Plants Council

For information and registration contact:
Diane  Gertzen,  Nursery  and  Seed Services Branch, Ministry of
Forests, 14275-96th Ave., Surrey, B.C., V3V 7Z2, Phone: 604-930-
3309, FAX: 604-775-1288

NEW NAMES IN SCAPOSE POPPIES (PAPAVER SECTION MECONELLA)

For his treatment of the genus Papaver for the  Flora  of  North
America,  D.F. Murray made one new nomenclatural combination and
validated two names  previously  published  by  Randel:  Papaver
radicatum  subsp.  kluanensis (D. Love) D.F. Murray, P. macounii
subsp. discolor (Hulten) Randel ex D.F. Murray, and P. nudicaule
subsp. americanum Randel ex D.F. Murray.

Murray, D.F.  1995.  New  names  in  Papaver  section  Meconella
      (Papaveraceae). - Novon 5: 294-295.

LITTLE ICE AGE TEMPERATURE ESTIMATED USING CASSIOPE TETRAGONA

A unique opportunity to study conditions for plant growth at the
onset  of  glaciation  was  offered  as  a retreating glacier at
Ellesmere Island,  Canada,  revealed  well-preserved,  subfossil
plants  of  Cassiope tetragona (that lived between 1485 and 1610
AD). Predictions based on regression between modern  plant  per-
formance  and  climatic  data from the study site imply that the
mean temperature of the period immediately preceding the glacia-
tion of the area was about 0.7 deg. C  lower  than  today.  This
estimate  is  independently supported by the correlation between
growth and mean July  temperature  seen  today  among  different
sites.  The result supports the idea that the pre-Little Ice Age
plants were killed suddenly by permanent snow embedment and  not
by the glacial movements or temperature limitations.

Havstrom,  M.  T.V.  Callaghan, S. Jonasson, & J. Svoboda. 1995.
      Little Ice Age temperature estimated by growth and flower-
      ing  differences  bewteen  subfossil and  extant shoots of 
      Cassiope tetragona, an arctic heather.
      Functional Ecology 9: 650-654.

NEW BRYONET-L DISCUSSION LIST
From: Janice M. Glime <[email-masked]>

I have been encouraged by Gillis Een to  use  the  old  name  of
Bryonet-l  (note that it is an l as in liverwort, not the number
one) for this list serve for bryologists. My  intention  was  to
join  the  bryophyte  ecologists  and provide a forum for asking
questions and discussion, particularly to benefit all  the  iso-
lated  graduate students and faculty around the world. Of course
all systematists are welcome, and even an occasional systematics
question will be welcome, but my primary purpose  was  to  serve
the  other  areas  of  bryology. Non-bryologists who want to ask
bryological questions or to tap into the discussions are welcome
to take advantage of the net. So, Bryonet-l is up and running.

If you want to subscribe:
mail to:
  [email-masked]
  no subject
message:
  subscribe bryonet-l

Do not include your email address. Majordomo will take  it  from
your  mail.  You should get a message back telling you about the
bryonet-l and how to unsubscribe.

Address of the owner: Janice M. Glime, Department of  Biological
Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931-
1295
e-mail: [email-masked], phone: 906-487-2546, FAX 906-487-3167

PLANTS OF THE WESTERN BOREAL FOREST & ASPEN PARKLAND

Johnson,  D.,  L. Kershaw, A. MacKinnon & J. Pojar. 1995. Plants
of the western boreal  forest  and  aspen  parkland.  Lone  Pine
Publishing and Canadian Forest Service, Edmonton. 392 p. ISBN 1-
55105-058-7 [softcover] CDN$24.95, US$19.95

The book includes more than 800 colour photographs and about 900
line drawings of plants from the boreal zone. It covers the area
>from  Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia to western Ontario.

The book is the third in the series of very popular field guides
[cf.  BEN  #  31  and BEN # 76]. When I opened the book I got an
impression that the authors ignored botanical literature of  the
last  thirty  years,  because  the  nomenclature and taxonomy of
vascular plants seemed rather rusty and obsolete.  I  found  the
explanation  of  this in the Introduction - Plant Names: "Scien-
tific names largely  follow  Scoggan  (1978-1979)  for  vascular
plants,  ... " The authors even had the nerves to write "The bog
orchids, for example, are placed in the genus Habenaria  [mostly
a tropical genus - AC] in this book, while other works may refer
to  this genus as Platanthera [a circumpolar genus - AC]." In my
review of the "Coastal Plants..." [BEN # 76] I pointed out  that
the  complexity  of  taxonomy  and  nomenclature  was  too  much
simplified with the phrase "Also known as ..." In  this  volume,
"Also  called  ..." often refers to a correct, commonly accepted
scientific name (e.g., "Also called  Orthilia  secunda").  I  am
sorry  to  say that the choice of Scoggan's Flora of Canada as a
standard reference for scientific names was a grave mistake.

I like and admire the format of these field guides. The  content
is presented in fresh way, combining colour photographs and text
with  keys,  line  drawings,  tree  and leaf silhouettes, etc. I
missed the comparison tables in  this  volume.  One  interesting
feature   has  been  added:  175  small  colour  photographs  of
"wildflowers" that enable users to identify the family and  send
them to a proper section of the guide.

The publisher has a toll-free phone number: 1-800-661-9017 and a
toll-free FAX number: 1-800-424-7173.

NATIVE WILDFLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA - CD-ROM
From: Brother Eric Vogel <[email-masked]>

Brother Alfred Brousseau F.S.C. (1908-1988) made a collection of
35mm  color  slides  of  Native  Wildflowers of California which
consists of over 20,000 slides of over 2,000 species. The object
of this project is to make this material available to  all.  The
project  if a not-for-profit one and asks for a donation to help
defray the production costs.

The first output of this project is  in  the  form  of  CD-ROM's
containing  2,000  pictures  of  665  species  of flowers. These
pictures were scanned using a Barneyscan and saved as 8 bit PICT
files for use on the MAC and changed to 8 bit TIFF files for the
DOS version. It is intended to  continue  this  project  in  the
attempt to make Brother Alfred's complete collection available.

Native  Wildflowers  of California CD-ROM, containing 2,000 pic-
tures of 665 species of wildflowers, indexed and  classified  is
now available for IBM compatible machines (as well as for Macin-
tosh)  Since this is not-for profit project, we are asking for a
$35.00 donation for each CD. Make checks  payable  to  Brousseau
Project  and  send them to Brother Eric Vogel, Saint Mary's Col-
lege, POB 5150, Moraga, CA, 94575. Be sure to state  which  ver-
sion you wish.

RE: COMMON NAMES - FROM OUR MAIL BOX - PART I

From: Terry Taylor c/o Rosemary Taylor <[email-masked]>
The discussion on the value of common names is interesting. Yes,
I  believe  mosses and lichens should have common names, but not
necessarily always to the species level. In order  to  slow  the
rate  of  species loss a much greater appreciation and knowledge
of the natural world must be  created  than  the  abysmally  low
level  that now prevails. The general awareness and value placed
on cryptogams is almost non-existent. However, I  am  frequently
asked  the  name  for a moss or lichen, and a reply such as rock
tripe or belly button lichen receives a  much  better  reception
than  Umbilicaria.  The  genus or family level is probably close
enough, as anybody wanting more information than this  is  prob-
ably already using species names. The examples presented against
English   names  are  certainly  ludicrous,  but  many  resource
managers also do not identify with Latin names, and these people
make decisions regarding preservation, whether  botanists  agree
with  this  or not, so species level English names may be advan-
tageous for forestry and similar inventories. The use of English
names for birds seems to be accepted by professionals,  although
there are certainly fewer taxa involved.

From: "Alexej B. Borkovec" <[email-masked]>
More  than  three cheers to you for your subject article. I am a
biochemist and just a very amateurish botanist who  nevertheless
is  greatly  bothered  with  these  mostly idiotic pseudo-common
names. Thank you very much. Regards, Alexej (Sasha) Borkovec

From: Elisabeth Harmon <[email-masked]> [abbrev.]
Your article was forwarded to my list,  where  I  read  it  with
great  amusement  and  chagrin.  For  many years my husband, the
grandson of a professor of botany,  has  refused  to  use  Latin
names.  He  is  totally  confused  by  case. His mother, an avid
horticulturist from birth, always uses botanical Latin. While  I
must  say  that  California  poppy  is  a lot easier to say than
*Eschscholtzia californica maritima*, it becomes ridiculous when
you add it to the yellow-one-with-gold-in-the-middle.

The public, American and otherwise, are most strongly influenced
by the media. Unfortunately, I have not heard of any  grants  to
shows  or  magazines to teach children Latin or botanical flower
names. Yes, that's where a change would have to start. Databases
with correct spelling would have  to  become  available  in  the
computers these children have at school. Botanical gardens would
have to use the correct plant names for their children's garden-
ing  classes.  And  someone,  would  have  to get the whole ball
rolling.
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