Subject: BEN # 181 (fwd)

From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 17:51:22 -0500 (EST)

http://sunSITE.unc.edu/london   InterGarden   
[email-masked]   [email-masked]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 00:08:33 -0800
From: Adolf Ceska <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: BEN # 181

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. 181                              January 10, 1998

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

GERALD BANE STRALEY (1945 - 1997)

On December 11th, 1997 British Columbia and North America lost a
superb botanist and plantsman. Dr. Gerald Straley is survived by
his mother, father, brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew all
of  Eggleston,  Virginia.  He  is  also  survived by hundreds of
friends and acquaintances in  the  botanical  and  horticultural
world.  As  Research Scientist and Curator of Collections at UBC
Botanical  Garden  he  was   botanist,   gardener,   taxonomist,
naturalist,  hiker,  photographer, author, teacher. Above all he
was a gentle man; warm, humorous,  welcoming  and  generous  but
also  quietly tenacious and strove for excellence in all he did.
His passion for his subject rubbed off on his students.  Whether
those students were in graduate level systematics or the layper-
son distinguishing a stamen from a pistil he was equally at home
and  equally  committed  to  imparting  knowledge  to  both.  BC
botanists now have an indispensable tool  in  the  form  of  the
Vascular  Plants  of  BC  which  he  authored  with  Douglas and
Meidinger; and for ten years he strolled the streets  and  parks
of  Vancouver  documenting every tree for his Trees of Vancouver
book. This latter work seem to characterize his  life  in  being
meticulously accurate while being readable and available to all.

His  numerous  articles  on  myriad  subjects grace journals and
magazines on both sides of the boarder. From  the  rare  to  the
commonplace, from tree to diminutive annual all were fascinating
to  Gerald  and  he in turn made them fascinating to us. I'm not
sure I can recall a single plant that stumped him for  an  iden-
tification,  such  was  his  encyclopedic mind. His tours to the
Siskyous, to Greece and Australia, often with David Tarrant were
an inspiration for all who traveled with  him.  And  I  consider
myself  so  fortunate  spending  weeks with Gerald botanizing in
Northern BC and in California.

For years he battled failing health but, as  he  put  it,  "I've
still got too many things to do". Where he found his strength to
keep  fighting  back  is  a  mystery to us all. Or is it? In the
simple act of feeding his goldfish and watering  plants  in  his
patio  garden Gerald found joy, delight and an excited anticipa-
tion for what next may bloom. The world is a poorer  place  with
the  loss  of  Gerald  Straley but we are, all of us, richer for
having known him.

To remember his life in a way  most  appropriate  a  celebration
will take place at the UBC Botanical Garden on Saturday, January
31st,  1998  at  2  PM.  Memorial  donations  may be made to UBC
Botanical Garden, c/o Bruce  Macdonald,  6804  Southwest  Marine
Drive, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4.

   Wilf Nicholls, Botanical Garden
   Memorial University of Newfoundland
   St. John's, NF, Canada A1C 5S7
   E-mail: [email-masked]

MORE SAD NEWS FROM THE END OF 1997

Dr.  Richard  S.  Cowan  (1921-1997)  died 17 November 1997. Dr.
Cowan was a botany curator and later the  director  of  the  Na-
tional  Museum  of  Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. He
was a co-author (with Dr. Frans Stafleu  -  see  below)  of  the
monumental  work "Taxonomic Literature." After his retirement in
1985 he moved to Australia.

Prof. dr. Frans A.  Stafleu  (1921-1997)  died  on  Tuesday,  16
December.  He  is  well-known for his numerous activities in the
IAPT (International Association  for  Plant  Taxonomy)  and  af-
filiated  organizations, and authorship of many papers. His name
will be long associated with the impressive bibliographic series
Taxonomic Literature and the journal Taxon.

Stephen C. Zoltai (1928-1997), a noted peatland  expert,  passed
away Monday December 15, of cancer. Steve will be remembered for
his gentle humour, his kindness, and his excellence in science.

INVASIVE PLANTS OF CANADA (IPCAN) PROJECT
From: Erich Haber <[email-masked]>

The  Invasive  Plants of Canada (IPCAN) project was initiated in
1995 with the financial assistance of  several  federal  depart-
ments  in  Environment  Canada,  Natural  Resources  Canada  and
Natural Heritage Canada. Its purpose is the  development  of  an
information  base  on invasive plants and to facilitate informa-
tion exchange and increase awareness of the impact  of  invasive
plants on Canadian biodiversity.

The  IPCAN had its origin in activities begun in the early 1990s
by the Habitat Conservation Division of  the  Canadian  Wildlife
Service  (CWS)  to document the occurrence of invasive plants in
natural habitats in Canada (White, Haber and Keddy  1993).  This
initial publication was followed by other activities such as the
development  of  invasive  plant databases and summary of occur-
rences of invasive  plants  and  species  at  risk  in  National
Wildlife  Areas  and  Migratory  Bird  Sanctuaries (Haber 1995).
These various activities were undertaken at a time when interna-
tional concern was being expressed over the impact of the spread
of invasive aliens. A document of particular interest  that  was
published  by the U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment
(1993), that summarizes the  impact  of  harmful  non-indigenous
species in the United States is now accessible on the internet:

http://www.wws.princeton.edu/~ota/disk1/1993/9325_n.html

As  part  of  the  IPCAN  activities,  10  fact sheets have been
prepared on invasive plants, a national survey of biologists and
plant specialists  was  conducted  in  1996  to  determine  what
species are of greatest concern and a monitoring guide to exotic
plants  was  prepared. Databases of nine exotic plants have also
been initiated for computer mapping and analysis  and,  in  par-
ticular, to facilitate the development of range maps to show the
historic  spread  of  these  plants since their introduction. To
make these products widely available, an internet site was  also
established for the IPCAN:

http://infoweb.magi.com/~ehaber/ipcan.html

In 1997, an Invasive Plants Alert (IPA) program was initiated as
part  of  the  IPCAN  with  the  primary aims of promoting local
actions, in particular by naturalist clubs,  to  monitor  exotic
plants  and  to  undertake  projects to control invasive plants.
Initial funding for the IPA has been provided by  the  Biodiver-
sity  Convention Office, Environment Canada. With the assistance
of the  Canadian  Nature  Federation,  naturalist  clubs  across
Canada were contacted to solicit their participation in the IPA.
To  date,  naturalist  clubs  and individuals in seven provinces
have responded to a request for participation in the  IPA.  Club
activities,  especially  those regarding the control or eradica-
tion of invasive species, as  well  as  reports  of  significant
findings  of  newly  arrived  exotic or invasive plants that are
becoming troublesome, are published as  information  notices  in
the  IPA  Bulletin.  This  bulletin  can be accessed through the
IPCAN homepage or directly at the following URL:

http://infoweb.magi.com/~ehaber/bulletin.html

Anyone with information on exotic  species  that  appear  to  be
aggressively  spreading  into  natural  areas and, especially if
they are potentially a threat to provincially or nationally rare
plants, is encouraged to contact the coordinator of  the  IPCAN.
Of  particular  interest and need is precise site information on
such exotic plants or of newly arrived exotics that appear to be
spreading rapidly. Information provided by credible sources  are
entered as sight records into national databases being developed
for  monitoring  purposes. Precise site coordinates (lat/long or
UTM with full six and seven digit easting and  northing  values)
are  required  for recording site locality. The general descrip-
tion of the location and extent of occurrence and threat to rare
species or local biodiversity should also be provided. If  coor-
dinates  cannot  be  provided, detailed location data using road
map reference points and distances will  also  be  accepted  for
documentation  purposes.  The  receipt  of  such  data by e-mail
<[email-masked]> post  or  fax  (613-722-6291)  would  be  much
appreciated.

References
Haber,  E. 1995. Species at Risk and Invasive Plants of National
   Wildlife Areas and Migratory  Bird  Sanctuaries.  Unpublished
   report, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, Ottawa
   K1A 0H3.
U.S.  Congress,  Office  of  Technology Assessment.1993. Harmful
   Non-Indigenous  Species  in  the  United  States,   OTA-F-565
   (Washington,  DC:  U.S. Government Printing Office, September
   1993).
White, D.J., E. Haber and C. Keddy.  1993.  Invasive  Plants  of
   Natural  Habitats  in Canada: An Integrated Review of Wetland
   and Upland Species and Legislation Governing  their  Control.
   Canadian   Wildlife  Service,  Environment  Canada,  Canadian
   Museum of Nature and  North  American  Wetlands  Conservation
   Council  (Canada). 

   Dr. Erich Haber, National Botanical Services, 604 Wavell Ave., 
   Ottawa, ON, Canada K2A3A8 Tel: 613-722-5523, Fax: 613-722-6291

COMMON NAME PROJECT
From: Roger Whitehead <[email-masked]>

Two  British  amateur  botanists,  Andrew  N.  Gagg  and   Roger
Whitehead,  are  working on a pair of linked projects to do with
plant names. Andrew is collecting the names of the 30,000 or  so
species of the European flora, in as many European languages and
dialects  as he can find. So far, he has found few to many names
in just a tenth of the 211 languages extant at the  last  count.
He says, "It's all still to do"!

Roger's  project  is  to  collect  old  and current names of the
British vascular flora, from Britain  and  its  former  colonies
[before the time of King George III - AC]. He's gathering scien-
tific,  apothecaries',  herbalists'  and  colloquial names. He's
found about 8,000 names to date, for 2,200 species.

Andrew and Roger will be glad to exchange information  on  these
topics   with   other   readers.   Their  e-mail  addresses  are
[email-masked] and [email-masked], respectively.

For more information see

   http://www.gagg.mcmail.com/Babel.htm

ENGLISH NAMES FOR BRITISH BRYOPHYTES
From: DAVID LONG <[email-masked]> originally posted
        on [email-masked]

Edwards, S.R. English Names for British Bryophytes  BBS  Special
   Volume  No.  5  Cardiff: British Bryological Sociey Published
   December 1997 ISBN 0 9507639 6 9; ISSN 0268-8034 A5, 68pages,
   limp  covers.  Price  (payment  in  sterling  please)  United
   Kingdom   &   European  Union:  stlg2.50  post-free.  Outside
   European Union: stlg3.00 including p.& p.

   Available from: Dr.  S.R.  Edwards,  The  Manchester  Museum,
   Manchester  University,  Oxford  Road,  Manchester  M13  9PL,
   United   Kingdom.   E-mail:   [email-masked];    web:
   http://www.man.ac.uk/museum/  Phone:  +44  (0)161-275-2671/2;
   fax: +44 (0)161-275-2676

This is the first comprehensive catalogue of `Common  Names'  of
bryophytes  of  Britain  and Ireland, together with some English
names for non-British taxa, compiled by Dr Sean Edwards  of  the
Manchester  Museum.  The detailed historical review demonstrates
the long history of some English names back to J.J. Dillenius in
1742, and some even to Gerard's Herball (1597).

However, for many species, names have had to  be  newly  coined,
and  this has been undertaken using defined guidelines and prin-
ciples. For many taxa more than one published  name  was  traced
(it  is remarkable how many English names actually appear in the
literature: 4,865 distinct names with 7,680 references  to  them
from  114  sources) and for these a `preferred name' is given in
bold, followed by synonyms.

This is a well-sourced and meticulously cross-referenced, scien-
tific treatment of a `popular' subject which can  only  be  very
good  for publicising and popularising bryophytes. The catalogue
is indexed both by botanical name and English name.  Some  names
will  no  doubt  be  familiar  to  bryologists, such as Bog-moss
(Sphagnum),  Ostrich-plume Feather-moss (Ptilium crista-castren-
sis) and Wall Screw-moss (Tortula muralis), but many will be un-
familiar and thought-provoking, such  as Two-horned  Pincer-wort  
(Cephalozia bicuspidata), Thick-set Earwort (Scapania compacta),  
Mouget's Yoke-moss (Amphidium mougeotii) and Potato Bryum (Bryum 
bornholmense). A very fine publication and well worth the modest 
cost.

NATIVE PLANT SALVAGE PROJECT ON WEB
From: Bob Simmons <[email-masked]>, originally posted on
         [email-masked]

A  new  guide entitled "Grow Your Own Native Landscape - A Guide
to  Identifying,  Propagating,  and  Landscaping  with   Western
Washington Native Plants" is now available on line at the Native
Plant Salvage Project web site at...

   http://gardening.wsu.edu/text/nwnative.htm

The  manual  provides  information  about  plant  identification
(including  graphics);  obtaining  plants  through   responsible
salvaging,  propagation  and purchasing; and non-native invasive
species. The online manual was developed  by  The  Native  Plant
Salvage Project - (WSU Cooperative Extension - Thurston County).

   Robert Simmons, Regional Water Quality Education Program
   WSU Cooperative Extension - Mason County, N11840 Hwy 101
   Shelton, WA   98584
   Phone: (360) 427-9670 ext. 396, Fax 427-7264
   E-mail:  [email-masked]

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