PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN
A Publication of the Botanical Society of America, Inc.
September
1975 Vol.
21 No. 3
Contents
On
Toadstool Soup and Legal Species of Marihuana Ernest Small
34 Botanical
Xerography James W. Cox 39 Arberia,
A Proposal for a New Journal of Structural Botany Rudolf
Schmid and Dennis Stevenson 39 Botanical
Potpourri 40 Personalia 41
Professional
Opportunities 41 Arturo
Erhardo Burkart, 1906-1975 42 Roger
E. Wilson, 1936-1975 42 Books
Received by PSB for Review 43
Books Reviews
Plant
Tissue and Cell Culture. H. E. Street (ed.) (K. Norstog)
45 Introduction
to Biophysical Plant Physiology, Park S. Nobel (H. Helmers
45 The
Geography of Flowering Plants, 4th ed., Ronald Good (H. G.
Baker) 46 Index
Holmensis, Vols. 1-3, Hans Tralau (ed.) (A. J. Sharp) 46
Stroenie
i funktsiya nektarnikov tsvetka dvudol'nykh rastenii,
N. N. Kartashova (R. Schmid) 47 Genetics
of Host-parasite Interaction, Peter R. Day (S. Grove) 47
Flowers
and Plants: An International Lexicon with Biographical Notes,
Robert Shosteck (R. Evers) 47 Lehrbuck
der Pflanzenphysiologie, Eike Libbert (D. Strack) 48
34
On Toadstool Soup and Legal Species of Marihuana
Ernest
Small
Biosystematics Research Institute
Canada Agriculture
Ottawa, Canada K1A OC6
We
should have a great many fewer disputes in the world if words were taken for
what they are, the signs of our ideas only, and not for things themselves.
John
Locke—Essay on Human Understanding. III. 10 (1690).
A
provocative botanical debate is in progress in North America. In brief, botanists
have become embroiled and polarized in an explosion of court challenges to
legislation governing the proscriptions against marihuana and other cannabis
drugs (hashish, hashish oil). The basis of the challenge rests with (1) the
almost universal use of the name Cannabis sativa in legislation dealing with
cannabis drugs; and (2) the claims that there are other species of Cannabis,
that these are not proscribed, that they can furnish marihuana, that one cannot
distinguish from which species marihuana comes since the diagnostic characters
are not available in crumbled plant material, and that accordingly the laws
proscribing cannabis drugs are simply not enforceable. This legal maneuver
is nearly half a century old, but only acquired credibility in 1971 when reputable
botanists were found who were willing to testify that there were three "species"
of the marihuana plant (Fig. 1)
It
is not my intention to debate here either the legal or scientific aspects
of this dispute (note Small 1974, 1975b, 1975c, 1976). However, the issue
represents a pioneering exploration of how society may legitimately use "scientific
names" denoting taxonomic groups. Misunderstandings concerning biological
nomenclature have developed, and these can be exploited to invalidate legislation
governing living creatures and biological materials in general. Using the
debate over Cannabis as an example, this note attempts to point out that a
fundamental distinction must be drawn between correct scientific usage of
botanical terminology, including Latin nomenclature of organisms, and popular
usage of such terminology. Failure to appreciate this distinction can result
in the devastation of considerable legislation. At a time when scientists
are becoming increasingly conscious of their social responsibilities, I believe
this is an appropriate forum to raise this issue.
Since
1753 when Linnaeus proposed one species of Cannabis, C. sativa, many additional
names have been created at the specific and varietal ranks. Among these, interest
has fixed on two species names: C. indica, coined in 1785 by the French biologist
Lamarck, and C. ruderalis, designated in 1924 by a Russian botanist, Janischevsky
(Fig. 2). The distinctions which Lamarck and Janischevsky attempted to delineate
in proposing additional species of Cannabis are very important but, I believe,
have been misunderstood.
Lamarck
was apparently only vaguely aware that the distinction he was drawing in Cannabis
reflected the fact that this genus, through domestication, has been subjected
to intensive disruptive selection, which has produced two kinds of plant.
On the one hand, plants have been domesticated for the valuable phloem fibres
in the bast. To maximize quality and obtainability of these fibres, man has
selected plants which are tall, relatively unbranched, with long internodes,
and with a relatively hollow stem (Fig. :3). Lamarck termed such plants C.
sativa. Such domesticated plants have been characteristicly grown in Europe,
northern Asia, and North America. "Wild" plants of such northern areas of
the world (Fig. 4) tend to be somewhat similar, either because they have escaped
back to wild existence from cultivated fibre strains, or because they have
been influenced by hybridization with such domesticated strains.
In
contrast, man has also selected cannabis plants for the ability to produce
an inebriant. Cannabis synthesizes a resin in epidermal glands which are abundant
on the leaves and flowering parts of the plant (Fig. 3). This resin comprises
a class of terpenoid chemicals called the cannabinoids. Two are of particular
importance: the non-intoxicant cannabidiol (CBD) and the highly intoxicant
L 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), shown in Fig. 6. Pre-dominance of CBD characterizes
the resin of fibre strains, and also strains selected for the valuable oil
content of the fruits (achenes). Predominance of THC characterizes "narcotic"
strains of Cannabis. Drug strains do not exhibit features related to harvesting
the fibre. They are often fairly short, possess short internodes, are highly
branched, and have comparatively woody stems (Fig. 3). It
35
was
this type of plant that Lamarck named C. indica. Such plants are characteristic
of southern Asia and Africa where Cannabis has been used for millenia as a
source of the drug. "Wild" plants of such relatively southern areas of the
world tend to be similar, either because they have escaped back to wild existence
from drug strains, or because they have been influenced by hybridization with
such domesticated strains.
seeds
which germinate comparatively slowly and irregularly, have comparatively well
developed abscission zones, and have attenuated bases capable of easily launching
the achenes away from the plant. The latter features are obviously related
to the needs for dispersal of wild plants. Additionally, the fruits of the
wild plants are covered with a papery material which produces a mottled or
marbled appearance, which Janischevsky interpreted as camou-
Within
the generally northern low-intoxicant kind of plant, and within the generally
southern high-intoxicant kind of plant, highly domesticated and relatively
"wild" plants can be distinguished by features of the achenes (Fig. 7). The
distinctions are very similar to those characterizing many plant species with
coexistent wild and domesticated components.
The
differences between northern, low-intoxicant wild and domesticated plants
were first clearly described by Janischevsky (1924). Wild fruits are smaller,
have flage against herbivores. This papery material, which represents perianth,
is usually present to a limited extent in cultivars, but generally sloughs
off. Janischevsky named the wild plants C. ruderalis (or alternatively C.
sativa var. ruderalis), contrasting them with fibre cultivars, to which he
restricted the name C. sativa. The famous Russian student of economic plants,
Vavilov, recognized that parallel variation to that described by Janischevsky
could be found between wild and domesticated plants of the southern, drug
phase of Cannabis (Vavilov and Bukinich 1929; cf. Small 1975a).
36
The
overwhelming consensus of botanical opinion has been to include all variants
of Cannabis within the single species C. sativa (Schultes 1970; Emboden 1972).
My research has convinced me of the wisdom of this. I have found that different
populations of Cannabis are fully interfertile (Small 1972), that the chemical
groupings one can recognize overlap (Small and Beckstead 1973a, 1973b; Small,
Beckstead and Chan 1975), that there are no sharply defined groupings based
on morphological study of herbarium specimens (Small 1975a) or of plants cultivated
under standard environmental conditions, scored for dozens of attributes,
and analyzed with the techniques of numerical taxonomy (Small, Lefkovitch
and Jui 1975). Dr. Arthur Cronquist and I will propose in a forthcoming publication
that Cannabis be recognized as comprising one species, consisting of two subspecies
(the northern low-intoxicant phase and the southern high-intoxicant phase),
each composed of two varieties (wild plants and domesticated plants) (cf.
Fig. 8).
Recently
some botanists have advocated the rein-statement of the three "species" of
Cannabis (Schultes et al. 1974, Emboden 1974). The present dispute concerning
whether and how the traditional, .accepted taxonomic disposition of Cannabis
ought to be altered should be viewed with the same dispassion afforded similar
taxonomic disagreements. As I shall point out, the question of recent scientific
opinion on how many species of Cannabis should be recognized serves only to
obscure and is only marginally germane to the critical legal issues at hand.
Rather, valid resolution of the problem rests simply with clarification of
usage of the names in question by society. Before addressing the forensic
aspects of usage of "scientific names", it will be instructive to examine
two famous exemplary cases in which botanical terminology was critically examined.
In
1887 a merchant launched an attempt to escape duties on tomatoes imported
into New York from the West Indies. The tax had been collected under a tariff
act which levied duties on vegetables. His argument that tomatoes were exempt
since they really were fruits was carried to the Supreme Court of the United
States in 1893. The Supreme Court ruled as follows (Nix v. Hedden, 13 S.Ct.
881, 882, 149 U.S. 304, 37 L.Ed. 745): "Botanically speaking, tomatoes are
the fruit of a vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans and peas. But
in the common language of the people, whether sellers or consumers of provisions,
all these are vegetables, which are grown in kitchen gardens, and which whether
eaten cooked or raw, are, like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets,
cauliflower, cabbage, celery and lettuce, usually served at dinner in, with,
or after the soup, fish or meats which constitute the principal part of the
repast, and not, like fruits generally, as dessert.
"The
attempt to class tomatoes as fruit is not unlike a recent attempt to class
beans as seeds, of which Mr. Justice Bradly, speaking for this court, said:
`We do not see why they should be classified as seeds, any more than walnuts
should be so classified. Both are seeds in the language of botany or natural
history, but not in commerce nor in common parlance' " (Robertson v. Salomon,
1889, 9. S.Ct. 559, 130 U.S. 412, 32 L.Ed. 995).
37
The
next case involves a dispute not over a technical term, but a "common name".
The issue achieved considerable notoriety in England (The Financial Times,
Fri. May 8, 1959, City Edition, no. 21, 771, p. 14). In Britain in 1959 the
right of four large corporations to utilize the name "mushroom" for a soup
which they manufactured was challenged. It was pointed out that the companies
were using Boletus edulis in their soup, and it was claimed that most British
citizens would refer to the Agaric as a "toadstool", not a mushroom. Accordingly
the soup really was "toadstool soup". The companies imported Boletus edulis
because soup made from this fungus, when dried, is much tastier than that
made from dried material of the common mushroom (a species of Agaricus) being
produced by British mushroom growers. Fortunately for the four companies involved,
the aid of E. J. H. Corner (author of "Life of Plants" (1964) etc.) was obtained.
In a delightful personal letter, Dr. Corner kindly furnished the following
description of the outcome of the case:
"The
defense succeeded in its claim that mushroom, like champignon, was a general
name of Agarics (not necessarily Agaricus), e.g. Parasol Mushroom (Lepiota),
St. George's mushroom (Tricholoma), and that Boletus was covered by this sense.
[Moreover, British] Customs required dried Boletus to be described as 'dried
mush-room'.
"The
case ended thus (after a whole day's hearing):
"Counsel
for Prosecution (graduate of Oxford University): 'Mr Corner, as a lecturer
at Cambridge, you will take a learned view of these problems, but I want to
ask you a simple question. What do you suppose an undergraduate, a really
raw undergraduate, would expect when he buys a packet of mushroom soup?
"Mr.
Corner (slowly and thoughtfully): 'That is a very difficult question to answer.'
(The court is hushed. Eight magistrates on the bench stare at me and look
at their watches to see if they will catch their trains.)
"Prosecuting
Counsel (eagerly thinking he has won): 'Then Mr. Corner, can you help me in
the decision?'
"Mr.
Corner: 'Well, you see we never get any raw or really raw undergraduates at
Cambridge.'
"I
have never seen so many persons burst into the laughter of relief. The bench
was convulsed. In a minute the case was dismissed."
The
two examples presented have dealt with a technical term and a common name,
and were resolved simply on the basis of accepted societal usage. The dispute
over the comprehensiveness of the name C. sativa is one which concerns a "scientific
name". Is there anything fundamentally different in this? There is not, but
because of misunderstanding of the nature of biological names there has been
rampant bewilderment, over the issue. The con-fusion is due to unfamiliarity
with (1) the complexities of the variation patterns of living things; (2)
the appreciably subjective and arbitrary nature of taxonomic delimitation;
and (3) the conventions of biological nomenclature, particularly the type
method and its capacity for producing equivocal names. Only those trained
in taxonomy are familiar enough with the frailties of biological names, and
the misleading character of the phrase "scientific name", that they can easily
appreciate certain difficulties.
The
examination of biotaxy from the point of view of numerical taxonomy has indicated
that there are two "Achilles' heels" which dictate a degree of arbitrariness
to any circumscription of a taxonomic group. These are concerned with the
aspects of taxonomy which fall under the headings of measurements of similarity
and clustering procedures. Both areas have been detailed by Johnson (1970)
and by Sneath and Sokal (1973), and others. I shall not belabour these subjective
aspects of taxonomic delimitation, since I believe that in the practical world
discontinuities in the variation pattern are sufficiently evident that we
are usually able to recognize taxonomic groups worth recognizing. In the words
of Gertrude Stein, a "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose".
Much
more pertinent for our purpose are the semantic limitations which characterize
scientific names. Is the scientific name Rosa inherently more precise than
the common name "rose"? Or to be more apropos, is the scientific name C. sativa
innately more specific than the vernacular term "marihuana"? The answer which
I shall defend is that while scientific names often are very much more definitive
than common names and vernacular terms, the substantial possibilities for
ambiguity latent in scientific names dictate that for purposes of secular
law, as with vernacular and scientific terms and common names, they must be
interpreted in terms of accepted popular usage, with common sense and regard
for context, and not exclusively by the standards of a minority or even a
majority of botanists. The rationale for this modus operandi was enunciated
by Shakespeare: "That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as
sweet".
The
type method at the heart of biological nomenclature is enigmatic and recondite
to laymen, who are quite unfamiliar with a system which sacrifices conceptual
stability for name stability. The type method is of course designed to stabilize
the use of names by providing permanent reference points for the names, while
allowing the concepts which the names govern to be altered according to the
understanding of individual botanists. Accordingly names can be conceptually
ambiguous. Although preposterous exercises are possible within the rules of
biological nomenclature (note for example Dennis' (1962) witty for-
PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN
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38
mal
recognition of golfballs as the genus Golfballia), it is assumed that a botanist
would not capriciously utilize or change any of the three determinants of
a taxon (circumscription, rank, and position) without good evidence. But like
beauty, a "good" taxonomic group is in the eyes of the beholder, and hence
to an appreciable degree usage of scientific names is subjective--chacun a
son gout. It is shattering for those unfamiliar with nomenclature to learn
that frequently taxonomists with drastically different conceptions (i.e. circumscriptions)
of groupings are forced by the Code of Botanical Nomenclature to use exactly
the same name. (This of course occurs when the circumscriptions overlap at
least to the extent that the earliest applicable type for both is the same.)
It is also disillusioning for laymen to be informed that taxonomists often
differ on whether taxa should be assigned to different species or different
varieties of the same species. What Janischevsky named C. ruderalis (and also
simultaneously C. sativa var. ruderalis!) many botanists have called C. sativa
var. spontanea. What Lamarck named C. indica many botanists have called C.
sativa var. indica.
Unfortunately
the revelation that there are lumpers and splitters, and that differences
of opinion exist regarding circumscription, often generates disrespect for
taxonomy. This is unwarranted, since whether a scientific name is used in
a comprehensive sense (sensu lato) or in a narrow sense (sensu stricto), or
in different comprehensive senses, or different narrow senses, is of little
importance, provided that it does not hinder communication. It is my conclusion
that the attempt to label certain variants of Cannabis as different species
is unjustified, since the variants differ primarily in artificially selected
attributes, are completely interfertile, appear to be substantially panmictic,
and are not consistently distinguishable by the use of a heritable combination
of environmentally stable morphological characteristics. Should other taxonomists
reject these criteria for recognizing species of higher plants, or should
they disagree with my assessment, they are free to circumscribe, rank and
position variants of Cannabis in whatever manner they wish. As long as botanists
and society understand how scientific names are being employed, no harm is
done by the existence of alternative schemes of classification.
Unfortunately
considerable mischief can result from the present forensic debate concerning
Cannabis. Given the common lack of appreciation of the public for the subtle
but profoundly important distinctions between "concepts", "groups", and "categories",
and the ways these relate to "species" (see chapter 18, Blackwelder 1967)
it is a simple matter for lawyers to deceive laymen by arguing that a given
variant is a different species from one liable to controls, without explaining
that one hās simply chosen to label as a different species a variant
which is clearly covered by the legislation. As scientists we recognize that
some terminological choices are superior to others, and that the collective
wisdom of recent, philosophically moderate, competent specialists generally
provides the best available guide to good scientific usage. But science is
much more than semantics, and as citizens we must be clear when society turns
to us for guidance on interpreting names and terms, that its need for clarification
of a mundane problem in semantics is not confused with a question of scientific
fact.
Regrettably,
the present debate has fractured an ominous Pandora's Box. The issue has received
so much publicity that the precedent is now widely known and will inevitably
be emulated with other materials subjected to legislation. One such area,
for example, concerns the opium poppy. Is an "opium poppy" only Papaver somniferum,
or is it also one of the other "species" of Papaver, notably P. setigerum,
which possess opium alkaloids? Will botanists now be employed in an attempt
to circumvent the spirit of the laws proscribing herion and related addictive
drugs, as has been the case for Cannabis? Or may scientists choose to offer
their expertise only when they personally subscribe to the invalidation or
preservation of particular statutes? What about the host of additional materials
and living things, both plant and animal, which have been subjected to legislation?
Are we on the verge of an outbreak of challenges to legislation which will
make it much more difficult for society to proscribe, regulate, and protect
living things and their products?
I
believe that in coming years the botanical fraternity will increasingly become
involved in interpretation of legislation controlling biological materials.
Legislators would well be advised to seek out expert botanical opinion whenever
laws are enacted governing living things or their products. Botanists in turn
must be prepared to accept this weighty responsibility, and should be willing
to view the appropriateness of terminology not merely from the chauvinistic
confines of their particular discipline, but with common sense, impartiality,
and the needs of society paramount in importance.
Literature
Cited
Blackwelder,
R. E. 1967. Taxonomy, a text and reference hook. Wiley, N.Y. 351-372.
Dennis,
R. W. G. 1962. A remarkable new genus of phalloids in Lancashire and east
Africa. J. Kew Guild 8: 181-182.
Emboden,
W. A. 1972. Ritual use of Cannabis sativa L.: a historical-ethnographic survey.
In First, P. T. (ed.) Flesh of the gods. Praeger, N.Y. 214-236.
1974.
A botanical history of the genus Cannabis with reference to legislation. California
Attorneys for Criminal Justice Forum 5, Aug. Sept. Suppl. 1-5.
Janischevsky,
D. E. 1924. Forma konopli na sornykh mestakh v Yugo-vostochnoi Rossii. Uchenye
zapiski 2(2): 3-17. University of Saratov, Saratov, U.S.S.R.
Johnson,
L. A. S. 1970. Rainbow's end: the quest for an optimal taxonomy. Syst. Zool.
19: 203-239.
Lamarck,
J. B. de. 1785. Encyclopedique de Botanique 1(part 2): 694-695.
Schultes,
R. E., 1970. Random thoughts and queries on the botany of Cannabis. In Joyce,
C. R. B. and S. H. Curry (eds.). The botany and chemistry of Cannabis. Churchill,
London. 11-38.
Schultes,
R. E., W. M. Klein, T. Plowman, and T. E. Lock-wood. 1974. Cannabis: an example
of taxonomic neglect. Bot. Mus. Leafl. Harv. Univ. 23: 337-367.
Small,
E. 1972. Interfertility and chromosomal uniformity in Cannabis. Can. J. Bot.
50: 1947-1949.
.
1974. American law and the species problem in Cannabis. Microgram 7: 131-132.
.
1975a. Morphological variation of achenes of Cannabis. Can. J. Bot. 53: 978-987.
.
1975b. Essential considerations of the taxonomic debate in Cannabis. J. Forensic
Sciences 20: in press.
39
.
1975c. American law and the species problem in Cannabis: science and semantics.
Bull. Narcotics: in press.
Small,
E. and H. Beckstead. 1973a. Common cannabinoid phenotypes in 350 stocks of
Cannabis. Lloydia 35: 144-165.
.
1973b. Cannabinoid phenotypes in Cannabis. Nature 245: 147-148.
.
1973b. Cannabinoid phenotypes in Cannabis. Nature 245: 147-148.
.
1976. The forensic taxonomic debate on Cannabis: semantic hokum. Jour. Forensic
Sciences 21: (in press).
Small,
E., H. Beckstead and A. Chan. 1975. The evolution of cannabinoid phenotypes
in Cannabis. Ec. Bot. 29: in press.
Small,
E., P. Y. Jui, and L. P. Lefkovitch. 1975. A numerical taxonomic analysis
of Cannabis with special reference to species delimitation. Brittonia: in
press.
Sneath,
P. H. A. and R. R. Sokal. 1973. Numerical taxonomy. Freeman & Co., San
Francisco. 573 pp.
Vavilov,
N. I. and D. D. Bukinich. 1929. Zemledelcheskii Afghanistan. Trudy po prikladnoi
botanike, genetike i selektsii. Prilozhenie 33: 380-382.
BOTANICAL XEROGRAPHY
James
W. Cox
University of Montana, Missoula, Montana
Quite
by chance while doing a summer session course for elementary teachers, I tried
our Xerox machine as a way to copy plant materials. Teachers had traditionally
done this sort of thing with leaves in elementary schools using spatter paint
outlines, blueprint outlines, wax paper lamination, etc.
I
was surprised, almost shocked, by the quality of the plant images that resulted
from the Xerox process, the more material I tried the more impressive the
results. I have included a sample of such Xerox prints of plant specimens
from our area, both Rocky Mountain natives and introduced ornamentals, that
show best the detail and three dimensional capabilities of the method.
Since
that time last summer the use of this local discovery has spread on campus.
One graduate student is using the method to illustrate his dissertation having
to do with varieties of lovegrass. The lecturer in the course Cultural Botany
has produced a folder of Xerox prints of local flora for students as an inexpensive
textbook. An added virtue of the method is that excellent, overhead transparencies
can be made of the same plants on the same copying machines for projection
by lecturers.
While,
no doubt, this use of the copying machine is being discovered by teachers
and researchers independently all over the country, it seems important to
disseminate the idea among the vast majority who may still not have tried
it.
During
the past year of experimenting with the method, we have developed a few trial
and error insights we might mention. First is that all copying machines are
not equally satisfactory for copying plant materials. Details of leaf floral
parts require halftone reproduction which gives the illusion of a three dimensional
object. The Xerox 4000, the Xerox 3100, the IBM Copier Two are the best.
Furthermore,
additional copies of the original print are not nearly so good as copies of
the biological material itself. If one wants multiple copies it is better
to make them immediately while the plant is on the machine.
These
machines, well suited for halftone reproduction, are the same ones that can
produce excellent acetate projectuals. For this purpose perhaps the Xerox
3100 is the best.
Lastly,
and astonishingly enough, the new Xerox 6500 now being introduced will do
these same prints and transparencies in color!
Arberia,
A Proposal for a New Journal of Structural Botany
Rudolf
Schmid* and Dennis Wm. Stevenson**
Nearly
all the botanical journals issued today are characterized by a similarity
of emphasis, the focus usually being "mere records of observations and experiments"
or descriptions of new taxa. There are few "journals of ideas". This is not
to say, of course, that ideas are lacking in the journals of today, but simply
that interpretative aspects of plant form and structure are all too frequently
made secondary to descriptive emphasis. Taxonomists have their TAXON, and
TAXON today perhaps comes closest to being a lively, stimulating botanical
journal, one out of the mainstream of observational records. TAXON, however,
still is the vehicle of taxonomists and systematists. What is needed is a
journal of structural botany (one free of the necessay nomenclatural embroilment
of TAXON), which makes ideas and concepts primary to experiments and descriptional
data.
Structual
botany has had a number of attempts at this type of journal. Prominent serials
appearing entirely in English that must be mentioned are ANNALS OF BOTANY,
THE BOTANICAL GAZETTE, THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST, and of course, PHYTOMORPHOLOGY.
40
All
these excellent journals, however, have deviated considerably from their original
general, synthetic nature and goals and have become increasingly reductionistic.
Two of these journals no longer even publish book reviews. In all these journals
the written word has succumbed more and more to photographic documentation.
Although
this reductionistic tendency is perhaps indicative of the times, it was also
evident in the 1920s and 1930s. Arthur George Tansley, who is quoted above,
founded and edited for 30 years (1902-1931) THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST and repeatedly
therein stressed the need for a "journal of ideas" (New Phytol. 1:1-3, 221-222,
7:207-208, 30:301-302; see also 31:1), almost as frequently lamenting the
difficulty of achieving this goal. Nevertheless, THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST for the
first 25 or so years of its existence largely attained, under the editorial
help of Tansley, the goal of being a "journal of ideas".
We
believe that today there is just as valid a need for such a journal, perhaps
more so in view of the overall reductionistic trend of science. The need is
particularly critical in structural botany (anatomy, morphology, paleobotany,
and systematics) since so much of its emphasis today is evolutionary and even
philosophical. There are two alternatives open: either a revitalization of
PHYTOMORPHOLOGY, with new goals, so that in con-tent is appears more like
its first issues, or else a new journal of structural botany. We prefer the
latter course for a variety of reasons. The purpose of this note is to solicit
reaction to various proposals and, hopefully, to obtain some quantitative
expression (in the form of written opinions) from the botanical community
so that if such is forthcoming, as we hope and expect, a society and publisher
will assume financial and editoral responsibility of a new journal of structural
botany.
The
paragraphs above repeatedly contain the phrase "journal of structural botany".
While this would be an appropriate enough title, it is too prosaic. We would
like to suggest ARBERIA as the title of such a new journal. This would serve
two purposes. Foremost, it pays tribute to Agnes Arber (nee Robertson) (1879-1960),
who has been called "the most distinguished as well as the most erudite contemporary
British plant morphologist" (Tansley, 1951, New Phytol. 50:400-403, p. 400);
it also honors Edward Alexander Newell Arber (1870-1918), Agnes Arber's husband
and a paleobotanist of considerable renown. Secondly, the journal title is
brief and in the tradition of one-word periodical titles so dear to the heart
of Elmer Drew Merrill (see Merrill, 1931, "One-name periodicals", Brittonnia
1:1-5). Perhaps the best title of this proposed new journal would be ARBERIA:
A JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL BOTANY.
We
anticipate several editorial guidelines for ARBERIA in order to make it a
true "journal of ideas". Emphasis would be given to anatomy, morphology, and
paleobotany since systematics today is well covered not only by TAXON but
also by the forthcoming SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. Contributions dealing with both
vascular and non-vascular plants would be welcome. ARBERIA could (should!)
contain general articles, "critical reviews of current literature" and "of
rapidly developing subjects", notes and comments, brief "stimulating suggestions
arising as incidentals in re-search", notices and essay reviews of recent
books as well as classical ones, as well as lively correspondence among botanists.
Emphasis would be on verbal communication, partly to attempt a revival of
the lost art of writing.
Figures
would be permissible, but extensive photographic documentation would be discouraged,
if not prohibited. Summary diagrams, if not extensive, would be more appropriate
(in part to attempt a revival of the lost art of drawing!). Strictly taxonomic
articles describing new taxa below the rank of family, or anatomical/morphological
papers involved mainly with "mere records of observations and experiments"
would be expressly banished to other publications. The purpose of ARBERIA
would be to afford "easy communication and discussion" on all subjects of
structural botany. The goal would be to make ARBERIA, if not "a `cockpit'
of botanical controversy", at least lively and different from the "ordinary
type of botanical journal."
We
have quoted Tansley in the above proposal since the goals he stated for THE
NEW PHYTOLOGIST more than 40 and 70 years ago seem equally valid today. Both
of us have examined the first 40 or so volumes of THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST and
have been impressed by the stimulating, provocative, timely, and significant
nature of the articles, notes, and reviews which appeared in its pages. Suggestions
and commentary (including ones dealing with practical aspects as editoriship,
frequency of issue, cost, sponsorship, etc.) are now invited from concerned
structural botanists in the hope that a journal such as ARBERIA might be a
reality in a few years.
*
Department of Botany, University of California, Berkeley 94720. **Fairchild
Tropical Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Road, Miami, Florida 33156.
BOTANICAL POTPOURRI
THE
DOCENTS' FUND OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BOTANICAL GARDEN (BERKELEY)
has been established to support various programs at the garden including acquisition
of seeds or living material from the field. Areas of particular interest are
the Mediterranean region, temperate Chile and Argentina, the Andean uplands,
New Zealand, southwestern and southeastern Australia (including Tasmania),
montane Papuasia, montane eastern Africa, Taiwan, Japan, the Himalayas, and
certain portions of the People's Republic of China. Botanists who plan to
travel to these areas, who wish to supplement their field expenses, and are
willing to collect desiderata for the Botanical Garden, are eligible for modest
subsidies from this fund. Applications should include a curriculum vitae of
the applicant, the planned itinerary, a statement of anticipated costs not
met by other funding. Applicants should also arrange to have a letter of recommendation
sent separately; in the case of graduate students, the letter should come
from the research advisor. Grants will generally be less than $500. Applications
and supporting letter should be sent to: Robert Ornduff, Director, University
of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley, California 94720.
THE
NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN is pleased to announce that beginning with the January-March
issue 1976, BRITTONIA will again become a publication of the Garden, having
served as the journal of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists for 18
years. Continuing with much the same format, it will include publications
of
41
the
staff of the New York Botanical Garden and outside contributors. Papers will
be concerned with systematic botany in a broad sense, including such fields
as chemotaxonomy, numerical taxonomy, morphology, anatomy, cytology, palynology,
ecology, geography, and paleobotany insofar as they have a systematic bent.
All groups of plants will be treated.
Manuscripts
are being considered now for the first issue under NYBG editorship. Potential
contributors should request instructions from the Editor, John T. Mickel.
Papers are to be of short to medium length as in the past. Publication costs
of $30 per printed page will be charged. One goal is for relatively rapid
publication, 4-6 months after final acceptance.
You
are invited to subscribe to BRITTONIA at a special individual rate of $10
per year; institutional subscriptions are $25.
THE
1975 GREENMAN AWARD was presented to James E. Rodman, Yale University, for
the publication "Systematics and Evolution of the Genus Cakile (Cruciferae)"
which appeared in Contributions from the Gray Herbarium 205: 3-146. 1974.
The
Award of $250 is presented each year by the Alumni Association of the Missouri
Botanical Garden. It recognizes the best paper in plant systematics based
on a doctoral dissertation published during the previous year. Papers published
in 1975 are now being considered for the 1976 Award. Reprints of such papers
should be sent to Peter H. Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden, 2315 Tower Grove
Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 631.10 U.S.A., before 1 May 1976.
WORLD
METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION (WMO) Issues New Catalog of Publications: Over
200 publications on meteorology, air pollution, water resources, agriculture,
marine and aviation sciences, climatology and weather modification are described
in the fully an-notated catalog of publications just issued by WMO.
The
119-page catalog lists publications of World Weather Watch (WWW) and Global
Atmospheric Re-search Programme (GARP), technical monographs, manuals and
guides, and atlases. Publications are listed by subject and indexed by title
and series.
The
catalog of publications is available free on request from Unipub, the exclusive
United States distributor of WMO publications.
Send
requests to: UNIPUB, Box 433 - Murray Hill Station, New York, NY 10016.
PERSONALIA
Dr.
Olga Lakela was recently awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the
University of South Florida. Emeritus Professor of Botany, University of Minnesota,
Duluth, she is the author of A Flora of Northeast-ern Minnesota, Co-author
of A Flora of Tropical Florida, as well as author of numerous scientific papers
on the taxonomy of flowering plants. After serving for fourteen years as Research
Associate in the Herbarium of the University of South Florida, she has retired
to Phoenix, Arizona where she now resides.
Dr.
Frederick Essig has been appointed Director of the University Botanical Garden
and Assistant professor of biology, University of South Florida. Dr. Essig,
presently of Cornell University, will join the faculty in September, 1975.
James
L. Luteyn has recently joined the staff at The New York Botanical Garden as
Associate Curator. Dr. Luteyn received his Ph.D. degree from the Department
of Botany, Duke University, where his research involved a taxonomic revision
of the Mexican-Central American species of the genus Cavendishia (Vacciniaceae).
His interests and future research will involve the taxonomy and phylogenetic
systematics of the neotropical Vacciniaceae-Ericaceae.
On
June 15, 1975 the University of Montana awarded the degree, Doctor of Science,
Honoris causa, to Dr. C. Leo Hitchcock, Professor Emeritus of Botany at the
University of Washington. Dr. Hitchcock was cited as a peerless teacher of
botany to young students, foresters and interested adults as well as a definitive
researcher and authority of plants of Montana and the Pacific Northwest.
He
directed and was principal author of the monumental Vascular Plants of the
Pacific Northwest and the Flora of the Pacific Northwest. He began this important
work while a faculty member at the University of Montana from 1932-37.
PROFESSIONAL
OPPORTUNITIES
DEPARTMENT
OF BOTANY, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, Iowa City, is initiating a search for a full
time faculty member in plant ecology. Some preference will be given to candidates
with special interests in Physiological Ecology or the genetical aspects of
population analysis, but anyone trained or with teaching and research experience
in basic plant ecology is welcome to apply.
Materials
required for a completed application:
-
Curriculum
vita including resume of current research interests and teaching experience.
-
Transcripts
of college and graduate school records.
-
List
of persons qualified and willing to write letters of recommendation, if
asked to do so.
-
Reprints
of published research and any other data you feel would help.
Send
application papers before Jan. 1, 1976 to: R. L. Hulbary, Chm., Department
of Botany, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242.
CONSULTANT
IN CULTURE OF HORTICULTURAL CROPS with major emphasis on greenhouse and nursery
container production of ornamental plants. Ph.D. preferred. Academic background
in plant physiology, phytopathology, soils, entomology and economics include
areas of particular interest. Work includes field inspection, sampling, consultation
followed by written report. Resumes to Soil & Plant Laboratory, Inc.,
P. O. Box 11744, Santa Ana, CA 92711. Positions available in Southern California
and Oregon.
DIAGNOSTIC
PLANT PATHOLOGIST, commercial laboratory working primarily with ornamental
horticulture. Applicant must have good mycology background and plant disease
clinic type experience. Opportunity to extend activities including research.
Inquire: Soil & Plant Laboratory, Inc., P. O. Box 11744, Santa Ana, CA
92711.
42
Arturo Erhardo Burkart
1906-1975
On
Friday, April 25, 1975, Arturo Erhardo Burkart, one of Argentina's outstanding
botanists passed away after a short, sudden illness. Just three months earlier,
he had received the Bernardo A. Houssay prize from the Organization of American
States (OAS) in recognition of his pioneering work in the biology and breeding
of alfalfa as well as his careful work on the taxonomy of the Leguminosae
and studies of the flora and vegetation of Argentina.
Professor
Burkart was born in Buenos Aires on September 25, 1906. In 1925 he enrolled
in the School of Agriculture at the University of Buenos Aires where he studied
under Professor Lorenzo Parodi. After he received his degree of Ingeniero
Agronomo, he studied in Germany with Erwin Bauer at the Plant Breeding Institute
of Muncheberg and with Curt Stern at the Kaiser Wilhem Institute of Biology
in Berlin. Upon his return he published the first work on Drosophila genetics
that appeared in the South American literature. From 1930 to 1936 he was a
collaborator of Professor Parodi in Botany and Professor S. Horovitz in Genetics.
In 1939 he was appointed Professor of Forage Crops at the University of La
Plata and, in 1957, Professor of Vascular Plants at the University of Buenos
Aires.
Since
1936 he was director of the Darwinion Institution, a botanical center supported
by the National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences and the National
Council of Scientific and Technical Research. Under Burkart's directorship,
the herbarium and its library became one of the most important in Latin America.
In addition, he edited for almost 40 years Darwiniana, the botanical publication
of the Darwinion Institution.
Twice
President of the Argentine Botanical Society, Professor Burkart was also a
corresponding member of the Botanical Society of America (since 1972), the
Chilean Academy of Natural Sciences, the Ecuadorian Institute of Natural Sciences
and the Peruvian Botanical Society.
Versatile
in his scientific endeavours, he published more than 170 articles dealing
with aspects of general botany, genetics and agriculture. His book, Las Leguminosas
Argentinas (1943, 1952), the result of many years of painstaking studies in
this family, is widely used both in Argentina and abroad. One of his last
research projects completed just before his death was a complete revision
of Prosopis, a difficult genus which he began studying in 1937. At the time
of his death he was actively engaged in the preparation and publication of
the Flora of Entre Rios, two volumes of which have already appeared.
Professor
Burkart was a generous scientist and loved to teach, advise and stimulate
young botanists either visiting the Darwinion or at the University of Buenos
Aires where he taught for 45 years. Throughout the Argentine political upheavals
which often involved the universities during the last three decades Professor
Bur-kart provided an example to his students, collaborators and fellow biologists.
Endowed with a strong personality, he was kind, honest, brave and idealistic
but he always argued openly for what he believed was right for Argentina or
its institutions. Whenever his colleagues were in difficult situations, he
did not hesitate to give them needed support. He gained the respect of Argentine
scholars because he was a gentleman, a rigorous scientist,
a
man of integrity and altruistic objectives. His death is a significant loss
to the Argentine scientific community.
Professor
Burkart is survived by his wife Nelida Troncoso, also a distinguished taxonomist
and his great collaborator in the development of the Darwinion, his daughter
Silvia, a plant physiologist, and his sons Rodolfo, a plant ecologist and
Arturo, a chemist.
Juan H. Runziker
Departamento de Ciencias Biologicas
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Nqturales
Buenos Aires, Sue. 28. Argentina
Roger E. Wilson
1936-1975
Roger
E. Wilson, Associate Professor of Botany, Miami University, died in a tragic
automobile collision on April 26, 1975. He has served on the Miami faculty
since 1968. His undergraduate study was completed at Ohio Northern University
(B.S. Ed., 1960), after which he taught in the Berea Ohio District. During
this service he was nominated as one of Ohio's outstanding biology teachers.
Graduate study was completed at the University of South Dakota (M.A., 1965)
and Oklahoma University (Ph.D., 1968). Dr. Wilson's memberships included the
Ecological Society of America, the Botanical Society of
43
America,
the Ohio Academy of Sciences, the Southern Appalachian Botany Club, the International
Association for Ecology, and Sigma Xi. For the Botanical Society he served
as a member of the Conservation Committee and the Charter Flight Committee
for the Leningrad Congress.
Broadly
trained in ecology, his chief interest was in allelopathy and its role in
plant succession. This interest was emphasized in his research and that of
his students on succession in abandoned fields. He, with his students, contributed
journal articles on these studies, and he had reviewed progress in this work
as a participant in symposia at national and international meetings.
Dr.
Wilson fulfilled an integral role in the undergraduate and graduate programs
in the Department of Botany. Noted as an interesting and stimulating lecturer,
he was an effective, popular teacher who was frequently sought as a speaker
or resource person. He was one of the founders of the Institute of Environmental
Sciences at Miami University and contributed importantly to its program. He
served as Chairman of the President's Environmental Quality Task Force and
later as Chairman of the President's Environmental Committee. These services,
among others, attest to the high respect which was held for his judgment and
ecological expertise throughout the University.
Charles
Heimsch Miami University
Books Received by PSB for Review
Aitken,
Yvonne Flowering time, Climate and Genotype. Melbourne Univ. Press, 1974,
Australia, $29.70.
Allred,
Dorald M. Living Things - An Introduction to Natural History. Brigham Young
Univ. Press, 1974, Provo, Utah, $9.95.
Association
of Japanese Agricultural Scientific Societies Rice in Asia. Univ. of Tokyo
Press, 1975, Japan.
Barnett,
J. A. and R. J. Pankhurst A New Key to the Yeasts. American Elsevier Publishing
Co., Inc., 1974, New York, $24.00.
Barnes,
A. C. The Sugar Cane, Second Edition. John Wiley and Sons, 1974, New York,
$28.50.
Blake,
S. F. and A. C. Atwood Geographical Guide to Floras of the World, Part I.
Reprint by Otto Koeltz Science Publishers, 1974, Konigstein - Ts. B.R.D.
Borror,
A. C. Marine Flora and Fauna of the North-eastern United States - Protozoa:
Ciliophora. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1973, Washington, D.C., $.65.
Clarkson,
David Ion Transport and Cell Structure in Plants. John Wiley and Sons, 1973,
New York.
Day,
Peter R. Genetics of the Host Parasite Interaction. W. H. Freeman and Co.,
1974, San Francisco, California, $8.50.
Downs,
Robert Jack Controlled Environments for Plant Research. Columbia Univ. Press,
1975, New York, $12.00.
Etherington,
J. R. Environment and Plant Ecology. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1975, New
York, $22.50.
Federov,
A. (editor) Chromosome Numbers of Flowering Plants by Z. Bolkhovskikh, V.
Grif, T. Matvejeja, and O. Zakharyeva. Reprint by Otto Koeltz Science Publishers,
1974, Koenigstein - Ts./ B.R.D., $91.30.
Gamborg,
O. L. and L. H. Wetter (editors) Plant Tissue Culture Methods. National Research
Council of Canada, Prairie Regional Laboratory, 1975, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
$6.00.
Gates,
David M. and Rudolf B. Schmerl Perspectives of Biophysical Ecology. Ecological
Studies Volume 12. Springer-Verlag, 1975, New York, $34.80.
Geidemann,
J. W. and J. M. Trappe The Endogonaceae in the Pacific Northwest. Mycologia
Memoir No. 5. The New York Botanical Garden, 1974, $4.50.
Colley,
Frank B. and Ernesto Medina Tropical Ecological Systems - Trends in Terrestrial
and Aquatic Re-search. Ecological Studies Volume 11. Springer-Verlag, 1975,
New York, $24.80.
Grant,
Verne Genetics of Flowering Plants. Columbia
Univ. Press, 1975, New York and London, $20.00.
Gregory,
P. H. (editor) Phytophthora Disease of Cocoa. Longman, Inc., 1974, New York,
$47.50.
Gunther,
F. A. (editor) Residue Reviews, Vol. 53. Springer-Verlag, 1974, New York,
$18.50.
Harborne,
J. B. and C. F. Van Sumere The Chemistry and Biochemistry of Plant Proteins.
Phytochemical Society Symposia Series #11. Academic Press, 1975, Lon-don,
$30.75.
Hendry,
Helen I. (editor) Selected Bibliography on Algae #14. Nova Scotia Research
Foundation, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, 1973, $15.00.
Hewitt,
E. J. and T. A. Smith Plant Mineral Nutrition. Halsted Press, 1975, New York,
$11.95.
Hulse,
J. H. and E. M. Lang Nutritive Value of Triticale Protein. International Development
Research Center, 1973, Ottawa, Canada, $7.50.
Hutnik,
R. J. and G. Davis (editors) Ecology and Reclamation of Devasted Land, Volumes
I & `II. Gordon and Breach, 1973, New York, $40.80.
Jackson,
B. D. Guide to the Literature of Botany. Reprint by Otto Koeltz Science Publishers,
1974, Koenigstein - Ts./B.R.D.
Janick,
Jules and James N. Moore (editors) Advances in Fruit Breeding. Purdue Univ.
Press, 1975, West LaFayette, Indiana, $25.00.
Kaufman,
Peter B., John Labavitch, Anne Anderson-Prouty, and Najati S. Ghosheh Laboratory
Experiments in Plant Physiology. MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1975, New
York, $7.95.
Kachroo,
P. (editor) Advancing Frontiers in Cytogenetics.
Hindustan Publishing Corp., 1975, India, $14.00.
Knight,
C. A. Chemistry of Viruses, Second Edition. Springer-Verlag, 1975, New York,
$17.80.
Kranz,
Jurgen Epidemics of Plant Diseases - Mathematical Analysis and Modeling. Ecological
Studies Volume 13. Springer-Verlag, 1975, New York, $24.60.
Larsen,
M. J. A Contribution to the Taxonomy of the Genus Tomentella. Mycologia Memoir
No. 4. The New York Botanical Garden, 1974, $9.00 domestic, $10.00 foreign.
Laverack,
M. S. and M. C. H. Blackler Fauna and Flora of St. Andrews Bay. Scottish Academic
Press, 1974, Lon-don, $11.73.
Lieth,
Helmut (editor) Phenology and Seasonality Modeling. Ecological Studies Vol.
8. Springer-Verlag, 1974, New York, $47.80.
44
Little,
E. L. Jr., R. O. Woodbury and F. H. Wadsworth Trees of Puerto Rico and the
Virgin Islands, Volume II. Agriculture Handbook No. 449. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture,
1974, Washington, D.C., $13.45.
Milner,
Max (editor) Nutritional Improvement of Food Legumes by Breeding. John Wiley
and Sons, Inc., 1975, New York, $20.95.
Morris,
M. G. and F. H. Perring (editors) The British Oak. E. W. Classey, Ltd., 1974,
Berkshire, England, $14.66.
Moul,
E. T. Marine Flora and Fauna of the Northeastern United States - Higher Plants
of the Marine Fringe. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1973, Washington, D.C.,
$.65.
Mueller-Dombois,
Dieter and Heinz Ellenburg Aims and Methods of Vegetation Analysis. John Wiley
and Sons, Inc., 1974, New York, $13.95.
Nair,
PKK Glimpses in Plant Research: Studies in Plant Biology, Vol. II. Vikas Publishing
House PVT LTD., 1974, Delhi, $16.50.
Nakaike,
Toshiyuki Enumeratio Pteridophytarum Japonicarum. Univ. of Tokyo Press, 1975,
Japan.
Northern,
Henry T. and Rebecca T. Northern Greenhouse Gardening, Second Edition. The
Ronald Press Company, 1973, New York.
Ogden,
E. C., G. S. Raynor, J. V. Hayes, D. M. Lewis and J. H. Haines Manual for
Sampling Airborne Pollen. Hafner Press, 1974, New York, $11.95.
Ogden,
E. C. Potamogeton in New York. New York State Museum and Science Service Bulletin
Number 423, 1974.
Page,
Nancy M. and Richard E. Weaver, Jr. Wild Plants in the City. Quadrangle -
The New York Times Book Co., 1975, $3.95.
Pickett-Heaps,
Jeremy D. Green Algae - Structure, Reproduction and Evolution in Selected
Genera. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Publishers, 1975, Sunderland, Mass.
Preston,
R. D. The Physical Biology of Plant Cell Walls. Halsted Press, 1974, New York,
$35.00.
Pridham,
J. B. Plant Carbohydrate Biochemistry. Annual Proceedings of the Phytochemical
Society No. 10. Academic Press, 1974, London, $18.50.
Rayle,
David and Lee Wedburg Botany: A Human Concern. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1975,
Boston, Mass.
Rice,
Elroy L. Allelopathy. Academic Press, 1974, New York, $25.00.
Richardson,
David The Vanishing Lichens - Their History, Biology and Importance. Macmillan
Publishing Co., Inc., 1975, New York, $12.00.
Roth,
Albert G. Novae Plantarum Species. Fascimile of the first edition of 1821.
Oriole Editions, 1975, New York, $35.00.
Roxburgh,
William and Nathaniel Wallich Flora Indica, Vol. I & II. Fascimile of
the first edition. Oriole Editions, 1975, New York.
Russell,
Norman H. Introduction to Plant Science - A Humanistic and Ecological Approach.
West Publishing Co., 1975, St. Paul.
Shetler,
Stanwyn G. An Introduction to the Botanical Type Speciman Register. Smithsonian
Contributions to Botany Number 12. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1973, $2.85.
Slavik,
B. Methods of Studying Plant Water Relations. Ecological Studies Vol. 9. Springer-Verlag,
1974, New York.
Smith,
D. C. The Lichen Symbiosis. Oxford Biology Readers 42. Oxford University Press,
1973.
Smith,
D. C. Symbiosis of Algae with Invertebrates. Ox-ford Biology Readers 43. Oxford
University Press, 1973.
Stebbins,
G. Ledyard Flowering Plants: Evolution Above the Species Level. Belknap Press
of Harvard University, 1974, Cambridge, Mass., $18.50.
Street,
H. E. (editor) Tissue Culture and Plant Science. Academic Press, 1974, London,
$19.75.
Stevens,
R. B. Plant Disease. The Ronald Press Co., 1974, New York, $11.95.
Swift,
Lloyd H. Botanical Bibliographies. Reprint by Otto Koeltz Science Publishers,
1974, Koenigstein, West Germany.
Swift,
Lloyd H. Botanical Classifications: A Comparison of Eight Systems of Angiosperm
Classification. Archon Books, 1974, $15.00.
Tait,
R. V. and R. S. DeSanto Elements of Marine Ecology. Springer-Verlag, 1972,
New York, $12.80.
Thunberg,
Carl Peter Flora Japonica. Fascimile of the first edition of 1784. Oriole
Editions, 1975, New York, $65.00.
Van
Emden, Helmut F. Pest Control and its Ecology. Crane, Russak & Company,
Inc., 1975, New York, $2.75 (paper bound).
Van
der Vossen, H. A. M. Towards More Efficient Selection for Oil Yield in the
Oil Palm (Elaeis quineensis Jacquin). Agricultural Reports 823. Center for
Agri-cultural Publishing and Documentation, 1974, Wageningen, $7.00.
Volpe,
E. Peter Man, Nature and Society - An Introduction to Biology. Wm. C. Brown
Company Publishers, 1975, Dubuque, Iowa.
Wedge,
S. Plant Names: Common and Uncommon. New York Botanical Garden, 1973, $1.50.
Welsh,
Stanley L. and Bill Ratcliffe Flowers of the Mountain Country. Brigham Young
Univ. Press, 1975, Provo, Utah.
White,
H. A. The Alaska - Yukon Wild Flowers Guide. Alaska Northwest Publishing Co.,
1974, $7.95.
Welsh,
S. L. Anderson's Flora of Alaska (and Adjacent Parts of Canada). Brigham Young
Univ. Press, 1974, Provo, Utah, $23.95.
Whittingham,
C. D. The Mechanism of Photosynthesis.
Wood,
Carroll E. Jr. A Student's Atlas of Flowering Plants: Some Dicotyledons of
Eastern North America. Harper and Row, 1974, New York.
Zimmerman,
Ulrich and Jack Dainty (editors) Membrane Transport in Plants. Springer-Verlag,
1974, New York, $30.00.
Plant
Studies in the Peoples' Republic of China: A Trip Report of the American Plant
Studies Delegation. National Academy of Sciences, 1975, Washing-ton, D.C.,
$7.25.
45
BOOK REVIEWS
STREET,
H. E. (editor). Plant Tissue and Cell Culture. University of California Press,
Berkeley. 1975. $19.75.
The
advances in plant tissue culture have been many in the years that have passed
since P. R. White and R. Gautheret wrote their respective compendia more than
two decades ago. Among the many new methodologies are protoplast cultures,
transgenosis (gene transfer), protoplast fusion, monoploid cultures derived
from microspores or from gametophytes, single-cell cloning, the widespread
use of high-salt media, newly discovered hormones, and so on. Much of this
new material is presented in Plant Cell and Tissue Culture, edited by H. E.
Street of Leicester University, whose work with nutritional and developmental
aspects of cultured plants' cells is well-known. Street has contributed several
chapters to the book; other contributors were P. A. Aitcheson, D. N. Butcher,
E. C. Cocking, P. K. Evans, P. S. Ingram, P. J. King, J. Reinert, N. Sunderland
and M. M. Yeoman. Although their work generally is also well-known, I feel
the book would have benefited from a short biography and perhaps a photo of
each contributor. The chapter headings are as follows: introduction, laboratory
organization, (tissue callus) cultures, — techniques, cell (suspension)
cultures — techniques, the isolation of protoplasts, general cytology
of cultured cells, nuclear cytology single-cell clones, pollen and anther
culture, growth patterns in tissue (callus) cultures, growth patterns in cell
cultures, aspects of organization — organogenesis and embryogenesis;
the origins, characteristics and culture of plant tumour cells; growth of
plant parasites in tissue culture, old problems and new prospectives. Therefore,
we see that with the possible exception of embryo and ovule culture, the field
of plant cell, tissue and organ culture is adequately covered.
Books
composed of a collection of chapters authored by various experts in the specialties
of a burgeoning area of research are becoming quite commonplace. This particular
one is a long step from P. R. White's first book on plant tissue culture,
and I suppose it proves how far we have come in that it now requires a number
of writers to cover the field once the bailiwick of one man. The shepherding
of several authors by an acknowledged expert to produce a synthesis of this
kind has advantages. Certainly, we receive the benefit of the combined wisdom
of specialists. At the same time, such a book often tends to be disjointed.
Street has done an admirable job of putting together a number of highly individualized
offerings and the resulting book is a useful one. That it too suffers from
discontinuities and a certain patchiness of style is perhaps to be expected,
and is not particularly objectionable.
A
nice historical introduction is presented by Street and covers many of the
highlights of plant tissue culture serving to place the modern work in perspective.
In the following chapter, on laboratory organization, the approach gets a
bit heavy handed with floor plans, fancy glassware, and elaborate devices
attended by practitioners in surgical dress. This needlessly complicates matters
and obscures the point that much useful and important tissue culture work
is done in an ordinary laboratory with fairly unsophisticated equipment. The
late Carl LaRue used to say that the beauty of plant tissue culture was that
it could be done almost anywhere with a very modest outlay.
Once
past the imposing array of laboratory equipment, we are into the actual culturing
of plant tissues. This part generally is well-written and interesting and
presents a variety of well known and reliable methods and media. (However,
a drawback of the book in my estimation is the omission of a list of vendors.)
Tissue culturists of course have their favorite techniques and no doubt some
have been left out that should have been included, but a beginning tissue
culturist will find just about everything needed to get well underway. However,
this is not simply a recipe book, and chapters on cytology and development
of cell and tissue cultures deal with many of the theoretical aspects of the
science.
Taken
as a whole, I recommend the book to those who are hoping to learn tissue culture,
as well as to those who are already doing tissue culture.
Knut
Norstog Northern Illinois University
NOBEL,
PARK S. Introduction to Biophysical Plant Physiology. W. H. Freeman and Co.,
San Francisco. 1974. 488 pp. $13.50.
Botanists
in practically all disciplines will find this to be a fascinating, yet demanding
treatment of biological applications of physical chemistry and to be of great
interest and value in their own field. The applicable knowledge of botany,
physics and chemistry are brought together in a very readable form by Dr.
Nobel to provide a basic understanding of physiological processes in plants.
The eight chapters develop the bio-physical-chemical principles that control
the physiological processes in plants. The chapter subjects are cell, water,
solutes, light, photosynthesis bio-energetics, leaves and plants. In the last
two chapters he brings together the physiological role and energetics of water,
CO2 and solar energy in the physiological processes of leaves and whole stands
of plants.
The
book is well illustrated and referenced. For in-stance, the chapter on cells
contains an extensive discussion on function with illustrations of various
plant cells, their location in the plant and their structure. The body of
the text contains many references for those wishing to go into greater detail.
Also, there is a set of problems at the end of each chapter. These help to
demonstrate the usefulness of the biophysical models in different disciplines
of botany ranging from the level of the whole plant through cellular to organelle
and from algae to trees. (P. S. the answers are given in the back of the book.)
The
appendices are an important part of this book and most useful not only in
conjunction with the text but in their own right. In addition to the usual
sections on abbreviations, constants and variables, there are sections on
calculus, Gibbs free energy and chemical potential, and some comments on irreversible
thermodynamics. These last three sections are most helpful to anyone who needs
some reassurance or review in these areas.
Dr.
Nobel has produced a well written, easy to read and use text and reference
book. I would recommend it as a text for advanced undergraduate and graduate
courses in plant physiology as well as a reference hook for all botanists
whose work is in or even touches on any aspect of physiology.
Henry
Hellmers Duke University
46
GOOD,
RONALD. The Geography of Flowering Plants, 4th edition. Longman. London, 1974.
557 pp. $27.00
Ronald
Good's plant geography book (first published in 1947) is a classic but, unlike
many other classics, it has been brought up to date on three occasions (1953,
1964 and, now, 1974). Throughout it has remained the standard reference book
for all kinds of flowering-plant botanists by reason of its extensive lists
of taxa with various patterns of distribution, its excellent appendices and
a superb range of indexes (Plant Names; Persons and Places; Subjects). There
are 951 references in the Bibliography of the 4th edition, 27 well-chosen
plates and 86 other illustrations (most but not all maps) tastefully and appropriately
chosen. Professor Good has an easy-toread writing style which converts this
reference book into interesting literature.
Consequently,
it is easy and truthful for me to write, as my reviewer's opinion, that this
book should be purchased by all libraries and by every botanist who is concerned
in any way with the evolution and dispersal of flowering plants. Nevertheless,
a review should be critical and I must point out some less than optimal features
of the book, most of which result from its updating rather than rewriting
(after all, more than a quarter of a century has gone by since it first appeared).
Maintaining the bulk of the text and making additions (particularly at the
ends of chapters) no doubt kept down the cost of the newest edition (and we
should be grateful for that), but it some-times leads to informational disparities.
Too frequently one encounters statements such as that on page 357 (in a discussion
of methods of studying geological history and its relationship to past distributions
of plants), "Most recently of all an entirely new method has been applied
... — and this turns out to be '4C dating! A sentence on page 355 that
includes the phrase "opinion today" (on the causes of ice ages) refers simply
to publications by Zeuner in 1945 and 1950. In the consideration of "The Factors
of Distribution" outdated simplicity rears its head in such statements as
"There are now generally recognized to be `short-day plants', `long-day plants'
and `day-neutral plants', the first including essentially those of the tropics
and the second those of temperate lands."
Professor
Good was an early supporter of theories of Continental Drift and took account
particularly of the writings of Wegener and Du Toit. However, with the flood
of papers that has burst forth in the past decade on Plate Tectonics, Sea-floor
Spreading, and the like, it is rather unfortunate that for this topic the
end-of-chapter addition is brief in proportion to the textual material surviving
from previous editions.
All
of us hope to become Emeritus Professors, and we may dream of our retirement
as the opportunity for freedom to read and write with no conflicting demands
upon our time, but we often forget that the retired professor usually lacks
some of the facilities and assistance that "active" faculty take for granted.
In these circumstances, Professor Good, who retired in 1959, has kept up remarkably
well with the books that have been published since 1964. Understandably, he
seems to this reviewer to have been less successful in reviewing the mass
of journal articles that has appeared in this decade, particularly with regard
to material that has a supportive function rather than being directly plant
geographical. He would probably not claim to be a plant physiologist or a
population geneticist, so the biological explanations that he gives for the
phytogeographical facts are few and tend to be rather superficial. But it
must be emphasized that the phytogeographical facts are there and those who
are specialists in the more esoteric disciplines have much to draw upon in
`The Geography of Flowering Plants'.
Some
chapters in this book have scarcely been touched in revision because little
alteration was called for. Whereas the world picture has changed considerably
in recent years, understanding of the plant geography of the British Isles
has changed less and the picture for Professor Good's favorite English county,
Dorset, has scarcely changed at all. Incidentally, this feature of the book
— its illustration of the differences of approach necessary in moving
from world scale to regional scale and even county scale studies — remians
one of its very valuable instructional aspects.
I
would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that in reading this "Fourth Edition"
in order to be able to write this review, I found many items that have spurred
me into further thought about my own research. I believe that this will be
the common experience of readers and it means that a botanist's outlay of
twenty seven dollars plus sales tax (but keeping in mind an income tax deduction)
is well worth while. I am most grateful to the Editor of the Plant Science
Bulletin for saving me the expense which, otherwise, I should have undertaken
cheerfully.
Herbert
G. Baker University of California, Berkeley
TRALAU,
HANS, Editor-in-chief. Index Holmensis - A world Index of Phytogeographic
Maps. Volume I. Equisetales, Isoetales, Lycopodiales, Psilotales, Filicales,
Gymnospermae. pp. 1-264. 1969. SFr 115. Volume II. Monocolyledoneae, A-I,
pp. 1-224. 1972. SFr 125. Volume III. Monocotyledoneae, J-Z. pp. 1-224. 1973.
SFr 125. (all in cloth) The Scientific Publishers Ltd., Zurich.
The
first three volumes of this ambitious and much needed index have been published
and have been found very useful by all workers in the field of plant geography
who have access to it.
The
first three volumes is organized by orders, the species in each being listed
alphabetically. Each species is accompanied by precise bibliographical references
to map-containing publications listed by dates. The area covered by each map
is placed in parentheses at the end of each citation. The text appears in
two columns per page.
The
second and third volumes cover the Monocotyledoneae without being separated
into smaller groups. The text is in smaller, but readable, type, and is organized
into three columns per page. Volume I has as a frontpiece a photograph of
the famous Swedish phytogeographer, Professor Eric Hulten, to whom the Index
is dedicated. Volume II has a portrait of Joachin Frederik Schouw, and Volume
III, that of Heinrich K. H. Hoffmann.
The
number of maps already published illustrating distribution of plants is astounding,
although there are many species with only a few, and numerous with none.
Dr.
Hans Tralau is to be congratulated for initiating this Index, and his international
board of editors are due our gratitude for their assitance in making this
valuable tool available. It is hoped that they will be given the sup-port
necessary to prepare the volumes for the Dicotyledoneae, and continue the
publication of Addenda as new material appears. The Index Holmensis is a necessity
for all workers who use plant distribution in their teaching or research.
A.
J. Sharp The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
47
KARTASHOVA,
N. N, Stroenie i funktsiya nektarnikov tsvetka dvudol'nykh rastenii. Izdatel'stvo
Tomskogo Universiteta, Tomsk. 1965. 194 pp., plus 8 unnumbered pages figures.
The
nectary (both extra-floral and floral or nuptial) and its secretion products
have long been favorite subjects of study. Since the lengthy and classic treatments
of Bonnier and Behrens in 1878 and 1879, respectively, there has been no full
length account of the structure and function of nectaries. Short summaries
(the old one by Sperlich in the 1939 Handbuch der Pflanzenanatomie, Bd. 4,
or the recent one by Abraham Fahn in his Plant anatomy, 1967, 1974) or long
papers on specific aspects of nectaries (Erich Daumann on monocotyledonous
nectaries in the 1970 Feddes Repert., or Eva Frei on vasculature in the 1955
Ber. Schweiz. Bot. Ges.) have, of course, appeared.
It
is thus of considerable interest and importance to anatomists and morphologists
that there does indeed exist a book of 194 pages (plus plates) which treats
in extenso the structure and function of nectaries: Structure and function
of nectaries of dicotyledonous flowering plants by N. N. Kartashova of Tomsk
State University, U.S.S.R. Unfortunately, this book exists only in Russian
and, worse yet, in a very limited printing with restricted circulation. Consequently,
although this exceptionally useful tome has been available since 1965, it
is virtually unknown outside the Soviet Union (Daumann is the only non-Soviet
author I have seen citing the work).
The
book contains six chapters: brief ones on history, morphology and topography,
and evolution of nectaries; lengthy chapters on anatomy, the relationship
between nectar secretion and developmental stage of the flower, and the morphological
nature and classification of nectaries. Many of the data seem to represent
previously unpublished work. Nectaries of various species of Rosaceae, Leguminosae,
Labiatae, Scrophulariaceae, Onagraceae, Boraginaceae, and Campanulaceae are
treated in detail.
The
12-page bibliography of 226 Russian and 182 non-Russian entries is invaluable
in bringing together the apparently extensive and largely unknown Russian
literature on the subject. There are 104 good quality diagrams and several
pages of generally forgettable photographs. The former contain considerable
usable in-formation on histology and vasculature of the entire flower. Twelve
tables summarize data ranging from sugar concentration of nectar to nature
of xylic and/or phloic vasculature of nectaries. The latter table (Kartashova's
Table 10) deals with 206 species (mostly temperate) in 58 families of dicotyledons
and is a valuable supplement to the well-known findings of Frei (cited above)
on nectary vasculature in 158 species in 37 dicotyledonous families. Only
30 families and 34 species are common to the studies of these workers, who,
happily, disagree on the mode of nectary vasculature of only two species.
Both workers are in agreement that nectary vasculature is predominantly phloic
in nature.
The
book, being vintage 1965, has a decided classical or perhaps old-fashioned
air to it. There is no electron microscopy, a currently active area of research
by Fahn, Nele Findlay, F. V. Mercer, Eberhard Schnepf, and others. The book
is anatomical/morphological rather than physiological/ecological/coevolutionary
in scope. The lack of concern with pollinators and other animals is particularly
regrettable. Nectar is discussed as consisting of various sugars — an
oversimplification in view of the ex-citing recent work of Herbert and Irene
Baker on amino acid and other non-sugar components of nectar.
Monocotyledons
are excluded by titular fiat, so for nectaries of these recourse will have
to be made to Daumann's recent monograph mentioned above. Finally, Kartashova's
work perpetuates the old north temperate bias since most of the examples she
discusses are from this region.
Nevertheless,
the book is invaluable in providing basic anatomical and morphological data
for nectaries, data which must form the basis for subsequent more sophisticated
studies. Tentative arrangements have been made for a translation of this useful
work, and it is hoped that in two or three years the botanical community will
be served a translation of a classic work in its field.
Rudolf
Schmid University of California, Berkeley
DAY,
PETER R. Genetics of host-parasite interaction. W. H. Freeman and Co., San
Francisco. 1974. 238 pp. $8.50.
In
these times of concern about feeding an overpopulated world and reducing the
levels of pesticides in the environment, the appearance of a book which may
aid in understanding some of the complexities of both problems is welcome.
This is an exhaustive survey of the recent literature (nearly 600 references)
on variation in parasites and breeding for resistance in crop plants. It deals
with the genetics of parasites, their plant hosts, and their interactions.
General principles are illustrated with examples taken mainly from fungal
parasites, but also in-sects, nematodes, bacteria, and viruses where information
is available. Professor Day has provided in seven short chapters a speculative
discussion of our current knowledge which will help to stimulate entomologists,
plant pathologists, and plant breeders to develop and use their under-standing
of genetics to control plant pathogens and pests.
The
concept that all biological phenomena are under genetic control is introduced
in Chapter 1 along with some initial definitions to set the stage for the
book. Subsequent chapters deal with the genetics of resistance, the genetics
of pathogenicity, the gene-for-gene concept, and gene function in the host-parasite
interaction. These are followed by chapters on pest control and the genetics
of epidemics. Throughout the book a good knowledge of basic genetics is necessary
for a complete understanding on the part of the reader. However, each major
group of parasites treated is carefully introduced so that no other special
knowledge is required. The photographs and electron micrographs are well chosen
and generally of high quality. One wonders if additional figures would not
have been helpful and easily justified even if the price were slightly higher.
This
inexpensive and well bound book is intended for advanced students and researchers
in genetics, plant breeding, plant pathology, entomology, epidemiology, and
ecology. A copy is recommended for the library of anyone who is interested
in one or more of these areas while a complete understanding of the information
contained therein is essential to those who would develop intelligent methods
of crop and plant protection.
Stanley
N. Grove University of South Florida
SHOSTECK,
ROBERT. Flowers and Plants: an Inter-
national
Lexicon with Biographical Notes. Quad-
rangle/
The New York Times Book Co., N.Y. xx +
329
pp. illust. 1974. $9.95.
This
book is a dictionary of 1,150 plants, mostly from the United States and Canada,
arranged in alphabetical
48
order
by common or vernacular name. It includes plants that occur in the wild, are
cultivated as desirable productions or thrive as weeds, and a few that are
utilized as house plants. A book, "Words for Birds" by Edward S. Gruson, inspired
Robert Shosteck to publish "on my love, botany".
In
the introduction the author provides a brief history of the origin of plant
names, tracing their beginnings not only from the customary European sources,
but also from American Indian and other languages, Greek and Roman mythology,
names of notable personalities, natural history, and geography. He also discusses
the influence of the Doctrine of Signatures on the origin of plant names and
provides a lucid explanation of botanical nomenclature.
Most
of the book, 298 pages, is allotted to "Flowers and Plants" — from abelia
to zinnia. For each plant, Shosteck provides the common and scientific name,
followed by the origins of the generic name and the specific and, if required,
the varietal epithet. For those honoring a person, e.g., Claytonia, thunbergii,
the author gives a thumb nail sketch, usually including birth and death dates,
important positions held, and, in some cases, other interesting facts about
the person. In a like manner, he shows the origin of common names. For many
plants he provides interesting information on their use as a food or medicine,
their toxic qualities, religious aspects, and their impact on folklore. He
also provides nearly 400 well executed illustrations to assist the reader
in plant identification. The volume includes a foreward by James L. Crowe,
U. S. Botanic Garden, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.
My
criticisms are few. For the sake of precision, the author of the scientific
name could have been included. I wish Shosteck would have followed Eiten's
treatment of the genus Oxalis and the nomenclature of recent manuals for our
American wild pansy which is considered specifically or varietally distinct
from the European form and honors Rafinesque. His spelling of Penstemon does
not follow that of Mitchell, the author of the genus. Although he cited the
toxic qualities of many species, he omitted this for the castor bean, one
to three of which can be fatal to a child and eight usually fatal to an adult.
There were few errors in proofreading or spelling: violent for violet (p.
159) and lillifolia for lilifolia (p. 273, 319).
Robert Shosteck's style makes reading easy. He shows that scientific names
are not just dull "handles" but have fascinating origins and are indeed meaningful.
He clarifies the meaning of obscure common names. Because his book contains
a significant amount of botanical, etymological, and biographical information,
it should he of interest to botanists, even those who are not systematists,
and to those in applied botanical pursuits, the amateurs, and students. This
book has a definite place in public libraries and should appeal to high school
students interested in the biological sciences.
Robert A. Evers
Illinois Natural History Survey,
Urbana
LIBBERT, EIKB: Lehrbuch der Pflanzenphysiologie. Jena: VEB Gustav Fischer 1973,
472 p., 341 fig.
This
textbook follows the tried classical division in physiology of metabolism,
growth, development and movement. But this is more than a usual textbook of
plant physiology. It will satisfy both younger and older students, and even
teachers will find valuable information, which sometimes goes very deep into
the field of scientific hypothesis. Bike Libbert not only gives facts, but
reasons, background, and sometimes critical comments. Moreover, she gives
her engaged opinion about biological-philosophical aspects. The excellent
short introduction in phylogenesis of metabolism and orga no-chemical evolution
is motivating to a young student. The sub-division into large and small printing
will help in quickly finding the essential knowledge, the basic facts. The
small printed chapters give more details about the certain subjects. Worthy
of mention also are the extraordinary exact phrases. Even chapters with abstract
contents, e.g. thermodynamics, oxidoreductive processes with their electrodynamic
background, are easy to understand, though Like Libbert sometimes goes deeply
into these fields. Overall this textbook permits the student to form critical
opinions about established scientific facts. The only critical remarks about
this book are the following: In the chapter about structure and function of
protoplasm and cell structure one misses the usual electronmicroscopic pictures,
which cannot be replaced by explanations and drawings. The subject matter
of molecular genetics and biochemical regulations, though vividly described,
are superfluous. There are many excellent textbooks about these topics and
Eike Libbert should only call student's attention to those books. Overall
this might be the best plant physiology text written in German, which covers
all important fields about plant, physiology in such an extraordinary manner.
It was a pleasure to read. One might hope that Bike Libbert's plant physiology
will be translated in English, so that more students and teachers can read
this excellent work.
Dieter Strack
Institute of Botany at
University of Cologne, West Germany
PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN LIFE SCIENCE BUILDING UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA TAMPA,
FLORIDA 33620
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