PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN
A Publication of the Botanical Society of America, Inc.
VOLUME 27, NUMBER 6, DECEMBER, 1981
Emanuel D. Rudolph, Editor, Department of Botany, Ohio State University, 1735 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210
Editorial Board
Jerry D. Davis – University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, WI
Peter Heywood – Brown University, Providence, RI
Anitra Thorhaug – Florida International University, Key Biscayne, FL
The Plant Science Bulletin is published six times a year, February, April, June, August, October, and December, at The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210. Subscriptions $10.00/yr. Change of address should be sent to Editor. Second class postage paid at Columbus, OH.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
WHO WILL BE TEACHING BOTANY IN THE 1980'S
BOTANICAL SOCIETY AWARDS
NOTICES
PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
MEETINGS
RECENT BOTANICAL BOOKS
BOOK REVIEWS
WHO WILL BE TEACHING BOTANY IN THE 1980'S - SURVIVAL OF VIABLE BOTANY PROGRAMS IN THE FACE OF DECLINING ENROLLMENTS
By Roy Saigo, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Some of the demographic information related to college enrollments is grave for the future of botany. (1) The 18-year-old population is decreasing, resulting in overall lower college enrollments (Fig. 1). (2) Male students are decreasing; however, there is an increase in relative numbers of female students. (3) More older people will be returning to higher education for various reasons. Most schools report approximately 25% of their student body is composed of students older than 23. (4) There is an increase in numbers of part-time students. (5) More students are interested in disciplines with a better possibility for employment after graduation.
To answer the question of survival of viable botany programs with major decreases of 18-year-old students, the following possibilities deserve consideration:
1. Develop a comprehensive 5- and 10-year long-range plan to help your department anticipate needs and adjust to them before they happen as well as to take advantage of your strengths.
2. Evaluate the population projection for your state and school as a part of your long-range plan.
3. Find out what your college or university is doing in the recruitment of minorities and women. Discuss ways in which the sciences, and especially botany, can assist in their recruitment.
4. Discuss methods to innovatively approach the teaching of inadequately-prepared students. You will be surprised to find that approximately 30% of incoming freshmen have some weaknesses in their basic training prior to attending the University. Without assistance for correction, these students will never fulfill their potential and/or will become discouraged and join the approximately 30% of students who drop out of school prior to graduation.
5. Do you have an office of cooperative education? This support service finds cooperating businesses to provide professional positions for students during their college careers. The students must have a certain minimum grade point to qualify, and they must serve in this job full-time for approximately one semester during the school year and one summer school session. Some departments provide a certain number of credits for this experience. Approximately 90% of the students participating are hired by their particular company after graduation.
6. What are you doing, or have you done, to enhance your relationship with the high school biology teachers? Since most of our students still come from high schools, this relationship will certainly enhance the possibility of their coming to your institution. A high school botany or biology
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conference and/or workshop would help to improve communication and relationships.
7. It is important that your departmental members be made aware of the importance of faculty governance, especially during these troubled times.
8. Actively seek different approaches to fulfilling your science course requirements. Contact colleagues at other institutions for additional ideas to implement at your home institution.
9. Spend more time identifying sources of dollars to support curricular change. If your school has a person in charge of grant-writing, obtain his/her assistance. Remember that the undergraduate student is the foundation of your department, so spend a proportionate amount of time enhancing undergraduate teaching.
Who Will Be Teaching Botany in the 1980's?
The majority of teachers will be the people in the associate and early full professorial ranks. As tenure track positions will not be available, the above-categorized people will have to become, as in the early days of science, true botanists. That is, persons versed in all the basic units of this discipline. In order to achieve this level of competency, many professors will have to undergo extensive retraining efforts during the decade to come.
If your institution is fortunate and the enrollment is stable or continuing to grow, the introductory courses will be taught by temporary professors who will be hired as lecturers or visiting professors with year-to-year contracts. The danger of this system is that it leads to disillusioned teachers of little help to building the department.
In specific and unusual situations, the use of adhoc teachers will be used. These people will generally have other full-time employment, but will be hired on a per-course basis to fill in the area of need.
Which Botany Programs Will Survive Under These Conditions?
The trends in the population of our student body have been noted. Some of the suggestions to fulfill the needs of those specific groups have been elaborated. All methods of delivery must be investigated to transfer botanical information to these audiences. As in the development of a new species, those are advantaged that are fit and flexible.
BOTANICAL SOCIETY AWARDS
Citations for the Awards Presented at the 1981 Annual Dinner for All Botanists, Botanical Society of America, Inc. at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, on 19 August 1981.
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Merit Awards:
These awards are made to persons judged to have made outstanding contributions to botanical science. The first awards were made in 1956 at the 50th anniversary of the Botanical Society, and one or more have been presented each year since that time. This year the Award Committee has selected two botanists who are eminently qualified to join the ranks of merit awardees.
To Clanton C. Black, Jr., University of Georgia "for his significant contributions to our knowledge of the photosynthetic process; for probing the similarities and differences in carbon metabolism in C3' C4 and CAM plants; and for seeing the immediate implications for both agriculture and ecology in new advances in photosynthetic chemistry."
To Ernest M. Gifford, Jr., University of California at Davis "for his services to The Society as Editor-in-Chief of the AmericanJournalofBotany, for contributions to botanical science as mentor of many professional botanists and as an author of a popular text, and for research that has extended the frontiers of plant development and structure."
Darbaker Prize:
This award is made for meritorious work in the study of microscopical algae. The recipient is selected by a Committee of the Botanical Society which bases its judgment primarily on papers published during the last two calendar years.
Elisabeth Gantt, Radiation Biology Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution and Alex N. Glazer, Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, University of California at Berkeley were awarded the prize "for their pioneering, imaginative investigations and detailed analyses of phycobiliprotein-containing photosynthetic antennae in diverse al gal organisms."
Isabel C. Cookson Paleobotanical Award:
Each year the Isabel C. Cookson Award is given for the best contributed paper in paleobotany or palynology presented at the annual meeting. The 1981 Award was presented to Steven Manchester from Indiana University for his paper "Fossil fruits and the history of the walnut family."
Henry Allan Gleason Award:
The Henry Allan Gleason Award of the New York Botanical Garden is given annually, from a fund established by the late Dr. Gleason, for an outstanding recent publication in the field of plant taxonomy, plant ecology, or plant geography.
This year the New York Botanical Garden awarded the prize to Drs. Howard Crum and Lewis E. Anderson for their monumental MossesofEasternNorthAmerica. This two volume, fully illustrated flora by two of the most prominent bryologists in North America is a labor of love spanning 25 years.
Jessie M. Greenman Award:
The Jessie M. Greenman Award is presented each year by the Alumni Association of the Missouri Botanical Garden. It recognizes the paper judged best in vascular plant or bryophyte systematics based on a doctoral dissertation published during the previous year. The 1981 award went to Dr. William R. Buck for his paper entitled "A generic revision of the Entodontaceae" published in the JournaloftheHattori BotanicalLaboratory 48:71-159, in 1980.
George R. Cooley Award:
The George R. Cooley Award is given annually by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists for the best paper in plant systematics presented at the annual meetings. The 1981 recipient of the Award is Gregory J. Anderson, University of Connecticut, for his paper (with David E. Symon) entitled "Sex forms in Solanum." The Award is presented for a detailed study of the breeding systems in the genus Solanum utilizing a variety of techniques including morphological characters and crossing experiments to interpret the evolution of non-hermaphroditic sex forms. Honorable mention was given to Lisa A. Standley,University of Washington, for her paper entitled "The systematics of Carex section Carex in the Pacific Northwest."
Physiological Section Award:
Each year the Physiological Section of the Botanical Society of America presents an Award for the best student paper dealing with physiology presented at the annual meeting. The 1981 Award is presented to Pete O. Council, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for his paper entitled, "The control of growth in carrot cell suspension cultures."
Pteridological Section Award:
Each year the Pteridological Section presents an Award for the best paper dealing with any aspect of pteridology presented at the annual meeting. The 1981 Award (a check for $100.00) was presented to James A. Tanno, University of Connecticut, for his paper entitled "Plastid ultrastructure in Selaginella martensii forma albovariegata."
Ralph E. Alston Award:
Each year the Phytochemical Section of the Botanical Society of America presents the Ralph E. Alston Award of $100 for the best paper dealing with phytochemistry presented
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at the annual meeting. The 1981 Award was presented to David A. Young from the University of Illinois for his paper entitled "Leaf flavonoids of 'Primitive' Angiosperma: Amborellaceae and Winteraceae."
NOTICES
Nominations for Corresponding Membership in the Botanical Society of America:
The Corresponding Membership Committee of BSA wishes to inform members that the Committee would like to receive nominations for new Corresponding Members. There are two vacancies. Nominations are best made through one of the Sections. If your Section would like to nominate an outstanding foreign botanist for Corresponding Membership, please send supporting information to the Chairman of this Committee: Dr. Patricia K. Holmgren (Chairman), The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York 10458, 212/220-8626; 220-8627.
All supporting materials for a nominee should be combined and sent to Dr. Holmgren as a packet. The deadline for submitting supporting materials for nominees is 1 April 1982. Sections should turn in new nominations even if a person has been nominated previously.
Darbaker Prize Nominations:
The Committee on the Darbaker Prize of the Botanical Society of America will accept nominations for an award to be announced at the Annual Meeting of the Society with AIBS at Pennsylvania State University in August, 1982. Under the terms of the bequest, the Award is to be made for meritorious work in the studyofmicroscopicalalgaeinallitsfacets. At present, the Award is limited to residents of North America, and only papers published in the English language will be considered. The value of the prize for 1982 is expected to be approximately $500. The Committee will base its judgment primarily on the papers published by the nominee during the lasttwofullcalendaryears, i.e., papers dated 1980 and 1981. Nominations for the 1982 Award, accompanied by a thorough statement of the merits of the case and by reprints of the publications for 1980 and 1981 supporting the candidate, must be received by April 1, 1982 by the Chairman of the Committee, Dr. G. Benjamin Bouck, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60680, (312) 996-5458.
Plants of the Tropics - Summer Course:
For the tenth successive year, Harvard University Summer School in collaboration with Fairchild Tropical Garden offers an intensive in-residence course in tropical botany, centered in Miami, Florida at Fairchild Tropical Garden. The course (4 weeks) will be given completely in Miami by Drs. P. B. Tomlinson and J. B. Fisher. Enrollment is limited to 10 students, with preference given to graduate students. Applicants will be selected on the basis of their previous experience, their academic needs and their ability. Scholarships for partial tuition and partial travel support are available for qualified students. Students will be housed collectively in comfortable and reasonably inexpensive accommodation close to Fairchild Tropical Garden. Costs include an application fee, estimated $15.00; registration fee, estimated $35.00; laboratory fee, $30.00; tuition, $495.00. Estimated cost of accommodation in Miami, $17.00 per day. Applications should be made to the Summer School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, but with the earlier dead-line of March 31 (Environmental and Field Biology, Department FB, Harvard Summer School, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138). Admission is made on the basis of a Supplementary Application available at the above address.
Updating of Biographical Directory:
American Men and Women of Science is about to undergo a major revision. The 15th edition of this respected biographical reference will be published in August of 1982. The seven-volume directory contains approximately 130,000 brief biographical entries of men and women who have education and training equivalent to the doctorate and who have attained a position of responsibility in the physical, biological, mathematical or engineering sciences. Coverage includes researchers, educators and administrators who are citizens of the Americas and non-citizens working in the Americas on a permanent basis. Prospective entrants may request a questionnaire on which to submit information from the editors through April 1 of 1982. Current entrants will be sent copies of their existing data for review and updating during the fall and winter of 1981-1982. All address changes occurring since 1978 should be reported to the editors promptly. Information or requests should be addressed to the Editors, American Men and Women of Science, P.O. Box 25001, Tempe, AZ 85282.
A Grass Hybrid for Cytological Demonstrations:
X Elyhordeumiowense Pohl, an intergenic hybrid between Elymusvillosus Muhl. and Hordeumjubatum L., is completely sterile and has highly abnormal meiosis. Meiotic preparations are easy to make and demonstrate a variety of abnormal structures, including
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chromosome bridges, lagging chromosomes, micronuclei and 1obulate nuclei. The plants are vegetatively vigorous, flower freely, and grow well in the greenhouse. Persons desiring starts of the plant may write to: Richard E. Pohl, Dept. of Botany, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011.
Fulbright Scholars Available for Short-Term Visits:
More than 150 Fulbright scholars from all regions of the world, in the United States for college and university teaching and advanced research, are available for occasional lectures, seminars and special programs. The Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), which administers the Senior Scholar Fulbright Program, announced that limited funds would be availab1e to facilitate travel to interested institutions, particularly those which have had little opportunity to participate in the Fulbright Scholar Exchange Program.
The Council has prepared a brochure describing the Occasional Lecturer Program and listing by discipline Fulbright scholars who welcome short-term invitations. The entries include proposed topics, home and U.S. affiliations. A copy of the brochure is available from Mrs. Mary W. Ernst, Council for the International Exchange of Scholars, 11 Dupont Circle, N.W., Dept. N, Washington, D.C. 20036 (202/833-4979). Also available upon request is the 1981-82 Directory of Visiting Fulbright Scholars, a by-discipline list of more than 700 scholars, indexed by home country and by state of host institution.
Somatic Orchid Hybrid Prize:
A $50,000 cash prize awaits the first person who can produce a stable somatic hybrid between two or more taxa within the Orchidaceae which are widely separated phylogenetically. Copies of the rules are available from: American Orchid Society, Fund for Education and Research, Inc., 84 Sherman St., Cambridge, MA 02140.
Archival Processing Manual:
The Institute Archives and Special Collections Department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries has just completed a Processing Manual (57 pages). The manual outlines procedures designed to handle contemporary archival and manuscript collections. It is available for $5 from Institute Archives and Special Collections, Room 14N-118, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139. Checks should be made payable to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Assistant Professor - Plant Biologist Florida State University: Tenure-track position is available Fall, 1982. Postdoctoral training is preferred. Teaching responsibilities will include participation in the introductory plant diversity laboratory, introductory botany lecture, and an advanced course in specialty. Appointee will be expected to establish a productive research program. This position in the Department of Biological Science offers an excellent opportunity for the successful candidate to achieve career and personal goals. The Department's forty-three faculty members are housed in four buildings on campus. Ancillary facilities include a marine biology laboratory, a greenhouse/field station, and access to ecological areas. Tallahassee, an attractive city of 100,000, has two universities and is the state capital. To ensure consideration, please arrange for curriculum vitae, statement of future research interests, 2 reprints (if available) and three letters of reference to arrive not later than Jan. 15, 1982. William H. Outlaw, Jr., Chairman of the Search Committee, Department of Biological Science (Unit I), Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306. Telephone (904) 644-1228. (FSU is an Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Employer.)
Postdoctoral Position - Plant Biologist Florida State University: Position to investigate metabolism of stomatal guard cell is available Jan. 1982, or later. Please send application and three letters of reference to William H. Outlaw, Jr., Department of Biological Science (Unit I), Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306.
Graduate Fellowships in Molecular Botany - University of Vermont: Plant scientists at the University of Vermont invite applications from highly qualified applicants interested in contemporary studies of plants. Areas of inquiry include: DNA and proteins of chloroplasts, glycoproteins and lectins, electrophysiology of membranes, Rhizobium-legume symbiosis, host-parasite recognition, photo-respiration, ribosome structure, amino acid transport and recombinant DNA studies. Full tuition remission and tax-free stipend approximately $5100 per year. Write: Dr. Robert C. Ullrich, Marsh Life Science Building, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405.
Botanist - Florida International University: An opportunity to join a dynamic, new university with an international mission in a subtropical setting.
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A tenure track teaching/research position at the assistant professor rank is available for Fall 1982. Teaching responsibilities will include participation in general biology in addition to offering of botany courses in areas of expertise. Candidates with research interest in experimental morphogenesis, tissue culture, mycology or pathology are preferred, but other areas will be considered. Applicants should submit a copy of curriculum vitae, reprints, names and addresses of five references to: David W. Lee, Botany Search Committee, Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199. F.I.U. is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
Botanist - Bates College: One-year replacement, 1982-83 academic year. Instructor/Assistant Professor to teach a diverse selection of courses, including general botany and plant physiology. Application deadline: January 15, 1982. Send cover letter, CV, and names of 3 references to: R. J. Thomas, Search Committee, Department of Biology, Bates College, Lewiston, ME 04240. Bates is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
MEETINGS
Travel Grant for U.S. Scientists Proposed to NSF to Attend Forestry Meeting
A grant request has been submitted to the National Science Foundation to cover commercial air travel by U.S. flag carrier for a group of U.S. scientists to attend the 12th International Union of Forestry Research Organizations Meeting for Specialists in Air Pollution Damages in Forests in Oulu, Finland, 23-29 August 1982. In the interest of lead time, applications are being solicited from interested scientists pending NSF notification of whether the proposal has been approved. It is estimated that the grant would cover air travel for 10 to 12 persons. Applications should be addressed to Dr. Daniel B. Houston, Department of Forestry, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster, OH 44691, and received by March 15, 1982. Members of the travel group will be chosen to represent a variety of forest research fields relating to air pollution impacts on forests (e.g. genetics, physiology, ecology, pathology).
Applicants should provide a short biographical sketch, including education, employment history, and publications. Also needed are a statement of anticipated benefits to self, employer, and the scientific community, and a statement of willingness to participate in preparation of a group report on the IUFRO meeting. The grants would be based on group travel rates from New York to Oulu and return, plus domestic round-trip travel to New York. Individual grants would range from $1,500 to $1,800, depending on domestic travel distances to New York.
Persons wishing detailed information about the air pollution meeting should write to: Dr. Satu Huttenen, Department of Botany, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 191, SF-90101 Oulu 10, Finland.
Phytochemical Society of North America
The Society will meet August 2-6, 1982 at the Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa. A special symposium will consider "Mobilization of Reserves in Germination." More information can be obtained from: Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, 30 Somerset E., Ottawa, Ontario KIN 6N5, Canada.
American Society of Pharmacognosy
The 23rd Annual Meeting of the Society will be held August 1-6, 1982 at the University of Pittsburgh. The featured symposium will be about "Topics in Biotransformation and Metabolism." Further information is available from: Dr. Joseph E. Knapp, Dept. of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261.
Symposium on African Floras
The AETFAT Congress on the "Origin, Evolution and Migrations of African Floras" will be held January 19-22, 1982 in Pretoria, South Africa. Information is available from: The Symposium Secretariat, S. 229, CSIR, P.O. Box 395, Pretoria 0001 Republic of South Africa.
Symposium on Insect-Plant Relationships
The 5th International Symposium will be held March 1-4 in Wageningen, The Netherlands. Information is available from: Dr. W. M. Herrebout, Division of Systematics and Evolutionary Biology, State University, P.O. Box 9516, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands.
Symposium on Mangrove Forests
"Mangrove Forest Ecosystem Productivity" will be the topic of an April 1982 symposium in Bangkok. Information is available from: BIOTROP, Bogar, Indonesia.
Tropical Rain Forest Symposium
A symposium on "Troplcal Rain Forest: Ecology and Resource Management" will be held in Leeds April 14-18, 1982. Information is available from: Dr. A. J. Davy, School of Biological Science, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, U.K.
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RECENT BOTANICAL BOOK
Butterfield, B. G. and B. A. Meylan. Three-dimensional Structure of Wood; An Ultrastructural Approach. 2nd ed. Chapman and Hall, distributed by Methuen, Inc., 733 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017, 1980. 103 p., illus. ISBN 0-412-16320-9. $39.95. (Entirely rewritten and completely newly illustrated, with scanning electron micrographs, introduction to wood structure that has amazingly clear pictures.)
Chapman, V. J., with chapters by D. J. Chapman. Seaweeds and Their Uses. 3rd ed. Chapman and Hall; available from Methuen, Inc. 733 Third Ave., New York, NY, 1980. x + 334 p. illus. ISBN 0-412-15740-3. $49.95. (A new edition after ten years that updates chemical understanding and emphasizes new developments including mariculture of seaweeds.)
Cronquist, Arthur. BasicBotany. 2nd ed. Harper and Row, 10 East 53rd St. New York, NY 10022, 1981. ix + 662 p. ISBN 0-06-041429-4. No price given. (A new edition which particularly updates photosynthesis and molecular genetics and adds a 26 page illustrated key to the identification of common street trees.)
Godfrey, Robert K. and Jean W. Wooten. Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southeastern United States; Dicotyledons. The University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA 30602, 1981. [x] + 933 p., illus. ISBN 0-8203-0532-4. $40.00. (The second volume of a work that covers the eastern part of the South which abuts that covered by D. S. Correll and H. B. Correll’s, Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southwestern United States (1972).)
Heiser, Charles B., Jr. The Sunflower. University of Oklahoma Press, 1005 Asp Ave., Norman, OK 73019, 1981 (reprint of 1976 ed.). xxvi + 198 p., illus ISBN 0-8061-1743-5, paper. $5.95. (It is good to have this scholarly readable work out in a paperback edition.)
McMinn, Howard E. and Evelyn Maino. An Illustrated Manual of Pacific Coast Trees. With lists of trees recommended for various uses on the Pacific Coast by H. W. Shepherd. University of California Press, 2223 Fulton St., Berkeley, CA 94720, 1981 paperback ed. Xii + 409 p., illus., map. ISBN 0-520-00846-4 cloth, 0-520-04364-2 paper, $12.95 cloth; $6.95 paper. (This new paperback edition of a 1963 book, still available in cloth, is a useful one that treats native and introduced trees of the region.)
Raven, Peter H., Ray F. Evert, and Helena Curtis. Biology of Plants. 3rd ed. Worth Publishers, 444 Park Ave., South, New York, NY 10016, 1981. xviii + 686, illus. ISBN 0-87901-132-7. no price given. (A new edition with added illustrations, many in color, revises this standard text.)
Rivier, L., ed. Coca and Cocaine. 1981. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Vol. 3 no. 2 & 3, March/May 1981. pp. 105-379. $60.00. (A double issue of the Journal containing articles based on papers presented at a symposium held in Quito, Ecuador in December 1979 which consider the history, ethnobotany, systematics, chemistry, and medical aspects of coca and cocaine.)
BOOK REVIEWS
Mayo, O., TheTheoryofPlantBreeding, Clarendon Press, Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1980, xiii + 293 pp.
This book by Mayo is neither a text on plant breeding nor a book on either quantitative genetics theory or population genetics theory. Instead, the author tries to cover the ground where the above topics overlap – plant breeding theory. To a large extent the chapter titles are those in a text on plant breeding, including introductory material, genotype-environment interaction, and selection response. The content stresses the theory behind plant breeding, and the theoretical questions raised by practical problems. The somewhat uneven nature of the book is probably a result of a gap between practice and theory, particularly with population genetics (as opposed to quantitative genetics) theory. Also, at times the author is extremely brief. However, the book should prove a valuable reference both to plant breeders and particularly to theoreticians looking for important, unanswered questions.
Alan Hastings, University of California, Davis
Levitt, J., ResponsesofplantstoEnvironmentalStress. Second Ed. Vol. II. Water, Radiation, Salt, and Other Stresses. Academic Press, N.Y. 1980. xiii + 606 pp. $45.00
On both theoretical and practical grounds, the ability of plants to withstand and react to the slings and arrows of outrageous environmental fortune is of increasing importance to plant scientists in many disciplines. Although there have been many research reports and several important symposium volumes on aspects of environmental stress, Prof. Levitt’s two volumes on the topic provide a consolidation and overview of the field that is otherwise unavailable. Not only are various
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Facets of the topic covered, but one finds a point of view and a conceptual framework that is badly needed for students and for researchers. Although this reviewer, and others interested in environmental stress, may disagree with some of the conclusions reached by the author4, all of us are deeply in debt to him. Both this and the previous volume in the set (Chilling, Freezing and High Temperature Stress) are necessary occupants on the bookshelves of plants scientists.
Richard M. Klein, University of Vermont
Hartmann, H. T., W. J. Flocker and A. M. Kofrank. PlantScience. Growth, Development, andUtilizationofCultivatedPlants. xi + 676 pp. illust. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, NJ 1981. $26.95.
As stated in the preface, this book was designed as a text for plant science courses "at the lower division level and in community colleges" and must be judged by this standard. Organized into three major units or sections dealing with plant structure, classification and growth, with horticultural crops and urban forest practice and with cereal, forage etc., crops, the student is exposed to a logical developmental sequence of plants and their cultivation - both theoretically and practically. It is probably a direct competitor of Janick etal. and admirably holds its own against Janick's book. Indeed, Hartmann etal. is generally a more useful book for those students who require the applied information at a more sophisticated level than can be obtained by reading the plethora of how-to books on the market, and can become better practitioners with the underpinnings that theory and fundamental botany provides.
It is a large (and expensive) volume, well illustrated with graphs, tables and photographs drawn from primary sources and each chapter ends with appropriate references and supplementary readings for use in term papers or for additional information. Review questions are included, but their value is small since they tend to be material found in the text and not questions that stimulate thinking. All-in-all, the authors have prepared an excellent, valuable and seminal book.
Richard M. Klein, University of Vermont
