BEN # 75

[Adolf Ceska]

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

No. 75                               June 6, 1994

aceska at freenet.victoria.bc.ca        Victoria, B.C.
-----------------------------------------------------------
 Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2
-----------------------------------------------------------

BEN IS MOVING

Our host, old friendly cue.bc.ca, is closing down and all users,
including  BEN,  got  their  eviction  notices. BEN will move to
freenet.victoria.bc.ca and  we  are  working  on  setting  up  a
listserv that will handle mailing and subscribing automatically.
All  current BEN subscribers will included on a new mailing list
and you will get more details about the listserv soon.

I would like to thank John Nemeth, the invisible man behind  the
cue.bc.ca  system,  for  all  the help he gave me running BEN. I
enjoyed the way the system was set up, and I greatly appreciated
all the work John Nemeth has done for us. Many, many  thanks.  I
also  relied  on  the  help of Gary Shearman, who will remain in
close contact with BEN as a principal  figure  in  the  Victoria
Freenet Association.

Please,  address  all your mail to aceska at freenet.victoria.bc.ca
(any submissions to BEN - short or long - are welcome).  Thanks.
- Adolf Ceska


BACK ISSUES OF BEN

All   the  back  issues  of  BEN  have  been  stored  on  gopher
freenet.victoria.bc.ca (as four large ASCII files  -  ca  350  K
each)  and  they  are  WAIS  indexed.  Using this index, you can
search BEN for any key word and you will get  all  the  articles
that  contain  the  key  word.  The  address  of  the  gopher is
freenet.victoria.bc.ca (in "All the Gopher Servers in the World"
this gopher is listed under "Victoria Freenet Association")  and
when you connect with the freenet gopher, you select
4. Environment and Science Information / 4. Botany.


ADVANCED AND SPECIALTY FIELD SEMINARS FOR PROFESSIONAL BOTANISTS
From: EAGLHILL at MAINE.maine.edu

The  following  intensive  weeklong  seminars  will be held this
summer on the coast of Maine at  Eagle  Hill  Wildlife  Research
Station,  just  east  of  Acadia  National Park and just west of
Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge. The seminars  are  offered
primarily  for  an  advanced and professional audience, but also
for well-qualified university and college students  and  amateur
naturalists. Two graduate credits are available for each seminar
from  the  University  of  Maine.  For  more information, please
contact ...

     Eagle Hill Wildlife Research Station
     PO Box 99
     Steuben, ME 04680-0099
     207-546-2821, FAX -3042
     EAGLHILL at MAINE.MAINE.EDU

List of seminars:
Quantitative Sampling of Vegetation (Dr. Ala S. White,  June  5-
      11)
Field Ethnobotany (Dr. James A. Duke, June 12-18)
Sedges - Cyperaceae (Dr. Anton A. Reznicek, July 3-9)
Northern  Forest  Workshop:  Insect/Tree  Associations  (Richard
      Dearborn, July 3-9)
Advanced Mycology Foray (Dr. Allen Bessette, July 10-16)
Ecology, Geology, & History of Eastern Maine Salt  Marshes  (Dr.
      Harold  Borns,  Dr. George Jacobsen, Dr. David Smith, July
      17-23)
Marine Botany: The Macroalgae (Dr. Arthur Mathieson, July 17-23)
Advanced Wetlands Ecology (Dr. William A. Niering, July 24-30)
Wetland Identification, Classification, and  Delineation  (Ralph
      Tiner, July 31-August 6)
Aquatic Flowering Plants (Dr. C. Barre Hellquist, August 7-13)
Northern  Forest  Workshop: Soil/Site Relationships (Dr. Russell
      Briggs, August 7-13)
General Lichenology (Dr. Sharon Gowan, August 14-20)
Advanced Natural History Illustration Workshop (Dennis  O'Brien,
      September 4-10)
Mosses and Liverworts. I (Dr. Howard Crum, September 11-17)
Mosses and Liverworts. II (Dr. Howard Crum, September 18-24)
The Science of the Professional Botanical Survey (Jerry Jenkins,
      September 25 - October 1)
Fall Mushroom Foray (Dr. Samuel Ristich, September 25-October 1)


PLANTS OF COASTAL BRITISH COLUMBIA

Pojar,  J. & A. MacKinnon [eds.] 1994. Plants of coastal British
Columbia including Washington, Oregon & Alaska. - B.C.  Ministry
of  Forests, Victoria and Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton. 527 p.
ISBN 1-55105-042-0 [paperback] CDN$ 24.95

This book is a sequel to the very successful  guide  "Plants  of
northern  British Columbia" [see BEN # 31]. It deals with a much
larger area and with many more species than the first book.  The
impressive number (1,100) of colour photographs is almost double
of  that  in  the  first  book. A new feature of this guide is a
large number of distribution maps - the  distribution  is  shown
for  794  taxa.  The guide combines illustrations and 1/2 to one
page write-ups on  featured  species  with  keys,  diagrams  and
comparison tables.

In this book, I missed some comparison tables that were included
in  the first guide: character tables of violets, lilies, poten-
tilla.  ---  Some  keys  are   dangerously   simplified:   Carex
lasiocarpa  will be identified as Carex rossii, Ceratophyllum as
Myriophyllum. --- Problems of synonyms are treated with a phrase
"also known as ...." and no distinction  is  made  between  true
synonyms   (Dodecatheon   pulchellum   is   also   known  as  D.
pauciflorum) and different taxonomic  concepts  (Dryopteris  ex-
pansa is also known as D. assimilis [true synonym], D. austriaca
and  D.  dilatata [different concepts]). I was horrified to read
that Myriophyllum verticillatum "is also known  as  M.  spicatum
var.  spicatum,"  endorsing  a  unique  blunder that was made in
Hitchcock et al. Similarly, Plectritis brachystemon is mentioned
as "P. macrocera,"  Cornus  unalaschkensis  is  treated  as  "C.
canadensis,"  etc.  ---  I  don't  think  that it is politically
correct to segregate  carnivorous,  parasitic,  and  saprophytic
vascular  plants  into  a  group  called Oddballs. Why don't the
Oddballs include Cuscuta or mistletoes? What  about  louseworts,
paintbrushes and other parasitic plants of the Scrophulariaceae?

In  spite  of  this criticism, the guide is a nice piece of work
and it will serve as an excellent learning tool  to  all  people
interested  in  plants  of  the  Pacific Northwest. The authors,
editors, and publishers have done a nice job and the book  fills
a  very  important  niche  in  the botanical literature for this
area. The book includes a wealth of ethnobotanical  information,
and  is  available  in  bookstores,  or if you are interested in
contacting the publisher, Lone Pine Publishing's phone number is
1-800-661-9017.


VASCULAR PLANTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA - PART 4: MONOCOTYLEDONS

Douglas, G.W., G.B. Straley & Del Meidinger [eds.].  1994.  Vas-
cular  plants  of  British  Columbia.  Part  4 - Monocotyledons.
Special report series # 4, B.C.  Ministry  of  Forests.  257  p.
[paperback]  ISBN 0-7718-8757-4 (set); ISBN 0-7718-8761-2 (pt.4)
Cost: CDN $26.00 [Available from: Crown Publications  Inc.,  546
Yates  Str.,  Victoria,  B.C.  V8W 1K8 (604) 386-4636 Fax.:(604)
386-0221]

The last volume of the Vascular plants of British Columbia deals
with the monocotyledons. The fourth volume  is  about  twice  as
large  as  any of the previous volumes and besides the treatment
of monocots (keys,  synonymy  and  distribution)  it  gives  the
summary  chapters  to  the  whole set (phytogeographic elements,
number of taxa in each family, etc.).


CORDILLERA - A JOURNAL OF BRITISH COLUMBIA NATURAL HISTORY

Cordillera is to be published twice a year,  initially,  by  the
Federation of British Columbia Naturalists and those working on,
or  interested  in, the natural history of British Columbia. The
first (March 1994) issue started with an  important  article  on
"The  fameflower  (Talinum  sediforme):  Portrait of a Northwest
endemic" by Trevor Goward & Helen Knight and a review article on
serpentine soils by Bert Brink & Kay Fletcher.

Subscription orders (FCBN members CDN  $15.00,  others  and  in-
stitutions  CDN  $20.00) should be sent to Cordillera, Subscrip-
tion Department, Box 473, Vernon, B.C., Canada V1T 6M4;  submis-
sions  should  be  sent to The Editor, Cordillera, Box 625, Kam-
loops, B.C., Canada V2C 5L7.


TODAY IN THE HISTORICAL SCIENCES
From: DARWIN at iris.uncg.edu

MAY 4, 1556: LUCA GHINI dies  at  Bologna,  Italy.  One  of  the
founders  of  modern  botany,  Ghini  was born in Croara d'Imola
around 1490. He studied medicine at the  University  of  Bologna
and  taught  at  Bologna  for  many  years, DEVISING A METHOD OF
PRESERVING PLANTS BY PRESSING,  DRYING,  AND  MOUNTING  THEM  ON
CARDS  TO PRODUCE THE FIRST MODERN HERBARIUM OR "HORTUS SICCUS".
Ghini left Bologna in 1544 to take up  a  professorship  at  the
University  of  Pisa,  and he established there one of the first
university botanical gardens. He travelled  extensively  in  the
vicinity of Pisa and Bologna collecting specimens for his garden
and  herbarium,  and  his  scientific  correspondents  sent  him
botanical material from as far away as Egypt. Although  he  pub-
lished little during his life, Ghini numbered among his students
an entire generation of early modern European botanists, includ-
ing  Andrea  Cesalpino,  Ulisse  Aldrovandi,  Luigi  Anguillara,
William Turner, and John Falconer.

MAY 23, 1707: CARL LINNAEUS is born at Sodra,  Smaland,  Sweden.
The son of a country parson, Linnaeus will rise to be one of the
most  prominent  figures in the history of natural history. Fol-
lowing study in medicine and botany at the Universities of  Lund
and  Uppsala,  Linnaeus  will  first  spend  time  travelling in
Lapland, and then will move to Holland where he will receive his
medical degree. While in Leiden he will publish the  first  edi-
tion  of his masterwork, _Systema Naturae_ (1735), which he will
revise and expand many times over the course  of  his  life.  In
1741  Linnaeus  will  be  appointed professor of medicine at Up-
psala, and through his many students and his voluminous writings
on systematics and natural history, his  influence  will  spread
throughout Europe and the world.

Today  in  the  Historical Sciences is a feature of Darwin-L, an
international network discussion group for professionals in  the
historical sciences. For more information about Darwin-L send
the two-word message INFO DARWIN-L to
listserv at ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu, or gopher to rjohara.uncg.edu
(152.13.44.19).
[To susbcribe send
   SUBSCRIBE DARWIN-L first_name last_name to
LISTSERV at UKANAIX.CC.UKANS.EDU - you should know by now.]

[DARWIN-L  is  an  interesting  list. Its "TODAY IN THE HISTORY"
submissions are great. Interestingly enough, a large portion  of
the  subscribers  are  linguists and their main goal is to prove
that the evolution of  biological  species  and  languages  have
something  in common. Botanists with limited disk space can find
those discussions irritating. - AC]


QUATERNARY - A NEW INTERNET DISCUSSION GROUP

A new listserver has been created for all interested in research
in the Quaternary sciences, particularly, but not exclusively in
Canada. This listserver was established through  the  initiative
of  the Canadian Quaternary Association, especially Dana Naldret
and Dave Liverman, with the assistance from the Memorial Univer-
sity of Newfoundland, and the Newfoundland Department  of  Mines
and Energy. We hope that this will be of interest to anyone with
an  interest  in  the  Quaternary  geological  period, including
geologists,       geomorphologists,       soil       scientists,
palaeoenvironmentalists,     archaeologists,    paleontologists,
geochronologists,  palynologists,  geotechnical  engineers,  and
others.

To subscribe, send
   SUBSCRIBE QUATERNARY first_name last_name
to LISTSERV at MORGAN.UCS.MUN.CA
-  the list grew astronomically fast and the initial traffic was
heavy. You can put "SET QUATERNARY MAIL DIGEST" (no apostrophes)
as a next line after your "SUBSCRIBE ... "  Submissions  to  the
list  will be collected and sent to you once a day - good way to
handle busy discussion lists.

The list owner is Dave Liverman <dgl at zeppo.geosurv.gov.nf.ca>.


CARL OFFERS OPEN ACCESS TO UNCOVER
From:  Edward  A  Riedinger  <eriedin at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
      posted in ECOLOG-L <ECOLOG-L at UMDD.UMD.EDU>

CARL  (Colorado  Alliance  of  Research  Libraries) has for many
years been providing a table of contents service called UnCover.
Such a service gives a user the table of contents of periodicals
as they are issued so that one may decide which articles to read
or quickly survey  current  research  and  publishing  in  one's
field.  CARL  indexes over 17,000 journals world-wide (primarily
English but also many  other  languages),  and  is  the  largest
database of its type.

CARL  has  now  announced that it has begun a new service called
UnCover Reveal. This service will deliver the table of  contents
of  the  journals one chooses, directly to one's e-mail address.
There is no charge for the service, and one is free to share the
information with other individuals.

In addition to the table of contents service, CARL also provides
document delivery. If one finds an article of interest, an order
can be placed and it will be delivered by fax within  24  hours.
For  this  service  there is a base charge of $8.50 per article,
plus any applicable copyright royalty fees or fax surcharges.

In order to initiate the Reveal service,  you  must  access  the
Uncover  database,  establish a profile by supplying information
about yourself (Note: you need not supply any of  the  financial
information  if  you  do not intend to use the document delivery
service), and identify the  journal  titles  you  wish  to  have
forwarded to you.

To access the database, telnet to: 192.54.81.76.

1) At the first screen, enter your terminal type, such as VT100.

2) At the next screen, indicate that you wish to use the Uncover
file,  no.  1.  When you are asked for an access password, press
enter, and you will be given open access.

3) At the following screen, you can create your  profile  (new).
At  the end of this process, you will be given a profile number.
With it, you will be able to mark the  journals  for  which  you
wish  to  receive  the table of contents. These notices are sent
within a few days of the publication of each journal.

4) To mark with your profile number the journals for  which  you
wish  to receive the table of contents, go into the database and
search for the journals by title [use B for BROWSE]. ["REVEAL" -
i.e, put journal on the mailing list - is one of the options  in
the BROWSE mode.]

Should  you  have  a  difficulty  in subscribing, you can send a
message to: database at carl.org .