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Volume 19, Number 1
January-June 2005

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VOLUMES 6 AND 8 UPDATE

Volumes 6 and 8, treating Magnoliophyta: Dilleniidae, part 1, and Magnoliophyta: Dilleniidae, part 3, and Rosidae, part 1, respectively, are scheduled for publication in 2007. These volumes are being processed at the editorial centers at Hunt Institute and the University of Kansas, respectively.

The Lead Editor for Volume 6 is Robert Kiger. The volume will cover 24 families (larger families include Malvaceae, Cucurbitaceae, and Sterculiaceae) with approximately 118 genera. Currently, ca. three (13%) of the family treatments and 26 (22%) of the generic treatments are in hand and in either prereview or review status.

Volume 8 will treat 753 species in 130 genera in 20 families. Important families that will be treated are Ericaceae, Crassulaceae, and Saxifragaceae. Treatments for six families (30%), 39 genera (30%), and 265 species (35%) have been submitted; many of these have entered the review process. Craig Freeman ( University of Kansas) and Richard Rabeler (University of Michigan) are working together as Lead Editors on this volume. Editing for much of the volume will take place at the new editorial center to be established at the University of Kansas under Freeman’s guidance. Until that center is operational, Mary Ann Schmidt (Hunt Institute) is temporarily serving as the Technical Editor. A “kickoff” meeting was held at the Missouri Botanical Garden on 14–15 February 2005 to assess the current status of the volume and to derive the production schedule. A second meeting was held 31 March–3 April at Lawrence, Kansas, at which time the editors also modified the “Welcome Packet” to focus on Volume 8. The packet is being distributed to authors and taxon editors as their assignments are reconfirmed. Among the 21 genera in the volume currently without an author are Philadelphus (31 species), Dodecatheon (15 species), Parnassia (9 species), Gaylussacia (8 species), and Gaultheria (6 species). Individuals interested in contributing a treatment for any of these genera are encourages to contact Craig Freeman (ccfree@ku.edu) or Richard Rabeler (rabeler@umich.edu).

 

VOLUME 7 UPDATE

Volume 7, treating Magnoliophyta: Dilleniidae, part 2, is scheduled for publication in late 2006. The volume is being processed at the Missouri Botanical Garden Center with Lead Editor James Zarucchi and Taxon Editors David Boufford (Harvard University Herbaria) and Leila Shultz (Utah State University). The volume will cover Salicaceae (2 genera, 115 species), Capparaceae (8/38), Brassicaceae (95/ca. 700), Moringaceae (1/1), and Resedaceae (2/6). To date, manuscripts for nearly 80 genera and almost 250 species have been received and are being processed prior to their distribution for regional review this fall.

VOLUMES 19-21 UPDATE

The Asteraceae, the largest family in the FNA area, is in the final stages of writing and editing at the editorial center at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Volume 19 treats the ten tribes from Mutisieae through Anthemideae. Volume 20 treats the Astereae and Senecioneae, and Volume 21 treats the Heliantheae and Eupatorieae. As tribes are completed, they are transferred to the editorial center at Missouri Botanical Garden for prepress production. The three volumes are scheduled to go to Oxford University Press for book production by the end of the year and will be available in early 2006.

Volume 19 treats 137 genera and 622 species, Volume 20 treats 106 genera and 892 species, and Volume 21 treats 175 genera and 904 species. The Lead Editors for all three volumes, known as the Comp Eds, are Theodore Barkley (deceased), Luc Brouillet, and John Strother.

VOLUME 5 OMISSION

Three regional reviewers were inadvertently omitted from the acknowledgments section of Volume 5


(Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, part 2). FNA would like to take this opportunity to thank Elizabeth Punter, Joyce Gould, and John Packer for their valuable contributions to maintaining the quality of the project’s editorial process.

MORIN NAMED FNAA VICEPRESIDENT FOR BUSINESS AND DEVELOPMENT

The FNAA Board of Directors appointed Nancy Morin its new Vice President for Business and Development at its annual meeting in Saint Louis, Missouri, 9 October 2005. Morin was Convening Editor for FNA from 1983 to 1999; she was on staff at Missouri Botanical Garden from 1981 to 1996 holding various positions including Assistant Director there from 1993 to 1996, after which she became Executive Director for the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta and later Executive Director for the Arboretum at Flagstaff. She is a Research Associate at the California Academy of Sciences and adjunct faculty in biology at Northern Arizona University. She will continue to be a taxon editor and Southwest Regional Coordinator for FNA in addition to her new duties. She replaces Catriona MacGregor Glazebrook, who resigned after a year of service. Craig Freeman was elected to fill out the year remaining in Dr. Morin’s term as Treasurer.

The Flora of North America (FNA) project is a cooperative program to produce a comprehensive account of the plants of North America north of Mexico. The FNA Newsletter, edited at the Hunt Institute and printed at the Missouri Botanical Garden, is published twice a year by the Flora of North America Association to communicate news about the FNA project and other topics of interest to North American floristic researchers. For more information, please see the FNA Web site, http://www.fna.org.

Readers are invited to send appropriate news items to:
Mary Ann Schmidt, ELS, Newsletter Editor
Flora of North America
Hunt Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890
Items can also be sent by e-mail to: maryanns@andrew.cmu.edu.

During her time with the FNAA, Ms. MacGregor developed the marketing of FNA. Her most signal accomplishment has been in strengthening our working relationship with our publisher, Oxford University Press (OUP), to ensure that they would promote the FNA volumes more aggressively. She also worked with OUP to reduce the cost of the FNA volumes. She was instrumental in making it possible for FNA to sponsor a symposium at the recent International Botanical Congress in Vienna (see below), and ensured a strong FNA presence at the meeting with the help of OUP and the Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Ms. Glazebrook also helped in developing a business plan for the association, and stayed in close communication with our main partner, the Chanticleer Foundation, which provides us with our core funding. She researched further sources of financial support, contacting a large number of foundations and submitting formal proposals to foundations, which are still pending. We thank Ms. Glazebrook for her industry on our behalf and wish her the best in her career and welcome Dr. Morin as she serves FNAA in this new capacity.

FLORA OF NORTH AMERICA AT THE IBC, VIENNA, 2005

At the International Botanical Congress held 17–23 July 2005 in Vienna, Austria, the Flora of North America Association sponsored a symposium titled “Floristics for the 21st Century Revisited: Opportunities and Challenges.” Details of the symposium are provided below. The symposium was well attended. The keynote speaker of the symposium was Dr. W. L. Wagner, who showed that all major flora projects manage to publish an average of about 500 species per year, a rate FNA has achieved when calculated from the beginning of the project to now. One might suspect, however, that the current rate of publication is greater than this average, given the two-volumes-peryear production. Nancy Morin cogently presented the FNA effort. Other projects of various scales and scopes were discussed in the other talks, providing the participants and attendees of what current projects are confronted with, particularly given the opportunities created by the Internet. The organizing committee of the IBC Vienna deserves our thanks for their excellent job. Some 4,000 participants attended the Congress. The city of Vienna was certainly a beautiful and welcoming venue for us all.


Floristics for the 21st Century Revisited: Opportunities and Challenges

Moderator: Luc Brouillet; Tuesday, 19 July 2005, 4:30–7:00 P.M.

Flora of North America (FNA) has the goal of providing authoritative information on the plants of North America north of Mexico to a wide range of users. The project has been guided by “Floristics for the 21st Century,” which concluded that computer technology could be an important operational tool and a powerful vehicle for making information available. With onethird of the project completed, we find that technology has done both more and less than anticipated. FNA meets two key requirements for analysis of floristic data: comparable descriptions and geographic distribution, which are provided in a relational database format. On the Internet, hypertext and search engines have been more important than relational databases for accessibility of data, however. The online availability of references and herbarium collections have improved the quality of treatments. Review and editing processes have been served better by simple offthe-shelf programs than by computer-assisted collaborative work processes. Perhaps most importantly, the fundamental requirement to complete floras is an expert botanical and editorial workforce, which cannot be replaced by computers.

It is not just a flora anymore

W. L. Wagner, Smithsonian Institution ( Washington DC) and National Tropical Botanical Garden (Kalaheo HI)

Floristics and global information infrastructure

G. Baillargeon, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada ( Mont-Joli, PQ, Canada), USDA, and NRCS

G. Guala, National Plant Data Center (Baton Rouge LA)

Floristics for the 21st Century: Flora of North America as a case study

N. R. Morin, Flora of North America (Point Arena CA)

The Jepson Flora Project: An integrative approach to floristics

B. G. Baldwin, University of California, Berkeley
B. D. Mishler

Bryophyte floras in the digital age: Floras for those who cannot afford them

B. J. O’Shea, Natural History Museum( London, UK)

Floristic challenges in Latin America at the beginning of the XXIst century

P. Dávila, FES-Iztacala, UNAM, Tlaneplantla, Edo. de México, Mexico

V. Sosa, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico


CENTERS

Bryophyte Flora of North America

Volumes 27, 28, and 29 are the bryophyte volumes, edited at the Missouri Botanical Garden FNA Bryophyte Center. When each manuscript passes the review process, it is placed on the Center’s public Web site: http://www.
mobot.org/plantscience/bfna/bfnamenu.htm
. This is a new URL for this site. The Web version may be modified by the author (through the Center) in response to comments by Web readers before hardcopy publication. As illustrations arecompleted, a Web version is included with the electronic publication.

Recent electronic publications of bryophyte treatments include Aphanorrhegma and Pyramidula by B. Goffinet; Echinophyllum by T. O’Brien; Fissidens by R. A. Pursell; Atrichum, Bartramiopsis, Lyellia, Psilopilum, and Meiotrichum by G. Smith Merrill; Orthothecium by P. L. Redfearn Jr.; Aongstroemia, Indusiella, Pleurochaete, and Symblepharis by P. M. Eckel; Physcomitrella by B. Goffinet; Reboulia by M. L. Hicks; Rhodobryum by J. Spence; Takakia by J. Spence and W. B. Schofield; Arnellia, Mastigophora, and Wijkia by W. B. Schofield; and Gyroweisia, Weissia, Timmiella, and Trichostomum by R. H. Zander.

As of 13 October 2005, Volume 27 (most of the acrocarps, to be published in 2006) has 81% of the genera and 73% of the species submitted, and 79% and 69%, respectively, finished. Volume 28 (remaining acrocarps and pleurocarps, to be published in 2008) has 50% of the genera and 42% of the species submitted, and 42% and 36%, respectively, finished. Volume 29 (hepatics and hornworts, to be published in 2010) has 17% of the genera and 19% of the species submitted, and 14% and 9%, respectively, finished. Totals for all three volumes are 50% of the genera and 47% of the species submitted, 45% and 40%, respectively, finished.

Volume 27 (Volume 1 of the Bryophyte Flora of North America) is in the home stretch, and all treatments should be finished by the end of the year (December 2005) so we will have time for final corrections, technical editing, and stylistic composition prior to sending the manuscript and illustrations to Oxford University Press. The bryophyte editorial group (R. Zander, Lead Editor; S. Bartholomew-Began; M. R. Crosby; C. Delgadillo M.; L. Stark; and


D. Vitt) encourage authors of all outstanding treatments for this first of the three bryophyte volumes to redouble their efforts to finish on time. This work has been a long time in the making, and continued funding for not just the bryophyte effort but for all of FNA rests on successful, timely publication.

Richard Zander is the lead editor at the BFNA Editorial Center, as well as an at-large member of the FNAA Executive Committee. He may be reached at richard.zander@mobot.org. Patricia Eckel is illustrator of the bryophyte volumes and her e-mail address is patricia.eckel@mobot.org.

Hunt Institute Editorial Center

Elizabeth Polen, Technical Editor and Managing Editor for the FNA Newsletter, has departed Hunt Institute in order to spend her time with her family, now comprising husband Scott and children Emma Rose (2-1/2 years old) and James (2 months old). She will continue to pursue freelance editing and writing opportunities and to work on her novel. FNA will miss Mrs. Polen’s editing expertise and smiling face, and wish her and her family much luck and happiness. Mary Ann Schmidt has assumed Mrs. Polen’s newsletter responsibilities and requests that all future submissions be sent to her at maryanns@andrew.cmu.edu, phone 412-268-4708.

Intermountain Herbarium, Utah State University ( Grass Center)

During the past six months, we have made progress on some of the larger outstanding genera to be treated in volume 24. The treatments of Festuca (44 species), Calamagrostis (23), Puccinellia (21), Triticum (12), and Brachypodium (2) have been sent out for regional review. We now list in the cover letter and on the maps questions that either the contributor or we are particularly interested in having answered. This seems to work better than giving no guidance as to problem areas.

Treatments for all the genera and species to be included in Volume 24 are now in hand and treatments for 81% of the species have been sent out for regional review.

Major progress made since the last newsletter includes revision of the treatment of Hierochloë, with H. odorata subsp. hirta becoming the widespread North American taxon and H. odorata subsp. odorata a taxon that

is confined, so far as the Flora region is concerned, to the northeastern part of the region. The revised treatment is on the Web at http://herbarium.usu.edu/webmanual/. The data behind the maps is being revised to reflect these changes but, because only species-level maps are published, there will be little change in the published map for H. odorata. As an aside, developing the detailed maps for the grass volumes and posting to the Web involves a huge effort. For instance, almost 1,000 specimens of Hierochloë were examined before the decision was made to revise the treatment. Now those specimens have to be entered into the project’s database after, in most cases, determining the latitude and longitude at which they were collected (to the best of our ability). The result is verifiable maps; the cost is significant.

Dr. R. J. Soreng of the Smithsonian Institution spent two weeks in Logan in May, working on his treatment of Poa for the volume. During this time, he went through all our specimens of Poa. These specimens have now been georeferenced and databased and his annotations are now reflected in the maps on the Web; the records are also available via the Global Information Biodiversity Facility (http://www.gbif.org/) from which they can be downloaded. In addition, Soreng provided Capels with many additional records. These, too, are now reflected in the published maps. The treatment was sent for regional review at the end of September.

Progress is also being made with the illustrations for Volume 24. Over 16% have been completed and placed on the Web; another 10% are in review. Those working on the illustrations are Dr. Cynthia Roché, Annaliese Miller, Hana Padzírková, and Sandy Long. Because the illustrations are designed to complement the keys, some illustrations prepared earlier are having to be revised because of changes in the keys; a few are being revised to include additional species. Making such revisions is frustrating for all concerned so genera are no longer sent out for illustration until the final, or all-but-final, version of the key is available.

Missouri Botanical Garden Center

Four new contract workers have been hired at the editorial center at Missouri Botanical Garden to help with the prepress production. They are Martha Hill, Ruth King, and Cirri Moran, who joined Pat Harris and Kristin Pierce. Prepress production is overseen by Kay Yatskievych, who has recently been appointed full-time Managing Editor and Production


Coordinator. Ms. Yatskievych is to be congratulated on her successful completion of the set of volumes comprising the Flora of Venezuelan Guayana.

Silene petersonii
Silene petersonii
from Flora of North America, Volume 5, page 191.

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

TROPICOS Database

A new category of information, “Published Conservation Status,” is now being added to the Missouri Botanical Garden’s TROPICOS database.

Published conservation assessments for plant species are being compiled, with each status report linked to the two publications on which the assessment is based: the publication where the status assessment is made and the classification system on which the status assessment is based. At present, only IUCN and CITES conservation status assessments are displayed; work is underway to add classification systems published by other conservation groups.

Each conservation status report is also categorized as either “Global,” applying to a species throughout its range, or “National,” where an assessment is made for only one country for a species with a multination range.

The Published Conservation Status is linked to the species name that was accepted in the publication where the status assessment is made. For each status assessment a short explanation of the general meaning of the status category is provided in English, French, and Spanish.

This new information can be displayed by entering the name of a species on the name query screen of TROPICOS, http://www.tropicos.org, and then clicking on the “Published Conservation Status” box located near the bottom of the name screen.

Information is currently available for approximately 700 plant species, mostly from South America, and additional data are being added regularly. Some examples of taxa for which data are available are: Agave arizonica, Aphelandra sulphurea, Bertholletia excelsa, Coffea forsoana, Hyperacanthus mandenensis, and Oreomunnea pterocarpa .

Any comments about the data or the display may be directed to Charlotte Taylor (charlotte.taylor@mobot.org).

University of Washington Herbarium

The University of Washington Herbarium (WTU) has recently developed a new Web site containing photographs, distribution maps, and descriptive information for Washington’s vascular plant flora. The Web site currently contains 5,713 photographs of 1,183 species,


which can be accessed by browsing lists of names, or by a basic random-access identification key provided for those species. You are invited to visit the site at http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/
imagecollection.php
.

Also, please note that the main WTU Herbarium Web site has moved to a new location within the Burke Museum: http://www.washington.edu/burke
museum/collections/herbarium/index.php
.

Other new additions to our Web site include:

  • An updated (and faster) specimen search page that can be used to download specimen data to your computer.
  • Ability to create species lists for Washington covering any combination of counties you like, based on WTU’s specimen holdings.
  • Ability to view county-level distribution maps for Washington ’s plants, based on WTU’s specimen holdings.
  • The Washington Carex Atlas (prototype).

Developmental Ontology for Flowering Plants

The Plant Ontology Consortium is pleased to announce the first release of the Developmental Ontology for flowering plants. This ontology is a set of controlled vocabulary (“ontology”) terms that describe the developmental stages of organs and organ systems of a “generic” flowering plant. The Developmental Ontology supplements previously released ontologies that describe anatomy, morphology, and growth stages of a plant, and is designed for use by plant databases and researchers to describe the effects of genes, mutations, and environmental permutations on plant structure and growth using a standardized terminology.

The updated version of the Plant Ontology, which includes the newly released Developmental Ontology, can be viewed and queried using the Plant Ontology AmiGO browser: http://www.plantontology.org/amigo/.

Kew World Grass Species Descriptions and Synonymy Databases

The World Grass databases have been in development at Kew for the past decade, and contain Delta descriptions for all 10,800 grass species using 1,090 characters. They are available at the following sites:

Descriptions: http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db.html

Synonymies: http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-syn.html

Kew has implemented some major changes with these databases. They now contain English descriptions in HTML format for all grass species, which supplement their current interactive key to grasses. They have included more documentation and a glossary of terms within Intkey, as well as notes regarding individual characters.

The databases also contain useful documentation on the use of the dataset as well as some Delta and Intkey documentation. The synonymy database allows one to enter any grass name and will return the name accepted by the Web site’s editors for that species, as well as a link to the descriptions pages on the Kew Web site. One can also produce checklists for geographic regions, genera, or both, all with links to descriptions.

These databases are still under development and further changes are planned over the next few years.


Persicaria hydropiperoides
Persicaria hydropiperoides
from Flora of North America, Volume 5, page 585.

PUBLICATIONS

Flora of North America Volumes Prices
Reduced through 31 December 2005!

Start your Flora collection with these new titles! Order by 31 December 2005 and save 20%! Each volume is $76.00 (regular price $95.00):

Volume 4: Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, Part 1
Volume 5: Magnoliophyta: Caryophyllidae, Part 2
Volume 19: Magnoliophyta: Asteridae, Part 6
Volume 20: Magnoliophyta: Asteridae, Part 7
Volume 21: Magnoliophyta: Asteridae, Part 8

And fill your collection with these previously published titles at a 40% discount! Order by 31 December 2005 and save 40%! Each volume is $57.00 (regular price $95.00):

Volume 1: Introduction
Volume 2: Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms
Volume 3: Magnoliophyta: Magnoliidae and

Hamamelidae
Volume 22: Magnoliophyta: Alismatidae, Arecidae,
Commelinidae (in part), and Zingiberidae
Volume 23: Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae (in part):
Cyperaceae
Volume 25: Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae (in part):
Poaceae, Part 2
Volume 26: Magnoliophyta: Liliidae: Liliales and
Orchidales

To receive this special offer, please order your Flora of North America volumes from Oxford University Press by calling 1-800-451-7556 and asking for the “Flora of North America Special [special promotional code 24741].” Offer expires 31 December 2005.

Plant Life of Kentucky

Plant Life of Kentucky: An Illustrated Guide to the Vascular Flora, by Ronald L. Jones. March 2005. The University Press of Kentucky. Hardcover, 7 × 10 in., 834 pp. ISBN 0-8131-2331-3. $75.00.

Plant Life of Kentucky is the first comprehensive guide to all the ferns, flowering herbs, and woody plants of the state. This work provides identification keys (the first ever published for Kentucky or for any state in the south-central United States) for Kentucky’s 2,600 native and naturalized vascular plants, with notes on wildlife/human uses, poisonous plants, and

medicinal herbs. The common name, flowering period, habitat, distribution, rarity, and wetland status are given for each species, and about 80% are illustrated with line drawings. The inclusion of 250 additional species from outside the state (considered “to be expected” in Kentucky ) broadens the regional coverage, and most plants occurring from northern Alabama to southern Ohio to the Mississippi River are examined, including nearly all the plants of western and central Tennessee.

According to the author, this book incorporates many recently proposed major changes in the nomenclature and classification of vascular plants. He also describes prehistoric and historic changes in the flora, natural regions and plant communities, current threats to plant life, and a plan for future studies.

This substantial volume is intended as a research tool for professionals in biology and related fields, and as a resource for students, amateur naturalists, and others interested in understanding and preserving Kentucky’s rich botanical heritage.

To order a copy, visit http://www.kentuckypress.com.

Intermountain Flora, Volume 2B

Intermountain Flora: Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A., Volume 2B: Subclass Dilleniidae , by Noel H. Holmgren, Patricia K. Holmgren, and Arthur Cronquist. The New York Botanical Garden Press. Hardcover, 8 × 11 in., 488 pp. ISBN 0-89327-469-0. $100.00; order no. IMF 2B.

Five of the six volumes of Intermountain Flora have been published, and the final volume (volume 2) is being published in two books. Part B of volume 2, covering subclass Dilleniidae, contains many economically and ecologically important plant groups, including Brassicaceae (mustard family), Salicaceae (willow family), Cucurbitaceae (cucurbit family), Violaceae (violet family), Malvaceae (mallow family), Frankeniaceae (alkali heath family), Loasaceae (loasa family), Primulaceae (primrose family), Hypericaceae (St. John’s-wort family), Cleomaceae (cleome family), Elatinaceae (waterwort family), Tamaricaceae (tamarisk family), Paeoniaceae (peony family), Elatinaceae (waterwort family), Tiliaceae (linden family), Resedaceae (migonette family), and Ebenaceae (ebony family). Included in volume 2B are 17 families, 119 genera, 463 species, and numerous varieties.

To order a copy, download a pdf of the series brochure at http://sciweb.
nybg.org/science2/pdfs/press/IntermountainFloraSeries.pdf
or call 718-817-8721.

Order all seven published books of Intermountain Flora and save! A $443 value, you pay only $350. Call above number for details.


OTHER NEWS

Grady Webster Receives Asa Gray Award

Our own Grady Webster received the Asa Gray Award during the Botany 2005 meetings in Austin, Texas. The Asa Gray Award is the highest award

Grady Webster

given by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists (ASPT). It was established in 1984 to honor a living botanist for career achievements. Grady has been a member of the Flora of North America Editorial Committee since the project began in the early 1980s. The world expert on Euphorbiaceae, he has also received the Adolph Engler Award of the International Association of Plant Taxonomy and has been president of both ASPT and the Botanical Society of America. He has collected extensively in Texas, Cuba, Mexico, and Central America and recently completed a Vascular Flora of Maquipucuna , Ecuador . He was director of the University of California–Davis herbarium for many years and is now an emeritus faculty member. He received his PhD in botany from the University of Michigan under Rogers McVaugh in 1954.

Naming of Cooperrider Herbarium, Kent State University

Tom S. and Miwako K. Cooperrider provided a major gift to the Department of Biological Sciences at Kent State University in Ohio to support a herbarium research facility that is unique among the nation’s universities. This facility, now named the Tom S. and Miwako K. Cooperrider Herbarium, will serve as a laboratory to document the changing flora of the region, and provide a reference collection to assist in plant identification for the KSU community and beyond, repository for vouchers supporting research studies, and housing for specimens on loan from other herbaria. Dr. Cooperrider serves as FNA regional reviewer for the northeastern United States.

New England Wild Flower Society Welcomes New Director

The New England Wild Flower Society announced that Gwen Stauffer, formerly of Warrenton, Virginia, is the Executive Director of America’s oldest plant conservation institution. She is enthusiastically looking forward to taking on the challenges of the Society’s strategic plans for conservation and horticulture. She succeeds David DeKing, who contributed ten years of remarkable conservation leadership.

The new Director will lead strategic initiatives including work on Nasami Farm, the Society’s new native plant nursery in Whately, Massachusetts, and the creation of the next Flora of New England, by Arthur Haines. She heads the Society’s continuing awardwinning programs including three conservation programs served by more than 900 volunteers in Maine , New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut , and Massachusetts. For information on the Society, visit their Web site at http://

DEATHS

MICHAEL CANOSO (1920–2005), former Collection Manager at the Harvard University Herbaria, passed away at his Cambridge home on 29 August 2005. Mike retired in 1991 after 40 years of service at Harvard, but continued to volunteer both at the Herbaria and at the Library of the Arnold Arboretum. He was instrumental in the integration of the herbaria of the Arnold Arboretum, Gray Herbarium, and Oakes Ames Orchid Herbarium in the then newly-constructed Harvard University Herbaria building in 1954. A memorial service was held at Appleton Chapel, Memorial Church of Harvard University, on 11 October 2005. Contributions may be made to Harvard University, the Michael Canoso Fund (c/o Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge MA 02188), which was established in his honor at his retirement to assist graduate students using the Harvard Herbaria collections, or to a charity of choice.

WILBUR H. DUNCAN (1910–2005), Professor Emeritus of Botany and retired Curator of the Georgia Herbarium, passed away on 25 March 2005. With his wife, Marion, he co-authored many publications, including three major botany field guides. A fourth manuscript is in advanced stages for publication and the family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Wilbur and Marion Duncan Publishing Fund, to ensure the publication of the Duncans ’ last manuscript, Shrubs of the Southeastern United States. Those wishing to participate may send tax-deductible contributions to The University of Georgia Foundation, Wilbur and Marion Duncan Publishing Fund, 394 S. Milledge Avenue, Suite 100, Athens GA 30602-5582.

BORIS YURTZEV (1932–2004) passed away in St. Petersburg in December

2004. After completing his dissertation on botanical-geographical analysis of the flora and vegetation of the Suntar-Khaijat Range, he worked on “Arctic Flora,” for which the authors received a government award. In 1970, together with Tolmachev, he published the fundamental treatment “History of Arctic Flora in Connection with Arctic Ocean History.” His work encompassed different areas of botany including floristics, taxonomy, morphology, and geobotany. He is survived by his wife Tamara Polozova, daughter Marina, and granddaughter Masha.


POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Administrative Curator Position, UC Berkeley

The University and Jepson Herbaria are seeking an Administrative Curator. The position has an annual salary range of $45,100–$54,100. The first review date is 12 October 2005 and the position will remain open until filled.

The Administrative Curator, under the supervision and general direction of the Herbaria Director, is overall manager of the collections comprising over two million preserved plant specimens and is also responsible for the associated library, other archival materials, and facilities; serves as primary point person for research and public service queries directed at the herbaria; and works closely with the Director and development staff to pursue external funding for the collections. Application information is available at http://jobs.berkeley.edu.

Assistant Professor in Plant Ecology, University of Saskatchewan

The Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan , invites applications for a tenure-track position at the assistant-professor level in the area of plant ecology, commencing 1 July 2006. Preference will be given to candidates with a broad knowledge in ecology of plant communities and plant taxonomy. The candidate will develop a vigorous, quantitative research program focusing on community and ecological processes at multiple scales for northern ecosystems. Applicants should have relevant PhD and postdoctoral experience. The successful candidate will participate in the undergraduate and graduate teaching programs of the department, with specific responsibility in botany and community ecology, including experimental methods that employ multivariate statistics. Send curriculum vitae, a description of proposed research and teaching interests, and the names, addresses, telephone/fax numbers, and e-mail addresses of at least three references to: Dr. F. Messier, Head, Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, 112 Science Place, Saskatoon SK S7N5E2, Canada. Telephone: 306-966-4400; fax: 306-966-4461; e-mail: francois.messier@usask.ca. Applications are due by 1 December 2005.

Systematic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Georgia

The Plant Biology Department at the University of Georgia has an opening for an assistant or associate professor in systematic and evolutionary biology. We seek a systematic biologist who uses innovative approaches to address fundamental questions about plants, algae, or fungi in areas such as phylogenetics, molecular evolution, speciation, or genome evolution. The successful candidate is expected to develop a vigorous, externally funded research program and to teach and train undergraduate and graduate students in systematics. Cover letter, curriculum vitae, short statements of research interests and teaching philosophy, and no more than five reprints should be assembled into a single pdf file and submitted online to http://www.plantbio.uga.edu/
positions.html
. Candidates should request four referees to submit letters of recommendation to the same site or by mail to Systematic and Evolutionary Biology Search Committee, Plant Biology Department, University of Georgia, Athens GA 30602-7271. Applications received by 4 November 2005 are assured full consideration. The Franklin College of Arts and Sciences is committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty and strongly encourages applications from individuals in under-represented groups. UGA is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Plant Systematist, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

The Department of Plant Biology and the Bell Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota announce a nine-month tenure-track position for an assistant or associate professor and herbarium curator in the area of nonflowering plant systematics and/or mycology. Candidates are required to have experience in collections-based research involving nonflowering plants and/or fungi including lichens. The successful applicant is expected to develop an externally funded research program, contribute to teaching and advising in organismal biology and systematics, curate sections of the herbarium including lichens, and contribute to public outreach through the Bell Museum. Tenure will reside in the Department of Plant Biology. The successful applicant is also expected to foster collaboration with biologists in other fields including phylogenetics, molecular evolution, genomics, development, ecology, and/or conservation biology. A PhD degree and herbarium experience are required; postdoctoral experience is preferred. Please send a curriculum vitae; up to five selected reprints; a statement of research, teaching, and curatorial interests and experience; and three letters of reference to: Dr. George Weiblen, Search Committee Chair, Department of Plant Biology, 250 Biological Sciences Center, 1445 Gortner Avenue, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul MN 55108, USA. The committee will meet to begin consideration of complete applications on 1 December 2005. For further information, visit the Department of Plant Biology (http://www.cbs.umn.edu/plantbio/), the Bell Museum of Natural History (http://bellmuseum.org), or contact the search chair by e-mail (gweiblen@umn.edu). The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.


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