PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN

June 1972 Vol. 18 No. 2

The Terminology of Plant Reproduction   Emily T. Wolff 14
Present Opportunities in Botany   A. J Sharp and A. S. Heilman 15
The 1972 Pre-Convention Conference   16
Professional Opportunities   16
Editor's Notes   17
Botanical Potpourri   17
      Ectachrome Color Slides of the Flora of Ceylon
      The Alarum Nursery
      Canbya, Herperomecon, and Meconella (Papaveraceae)
      Australian, Oceanian and Asian Plants
      Northwest Airlines, Official Carrier to AIBS
      The Forage Fertilizer Symposium
      The Second Big Thicket Scientific Conference
      A Symposium on Biology of Pollen
The Minneapolis Meeting   18
Collecting in Mexico   18
Personalia   18
George R. Johnstone, 1888-1971   19
Orland Emile White, 1885-1972   19

Book Reviews
The State of Food and Agriculture 1970   19
Acetabularia and Cell Biology, S. Puiseaux-Dao   19
Plant Speciation, Verne Grant   20

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The Terminology of Plant Reproduction

Emily T. Wolff
Hobart and William Smith College, Geneva, New York

The time is long overdue for revising some of the basic terminology of plant reproduction. The subject is not difficult and yet botanists have serious communication problems with their beginning students and even with their fellow biologists. We seem to be clinging to outmoded and inappropriate terms. The resulting situation hinders clear thinking and clear expression. Perhaps this is one reason that botany is sometimes slighted in general biology courses. For the widest possible diffusion of botanical knowledge, our terminology ought to reflect the current state of a progressive science.

Among the terms to be considered here, some of the least satisfactory came into use long before there was any real understanding of the true nature of plant reproductive structures. The ovaries of flowers were compared with the ovaries of animals. Ovules were so named because an entire seed was thought to grow from a fertilized egg. Antheridia in lower plants were supposed to function as little anthers. Spores were first described as miniature seeds. The terms seeds and sperms were used interchangeably for hundreds of years and the traditional confusion has not yet been completely resolved.

From the point of view of students who are being introduced to college botany, there are additional problems. Fission is a misleading term. If it is to be used at all, it ought not to be a synonym for mitosis. With reference to fungi, fruiting body seems particularly inept, if one also makes a point of defining a fruit as a seed-producing organ. Considering the variety of spores that are produced by plants, the term sporophyte conveys very little information when it is applied to algae or fungi. Also, the phrase alternation of generations seems to be out-of-date.

Ideally, a biological term that is used in both botany and zoology ought to carry a single meaning. At the cellular level, there is a basic uniformity in the structure and functioning of plants and animals. This is true for reproductive cells, as well as other types of cells. Numerous scientific studies have reinforced this concept and our modern biological vocabulary attests to such a belief. Note that the terms gamete, sperm, egg, zygote, and embryo apply equally well to plants and animals. These are the terms that are to be preferred in any text-book discussion of sexual reproduction. Where general terms are appropriate, they are more likely to be under-stood than more specialized terms, such as oosphere, or spermatium.

Although the cells of plants and animals are similar, their tissues and organs are totally different. Anatomical studies have led to the complete rejection of all comparisons above the cellular level. This is consonant with our conviction that the two groups have been evolving separately for several hundred millions of years. We do not want to encourage our students to look for parallel development in these distantly related organisms.

Now let us return to a consideration of some of our problem-terms in more detail. Many biologists will insist that there is no harm in retaining two definitions for ovary. They might better ask "What are the advantages of having contradictory definitions?" Considering that most of our students come to us with fairly good backgrounds in zoology, wouldn't it be wiser to supplement their vocabularies, rather than interfere with prior learning? How many generations of students have been taught that, in botany, an ovary is not an organ that produces eggs, but rather one that produces ovules, which of course are not eggs, but immature seeds? Wouldn't it be preferable to have botanical and zoological vocabularies that are wholly compatible with one another?

A big part of the problem, of course, is the substitution of better terms for those that are erroneous and yet widely accepted. In place of ovary, carpel would be acceptable, if it were not already used in a somewhat different sense. A derived term, such as basicarp, or primocorp, or centrocarp might do. Other possibilities are fructigen, or profruct. The term which is finally chosen ought to suggest a structure that develops into a fruit. Similarly, there must be a better term than ovule. Megasporangium is excellent when one is referring to the earliest stages of development. Megasporocyst could be a more inclusive descriptive term of the whole structure, integuments as well as spore-producing tissue. En? br voc_yst could be used as a technical term for an immature seed.

Because antheridium carries an implication of homology with anthers, it should be replaced, at least in our introductory texts. There are several terms that would be more appropriate. Spermagonium, sperma.tangium, and spermatocyst all convey the right information; any of these would be an improvement. If we favored spermatocyst, we could call the comparable female structure an oocyst. This would give us a general term to include both oogonia and archegonia. It is not important to differentiate these in a beginning course.

Currently, our most popular botany texts define approximately twenty kinds of spores. Some authors distinguish between sexual and asexual spores, as well. Such a classification refers, of course, to whether or not there were nuclear fusions just prior to spore formation. We might better reserve those adjectives to describe the behavior of reproductive cells. Gametes are sexual and spores are asexual. A good definition of a spore is that it is a reproductive cell that by itself is capable of growth and cell division. The next most useful bit of information about spores has to do with their nuclear condition, as compared with the parents. Two classes of spores, zygospores and meiospores, have been named to show how their nuclei differ from those of the plants on which they form. The third type of spore is a modified parental cell. The wall may be different and the position of the spore may be such that it is easily detached, but it carries the parent's genotype. Such a spore could be called a conidium, if we are willing to give that term a more general meaning. Gemma would also be suitable, although it is currently used for only certain kinds of plants. Already in use is mitospore, which is a good, self-defining term.

In botany, we use the term sperm in two different senses, depending upon the topic under consideration. In taxonomy and in seed anatomy, the Greek root sperm is still a synonym for seed, e.g. Spermatophyte, Gymnosperm, endosperm, perisperm. In discussions of plant reproduction, however, it is essential to distinguish carefully between the two words. A narrow, more precise meaning for sperm is a 20th century consequence of numerous, detailed studies of plant and animal reproduction. It is becoming awkward to retain the old scientific synonymy with seed. Eventually, sperm must carry a single biological meaning. Then, any usages that are in-compatible with the standard scientific definition will have to be dropped.

The biological use of the term fission antedates mitosis

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Present Opportunities in Botany

A. J. Sharp and A.S. Heilman
Departntetit of Botany
University of Tennessee
Knoxville. Tennessee

The present emphasis on the environment and its relation to society gives botanists a far greater opportunity than they have had recently to educate college students, including future teachers, concerning plants as a basic resource. While it is apparent to most of them that green plants are the foundation of all biotic communities and food chains, much of society, including some scientists, fail to understand the critical nature of this relationship. This emphasis provides opportunities to seek greater support, not only for general botany, hut also for interdisciplinary courses and programs which interpret the various interactions between society, vegetation, and biotic communities. Such courses should involve not only botanists, but also colleagues from other disciplines as diverse as engineering, economics, sociology, zoology, nutrition, psychology, philosophy, architecture.

A little thought should clearly indicate how engineering structures, e.g., darns and highways, affect vegetation and conversely how plants can retard erosion and rapid dissipation of water. Economics teachers can deal with the nation's reluctance to reduce pollution which damages not only terrestrial and aquatic vegetation but members of society as well; philosophy is involved in this and other facets of the problem. Some segments of society cannot tolerate tight, crowded communities without vegetated parks, and at this point psychology and sociology become involved with the problem. It is easy to understand how a zoologist, a nutritionist, or an ecologist would fit into an overall program. Even though one might suggest a need for more interdisciplinary instruction, it should not be implemented at the expense of good specialized teaching: rather it should be complementary. It is hoped that the introduction of some very broad instruction in the training of specialists will give them an awareness of the relation of their specialty to the environment and of the intricate and complex nature of the world.

The University of Tennessee organized a course two years ago labeled Botany :3090 - Biology and Human A1-fairs; probably Man and His Environment would have been an equally fitting title. Classes limited to twenty-five students meet twice a week for seventy-five minutes each for three quarter hours credit. Students are urged to question and discuss pert went material at any time, and the guest speakers concur. An informal atmosphere is cultivated and in time the students lose their usual reluctance to freely participate.

The first two meetings are devoted to introductory discussions concerning the nature of man as a biological organism and the philosophy of the course. The fundamental importance of green plants is stressed. The other lectures are given by guest instructors. We have heard from a state geologist, an economist, a forester, a psychologist, a nuclear engineer, a geneticist, an ecologist, a political scientist, a ghetto resident, a religion professor, and a public relations officer from a polluting industry.

In addition to discussing problems with these guest lecturers, the students must prepare a 2000-word essay on some phase of the environmental crisis. In team: of two or three each, they give oral reports to the class. Among

by several decades. Since fission originally implied nothing about the method of division, but only that a cell does divide, or split, the two terms are not mutually exclusive. Currently, fission is being used in two different senses. It may refer to mitosis as a means of asexual reproduction in unicellular organisms, or it may be restricted to plant cells that are known to divide amitotically. The bacteria and blue-green algae are known as fission plants. Very recently, fission has come into use with reference to dividing chloroplasts and mitochondria.

A fruiting body of a fungus is not a fruit. It would seem that there is little justification for using this particular term in introductory courses. It is too easily misinterpreted. The usage is old-fashioned and is on a par with calling spores little seeds. In most cases, sporophore is clearer and is explicit enough.

With reference to life cycles, the term sporophyte is not as meaningful as it once was. When the term was first used, it seemed remarkable that two plants, as different as those of fern sporophytes and gametophytes could give rise to one another. The analysis of life cycles became a prime concern. The spores and gametes were appreciated as handy reference points that could be sought for and recognized in other knids of plants. Nothing was known at that time of the nuclear changes that now loom all-important. It is the nuclear conditions that are emphasized today. Also, we want to stress that in plants both haploid and diploid cells are capable of growth and further development. Rather than try to teach how the sporophyte stage is to be distinguished, it might be better to use a more direct designation. Haplophase and diplophase are more easily comprehended.

Finally, the phrase alternation of generations is poor, because it says one thing to botanists and something else to the uninitiated. Both words can be misleading. Alter-nation suggests a regularity that seldom exists. And generation, as used here, implies something quite different from its more familiar meaning in modern genetics. It would be more in line with current thought to refer to the subject as the generation of alternate phases.

Changes of Address: Notify the Treasurer of the Botanical Society of America, Inc., Dr. Theodore Delevoryas, Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

Subscriptions for libraries and persons not members of the Botanical Society of America are obtainable at the rate of $4.00 a year. Send orders with checks payable to "Botanical Society of America, Inc." to the Treasurer.

Material submitted for publication should be type-written double-spaced, and sent in duplicate to the Editor. Copy should follow the style of recent issues of the Bulletin.

Microfilms of Plant Science Bulletin are available from University Microfilms, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106.

The Plant Science Bulletin is published quarterly at the University of South Florida, 4202 Fowler Ave., Tampa, Fla. 33620. Second class postage paid at Tampa, Florida.

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other activities are two field trips: one to the Copper Hill Basin in southeastern Tennessee, an area of about, twenty-five square miles, where most of the vegetation had been destroyed befin•e 1900 by open-hearth copper smelting with subsequent erosion of much of the soil; and one to the Cooperative Science Education Center at Oak Ridge where students play various roles in a simulation game as members of a county planning commission. Each student at the end of the course is given an half-hour oral examination. The course has no prerequisite and cannot be used for graduate credit.

Students from most of the colleges within the University have taken the course. "Feedback" from both students and their advisers, much of it anonymous, has been very favorable. Botanists are in a particularly favorable position to initiate similar, not necessarily identical, courses at other institutions because of the nature of their subject and their training. They should take every advantage of the opportunities presented, and in doing so, could perform an important service for society.

The 1972 Pre-Convention

Conference

THE   1972   Pre-Convention Conference on

"Contemporary Problems in Chloroplast Structure and Function" is being sponsored by the Committee on Education, Botanical Society of America, and the American Institute for Biological Sciences for Sunday, August 27, 1972. The conference, scheduled to be held in conjunction with the AIRS tneetings at the University of Minnesota, is for college teachers, and designed to present the current state of knowledge of the topic under consideration. The symposium committee for this conference is: Nicholas Marat,olo, chairman; William F. Millington, and Albert W. Frenkel. The program is as follows:

8:30-10 a.m.—Chloroplast= Development. Lawrence Rogorad. Department of Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.

Recent advances concerning the hereditary control of plastid development will be discussed. These observations will provide the basis for an assessment of the biochemical and morphological features associated with the physiological function of this cellular organelle.

10:30-12 noon—Chloroplast Evolution. Harvard Lyman. Division of Biological Sciences, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11790.

Many lines of evidence suggest that chloroplasts evolved from a symbiotic relationship between photosynthetic procaryotes and a primitive eucaryote. Many biochemical characteristics of prokaryotic cells are found in chloroplasts. These characteristics will be described and evaluated. Recently, it has been shown that a symbiotic relationship exist between algal chloroplasts and certain marine mollusks. These systems will be described and discussed from the point of view of whether they might serve as a model system for the "capture" of a prokaryotic system by a eucaryotic cell.

1:15-2:30 p.m.—From Photons to Reducing Power. Gouindjee. Department of Botany, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois. 61801.

Photosynthesis begins with the capture of light quanta (photons) by the various pigments located within the "photosynthetic units" in the chloroplasts. This act of light absorption is followed by the transfer of excitation energy (or excitation) to two spectrally distinguishable chlorophyll a-containing energy traps (or reaction centers). At these centers, two separate primary oxidation-reduction reactions occur, consummating the energy of excitons (or photons) — producing a weak oxidant and a strong reductant in one, and a strong oxidant and a weak reductant in the second. Finally, the strong oxidant reacts with water to release molecular oxygen, and the strong reductant (ultimately) reduces a pyridine nucleotide, producing the reducing power needed for the reduction of carbon dioxide to sugar. The weak oxidant and reductant react with each other to relieve the original condition. Alternate pathways for the production of reducing power will be discussed.

3:00-4:30 p.m.—Photosynthetic Carbon Metabolism in C-3 and C-4 Plants. Martin Gibbs. Department of Biology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts. 92154.

Higher plants have recently been divided into two groups depending upon their mode of photosynthetic car-bon assimilation. The initial carboxylation reaction in C-3 plants (and algae) leads to glyceric acid-3-phosphate (Calvin type); in contrast, oxalocacetate or malate is the primary product of CO_-fixation in the C-4 species. The suggestion has been made that the C-4 pathway is an adaptation that has evolved in response to certain environmental conditions. The biochemical evidence for each pathway will be presented and evaluated.

Professional Opportunities

EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY has a position in plant ecology and is interested in a person who would develop a dynamic research program centered around estaurine macrophytes or salt marsh ecology. The appointment would be at the assistant professor level. Teaching loads are moderate and would likely include some work in the freshman course in addition to upper level classes. Interested persons should write to Dr. Graham J. Davis, Chairman, Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27834.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE has initiated an Innovative Employment Program for New Doctoral Graduates in response to the current shortage of jobs in teaching. The Postdoctoral Intern-Fellowship Program is especially designed to aid new doctoral graduates who have not found a permanent position for September 1972 and, at the same time, to strengthen the University's temporary teaching staff. All five primary campuses of the University of Tennessee System (Chattanooga, Knoxville, Martin, Nashville, and the Memphis Medical Units) are participating in the program, offering positions for superior candidates in thirty-eight disciplines, including biology. In addition to a good fellowship stipend, the Intern-Fellows will receive in-service training and super-vision by experienced faculty. Only three-fourths of the Intern-Fellows' time will be required for teaching, leaving the remainder free for study, attendance at professional meetings, research and publication. At the end of their one-year contract period, the University of Tennessee will consider them for its permanent faculty or assist in their job search.

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Eligibility is restricted to those completing the doctorate in the 1971-72 academic year. Letter of application, curriculum uitae, and complete dossier should be sent to Dr. Kenneth L. Knickerbocker, Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee :37916.

Editor's Notes

This year's annual meeting of the Botanical Society is different from out previous ones because it is the Silver Anniversary of the AIBS. We are helping to celebrate the event. In addition to the regular features of these conventions, numerous special events and programs are planned. We are sponsoring or co-sponsoring several symposia with broad interest to the membership, and some of these have been reported in recent pages of PSB. One symposium, however, should be of especial concern to practically all botanists, and that is the one organized by Dr. Warren Wagner, Jr. of the University of Michigan. The purpose of this symposium, entitled "Twenty Years of Botany with the American Institute of Biological Sciences", is four-fold: to recognize the close association of botany with AIBS and with other fields of biology; to present an historical summary of major progress in the different fields of botany over the past twenty years; to project where we may be in the next 20 years: and, most importantly, to make available to botany and biology teachers clear-cut assessments of progress that has been made in the various fields which they can use to up-date their courses.

The symposium will begin at 9:00 A.M., on Monday, August 28. After an introduction by Dr. Wagner, Dr. Constantine .dlexopoulos will summarize the situation for mycology, Dr. Harold Bold for Phycology, Dr. Lewis Anderson for Bryology, and Dr. John Thomson for Lichenology. In the afternoon, the speakers will be Drs. Frank Salisbury and Cleon Ross addressing themselves to the subject of Plant Physiology; Dr. Robert Whittaker will speak on Plant Ecology; Dr. Peter Raven, for Plant Systematics, Dr. Henry Andrews, for Paleobotany; and Drs. Rudolph Emanuel and R. L. Stuckey will conclude the symposium by speaking on the History of Botany.

We have not had an occasion quite like this since 1956 when the Botanical Society celebrated its 50th anniversary. Those of us who would like to have an up-to-date refresher course in botany should plan to take in this symposium in addition to others that relate more closely to our research interests.

Botanical Potpourri

ECTACHROME COLOR SLIDES OF THE TROPICAL FLORA OF CEYLON can be obtained by writing to Mr. W. K. De Alwis, Swastika, Hedunuwewa, via Gampola, Ceylon. Mr. De Alwis was made an extensive photographic record of interesting trees, shrubs, and other plants of Ceylon together with complete botanical nomenclature and statements of uses of the species, if any. He is also available on assignment for recording specimens of botanical interest for the tropical flora of Ceylon.

THE ALARUM NURSERY, P. 0. Box 21, Roossenekal, E. Tvl., South Africa, is interested in contacting American botanists who may be interested in aloes. Anyone who may have an interest in the cultivation and distribution of aloes is asked to write to Mr. Alec Cawood, care of the address above.

CANBYA, HESPEROMECON AND MECONELLA (PAPAVERACEAE) seeds from the western part of the U. S. A. are sought by Mr. James Cullen, Assistant Director, Botanic Gardens, University of Liverpool, U. K. Anyone who can aid Mr. Cullen is asked to write to him for details.

AUSTRALIAN, OCEANIAN, AND ASIAN plant specimens, seeds, or mushrooms are available from Mr-. Karl Stroder, Post Office, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Details concerning method of preservation, packing, as well as the nature of the material should be sent with any requests.

NORTHWEST AIRLINES has been designated as the official carrier for the AIBS Silver Anniversary Meeting in Minneapolis August 27 to September 1. The Airline has agreed to provide information regarding reduced group rates from various points to Minneapolis. Information on flights and reduced fares to Minneapolis may be obtained by writing to the AIBS Meetings Department, :3900 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20016. A post convention tour to the Orient is being offered to meeting participants and their families. A brochure containing detailed information will be sent to participants upon request.

THE FORAGE FERTILIZER SYMPOSIUM, a major event in agriculture, will be held July 18-21 at the National Fertilizer Development Center, Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Sponsoring the symposium are the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, American Forage and Grassland Council, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. This symposium has been developed to give the most complete picture possible of forage fertilization today and in the near future. Drawn together in this symposium will be all current information as well as notes on new developments and the fertilization potential that can be realized. The nutrititional needs of various classes of forage crops and the effects of fertilization on plant and animal response plus the economic returns will be discussed. It is expected that this symposium will serve as a critical evaluation of the present status of knowledge about forage fertilization and thus a basis for planning future needs. Registration fee for the symposium, which includes a copy of the proceedings when they are printed, will be $11. And, while each person attending will be responsible for making their own reservations directly with the accomodation of their choice, housing in-formation may be obtained by contacting: Dr. David A. Mays. Division of Agricultural Development, Tennessee Valley Authority, Muscle Shoals, Alabama :35660.

THE SECOND BIG THICKET SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE has been changed from May 5-6 to October 20-21, 1972. The change has been made because of conflicts with other meetings and because some respondents indicated that more time was needed for preparation of papers. Those interested in further details should write to Second Big Thicket Scientific Conference, P. O. Box 10021, Lamar University Station, Beaumont, Texas 77710.

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A SYMPOSIUM ON BIOLOGY OF POLLEN, sponsored by the Developmental, General and Physiological Sections, and organized by Dr. Indra K. Vasil, University of Florida, will be held on August 29, 1972, at Minneapolis during the annual meetings of the Botanical Society of America. Participants include Dr. Indra K. Vasil, Dr. Lynn L. Hoefert (U.S.D.A., Salinas, Calif.), Dr. James J. Flynn (SUNY, Albany, N. Y.), Dr. Darlene Southworth (University of California, Berkeley), Dr. Yasuo Hotta (University of California, San Diego), Dr. Joseph P. Mascarenhas (SUNY, Albany, N. Y.), Miss Heather Stieglitz (University of California, San Diego), Dr. Kenneth Nadler (MSU, East Lansing, Michigan), Dr. William A. Jensen (University of California, Berkeley), Dr. Robert G. Stanley (University of Florida, Gainesville), Dr. W. V. Dashek (Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond), Dr. Peter D. Ascher (University of Minnesota, St. Paul), and Dr. William J. VanDerWoude (Purdue University).

The Minneapolis Meeting

The annual joint meeting of the AIBS and the BSA, planned for the last week in August at Minneapolis, will get under way with paleobotanical field trips August 26 and 27, Saturday and Sunday. The Botanical Society Council will meet all clay Sunday.

Monday morning will feature a symposium "Twenty Years of Botany", co-sponsored by all sections, as well as contributed paper sessions. The contributed paper sessions will run all day Monday through Thursday. The AIBS Symposium on "Biospheric Research in the IBP," will be held at 2 p.m. and the "Twenty Years of Botany" symposium will continue into the afternoon. Symposia on "Amentiferae (Systematic)," "Poisonous Plants," and "Potential and Limitations of Audio-Tutorial Instruction" will also be presented Monday afternoon. The AIBS Plenary Session "Uniting Nations for Biosurvival" will be held Monday night.

Two symposia will be held all-day Tuesday: "Man's Impact on the Arctic Environment" and "The Biology of Pollen." The Canadian and United States joint report on cleaning the Great Lakes will be given Tuesday morning. Developmental and Paleobotanical luncheons will be held at noon, and evening socials for the Torrey Botanical Club and the University of California - Berkeley are planned.

A Pteridological breakfast will start the day Wednesday followed by a symposium, "The Monocotyledons." An AIBS Plenary Session, "Technology vs. Ecology: Is There a Need for Confrontation?" will be co-sponsored by the Ecological Society of America Wednesday evening.

"The Origin of Protistan Cells," is scheduled for all day Thursday, and a symposium on "Biochemists and the Taxonomists," will be given that morning.

Registration applications are printed on p. 253 of the April issue of BIOSCIENCE, or may be obtained from AIBS Meetings Department, 3900 Wisconsin Ave., N.W. Washigton, D.C. 20016. The registration fee this year is $20.00 if prepaid before August 15, or $30.00 after August 15. Advance University housing applications are also available in BIOSCIENCE or may be obtained from AIBS headquarters.

Collecting in Mexico

Several scientists from the United States were recently expelled from Mexico because they had not obtained the proper authorizations from the Mexican government to carry out their field work. A relatively new agency of the Mexican Government is authorized to issue collecting permits. The name of the director and his address is: Dr. Enrique Martin del Campo, El Director del Centro de Cooperacion International, Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia, Insurgentes Sur No 1677, Mexico 20 D.F.

I wrote this agency giving the objectives of my study and I obtained a letter of authorization from them by mail in about three weeks. My wife and I recently stopped by their office and found their personnel to be most gracious and helpful. It is expected that botanists collecting in Mexico will deposit duplicate specimens in MEXU. In light of the need to protect rare and endangered species, it is quite understandable that authorization from the Mexican Government is necessary prior to collecting plants for scientific study. Obtaining the proper permits will foster good relations with our neighbor to the south and will also prevent possible future problems. I thought that it might be helpful to bring my experiences along with the above name and ad-dress to the attention of workers in the United States.—Samuel B. Jones, Botany Department, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. 30601.

Personalia

The Association of Southeastern Biologists has presented its Meritorius Teaching Award to Dr. Aaron J. Sharp, University of Tennessee, at the 33rd annual meeting of the association, in recognition of his especially meritorious teaching.

Dr. Hugh G. Gauch has received the Certificate of Recognition for Excellence in Research at the University of Maryland. A native of West Manchester, Ohio, Dr. Gauch holds degrees from Miami University of Ohio, Kansas State and the University of Chicago. He is nationally known as an authority in the field of inorganic nutrition of plants. Before joining the University of Maryland faculty at College Park in 1946, he held appointments at Michigan State and the U. S. Department of Agriculture regional salinity laboratory at Riverside, Calif.

Dr. Aubrey W. Naylor, professor of botany at Duke University, was one of four Duke faculty members to be named to James B. Duke professorships, the university's top academic honor. Dr. Naylor, a pioneer in the development of herbicides, is the author or more than 80 publications in the field of plant physiology, and came to Duke in 1952.

Dr. Tom K. Scott, Professor of Botany at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill has been appointed Chair-man of the Department effective May 15, 1972. He succeeds Dr. Victor A. Greulach, who has served as Chair-man since 1960. Dr. Scott has been awarded a Fulbright Senior Lectureship and will be on leave during the 1972-73 academic year to lecture at Aegean University in Izmir, Turkey. During his absence, Dr. Edward G. Barry will serve as Acting Chairman.

Dr. James R. Masse_)) has assumed his duties as the new curator of the Herbarium in the University of North Carolina Department of Botany. Dr. Massey recently received his Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma and worked as an assistant at the herbarium there.

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Dr. William K. Purees has been appointed chairman of the Department of Biological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara. Formerly he was a professor of Biology in the same department.

GEORGE R. JOHNSTONE, 1888-1971

Dr. George R. Johnstone. emeritus professor of botany at the University of Southern California died December 12, 1971. Dr. Johnstone was appointed to USC's faculty in 1924 and served nearly 30 years, many of them as chairman of his department, before his retirement in 1953. A native of Galva, Ill., Dr. Johnstone earned his A.B. degree from the University of Illinois and his Master's and Ph.D. degrees both from the University of Chicago, He also had a Certificate from the University of Grenoble, France. Before joining USC's faculty, Dr. Johnstone served as an instructor in botany at Michigan State University and at the State University of New York College of Forestry, Syracuse. From 1920-23 he was associate professor of botany and associate botanist at Auburn University and its Agricultural Experiment Station. He also did research at the Oceanographic Laboratories of the University of Washington at Friday Harbor in 1928, 1940 and 1946.

ORLAND EMILE WHITE, 1885-1972

Dr. Orland Emile White, professor emeritus of agricultural biology and former director of the Blandy experimental farm, University of Virginia, died on January 10, 1972. Born in a sod house in Sibley, Iowa on April 25, 1885, Orland E. White grew up in South Dakota and graduated with a I3.S. Degree from South Dakota State College. It was there that he had his first academic training in the study of plants and in the then new science of genetics. He went on to Harvard where he earned an M.S. in Botany and an M.S. in Genetics. At Harvard, working with the noted Professor E. M. East he received the Sc.D. in 1913. He was, consecutively, a Hilton Scholar and then an Emerson Scholar. From 191:3 until 1927 Dr. White was in charge of plant breeding at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. During World War I Dr. White served his country as the civilian director of a program aimed at the raising of castor beans for the production of castor bean oil which was then essential for the lubrication of aircraft engines.

In 1927 Dr. White was called to the University of Virginia to become the first Director of the Blandy Experimental Farm at. Boyce, Virginia, a position he held until he was retired from active duty, because of age, in 1955. It was as Director of the Blandy Experimental Farm and Professor of Agricultural Biology that he made vis great reputation as a teacher and investigator. He atracted to the University outstanding young men and women who spent the fall and winter terms taking coures at the University, and the spring term and summer at he Blandy Farm carrying out. their research on plants. le was a constant companion and mentor to all his students. Some twenty-nine earned their Ph.D. degrees under his direction. His former students have made outstanding contributions to science and learning.

As a lover of plants Dr. White developed at the Blandy experimental Farm a beautiful scientific arboretum. Here is to be found one of the finest collections of pines in the East, a unique ginkgo grove, in addition to many rare and unusual specimens of other plant species. Upon his retirement the Board of Visitors ordered that the Arboretum be named the Orland E. White Arboretum in his honor. It will remain as a living tribute to a man who knew and appreciated plants.

In 1921-1922 he was botanist on a scientific expedition which crossed the Andes and proceeded down the Amazon River. His keen interest in plants led him on many trips to the far corners of this globe seeking new and unknown species. Following his retirement from active duty at the University he with his wife visited many countries with plants his chief interest. In 1950-51 he served as a Fulbright Exchange Professor at the University of Rangoon in Burma.

J. N. Dent, Jacques J. Rappaport and B. F. D. Runk

Book Reviews

F.A.O. The State of Food and Agriculture 1970. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome, 1970. 274 pp., Paperbound $7.50. ( available in the U.S. from Unipuh_ Inc., P,O. Box 433, New York, New York 10016.)

This is a very comprehensive and easily readable survey of the status of agriculture and food production all over the world with concise statistical data and very good discussions of worldwide agricultural issues. Special attention is given to problems facing developing countries at the beginning of the Second United Nations Development Decade. Postwar agricultural development trends are discussed and data and analysis are given for production and trade of major crops, fishery, livestock and forest products. Worldwide reviews of these as well as detailed reviews by regions are included.

This book contains basic information on food and agricultural problems in all parts of the world with an evaluation of what has been done about these problems through the present as well as analysis of what needs to be done in the future. There is a substantial section devoted to problems facing the world in the Second Development Decade which began in 1970.

This is a concise, easily understood and valuable hook. It is a useful contribution to understanding worldwide agricultural and food production problems in relation to the problems of population growth.

Sydney S. Greenfield Rutgers Unitersity, Newark, New Jersey

PUISEAUX-DAO, S., Acetabularia and Cell Biology.

Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. and Logos Press

Limited, London, 1970. xii, 162 pp., 58 illus., $9.80.

Proper review of this book must include comparison with a similar publication, i.e. Biology of Acetabularia edited by .Jean Brachet and S. Bonotto, also appearing in 1970. At first: glance. there would seem to be little room for two offerings on a subject as circumscript as the biology of Acetabularia, especially in a world heavily populated by favored laboratory tools. The impression of counterproduction is further enhanced by the realization that Jean Bracket provides the preface for Acetabularia and Cell Biology, the editorship, introduction and concluding remarks for Biology of Acetabularia. Closer inspection however, reveals that the two books are quite divergent in

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manner of presentation, scope and intended audience, allowing claims of counterproduction to fall by the way.

Simone Puiseaus-Dao's Acetabularia and Cell Biology is a synthesis of the research on this green alga, especially contributions towards understanding nuclear control of development. The book's organization is both historical and topical, evolving in the same manner as did the Acetabularia story. It begins with a descriptive treatment of the organism, including morphology, development, reproduction, ultrastructure and nuclear cycles. Then, the now classic merotomy and grafting experiments of Hammerling are reviewed. The remainder of the book deals with the more recent experimental work, i.e. the attempt to equate MS to a stable species of mRNA, the regulation of protein synthesis, effects of inhibitors and radiation, autonomy of chloroplasts and endogenous rhythms. The book is lucid, explicit, well illustrated and contains an adequate bibliography.

Brachet and Bonotto's Biology of Acetabularia is the proceedings of the First International Symposium on Acetabularia held in Belgium in 1969, and is an obvious Academic Press `tluickie'. Individual papers cover the new frontiers of Acetabularia research in a telegraphic manner backed by extensive bibliography.

Both books are candid about the impasse which the MS

mRN A identity now represents, leaving a somewhat questionable future for investigation. It is at this point only that Puiseau-Doa's Acetabularia and Cell Biology become disappointing in the lack of discussion about two series of important experiments, i.e. Schweiger's demonstration that the nucleus can deter-mine LDH and MDH isozyme patterns in organelles, and Werz's demonstration of wall synthesis by isolated protoplasts. Both sets of experiments appeared several years before the book; both systems hold Acetabularia ii promise for the future.

In summary, Acetabularia and Cell Biology is recommended as a supplementary for advanced courses in cell biology, development biology or algal physiology. For the neophyte or veteran researcher in the Acetabularia club' (from Brachet's introduction), Biology of Acetabularia is recommended.

J. Ramus, Yale University

GRANT, VERNE, Plant Specialion. Columbia Univer-

sity Press, New York. 1971. x + 435 pages. $15.00.

In his preface the author points out that the present volume is complementary to his 1963 hook, The Origin of Adaptations. Whereas he covered evolutionary mechanisms common to both animals and plants in the earlier book the current one considers mechanisms that are limited largely to plant evolution. In many respects Plant Speciation more closely parallels G. L. Stebbins, Variation and Evolution in Plants, published in 1950, and Dr. Grant acknowledges his debt to this as well as other earlier treatises.

The book has been divided into five Parts, of from four to six chapters each, and each chapter has a number of subheadings that considerably enhance ease of reading. In Part I, Nature of Species, special features of plant reproduction and the nature of biological species, evolutionary species, and unique features of many plant species are reviewed. Divergence of Species, the title to Part II, covers topics, such as the patterns of species relationships among plants of the various life forms: woody plants, vs. perennial herbs, vs. annuals. Pathways of primary speciation, chromosome repatterning and related topics are considered. Part III, Refusion and Its Consequences is concerned mainly with natural hybridization and introgression. Polyp1oidy, Agmatoploidy, and Agamospermy are the principal chapters of Part IV, Derived Genetic Systems. In Part V, Evolution of Hybrid Complexes, polyploid, agamic, clonal, heterogamic and homogamic complexes are described and conclusions drawn as to their evolutionary potentials.

A bibliography of more than 600 references, separate indices to organisms, authors and subjects complete the volume. Other than for the authors definition of a clone on page 6, I find little to criticize in this thorough and scholarly treatise. It should serve as the standard reference for advanced students and research workers in this field until much new evidence has accumulated. The sentence on page 6 which I question is: "all the individuals derived by uniparental reproduction from a single parental individual are referred to as members of a clone." Uniparent.al reproduction of a highly heterozygous individual can, of course, give rise to a highly varied progeny, but even if Dr. Grant meant to include only "pure lines" derived by uniparental reproduction from a homozygote his definition is clearly not consonant with Webber's original use of the term clone, as presented in Rieger et al, A Glossary of Genetics and Cytogenetics. Other than for an extra letter "c" in the word "vesicles" on pages 338 and 339, typographical errors were not found. Illustrations, tables and charts are clear, carefully chosen, and placed close to the associated text; some are new and some borrowed from previous publications by the author and others.

Adolph Hecht, Washington State Univ.

PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN LIFE SCIENCE BUILDING UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA TAMPA, FLORIDA 33620