PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN

December 1975 Vol. 21 No. 4

Contents

On the Decortication of Professional Botanists   R. D. Henry 50
A New Flora of the Great Plains   JoAnn Luehring and T. M. Barkley 51
Is There a Need for a New Journal of Structural Botany? (Opinion/Commentary)   Ann Hirsch 53
Botanical Potpourri   54
Personalia   55
Professional Opportunities   56
Editor's Notes   56
Marion Ownbey 1910-1974, An Appreciation   B. L. Turner 56

Book Reviews
Mosses: Utah and the West, Seville Flowers   (A. J. Sharp and David K. Smith) 58
Biological Control of Plant Pathogens, K. F. Baker and R. James Cook   (K. J. Leonard) 58
Marine Algae of the West Coast of Florida, C. J. Dawes (E. Imre Friedman) 59
Trees and Shrubs of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Vol. II. E. L. Little, R. O. Woodbury and F. Wadsworth   (J. Popenoe) 59
Plant Disease, Russell Stevens   (George Bean) 60
Okophysiologie der Pflanzen, Reihe "Bausteine-der modernen Physiologie" K. Kreeb   (H. H, Lieth) 60
Water Plants of the World, C. D. Cook, B. J. Gut, E. M. Rix, J. Schneller and M. Seitz   (Donovan Correll) 60
Comparative Morphology of Vascular Plants 2nd ed. A. Foster, and E. M. Gifford, Jr.   (L. Anderson) 61
Anderson's Flora of Alaska and Adjacent Parts of Canada, S. Welsh (R. P. Wunderlin) 62
Geographie floristique du Quebec-Labrador, C. Rousseau   (J. Beaudry) 62
The Indigenous Trees of the Hawaiian Island, J. F. Rick   (G. W. Gillett) 63
The Orchids: Scientific Studies, C. L. Withner (ed.) (J. Arditti & M. S. Strauss) 63

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On the Decortication of Professional Botanists

R. D. Henry
Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois, 61455

In the classroom, and often through the popular media, the importance of botany and the contributions made by botanists to the present day world are presented and discussed. Among others, Abelson (1971) has noted the need for botanical information and research relating to food production and environmental problems and Galston (1970) has discussed some societal aspects of botanical knowledge. As the concluding sentence of his paper, in which he points out that there are already botanists available, new ones are being trained, and that they can contribute much to the world, Ehrle (1970) states sarcastically, "Botanists could become important yet!" He also states "Plants are important, there is no argument on that. It remains to be seen whether botanists will be." With this latter consideration in mind and by paraphrasing the thought implied in his title, "Botany Is Not Dead — It's Still Sleeping", I suggest it may be true that "Botanists Are Sleeping and Might Become Dead." The possible increasing validity of such a professional situation is what concerns me and is the subject of my further comments.

It seems to me that there have been an increasing number of instances where professionnlly trained botanists have not been utilized to conduct tasks that are essentially botanical. My awareness of this situation was first rather innocuously aroused by casually observing that students and faculty from non-botany departments particularly agriculture, leisure studies, outdoor education, recreation, park management, etc. were assuming responsibilities that are botanical in nature primarily involving manipulation and management of plant communities and plant identification. A casual check of some of these curricula indicated they required no or insufficient botany courses. Recently, a notice for a faculty position in Wilderness Education in a western university indicated part of the position responsibilities was to "help formulate a responsible wilderness and environmental usage philosophy'". Qualifications stated the applicant should have a degree in "recreation, education or closely related field." It seems that the call for a person with such environmental responsibility could include a botanist since a professional knowledge of plants is necessary for the understanding of such an ecosystem. My immediate stimulation, however, was initiated by the following two instances. A state Department of Conservation awarded a sizable grant for a state natural area inventory to a Department of Landscape Architecture. A basic part of the inventory is to evaluate vegetation types. Although the fundamental field work will involve some botanists, the overall, responsibility and evaluation have been delegated to non-botanists, in fact to professionals whose commitment. is to the modification of the natural environment. A second example is a grant from the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to a member of a Department of Recreation and Park Administration for a project on ecological effects of dredge spoils in bottomland communities, clearly a professional ecological problem.

These examples illustrate situations where environmentally-oriented investigative, management and planning agencies have replaced or relegated to a less responsible position bona fide botanists (in this case plant ecologists) with people who seem to have inadequate professional botanical education and training; in fact, this botanical knowledge often is obtained from the fringe disciplines of botany. If these people, not trained in botany or by professional botanists, are a source of many of our "botanical authorities" and "instant botanists and ecologists" and are performing professional botanical duties and are being supported by grants and are maintaining the positions and responsibilities with the purview of a professionally educated botanist, then professional botanists are indeed being decorticated since they are being stripped of their "birthright." as botanists. The general quality of "professional" competence and the resulting contributions thereof, as well as the effecient expenditure of funds, would be expected to increase if these services were provided by professional botanists. A relevant example concerning instant ecology has been presented and analyzed by Egler (1974).

The erosion of botany and botanists within the collegiate biology departmental organization is well known and has been adequately discussed by Eshbaugh and Wilson (1969), Stern (1969) and Greenfield (1970). It should also be reiterated than an equally serious source of such professional erosion is from other departments which give their own version of basic botany courses. Thus Greenfield's (1970) academic jungle in which botany finds itself, is not limited to within biology departments but. the integrity of botany is also threatened from without. To be sure, the latter situation may occur presently in only a relatively small number of cases but, if this trend continues it could be increasingly disastrous, embarrassing, and intimidating to botanists. So it appears that even if botany is not. dead, as Ehrle (1970) states, then botanists may become so since others are teaching their fundamentals and are assuming their professional work and responsibilities. This is not. a healthy or desirable situation. In times of limited job opportunities it is further discouraging that differently trained people are competing with botanists for botanical positions.

It probably is appropriate at this point to question why, itr certain cases, non-professional botanists are being selected rather than professional botanists, to assume botanical responsibilities. Are the professionals too ex-pensive? Are "instant botanists" more vociferous or aggressive? Do they have in some cases more to offer? The reason could not be an insufficient number of botanical candidates since there is today a general lack of job opportunities for the number of available applicants.

I have no ready solution for this dilemma affecting professional botanists but I hope it can be rectified. Perhaps more critical credential analysis by academic and professional hiring and granting agencies would help. Botanists should show their concern of the situation by

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becoming more assertive as individuals and through their professional societies. They should intrude themselves where they rightly belong and actively campaign for positions and point out to employers and contractors the fallacy of employing pseudo-botanists. Possibly some type of popular publicity through the mass communication media might be in order to portray the professional image. Courses given by botany departments should be requisites in the curricula of other botany-dependent departments rather than permitting these non-botany departments to give their own quasi-botany courses. In addition to producing better trained students this would reduce the expensive costs of course duplication within the university. Perhaps certain aspects of our courses and curricula need to be re-examined. We fail in our professional and social responsibility if we neglect to be concerned about our profession. Therefore my plea is for botanists to confront this continuing and creeping professional erosion and decortication.

It might be concluded that I have exaggerated the situation. Perhaps Lewis (1970) would be one to agree that I have, since in his discussion of the magnificent future of botany he states: "True, many of the men doing the work do not call themselves botanists" and adds "But why worry about this?" and that "This is in the tradition of botany." I agree with him that historically many out-standing botanists have been chemists, medical doctors, etc., but I feel that presently, when specialized training is required, the proliferation and hiring of "instant botanists" arising from the non-botanical disciplines is in-deed something to worry about and thus I reiterate my plea.

Literature Cited

Abelson, P. H. 1971. Opportunities in Plant Science. Science 172 (3989): 1195.

Egler, F. E. 1974. Commentary-Instant Ecology, in Academia. Ecology 55 (4):691-692.

Ehrle, E. B. 1970. Botany is Not Dead-It's Still Sleeping. Plant Science Bulletin 16(3):7-8.

Eshbaugh, W. H. and T. K. Wilson, 1969. Departments of Botany, Passe? Bio-Science 19(12):1072-1074.

Galston, A. W. 1970. Plants, People and Politics. Plant Science Bulletin 16(1):1-7.

Greenfield, S. S. 1970. Botany in the Academic Jungle. Plant Science Bulletin 16(4):6-9.

Lewis, R. W. 1970. Quo Vadis, Botanicum? Procede, Terge. Plant Science Bulletin 16(2):5-6.

Stern, W. L. 1969. Quo Vadis Botanicum? Plant Science Bulletin 15:1-4.

A New Flora of the Great Plains

by the Great Plains Flora Association
JoAnn Luehring and T. M. Barkley
Kansas State University Herbarium
Manhattan, Kansas

Creation of a floristic treatment of the vascular plants of the prairies and plains of central North America is underway by a team of taxonomists from the Midwest. The area being treated comprises roughly one-fifth of the land area of the conterminous United States, yet it lacks a modern, definitive treatment. P. A. Rydberg published the only comprehensive study of the area in 1932. The worth of up-to-date studies is beyond question, as they have proved valuable to many segments of the population. Due to the size and agricultural nature of the region, the creation of the new Flora of the Great Plains is a compelling piece of botanical research.

The area encompassed by the study is floristically uniform. It is bounded on the west by the base of the Rocky Mountain uplift and on the east by the advent of continuous wooded area; the southern boundary crosses the Texas panhandle and bisects Oklahoma on a southwest-northeast diagonal; the Canadian border constitutes the northern limit of the study. Thus included in the region are the entire states of Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota, along with the eastern portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, the northeast one-sixth of New Mexico, the Texas panhandle, the northwestern half of Oklahoma, and the western fringes of Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota. For convenience, this area has been termed the "Great Plains," although this expression has been used colloquially at times to refer to portions of the area.

The boundaries of the study in large measure complement other major, regional floristic treatments completed or in-progress since World War II. The eastern edge of the study area passes into the ranges of Gray's Manual and the New Britton and Brown, the southern limits into the region treated in the Texas manual of Correll and Johnson; the northwestern boundary abuts the Vascular Flora of the Pacific Northwest of Hitchcock, et al., and the southwestern will abut the Southwestern Flora in preparation by Noel Holmgren, et al. West of the Great Plains region lies the immensely complex Rocky Mountain area, the only other sizeable floristic entity in the country lacking a modern floristic treatment, although current treatments are available for portions of the mountain area.

To facilitate production of the Flora, nine botanists representing nine academic institutions formed, in 1973, a Great Plains Flora Association (GPFA), which convenes quarterly. The organization is a formal recognition of the parallel activities of the various members and a statement of a common goal, viz., the creation of a comprehensive treatment for the vascular plants of the Great Plains. Production of a floristic treatment of the envisioned scope is beyond the resources of any one member or institution in the Great Plains. The cooperative effort will ensure completion of an exemplary Flora, one unattainable without combining the fortitudes of the several botanists.

The nine members entered into a Memorandum of Cooperation, a quasi-legal agreement which identifies responsibilities and provides procedures for administration of the GPFA. The Memorandum is acknowledged by the various home institutions and is signed by the president or equivalent academic officer of each. Included in the document is a clause which allows for reassignment of responsibilities should any member become unable to fulfill his obligation.

The Memorandum establishes a covenant between the GPFA and the New York Botanical Garden, as President Howard Irwin and Senior Scientist Arthur Cronquist are signatories of the charter. With its long-standing interest in the floristics of western North America, the Garden provides a storehouse of information on flora in the Great Plains. GPFA members will utilize the library and herbarium resources at the Garden in their research and manuscript preparation. The Flora thus becomes a recognized function of the Garden, attached to the benefits of such an association.

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The following taxonomists are signatories of the Memorandum of Cooperation, qualifying each as a char-ter member of the GPFA. William T. Barker, associate professor of botany and curator of the herbarium, North Dakota State University (NDSU), Fargo; Theodore M. Barkley, professor of botany, taxonomist of the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station and curator of the her-barium, Kansas State University (KSU), Manhattan; Robert B. Kaul, professor of botany and curator of the herbarium, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UN-L); Ole A. Kolstad, professor of biology, Kearney State College (KSC), Kearney, Nebraska; Ronald L. McGregor, director of the State Biological Survey of Kansas, Lawrence, and professor of botany and curator of the herbarium, University of Kansas (KU), Lawrence; David M. Sutherland, associate professor of biology and curator of the her-barium, University of Nebraska at Omaha (UN at Omaha); Theodore Van Bruggen, professor of biology, curator of the herbarium and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Dakota (USD), Vermillion; Ronald R. Weedon, assistant professor of biology, Chadron State College (CSC), Chadron, Nebraska; and James S. Wilson, professor of biology and curator of the herbarium, Emporia Kansas State College (EKSC), Emporia.

In recognition of his vital role in activities leading to the formation of the GPFA, R. L. McGregor serves as coordinator of the organization. He convenes the group, directs plans and program development and generally represents the organization. As editor, T. M. Barkley determines style and taxonomic procedure, makes publishing arrangements and coordinates efforts to acquire funds. •JoAnn Luehring, an M.A. candidate in geography at KSU, is employed by the KSU herbarium and has been elected secretary of the GPFA.

The decision to produce a modern Flora of the Great Plains was neither unanticipated nor abrupt. Over the past two to three decades, the GPFA members have worked individually to expand collections from throughout the Great Plains. Perhaps most noteworthy have been the efforts of R. L. McGregor at the University of Kansas. In the past 20 years, he and his students have collected vigorously in the region, amassing in excess of 140,000 collection numbers. Nearly half of these have been accumulated by Steve Stephens, who has collected in every county in the Great Plains. The Kansas University herbarium provides the nucleus for much of the research to be conducted in preparation of the manuscript for the Flora.

There are approximately 3,000 species of vascular plants in the Great Plains. In the Flora of the Great Plains, each entity will be treated with a description, line drawing, relevant synonomy, ecological and range statements, shaded distribution maps, and other in-formation considered noteworthy on an individual basis. In addition, the Flora will contain the customary keys, in-dices and glossary, plus introductory essays on the historical, geographical and geological aspects of the flora. The Flora is presently envisioned as a two-volume work to be completed in four years. The current Intermountain Flora by Cronquist, et al., is serving as a general model.

The circumscription and nomenclature of the major categories follows Cronquist, Takhtajan and Zimmermann (1966) and Cronquist (1971), while the family circumscription and sequence is that of Cronquist (1968).

The GPFA will in a few months have to its credit the publication of an Atlas of the Flora of the Great Plains. Over the past 18 months, the members have accumulated a checklist of the plants occurring in the region, collated collections from the area of study and plotted the in-formation on county maps, one map per entity, four maps per page. The Atlas is scheduled for publication by the Iowa State University Press in December. Authorship is attributed to the Great Plains Flora Association.

The boundaries of the map used for the Atlas were designated before the full implications of the research task were recognized, and are therefore slightly more restricted than the boundaries employed for the Flora.

Production of the Atlas implies that a taxonomic philosophy has been accepted and a species concept agreed upon. This is partially true, as the Flora will utilize a fundamentally traditional and conservative position in matters of taxonomic philosophy, but the Atlas is not. to be interpreted as representative of the GPFA's ultimate taxonomic judgment.

A project such as the Flora of the Great Plains hardly requires justification from either a scientific or social standpoint. For the purists among us, the mere fact that the area has not been adequately treated is spur enough to pursue the goal. The Flora is warranted as a piece of basic botanical research.

The only previous attempt to treat comprehensively the flora of the Great Plains came during the 1920's when P. A. Rydberg went out to collect and study in the area under the auspices of the New York Botanical Garden. The result was his Flora of the Prairies and Plains of Central North America, which appeared in 1932, shortly after the author's death.

Rydberg's manual was designed to cover the vascular flora of the states of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota, as well as of southern Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan. In addition, it

Changes of Address: Notify the Treasurer of the Botanical Society of America, Inc., Dr. C. Ritchie Bell, Department of Botany, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 26514.

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.

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Material submitted for publication should be typewritten, doublespaced, and sent in duplicate to the Editor. Copy should follow the style of recent issues of the Bulletin.

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includes most of the species of the plains and prairies of Illinois, southern Wisconsin, northern Missouri, eastern Colorado and Montana, and southern Saskatchewan. The boundaries of the present study are more restricted than those used in the Rydberg text. The taxonomic and procedural philosophy employed by Rydberg has been made obsolete by progress in the field of botanical research, and the study was based on limited specimen-collections by today's standards.

References

Correll, D. S. and M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas. Texas Research Foundation, Renner, Texas.

Cronquist, A. 1968. The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.

   . 1971. Introductory Botany, 2nd ed. Harper & Row, New York.

   , A. H. Holmgren, N. H. Holmgren and J. L. Reveal. 1972. Intermountain Flora. Hafner Publishing Company, Inc., New York.

Cronquist, A., A. Takhatajan and W. Zimmermann. 1966. On the higher taxa of Embryobionta. Taxon 15: 129-134.

Fernald, M. L. 1950. Gray's Manual of Botany, 8th ed. American Book Company, New York.

Gleason, H. A. 1952. The New Britton and Brown Illustrated Flora of the Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. New York Botanical Garden, N.Y.

Hitchcock, C. L., A. Cronquist, M. Ownbey and J. W. Thompson. 1955-69. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, Seattle.

Holmgren, N. H. and J. L. Reveal. In Progress. Southwest Flora.

Rydberg, P. A. 1932. Flora of the Prairies and Plains of Central North America. New York Botanical Garden, New York.

Opinion/ Commentary

Is There a Need for a New Journal of Structural Botany?

Schmid's and Stevenson's recent proposal (Plant Science Bulletin, September, 1975) for a new journal of structural botany tentatively titled "Arberia: A Journal of Structural Botany" calls for written reactions concerning the desirability of this type of "journal of ideas". Indeed, no one can deny a need for the exchange of stimulating and provocative thought in the areas of morphology, anatomy and paleobotany. However, the implication is made in their proposal that current journals which publish descriptive data do not perform this function, and that what is required is a forum for interpretation rather than "mere records of observation and experimentation".

I myself do not see the need for such a journal. Morphology, anatomy and paleobotany like all the plant sciences are still at the stage where data must be collected and tabulated. Our knowledge of plants has gradually expanded over the years. This expansion has been based, not on interpretation which may come and go depending on the level of awareness at a certain period of time, but rather on hard cold facts. The tendency towards reductionism in science has become a necessity because of our increasing understanding of living organisms and our desire to learn the ultimate principles of their existence. The synthesis of the interactions of the various factors in a study of plant growth and evolution as well as in other biological studies is a goal toward which we should strive, but we cannot achieve this until we begin to know what all the factors are.

Although Schmid and Stevenson mean to honor Agnes Arber and her husband by naming the proposed new journal "Arberia", a close examination of Agnes Arber's work shows that the guidelines anticipated for the journal do not agree with the main pattern of her research. Her studies are characterized by an abundance of anatomical data upon which she then based her various interpretations. She herself in the introduction to the book "Monocotyledons" realized that the science of morphology was not a static study but rather was in a state of directed change.

There are some biologists, again, who would condemn morphology because they think that it should be replaced by bio-chemistry and biophysics. It is true that analysis may in the course of time be carried to a point at which it becomes possible to give a complete expression for the form of a living thing in terms of chemical and physical formulae. But that consummation is not yet reached, and meanwhile we at least possess, in the form itself — using the word in its widest sense — the final synthesis of all such partial expressions. Form is, indeed, chemistry and physics made manifest. (Italics mine.)

Although her documentation of the anatomy of various plants led to interpretations made by her with which many now disagree, no one can argue with her data. The information is there in her works, still valid and still reliable and ready to be re-interpreted in the light of current and changing thinking. One thing is certain: although interpretation may change, reliable, exhaustive, descriptive data do not. Hopefully, in the future, this type of documentation will allow the synthetic analysis which Arbor envisioned in 1925. Hence, it is my feeling that it would be a grave injustice to this eminent plant anatomist to christen in her name a journal with the guidelines suggested by Schmid and Stevenson.

Furthermore, the discouragement of extensive photographic documentation as a guideline for this proposed journal is somewhat naive. Journals, like science, have changed with newly developed technologies. In the past, the making and expense of half-tone plates was beyond the capabilities of all but the most well financed periodicals. Even now, the only reason scientific journals publish almost exclusively black and white illustrations is because of the high cost of color reproduction. When color photography becomes as routine to reproduce as black and white is now, it will prove to be a real boon for data presentation particularly for the histochemists, the plant geneticists, the horticulturalists and other botanical disciplines. It appears to me that

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most plant scientists wish to display their data in the clearest form possible as well as the best way that is financially feasible whether by means of line drawings, graphs or photographs. Certainly, we as scientists do not denigrate the art of drawing.

I agree that some of the present journals concerned with the more structural aspects of botany should in-corporate more book reviews as well as an occasional interpretive review of current literature. However, with the plethora of scientific periodicals already in existence, there is no reason to add a new journal when some of these should cover the field more extensively by means of reviews and articles of general interest. Indeed, adding a new journal with such restricted guidelines would be no less "reductionist" than dividing broad scientific thought into distinct disciplines. I would hope that in all plant sciences we will begin to see an integration of the separately collected data and eventually achieve that synthesis of analysis which Agnes Arber envisioned.

Ann Hirsch
Department of Botany
University of Minnesota
St. Paul, MN 55108

BOTANICAL POTPOURRI

A COMPREHENSIVE EDITION OF THE LETTERS OF CHARLES DARWIN is being planned with the sponsorship of the American Council of Learned Societies and with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Science Foundation.

The edition will be arranged in chronological order with full texts and annotations and will include letters to Darwin as well as those from him.

Frederick Burkhardt, President Emeritus of the America Council of Learned Societies, and Sydney Smith, Fellow and Tutor of St. Catharine's College and University Lecturer in Zoology, University of Cambridge, are Co-Editors of the Collected Letters.

It is hoped that librarians, collectors, scholars, antiquarian booksellers, and other with knowledge of Darwiniana will feel disposed to contribute their help to this project, which will make available for the first time materials that will be basic to future scholarship on Dar-win and the history of 19th century science.

Please direct all correspondence to Dr. Frederick Burkhardt, R.F.D. 1, Bennington, Vermont 05201 U.S.A. or to Dr. Sydney Smith, St. Catharine's College, Cam-bridge CB2 1RL, England.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC. presently has two vacancies for Corresponding Members. Nominations should include a Curriculum Vitae and a number of supporting letters, either gathered by the nominator or sent directly to the chairman of the Selections Committee for Corrsponding Members for 1976. The chairman for 1976 is Dr. Peter H. Raven, 2:315 Tower Grove Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, 6:3110.

CURRENT KNOWLEDGE ABOUT one of the basic fertilizers, phosphorus, will be critically evaluated at a symposium to be held June 1-3, 1976 at the Tennessee Valley Authority's National Fertilizer Development Center in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

"The Role of Phosphorus in Agriculture," sponsored jointly by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America and TVA, will summarize current and recent research on all phases of phosphorus as it relates to crop production. The information presented will be of interest to agronomists, crop scientists, soil scientists, and representatives of the mining, manufacturing and marketing segments of the phosphate fertilizer industry.

For additional information, contact: E. C. Sample and F. E. Khasawneh, Symposium Co-chairmen, National Fertilizer Development Center, Tennessee Valley Authority, Muscle Shoals, AL 35660; or the American Society of Agronomy, 677 South Segoe Road, Madison, WI 53711.

THE COMMITTEE ON THE DARBAKER PRIZE of the Botanical Society of America will accept nominations for an award to be announced at the annual meeting of the Society at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1976. Under the terms of the bequest, the award is to be made for meritorious work in the study of microscopical algae. The Committee will base its judgment primarily on the papers published by the nominee during the last two full calendar years previous to the closing date for nominations. At present, the award will be limited to residents of North America. Only papers published in the English language will be considered. The value of the Prize for 1976 will depend on the income from the trust fund but is expected to be about $425. Nominations for the 1976 award accompanied by a statement of the merits of the case and by reprints of the publications supporting the candidacy must be received by April 1, 1976, by the Chairperson of the Committee, Dr. Elisabeth Gantt, Radiation Biology Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, 12441 Parklawn Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF PLANT TAXONOMISTS announces the formation of a new journal, called SYSTEMATIC BOTANY, which will begin publication in 1976. It is intended that a minimum of 400 pages per yearly volume will be published, the issues to appear quarterly. The editor will be Dr. William Louis Culberson, Department of Botany, Duke University, Durham, NC 27706. Membership in the ASPT is welcomed from all per-sons interested in biological systematics, reproductive and evolutionary biology, biogeography, chemotaxonomy, numerical taxonomy, or paleontology. Members of the Society will receive a subscription to the new journal and have the privilege of submitting papers for publication. Any person who would like to join the ASPT should write to the Society's Treasurer, Dr. L. C. Anderson, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL :32306, and include payment of the yearly dues — $16.00 for a regular membership, $20.00 for a family membership (one copy of the journal), or $8.00 for a student membership. Instructions for the preparation of manuscripts can be obtained from Dr. Culberson. The purpose of SYSTEMATIC BOTANY is to publish both original research reports and interpretive and review articles on all aspects of the systematics of cryptogamic and phanerogamic plants.

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THE HUNT INSTITUTE FOR BOTANICAL DOCUMENTATION, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, has recently effected a reorganization and reorientation of its Bibliographia Huntiana (BH) project, a long-term effort to compile a bibliography of all botanical literature published between 1730 and 1840. After 15 years of research and and information processing, the BH master file is now substantially complete for both books and periodical literature. As originally planned, the BH file was to have been published in its entirety, with entries arranged alphabetically by author. Now, in order to maximize utility and minimize production time, the idea of publishing the entire content of the file in conventional bibliographic format has been abandoned. Instead, a series of "BH Monographs" will be produced, each based on a topical subset of the master file. The first such Monograph will treat the floristic literature published in book form during the BH period. Entries will be arranged geographically and full indices will be provided for access by author name, title, and chronology. Subsequent monographs may deal with floristic articles in the periodical literature, taxonomic treatments (organized by taxon), historical and biographical literature, medical botany, and botanical theory and philosophy, among other topics. Publication of the first Monograph is planned for early 1977, with subsequent volumes following at yearly to biennial intervals.

Botanists, historians, and others interested in consulting Bibliographia Huntiana are encouraged to contact the Institute regarding their needs. Specific queries will be handled by mail or phone, and consultation in person will be welcomed.

THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE announces its program of higher education and research training in the Biological Sciences for 1976-1977. Smithsonian Fellowships are awarded to support independent research using Smithsonian Institution collections, facilities, and laboratories and pertaining to the research interest of the Smithsonian research staff. Proposals for research may be offered in fields in which the Institution has research strength, including systematics of fossil and Recent vertebrates, invertebrates and plants; radiation biology; car-bon dating; animal behavior; plant and animal physiology; animal pathology; tropical biology; ecology; and field biology.

Smithsonian Fellowships, supported by a stipend of $10,000 per annum and research allowances, may be granted to postdoctoral scientists to pursue further training in research. Smithsonian Predoctoral Fellowships, supported by a stipend of $5,000 per annum and research allowances, may be granted to doctoral candidates to conduct research for their dissertations with the approval of their university departments.

For more information and application forms write: Office of Academic Studies, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 20560. Please indicate the particular area in which you propose to conduct research and give the dates of degrees received or expected.

THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA announces eight graduate courses in biology to be offered at the Mountain Lake Biological Station this summer. They are as follows:

First Term: June 10 - July 13

Taxonomy of Seed Plants, Dr. Carl S. Keener, Pennsylvania State University

Terrestrial Ecology, Dr. Raymond Dueser, University of Virginia

Herpetology, Dr. Harry G. M. Jopson, Bridgewater College

Animal Behavior, Dr. Glenn Hausfater, University of Virginia

Second Term: July 15 - August 17

Ecological Genetics, Dr. David A. West, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & S.U.

Aquatic Ecology, Dr. George H. Simmons, Jr., Virginia Polytechnic Institute & S.U.

Pteridology, Dr. Donald R. Farrar, Iowa State University

Mammalogy, Dr. Charles O. Handley, Jr., United States National Museum

Four fellowships of $150 each are to be awarded. Two North Carolina Botanical Garden fellowships will be awarded to superior students with preference to those who have previously held work scholarships at the Station. Two additional awards will be made from the Mountain Lake Fellowship Fund established by friends of Mountain Lake. Contributions are invited for additional support for this fund. The fellowships may not be held concurrently with any other stipend from the Station. The recipients of these awards are chosen by the Research and Awards Committee of the Department of Biology. Applications for awards should he sent to the Director, Mountain Lake Biological Station, Gilmer Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903.

THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY,OF AMERICA, INC. offers a "Guide to Graduate Study in Botany in the United States and Canada." The 1974 edition includes 108 departments in the U. S. and 21 in Canada which offer a Ph.D. in plant sciences. Information for each department includes the degrees offered, number of graduate students, fields of specialization, and detailed information about the individual faculty members, including titles of recent Ph.D. these completed under their direction. The Guide is available for $3 from: Dr. Patricia Holmgren, The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York 10458.

PERSONALIA

Following the appointment of Professor J. E. Cruise to the Directorship of the Royal Ontario Museum, Dr. John Grear has been appointed to the position of Curator of the Vascular Plant Herbarium of the University of Toronto (TRT).

Dr. Robert W. Kiger has assumed the post of Assistant Director of Senior Research Scientist at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh. In addition to general administrative duties and research, he is supervising the Institute's Bibliographia Huntiana project. Dr. Kiger was formerly Associate Editor and Research Botanist with the Flora North America project, Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution.

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We regret to announce the death of Prof. C. Y. Chang, chairman of the Department of Biology, for thirty years, Peking University, Peking, China.

James P. Bennett, Professor Emeritus of Plant Physiology, University of California, Berkeley died June 1, 1975 at the age of 88.

Three additions to the Department of Botany, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, have been announced by the chairman Dr. Tom K. Scott. They are Dr. Patricia G. Gensel, assistant professor of Botany; Dr. Ann G. Matthysse, assistant professor of Botany; and Dr. Robert K. Peet, assistant professor of Botany.

Winner of the $200 George R. Cooley Award at the 1975 AIBS meetings in Corvallis, Oregon was: William R. Anderson, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His paper was entitled: "The nature and significance of cleistogamy in the Malpighiaceae."

PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

THE BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON is seeking applications for a faculty position at the Assistant Professor level for Fall, 1976. Applicants should have earned their doctorate in Vascular Plant Systematics.

Letters of applications should include curriculum vitae, three letters of reference and transcripts. These should be sent to: Dr. Robert Neill, Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 76019

THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, invites applications for an anticipated opening at the level of Assistant Professor in Botany, starting fall 1976. The teaching and research interests of the candidates should be either in the area of plant physiology or in the area of the systematics of vascular plants (to teach courses in the systematics of seed plants.) Applicants should send a curriculum vitae (including relevant course work), bibliography with copies of publications, and a summary of teaching and research objectives to: Chairman of the Search Committee, Department of Botany, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720.

Applicants should have three letters of reference sent directly to the above address. The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Minority and women candidates are urged to apply.

Editor's Notes

With this issue the present editor completes his 5-year term of office. For the past several months I have pondered on what comments would be appropriate for my "swan song", and the first thought that came to mind is a wish to express my thanks especially to the Editorial Board that has loyally supported me throughout my tenure. The Board has not been merely a formality but has been an active participant in the writing of articles for the Bulletin that have helped make it a significant publication of the Society.

It is difficult to believe that five years have elapsed since I wrote my first Editor's Notes reviewing the philosophy of Dr. Harry Fuller that motivated him to publish the Plant Science Bulletin. Hopefully I have developed the Bulletin in the manner that Dr. Fuller had in mind, and that it has served a real function in bringing together the various disciplines of botany in a way that a strictly technical journal cannot do.

From my vantage point, I see some encouraging signs for botany. For one thing, botany is now a controversial subject. In recent years, for various reasons, the plant scientist has come into his own, and he is no longer a rather rare breed of biologist. Botanists should continue to be concerned about their professionalism, as discussed in our lead article this issue. But I would suggest that botany is no longer asleep! The new generation appears less apt to `sit in the back of the bus', and we no longer are concerned about the excessive meekness of botanists. However, as has always been true, botanists generally get what they deserve. It is up to us to see that we get exactly that.

Marion Ownbey 1910-1974, An Appreciation

Born F. Marion Ownbey at Kirksville, Missouri,

20 Sep 1910; raised in Hulett, Wyoming; graduated from Hulett High School in 1927; B.S. (1935) and M.S. (1936) in botany from the University of Wyoming; Ph.D. (1939) in botany from Washington University in St. Louis; Instructor (1939) to Prof. of Botany and Genetics at Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, where he died on Dec. 7, 1974, after a lengthy bout with cancer. Married to Ruth Peck (since 1937), she survives him along with 2 sons, 2 daughters, 3 brothers and 4 sisters.

Those are the vital statistics. Now to the man.

When I first met Dr. Ownbey (being his graduate student I could never call him Marion - even after I aged, became forty. I could only utter it occasionally, half heartedly, feeble apellation, looking in the watery world of his eyes [to me always watery], way off there somewhere, warm and full of love, but nonetheless distant, I couldn't yelp out, "Marion," like I might say, "Art [Cronquist]," his colleague at the time I knew him best; no, Marion had a distance, a detachment, a hungering for something else in his relationship with graduate students that never seemed to develop. He was held aloof by his own pride; his attraction to objectivity; rationality; science; (whatever), I say, when I first met Marion in the summer of 1950, he was digging in an onion patch which he and Dr. Aase maintained just a block or so below the botany building. Told where I might locate him, I was expecting to find a professor in professorial dress just standing around looking at his research plots. But there he was, old felt hat, dissheveled clothes, bending over, pipe in his mouth, breaking up Palouse sod by hand, looking full gardener. I sauntered up, cocky, like the Texan I am, saying, "Hi, seen Dr. Ownbey?", grinning.

And he looked up at me, kind of sideways, still holding his soil, pushing me back generations with his eyes, mouth quivering, he replied with a jocound, somewhat half-whimsical, "Who?" Not much more, just staring, looking distant full in my face, disarmingly detached. Not like a Texan; New Englander, perhaps,

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western plainsman, maybe; northern type though; sheep rancher made remote by famine and long winters, wind whipping off dry fields, that kind of look, sizing me up at a distance, three feet away, dirt balled up in his hand, he said, very softly I thought, "Dr. Ownbey? That's me."

That was the beginning of my apprenticeship with Marion. (I can say it easier now; death nearly always brings the deceased closer to the living: we make allowances, round corners, remember with more affection.) He instinctively rebelled against my kind of personality, I his. We maintained misunderstood distances.

Shy, serious, detached, perfectionist (hardest on him-self), he only deeply understood a fraction of the people with which he normally associated. I don't know why. He communicated well; brought to it, he could hold forth hours on this or that, usually professional, happenings: what counted among peers and populations; what science was or wasn't; what mathematical logic might be ... etc.

His envy was mathematics ("What you can't quantitate ain't Science," I paraphrased Whitehead once, and he grinned approvingly.) In fact, he had an inordinate desire to use math in his studies, and I never understood why he wasted so many hours after middle age trying to improve his calculus (he hired a private tutor), for it seemed so remote from his pragmatic interests: systematics and the Washington State University Her-barium (appropriately renamed just weeks before his death, The Marion Ownbey Herbarium).

But I remember (tucked it away for this writing perhaps) a remark he made once ivhen I probed him about his graduate student days, "Edgar Anderson maintains that I did plant systematics a great disservice in marrying his student, Ruth Peck. Had she not become my wife and mother to my children, she would have surely pioneered the field of population biology." That might have been his driving force to learn math: his guilt in taking away; his desire to give back.

However detached, Marion had his heroes. They were Anderson, Dobzhansky, Stebbins, Sewell Wright, and believe it or not, Art Cronquist. That latter soul and Marion were worlds apart in temperament, scientific approach, attitudes towards life, etc. Natural complements. And the knew it. At first, I didn't understand this mutual admiration; but it soon became apparent: they appreciated each in the other what they might have lacked in themselves.

Marion was a qualitative thinker, an hour hand, a prober into depths which, by training, he wasn't engineered to answer; but thinker nonetheless. Cronquist was quantitative, a minute hand; he used his training exquisitely, sweeping up herbarium sheets five to a fist, he would sort cabinet-fulls into tottering piles upon long tables, proclaiming them species, as if he were God. Own-bey admired that in him. Me too. So they complemented each other. Shared an unlikely niche. Each appreciated the other's adaptive strategy — and limitations: true commensals.

Because of his meticulous, dogged, preoccupation with perfection in scientific expression, Marion composed his written papers in a characteristic fashion. I shared office-herbarium space with him during the period 1950-53 when the Herbarium occupied a wing of the Holland Library. We both worked most every evening, me on my doctoral thesis, he on his latest paper. Pipe in mouth, always standing at a raised desk or platform, he would compose a sentence, maybe two, then stroll about the her-barium, up and down among the lines of cases for three or four minutes, maybe more, cogitating; walking hack to his manuscript, rereading last lines, changing this or that, adding a new line, then another ambulatory "clump-clop" among the tier of cases, conjuring up new thoughts, erasing old ones, working over his words as if they were algebraic expressions that must be put in some exact order before their meaning might be comprehended. He worked slow, methodical, wanting to be right, at least in logic, as if systematics were more a rational process than it is art.

In keeping with his nature, these working habits, Marion was not a prolific author. He did not produce texts, nor was he driven by professional ambition or ego to assemble an extensive list of "Papers Published." He had his own internal standard; he cared about quality. Over a professional career that spanned 30 plus years, he published only 50 or so papers. But the research upon which they were based has been some of the best in experimental systematics. His work on speciation processes in the genus Tragopogon is classic, no doubt his best. It's so well known and so widely referred to in evolutionary biology that Ownbey and Tragopogon have become inextricably linked in the minds of most systematists. Like Linnaeus (he loved the comparison), Marion was first and foremost an experimental systematist, even if he proposed names in Allium and Calochortus. Linnaeus began a series of experimental studies on Tragopogon which, in effect, Ownbey finished. Fascinating studies. All of us who teach biosystematics refer to Ownbey's experimental work on allopolyploids, both natural and synthetic. He understood, perhaps too well, the evolutionary significance of this work, putting too much of himself into it, past the point of "convenience" or natural return.

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As a graduate-level teacher, Marion was something of an enigma. Several of his more successful students with whom I've discussed this matter have found it difficult to express just what we had, or didn't have, that made him successful as a major professor. And I've thought about it a lot. Marion really just left you alone: sink-or-swim. Those that required something more, sank. Those that were natural swimmers, swam. But, his students knew where they stood, what kind of work was expected: quality.

Well, that's the man as I knew him. What started out as mutual repulsion, maybe dislike, grew into a neutralism then, as we both understood better our merits, matured into a love that, in me now, resides as something sweet and strong, a nostalgia that welters of Paloussa hills, Poas and Fritillarias, pristine patches on northern slopes, Marion bending over, breaking up the sod with his hands, setting standards.

B. L. Turner
Department of Botany
University of Texas
Austin, Texas 78712

BOOK REVIEWS

FLOWERS, SEVILLE (Edited by Arthur Holmgren.) Mosses: Utah and the West; xii + 567 pages; 149 plates. 1973. Brigham Young University Press, Provo, Utah. $14.50 (cloth).

The most striking and valuable part of this volume is the elegant illustration of 256 species of mosses showing general growth habit, morphological variations, and key taxonomic features. The technical descriptions of species are adequate and are followed by references to the nature of their habitats and general geographical ranges. Of interest to the general botanist will be the Introduction which includes a good discussion of the morphology of mosses and their ecological and distributional amplitude in Utah. Additionally is provided guides for the collecting, study, and preparation of herbarium quality specimens. The manual ends with a physiographic map of the state, a good glossary, and a taxonomic index.

The taxonomic index is arranged in a rather unique binomial system of numbering. While at first glance this appears somewhat cumbersome, one quickly adapts to this efficient means for the organization of material presented in the manual. The system of classification follows that of Dixon's 1924 Student's Handbook of British Mosses, 3rd ed.

Several errors in the volume, which we have found include the captions for the plates on pages 496, 499, 501, 503, 507, 509, 511. A list of correctly sorted captions is given below.

2) p. 496. (plate) = Cratoneuron filicinum, correct caption is on p. 506.

3) p. 499. (plate) = Cratoneuron commutatum, + var. fluctuan.s, and Cratoneuron decipiens; correct caption is on p. 508.

4) p. 501. (plate) = Cratoneuron falcatum, correct caption is on p. 510.

5) p. 503. (plate) = Drepanocladus uncinatus, correct caption is on p. 497.

6) p. 507. (plate) = Drepanocladus aduncus, + var. kneifii; correct caption is on p. 498.

7) p. 509. (plate) = Drepanocladus aduncus var. capillifolius, and Drepanocladus fluitans; correct caption is on p. 500.

8) p. 511. (plate) = Drepanocladus exannulatus, correct caption is on p. 502.

A more unfortunate error is in the species key for Bryum. Too often this group of often nearly inseparable species is avoided by even the most eager Bryologist. Once again we are faced with an unworkable key since on page 357 both choices under 5 result in either Bryum sandbergii or Bryum uliginosum. Furthermore, once one dismisses both of these choices, then keystep 6 ends either with B. turbinatum or routes the reader past both choices at step 7, on to step 8. The most unfortunate aspect of this oversight is that most of the keystep-end-points follow these errors. Even in the text there is some confusion, e.g., under topic 18.21 on p. 328, "plate" 72" should be reassigned as plate 69." A slightly annoying feature of the book remains the ommission of most synonyms and some current taxonomic concepts following Dr. Flowers' last work on the manuscript.

By no means should one measure the worth of a volume such as this by the above-mentioned mistakes. The value of the book is yet to be demonstrated by diligent workers in the region for which it was written. The book was Dr. Flowers' "labor of love" and it is sad that the author did not see it to fruition. Drs. Crum and Holmgren are commended for so ably seeing to completion this life-long endeavor of Dr. Flowers. The content is sound and represents the first comprehensive manual for the mosses of Utah and surrounding regions of the arid Western United States.

A. J. Sharp and David K. Smith The University of Tennessee

BAKER, KENNETH F. AND R. JAMES COOK. Biological Control of Plant Pathogens. W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco. 1974. xv + 433 p. $12.50

The thesis of this book as stated by the author is

.. that a degree of biological control of disease in crop plants is being achieved, even under present methods, and that by specific and judicious manipulation of environmental factors, perhaps without destroying the pathogen or even preventing it from infecting, satisfactory control of many additional diseases may be achieved." This is a more optimistic view than has been taken by several reviewers of this subject recently. They have emphasized the extreme complexity of interactions among organisms and abiotic factors in the soil where most of the effort in biological control of plant pathogens is directed. The authors of this book, however, present a convincing argument that biological control need not await complete understanding of all the factors involved, and that sufficient information is available to guide research into areas that are likely to be productive.

The emphasis in this book is primarily on soilborne pathogens, although one chapter on diseases of aerial parts of plants is included. There are several reasons for this emphasis. There is greater need for biological control of pathogens that infect plants from the soil because chemical control is so much more difficult and expensive for them than it is for foliar pathogens. Soilborne pathogens are likely to be more vulnerable to biological control, because there is greater opportunity to manipulate the soil environment than the above ground environment. In con-

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trast to biological control of insects or weeds, directed activity of a single antagonist to a single pest has rarely been successful with plant pathogens. They have been con-trolled more effectively by complex interactions among a number of antagonists. Consequently, hyperparasitism of plant pathogens receives much less attention than antibiosis and competition. The emphasis on soilborne pathogens in this book also reflects the special competence of the authors. They are highly regarded plant pathologists with established reputations for research on the ecology and control of soilborne pathogens.

As an example of the potential value of biological control, the authors point out that certain soils are known as suppressive soils because a plant pathogen fails to persist or flourish in them even though susceptible host plants are present and the abiotic conditions are favorable. There is a tendency for plant pathologists to avoid these soils because of the frustrations of trying to study disease control in fields where disease development without deliberate control measures is weak or sporadic. The authors emphasize the need for increased efforts to identify suppressive soils and the features that they have in common, so that management programs may be developed to enhance the suppressive effect in these and other soils. Some techniques for isolating and testing antagonistic microorganisms are described, and references to more comprehensive discussions (rf methods are provided.

The idea of replacing pesticides with biological control has great popular appeal, but the authors suggest that it is probably more realistic in most cases to use biological control in combination with chemical and other methods of control. Reduced reliance on pesticides as a single method of disease control should help to avoid drastic disruptions of biological balance that interfere with the natural operation of biological control. Examples are cited in which judicious use of chemical or physical treatments has increased the effectiveness of biological control by injuring the pathogen enough to increase its susceptibility to antagonists.

The authors did not intend for this book to be a complete compilation of information relating to biological control. Instead, they have concentrated in detail on a relatively few examples to illustrate the operation of biological control. The examples most thoroughly discussed include diseases caused by Gaeumannomyces graminis, Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium oxysporum, F. roseum f. sp. cerealis, F. solani, Phytophthora cinnamomi, and Phymatotrichum omnivorum. Even with this narrowed focus, the authors have cited over 600 references. They have accomplished an admirable feat in including in their discussion several references from 1974.

This book is advertised as a text for courses in principles of plant pathology and for courses in epidemiology and control of plant diseases. It seems to me, however, that the book is better suited for advanced graduate students and researchers interested in biological control and ecology of soilborne plant pathogens. The illustrations are generally clear and helpful, but the text is of-ten less than lucid. Students with limited background in plant pathology are likely to have difficulty with it. This book is valuable as an up-to-date and thought provoking account of the current status and potential of biological control in plant pathology. It is not a polished text book for beginners.

K. J. Leonard USDA-ARS, North Carolina State University, Raleigh

DAWES, CLINTON J.: Marine Algae of the West Coast of Florida. University of Miami Press, 1974 : 201 pp.

Those interested in marine algae of the Southeastern United States will welcome this well-written, competent and handsomely produced book. An exercise in taxonomic identification of marine algae can be a frustrating experience for the beginner, whether laymen or college student and William Randolph Taylor's classic "Marine Algae of the Eastern Tropical and Subtropical Coast of the Americas" is hardly for the novice. Dr. Dawes' book, which is an expanded hard cover successor of his earlier "Marine Algae in the vicinity of Tampa Bay, Florida" thus fulfills a real need. Written in a clear, easily readable style, this book offers an excellent and reliable taxonomic guide for the uninitiated, although experts will also find it useful.

A well constructed key leads to the identification of 312 species and varieties (34 Cyanophyceae, 96 Chlorophyceae and Xanthophyceae, 44 Phaeophyceae and 138 Rhodophyceae), followed by a short and not-tootechnical description of each species. Particularly gratifying is the inclusion of blue-green algae in the book. Within this group, Dr. Dawes follows the taxonomic system proposed by Drouet and Drouet and Daily, though other names are also listed as synonyms. Following the taxonomic treatment of the algae, a useful and interesting chapter is devoted to the characterization of the important marine plant communities of the area (lithophytic, mangrove, sea grass and salt marsh), including higher plants. The glossary will be particularly welcomed by the beginner. The 82 illustrations are well produced and useful, though some of the line drawings (e.g. Fig. 34 Codium taylorii, Fig. 36 Penicillus capitatus, Fig. 64 Hypnea musciformis, Fig. 77 Digenia simplex, Fig. 78 Lawrencia poitei) are not quite satisfactory.

Very few books, if any, are free from errors and this is not an exception: Thus, the valid name of the fungus in Cladophora catenate (L.) Kutz. is Blodgettiomyces borneti (Wright) Feldm. (p. 88.). In the key for red algae, the numbers of pericentral cells in Wrightiella and Dasya have been confused (p. 41). The capitalization of the specific epithet in Porphyrosiphon Notarisii (Menegh.) Kutz. (pp. 19, 56) is correct according to the Rules of Botanical Nomenclature but inconsistent with the usage followed in the rest of the book. In the glossary, the definition given for neterothallic (p. 182) would apply rather to monoecious and "kidney shaped" listed as one of the meaning of pyriform is not accurate, the correct term being reniform.

Yet, the errors do not seriously impede the usefulness of this refreshingly uncomplicated and yet authoritative book which can be only highly recommended.

E. Imre Friedmann Florida State University.

LITTLE, E. L., R. O. WOODBURY, AND F. H. WADSWORTH. Trees & Shrubs of Puerto Rico & the Virgin Islands. Second Volume Agriculture Hand-book No. 449, USDA Forest Service, 1974. $13.95.

This second volume comes to us after several years of using the incomplete but very handy Volume 1. Although this volume can be used alone, for all of the species are included in the keys, it must be considered along with Volume 1. The first volume contained descriptions and drawings of 250 species, the second volume does the same for 460 species and briefly describes 40 others. Thus 750

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species are described including all native species attaining tree size along with many introduced species which may be seen growing on these islands.

According to the authors the primary purpose of this 2 volume reference is to help residents of the area deter-mine the names of trees that they see and to give them the more important and interesting facts about the trees. They say it should also be useful to students, teachers, as a reference in extension, technical assistance programs, forestry and horticulture.

The keys used in this book are not highly technical and together with the drawings of each plant, the descriptions, and ranges given, it would seem that a non-technical person could actually use the book to identify trees in the islands. The common names for different areas also are very helpful to an outsider who wishes to identify the trees.

The book is the first really popular style treatise which covers all of the trees in a tropical area and it seems to accomplish all that it sets out to accomplish. I find it very interesting to browse through the pages and read the information about trees that I have seen or close relatives of trees that I know. It actually makes one want to take a trip to Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands to look for some of the rarer trees and see exactly what they are like. For each species information is given on which public forest or park it is found in so that a botanist should be able to go to Puerto Rico with these books and find nearly every species. These books are not field guides, however, and the second volume which has over 1,000 pages weighs nearly six pounds.

Taxonomic nomenclature is up-to-date and as an indication of the rapid 'changes that are taking place in our taxonomic knowledge of this area there is in the second volume a supplement to Volume One which contains numerous name changes.

The book is well indexed and there is considerable in-formation given on additional literature, the location of parks and forests where native trees can be seen, ecological information for the area, special lists of endangered species, poisonous species, etc. The quality of the illustrations is variable because a number of different illustrators were used but in general the illustrations are adequate for use in identification.

John Popenoe
Fairchild Tropical Garden
Miami, Florida

STEVENS, RUSSELL B. Plant Disease. Ronald Press, N. Y. 1974. 460 pp. $11.95.

Russell Stevens has written a textbook for an introductory course in Plant Pathology; he is not the first to do this nor I suspect the last. With the increasing demands of the world's population for higher yields and better quality of food stuffs, the diagnosis, and more importantly, the control of plant diseases has greatly in-creased in significance. Increasing restrictions on pesticide usage and the energy crisis'should focus even greater attention on the importance of plant disease in crop production. Stevens is aware of these problems and very effectively makes use of them throughout the book and thus presents a very practical and realistic introduction to plant pathology. The subject matter is logically organized but it is presented in a slightly less than formal style with a limited number of distracting references and photographs. Some sections read delightfully like a newspaper article which should please the average undergraduate student! I like his style, I like what he has to say and I think the students will also. A definite recommended textbook for the introduction to the science of plant pathology.

George A. Bean University of Maryland

KREEB, KARLHEINZ: Okophysiologie der Pflanzen. - Reihe "Bausteine der modernen Physiologic". Jena: VEB Gustav Fischer 1974. 211 S., 87 Abb., 22Tab., L 6, Broschur 28, DM.

In contrast to the Anglo-American ecology is plant and animal ecology, in the German literature still far apart. Kreeb's book demonstrates this clearly again. Among the plant ecology textbooks replacing Walter's international classic, "Standortslehre" of the 50's is Kreeb's book the second. The book attempts in about 200 pages an introduction into plant ecology with emphasis on ecological physiology. The book treats on 28 pages radiation and temperature, on 20 pages net primary production (photosynthesis), on 37 pages plant water relations, on 46 pages all other environmental parameters and on 24 pages systems ecology and applied ecology. The book seems in selection of topics and space allocated well-balanced is, however, hardly satisfactory in depth for the professional ecology student. — Americans are usually blamed for the exclusive use of home literature and examples; Kreeb's book is almost as soundly European. In that respect it should be a useful reading complement for an American student in command of the German language.

In general one can gladly detect the competence of the author, especially in the area of his special interest; plant, water and salt relationships. If improvements were to be suggested one would first think of Chapters 7 and 8 dealing with systems models and Chapters 2 and 3 dealing with radiation and temperature.

The book is neatly printed and contains only few typographical errors. Unusual for the American reader is the uncoordinated style of the many figures which have been reproduced apparently unchanged from the original sources. The book is worth $11.00 (28 German Marks), rather expensive in comparison to an American textbook usually twice the size for under $15.00. However, the book serves as a very useful summary of achievements from an area our students seldom hear. For this reason alone, it should be added to the botany libraries of our universities.

Helmut H. Lieth
University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill

COOK, C. D. K., B. J. GUT, E. M. RIX, J. SCHNELLER AND M. SEITZ. Water plants of the world. Dr. W. Junk b. v., Publishers, The Hague. 561 pages, 266 figures. 1974. Dutch Glds 120. - .

The authors succinctly state that their aim was to provide a manual for the identification of freshwater macrophytes of the world. "Freshwater macrophyte" is interpreted to include all Charophyta (Stoneworts), Bryophyta (Mosses and Liverworts), Pteridophyta (Ferns and Fern Allies), and Spermatophyta (Seed-bearing Plants) whose photosynthetically active parts are permanently or, at least, for several months each year, sub-merged in freshwater or floating on the water surface. Marine and exclusively brackish water plants were excluded.

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To anyone interested in these plants, this book must be considered indispensable. It is a useful guide to families and genera, and directs one to geographical areas where one can use local floras to identify species.

The hook has a short Preface, Introduction, and about thirty General Reference citations. These are followed by a somewhat traditional key to families based on reproductive structures, and a second key to genera and other higher taxonomic categories based largely upon easily seen vegetative characters. With the exception of monotypic families, further keys to each genus are provided after the family description where it occurs in the text. Each genus is, furthermore, illustrated. The diagnostic descriptions of families and genera usually refer only to the aquatic members. There are no keys to species for those non-monotypic genera. However, following the generic description is given the number of aquatic species, their geographic distribution, the kinds of habitats where they grow and notes on their economic importance.

An especially useful procedure is the inclusion following each family and generic description of various references to the taxonomic literature of the group in question.

The text matter has been presented encyclopedically; that is, the families within each higher taxonomic category and the genera within each family are arranged alphabetically. For many botanists this unphylogenetic arrangement might be rather disconcerting. For instance, having Droseraceae follow Cyperaceae, and Plantaginaceae adjacent to Poaceae quickly disposes of affinity. In the case of genera, since only the aquatic ones are treated, relationship could not be easily shown in any case. Notwithstanding, alphabetical arrangement would seem to be the most convenient way in which to present such data on a worldwide basis.

Although we are in complete agreement with the authors' desire that only scientific names be used by everyone, even the non-botanists, whom they stress have been kept foremost in their thoughts, our experience has shown that this is too much to expect from the layman. Unquestionably, a judicious inclusion of well-known, long-standing English vernacular names for the families and genera would encourage more non-botanists to use the work; viz., Pondweed Family for Potamogetonaceae; Eelgrass for Vallisneria. In view of the use for which this work is intended, the place of publication for generic and specific names could have been omitted and traditionally used vernacular names could have been substituted in the space thus vacated.

The text is not the easiest to use, especially since there is not enough contrast in the type, and it would appear that the format could have been vastly improved. There are also some minor inconsistencies, such as running heads at the top of some plates but omitted on others. Also, for instance, except for the family name Butomaceae, the text matter on page 166 should have gone to the half-empty page 167. This would not have cramped page 166 where "Fig. 65" is both at the top and bottom of the drawing. The same can be said for the text matter under Amaryllidaceae on pages 115 and 116, under Aponogelonaceae on pages 135 and 136, as well as several other places.

It would have greatly facilitated the use of the book if the name of the valid genus and species were in bold type where they were treated in the text.

Unless the copy we have has a unique error, the material on the bottom of page 408 should follow that on page 409.

In a work such as this, especially in its first edition, it is almost impossible to avoid omitting some genera and species, if not families, that should have been included. Several in the family Asteraceae in America that probably should have been included are Trichocoronis rivularis Gray, Eupatorium maculatum L., several species of Aster such as A. hesperius Gray, and several Bidens.

Irrespective of some of the above comments that are perhaps more a matter of personal taste rather than valid criticism, this book is a most useful reference work and it certainly is a substantial contribution to the growing literature on the world's aquatic plants. It is well worth having in one's library as a reliable reference tool.

Donovan S. Correll
Fairchild Tropical Garden
Miami, Florida

FOSTER, ADRIANCE S. and ERNEST M. GIFFORD, JR. Comparative Morphology of Vascular Plants. 2nd ed., W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, CA. 1974. viii plus 751 pp. $17.00.

This represents an updated and expanded version of the successful 1959 text by these authors, and it follows the same general format of the earlier book. New data are presented in the areas of paleobotany, morphogenesis, ultrastructural aspects of cytology and morphology, and palynology. The new book is also slightly larger in size (7'/2" x 10").

The beginning chapters introduce the science of morphology and contain discussions on the vegetative sporophyte, sporangia, gametangia, and embryogeny. The authors have attempted to present current views in the classification of vascular plants; however, since "considerable confusion exists at the level of formal schemes of classification," no attempt is made to compare the various schemes of classifying vascular plants. This is regrettable since students often learn only one scheme in a general botany class and are introduced to other systems of classification (sometimes at the same school!) in more advanced taxonomy and morphology courses. The practice of contrasting a few current schemes of the inside cover of the book, as done in several other morphology texts, should have been adopted here.

The remainder of the book surveys the vascular plants, beginning with the Devonian psilophytes (Rhyniopsida, Zosterophyllopsida, and Trimerophytopsida) which is followed by the Psilopsida. Updating is evident in most chapters. For example, the rationale for relating the living Psilopsida with extinct psilophytes is presented, and the recent argument that the Psilopsida is possibly related to the leptosporangiate fern, Stromatopteris, is also noted.

The final three chapters deal with the angiosperms. This treatment is enlarged considerably over that presented in the first edition and corrects what could be considered the major shortcoming of the original text.

The new text is copiously illustrated with generally excellent photomicrographs and line drawings. The addition of scanning electron micrographs of spores, pollen, fern sori, flower buds, etc., is particularly nice. However, many of the full-page illustrations are larger than necessary, such as photographs of vegetative apical

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meristems of gymnosperms, line drawing of Circaeaster leaf venation, and flow chart summations of archegonial or leptosporangial development. The size of the illustrations relative to their information content seems excessive when we should be concerned about resource conservation, such as textbook paper.

My major complaint about this new book is that the typed print and illustrations are a dull brownish-gray. This causes eye strain and makes good illustrations appear "fuzzy" and out-of-focus. Hopefully, this printing error is to be found only in the first-run preview edition. Pages toward the front and back of the book were less offensive than those in the center.

All in all, this is an excellent text for both students and teachers (should the publishers be able to correct their printing problems). It will be a valuable basic text for morphology courses with its comprehensive account of morphology, reproduction, and evolution of vascular plants. It can also be used as a companion text in the areas of plant anatomy, plant morphogenesis, and in introductory survey courses.

Loren C. Anderson Florida State University

WELSH, STANLEY L. Anderson's Flora of Alaska and Adjacent Parts of Canada.'Brigham Young University Press, Provo. xvi + 724 pp. $2:.95.

William Jacob Anderson (1874-1953), resident of Alaska for 27 years and ardent student of its flora, published his flora in nine fascicles in the Iowa State Journal of Science between the years 1943 and 1952. This flora was republished in 1959 by Richard W. Pohl in a single volume with only the correction of a few typographical errors and the inclusion of an index.

The present work is more than an up-to-date revision. It is completely new as to text, keys, and illustrations. It is entirely the work of Dr. Welsh, based on the Anderson Herbarium, now at Iowa State University, and substantial new collections, made principally by himself and Maxcine Morgan Williams. In the preface Dr. Pohl makes the statement that the present volume is "designed to retain the `flavor' of Dr. Anderson's original." This is an over-statement as it bears little resemblance to the original in that it has been greatly expanded and almost totally' rewritten.

The systematic arrangement differs from the original and the traditional method used in floras in that only the major categories (vascular cryptogams, conifers, dicots, and monocots) are arranged phylogenetically while the families, genera, and species within each are in alphabetical order. Although unconventional, it does have the distinct advantage in that it allows for the rapid location of species in the text without having to refer to the index.

The keys are well written and easy to use. The nomenclature, with rare exceptions, is up-to-date and pertinent synonymy is given. The illustrations, although few and essentially only habit sketches, are for the most part well executed.

One would seriously question the inclusion of cultivated species which are not known to and are quite unlikely to become naturalized or even persist for more than one season outside of cultivation in Alaska (e.g. Petunia hybrida, Solanum tuberosum, Lycopersicon esculentum [==Lycopersicon lycopersicum, see Report of the Standing Committee on Stabilization of Specific names. Taxon 24: 174. 1975], and Pelargonium hortorum). Such species are not normally considered as part of a flora unless they persist for several seasons or reproduce naturally outside of cultivation. The inclusion of such species in an otherwise excellently written flora certainly detracts from it.

A good glossary and bibliography are also provided. Additional references, principally revisions and floristic treatments, are found following the generic descriptions of some of the genera. These are particularly useful.

The work is a necessity for the library of any professional and amateur botanist interested in the flora of Alaska and adjacent Canada. The author has an excellent understanding of the native flora and has presented this knowledge in a highly usable form.

Richard P. Wunderlin University of South Florida, Tampa

ROUSSEAU, C. Geographic floristique du Quebec-Labrador (Floristic Geography of Quebec-Labrador). 1974. Les Presses de 1'Universite Laval, Quebec. pp. 798.

This book is very valuable addition to the literature dealing with the phytogeography of the vascular plants of North America. Of the 1850 vascular indigenous plants found in the territory covered by the two political entities named in the title, i.e. the province of Quebec and Labrador (a part of the province of Newfoundland), 1020 have been chosen for detailed study and mapping "because their taxonomy was the least litigious" (p. 19). In the introduction, the Quebec-Labrador peninsula is divided into nine bioclimatic zones, and the author's definitions of these zones are compared, in a table, with those of a number of other major workers. This is followed by comprehensive definitions of the phytogeographic categories to which the plants studied are attributed. Each one of the taxa studied is then presented under its heading to mention: its habitats; its phytogeographic category (arctic, circuboreal, etc.); to give its general distribution, and usually detailed notes concerning its distribution in the area comprised in the Quebec-Labrador peninsula; to refer to a dotted map showing this latter part of its range; and references to maps published by others presenting the former, i.e. the general distribution.

In a chapter entitled "Synthesis of the distribution of the taxa studied", the author lists the taxa excluded from the indigenous flora, those considered doubtfully indigenous, and those whose distributions have been ex-tended by man; subdivides the taxa into twelve phytogeographic categories; lists the halophytic, calcicolous, arctic-alpine or alpine taxa; attributes the taxa to the northernmost or southernmost bioclimatic zone of the Quebec-Labrador region which offers optimal conditions for growth; and finally groups the taxa on the basis of their meridional or septentrional limits while considering their distribution outside the Quebec-Labrador peninsula.

Then follows, a forty page review and analysis of the phytogeographic hypotheses dealing with the vascular flora of the region concerned.

The list of references includes 897 titles. It is followed by a section in which the distribution maps are grouped. The book ends with a highly comprehensive index which enables one to find easily the major test, the distribution

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map, and the major bibliographical reference concerning each taxon, and its synonyms.

This hook has been prepared with the care of a benedictine monk. During the last ten years, its author has gradually affirmed himself as the best informed specialist of the phytogeography of the Quebec-Labrador vascular plants. His book will, for years to come, be the major reference on the subject, for all those concerned with the flora of the Quebec-Labrador region. It will also be very useful for those interested in the flora of other regions of northeastern America.

Jean R. Beaudry Universite de Montreal

ROCK, JOSEPH F. The Indigenous Trees of the Hawaiian Islands. Honolulu, 1913. Facsimile edition with introduction by Sherwin Carlquist and nomenclature addenda by Derral Herbst. Charles E. Tuttle, Rutland, Vermont, 1974. 548 pp. incl. 215 plates, cloth, $22.50.

The legendary genius and career of Joseph Rock have been well covered by Alvin Chock (Taxon, 12:89-102, 1963), yet it is well to emphasize again to the botanical community that this book reflects the talents of a remarkably productive botanist, orientalist, lexicographer, geographer, photographer, and anthropologist who rarely generated scholarly works that were other than of the highest quality. Rock's botanical scholarship was of an extraordinary acuity that was combined with superb field photography, practiced when the pristine Hawaiian vegetation was far more extensive than now, to produce the book now under appraisal. It was first published in a limited edition under the patronage of Rock's friends in Honolulu, and was soon to become a scarce collector's item, often bringing over $100 when available, and not now found in many university libraries. The 215 full-page, half-tones were produced, with few exceptions, from the original glass emulsion plates of Rock. These were carefully preserved at the Bernice P. Bishop Museum and were made available for the production of the facsimile edition, so that Rock's photographic genius is conveyed in this edition with great fidelity. In its first appearance this book elicited little editorial comment, for my perusal of the leading botanical journals of that period has produced only a single review, 10 lines long and highly favorable, in The Plant World (17:80, 1914). It was not cited in the Torrey Bulletin Index to American Botanical Literature.

Included in this treatment are a fern genus (Cibotium); three monocot genera (Dracaena, Pandanus, Pritchardia); and 77 genera of dicots, representative of 39 families. It is more than an inventory of the indigenous trees, for it carries also the systematic treatment of several difficult genera, including Pittosporum and Xanthoxylum. The keys to families, genera, and species are of limited practical use because of the man-induced contamination of the indigenous forest by literally hundreds of exotic species. This imposes difficult problems in identification for which there is no solution beyond great diligence in the herbarium and library. It seems unlikely that this book was intended to be an identification manual, however, and it is unfair to criticize it as such. The major objective was to facilitate a deeper appreciation and understanding of the indigenous flora of the Hawaiian Islands. It is most fortunate that this contribution was completed early in the century, for in later years man and exotic ungulates have imposed unprecendented destruction on the pristine vegetation that Rock surveyed and recorded in his field studies. It is most unlikley that a vaguely comparable treatment could now be produced from the remnants.

The strong resurgence of interest in Darwinian evolution and in the biological productions of oceanic islands has been marked by a renewed attention to island biology. To the students of island biology the "key" word might well be indigenous. It is the indigenous species that convey the lessons of evolution on oceanic islands, the indigenous species that are instructive to those who seek in-formation about the peculiar dynamics of long-distance dispersal. Posterity is indeed fortunate that Rock exercised the judgement of emphasizing the indigenous trees, exclusive of the cultivated and pernicious exotic genera that sometimes are included to dilute the significance of island floras.

The purist who might be inclined to carp about some of Rock's nomenclature will be assuaged by Derral Herbst's erudite, 30-page addenda in which the nomenclature has been brought up to date.

The Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden and Mr. Herbert C. Shipman are to be congratulated in their astute judgement and generosity that have brought to the scientific community this highly useful, enduring contribution to botany and to island biology.

George W. Gillett University of California, Riverside

WITHNER, C. L. (ed.) The Orchids: Scientific Studies. Wiley-Interscience, New York. xiv, 604 pages, illustrated. $22.50.

Publication of a new book on the Orchidaceae edited by Professor Withner is like the flowering of a long anticipated, exotic orchid hybrid: Rare, interesting but with flaws. This volume is a sequel to his Orchids, A Scientific Survey. It is a limited collection of review articles on the largest and, yet, least known of all plant families. And, as the Preface by Professor Withner assures us, Orchids: Scientific Studies will, like its predecessor, ". . . stand the test of time." It probably will, but we would have preferred that this assertion had come from someone other than the Editor of both volumes.

The Ecology of Orchids by Professor W. W. Sanford of the University of Ife, Nigeria, the very first comprehensive review on the subject, is simply excellent. It not only includes most of the relevent information on or-chid ecology, but also weaves it masterfully with what is known about other plants and general principles. Professor Sanford writes well, persuasively and always with many facts and citations to back his views. As a result, he has brought orchid ecology of age. His discussion of seed dispersion is fascinating and needs no strengthening; but more emphasis on a recent paper about ultra-cold storage of orchid seeds would have added further strength. We would argue that Epidendrum difforme is not uniform (p. 25), but, then, it all hinges on how the species is defined. Terms such as "saprophytic" and "parasitic" should be used with great care when they are applied to orchids (p. 32), but this may be a matter of semantics. The appearance of Spathoglottis plicata on Krakatoa (p. 8) is a well-chosen example since members of this species (and genus) are well-known `travellers' between Pacific Island and larger land masses. Professor Sanford's chapter will stand the test of time. We are sure that future chapters on orchid ecology will be measured by its level of excellence.

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Professor Warren Stoutamire has worked on the germination of terrestrial orchids for quite some time and summarizes the present state of knowledge. His, too, is an excellent chapter which will be of much value to future workers. We would have liked added coverage of Paphiopedilum, Spathoglottis and other terrestrial (fully or partially) genera, but a writer must adopt certain limitations in order to prevent unwieldly chapters. Hence, Professor Stoutamire's delimitations are as good as any. More specifically, the claim that ". . seeds become photosynthetic ..." (p. 104) is not warranted in our view by published information. Also, the defense reaction of orchids (p. 123) was first discovered and demonstrated by Noel Bernard (and published in a posthumous paper dated 1911). The late Professor Gaumann and his group in Switzerland identified the first orchid "defense chemical" (phytoalexin) in 1945 (as correctly described by Professor Sanford on p. 30). Papers cited in this article are later reviews and not the original reports as implied on p. 123.

Developments in Orchid Physiology by Professor Withner is an attempt to review advances in this area (including biochemistry, phytochemistry and other related fields) during the last 15-20 years. It contains many references and mentions numerous facts, but is telegraphic enough in spots to be without much effect [Examples: "... has made a detailed study ..." (p. 129) and

.. listed the ..." (p. 137), but no details are given in either case]. In other places the review is more detailed and transmits information; but on the whole, we got the feeling of many (boiled down) abstracts and summaries strung end to end. On occasion, not all papers on a subject are cited and the more recent ones (but still published in time for inclusion) are omitted. No mention is made of the first report on orchid sterols from Dr. Wan's laboratory in Singapore which was published in Phytochemistry (Vol. 10: 2267-2269, 1971), and Rosenstock's work on post-pollination (Z. Botany 44: 77-87, 1956). There are several errors, in fact. Oertli and Kohl worked mainly with

not nitrogenous substances (p. 145); others did that; Arditti (1971) does not deal with surfactants while a second paper by Healy et al. (listed among the references) does (p. 135). The work on Cattleya leaves attributed to our laboratory is in fact by Professor Erickson at the University of California, Riverside (p. 152). NADP has long replaced TPN (p. 152) and the orchid fruit is a capsule, not a pod (p. 129, 133). Hardey on p. 131 and 164 should be spelled Hadley. Sucrose is hydrolized during autoclaving, but not "mostly" (p. 133). Three major references (Hadley, G., Johnson and John, 1971; Majestrick, V., 1970; Nieuwdorp, P. J., 1972) on mycorrhiza and fungi penetration are missing. The last two are the signigant electron microscopy studies in the area. In general, there is not enough information on any one subject; and, the review tends toward vague generalization (for example, seed soaking on p. 132 and the use of' "low toxicity materials" on p. 135).

Of very special significance is Dr. George Morel's chapter on clonal propagation. Dr. Morel was the first to realize the potential of tissue culture as a means of clonal propagation for orchids. In 1960 he reported his findings in one of the more significant papers ever published on or-chid propagation. This made possible large-scale and fast propagation of valuable clones from a single shoot-tip. More importantly, however, his discovery provided impetus for others (including our own laboratory) to develop in vitro culture techniques for several orchid tissues and organs as well as additional species. Thus, Dr. George Morel will be forever remembered as one of the most important figures in orchidology. Sadly, this review will be his last since he died in December 1973. In a way, it may be his testament to all those interested in orchids and tissue culture. Fortunately, the article is of the type a per-son (or at least we) would wish to have as the last one. The only portion of the article which does not meet with our approval is the reference to Dr. Ernest Ball's feat of being the very first ever to culture a plant meristem. The simple truth is that Dr. Ball did it, and this fact can never be changed. Hence, attempts to reduce the magnitude of his achievement by qualifying statements do not serve a very useful or worthwhile purpose.

Lists of chromosome numbers in orchids by Professors Kamemoto and Tanaka are well known for their accuracy and exhaustive coverage of the literature. The former can easily be called the father of modern orchid cytology and the latter (a student of Professor Kamemoto) is a very major force in the field. Hence, it is not surprising that Chapter 10 is excellent. We can only marvel and stand in awe of the thoroughness and hard work needed for such an accomplishment.

We have always benefited greatly from the works of Dr. Leslie Garay and Dr. Herman Sweet. Their chapter on Natural and Artificial Hybrid Generic Names (1887-1973) is no exception. In it they update their previous publications in this area, make corrections, provide explanations and base everything solidly on the rules of Botanical Nomenclature. We hope that they will continue to produce such lists at regular intervals.

In summary, while the scope of the hook is impressive, we are disappointed with some of the presentations.

Joseph Arditti &
Michael S. Strauss
Developmental & Cell Biology
University of California
Irvine, CA 92664 USA

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