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BEN # 171



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

No. 171                              July 30, 1997

aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca        Victoria, B.C.
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 Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2
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PACIFIC NORTHWEST CARNIVOROUS PLANT SHOW - AUGUST 10, 1997
From: david.wong@hortus.bc.ca

The  Pacific Northwest Carnivorous Plant Society (Canadian 
Chapter) 1997 Show and Sale

will take place on Sunday, August 10, 1997

     Richmond Nature Park (main pavilion)
     11851 Westminster Highway, Richmond B.C.
     (approx. 1/2 block west of No. 5 Road)

time: 11:00 am to 4:00 pm

admission: by donation

See different representatives of  the  many  carnivorous  plants
from  around  the  world  - including, Nepenthes from S.E. Asia,
Sarracenia from N. America, Pinguicula, Drosera from the tropics
to our backyard. Learn how to grow these plants.

For further info, please email: david.wong@hortus.bc.ca


FIELD KEY TO PIPERIA (ORCHIDACEAE) OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
From: Randall Morgan, 3500 North Main Street, Soquel,
        California 95073

Two genera  of  rein-orchids  occur  in  the  Pacific  Northwest
(Piperia  Rydb.  and Platanthera L.C. Rich.), both of which have
been subsumed by some authors under the genus  Habenaria  Willd.
Plants  of  the genus Piperia can be distinguished from these in
Platanthera by the following characters: 1)  terrestrial  rather
than  semi-aquatic habitat; 2) stem leaves reduced to bracts; 3)
basal leaves usually withering before  or  during  anthesis;  4)
stem  arising from an ovoid tuber rather than fusiform roots; 5)
lip with median ridge rather than flat; 6) perianth  parts  one-
nerved;  7) anther cells opening laterally rather than apically;
8) flowers protandrous by movement of the lip.

Field key to Piperia of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia

1. Spur 2-6 mm, more or less shorter than lip

   2. Flowers white, blade of lip becoming curved  downward  and
      back toward spur
      ............................  P. candida Morgan & Ackerman

   2. Flowers  green  to  translucent,  blade of lip straight or
      curving slightly upward at tip
      .........................  P. unalascensis (Spreng.) Rydb.

1. Spur 7-15 mm, longer than lip

   3. Perianth green or partially  translucent;  viscidia  oval,
      not much longer than wide; plant generally tall, slender
      .......................................  P. elongata Rydb.

   3. Perianth  parts  white with green or yellow-green midvein,
      viscidia oblong, about  twice  as  long  as  wide;  plants
      robust to delicate

      4. Plants  relatively  delicate  (stem 1-3 mm diam.); spur
         straight, held horizontally;  lip  projecting  forward;
         floral fragrance clovelike, nocturnal
         ...............................  P. transversa Suksdorf

      4. Plants  relatively  robust (stem usually more than 3 mm
         diam.); spur usually more or less  curved,  often  held
         concealed  against  stem;  lip curving downward in age;
         floral fragrance often strong, but not clovelike
         ............................  P. elegans (Lindl.) Rydb. 
                              (syn.: P. maritima [Greene] Rydb.)

[Viscidium (pl. viscidia) - a sticky structure usually connected
   to the stipe that carry pollen masses,  thus  aiding  in  the
   attachment of the pollen to pollinators.]

Literature

Ackerman,  J.D.  1977. Biosystematics of the genus Piperia Rydb.
   Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 75: 245-270.
Coleman, R.A. 1995. The  wild  orchids  of  California.  Cornell
   University Press, New York. 201 p.
Morgan,  R.  & J. Ackerman. 1990. Two new Piperias (Orchidaceae)
   from western North America. Lindleyana 5(4): 205-211.
Morgan, R. & L. Glicenstein. 1993. Additional California taxa in
   Piperia (Orchidaceae). Lindleyana 8: 89-95.


NEW SPECIES FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA: CLARKIA VIMINEA (ONAGRACEAE)
From: Adolf & Oluna Ceska <aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca>

On July 20, 1997 we found a population of  about  50  plants  of
Clarkia  viminea in Mt. Tzuhalem Ecological Reserve, near Duncan
on Vancouver Island (AC 31,134). The plants  grew  with  Clarkia
amoena  susbp. lindleyi on the warmest grassy slope dominated by
Stipa lemmonii.

Clarkia viminea (Dougl. ex Hook.) A. Nels.  &  J.F.  Macbr.  has
been recently treated as a subspecies of C. purpurea (W. Curtis)
A.  Nels. & J.F. Macbr. (subsp. viminea [Dougl. ex Hook.] H.F. &
M.E. Lewis). The plants are erect either simple  or  with  erect
branches,  slightly puberulent. The leaves are linear to lanceo-
late with short petioles or sessile. Flower buds are  erect  and
flowers are sessile with reflexed sepals and purplish or crimson
petals.

From  the phytogeographical point of view this species belong to
an interesting group of species that occur from coastal Califor-
nia to coastal northern Oregon and are rare or  entirely  absent
in Washington. This group include species such as Allium amplec-
tens, Crassula erecta (= C. connata), Dryopteris arguta, Isoetes
nuttallii,   Juncus  kelloggii,  Minuartia  pusilla,  Microseris
bigelovii,  Montia  howellii,  Myrica  californica,   Ranunculus
californicus,  Trifolium  depauperatum,  Triphysaria versicolor,
Vulpia pacifica, Woodwardia fimbriata, etc.


MYRIOPHYLLUM PINNATUM, A NEW SPECIES FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA
From: Adolf & Oluna Ceska <aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca>
            & Frank Lomer <ubc@unixg.ubc.ca>

In the fall 1996,  Frank  Lomer  found  a  large  population  of
flowering  water-milfoil  that  we  identified  as  Myriophyllum
pinnatum (Walt.)  B.S.P.  (syn.:  M.  scabratum  Michx.,  family
Haloragaceae).  The  locality  was  a shallow artificial lake in
Minnekhada Park in Coquitlam, east of Vancouver, B.C.

Myriophyllum pinnatum belongs to the  section  Tessaronia.  This
section  is  characterized  by having male flowers with four an-
thers (instead of eight in the other species) and having  leaves
arranged  in the "pseudowhorls" (= you can find single scattered
leaves besides those that are in whorls).  M.  pinnatum  differs
from  all  other  species  of Tessaronia by having ridges of the
fruit covered with sessile glands.

Sterile specimens are difficult to identify since  they  can  be
confused  with  M.  hippuroides  which  is quite frequent in the
lower  Fraser  River   Valley.   Chromatographic   analysis   of
flavonoids  that  proved to be a reliable identification tool in
sterile specimens of some Myriophyllum  species,  however,  does
not  work in the subgenus Tessaronia, since all British Columbia
members of  this  group  have  an  identical  flavonoid  pattern
(Ceska,  1977;  Ceska  &  Ceska 1986). Herbarium specimens of M.
pinnatum have "wiry" stems that turn darker  after  drying  com-
pared with thick-stemmed deep green specimens of M. hippuroides,
but  for  reliable identification, fertile specimens are needed.
In nearby Pitt Lake, we collected strange  specimens  with  wiry
stems  in  1979,  but  we  were unable to identify them since we
could not find fertile specimens. In a 1996 trip we  stopped  at
Pitt  Lake  and  got  fruiting material that we identified as M.
pinnatum. Later we found several fertile collections  from  Pitt
Lake  made  by  T.C. Brayshaw that we also identified as M. pin-
natum.

Myriophyllum pinnatum is a species of eastern North America.  It
is  difficult to conjecture whether it was introduced to British
Columbia. It may well belong to the interesting group of aquatic
vascular plants indigenous to the Pacific Northwest  that  occur
both  in  eastern  and  western  North America with a gap in the
prairie provinces. Les  (1986)  gave  a  list  of  species  with
similar  distribution  and discussed the phytogeography of these
species. In the Herbarium of the Royal British  Columbia  Museum
(V)  there  is  a  fragment of a sterile plant collected in Pitt
Lake by J.K. Henry in October  1916  (V 41,820b)  that  is  most
probably  M.  pinnatum.  This  may indicate that M. pinnatum has
been well established in the Pitt Lake area for a long time.

Attention palynologists and palaeobotanists!

There are interesting projects related to the genus Myriophyllum
or to the aquatic plants in  British  Columbia  that  should  be
investigated:

 1. The  palynological study of Myriophyllum in British Columbia
    by Mathews (1978) should be extended  by  those  species  of
    milfoil  that have been added to the flora of British Colum-
    bia since the 1970's (Ceska &  Warrington,  1976;  Ceska  et
    al., 1986): Myriophyllum farwellii, M. quitense, M. pinnatum
    and M. ussuriense.

 2. An  attempt should be made to trace the history of distribu-
    tion of the group of aquatic plants native to eastern  North
    America  and  occurring  in British Columbia and the Pacific
    Northwest.

Literature cited

Ceska, A. and  P.D.  Warrington.  1976.  Myriophyllum  farwellii
   (Haloragaceae) in British Columbia. Rhodora 78: 75-77.
Ceska,  O.  1977.  Studies  on  aquatic  macrophytes, part XVII:
   Phytochemical differentiation of Myriophyllum taxa  collected
   in British Columbia. Water Investigation Branch, Victoria. 
   33 p.
Ceska,  O.  &  A.  Ceska.  1986.  Myriophyllum (Haloragaceae) in
   British Columbia: problems with  identification.  Pp.  39-50.
   In:  Lars  W. Anderson, editor. Proceedings of the First Sym-
   posium on watermilfoil (Myriophyllum  spicatum)  and  related
   Haloragaceae  species. Aquatic Plant Management Society Vick-
   sburgh, Mississippi.
Ceska, O.,  A.  Ceska  &  P.D.  Warrington.  1986.  Myriophyllum
   quitense   and   Myriophyllum  ussuriense  (Haloragaceae)  in
   British Columbia, Canada. Brittonia 38: 73-81.
Les, D.H. 1986. The phytogeography of Ceratophyllum demersum and
   C. echinatum (Ceratophyllaceae) in glaciated  North  America.
   Can. J. Bot. 64: 498-509.
Mathews,  R.W.  1978. Pollen morphology of some western Canadian
   Myriophyllum species in relation to taxonomy.  Can.  J.  Bot.
   56: 1372-1380.


REQUEST FOR SEEDS OF NORTH AMERICAN AMELANCHIER SPECIES
From: Campbell Davidson <CDavidson@EM.AGR.CA>

I  have a graduate student that is searching for seed from North
American Amelanchier species. The focus of the research at least
initially will be disease resistance. There is considered inter-
est in commercial production of  saskatoons  as  a  fruit  crop,
however,  when grown in large blocks, disease pressures build as
might be expected in a perennial crop.

The quantity of seed required is minimal at least at the  start.
If you are able to help out please drop me note.

   Campbell G. Davidson
   Morden Arboretum
   Unit 100-101 Route 100
   Morden MB R6M 1Y5
   phone 204-822-4471
   fax 204-822-6841


FOREST ECOLOGY IN INDONESIA - UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
From: Larry Dill <ldill@sfu.ca>

I am working with the Eastern Indonesia Universities Development
Project here at the Simon Fraser University, trying to encourage
junior  faculty  members  (called "dosen") in several Indonesian
Universities to get more involved in biodiversity  research.  In
October,  as  part  of this program, I conducted a grant writing
workshop in Manado, N  Sulawesi  for  10  dosen,  each  of  whom
prepared  a  short  research  proposal.  I am now trying to find
collaborators for a few of these dosen, with the idea that  they
may  be  able to apply jointly for research funds to actually do
the work.

One of the participants is interested in the effect of  tropical
forest  fragmentation  (through natural disturbances, as well as
shifting cultivation practices) on plant species diversity. I am
attempting to find him a Canadian  collaborator/mentor  who  has
tropical  experience,  a good record of grants and publications,
and the time and willingness to develop a long  term  collabora-
tive  research  program  in  Indonesia. I am able to support the
initial phase with funds allowing travel to  Indonesia  to  meet
the  Indonesian colleague, work on a more detailed proposal, and
perhaps collect some preliminary data.

   Lawrence M. Dill, Professor and Director,
   Behavioural Ecology Research Group,
   Department of Biological Sciences,
   Simon Fraser University
   Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6
   CANADA
   Phone: 604-291-3664
   FAX:  604-291-3496


BROUSSEAU PROJECT: NATIVE WILDFLOWERS OF CALIFORNIA
From: Brother Eric Vogel <evogel@stmarys-ca.edu>

This is to announce the completion of the (second phase)  Brous-
seau  Project through the scanning of Brother Alfred Brousseau's
total collection of 11,300 color slides of native wildflowers of
California and the placing of these on Internet at the  address:
http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/flowers/. An excellent search engine
has been built by Ginger Ogle and this site does a marvelous job
of  displaying  the  pictures  (in three different sizes, if you
wish.) Also a grad student at Berkeley built a search system  so
that  one can find "flowers with lots of yellow, some purple and
black" if one wishes. This alone is worth the visit to the site.

I have been responsible for the scanning and  indexing  of  this
great  collection  of  slides.  The  project  continues with the
scanning--and eventual putting on internet--of Brother  Alfred's
slide  collection  of Native (pine) trees of California, as well
as a fairly extensive collection of slides of mushrooms.

As an incidental to this project, there is in production a  1988
calendar  featuring  twelve  beautiful pictures of some of these
slides. This calendar is in the 8" by 11" format, consisting  of
a  full  page  picture  for each month. It will become available
about mid-september 1997. A donation to the Brousseau Project of
$7.50 is requested.

   Brother Eric Vogel F.S.C.
   Saint Mary's College of California
   1928 St. Mary's Road
   Moraga, CA, 94575
   (510)-631-4296


RE: MOSSES IN POETRY (BEN # 168)

The national anthem of Japan is a song entitled  'Kimigayo'.  It
was  formally designated the national anthem in 1893, during the
reign of the Meiji Emperor. The song was composed by an Imperial
Court Musician of the Meiji era. The lyrics are from a poem that
was written over 1000 years ago. The words mean

   'May your  reign  continue  for  a  thousand,  nay,  eight
   thousand  generations  and  for the eternity that it takes
   for small pebbles to grow into a  great  rock  and  become
   covered with moss.'
   

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