Plant Science Bulletin archive

Issue: 1973 v18 No 1 SpringActions

PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN

A Publication of the Botanical Society of America, Inc.

March 1973 Vol. 19 No. 1

The Potential of Audio-Tutorial Systems of Instruction R. N. Hurst and S. N Postlethwait 2
Is Audio-Tutorial Always Justified?   William R. Bowen 3
Reflections after the Symposium on Systematic Biological Collections,    July 6-8, 1972   F. R. Fosberg 4
The Teaching of Higher Plant Morphology in the United States,    Opinion/Commentary   D. R. Kaplan 6
AIBS Manpower Questionnaire   7
The Amherst Meeting   9
Welcome to 1,600 New Members!   9
Current Thought in Plant Ecology   9
Editor's Notes   9
XII International Botanical Congress June 23-30, 1975   10
Botanical Potpourri   10
Personalia   11
Botanical Society of America, Inc. Officers for 1973   12
Botanical Society of America, Inc. Committees-1973   14
Minutes of the Business Meeting Botanical Society of America   15
Citations for Awards Presented at the Annual Banquet, 1972   16
Corresponding Members, Botanical Society of America, 1972   17

Book Reviews
Exotic Mushrooms, Henri Romagnesi   17
Recent Advances in Phytochemistry, V. C. Runecles and J. E. Watkins, eds.   18
A Computer-Mapped Flora - A Study of the County of Warwickshire, D. A. Cadbury, J. G. Hawkes and R. C. Readett   18
Horticultural Science, 2nd ed., Jules Janick   19
Viability of Seeds, E. H. Roberts   19
Algen Flora der Ostsee. 1. Bentos (Blau-, Grun-, Braun-, and Rotalgen) Helmut Pankow   19
Pollen and Spores of Chile, Calvin J. Heusser   20

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The Potential of Audio-Tutorial Systems of Instruction1

R. N. Hurst and S. N Postlethwait
Purdue University
Lafayette, Indiana

Neither its strongest supporter nor its severest critic could deny the impact of the Audio-Tutorial System of instruction on education - especially education in the biological sciences. This short paper will assume that the impact has been, for the most part, favorable, and that the modifications of the initial system which will be suggested here will have further impact, also, for the most part, favorable.

The original Audio-Tutorial format designed, implemented and modified since 1961 by S. N. Postlethwait was considerably altered in 1969 when the concepts of' minicourse packaging and learning for mastery were introduced into courses in botany and zoology at Purdue University. A different instructional package was needed to facilitate individual pacing, and to create the possibility of various individual curricula within the course. The latter situation would create the potential of variable course credit among the individual students enrolled in the course. A different instructional package was also needed to facilitate student recycling which would become necessary with a learning for mastery system. This package was the minicourse.

Minicourses are, just as their name implies, little courses. Each has a beginning and an end, and each relates to another in virtually the same pattern as one course in any college curriculum relates to another. So some have prerequisites; others do not. Some carry more credit and so are more intense or longer than others. Just as some courses involve labs, field trips or demonstrations or as some are more visual than others, minicourses may vary one from another.

Minicourse content is perhaps more logical than the content of some courses (which may be artifically inclusive of specific topics within a given discipline). Minicourses are designed around a single topic or idea or principle. These divisions are much more natural.

Just as college students in the still-remembered past were offered more individualized curricula when a variety of courses replaced the single curriculum all students were expected to follow upon enrolling, so minicourses further individualize the curriculum. In the Bioligy 108-109 package, it is possible that no two students will complete the courses having taken exactly the same sequence of minicourses.

All students do complete a core of minicourses essential to a student's background in an introductory biology sequence — this to protect them in their enrollment in subsequent courses. About twenty percent of all mini-courses completed, however, are chosen by the student, based on his interests and perhaps his educational objectives, from an extensive group of optional minicourses. Thus each student has some control over his fate in the course, and within some limits can tailor the package to fit his individual needs and interests. Very likely, the list of "core" minicourses currently considered absolutely essential to a student enrolled in introductory botany or zoology can be drastically reduced and more curricular option given to the student.

Also, why should every student in every option using the 108-109 sequence take 8 credit hours of biology, (4 credit hours for each course)? The answer is, they probably shouldn't. Horticulture students may require fewer animal minicourses than do the animal science students. Students in agricultural economics or agricultural engineering may need less biology than either of the first two options. Department heads and curriculum committees can make decisions easily on how many and which minicourses their students should perhaps complete because specific objectives are part of every minicourse. By assigning the appropriate fraction of a semester credit hour to each minicourse - a simple task actually - variable credit hour packages can be created. Students can complete their own specific package in the same Learning Center and in the same quiz sections as other students completing a totally different package. Students transferring some biology credit from another college can have individual packages of minicourses designed for them which include only the specific minicourses needed by them to obtain a background equivalent to other students in their same option.

What about the housewife or the business man or the farmer who would like one semester credit hour in biology, or who would like to know "something" about genetics, or minteral nutrition, photosynthesis or birth control or whatever? The minicourse format permits that kind of student access to specific areas of interest or need without the necessity of an enrollment in and completion of an entire course. The potential then in continuing or extension or adult education is unlimited.

Consider also the disadvantaged student. Specific minicourses designed to eliminate specific deficiencies make more sense than enrollment in an entire course when the deficiency may not be nearly as broad as the course content. Instead of giving the patient one of' each pill on the shelf to cure the condition, diagnosis followed by prescription of fewer specific pills, possibly even one, is the treatment required. Instructional packages like the minicourse can function in this capacity.

The "frosting on the cake" touch to an Audio-Tutorial system of instruction can be added by adopting the concept of learning for mastery. Does it make sense to purport that what you as a teacher want most is to teach your students some botany when you test them and then cast aside or reject those that did not learn; when you do not establish a mechanism through which these "not so able" or "not so diligent" students can recycle'? If we test the biology knowledge level of students before an instructional period begins, chances are we would obtain a "normal" curve or a curve of random distribution. With the usual pattern of grading at the end of this instructional period, chances are great that those same students will be scattered on another curve or random

1Presented al the A.I.B.S. meetings, Minneapolis, Minn,, August 28, 1972 as part of a symposium: "Potentials and Limitations of Audio-Tutorial Instruction, sponsored by the Teaching Section, Botanical Society of America. This paper and the one following by Mr. Bowen are the first of four that will be published in PSB based on this symposium.-ed.

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distribution. Does this mean the educational process itself has been random'? Not necessarily because hopefully the entire curve has been shifted toward the up side.

But it does mean that we have been willing to quit or stop while those students at the lower end of the curve are perhaps not much better off than the students at the higher end of the curve before instruction began. It might also mean that from one group to another, one semester to another, we may change our grading standards as the curve shifts to the right or left. It makes more sense to establish a standard, a minimal standard which all students must achieve, and then devise a system whereby the student might recycle, if the need is present, until he reaches that standard. The student then is required to master at some minimal level all the material he is responsible for in the course.

There are those who would maintain that the usual pattern of grading has this potential built into it. The F student didn't reach the minimum and can or must recycle through the course. Perhaps that student in botany, however, knew plant structure very well, but didn't do well on photosynthesis and respiration. Is it right to recycle him through all of botany when all he really didn't know was photosynthesis and respiration?

If minimal standards were set for each minicourse (and they probably ought to be set no lower than at a C level of mastery), it would be possible to hold that student to that standard on each and every minicourse in his specific package of minicourses. Recycling through a minicourse on photosynthesis is more logical than recycling through an entire botany course. The Audio-Tutorial system and the minicourse package make a mastery learning situation easy to implement. A mini-course can be made available to students until each student has satisfactorily completed that minicourse while the rest of the carrels in the Learning Center can be set up with subsequent minicourses. Individual pacing is the natural consequence of this system.

Ideally, the instructor should perhaps hold out for a minimal level of A work from all his students, but realistically, he may find it prudent to settle for a B or perhaps a C minimal level. Traditions and traditional thinking fade slowly, if at all.

Learning for mastery means that time not performance becomes the variable in the educational process, and this concept in turn puts a different complexion on the idea of aptitude. Aptitude becomes nothing more than a measure of time needed by a student to accomplish some task. This idea was first presented by Carroll in 1963 (Carroll, J. 1963. A model of school learning. Teachers College Record, 64:723-33). The student in a mastery learning situation also learns to expect success and associate success with learning. In a society where so much new knowledge becomes available each year that no one can afford to stop his pursuit of education at any time-in his life, this positive attitude toward education may be the most important trade off in a learning for mastery situation. Whatever else it does, learning for mastery functions to promote success and eliminate failure.

The concepts of minicourses and mastery have in-creased the potential of the Audio-Tutorial system of instruction by increasing the flexibility of the system. New twists to old systems should always increase the flexibility not the lockstep of the system. For those working with the Audio-Tutorial format, minicourses and mastery are recommended to you as techniques for in-creasing flexibility. With flexibility comes the option of trying out promising new ideas and procedures.

Is Audio-Tutorial Always Justified?

William R. Bowen
Biology Department
Ripon College
Ripon, Wisconsin

The Audio-Tutorial system has, since its advent in the early 1960's (Postlethwait, et al., 1964; Postlethwait, 1967), had a marked impact on biological education. It has been widely adopted, the results ranging from success to failure. Audio-Tutorial does provide certain educational advantages when properly employed but, as Ehrle (1970) noted, the Audio-Tutorial system does not "solve all educational problems."

For students, some of the tangible advantages of the Audio-Tutorial approach can be: (1) an opportunity to work with content material at their own "pace" and thereby provide the slow-learner with the same opportunities as the fast-learner, (2) exposure to an enriching presentation of content through multi-media hardware, and (3) a greater degree of interaction with the teacher. For teachers, (1) freedom from inflexible teaching schedules, (2) better coordination of lecture and laboratory content, and (3) an economical means of handling high enrollments are often cited as advantages.

But are these advantages always attained with the adoption of Audio Tutorial? The answer is no. Ehrle (1970) noted that it is the dedication and attitudes of the staff involved in the design, development, and implementation of an Audio-Tutorial program, and not the virtues of the system itself, that ultimately leads to suecess or failure. One of the greatest dangers lies in the belief that the adoption of Audio-Tutorial will bring with it the flair and enthusiasm of its creator, Dr. Samuel N. Postlethwait. It simply will not. A poor teacher and/or course will remain just what they were before Audio-Tutorial—poor! And a greater student interest in biology will not be forthcoming simply because content presentation has been mechanized (Gering, 1972). Audio-Tutorial programs unfortunately tend to rely heavily, and sometimes wholly, on "canned" laboratory work, e.g., demonstrations, pictorial displays, etc. Direct student involvement with lining biology is all too often lacking. The student simply does not get his hands dirty.

Another important "if"' is the real cost of adopting Audio-Tutorial. Without question, the Audio-Tutorial system has proved to be an economical means of "humanizing" those introductory biology courses with a seemingly overwhelming number of students. But Hahn (1971) has shown that, while the expense per student is not relatively high, the initial expense of hardware to implement an Audio-Tutorial program could be prohibitively high — as in the small college. There is also the problem of the right personnel being available for the necessary design and development unless an already existing program is "lifted" intact. It is- even possible

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today for a "money-conscious" administration to misconstrue the extra time that ultimately will be available for greater student-faculty contact as instead an opportunity for staff reduction. The latter could be a costly proposition for schools where such cutbacks in staff result in a serious erosion in the quality and diversity of basic programs.

This brings me to a thought foremost in my mind; namely, is Audio-Tutorial the only means of achieving the advantages that are potentially inherent in its adoption? That is, are there other "systems in which the student could work successfully at his own pace and in a manner that is basically independent? The answer is yes. Vuke (1964) noted that "if one wanted to modify the (Audio-Tutorial) technique and eliminate the expense of the tape playback equipment, the instructions could be programmed on printed materials." The Position-Programmed approach represents an effort in that direction in which the student is provided with programmed written materials, in lieu of the taped materials for Audio-Tutorial, and pertinent illustrative material (Abell, 1969). In the Auto-Tutorial approach (Bowen, 1968; Bowen, 1969), the use of pertinent do-it-yourself laboratory experimentation is integrated into programmed printed materials in a manner that provides a "learn through doing" learning experience in living biology. Such experiences can be structured into week-long modules which, not only serve to coordinate lecture and laboratory material, but make feasible the use of open laboratories and multi-media enrichment in non Audio-Tutorial situations.

LITERATURE CITED

Abell, D. L. 1969. New patterns of laboratory instruction. CUEBS Working Papers, 1:2-8.

Bowen, W. R. 1968. An auto-tutorial approach to teaching biology. Amer. Jour. Botany, 55(pt. 2):740.

Bowen, W. R. 1969. Experimental Cell Biology. Macmillan Co., New York.

Ehrle, E. B. 1971. Avoiding the audio-tutorial mistake. BioScience, 20(2):103.

Gering, R. L. 1972. Individualized instruction in education today. Ward's Bulletin, 11(83):1.

 

PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN

ROBERT W. LONG, Editor
Life Science Bldg. 174
University of South Florida
Tampa, Florida 33620

EDITORIAL BOARD
Elwood B. Ehrle, Mankato State College
Adolph Hecht, Washington State University
Donald R. Kaplan, University of California (Berkeley)
Erich Steiner, University of Michigan
Beryl S. Vuilleumier, Smithsonian Institutuin

March 1973      Volume Nineteen     Number One

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.

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

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

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

Hahn, T. C. 1971. Audio-tutorial instruction: A case study. BioScience, 21(15):814-819.

Postlethwait, S. N. 1967. Teaching tools and techniques: An audio-tutorial approach to teaching. Pacific Speech, 1(4):57-62. Postlethwait, S. N., J. Novak, and H. Murray. 1964. An integrated experience approach to learning, with emphasis on independent study. Burgess Publishing Co., Minneapolis.

Vuke, G. 1964. Book review (Plant Science — A Workbook with an Audio Program Approach, by S. N. Postlethwait). Amer. Biol. Teacher, 26(7):528.

Reflections after the Symposium
on Systematic Biological
Collections, July 6-8, 1972

F. R. Fos berg
Falls Church, Va.

The basic task of the science of systematic biology is, of course, to construct a system or classification of organisms that will arrange them according to as nearly natural or evolutionary relationships as possible and that will accommodate all species that exist or have existed on the earth. Such a classification will provide a framework on which can be arranged all information that is or becomes available about any and all of these organisms. This is, or course, a continuing responsibility and is the scientific raison-d'etre of systematic biology. It is the aim of most of the research activities of the workers in the field, and, in a rational intellectual culture, would provide ample justification for the expenditure of whatever financial resources were needed to do it at a modest but steady rate.

However, our culture is neither basically rational nor intellectual, but, rather, is motivated by economic factors or by drives generally translatable into economic terms. This means that to get even minimal continuing support, the results coming from systematic botany must be translatable into economic values because direct, understandable benefits must accrue to the people, who ultimately provide the money. To put is crudely, the manin-the-street, the average voter and tax-payer, couldn't care less about the scientific aims of systematic botany, in fact, would not know the meaning of the term if he heard it. Therefore, it is very improbable that his representatives who control government expenditures would likely provide much support for it, regardless of our persuasion.

However, information about plants and animals is a salable commodity. Society needs more and more of it, and will continue to. Everyone — from agriculturists to drug manufacturers, military men, timbermen, medical men, ecologists, amateur gardeners, wildlife managers, county planners, and many others — needs biological in-formation of diverse sorts at one time or another. Such in-formation is produced by biologists of all sorts, and any one of them can supply the products of his own specialty. However, the biological classification, product of systematic biology, provides a ready access to all such knowledge that can be associated with a taxon or systematic group.

This classification is the basic system of access to and retrieval of information whether the mechanism of storage and retrieval is a cross file or index, a book, a computer, or a human mind. Without it, biologically organized information would be an impossibility. It is as yet, an imperfect creation. It must provide a natural arrangement of up to 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 species, living and fossil, many of them not even known yet.

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Significant improvements in this classification are, and can be, made only by trained systematic biologists (whether or not this is their only or principal job), and there are remarkably few of these, in relation to the size and difficulty of the task. Their work varies in quality with their innate ability, experience, and training, with the time available for their tasks, and with the number and condition of the specimens available to them. The process of building the classification is one of continuous revision and improvement.

The basic operation in using this classification to gain access to the stored information is identification. Whether this is done by using books with keys, a biologist who knows the organism, a collection for comparison, or a computer, this is the operation that must precede any information retrieval if the information is about a plant or animal. Identification is only possible if the organism is known and has a place in the classification. It is only likely to be correct if the particular segment of the classification is adequate and up-to-date.

It is, of course, obvious that the matter of priorities could be simply disposed of by giving the highest priority to perfecting the biological classification and second priority to providing an identification service to utilize this classification for the public good. This sort of ordering of priorities does not help much. The plan pr strategy for accomplishing this will have many components and it is among these that priorities must be established. Such priorities, of course, should be deter-mined by their relation to the accomplishment of the main task of perfecting the classification and to the public service functions and duties of the enterprise.

I do not think one can make a clear separation between the functions of the collections and those of the systematists or users of the collections in this context, certainly not in the establishment of priorities. Nor is a clean-cut linear order of priorities, where one task would be finished before another begins, feasible or even desirable. Theoretically, of course, information must be assembled before it can be organized into a classification. The classification, in theory, must be constructed before mechanisms are perfected for identification of individual organisms (specimens). These tasks, again in theory, must be completed before the process of organizing biological information according to the classification.

However, the gigantic task of discovering, studying and classifying the possible 10,000,000 species of organisms has already been going on from the dawn of civilization, and in a formal, written-down fashion for over 2,000 years. A large proportion of the biological species have been discovered and at least part of the in-formation on each has been recorded and incorporated into the classification. The rough outlines of the classification have already taken shape, more clearly in some parts than in others. Identifications are made, more or less adequately, of most known organisms. The classification is most adequate and the associated in-formation most nearly complete in the temperate and polar regions, where the most biological work has been done and the fewest species of organisms occur. The adequacy here is only relative. In the tropics the work is hardly well started in many areas. In no area, anywhere, can even a biological inventory, let alone a thorough organization of the needed information be said to be completed.

Only in recent years has the realization come home to most of us that destruction of natural biotic communities is progressing so fast that much valuable biological in-formation and even many species are being lost irrevocably. Already many species are only known, and will only be known from museum specimens, photographs, and secondary recorded information. Now we begin to realize that the rate of this process of biological impoverishment is exponentially increasing. It is clear that a great many tropical organisms will disappear before they are ever studied, some even before any specimens are collected and preserved. This has become a matter of widespread concern, but only the biologists, and especially the systematists, are well enough informed to express valid opinions on it.

These facts tend to alter our possible scale of priorities and to upset any idea of a logical order of development of biological knowledge and classification. An urgency is placed upon getting and preserving all biological information, especially primary information in the form of actual material and photos that is in any danger of being lost. We owe this, not only to our descendents, but even to ourselves — the degradation is going on so rapidly.

A far greater value is thus also acquired by our ac-cumulated museum collections. They become our only reliable records of many biological facts that are no longer easily available, indeed, in many cases not available at all any more. Far more urgent, also, has become the provision of adequate facilities for preparation and care of material being collected now or in the future. It is no longer easy to "go out and collect some more", even no longer possible in many cases. Of course, the indispensable nomenclatural type specimens, a primary and unavoidable responsibility of systematic collections, by definition cannot be replaced.

The task of the systematist and biogeographer has also been augmented by the urgent necessity to establish the status of rare and endangered species — not only those of showy birds and game animals, but of plants, snails, salamanders, insects, and all other groups, especially terrestrial ones. Intelligent efforts to preserve and protect them cannot be made unless we know what they are, where, and under what circumstances they live, and from what sources the threats to their existence come. Only the systematists and the local naturalists have the background to determine these things.

There is no question but that a number of the activities of systematists and systematic collections must be carried on simultaneously, in order that the main tasks be accomplished or that the materials for their future accomplishment be saved.

Of number one priority, then, are the tasks of col-_ lecting and observing organisms in threatened habitats; of caring adequately for the material collected and pre-served, i. e., the provision for adequate support of our systematic collections; of recording the variation and reproductive and population behavior of species, especially those in as yet not seriously disturbed habitats; and of providing identification guides for the different groups by regions, in order to give the interested public some measure of access to our accumulated information. Concomittent with these, and of equal importance, is the training of young systematists and passing on to them as much as possible of the benefits of our .experience.

The function of systematics in providing an organizational framework for and access to the enormous and unwieldy mass of biological information must be stressed in the proposed national plan for systematic biology. If it is presented in clear terms related to the needs of the users, lay as well as scientific, of biological information — support for systematic biology will be

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more readily secured. If the central and indispensable role of collections as the essential base of primary in-formation on which systematics feeds is made clear, both to our scientific colleagues and to those who control fiscal decisions, public and private, the systematic collections would receive as adequate support as do other essential public services.

OPINION/COMMENTARY

The Teaching of Higher Plant
Morphology in the United States

Following the influence of Coulter and Chamberlain at the turn of the century, the teaching of plant morphology iii the United States has become almost synonymous with the study of plant life histories in a semi-taxonomic survey of the plant kingdom. As a result, the reproductive aspects of plant structure tend to receive the lion's share of attention whereas features of general organization and organography are usually relegated to a brief but often inaccurate description of the plant's "habit'.' While this outlook may be justified in treatments of algae and fungi where vegetative morphology is simpler and reproductive structures more complex, it seems less defensible iii the study of higher plants where the reverse is true. Furthermore, when taught only within the taxonomic fl amework presently in vogue, morphology emerges simply as a handmaiden of systematics rather than a basic science in its own right.

It should be appreciated that our country's conception of plant morphology is largely an Anglo-American view that is not necessarily shared by other botanists in the world. It is particularly in the Austro-Germanic countries of Europe, where morphological thought has reached its most sophisticated development, that a different conception exists. There, "comparative morphology" is synonymous with the study of the gross morphological relationships of plant organs("organography"),whereas "plant anatomy" is usually equated with the study of tissue organization and cell types. Hence we really do not teach comparative morphology in this sense in the U. S. but instead emphasize the histological and cytological features almost to the exclusion of the more general principles of plant form.

In Germany, in particular, comparative morphology has developed as a rigorously analytical science in which the structure of higher plants is studied in terms of the patterns of symmetry, modes of branching and differences in development responsible for the diversity of form. Moreover, this morphological diversity is often considered in relation to the habitats in which the various species grow in an effort to understand the adaptive significance of each structural variant. With this approach it is the organographic categories (such as shoot, leaf and root, for example) which form the framework of the subject matter rather than the taxonomic system; systematic comparisons are thus made within this morphological context where they are relevant. In the 20th century Karl Von Goebel and Wilhelm Troll have been the most vigorous advocates of this point of view. Through their own re-searches and those of their disciples, they have provided a rich literature which is still, however, a relatively untapped resource for our morphological teaching.

For some time I have felt that since morphology has its own principles and phenomenology, there was no reason that it could not be taught along the same lines as courses in physiology and anatomy, neither of which relies strictly on a systematic treatment for presentation. It seemed that the principles of plant organization could fitst be elucidated and then applied secondarily (either in the same course or in a separate second course) to an evolutionary treatment of the major plant groups. For this reason I attempted to incorporate the organographic approach into my own teaching and developed an upper division course entitled "The principles of plant morphology." The course begins with a consideration of the origin of organization in embryogenesis and then proceeds through the following subjects: morphology of germination; shoot growth and symmetry; branching; morphological specializations of the shoot, including storage shoots, shoots of succulents and vines; and then onto a discussion of the comparative morphology of leaves and roots and their specialization. It then considers the adaptation of the whole body for divergent life strategies including that of aquatic plants, epiphytes and parasites, and concludes with a treatment of the relation of reproductive morphology to the entire plant body. In each special topic comparisons are made not only within the range of vascular plant structure but examples are also drawn from the bryophytes, algae and fungi where they are germane.

The response of students to this approach has been quite enthusiastic. They have come to feel that a course of this nature has the following advantages: (1) through the examination of a number of variants of the same organizational theme, they have a more profound understanding of the fundamentals of plant organization with a minimum of memorization; (?) the emphasis on morphological principles permits them to carry from the classroom a viewpoint that can be applied, without the use of complicated technical equipment, to the analysis of the structure of unknown or seemingly anomalous plant species; (3) having studied groups where relatively minor morphological changes have produced every structural intermediate (such as in Cactaceae),they emerge from the course with a more valid appreciation of plant evolution than they do in courses which expect them to simply memorize current phylogenetic dogma; (4) because they study some of the most interesting plant groups rather than the relatively dull but "typical" representatives of each taxonomic category, their interest in botany and plant morphology is enhanced; and (5) because the adaptational significance of the structural diversity is explored, the relationship of plant morphology to other disciplines, such as physiology and ecology, becomes more apparent; hence morphology seems less isolated than it does in the more traditional context.

Obviously the re-introduction of' organographic principles to morphological teaching should not be done at the expense of the usual reproductive survey. Both are essential to our teaching of structural botany. To simply substitute the orientation I advocate would he as much in error as the persent deletion of organography from our curriculum. I would only suggest that such a phylogenetic survey might best be preceded by a course oriented strictly toward morphological principles. (Presumably the students would have mastered the essentials of plant life histories and the defining characteristics of the major plant groups in their elementary biology or botany courses; therefore the same approach would not have to be reiterated in greater detail at the upper division level, as is currently the trend.) This would then provide equal

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Special Notice to All Members of the Botanical Society of America

At the special request of AIBS, there is reproduced below a "Manpower- Questionnaire" that is the basis for a survey of the state of economic health of biologists in general. All members of the Botanical Society, including student and regular members. are asked to complete the information sheet, tear off from PSB, and mail to AIBS. The questionnaire is self-addressed.—ed.

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representation of both approaches and at the same time compensate for the lack of depth of botanical teaching in our already overburdened general biology courses. In the final analysis I believe that the benefits derived from both the stimulation and renewal of research interest in plant morphology would more than repay the effort involved in making such a revision.

Donald R. Kaplan University of California, Berkeley and

Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami

The Amherst Meeting

The Botanical Society of America will hold its annual meeting in conjunction with the American Institute of Biological Sciences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Massachusetts, June 17-22, 1973. The Call for Papers was sent out to members last fall, and the final scheduling for the Society is now being worked out by Program Director Dr. Augustus DeMaggio. Forms for advanced registration and for housing accomodations will he published in forthcoming issues of Bioscience. Those planning to attend the Amherst Meeting are requested to obtain the official registration and housing applications from Bioscience, or they may be obtained by writing directly to AIBS Meetings Department, 3900 Wisconsin Avenue, N. W., Washington, D. C. 20016.

Ten participating societies, including the American Fern Society, Ecological Society of America, Mycological Society, Phycological Society, and the Torrey Botanical Club, will have programs during the meeting. The local representative for the Botanical Socciety is Dr. David Bierhorst, Department of Botany, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass. 01002.

A pre-conference symposium entitled "Current Thought in Plant Ecology", sponsored by the Committee on Education of the Botanical Society, will be held on June 17, and details of this meeting are given elsewhere in PSB. A special post-conference symposium entitled "Physiological Adaptation to the Environment" will be sponsored by AIRS June 20-22.

To all the new members of BSA, we extend a special invitation to come to the annual meeting and participate in the program.

Welcome to 1,600 New Members!

Last fall a special membership drive was launched to attract all those botanists and botanical-types who should be members of the Botanical Society of America. The Membership Committee, composed of Drs. Kenton Chambers, Nels Lersten, Michael Schneider, and A. J. Sharp, chairman, did their job beyond all expectations—our Treasurer, Dr. Ritchie Bell, was non-plussed! (Usually he is very plussed!) As a result of their efforts we now have over 1,600 new members, and our total membership is approaching the 5,000 mark. Special thanks goes to the Membership Committee, and a special welcome to all our new members! If you are new to the Society, we want to invite you to participate in the annual meeting this year at the University of Massachusetts, June 17-22. Further announcements will be made in Bioscience.

Current Thought in Plant Ecology

The Committee on Education of the Botanical Society is once again planning to sponsor a pre-convention symposium for undergraduate instructors, in conjunction with the AIRS meetings. This year the topic will be Current Thought in Plant Ecology. David Gates, will be discussing energy exchange, Elroy Rice, will consider plant allelopathy, Richard Ford, will consider ethnobotany, and Timothy Allen will describe his application of systems analysis.

Sunday, June 17, 1973

Program

9-10:15 a.m. Biophysical Ecology - The Analytical Science. David M. Gates, Director, Biological Station, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48104. 10:45-12 Noon. Allelopathy and Its Importance in Ecology. Elroy L. Rice. Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, 73069.

Lunch

1:15-2:30 p.m. Multivariate Analyses of the Structure and Dynamics of Algal Communities. Timothy F. Allen, Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706.

2:45-4:00 p.m. Ethnobotany and Ecology: A Synthesis. Richard I. ford, Departments of Anthropology and Botany, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48104.

Editor's Notes

Some of our readers will note that PSB no longer carries the column entitled "Professional Opportunities". The Minutes of the Business Meeting, published in this issue, reflect the decision of the Council to publish notices of 'positions open' in the American Journal of Botany. This will make it possible for information of this kind to reach the membership more rapidly than through the pages of the quarterly PS13. Dr. Ian Sussex will edit the announcements to be published in A.JB, and anyone wishing to invite applications from botanists should correspond directly with Dr. Sussex, Dept. of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 06511.

This issue of PSB contains a number of articles that have to do with educational matters as they affect botany. The Teaching Section, BSA, is one of our more active groups, and I am pleased to be able to publish some of the papers that were presented in their recent symposium. In the Opinion/Commentary column, Dr. Donald Kaplan argues cogently for a new direction in the teaching of plant morphology. Promoting good botanical teaching is still one of the important responsibilities of BSA. Whether one considers himself primarily a "researcher" or "teacher", we all should have an interest in the training of our successors.

10

XII INTERNATIONAL
BOTANICAL CONGRESS
JUNE 23-30, 1975

The Closing Plenary Session of the XI International Botanical Congress held at Seattle, U.S.A., in 1969, accepted an invitation issued by the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. to convene the XII International Botanical Congress in the City of Leningrad in 1975. In 1971 the Organizing Committee was appointed: consisting of a chairman (A. L. Takhtajan); four vice-chairmen (A. A. Prokofier. .4, .4. Theodorot', N. V. Tsitsin, A. A. Yatsenko-Khmelenskv); a secretary-general (0, V. Zalensky); a scientific secretary (N. S.Snigiereskava); and a number of members at large. The XII International Botanical Congress is intended to facilitate interdisciplinary communication among botanists as well as an informal ex-change of ideas. A number of sections are planned, including special ones to accommodate mycologists (also lichenologists), phycologists, and bryologists.

The Congress will be divided between organized half-day symposia and half-day contributed paper sessions. In addition to the opening and closing plenary sessions, two evening lectures are being scheduled. All special interest groups wishing to apply for space and time during the Congress should do so by writing as soon as possible to the secretary-general, Dr. Oleg Zalenshv, Komarov Botanical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., 2, Prof. Popov Street, Leningrad 197022, U.S.S.R.

The sessions of the Nomenclature Section will take place, as usual, immediately before the opening of the Congress—in this instance June 20-23. Four days are set aside in order to enable the Section to convene for six to eight sessions of two to four hours each.

A meeting of the International Association of Botanic Gardens (President Acadmieian N. V. Tsitsin) will be held in Moscow at the Main Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. on June 20.

A tentative schedule of scientific field trips has been planned for the immediate pre-Congress and post-Congress periods. The principle purpose of these trips is to acquaint visiting botanists with as many interesting and unique features of the flora and vegetation of various regions of the U.S.S.R. as possible. Some specialized trips for phycologists, Iichenologists, bryologists, and palaeobotanists are also planned.

The double postcards announcing the XII International Botanical Congress were mailed during the last months of 1972. Those who wish to receive further in-formation on the Congress should return their interest cards by April 1, 1973, so that they will be placed on the mailing list for the First Information Circular expected to be published June-July 1973.

A. Takhtajan Chairman, Organizing Committee

Botanical Potpourri

FIELD MEETING OF THE NORTH-EASTERN SECTION of the American Botanical Society will be held at University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, June 10th - 13th, 197:3. Those interested please contact Miss Mathilde P. Weinga.rtner, Staten Island Museum, 75 Stuyvesant Pl. Staten Island, New York, 10301.

THE FIRST LATIN AMERICAN BOTANICAL CONGRESS was held in Mexico City, from December :3 to December 9, 1972. About 500 delegates were present, including representatives from Mexico, and most of the Central American and South American countries. About 30 botanists from the United States also participated. In conjunction with these meetings, the Botanical Society of Mexico celebrated its 5th Congress, and delegates to the larger meeting were invited to a special formal session of the Society, at which time medals for botanical merit were awarded to three botanists who had made special contributions toward Mexican botany. Two of these were Mexicans: Jug. Efraim Hernandez X. and Dr. Jerzy Rzedowshi. The third was Ida K. Longman, of Philadelphia, honored for her compilation, "A Selected Guide to the Literature on the Flowering Plants of Mexico", published at the close of 19(34, by the University of Pennsylvania Press.

The work was begun at the suggestion of Dr. John M. Fogg, Jr. (now director of the Barnes Arboretum). Sup-port was provided over a number of years by the University of Pennsylvania (with Dr. Datid Goddard as head of the Department of Botany), by the Morris Arboretum of the University, by the American Philosophocal Society and by the National Science Foundation. In 1965, the Guide was selected by the Reference Service Division of the American Library Association, for the Oberly Memorial Award Citation, as the "best bibliography submitted in the field of agriculture or the related sciences", in 1963-1964.

Ms. Langman is at present doing bibliographic research for the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation of the Carnegie-Mellon University-, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The bibliography, published originally for $25, is now available from the Morris Arboretum, 9414 Meadowbrook Lane, Phila., Pa. 1.91113, at half price to inrfi-t~iduals.

THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY will be meeting at the University of Colorado, Boulder, 4-12 August 1973. The Program Committee has called for Contributed Papers to be submitted to Dr. Paul D. Hurd, Jr. or Dr. Billie L. Turner, in care of the Department of Entomology, Smithosnian Institution, Washington, D. C. 20560.

Those interested in presenting a paper are urged to obtain the necessary forms by writing Dr. James L. Reveal, Secretary. I)epartmnent of' Botany, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742.

SLIDE SET SHOWING EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION ON PLANTS AVAILABLE. A series of 105 35mm color slides illustrating the effects of' air pollution on plant life is now available from the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The slides were prepared to meet an in-creased need for accurate diagnosis or identification or air pollutants on different kinds of plants. The series illustrates damage done to vegetables and fruits, field crops, and ornamental plants and trees. Some examples compare plants grown in filtered air to those grown in normal air. Others show close-ups of leaves and fruit suffering oxidant or other injury.

The set of 105 frames titled "The Effects of Air Pollution on Plant Life, A-48," is broken into three sub-sets which can be purchased individually for $13.00. They can be ordered from Photography Division, Office of In-formation, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. 0.20250.

11

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 14 - July 17: Plant Taxonomy, Mr. Lytton Musselman, University of North Carolina; Plant Ecology: Mr. Gary Miller, Eisenhower College; Ornithology: Mr. David W Johnston, University of Florida; Experimental Morphogenesis: Mr. James N. Dent, University of Virginia.

Second Term: July 19 - August 21: Plant Biosystematics: Mr. C. Ritchie Bell, University of North Carolina; Entomology: Mr. George Byers, University of Kansas; Principles of Parasitism: Mr. G. B. Solomon, University of Pennsylvania; Comparative Endocrinology: Mr. B. E. Frye, University of Michigan.

Fellowships of $150 for one student in each term have been made available by the North Carolina Botanical Garden. This fellowship may not be held con-currently 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. Application for awards should be sent to the Director, Mountain Lake Biological Station, University of Virginia, Gilmer Hall, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903.

THE NINETEENTH INTERNATIONAL HORTICULTURAL CONGRESS will convene September 11-18, 1974, at the Warsaw Polytechnical University, Poland.

Preliminary meetings, including meetings of the Executive Committee, the Council, and the Sections and Committees of the International Society for Horticultural Science /ISHS/, will take place on September 8, 9, and 10. Registration will be on September 10.

Those wishing further information should write to: XIX International Horticultural Congress, Warszawa, Pkin p. 202 Poland.

NOMINATIONS ARE REQUESTED for the recipient of the Darbaker Prize awarded annually by the Botanical Society of America. Requirements are outstanding publications in phycology especially over the last two years. Nominations should accompany a set of reprints and be submitted to Bruce C. Parker, Darbaker Prize Committee, Department of Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061.

A COURSE ON METHODS AND APPLICATIONS OF PLANT CELL AND TISSUE CULTURE will be offered by the Tissue Culture Association from August 6-17, 1973, at the W. Alton Jones Cell Science Centre under the direction of Dr. India K. Vasil (University of Florida). Some of the leading workers in plant tissue culture from Canada and the United States will participate in the teaching of the course. As in the past, participants from outside the United States will be welcome. For further details and application forms write to: Director, W. Alton Jones Cell Science Centre, P. O. Box 631, Lake Placid, New York 12949.

THE TEACHING SECTION OF THE BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA will not have invited papers at the up-coming A.I.B.S. meeting, but will have a special symposium designed with the express purpose of giving those who attend the stimulus and direction to add new zest to their teaching. The topic TEACHING WITH ALGAE has been chosen with the idea that algae offer so much opportunity for inquiry-oriented teaching. The complete symposium program will be published in the AIBS program.

A SYMPOSIUM, THE BASES OF ANGIOSPERM PHYLOGENY, will be presented at the AIBS meetings, June 17-22. Organized by Dr. James W. Walker, this symposium will be a discussion of the characters and fields that are the bases of Angiosperm phylogeny at the higher taxonomic levels, related to the Takhtajan-Cronquist system of classification. Participants will include Arthur Cronquist, Richard Eyde, Leo Hickey, Jack Wolfe, William Dickison, Barbara Falser, H. D. Behnke, James Doyle, Peter Raven, David Fairbrothers, T. J. Mabry, Ronald Scogin, B. L. Turner, Virginia Page, and G. L. Stebbins.

THE CLAUDE E. O'NEAL MEMORIAL LECTURESHIP has been established at Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio to honor the contribution made by the late Professor O'Neal to the teaching of botany. Former students and friends are invited to con-tribute to the Endowment Fund c/o Robert A. Stones, Vice President for University Relations, Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio 43015. The committee responsible for the Lectureship is Dr. Aaron J. Sharp, Dr. C. Gardner Shaw, and Dr. Robert W. Long.

BASIC MECHANISMS IN PLANT MORPHOGENESIS, BROOKHAVEN SYMPOSIUM IN BIOLOGY NO. 25, will be held June 4-6, 1973. The topics will be divided into requential sessions: (1) Morphogenesis in lower forms; (2) Factors affecting Morphogensis; (3) Cellular factors affecting Morphogenesis; (4) The Genetics of Morphogensis I; The Genetics of Morphogenesis, II. Special lectures will be presented by Dr. Ian Sussex and Dr. G. L. Stebbins. Those desiring further information should write to: Dr. Peter S. Carlson, Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973.

Personalia

Dr. Philip H. Abelson, President of the Carnegie Institution of Washington; announced today the appointment of Dr. Winslow R. Briggs as Director of the Institution's Department of Plant Biology in Stanford, California. The appointment is effective July 1, 1973. Dr. Briggs will succeed Dr. C. Stacy French, who will retire after serving as Director since 1947.

Dr. Briggs was a member of the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University from 1955 until 1967, when he joined the faculty at Harvard.

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12

BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC.
OFFICERS FOR 1973

PRESIDENT:   *Arthur Cronquist

New York Botanical Garden Bronx, New York 10458

VICE-PRESIDENT:   "Theodore Delevoryas Department of Botany University of Texas Austin, Texas 78712

SECRETARY:   *Barbara F. Palser (1970-1974)

Department of Botany Rutgers University New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903

TREASURER:   *C. Ritchie Bell (1973-1977)

Botany Department

Coker Hall

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill,

North Carolina 27514

PROGRAM DIRECTOR:   *Augustus E. DeMaggio (1973-1975)

Department of Biological Sciences

Dartmouth College

Hanover, New Hampshire 03755

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: Ernest A. Ball (1971-1973)

Dept. of Developmental and Cell Biology

University of California Irvine, California 92664

David W. Bierhorst (1972-1974)

Department of Botany University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts 01002

John G. Torrey (1973-1975) Harvard Forest

Harvard University Petersham, Massachusetts 01366

EDITOR,   *Norman H. Boke (1970-1974)

AMERICAN   Department of Botany and

JOURNAL OF BOTANY   and Microbiology 770 Van Vleet Oval University of Oklahoma Norman, Oklahoma 73069

EDITOR, PLANT   *Robert W. Long

SCIENCE BULLETIN:   (1971-1975)

Department of Biology University of South Florida Tampa, Florida :33620

BUSINESS MANAGER,   *Richard A. Popham

AMERICAN   Department of Botany

JOURNAL OF BOTANY:   Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 43210

Sectional Officers and Council Members
For 1973

PAST PRESIDENT, 1972:   *Charles Heimsch Department of Botany Miami University

Oxford, Ohio 45056

PAST PRESIDENT, 1971:   *Richard C. Starr Department of Botany Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana 47401

PAST PRESIDENT, 1970:   *Lincoln Constance Department of Botany University of California Berkeley, California 94720

DEVELOPMENTAL SECTION:

Chairman (197,3-1975):   *Richard M. Klein Department of Botany University of Vermont Burlington, Vermont 05401

Vice-Chairman (197:3-1975):   Donald E. Fosket Dept. of Developmental and Cell Biology

University of California Irvine, California 92664

Secretary (197:3-1975):   Jane Taylor

Biology Department University of Michigan Flint, Michigan 48503

Representative to AJB   Knut J. Norstog

Editorial Board (1971-1973):   Department of Biological Sciences

Northern Illinois University DeKalb, Illinois 60115

PHYSIOLOGICAL SECTION:

Chairman (1971-1973): *Graeme P. Berlyn School of Forestry Yale University

New Haven, Connecticut 06511

Representative to AJB   Arthur W. Galston

Editorial Board (indefinite):   Department of Biology Yale University

New Haven, Connecticut 06520

PHYTOCHEMICAL SECTION:

Chairman (1973):   *Jerry McClure Department of Botany Miami University

Oxford, Ohio 45056

Vice-Chairman (1973):   Yaakov Shechter Department of Biology Lehman College

Bronx, New York 10468

Secretary (1973-1974):   David E. Giannasi

New York Botanical Garden Bronx, New York 10458

Representative to AJB   Tod F. Stuessy

Editorial Board (1971-197:3):   Academic Faculty of Botany Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 43210

1:3

GENERAL SECTION:

Chairman (1973):   E. Mark Engleman Departmento de Botanica ENA

Chapingo, Edo de Mexico Mexico

Vice-Chairman (1973):   Natalie W. Uhl Bailey Hortorium

467 Mann Library

Cornell University

Ithaca, New York 14850

Secretary-Treasurer   *Donald R. Kaplan

(1973): Department of Botany University of California Berkeley, California 94720

Representative to AJB   William F. Millington

Editorial Board (1972-1974):   Department of Biology Marquette University Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233

HISTORICAL SECTION:

Chairman (1972-1973):   Jerry W. Stannard Department of History University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas 66044

Vice-Chairman (1972-1973):   Harriet B. Creighton Department of Biology Wellesley College

Wellesley, Massachusetts 02181

Secretary (1971-1973):   *Ronald L. Stuckey Department of Botany 1735 Neil Avenue

Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 43210

Representative to AJB   Emanuel D. Rudolph

Editorial Board (1973-1975):   Department of Botany 1735 Neil Avenue

Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 43210

MICROBIOLOGICAL SECTION:

Chairman (1973):   Jerome M. Aronson Department of Botany and Microbiology

Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona 85281

Vice-Chairman (1973):   James S. Lovett Department of Biological Sciences

Purdue University

West Lafayette, Indiana 47907

Secretary (1972-1974):   Charles E. Bracker Dept. of Botany and

Plant Pathology

Purdue University

Lafayette, Indiana 47907

Representative to the Council *Ian K. Ross

(1973-1975):   Department of Biological Sciences

University of California Santa Barbara, California 93106

Representative to AJB   Peter R. Day

Editorial Board (1973-1975): Department of Genetics Connecticut Agricultural Exp. Station

New Haven, Connecticut 06504

PALEOBOTANICAL SECTION:

Chairman (1972-1973):   Ben M. Stidd Department of Biology Western Illinois University Macomb, Illinois 61455

Secretary-Treasurer   *Thomas N. Taylor

(1972-1974):   Department of Botany Ohio University Athens, Ohio 45701

Representative to AJB   J. William Schopf

Editorial Board (1972-1973):   Department of Geology University of California

Los Angeles, California 90024

PHYCOLOGICAL SECTION:

Chairman (1972-1973):   *Michael J. Wynne Department of Botany University of Texas Austin, Texas 78712

Secretary (1972-1974):   Paul J. Biebel

Department of Biology Dickinson College

Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17103

Representative to AJB   George F. Papenfuss

Editorial Board (1970-1973): Department of Botany University of California Berkeley, California 94720

PTERIDOLOGICAL SECTION:

Chairman (1972-1973):   David W. Bierhorst Department of Botany University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts 01002

Secretary-Treasurer   *Edward J. Klekowski

(1972-1974):   Department of Botany University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts 01002

Representative to AJB   Rolla Tryon

Editorial Board (1971-1973):   Gray Herbarium

22 Divinity Avenue Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

SYSTEMATIC SECTION:

Chairman (1972-1973):   *Carroll E. Wood, Jr. Arnold Arboretum

Harvard University

22 Divinity Avenue Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Secretary (1972-1974):   Duncan M. Porter Department of Botany Smithsonian Institution Washington, D. C. 20560

Representative to AJB   Patricia K. Holmgren Editorial Board (1973-1975): New York Botanical Garden Bronx, New York 10458

14

TEACHING SECTION:

Chairman (1973):   Sanford S. Tepfer Department of Biology University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon 97403

Vice-Chairman (1973):   Donald Dean

Department of Biology Baldwin-Wallace College Berea, Ohio 44017

Secretary (1971-1973):   *Elwood B. Ehrle

School of Arts and Sciences Mankato State College Mankato, Minnesota 56001

Representative to AJB   Robert W. Hoshaw

Editorial Board (1969-1973):   Botanical Laboratories Agricultural Sciences Building

University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona 85721

NORTHEASTERN SECTION:

Chairman (1973):   LeRoy K. Henry Carnegie Museum Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213

Secretary-Treasurer   *Matilde P. Weingartner

(1973-1975):   Staten Island Museum 75 Stuyvesant Place

Staten Island, New York 10301

PACIFIC SECTION:

Chairman (1972-1973):   W. M. Laetsch Department of Botany University of California Berkeley, Californa 94720

Vice-Chairman (1972-1973):   George C. Carroll Department of Biology University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon 97403

Secretary-Treasurer   *Joseph Arditti

(1971-1973):   Dept. of Developmental and Cell Biology

University of California Irvine, California 92664

AAAS Council   Leo E. Jones

Representative   Botany Department Oregon State University Corvallis, Oregon 97331

SOUTHEASTERN SECTION:

Chairman (1971-1973):   Ray Noggle

Department of Botany North Carolina State University

Raleigh, North Carolina 27607

Secretary-Treasurer   *Dana Griffin III

(1971-1974):   Department of Botany University of Florida Gainesville, Florida 32601

Chairman of Activities   John A. Boole, Jr.

Committee (1973):   Division of Science and Mathematics

Georgia Southern College Statesboro, Georgia 30458

*Persons so marked are members of the Council. BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, INC.
COMMITTEES - 1.973

The inidividuals listed as chairmen serve in that office for 1973. In parentheses following each name is the date of expiration of that individual's appointment to the committee.

Chairman's Addre,,, Committee on Corresponding Members

Charles Heimsch (1975),   Department of Botany

Chairman   Miami University

Richard C. Starr (1974)   Oxford, Ohio 45056 Lincoln Constance (1973)

Merit Awards Committee

Albert C. Smith (1973)   Department of Botany

Chairman   University of Massachusetts

W. Dwight Billings (1973)   Amherst, Massachusetts 01002 G. F. Papenfuss (1974)

Henry N. Andrews, Jr. (1975)

Arthur Galston (1975)

Ex officio: President

Darbaher Prize Committee

Bruce C. Parker (1973)   Department of Biology

Chairman   3025 Derring Hall

Norma J. Lang (1974)   Virginia Polytechnic Institute

Michael Neushul (1975)   Blacksburg, Virginia 24060

New York Botanical Garden Award Committee

William F. Millington   Department of Biology

(197:3), Chairman   Marquette University

Everett S. Beneke (1973)   Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233 John W. Hall (1973)

Eldon H. Newcomb (1973)

Jeanette Siron Pelton Award Committee

Edward C. Cantino (1973),   Dept. of Botany &

Chairman   Plant Pathology

Claud L. Brown (1974   Michigan State University

James A. Lockhart (1974)   East Lansing, Michigan 4882:3 D. G. de Torok (1973)

Election Committee

Kenton L. Chambers (1973), Botany Department

Chairman   Oregon State University

Lawrence Bogorad (1974)   Corvallis, Oregon 97331 Patricia L. Walne (1975)

Knut J. Norstog (1976)

Ex officio: Secretary

Education Committee

Peter Kaufman (1973),   Department of Botany

Chairman   University of Michigan Nicholas C. Maravolo (197:3) Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104 J. Donald LaCroix (1974)

Paul C. MacMillan (1974)

Fred R. Rickson (1975)

Willard W. Payne (1975)

Ex officio: President, Secretary, Secretary of Teaching Section, Editor of Plant Science Bulletin, Representative to AAAS Cooperative Committee on the Teaching of Science and Mathematics, Past Chairman of Committee

Conservation Committee

Elsie Quarterman   Box 1616 Station B

(1973), Chairman   Vanderbilt University

William A. Niering (1973)   Nashville, Tennessee 37203 Catherine Keever (1973)

Edward E. Clebsch (1974)

Carl D. Monk (1974)

Roger E. Wilson (1974)

15

Committee on Research Funding

William A. Jensen,   Department of Botany

Chairman   University of California

Loran C. Anderson   Berkeley, California 94720 Melvin S. Fuller

Ian M. Sussex

Francis R. Trainor

REPRESENTATIVES TO
VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS OR COMMITTEES

AAAS

W. Gordon Whaley (1974) A. Orville Dahl (1975)

AIRS 'Ioverning Board Roy L. Taylor (1974

AAAS Cooperative Committee on the Teaching of Science and Mathematics Robert W. Hoshaw (1973)

Division of Biology and Agriculture, National Research Council William L. Stern (1975)

Minutes of the Business Meeting
Botanical Society of America

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
August 30, 1972

  1. The meeting was called to order by Vice-President Warren H. Wagner, Jr. at 1:02 P.M. in Room 45 of Nicholson Hall. The 41 members present at the beginning of the meeting, later increased to about 60, constituted a quorum.

  2. The minutes of the Business Meeting of 1971, as published in the Plant Science Bulletin, were approved.

. In the absence of the Chairman of the Elections Committee, Dr. Walter Tulecke, the Secretary presented the names of the newly elected officers for 1973.

President: Arthur Cronquist, New York Botanical Garden Vice-President: Theodore Delevoryas, University of Texas Treasurer: C. Richie Bell, University of North Carolina Program Director: Augustus E. DeMaggio, Dartmouth

College

Member of the Editorial Board, American Journal of Botany: John G. Torrey, Harvard University

The Secretary continues in office for 1973.

4. The following amendment of the By-Laws, approved by the Council in June, 1971 and submitted in writing to the membership, was brought up for action.

"Article IV, 3. Procedures for the election of the Editor-in-Chief and appointment of the Business Manager of the American Journal of Botany are provided for in Article VII.

  1. Selection of the Editor of the Plant Science Bulletin shall be the responsibility of the Executive Committee of the Council: Approximately one year before the completion of the incumbent Editor's five-year term or at any other time when a vacancy of this office is imminent or actual, the President shall appoint a committee, ordinarily consisting of the incumbent Editor as Chairman and three other members; at least one, but not more than two, of these three other members shall he current members of the Editorial Board of the Plant Science Bulletin. Confirmation of the candidate selected by this committee by the Executive Committee of the Council shall be required.

  2. A Plant Science Bulletin. Editorial Board of five members shall he appointed by the President upon recommendation of the incumbent Editor. The period of service shall be five years with staggered terms. In the event of resignation prior to the end of a board member's full term, the President, in consultation with the Editor, shall appoint a replacement for the time remaining in the term involved. No one shall be appointed for two consecutive full terms."

Approval of the amendment was moved, seconded, and passed unanimously.

  1. The Secretary reported on three Society publications which have appeared since the last Business Meeting. "The Guide to Graduate Study in Botany" appeared in early fall 1971. It gives information about departments in the U. S. and Canada offering a Ph.D. in some aspect of plant science. It is available from the Secretary's office for $3. The career booklet, "Botany as a Profession", was updated during the winter by a subcommittee of the Education Committee. Approximately 3,000 copies have already been mailed out in response to requests. The "Yearbook" for 1971-1972 appeared late in 1971. It returned to the format requested by the membership last year. For the next issue of the "Yearbook", which will be published next year, the Council has authorized some changes. By-Laws of the Society and Sections will be printed separately and will not be repeated in each "Year-book". Reports and minutes will be published in the Plant Science Bulletin and eliminated from the "Yearbook". The present format of the membership list and geographical index will be retained, but will be printed by a cheaper and more rapid method.

  2. Dr. Richard Starr, Chairman of the Committee on Corresponding Members, presented the committee's recommendations, already approved by the Council. Arturo Erardo Burkart, Director of the Instituto de Botanica Darwinion in Argentina; Gunnar Erdtman, Palynologiska Laboratoriet of Stockholm University, Sweden; Albert George Long, Deputy Curator of Hancock Museum, University of Newcastle-on-Tyne, England; and William Raymond Philipson, Professor of Botany at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand were proposed for membership and unanimously elected. This raises the total number of living corresponding members to 50, the limit set by the By-Laws.

  3. Dr. Theodore Delevoryas, Treasurer, reported on membership figures, which have shown a steady decrease during the past three years. He also presented three financial reports: the final report for 1971, which will be published in the Plant Science Bulletin, the projected report for 1972, and the proposed budget for 1973. At present the Society is in fairly healthy condition, particularly since the Journal has not needed funds from the Society.

  4. Since the Society and Journal are in no financial difficulties, it was moved, seconded, and passed unanimously that the dues for 1973 remain at the present level:

Regular - $10   Retired subscribing - $5

Family - $12   Life - $250 Student - $6

  1. A drive for increased membership will be mounted this fall. The committee responsible for this consists of Kenton Chambers, Nels Lersten, Michael Schneider, and A. J. Sharp as Chair-man. Dr. Sharp reported on various projects that have already been planned and indicated that the Council had additionally suggested that all new regular and student memberships for 1973 received by December 31, 1972 he admitted at half the stipulated dues level.

  2. Dr. Lawrence Crockett, Business Manager of the American Journal of Botany had left Minnesota before the Business Meeting, but his final report for 1971 and proposed budget for 1973 were presented by Dr. Delevoryas. These show that the Journal finished the year 1971 almost $14,000 in the black and that, even with the increase in pages authorized by the Council, the Journal probably will not need but about one-third of the funds set aside for the Journal in the Society budget. Dr. Greenfield moved that Dr. Crockett's report be approved and that we extend our very hearty thanks to him for his long and devoted service to the Society. This was seconded and passed unanimously. In this regard a resolution passed by the Council was read by Dr. Boke: "Dr. Lawrence J. Crockett, who assumed the Business Managership of the American Journal of Botany in 1960, is resigning his position as of the end of this year. Dr. Crockett has kept the Journal on a sound financial basis in spite of many difficulties, and he has supervised the transfer of printing operations to Lawrence. Kansas with consummate skill. The Council therefore wishes to express its deep appreciation to him for extraordinary services rendered during his 12-year incumbency."

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  1. Dr. Wagner announced that the new Business Manager, appointed to take Dr. Crockett's place, is Dr. Richard A. Popham.

  2. Dr. Norman Boke, Editor of the American Journal of Botany, presented some statistics about numbers of papers, times between receipt and appearance in print, etc. for the past year. The length of time elapsing has been increasing because of an in-crease in the backlog of manuscripts.

Dr. Wagner reported that the Council had authorized the printing of job openings, such as have appeared in Plant Science Bulletin this past year, on the back cover of the Journal for a one-year trial period. Dr. Ian Sussex will edit the page.

  1. Dr. Wagner reported that the Council had authorized Dr. Robert Long, Editor, to increase the number of pages in the Plant Science Bulletin if the amount of material on hand warrants it. Dr. Long had reported that he had a considerable backlog of reviews. Dr. Long had not been reviewing texts, but a number of people on the Council had felt that this would be a useful service. Dr. Adolph Hecht spoke against this, saying that there are so many texts that is would be difficult either to review them all or to make a selection of which to review. He felt that the Editor should be allowed to decide what types of books should or should not be reviewed.

  2. The Program Director, Dr. Samuel Postlethwait, reported briefly on this year's program, referring particularly to the all-Society symposium in honor of the 25th anniversary of AIBS. He also indicated that, because of the success of last year's meeting with the Canadians, we have been approached about joining with them again. At present we have planned to meet with AIBS at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, June 17-22, 1973 and again at Arizona State University in Tempe, dune 16-21, 1974. For the latter meetings the Mexican and Central American botanists will be contacted — and the Canadians urged to join us to make a meeting of all American botanists.

A suggestion made to the Council that all-Society symposia be continued has been passed on to the new Program Director for consideration. The suggestion was that such symposia be aimed at educating members of federal agencies, science writers, biology teachers, etc. as well as professional botanists to the importance of plant sciences in the world today.

A suggestion was made by Dr. Sydney Greenfield that the Society consider a special program for 1976, the 200th anniversary of our country, perhaps centered around something such as the contributions of botany to the growth of the U. S. during its 200 years.

Dr. Postlethwait moved the following resolution which passed unanimously: "The Botanical Society wishes to express its gratitude to the administrative officers of both the University of Minnesota and the American Institute of Biological Sciences and to their local representative, Dr. John W. Hall, for the excellent arrangements and facilities provided for the 1972 meetings."

  1. Dr. Richard Starr, who has served on the Council for the past several years, presented a resolution expressing the hearty thanks of the Society to Dr. Delevoryas who has worked hard as Treasurer for 5 years and to Dr. Postlethwait who has struggled with the meeting program for ;3 years. The resolution was enthusiastically endorsed.

  2. Dr. Adolph Hecht presented the following resolution: "To Charles Heimsch, President, Botanical Society of America. We regret that you were unable to attend our sessions in Minneapolis. We extend our best wishes for Mrs. Heimsch' speedy and full recovery. Warren H. Wagner, Jr., Vice-President, for the Council and membership of the Botanical Society in attendance at the annual business meeting." The resolution passed unanimously

  3. Dr. Nels Lersten asked if the Council had taken any action concerning abstracts of papers presented at the meetings. Dr. Wagner replied that Council discussion had led to the decision to continue the publication of abstracts, but to handle them differently — by photo-offset of the abstracts as submitted by the authors rather than by printing in the American Journal of Botany. This will decrease expense and probably allow us to have a somewhat later deadline for abstracts.

  4. Dr. William Jensen asked if and what the Society was doing about getting more support for research in the plant sciences. Dr. Wagner referred to the Plant Science Research Committee, in which the Botanical Society will be represented, and Dr. Bell commented briefly on plans of the AIBS Governing Board in this direction. Dr. Bell pointed out that since an organization the size of AIBS can carry considerably more weight and have much more effect than an organization the size of the Botanical Society, he felt that we should strongly support AIBS in its efforts to gain more recognition and support for biological research. Dr. Greenfield was not in favor of support of AIBS, but would like the Society to take the lead in coordinating all the plant science societies.

Dr. Jensen pointed out that there are two Lev-As. Something needs to be done for biology in general, and this is the spot for AIBS which he feels we should support strongly, but as we are also botanists and there are problems specific to the plant sciences, we need to attack the latter aspect ourselves. Since at present we really do not have specific facts, Dr. Jensen moved that the President appoint a Committee to get the facts about the status of funding of plant research and, armed with the facts, explore ways and means of improving the situation. The motion was seconded. During the discussion it was pointed out that the Committee, or members of it, could well act as liaison between the Society and both the Plant Science Research Committee and AIBS committees acting in this area of endeavor. The motion passed unanimously.

Dr. ,Jensen also moved that the Botanical Society express its support of AIBS in its efforts to obtain recognition of biology and increased funding of biological research by federal agencies. The motion passed.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:05 P.M.

Respectfully submitted, Barbara F. Palser, Secretary

Citations for Awards Presented at the Annual Banquet, 1972

Darbaker Prize (This award is made for meritorious work in the study of microscopical algae.)

To Michael Neushul of the University of California in Santa Barbara

"his breadth of research interest from the sub-microscopic level of thylakoid structure and function to the macroscopic level of growth characteristics of kelp is very unusual and his use of the double-fracture technique in freeze-etching and electron microscopy of red algal thylakoids has provided the most definitive information to date on an extensively debated topic."

Merit Award (This award is made to persons judged to have made outstanding contributions to botanical science.)

To Aaron J. Sharp of the University of Tennessee

"bryololgist, plant geographer; he has demonstrated the floristic relationships between North America and Asia from the Arctic to the Tropics. An outstanding and enthusiastic teacher, he has inspired and guided many who have become leading botanists."

To Frank Harlan Lewis of the University of California at Los Angeles

"eminent evolutionary biologist, teacher, and administrator; his studies of chromosome behavior in such genera as Clurhia, Mentzelia, Delphinium, and their relatives have provided the cytotaxonomic basis for his brilliant generalizations as to population dynamics, the processes of speciat.ion, and the nature of biological taxa."

To Charles B. Heiser, Jr. of Indiana University

"Scholarly student of the systematics and evolution of vascular plants; his original and significant contributions through extended studies of Compositae and

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Solanaceae have utilized many techniques; his interest in the origins of cultivated plants and weeds has led to a new appreciation of such plants as materials for important evolutionary studies."

New York Botanical Garden Award (The N. Y. Botanical Garden presents an award to the author of a recent publication making an outstanding contribution to the fundamental aspects of botany.)

To Daniel I. Axelrod of the University of California at Davis

"for his numerous and outstanding and pioneering contributions to the paleogeography and early evolution of the angiosperms; his contributions and original ideas have stimulated world-wide research and added to fundamental botanical knowledge. Of a number of recent articles, his paper in the 1970 volume of Botanical Review entitled "Mesozoic paleogeography and early angiosperm history" is cited in particular."

Jeanette Siron Pelton Award (This award is awarded from time to time to young investigators in recognition of exceptionally imaginative contributions in the field of experimental plant morphology. It carries with it a premium of $1,000.)

To Paul B. Green of Stanford University

"for his investigations into problems of growth in the alga Nitella which have revealed the role of cytoplasmic elements in development and focused attention on the unique properties of the plant cell wall. Perhaps the most notable of his scientific achievements has been the application of physical principles to problems of plant morphogenesis.

Paleobotanical Award (This award is presented on an annual basis for the outstanding contributed paper within the Paleobotanical Section, Botanical Society of America. The recipient is determined by a committee designated by the current section chairman.)

This year's award is presented to William L. Crepet,

University of Texas, for his outstanding contribution

titled "Pollination in Cycadeoidea".

Jesse M. Greenman Award (of the Missouri Botanical Garden Alumni Association for the best thesis in plant systematics during the previous year [1971-72].)

To William T. Gillis

"The systematics and ecology of poison-ivy and the poison-oaks (Toxicodendron, Anacardiaceae)."

Corresponding Members
Botanical Society of America 1972

Arturo Erardo Burkart, Director of the Instituto de Botanica DARWINION since 1936 and a professor at various times at both the University of La Plata and the University of Buenos Aires, is a senior member of Argentina's group of distinguished botanists. He has written extensively on the systematics and floristics of the Argentinian flora, establishing himself as the Latin American expert on legumes and as an important contributor to the literature of agriculture and the history of biology. As head of the DARWINION and editor of its journal Darwiniana he has strongly influenced the favorable development of plant science throughout South America.

Professor Gunnar Erdtman, Palynologiska Laboratoriet, Stockholm University, Sweden, for his pioneering contributions to palynology. His monumental work on pollen morphology has led to a comprehensive understanding of the structure, evolutionary trends, and taxonomic significance of pollen grains and spores. His many books and papers are indispensible both for students of pollen morphology and those who utilize pollen and spores as a research tool; his highly developed terminology for pollen ultrastructure is used throughout the world. In addition, many of his earlier works were responsible for the rapid development of pollen analysis as a paleoecological research method.

Albert George Long, Deputy Curator, Hancock Museum, University of Newcastle-on-Tyne, England for his patient, prolonged, continuous search through the Lower Carboniferous strata of Berwickshire for petrified specimens of early seed plants. The reward for his search has been an understanding of the structure of a wide range of primitive seeds thereby providing firm data for what had been only hypotheses of the origin of seeds. Long's success in bridging this gap between pteridophytes and seed plants must be place alongside Kidston and Lang's discovery of Rhynia and Florin's elucidation of the evolution of conifer cones in a list of the landmarks in the study of evolution in plants.

William Raymond Philipson, Professor of Botany, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, for his important contributions to interpretive morphology, floristics, developmental anatomy, and systematics. He is a recognized authority on the structure and classification of Pacific Araliaceae and on the primary and secondary vascular tissues of angiosperms in general. In addition, he is an occasional contributor to horticultural journals, and his activities as a field naturalist have resulted in five books for general readership.

Book Reviews

ROMAGNESI, HENRI, ed. Exotic Mushrooms. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 1971. 192 pp, 160 color plates. $12.95.

An exotic coffee table deserves to be topped by this illustrative mushroom book, not the kitchen or laboratory desk where it might fall into use although certainly not for long!

The editor introduces the book with brief sections of diverse quality. For example, in "Types of Mushrooms" he interestingly describes for a lay population these organisms in relation to other fungi and creatures. However, the segment, "The Mushrooms Role in the Life Cycle" leads the reader completely into "Wonderland!" In another portion of the text "Edible Mushrooms" the nutritional value of these fruiting bodies is presented and some of this discussion is curiously misleading, such as the following:

"even so, mushrooms often prove heavy and difficult to digest well, and doctors forbid them to patients suffering from liver complaints."

Perhaps the butter in which they are frequently bathed is the danger in such hepatic restrictions.

The book is mainly a compilation of realistic and colorful mushroom paintings parceled out in 160 color plates that are 81/2 inches by 11 inches. These illustrations have been executed by several European painters among whom are A. Lacaze and J. Chenantais

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who contributed the majority of them. Included with the collection of mushroom renditions are 18 unsealed charts in which mostly spores and cystidia are depicted by black and white drawings. Since there is no mention in the text of the relationship that cystidia have to mushrooms, this would seem to present a baffling situation to the amateur.

Thus it seems that the production of this hook was not necessarily intended to aid in identification but to illucidate the diversity of some of the agarics. If this is not done satisfactorily by the coffee table approach, then one can amputate the pages and frame them, paint them, stitch them, or sculpt them. There are indeed exotic ways to use this tome!

Diane T. Wagner-Merner. Uniuer. of So. Fla.

RUNECKLES, V. C. AND J. E. WATKIN. (Editors) Vol.

1. Recent Advances in Phvlochemistrv. Appleton-

Century-Crofts, New York. 1972. 317 pp., $24.95. This volume contains a series of papers presented at the annual symposium of the Phytochemical Society of North America held at Banff, Alberta in 1969. The emphasis in each review is on the biochemical aspects of the topic, but some of the authors include a discussion of the biological significance of the compounds in metabolism and evolution of plants.

Each of the nine chapters is devoted to a specific topic. The first chapter by Towers and Subba Rao is a thorough review of the biosynthetic and degradative path-ways of the versatile compounds of phenylalanine, tyrosine, and dopa. Floss discusses the biosynthesis of fur a nocoumarins, compounds which include physiologically active compounds, such as aflotoxins. Hanson and Havir present the mechanism and molecular structure of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase. This enzyme catalyses the formation of cinnamic acid from phenylalanine and is important in shunting phenylallanine and tyrosine from protein synthesis to the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoid compounds. The enzymic reduction of cinnamic acid is discussed by Zenk and Gross. They emphasize the reduction of acids to aldehydes and alcohols which then may be incorporated into lignin. Steelink discusses the biological oxidation of lignin phenols.

The chapter most concerned with the biological aspects of the topic is Harborne's presentation of the evolution and function of flavonoids in plants. He discusses petal color, properties of taste, growth regulation and toxicity as well as the general distribution of the flavonoids throughout the plant kingdom. Van Sumere and his colleagues at Gent give an extensive review of the possible regulatory roles of naturally occurring coumarins and phenolics in relation to the germination of barley and lettuce seeds and the growth of yeast. The deposition of lignin under various environmental conditions is discussed by Siegel and his co-workers.

Maybry closes the volume with a short discussion of the major frontiers of phytochemistry and touches on such topics as natural products, ultrastructure, chemotaxonomy, phylogeny, and the genetics of secondary compounds. Perhaps future symposia of the society will center on some of these topics. This volume represents a concise review of significant areas of current interest in phytochemistry. The most serious criticism of the work is the length of time from the symposium to the publication of the papers.

Sarah Clevenger Indiana State Unit.

CADBURY, D. A., J. G. HAWKES, and R. C. READETT. A Computer-Mapped Flora - A Study of the County of Warwickshire. Academic Press, New

York, 1971. ix + 768 pages. $31.50.

The Preface declares that, "This is a County Flora with a difference." The difference is that the compute r was used to produce species distribution and habitat maps and to compile selected summary statistics. This is a first for a county flora, the authors claim.

Basically it is a thorough presentation of the flora of an English county of 1500 square miles. Excellent introductory chapters cover the county's physiography, geology and soils, land use history and discussion of previous floristic work. Another presents an interesting area sampling scheme for the county (stratified, random), which was able to reduce the work required to a manageable amount. Locality records were then input to a computer via punched paper tape, corrected and used as a basis to produce computer generated distribution maps, one per species. So far this procedure follows roughly that of Perring and Walters in their Atlas of the British Flora (1962). But the present authors do not just indicate presence or absence of a species in a given map unit through nine different plotting symbols they indicate the habitat of each species in the map unit. If the species is found in more than one habitat in the same map unit, several symbols are overprinted by the computer. In addition, two shades of these nine symbols are used, light for rare to occasionally occurring in the map unit, and dark for frequently to abundantly occurring within the sampling unit. Still more information is available from each map, since like the Atlas of the British Flora, trans-parent overlays are provided, yielding information on relief, waterways, surface geology, etc.

The authors are correct. This is a county flora with a difference. But we may ask whether this represents a taxonomic advance or computer-pollution. I think it is both! As the authors suggest, we are at the dawn of a new era in floristic work and the computer is responsible for it. Once basic distribution data are in the computer, qualitive advances are possible in biogeography. One out-standing example appearing in the current work is the recognition and description of different habitats. Others will be the correlation of distributions of species by pairs and by groups. But these and other unique results do not require the 400 plus pages of distribution maps in the present volume. Who does'? This is where the question of computer pollution comes in. Would it. have been better to have deposited the computer generated maps in a Systematics Center and produced a volume at one-third the price'? Persons interested in maps of particular taxa could request copies of those only. In analogous ways, with the computerization of Index Nominum Genericorum, a taxonomist can request a printout of only those genera in families of' his interest, and not have to purchase the entire set. Similarly, in the computerization of label data of the 65,000 specimens of the Greene Her-barium, I have put off any large formal publication of its contents because for the money needed to produce it, I can provide customized computer searches and printouts for hundreds of botanists.

To conclude, this volume on the Warwickshire flora is a thorough addition to floristic study, replete with qualitative advances of technique. At the same time it should motivate us to think.clearly about which directions future work should go.

Theodore 1 Crot'ello University of Notre Dame

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JANICK, JULES. Horticultural Science, 2nd Ed. W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, Calif. 1972. x + 586 pp. $12.00.

"Horticultural Science" is a textbook designed for the beginning horticulture student, although it may be used by all students who are interested in the plant sciences. The author is to be complimented upon his presentation of horticultural topics in such a manner that there is relevance between subject matter and practical application.

This text has been divided into 3 parts which are as follows: 1) The Biology of Horticulture; 2) The Technology of Horticulture; and :3) The Industry of Horticulture. Topics discussed include classification of horticultural plants, their structure, plant growth, plant development, controlling plant environment, directing plant growth, biological competition, mechanisms of propagation, plant improvement, marketing, horticultural geography, horticultural production systems, horticultural crops and the esthetics and impact of horticulture.

Although there is a tremendous mass of material involved, the student will receive an excellent introduction to the biological facts of plant production in horticulture. However, it would have been desirable to have a more comprehensive presentation concerning the different facets of marketing and utilization of the various horticultural products. The chapter on horticultural crops should be expanded to cover them in more detail, rather than leave the student with just a passing glance at a giant industry. For example, only a few paragraphs were devoted to the multi-million dollar industries of citrus and sweet corn. The chapter on marketing should further illustrate the rapidly changing technology in the various phases of horticulture.

If the selected references for all the chapters were ex-tended considerably, it would be of great help both to instructor and to student. As the text is presented, the student has not yet been introduced to such publications as the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, International Society for Plant Propagators, American Journal of Botany, and other pertinent research journals. An accompanying manual for laboratory experience and possible field observations would be extremely helpful to students and staff.

Regardless of the preceding comments, I recommend this as a basic text for an introductory course in horticulture.

R. K. Simons Unit.. of Illinois

ROBERTS, E. H. ed. Viability of Seeds. Syracuse Univ. Press. Syracuse, N. Y. 1972. 448 pp. $20.00.

Professor Roberts has compiled the work of a number of experts from widely separated disciplines into a well-organized treatise. "Viability of Seeds" reads like a book rather than a series of monographs but as the author him-self suggests, need not be read through in numerical order of chapters. The book is comprehensive enough to be used as a reference, yet suitable for a textbook.

There are 12 chapters plus 4 informative and helpful appendices in this book on various facets of seed viability which range from ancestry to zvmogens. Practical in-formation for those interested in seed storage can he found (e.g. effects of various factors during and prior to harvest, ideal storage conditions for various seeds, pitfalls involved in seed storage, viability nomographs, etc.) as well as the theoretical. This reviewer appreciated the wide ranging coverage of the various authors. For example, there is an interesting section on the effects of light on certain dormant seeds; a brief history, detective work involved studying this phenomenon, culminating in the discovery of phytochrome. There is a hint of teleology when phytochrome is called a "neat environment sensing device" which prohibits germination of the seed under a leaf canopy (far red) whereas the inhibition is released by sunlight (red). Each author has done a credible job evaluating knowledge in his particular field, generally with excellent bibliographies for reference.

Because the book was written by a number of authors, there are inevitable overlapping areas, but for this very reason it has many stimulating points of view. For instance, the problem of analyzing seed germinability has been viewed from many angles, depending upon the worker. Examples of different viewpoints include: analysis of germinability by observing prematurely aged seeds; histochemical analysis through use of various stains; use of biochemical parameters such as enzymes or intermediary metabolites; cytological analysis suggested by the negative correlation found between germinability and chromosomal aberrations; the statistical approach; and physiological methods of analysis, e.g. loss of membrane integrity with decreasing viability. Also, not everyone is concerned with enhancing longevity of seeds; weed control people would like to shorten it. Thus, although most of the authors ha,'e tried to be as catholic as possible in their presentations, multiple authorship presents an even wider panorama.

This reviewer feels that "Viability of Seeds"would be a valuable addition to the library of any worker who is interested in plants, but especially if he is concerned with plant seeds. The widely separated areas of interests en-compassed by seed viability have been skillfully woven into a well-knit book that is interesting for the amateur, yet scholarly enough for the experienced practitioner.

Lawrence Yatsu

USDA

New Orleans, La.

PANKOW, HELMUI', Algen Flora der Ost.see. I. Bentos (Blau-, Grun-, Braun-, and Rotalpen). Vet). Gustav Fischer Verlag. Jena. 1971. 419 pp.

This handbook of the algal flora of the Baltic Sea is a well written, and taxonomically up-to-date account. The text is written in modern, easy to read German. The algal descriptions and keys to genera and species are concise, clear and fairly easy to follow. The line drawings accompanying the various genera throughout the book are extensive and adequate. The photographs, placed at the back of the book are not as useful because of the poor quality of reproduction.

Dr. Pankow follows the European classification of the Cyanophyta and hence uses Geitler's major taxonomic characters for identification and taxonomic groups. However, Dr. Pankow does give Drouet and Daily's revision of the Chroococcaceae, at the end of this section, indicating by synomvms how the two classifications can be compared.

This handbook is especially impressive in the in-corporation of the modern revisions of various genera of green, brown, and red algae. Throughout the text Dr. Pankow included footnotes in which he discusses the taxonomic implications of various revisions. For example, he includes Kesseler's revision of Chaetomorpha and van den Hoek's revision of Cladophora. Thus, this work is not only relevant as a local flora with clear, useable keys and line drawings, but also as a source for more recent

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revisions of various genera, at least for the European species.

For those of us concerned with local floras, such a text should prove useful as a guide to clear, simple keys and drawings as well as a source for recent taxonomic revisions not easily available.

Clinton Daises Unit'. of So. Fla.

HEUSSER, CALVIN J. Pollen and Spores of Chile. Univ. of Arizona Prss, Tucson, Ariz. 1971. 167 pp., 60 plates. $15.00.

Though initiated as early as Humbolt's botanical explorations and observations on the biogeography of northern South America (1799-1804) and extended by visits of Darwin (HMS Beagle, 18:32-5) to Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, and the Pacific coasts of Chile, adequate descriptions of the floristic and vegetational diversity and complexity of Chile awaited the work of Munoz and Oberdorfer. Heusser's recent treatise on the spores and pollen of the vascular plants of Chile provides another essential resource on which to base studies on the history of this extensive and ecologically diverse flora.

Knowledge of pollen and spore morphology is useful to plaits taxonomists, while the ability to identify modern and subfossil palynomorphs permits pollen analysis of lake and bog sediments and a reconstruction of the Pleistocene palcoenviromnents. These ends are well-served by Heusser's useful and complete volume describing the pollen and spores of Chile.

The vascular flora is extensive and the coverage of the book is virtually complete; descriptions and clear photomicrographs of 698 species are included in the manual. This covers 624 of the 920 genera in the Chilean flora and represents 178 of the 182 families of vascular plants. The nomenclature is according to Munoz.

PLANT SCIENCE BULLETIN

LIFE SCIENCE BUILDING

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA TAMPA, FLORIDA 33620

All material described and illustrated is from documented herbarium specimens, with in excess of 95% of the material from specimens collected in Chile. Exceptions include about 20 types collected in North America, Europe or Africa; many of these are other non-native species in genera which are included in the Chilean flora.

Another 9 or 10 species are from material from other South American coutries; in those cases the native Chilean species of the genus is usually illustrated. Considering the paucity of pollen and spores on many her-barium specimens, this is excellent coverage from native material. A few pollen types of introduced species are included (Pinus, Agaue, AM us, Ailanthus, Pop« lus).

There are separate keys for spores and pollen; each of the twenty-six major morphological types of pollen is treated in a separate key. This is the simplest approach to keying pollen and the structure and terminology of the keys, as well as the comparisons presented, are clear and generally unequivocal. Those who object to polychotomous keys will be frustrated, however, since the number of key alternatives, sometimes spread over successive pages, is unpredictable.

The illustrations of palynomorphs are entirely of original photomicrographs. In most cases there are two or three photographs of the same material; the clarity of the photographic detail of the surface sculpture as well as of the optical sections of exine structure is exceptionally fine. Since pollen is usually identified only to the generic level by pollen analysts, these excellent illustrations will make the book an essential reference for pollen analysts throughout South America and will be of worldwide interest.

This manual should be on the shelf of every
serious student of palynology and is an essential element
in collections of all libraries with full botanical coverage.
Ronald Kapp
Alma College

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

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