Scott's Botanical Links--June 2000

June 29, 2000 - Plant Ideas, Your Total Plant Information Source

Plant Ideas is a well laid out gardening/discussion site. For each of numerous topics, a few links are given on the main page, followed by detailed links by a curator. The featured topics are numerous including specialty gardens (Alpine, Annual, Bog, Dry, Herb, Perennial, Pumpkins, Rose, Vegetable, Water), growing plants indoors (Bulbs, Cacti, House Plants, Potting Soils, Propagation, Plant Finder, Succlents, Books/Mags, Garden Store, Garden Links) and the yeard (The Perfect Lawn, Popular Plants, Soil Prep, Greenhouse Plans & Info, Compost This!, I Love Insects, Trees Trees Trees, Fence Designs) and garden catalogs, message boards, and classified ads. There is a lot of information here for the gardener. (***1/2) -SR

June 28, 2000 - Project 2061: Scientific Literacy for a Changing World

Project 2061 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science is a long-term initiative to reform K-12 science education nationwide. The project is creating a coordinated set of reform tools and services—books, CD-ROMS, on-line resources, and workshops—to help educators work toward science literacy for all students. Earlier this week, they reviewed ten widely used and newly developed biology textbooks, and they found that all of them failed to convey big ideas. An interesting site that deserves more exposure! Site by AAAS. (****) -SR

June 27, 2000 - Vegetation of Mt Field National Park and the South-West Tasmania Wilderness Area

Mt Field National Park and the South-West Tasmania Wilderness Area features pages on field botany course info, preparation for field botany. The Flora of Mt Field is provided in one frame, complete with digital images categorized by group (dicotyledons, monocotyledons, gymnosperms, ferns and bryophytes), lists of all species by genera, and plant communities (lowland, sub-alpine, alpine and logging coupes), as well as ecological references and links. This park is among the largest in Australia and the least tamed southern park. Site by Andrew Morgan, University of Tasmania. (****) -SR

June 26, 2000 - The Bonsai Site

Japanese bonsai is a centuries ago practice of taming trees into pots, but it is much more than that: "it has developed into a whole new form.... Every branch and twig of a bonsai is shaped oreliminated until the chosen image is achieved." This site provides considerable information on this consuming plant hobby, with pages on history, styles, advanced techniques, a gallery, additional features, maintenance, plant profiles, a FAQ, a forum and available books. Site by dan@bonsaisite.com. (****) -SR

June 23, 2000 - Proposals to Conserve and/or Reject Plant Names

Plant names are governed by rules established at week-long meetings at International Botanical Congresses, held every six years at various locations around the world. These meetings determine rules of nomenclature and the validity of names, based on open discussion. The site gives actions requested and disposition of proposals to amend, conserve and reject names, as proposed in the journal Taxon. This site provides an index to all such proposals since 1892, including citations for relevant publications. Search by family, genus or species name, plant group (algae, byrophytes, fossils, fungi, lichens, pteridophyte, spermatophyte), taxonomic rank or requested action. This site is hosted by Smithsonian Institution, Department of Botany. -SR

June 22, 2000 - Kelp Forest and Rocky Subtitle Habitats

This site provides reports on kelp forest distribution & ecology, algal & animal assemblages associated with kelp forests, human uses & impacts and selected kelp forest/rocky subtidal resources of the rocky nearshore environment of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. There are photographs and detailed information on California kelps. Site by Matt Edwards and Mike Foster, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Moss Landing, CA (***1/2) -SR

June 21, 2000 - Littoral Zone: Fucus Fertilization

The littoral zone is "the bit between the highest and lowest tide marks on the seashore." This site focuses on just one topic: sexual reproduction in the common brown alga, Fucus serratus L., serrated wrack. This visual site that is aimed at the K-12 level more than the undergraduate level, although there is useful information on how to achieve fertilization in the lab and the different structures to expect to see. This emphasizes the sexual biology of one of the more advanced algae. Site by Leighton Jones, UK. (***1/2)

June 20, 2000 - Kelp Forests

This site discusses the kelp forest ecosystem of cool ocean environments from a taxonomic, ecological and successional basis. Kelp are brown algae (Phaeophyta) that are among the fastest growing organisms, with tip growth of up to 1 ft/day and lengths approaching 300 ft! This well-illustrated site shows the most common members and their associated fauna. This one-page image essay is hosted by the Biology Department of SUNY at Stony Brook. (***1/2) -SR

June 19, 2000 - Plant Image Gallery

The "Plant Image Gallery" contains about 2000 pictures of plants native to Europe, Costa Rica, the Galapagos Islands and Moenchgut/Ruegen Island (Germany). The Yamasaki Gallery is also featured, including numerous plants of Madagascar, Thailand and Japan. The central collection is hyperlinked by family name. This remarkable site deserves to be bookmarked and is available offline as a modestly priced CD. Site by Thomas Schoepke, Institute of Pharmacy, Greifswald University, Germany. (****) -SR

June 16, 2000 - US Botanical Type Specimen Register

The United States National Herbarium (US), a part of the Botany Department of the Smithsonian Institution, keeps an online register of their type specimens (currently still on a Gopher search engine!). The site includes an introduction, type register, historical notes, types with two names, ined types, frequency reports, lichen literature, and useful web site references for systematics and conservation. This database provides useful collection information for one of the largest US type collections. (***1/2) -SR

June 15, 2000 - Stearman World Flight Home Page

Using a 1942 Stearman biplane, Norman, OK pilot Robert Ragozzino set off June 1 from Oklahoma City's Wiley Post Airport to try to beat the round-the-world open cockpit biplane record. His goal is to circle the globe in 45 days, which if successful would break the current record by 60 percent! He plans to visit 24 countries and 50 cities. So far, he is in Iceland and heading east. This site logs his progress. If he is successful, I think that we will hear much more of this unusual attempt. Even in 2000, it is not an easy flight. -SR

June 14, 2000 - Wildflowers of British Columbia

This partner site to the Trees of British Columbia includes 21 "wildflowers" listed by common name. Each wildflower page provides information about Latin name, leaves, flowers, fruits, habitat and fascinating facts. Many are introduced and I am taken aback by the listing of the lowly dandelion - it must be a high latitude low diversity problem! Site by Interactive Broadcasting Corporation, a tourist information company in BC. (***) -SR

June 13, 2000 - André Michaux: Explorer, Collector, Botanist

André Michaux (1746-1802) was an important French botanist who traveled and described many new plants in the post-revolutionary war U.S. and Canada. He was author of "Histoire des chênes de l'Amérique" ("The Oaks of North America," 1801) and "Flora Boreali-Americana" (the earliest "Flora of North America," 1803). He named scores of plants and introduced mimosa and crepe myrtle to the continent. This site contains a brief biography, information about a symposium in his honor and images of some of the plants he discovered. This site is maintained through the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. (***1/2) -SR

June 12, 2000 - Forests of British Columbia

Currently, this site contains detailed descriptions of 39 tree species in British Columbia, Canada. Information is available on characteristic features, distribution, size, fruit, flowers, leaves, bark and uses. At least one illustration is provided and in most cases, more. Individual records are linked by common name, with the Latin name given at the top of the description. This site by Interactive Broadcasting Corporation, providing tourist information for BC. (***1/2) -SR

June 9, 2000 - BBC Education: Evolution Homepage

The British Broadcasting Company produced this page as part of an evolution weekend that featured shows and debates. This is an engrossing, high-quality site with lots of information and even an evolution simulator/game. Available pages on this website include: Darwin: The Man and His Legacy, The Origin Online [Origin of the Species], Bibliography, Debate, Alife - Biotopia, Life On Earth, Extinction Files, Fossil Roadshow, Natural Selections, Site A-Z, Feedback and Credits. Biotopia is an online artificial life game, which is interesting enough to stimulate quite a discussion (even though my Netscape 4.7 did crash)! (****) -SR

June 8, 2000 - Steve's Photos

Steve Wolf's new Nikon Coolpix 990 digital camera has produced excellent images of flowers and plants, as displayed in his new searchable database at CSU-Stanislaus. Images emphasize floral structure at 800 x 600 resolution (with hyperlinked thumbnails of favorites), making these ideal for classes! Currently, there are 40 photos at the site representing 21 families with plans for more. This site is run directly from a MS Access database file running on a Windows NT server. (****) -SR

June 7, 2000 - Bromeliário Cairé

Bromeliário Cairé ("Cairé" Bromeliad Collection & Nursery) is located near Porto Alegre city, in South Brazil, near Argentina and Uruguay -- an ideal place to grow Bromeliads! Ten genera are represented in name and, frequently, digital images and distribution. In addition to three pages of natives, there are also images of other bromeliads, a flowering calendar (for Brazil), habitat photos, news, special topics (guests in my greenhouse!, how to germinate seeds, organize your collection) and a bibliography. Site by Ludwig Buckup, Bromeliário Cairé. (****) -SR

June 6, 2000 - Rimba Ilmu Botanic Garden

Rimba Ilmu Botanic Garden located on the University of Malaya campus in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia emphasizes the Malaysian and Indonesian flora with over 1200 species represented. This site has an extensive virtual tour and many photographs of orchids, medicinal plants, citrus & citroids, palms, gingers and rare endemics. Pages include functions, what's new, a calendar, collections page, conservatory, herbarium, exhibition, volunteer opportunities, location, admission, links, staff, archives, EEP and contact information. This is an extensive, well-illustrated and informative site. (****) -SR

June 5, 2000 - BioMed Central

BioMed Central is a visionary site with the potential of revolutionizing the means by which peer-reviewed biological science research may be published, making it freely accessible to scientists. This may sound like a dream, but the site is sponsored by National Institutes of Health (NIH). Accepted manuscripts will be published essentially immediately using tools at the site. Review collections and specialties that currently do not warrent their own journals may be economically created and disseminated. The importance of this site in the future is open to speculation! -SR

June 1, 2000 - Links2Go: Botany

Although this site contains links available elsewhere, it is dramatic how the graphical interface relates and clarifies the relationship of the data. The spectrum of data on the entire site (from the home page) is staggering, much like Yahoo, but is gathered by how many links a site has. The site also offers free custom directories of websites. Chat and discussion groups are also available for each listed subtopic. By Links2Go. (***1/2) -SR

Past, past links (by date):

2006: January

2005: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

2003: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

2002: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

2001: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

2000: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

1999: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

1998: January*, February*, March*, April*, May*, June*, July, August, September, October, November, December   (*Leigh's links)

1997: January, February, March, April, May, June, September*, October*, November*, December*    (*Leigh's links)

1996: February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Or search by: Subject Index

http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/bot-linx/jun00.shtml