Scott's Botanical Links--October 1998

October 29, 1998 - Gymnosperms of Australia and New Zealand

Some of the oldest and most remarkable of the gymnosperms are found in Australia and New Zealand. This site provides descriptions and occasional photographs of 56 Australian and 20 New Zealand endemics (=found nowhere else). Drawings, photographs and sometimes maps are available; the gallery also includes numerous non-native cycads and conifers. An ambitious site that is still under construction, edited by Christopher J. Earle, through Geocities. (****)SR

October 28, 1998 - Algae Home Page, Smithsonian Institution

Botany at the Smithsonian includes the study of algae. This site presents an introduction, herbarium link (collections, borrowing policies, specimen inventory), information about collecting algae, techniques for preserving them, research notes, publications, marine floras, and other phycological links. Start at the introduction to access a nice classification page and information about the economic uses of algae, complete with recipes! Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. (****)SR

October 27, 1998 - Home of the Fossil Coralline Algae (Corallinaceae: Rhodophyta)

This site features a preamble, anatomical features of coralline algae: fossil and recent compared, Paleogene coralline algae of Austria, and links on other algal sites. The anatomical section is at the upperclass college level, but clearly enough described and illustrated that it can be widely enjoyed. Site by Michael Rasser, Institute of Paleontology, Vienna, Austria. (****)SR

October 26, 1998 - Vegetation of Mt. Field National Park and the South-West Tasmania Wilderness Area

Professors at the University of Tasmania have collaborated on this outstanding presentation of The Flora of Mt. Field National Park, organized either by community type, a list of genera, or by families of monocots, dicots, gymnosperms, and ferns and bryophytes. The images are excellent, and linked for cross-referencing habitats, families, and species. Highly useful for a number of courses in diversity, ecology, and phytogeography, specialists in the Myrtaceae especially will not want to miss this site by Robert Wilshire and associates, University of Tasmania Department of Plant Sciences, Australia.(****)LF

October 23, 1998 - Andean Botanical Information System

This database provides floristic and taxonomic information for plants and habitats of Chile and Peru through a collaborating staff of Field Museum administrators, curators, and other professional participants. The project includes study of coastal and montane regions, with selected monographic treatments and online images. Much of the work is based on J. Francis MacBride's Flora of Peru, initiated in 1936. ABIS is an excellent opportunity to become familiar with the Andean flora, through the site's general categories "Environments" and "Plant Families," with detailed sections on Asteraceae in Peru, Bromeliaceae, Griseliniaceae, and Solanaceae. Site by The Museum Informatics Project, University of California, Berkeley.(****)LF

October 22, 1998 - Lick Creek Park

The Lick Creek Park site (College Station, TX) is a worthwhile virtual tour of the flood plain of Lick Creek, a major tributary of the Navasota River. This 17 page tour is rich in photographs and commentaries. This diverse park includes well-developed riverine and alluvial hardwood forest, open marshland, oxbow meadows, upland oak forest, and sandy prairies. Thumbnail photos are linked with excellent quality large format JPGs. Site by Monique Reed, photographs by J. R. Manhart and H. D. Wilson, TAMU. (****) SR

October 21, 1998 - Wendy Brockman: Botanical Art

Today's site is a personal art collection. The botanical content here is as well done as is the artistic. Too bad there are so few pictures! Site by Wendy Brockman. (***) SR

October 20, 1998 - Mycorrhiza Information Exchange Web Site

Mycorrhiza Information Exchange is a clearinghouse for information on research, teaching and business on mycorrhizal symbioses. The site is rich in well laid out links, featuring forums, directories, images, literature, search links, meetings, keys, news, jobs, and quite a few more categories. The site is hosted at the University of Tennessee. (****) SR

October 19, 1998 - Protein Data Bank

Protein Data Bank (PDB) is an archive of experimentally determined three-dimensional structures of biological macromolecules. This is an essential resource for research with information on 7855 proteins and 607 nucleic acids in the database and 100 or so added weekly. There are also newsletters, software, mailing lists, mirror sites and over 2.5 million visitors since 1994, when it opened. Site by Brookhaven National Laboratory, NY. (****) SR

October 16, 1998 - Protein Kinase Resource

Protein kinases are enzymes that phosphorylate other enzymes, activating and deactivating them. This role makes these enzymes critical in the downstream events of signal transduction -- in other words, as a final part of signal transduction, these proteins turn other proteins on and off and thereby change protein expression in the cell. This site looks at their molecular structure, active sites, diseases associated with protein kinases, various molecular tools & databases, a listserv, researcher database -- overall, an extremely complete site by the San Diego Supercomputer Center. (****) SR

October 15, 1998 - Southwest Exotic Plant Mapping Program

SWEMP is a collaborative program to develop a regional database of exotic plant infestations in the Southwest coordinated by the Colorado Plateau Field Station. The site includes information about noxious weeds, their distribution, how to become a collaborator, what's new and other web sites. Maintained by the USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center at Flagstaff. (****) SR

October 14, 1998 - Album of the Plants of Israel

A bit of a break from the serious links I have been posted, this site features some nice medium-sized photos of Israeli plants by scientific and Hebrew names. (The Hebrew will not look right, unless your browser is set up for it!) This virtual album is part of the Israeli Society of Plant Sciences site. (***) SR

October 13, 1998 - A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands

This site uses the extensive data collected by the Biota of North America Program as part of their Digital Floristic Synthesis of North America. At this site, it is possible to browse families, query genera, query common names or other strings. Hugh Wilson converted the data and Erich Schneider did the interactive server-side programming, Texas A&M Center for the Study of Digital Libraries. (****) SR

October 12, 1998 - The Cycad Society

This site is dedicated to the cycads--among the oldest of the living gymnosperms. It features an online newsletter, photo gallery (w/ thumbnail photos), a listserv and a brief set of relevant links. The Cycad Society also hosts a seed bank, a pollen bank and a library. This site is maintained by the Cycad Society. (***) SR

October 9, 1998 - Seed Germination Database

Seeds of different plants may have very different requirements. If you are trying to grow some seeds, this database largely from Thompson & Morgan's Successful Seed Raising Guide (out of print except for this electronic version) could be indispensible. This page includes a link to Cyberseed's 810 species database for seed germination and has a lot of practical advice. Site by Duncan McAlpine (also creator of the Alpine Garden & Rock Garden Guide). (***1/2) SR

October 8, 1998 - Great Plant Escape

Help Detective Le Plant and and his partners Bud and Sprout unlock the amazing mysteries of plant life. This educational site designed for 4th and 5th grade comes complete with six "cases" for the detective and his assistants to solve. There is also a teacher's guide! Site by the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service. (****) SR

October 7, 1998 - Botanical Index to the Journal of Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau's works of contemplation at Walden Pond are celebrated in American literature. During these, he viewed plants in a special, though not always botanical light. This site indexes the occurrence of plant references in Thoreau's writing (with the dryness of science) and yet the quotes from Thoreau bring out the importance of the task. Site created by Ray Angelo with the support of the Harvard University Herbaria. (****) SR

October 6, 1998 - Albion College Vascular Plant Image Gallery

In addition to being a nice vascular plant morphology photography site, this includes descriptions of ten major groups (from Lycopsida to Angiospermopsida) and a few structural details as well. Site by Dan Skean, Albion College, Albion, Michigan. (****) SR

October 5, 1998 - Yahoo's Plant Taxon-Related Directories

Looking for information on groups of plants usually requires some hard searching; this site has over 36 subdirectories to different groups of plants, listed by families, habit or other characteristics that make them a familiar group. A pioneering Internet site in late '94, this site relies on nominations and gets lots, making it a major gateway these days. (****) SR

October 2, 1998 - The Unreal World of Ultraviolet Color Photography

Ultraviolet pigments are frequently found in nondescript flowers. Honeybees and other insect may therefore see very strikingly different views of plant parts than humans. This site presents about a dozen tantalizing images and describes the theory and equipment needed for UV photography. Site by Bjørn Rørslett at Foto-dot-No. (****) SR

October 1, 1998 - Why Leaves Change Color

The questions of how and why leaves change color triggers an interesting examination of leaf pigments, tree growth and the basis & adaptive value of leaf abscission. As the leaves change color and are shed in the Northern Hemisphere, this is a site that can be examined at many levels! Site by the USDA Forest Service, St. Paul, MN Field Office. (****) 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/oct98.shtml