| BEN |
| BOTANICAL ELECTRONIC NEWS |
|---|
| ISSN 1188-603X |
No. 142 August 30, 1996
Douglass M. Henderson, 58, a professor of Botany at the University of Idaho, died Wednesday, July 24, 1996, at his Moscow, Idaho, home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
He was born July 9, 1938, at Long Beach, Calif., to Allen and Dolores Smith Henderson. He was reared in Bakersfield, Calif., and graduated from high school there in 1956.
He enlisted with the U.S. Air Force, and spent four years at various bases around the country between 1956 and 1960. He was in the U.S. Air Force Reserve from 1960 to 1962. While with the Air Force, he attended tech school in Denver.
He attended Bakersfield College from 1960 to 1963 and graduated magna cum laude from Fresno State College in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in botany.
He married Margaret Sherman on Dec. 26, 1970, at Sacramento, Calif.
He received his doctorate in botany from the University of Washington at Seattle in 1972. He was a teaching assistant, then instructor of botany at UW after graduation. He was an assistant professor of botany at the University of Idaho from 1972 to 1978, and become an associate professor in 1978.
He was director of the University of Idaho herbarium, the managing editor for the Systematic Botany (1983-1985), and regional coordinator for Flora of North America (1984-1987). In 1975 he was appointed by the Governor to be in charge of issuing permits for the collection of endangered and threatened plants in Idaho.
He had written numerous scholarly publications, won UI teaching excellence awards and was a member of several botanical associations (ASPT, IAPT, BSA). He was an avid photographer and enjoyed hiking and canoeing.
He is survived by his wife, a son, two daughters and three grandchildren. The family suggests memorials may be made to University of Idaho Vandal Boosters, or to the University of Washington Botany Department, c/o University of Washington, Seattle, WA 99195.
Several publications of D. M. Henderson [selected by AC]:
On Friday, August 9, 1996, bulldozer operator John Bell, employed by the Paramount Blasting and Drilling Company, was working on the new Duke Point Road extension, which will connect the Island Highway south of Nanaimo to a new ferry terminal to the mainland. The workers had finished blasting a large section of sandstone and coal-bearing shale, and were removing large blocks of stone, to crush into roadfill for the new extension. Mr. Bell recognized a large fossil of some sort on the undersurface of a large boulder. He excavated the stone and allowed it to turn over. This action exposed a surface covered with the leaves of an ancient palm tree, Phoenicites (in older literature Geonomites) imperialis, as well as many other smaller leaves. Mr. Bell was able with his huge machine, to scoop up the boulder, and move it to the top roadcut, adjacent to the parking lot of the Cranberry Arms Hotel.
The Victoria Palaeontology Society became aware of the discovery from Elizabeth Hargreaves of the Nanaimo Times, and after a quick reconnaissance trip recognized the scientific importance of the fossil site. Salvage palaeontology of the site revealed exquisitely preserved specimens of the Upper Cretaceous Period (about 72 million years old), such as dawn redwood (Metasequoia cuneata), several fern species, many angiosperms, and the enigmatic cycadoid Nilssonia. The end of the Mesozoic Era is one of the most important periods in the history of life on this planet. We see not only the extinction of dinosaurs, but also the rapid evolution of the angiosperms, the dominant plant group today.
At present the boulder containing the palm fossils has been moved to the campus of Malaspina University College, under the supervision of K. Maggie McColl (Geology Department coordinator), until a final decision can be made concerning its final disposition. Members of the Victoria Palaeontology Society also collected many smaller pieces of fossil-bearing rock for future scientific investigations.
The high diversity and richness of the flora on this site, as well as its excellent preservation, mark it as a most valuable site. Unfortunately, most of the fossil containing rock has been excavated, crushed, and used as a road fill for the Duke Point Road extension.
It is a tragedy, if a society which purports to be advanced and civilized, allows the destruction of some of its more significant records of its ancient history.
The Victoria Palaeontology Society will hold the Society's Annual Open House at the Swan Lake Nature Centre, 3873 Swan Lake Rd., Victoria, B.C. on Saturday, September 21, 1996, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is by donation. All are invited to attend.
This notice invites comments and information from the public on species that have been suggested as candidates for U.S. proposals to amend Appendix I or II.
Dates: The Service will consider all comments received by October 11, 1996, on species proposals described in this notice.
Addresses: Please send correspondence concerning this notice to: Chief, Office of Scientific Authority; 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Room 750; Arlington, Virginia 22203. Fax number 703-358-2276. Comments and other information received will be available for public inspection by appointment, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, at the above address.
For further information contact: Dr. Marshall A. Howe, Office of Scientific Authority, at the above address, telephone 703-358-1708.
16. Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia)
The Oregon Natural Resources Council has recommended that the United States propose the Pacific yew for inclusion in Appendix II. This slow-growing species occurs in a limited range in the western United States and Canada. An effective anti-cancer compound (paclitaxel or taxol) is obtained especially from its bark, as well as to an increasing but unknown extent from other species of Taxus. Some companies are working on methods of obtaining paclitaxel from Taxus needles and branches (which could avoid loss of the whole plant). Laboratory substitutes for the natural compound are either not available or not available in adequate commercial quantity, but there is some semi-synthetic production. The species is not grown commercially in large quantity for medicinal use, but there is some ornamental cultivation. There is some export of Pacific yew biomass for manufacture of paclitaxel in other countries. The Himalayan yew (Taxus wallichiana) was listed in Appendix II at COP9, excluding the finished pharmaceutical products (i.e., the end-product medicine).
The Service seeks information regarding: (1) The intensity and purposes of removal of the several parts of this species from the wild in various areas, the characteristics of the populations impacted by these extractions, and the trends in those populations; (2) the location, characteristics, and safety of populations that will not be available for extraction; (3) the extent to which biomass from the wild (i.e., materials other than the end-point medicine) is exported from either country; and (4) the degree to which the medicinal trade involves other wild species, and/or non-wild sources of the compound (e.g., from cultivated Pacific yew or other species, or from laboratory synthesis).
19. Tweedy's Bitterroot (Lewisia tweedyi or Cistanthe tweedyi)
The recommendation to remove this species from Appendix II was initiated by the CITES Plants Committee, as part of the ongoing process of reviewing listed taxa at 10-year intervals. This herbaceous mountain species is native in the State of Washington and nearby in the Province of British Columbia (Canada). Because it was found to be sufficiently secure within its range, this species was removed from consideration for the U.S. Endangered Species Act in a 1985 Federal Register notice on many taxa (50 FR 39526). Moreover, this species is believed to be sufficiently easy to propagate and available in cultivation to supply rockgarden enthusiasts.
Since the biological status of the species is considered less vulnerable than when it was listed in 1983, and since there have been no applications to export it from the wild in the last decade (and almost none to export it from cultivation as artificially propagated specimens), removal of the species from Appendix II seems appropriate. Information is sought on the status of the species in the wild, and the likelihood and extent of international trade in wild specimens of this species.
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