| BEN |
| BOTANICAL ELECTRONIC NEWS |
|---|
| ISSN 1188-603X |
| No. 160 March 22, 1997 | aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca Victoria, B.C. |
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The BC Conservation Data Centre is organizing this year's meeting and we are excited to offer an opportunity to do some high country botany at Cathedral Lakes Park. We have booked space at Cathedral Lakes Lodge, and space is limited in the lodge, chalets, and cabins. There are camping sites in the park, and the lodge can accommodate limited numbers of campers for meals. We are still working on the details, but the registration forms will be mailed out early next week.
One Sunday afternoon in February of 1997 I went for a walk at McNeil Bay, Victoria, B.C. I walked east and north along the rocky shoreline. A ways along (before the point) and back from the shore at the vegetation margin on the sandy soil beneath small shrubs I discovered a tiny bulbiform moss which appeared to have included sporophytes. I collected a small sample and later identified it as Acaulon muticum var. rufescens (Jaeg.) Crum. I sent the specimen to Dr. R.H. Zander at the Clinton Herbarium in the Buffalo Museum of Science, New York (BUF) who confirmed my identification and deposited the specimen there.
This moss has not been previously reported in British Columbia. Crum & Anderson (1981) illustrate this taxon and give the range as "Quebec to Michigan, Iowa, Kansas and south to Florida and Texas; California and (according to Grout) Arizona." On the Canadian Checklist (Ireland et al., 1987) the taxon is verified only for Ontario, with literature reports from Quebec and Saskatchewan.
Dr. Zander is the recognized expert on Pottiaceae and is working on the treatment of Acaulon for the forthcoming Flora of North America. He offers this key:
1. Leaves awned; laminal cells papillose abaxially 2. Plant often three-angled, about 1.0 mm high; leaves keeled; seta about as long as the diameter of the capsule; spores about 30 um, finely papillose A bryological excursion day is planned for 10 May 1997 near the northwest Montana town of Bigfork, led by Drs. Dale Vitt (University of Alberta, Edmonton) and Lars Soederstroem (University of Trondheim, Norway). The object of the field trip is to bring together people with interest in mosses and liverworts to
meet and exchange ideas and information while inventorying the bryoflora of the bottoms of the Porcupine Creek drainage just southeast of the town of Bigfork in the beautiful Swan Valley. This is an area with high species diversity and many unique phytogeographic elements, including boreal and coastal. There
are several calcareous fens in the area. The excursion will include guided visits to these unique habitats as well as surrounding upland terrain.
Excursion participants will meet at the Forest Service Ranger Station in Bigfork at 8:00 AM on the morning of the 10th of May and will carpool to go to the field sites. The excursion is planned to last until about 4:00 PM. Participants are advised to bring raingear and rubber boots, a boxed lunch, collecting bags
and hand lenses.
Accommodations and restaurants are found in abundance in Bigfork and nearby Kalispell.
Registration is free of charge. To register, please provide your name, mailing address (incl. e-mail!) and phone/fax to:
This will allow us to anticipate turnout and better plan specific activities. In addition, this will allow us to mail vicinity maps to registrants to help them plan their attendance.
At last, a comprehensive, up-to-date, sensible book on growing mosses and similar things. The perfect answer to those frequent queries from gardeners about how to grow mosses. Or for that matter to those who want an introduction to mosses, including what's not a moss. Sections include transplanting, propagating, and growing mosses in containers, for bonsai, and as ground covers.
See our web site, http://www.mobot.org/, for additional bryophyte (and other) titles.
Send order to:
This 186-page work describes the 44 orchid species that have been found within 50 km of Canada's National Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. It contains information on identification, past abundance, population changes, development cycles and relative stability of colonies. It is presented as a baseline study from which to design further research and prepare effective planning measures to protect wild orchid populations.
The Introduction describes the history of collecting and recording since 1856, principal orchid habitats, local distribution patterns, rare species, colour forms, capsules and seeds, blooming dates and other topics.
Each species account provides detailed information on the above topics, as well as a brief description of the plant. A drawing and a spot distribution map accompany each account. Correlations of some species with the Canadian Shield or the St. Lawrence Lowlands, or with calcareous rock, sandstone or sand deposits are shown. Long-lived colonies of many species are described, and population studies are included for Corallorhiza striata, Goodyera pubescens, G. tesselata, Platanthera hookeri, P. orbiculata and Spiranthes cernua.
To obtain copies of this journal issue, send CAN $10. plus $2.50 (postage and handling) for each copy to:
Submissions, subscriptions, etc.: aceska@freenet.victoria.bc.ca.
BEN is archived on gopher freenet.victoria.bc.ca. The URL is:
gopher://freenet.victoria.bc.ca:70/11/environment/Botany/ben. Also archived at http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/
Acaulon muticum var. muticum seems to be rare in North America,
although it is more common in northern and central Europe.
Acaulon muticum var. rufescens seems to be common plant in parts
of North America (see above).
............. 1. Acaulon schimperianum (Sull.) Sull. & Lesq.
1. Leaves cuspidate or blunt; laminal cells smooth.
..................... 2. Acaulon triquetrum (Spruce) C.M.
2. Plants flattened-globose or three-angled; leaves broadly channeled; seta short, about 0.3 the diameter of the capsule; spores 30-50 um, smooth or papillose ......................... 3. Acaulon muticum (Hedw.) C.M.
3. Spores shortly ellipsoidal, brown, densely papillose-roughened
..................... 3a. Acaulon muticum var. muticum
3. Spores nearly spherical, yellow, smooth
..................... 3b. Acaulon muticum var. rufescens (Jeag.) Crum
BRYOLOGICAL EXCURSION, 10 MAY 1997, SWAN VALLEY, MONTANA
Toby Spribille (Spribille_Toby/r1_kootenai@fs.fed.us)
Fortine Ranger District
Kootenai Nat'l Forest
P.O. Box 116
Fortine, MT 59918
Phone: (406) 882 4451 Fax: (406) 882 4835
e-mail: Spribille_Toby/r1_kootenai@fs.fed.us
NEW BOOK ON MOSS GARDENING
From: Marshall Crosby (crosby@mobot.org) originally posted to bryonet-l@mtu.edu [abbrev.]
Missouri Botanical Garden
P.O. Box 299
St. Louis, MO 63166-0299
Phone: (+1) 314-577-9534 Fax: (+1) 314-577-9594
E-mail: dept11@mobot.org
Web: http://www.mobot.org/
ORCHIDS OF THE OTTAWA DISTRICT, ONTARIO, CANADA
From: Marilyn Light (mlight@aix1.uottawa.ca)
P.O. Box 35069, Westgate P.O.
Ottawa, Canada K1Z 1A2