| BEN |
| BOTANICAL ELECTRONIC NEWS |
|---|
| ISSN 1188-603X |
| No. 492 June 12, 2015 | aceska@telus.net | Victoria, B.C. |
|---|
There are many plants that are considered to be a potential risk for Canada. See the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Website http://www.inspection.gc.ca/plants/plant-protection/invasive-plants/plant-sp ecies-risk-assessments/eng/1427387489015/1427397156216. Three that we have received questions about recently are the following. Any information on Canadian occurrences of these would be appreciated.
Porcelain berry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (Maxim.) Trautv. - Vitaceae), a native of eastern Asia, is grown as an ornamental in North America. It has escaped from cultivation in the U.S. (Plant Conservation Alliance's Alien Plant Working Group, 2005) where it has outcompeted and replaced native vegetation. Porcelain berry is a member of the grape family (Vitaceae) and the plant resembles a grape but with bright blue fruits in a flat-topped cluster and branches without shredding bark; see illustrations at
http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/invasives/photos/index.asp?mode=photoview&RecID=123&spec=92 It is available as a garden plant in Canada and is cultivated (but in eastern Canada at least try Trumpet Honeysuckles (Lonicera sempervirens L.) as a native substitute). There is only one report from Canada of its occurrence outside cultivation, this being a site in Halton County where it subsequently disappeared. The nearest localities where it is growing wild in the U.S. are Delhass Woods, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; Green Bay, Wisconsin; New York city; and Cape May Point State Park, New Jersey.
Sickleweed (Falcaria vulgaris Bernh., synonym Falcaria sioides (Wibel) Aschers. - Apiaceae) has flat-topped clusters of white flowers and narrow leaves with saw-toothed edges. There is reason to believe that this plant could occur in most of southern Canada, and possibly become a serious weed based on the climates of areas where it currently occurs. It is a weed of agriculture in Russia and surrounding countries and in parts of its introduced range, such as in South Dakota. It has been suggested that it is most likely to become an agricultural problem in drier regions such as the southern Prairie Provinces and parts of central British Columbia. Its current northernmost U.S. locations, in central South Dakota and western Massachusetts are 500 and 340 km respectively from the Canadian border.
Hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata (L. f.) Royale - Hydrocharitaceae) has been erroneously reported from Canada a few times in the past, but there is increasing evidence that it could occur here. It is still spreading, the most recent extensions of the range northward in the U.S. are Cayuga Lake, Ithaca, New York in 2011; Limerick, Maine in 2002; Pipe Lake and Lucerne Lake, Washington State in 1995 and Bruneau River watershed, Idaho in 2008. It has also been suggested that it can survive in Canada based on its occurrence in climatically similar areas of northern China (Balciunas and Chen 1993), and that it will continue to spread north into Canadian territory. If the plants initially introduced into Florida came from a southern part of its native range, they may not be a cold hardy race, and may be restricted. However, the boreal distribution elsewhere and continuing spread are causes for concern. Hydrilla invades aquatic ecosystems forming dense mats that displace native species and change the aquatic habitat, sometimes with adverse effects on fish. Losses in recreation, flooding and power generation costs are in the millions of dollars. The cost of control in the US has been high but biocontrol agents are offering some relief (Balciunas et al. 2002). An earlier article in BEN provides some information for identification (Catling & Mitrow 2001) and some useful illustrations are available at the New York Invasive Species Information website: http://www.nyis.info/?action=invasive_detail&id=16 .
Flora of Oregon. Volume 1:Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, and Monocots Editors Stephen C. Meyers, Thea Jaster, Katie E. Mitchell, & Linda K. Hardison ISBN-13: 978-1-889878-46-1 Expected Publication Date: late Summer 2015 Specifications: 7.5"×10.5" (hbk), 608 pp.,520+ b/w figs., distribution maps, 73 natural landscape color photos. Price: US$ 75.00 The Oregon Flora Project (OFP), Oregon State University, and Botanical Research Institute of Texas Press have collaborated to publish the Flora of Oregon, the first comprehensive flora of Oregon in over 50 years-with illustrations!
The Flora of Oregon represents the only flora of the state published in the past half century and the first illustrated floristic work that exclusively addresses Oregon. Published in three volumes, it will cover all the native and naturalized vascular plants known to occur in Oregon-approximately 4,650 species, subspecies, and varieties. Volume 1 presents treatments of the 1,054 taxa within the pteridophytes, gymnosperms, and monocots. The taxonomic treatments include dichotomous keys, family and generic synopses, full taxon descriptions, maps, and illustrations. A dot map depicting vouchered occurrences and highlighted ecoregions that host the taxon accompanies each description, and there are pen and ink illustrations of 521 taxa, including 86 new works by artist John Myers. The ecology of Oregon is presented in a chapter describing the 11 ecoregions and predominant habitats found within the state. A complementary chapter describes 50 sites--organized by ecoregion--to explore; together these sections of Volume 1 provide a context for the vascular plants of the state that can be appreciated by a diverse audience. Seventy-three color photographs and maps highlight the beauty of Oregon's landscapes. Also of general interest are biographical sketches of notable Oregon botanists from 1842 to the present and the story of the Oregon Flora Project. Appendices emphasize plant taxa of interest to conservationists: rare and endangered species, endemics, taxa limited to a single ecoregion, and those not collected during the previous 50 years. A valuable reference for land managers, natural resource policy-makers, conservationists, environmental consultants, naturalists, wildflower enthusiasts, historians, teachers, and students of all ages, the Flora of Oregon is a welcome resource for all who appreciate the natural beauty and biodiversity of Oregon.
The Native Plant Society of Oregon (NPSO) has been a partner of the Oregon Flora Project since OFP was formed in 1994. The NPSO membership was approached for financial support through the formation of a "Friends of the OFP" committee. Also, the state organization and many of its chapters have provided financial support (several thousand dollars a year, depending upon society resources) and promoted participation via sharing of species lists, volunteerism, data exchanges and coordination. This reflects founder Scott Sundberg's strong feelings about including citizen scientists in the project. It is part of the OFP ethos to encourage and value the input of all interested parties, not just academics and professionals. Sundberg set up programs to regularly exchange data with NPSO, and encouraged member participation in the OFP. The mutual effort and commitment to interact has helped to build the productive relationship between OFP and the NPSO.
Flora of Oregon is dedicated to Scott Sundberg in appreciation of his work on starting the Oregon Flora Project. There is also a biographical sketch of him in the "Notable Oregon Botanists" chapter. See also http://bomi.ou.edu/ben/ben343.html for his obituary.
Flora of Oregon, Volume 1 is available for pre-order from BRIT Press (http://shop.brit.org/products/floraoforegon1 ); publication date is late summer.
[Editorial Note: Dr. Linda Hardison will be at BOTANY BC 2015 in Elkford, BC, and will join the BRIT Press exhibition booth, where a signal copy of the Flora of Oregon Volume 1 will be available for perusal. ac]
Event: Music for Mycologists Concert and CD Release, Open Space Gallery, Victoria, BC, June 6, 2015
On your most worthy suggestion, I attended last Saturday night's Experimental Music Unit of LaSaM Music, whose programme was titled 'Music for Mycologists'. The group consists of 3 musicians: Tina Pearson (flute), George Tzanetakis (clarinets), and Oaul Walde (bass guitar). I knew I was in for some kind of sensual experience as I ascended the stairs at Open Space: there were mouth-watering odors of aromatic mushrooms and spices (Two professional caterers of many years experience had prepared seven different mushroom snacks for the Intermission). There were about 40 people attending, mostly serious, well-dressed young students of experimental music, no mycologists that I recognized from SVIMS, in a congenial setting with folding chairs facing a huge wall on which were projected enlarged mushroom spore prints, which slowly morphed into different views, including some European species and a music stand in an old growth forest. Tina Pearson is the leader of the trio, who played 3 selections before and 3 after the Intermission (discussions, mushroom tastings, CD selling and signing). The mushrooms songs were an eclectic mix based on works by Vaclav Halek, who has recorded over 6000 musical compositions based on 'sounds' heard from mushrooms, with selections from his 2003 'Musical Atlas of Mushrooms: How Mushrooms Sing; original compositions by Tina; two for John Cage (for his 1952 book and musical composition 'Interdeterminancy' and most famous composition 4'33" consisting of three parts, where the musicians put down their instruments while the audience in rapt attention experienced absolute silence. At the Intermission I purchased their newly released CD and tasted the snacks made with tapenade, hummus, croutons, quiche, pizza, and popcorn flavoured with Himalayan truffle salt, king oysters, sautéed onion, water chestnuts, arugula, wakame seaweed, truffle oil, sun dried tomatoes, and basilico. Tina is very interested in attending a SVIMS meeting and learning more about mushroom biology, to use for her musical creations. I was initially skeptical, but finished with a very positive feeling about this unusual, most worthwhile event. Tina's email is tina.pearson@shaw.ca and the for LaSaM trio lasammusic@gmail.com.
[For more on the Czech composer Vaclav Halek see http://bomi.ou.edu/ben/ben434.html and http://bomi.ou.edu/ben/ben451.html]
Subscriptions: http://victoria.tc.ca/mailman/listinfo/ben-l.
Send submissions to aceska@telus.net
BEN is archived at http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/