Scott's Botanical Links--June 1996

June 27, 1996 - Introduction to the Sphenophyta

Part of a vascular plant morphology suite of well-constructed sites emphasizing the evolution of these plants. Pages explain the morphology, taxonomy and fossil past of these plants. There is also a link to the ancestral Trimerophytes, from which they and the majority of the extant vascular plants are derived. (***1/2)

June 26, 1996 - Cycads

A brief page explaining the role of the cycads today and their evoutionary past. The site is concluded by excellent photographs of selected cycads and their cones. This is a nice personal site by F. Boze at U. North Dakota. (***1/2)

June 25, 1996 - Orchids of Wisconsin - An Interactive Flora

This was somewhat of a prototype for how to construct an interactive online key. Access beautiful images of orchids through either lists of taxa or through keys to the taxa. Many of the images are given as thumbnail JPEGs (about 100 X 150, 5KB or so) that load quickly; some can be expanded to their larger format (350 X 700 or so, but usually less than 50 K). Both formats load quickly because of a fast server. Text and pictures, are copyrighted and may not be used for any purpose besides education and edification. Also, a few non-Wisconsin orchids are shown. Site by Jeff Haberman, University of Wisconsin. (***1/2)

June 24, 1996 - Algae: The Forgotten Treasure of Tidepools

This is a principally pictorial exhibit of the marine algae. Represented are macrophytes of the Rhodophyta (red algae, currently 21), Phaeophyta (brown algae, currently 8) and Chlorophyta (green algae, currently 6). Each alga has a short comment (usually trivial) and a GIF (300 X 400 or so, less than 60 K) of high quality. Most appear to be herbarium sheets, but the color rendition is well balanced! One undesirable feature: some pages are constructed in white text, which do not print in some browsers (incl. Netscape!). High marks on the pictures, the academic value of the comments is limited. Created by Franchesca Perez, Chris Kjeldsen and Jeff Hughey. (***1/2)

June 21, 1996 - The Diatom Collection of the California Academy of Sciences

This is an academic site relating to the development of authoritative databases on diatoms. The Diatom Collection Database currently offers two types of information: localities and taxon information. There is also a diatom literature site including references in Van Landingham's Catalgoue, and other citations and a database on diatom genera, including when, where and by whom they were described. Although still in development this is a promising site! Developed at the California Academy of Sciences by pkociolek@cas.calacademy.org (***1/2)

June 20, 1996 - Science Sources Online - now EurekAlert!

An American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) site with links to Colleges and Universities, Congressional Committees, Corporate and Industrial Research, Hospitals and Medical Centers, Museums of Science and Technology, Scientific Professional Societies, Federal Agencies and Laboratories, International Sources, Non-Profit Research Institutions and State Academies of Science. This is an authoritative WWW search site and one to bookmark - a central location for links to a lot of useful Web sites! Also a simple search engine. (****)

June 19, 1996 - California's Coastal Plants

"California has one of the most diverse floras on earth. A wealth of distinct habitats, varied soils, and microclimates, in combination with millions of years of semi-isolation by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the rugged mountains and desert to the east, have produced an estimated 5,000 native species and 1,000 introduced species. In addition, nutrient-rich ocean currents along the coast support a diverse marine flora of about 670 species." The site has intelligent discourses (and sparingly few graphics) on marine algae, coastal strands, coastal grasses, coastal scrub, salt marsh, and freshwater marshes. Developed by CERES - California Environmental Resources Evaluation System - an information system developed by the California Resources Agency to facilitate access to a variety of electronic data describing California's rich and diverse environments. (****)

June 18, 1996 - Henriette's Herbal Homepage

This site includes the herbal newsgroup and mailing list archives, medicinal herblist archives, culinary herblist archives, news:alt.folklore.herbs archives, news:rec.gardens archives, Medicinal and Culinary herbfaqs, neat stuff pulled off newsgroups, mailing lists, a plant name database file and "some" nice plant pictures. Actually, there are a lot of pictures and the ones I saw were really quite nice. These are based on travels to Finland, Berlin, Kew Gardens and other places. Maintained by Henriette Kress. (****) [original URL: http://metalab.unc.edu/herbmed/]

June 17, 1996 - Michael R. Martin's Phytoplankton Images Library

This is an excellent photographic resource for phytoplankton images. It features numerous photomicrographs (over 80 plant images, 1 iron bacterium, and 6 animals) listed by family and genus. The photos are JPGs (640x480 pixels) of <60 Kb size that are technically excellent. (Don't let the small size of the images fool you!) This is the work of Michael R. Martin of the Adirondack Aquatic Institute at Paul Smith's College, Paul Smiths, NY. (****)

June 14, 1996 - Writing for Botany

Want guidance on writing a botany paper? This is the site to visit. There is an entire book on these pages that gives essential information on writing a scientific paper, with botany in mind. An essential reference for students embarking on their first term paper in botany or even their first thesis will learn something here. This is the work of Randy Moore (University of Akron) and is made available by Wm. C. Brown Publishers. (***1/2)

June 13, 1996 - Basic Botany images gone! (9/11/00)

This site covers some basic microscopy subjects used in every botany class. These include a handful of algae, and a collection of anatomical sections of classical stem, root and leaf structure. The photos are 768x512 JPEG images in the >100Kb range, available if acknowledged for non-profit educational use. Photomicrographs are reasonable, but not excellent--clarity and color balance are not well tuned, but the basic subjects are covered. This site was provided by IBM and IKE from a PhotoCD they are trying to sell. (***)

June 12, 1996 - SW School of Botanical Medicine

The Southwestern School of Botanical Medicine has detailed collections of plant slides (in fact >1,100) that are of excellent quality, herb databases, and information on its commercial school. Also includes links to Culbreth's (1927) Materia Medica and Pharmacology, Herb manuals and teaching material from SWSBM, Herb Folios, Classic works (Monographs and formularies) on Eclectic Medicine, Naturopathy, Thomsonian Medicine, pharmacy, and pharmacognosy, Eclectic Medical Journals, Bioregional Herb Resources, Medicinal Herb FAQ, Culinary Herb FAQ, and other sites. This site is run by Michael Moore, who is also the Director of the School. Lots of content! (****)

June 11, 1996 - Native American Herbal, Plant Knowledge

An interesting site rich with links to the use of plants by Native Americans along with a variety of local pages. This is a very nice start for an indigenous herbal with extremely well chosen links. Part of a Native American Indian Resources site organized by Webmistress Paula Giese. (***1/2)

June 10, 1996 - AskERIC

ERIC is the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), a federally-funded national information system that provides, through its 16 subject-specific clearinghouses, associated adjunct clearinghouses, and support components, a variety of services and products on a broad range of education-related issues. Features the following services: AskERIC Q & A Service, AskERIC Virtual Library, AskERIC R&D, and Newton's Apple. ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology, Syracuse University. (***1/2)

June 7, 1996 - Origin of the Species

This is the text of the book that launched the theory of evolution as a central unifying concept in biology. As rare as this is in the modern sciences, Charles Darwin's works Origin of the Species and Voyage of the Beaglestill have much of their pedagogical power. Wordy, but thoughtful, the text still contains passages of interest for modern students of biology. This site is maintained by the WWW Literature server, which also contains other literary classics.

June 6, 1996 - Voyage of the Beagle

Few documents have affected the concept of modern biology as much as Darwin's work, which was divided between plants and animals. As rare as this is in the modern sciences, this work includes many of the observations on which he based his Origin of the Species. This site is maintained by the WWW Literature server, which also contains other literary classics.

June 5, 1996 - International Organisation of Palaeobotany

Run by the IOP, this site includes the Plant Fossil Record Database, PaleoTalk, electronic versions of IOP newsletters, related servers, presentations, Species 2000 and the Plant Fossil Record. This site is operated by the International Organisation of Palaeobotany. (***1/2)

June 4, 1996 - Garden South Africa

This site is a nice introduction to gardening in South Africa and interesting links to other South African sites. Although it is a small site, it is an interesting one to those interested in this part of the world. This site is maintained by Phil Stranex of Garden South. (***)

June 3, 1996 - OCLC FirstSearch Service

OCLC is one of the major search engines used for interlibrary loans. Although this link connects you to a password protected area, most university libraries are members and have a password for the university that they are willing to share (start in the library's reference department). There is also a trial search area. To locate books and obscure (as well as common) journals, this is a good place to start. This site is maintained by Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC) (***1/2)

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

If you have any comments for the improvement this page or nominations for links, please contact me by email (srussell@ou.edu).

http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/bot-linx/jun96.shtml