Registration of Plant Names 

Workshop: Molecular Studies 

Lichens of North America 

New Societies

Journals

Personalia 

News  

---

Subject to ratification by the XVI International Botanical Congress (St Louis, 1999) of a rule already included in the International code of botanical nomenclature (Art. 32.1-2 of the Tokyo Code), new names of plants and fungi will have to be registered in order to be validly published after the 1^st of January 2000. To demonstrate feasibility of a registration system, the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) undertakes a trial of registration, on a non-mandatory basis, for a two-years period starting 1 January 1998. The co-ordinating centre will be the secretariat of IAPT, currently at the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Germany. Co-ordination with present indexing centres for major groups of plants is being sought, in view of their possible active involvement at the implementation stage. The International Mycological Institute in Egham, U. K., has already accepted to act as associate registration centre for the whole of fungi, including fossil fungi. The co-ordinating registration centre (IAPT secretariat), and any associated centre operating under its auspices, will register and make available all names of new taxa, all new combinations or rank transfers that are brought to their attention in one of the following ways: by being published in an accredited journal or serial; by being submitted for registration (normally by the author or one of the authors), either directly or through a national registration office; or (for the non-mandatory trial phase only) as a result of scanning of other published information by the registration centres’ own staff. 

Registration by way of publication in accredited journals or serials - For a journal or serial to be accredited, its publishers must commit themselves, by a signed agreement with the IAPT, to point out any nomenclatural novelties in each individual issue of their journal or serial, either by including a separate index of novelties or in another suitable, previously agreed way; submit each individual issue, as soon as published and by the most rapid way, to a pre-defined registration office or centre. Accredited journals and serials will be entitled, and even encouraged, to mention that accreditation on their cover, title page or in their impressum. A permanently updated list of accredited journals and serials is being placed on the World Wide Web (http://www.bgbm.org/iapt/registration/journals.htm). This list will be published annually in the journal Taxon. 

Registration by way of submission to registration offices - Authors of botanical nomenclatural novelties that do not appear in an accredited journal or serial (but e.g. in a monograph, pamphlet, or non-accredited periodical publication) are strongly encouraged to submit their names for registration – and will be required to do so once registration becomes mandatory – in the following way: all names to be registered are to be listed on an appropriate registration form, using a separate form for each separate publication; the form (in triplicate) must be submitted together with two copies of the publication itself, either to a national registration office (see below) or, optionally, directly to the appropriate registration centre. Reprints of articles from books or non-accredited periodicals are acceptable, provided their source is stated accurately and in full; one dated copy of each form will be sent back to the submitting author in acknowledgement of effected registration. Registration forms can be obtained free of charge (a) by sending a request to any registration office or centre, by letter, fax or e-mail, or (b), preferably, by printing and copying the form as available on the World Wide Web (http://www.bgbm.org/iapt/registration/default.htm). Registration offices are presently being arranged for in as many different countries as possible. They will serve (a) as mailboxes and forwarding agencies for registration submissions and (b) as national repositories for printed matter in which new names published locally appear. A permanently updated address list of all functioning national registration offices is being placed on the World Wide Web (http://www.bgbm.org/iapt/registration/ offices.htm). This list will also be published annually in the journal Taxon. 

Registration date - The date of registration, as here defined, will be the date of receipt of the registration submission at any national registration office or appropriate registration centre. For accredited journals or serials (and, for the duration of the trial phase, for publications scanned at the registration centres), it will be the date of receipt of the publication at the location of the registration centre (or national office, if so agreed). For the duration of the trial phase, i.e. as long as registration is non-mandatory, the date of a name will, just as before, be the date of effective publication of the printed matter in which it is validated, irrespective of the date of registration. Nevertheless, the registration date will be recorded, for the following reasons: to make clear that the name was published on or before that date, in cases when the date of effective publication is not specified in the printed matter; to assess the time difference between the (effective or stated) date of the printed matter and that of registration, since it is envisaged that the date of registration be accepted as the date of names published on or after 1 January 2000. 

It is therefore in the interest of every author to submit nomenclatural novelties for registration without any delay, and by the most rapid means available. 

Access to registration data - Information on registered names will be made publicly available as soon as feasible, (a) by placing them on the WWW without delay in a searchable database (http://www.bgbm.org/iapt/registration/ regdata.htm), (b) by publishing non-cumulative lists biannually, and (c), hopefully, by issuing cumulative updates on a CD-Rom-type, fully searchable data medium at similar intervals. 

Workshop: Progress in molecular studies of lichens. (11.-15. August 1998, Graz, Austria). 

This is the announcement for the first workshop devoted to molecular systematics of lichens. After about one decade of molecular lichenology results and the future challenges will be discussed. Programme of the workshop: Talk sessions: 1. Molecular and morphological evolution, with contributions by U. Søchting, H. Döring & M. Wedin, L. Myllis, G. Rambold, A. Crespo. 2. Advances in lichen molecular systematics, with contributions by M. Wedin, S. Ekman, A. Thell, N. Ivanova, J. Miadlikowska, T. Friedl. 3. Molecular population studies, with contributions by O. Cubero & A. Crespo, M. Vinuesa, B. Gutmann, S: Zoller. 4. Sterile lichens and their phylogenetic positions, with contributions by N. Hoffmann, U. Arup, M. Grube. - Discussion forums: 1. Classification and phylogeny (moderated by O. Eriksson), 2. Introns and their significance for molecular systematics (moderated by P.T. DePriest), 3. Genes and their information content for phylogenetic studies (moderated by F. Lutzoni), 4. A comparison of phylogenetic methods (moderated by A. Gargas), 5. Integration of different data sets (moderated by A. Tehler). - Laboratory seminars: 1. Alignment techniques (by M. Grube), 2. DNA isolation techniques for lichens (by O. Cubero), 3. Microslide PCR and in situ hybridization (by H. Wolinski), 4. Automated sequencing: (by I. Korschineck). - Organisation: M. Grube (Graz), M. Wedin (London), P. Blanz (Graz). Info: http://bkfug.kfunigraz.ac.at/~grubem/msl-workshop.htmlx. 

Lichens of North America 

We happily report that The Canadian Museum of Nature has now signed a contract with Yale University Press for the production of "Lichens of North America". Ernie Brodo has been given permission by the Museum to resume work on the book (funding had been cut off in January 1996 and no work was permitted since 3 December 1996 pending the signing of the contract). The authors plan to submit the completed manuscript by October 1998. Yale estimates 18-24 months for production. Ernie, Sylvia and Steve thank all members of the lichenological community for their support during these difficult months. 

• North America, East: Eastern Lichen Network, Info via email: Glennmar@shu.edu (Dr. Marian Glenn). - The Eastern Lichen Network has about 25 members linked via email, and posts announcements, keys and requests for information as submitted, with about 1 or 2 postings per month. The network was set up with the long range goal of preparing a lichen flora for Eastern North America.
• Brazilian Lichen Society - A lichen society, called the Grupo Brasileiro de Liquenòlogos (GBL), was established on 23 July 1996 at Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro State, during the XLVII Congreso National de Botanica. It is publishing a newsletter, Boletim Informativo. The President of the society is Marcelo Pinto Marcelli.

• LICHENS is a new indexed international journal aiming at establishing closer scientific relationship among Universities, Botanical Gardens, private collections, as well as professionals and students. Three issues, constituting a volume, will be published per year. All articles will be electronically peer-reviewed. Once accepted, titles, summaries and bibliographies will be sent by electronic mail to an international title list prior to printing at the Web address: http://www.ciens.ula.ve/~cires (see there for further information). Areas of interest: all aspects related to lichen structure, anatomy, morphology, genetics, molecular biology, molecular systematics, natural history, chemistry, evolutionary biology, ecology, etc., reports from scientific events, book reviews. - Calendar: closing the volume: March 1st, July 1st, November 1st. Publication: April 30th, August 31th, December 31th. Subscription Price for Institutions: Printed Edition, U.S.$ 600.
• MYCOSISTEMA - The Chinese mycological journals - which contain many lichenological articles - Acta Mycologica Sinica and Mycosystema have been united so that in 1997 they together form a quaterly journal called Mycosystema but bearing the volume number 16. Orders: China International Book Trading Coporation, P.O. Box 399, Beijing, China.
• DISCONTINUED JOURNALS - The periodical Systema Ascomycetum, which was started at Umeå, Sweden, in 1982 by O. E. Eriksson, and later edited by him and D. L. Hawksworth at the International Mycological Institute in England, shall be discontinued from the beginning of 1998. The periodical Cryptogamic Botany, which was published by the Gustav Fischer Verlag in five volumes in 1989-1995, was discontinued from the beginnning of 1996.

D. PUNTILLO, 1996 - I licheni di Calabria. Monografie XXII, Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali Torino ISSN 1121-7545, ISBN 88-86041-17-9, 229 pages, xlii coloured plates and 25 plates, hardbound. Available from: Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Via Giolitti 36, 10123 Torino, Italy; fax (+39) 11 4323331. Price L 120,000 + postage. - A catalogue of 856 taxa of lichens and lichenicolous fungi is presented. For each taxon localities, reference specimens and literature references are given, together with a note on world distribution and habitat information for Calabria. The introduction treats geology, geography and climate of the area. At the end a survey is presented of phytogeographical elements, an alphabetical index to scientific names and synonyms, colour photographs for 335 taxa, and distribution maps for 100 taxa. This work transforms Calabria from a lichenological terra (almost) incognita istantaneously to one of the best-known areas in Europe and probably in the world. It is almost exclusively based on field work by the author, and contains 19 taxa new to Italy, 164 new to Calabria, and one new to science. The 335 colour photographs are of excellent quality, and will be of great help for those identifying Mediterranean lichens. This is the OPTIMA Commission for Lichens Publication nr. 3. In Italian.

H. Sipman, Berlin

G. SCOTT, T. ENTWISLE, T. MAY, & N. STEVENS, May 1997 - A conservation overview of Australian non-marine lichens, bryophytes, algae and fungi. Published by: Wildlife Australia Endangered Species Program. Cost: AUS$15 Available from: The Botanical Bookshop, PO Box 351, Jamison ACT 2614, Australia. Fax: 06 250-9549. - This is the first listing of endangered lichens in Australia. 2494 accepted names for lichens in Australia at time of printing. 2 species considered extinct 94 species endangered 94 species vulnerable 31 species potentially vulnerable Many of the species are members of the Parmeliaceae. 

G. S. RINGIUS, April 1997 - Evaluation of potential impacts of development on Erioderma pedicellatum in Eastern Newfoundland. Available from: Canadian Forest Service Natural Resources Canada 580 Booth Street, 8th Floor Ottawa, Ontario - "Life cycle is intimately tied in with forest succession." "Thallus grows with phorophyte and reaches sexual maturity when the tree is 60-80 years old." Now there are "34 known sites." "Total number of known thallis is 677." "Main threats are forest harvesting and air pollution."

C.W. Smith, Honolulu

 W. M. MALCOLM & D. J. GALLOWAY, 1997 - New Zealand Lichens. Checklist, key and glossary. The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. ISBN 0 909010 40 4. Price: US$ 30.00 plus postage. Order by e-mail: annef@ikaroa. monz.govt.nz. - This splendid book is not only an updated edition of David Galloway's earlier New Zealand lichen checklist, it also contains revised keys to the New Zealand lichen genera (including some of non-lichenized calicialean fungi, and some other lichenicolous fungi), numerous modern references, and a very detailed glossary. I have not checked the key in detail, but my first impression is that it seems to be a solid piece of work. In addition, the book contains very valuable technical chapters on slide preparations, and chemical and microscopical techniques, which will be most helpful to beginners. One of the most interesting novelties is a description of a cheap, simple and very innovative 'ha'penny' pseudo-interference contrast optics technique, which has been used when taking many of the high-quality microphotographs presented in the book. It is extremely well illustrated by a multitude of Bill Malcolm's wonderful photographs, linedrawings and paintings. Malcolm and Galloway should be congratulated for their tremendous work, which will not only be a long lasting reference for every scientist working on Southern Hemisphere lichens, but it will also be a very valuable help for beginners and amateurs in Australasia and elsewhere. There are a few minor points of criticism; several of the superb illustrations have, for instance, been used several times (the same spores of Pertusaria velata have been used on at least four pages), and the identity of one or two of the illustrated lichens may perhaps be questioned (the Bunodophoron species depicted on page 164 and 165, for instance). The non-lichenized genus Phaeocalicium A. Schmidt (Mycocaliciaceae) is not included, despite that the other genera of this family are covered, which perhaps is not entirely logical. These comments, however, should not overshadow the grandeur of the volume, which is highly recommended!

M. Wedin, London

D. ELDRIDGE and M. TOZER, 1997 - A Practical Guide to Soil Lichens and Bryophytes of Australia's Dry Country. Available from: The Information Centre, Department of Land and Water Conservation, G.P.O. Box 39, Sydney, Australia, 2001. AUS$ 15.00 (add $2.00 for P & H). - This interesting booklet examines the common species found across Australia and is illustrated with over 50 colour photographs. It discusses: i) the roles of biological soil crusts in dry environments, ii) the major components of the crust, iii) how to recognise individual species and iv) the effects of land use on crusts and the composite organisms. Keys are included for the common mosses, lichens and liverworts, as well as a glossary and bibliography. The book is aimed at botanists, naturalists, land managers and anyone interested in non-vascular plants and arid environments. 

M. A. FADEEVA, N. S. GOLUBKOVA, O. VITIKAINEN and T. AHTI, 1997. - Predvaritel'nyy spisok lishaynikov Karelii i obitayushchikh na nikh gribov. (A preliminary list of lichens and lichenicolous fungi of Karelia). Karelskiy nauchnyi tsentr RAN, Petrozavodsk, 100 pp. ISBN 5-201-07975-X. - An annotated list of lichens and lichenicolous as well as some allied fungi of the Karelian Republic, Russia. The area includes the north shore of Lake Ladoga and the Paanajärvi National Park, which earlier belonged to Finland and were intensively studied by V. Räsänen and M. Laurila, for instance. The list is based on both Russian and Finnish sources and includes 1013 taxa. In Russian, with a short English summary. 

E. FARKAS & T. PÓCS (eds.), 1997 - Cryptogams in the Phyllosphere: Systematics, Distribution, Ecology and Use. (Proc. of IAB & IAL Symposium on Foliicolous Cryptogams, 29 August - 2 September 1995, Eger, Hungary), Abstracta Botanica 21(1):1-216. - The volume contains the obituary of P. W. Richards by D. Ratcliffe, a birthday tribute to R. Santesson by L. Tibell, and 21 bryological and lichenological papers by the participants to the symposium from 17 countries. A very interesting volume, full of valuable biological information.