Informateur OPTIMA Newsletter


OPTIMA Newsletter 31(e) / Informateur OPTIMA 31(e)

Printed version ISSN 0376-5016 31 (1997), published by the Secretariat of OPTIMA.


Contents of N°. 31(e)

 

Part I

Introduction

Nouvelles de l'OPTIMA; OPTIMA News

Conservation News:

In Situ Conservation in Turkey - An International Program; Seed Collection Project of Turkish Endemics; Current Research on the Biology of Endangered Plant Species

Field Work News:

First International Botanical Expedition - Armenia, June 1996; VIII Expedition of OPTIMA Itinera Mediterranea

Herbarium News:

Herbarium of the Balkan Peninsula (BEO); Web News; Personalia

Projects:

Arabian Plant Specialist Group formed in IUCN; Thistles Wanted Alive!; A Domestication Programme of Mediterranean Legume Shrubs

Meetings:

IV Conference on Plant Taxonomy - Barcelona, 19-22 September 1996; World Conservation Congress - Montreal, 13-23 October 1996; Announcements

 

Part II

Notices of Publications:
(by W.Greuter):

OPTIMA; Cryptogamae; Dicotyledones; Monocotyledones; Floras; Flower Books; Floristic Inventories and Checklists; Excursions; Chorology; Regional Studies of Flora and Vegetation; Applied Botany; Conservation Topics, Red Data Books; Gardens; Herbaria and Libraries; Bibliography and Documentation; Reprints; Symposium Proceedings; New Periodicals

 

 

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NOUVELLES DE L'OPTIMA


AU SUJET DE CET INFORMATEUR

Dans ce numéro de l'Informateur OPTIMA, nous vous proposons une nouvelle présentation et quelques rubriques nouvelles auxquelles nous espérons que vous ferez bon accueil. Je remercie tous les membres qui ont fourni idées et suggestions à ce sujet. Nous tenons à prendre en compte les réactions de nos lecteurs : communiquez-nous vos opinions aussi bien que tous renseignements utiles à faire évoluer l'informateur selon vos voeux. Ce numéro met particulièrement l'accent sur des points de conservation concernant la Turquie. Les numéros suivants inclueront des contributions soulignant différents aspects de la botanique méditerranéenne.
J.M. Iriondo

CONSEIL

Les membres du Conseil ont convenu d'attribuer 150 FS par mois au Secrétariat de l'OPTIMA pour lui procurer une assistance en secrétariat.

Suite à la reconnaissance de la Fondation Internationale « Pro Herbario Mediterraneo », le Conseil a ratifié les nominations du coordinateur pro tempore de l'OPTIMA au Conseil d'Administration, de quatre représentants au Comité Scientifique et d'un suppléant au Collège des Commissaires aux Comptes. Il s'agit des nominations suivantes :

  • Coordinateur pro tempore de l'OPTIMA : F. Raimondo
  • Délégués au Comité Scientifique : A. Charpin, W. Greuter, J. Iriondo et F. Raimondo
  • Suppléant au Collège des Commissaires aux Comptes : G. Venturella

C. Heyn et B. Valdès ont également été nommés vice-délégués au Comité Scientifique.

Le Conseil a également décidé de maintenir la cotisation de membre de l'OPTIMA pour 1997 à son niveau actuel.

COMITÉ INTERNATIONAL

Les membres du Comité ont approuvé le rapport annuel et le rapport financier pour 1995, soumis par le Secrétaire au nom du Président et du Conseil Exécutif. Le Comité a également élu S. Pajarón et F. Fernández-González comme vérificateurs des comptes pour 1996.

SECRÉTARIAT

En plus de la gestion des comptes de l'OPTIMA et de ceux de la Commission des Publications et de la Commission des Prix, de la gestion de la vente des publications et de la tenue des fichiers des membres, le Secrétariat de l'OPTIMA a également assuré les relations entre les membres du Conseil et du Comité et les groupes de travail et commissions de notre Organisation.

Les autres activités relevant du Secrétariat comprennent la publication de l'Informateur OPTIMA et la préparation d'un site sur le Web pour l'OPTIMA.

DÉCÈS

† Pr. P. Critopoulos, Athènes, Grèce, décédé le 12.03.96.

† Mme. Rose A. Clement, Edinburgh, Royaume-Uni (Royal Botanic Garden) décedé en juillet 1996 à l'age de 43 ans.

† Pr. Dr. Tadeus Reichstein, Bâle, Suisse (Institut für Org. Chemie) décédé le 1.08.1996 à l'âge de 99 ans. Il était membre de l'OPTIMA depuis sa fondation en 1974.

 

LE POINT SUR LES COMMISSIONS

CONSERVATION DES RESSOURCES VÉGÉTALES

La base de données sur "La recherche en cours sur la biologie des espèces végétales menacées du Bassin méditerranéen et de la Macaronésie" a été transférée dans une nouvelle structure de données gérée sous « Microsoft Access ». Afin de mettre à jour les données, un nouveau questionnaire a été diffusé (voir le paragraphe Conservation News dans cet informateur).

DIFFUSION DES CONNAISSANCES SUR LES PLANTES MÉDITERRANÉENNES

La commission DCPM a fait quelques progrès dans deux directions :

  1. Nous avons mis au point le cadre général du livre sur « Paysages végétaux de la région méditerranéenne » (titre provisoire). Un chapitre particulier sera envoyé prochainement comme modèle aux auteurs.
  2. Nous avons reçu le consentement d'auteurs pour les parties introductive et générale du livre, ainsi que d'autres qui rédigeront respectivement la végétation et la flore de l'Espagne, de l'Italie (îles comprises), et du Proche-Orient (Israël, Jordanie, Liban et Syrie).

RECHERCHES FLORISTIQUES

La VIIIème expédition des Itinera Mediterranea de l'OPTIMA a été organisée par F. Raimondo, du Département de Botanique de l'Université de Palerme, par G. Cesca du Département d'Écologie de l'Université de Cosenza et par G. Spampinato du Département de Chimie Agricole et d'Agrobiologie de l'Université de Reggio de Calabre. Elle aura lieu en Calabre du 31 Mai au 21 Juin 1997.

Une circulaire d'informations sur cette expédition a été diffusée auprès de tous les membres de l'OPTIMA. La date limite pour les inscriptions était le 31 Décembre 1996. Des détails supplémentaires sur cette expédition figurent dans le paragraphe Field Work News de cet informateur.

HERBARIUM MEDITERRANEUM

La fondation internationale « Pro Herbario Mediterraneo » a été reconnue officiellement par décret ministériel Italien du 1er Mars 1995. Fin 1996, le Comité de Gestion de la Fondation sera installé et l'activité normale pourra commencer en 1997.

La Loi Régionale n° 19/96 de la Région de Sicile a financé l'achèvement de l'acquisition du bâtiment jouxtant le Jardin Botanique de Palerme afin d'y héberger l'Herbarium Mediterraneum.

DIFFUSION ET MISE SUR RÉSEAU DE L'INFORMATION

Appel à collaboration !

La commission a été mise en place au cours du colloque 1995 de l'OPTIMA à Séville (Secrétaire : Walter G. Berendsohn, BGBM Berlin). Comme première étape vers l'intégration des informations disponibles, il est prévu de mettre en place sur le World Wide Web des répertoires correspondant aux intitulés suivants :

  1. Inventaire des bases de données disponibles relatives à la phytotaxinomie en région méditerranéenne. Il pourrait comprendre toutes les sources de données d'accès public – depuis les fichiers texte structurés de chercheurs individuels, jusqu'aux bases de données institutionnelles et celles accessibles par Internet.
  2. Ressources en experts en taxinomie informatisée. Afin d'identifier les collectivités et personnes disposant d'une expérience dans la conception et la gestion de bases de données botaniques.
  3. Base de données sur les projets botaniques pour la région méditerranéenne. Ce répertoire ferait l'inventaire des projets au stade de la planification, ou qui n'ont pas encore produit de données accessibles au public.

De très courts résumés ou des mots-clés (2 lignes au maximum) sont fournis sur les pages, des liens avec des documents plus consistants peuvent être inclus (les documents devraient être soumis au format HTML si possible). La commission éditera ces pages et le BGBM de Berlin a proposé dans un premier temps d'héberger et d'administrer le site, qui peut ultérieurement être déplacé ou reflété par un autre serveur WWW.

Tous les membres de l'OPTIMA sont invités à prendre contact (de préférence par courrier électronique) avec W. Berendsohn ou le Secrétariat de l'OPTIMA s'ils ont connaissances de sources d'informations rentrant dans les catégories ci-dessus.

Dr. Walter G. Berendsohn
Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem
Koenigin-Luise-Str. 6-8
14191 Berlin
Email : wgb@zedat.fu-berlin.de

PUBLICATIONS

Le volume 5(1) de Bocconea, qui traite des conférences données au VIIème Colloque de l'OPTIMA tenu à Borovetz du 18 au 30 Juillet 1993, a été diffusé. Le volume 6 de Bocconea a également été publié et contient un inventaire des Lichens méditerranéens.

Le volume 5(2) de Bocconea, avec les posters présentés au VIIème Colloque de l'OPTIMA, et Flora Mediterranea vol. 6 sont imprimés et distribués à peu près en même temps que ce numéro de l'Informateur OPTIMA.

N'oubliez pas de jeter un oeil sur la liste de publications insérée au début de ce numéro de l'Informateur OPTIMA : vous y trouverez des informations sur les conditions particulières offertes aux membres de l'OPTIMA pour l'achat des publications mentionnées.

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OPTIMA NEWS


IN THIS NEWSLETTER,

In this issue of OPTIMA Newsletter we are presenting a new format and some new sections which we hope will be well received. I thank all members who have provided interesting ideas and suggestions for the newsletter. We are interested in receiving feedback from our readers, so please, do send your opinions as well as relevant information to let the newsletter evolve in accordance to your demands. The present edition places a special emphasis on conservation issues related to Turkey. In forthcoming issues we will be including contributions that stress different aspects of Mediterranean botany.
J.M. Iriondo

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

The Council members agreed to provide the OPTIMA Secretariat with SF 150 per month for secretarial assistance.

Following the recognition of the International Foundation «pro Herbario Mediterraneo » the Council ratified the nominations of the pro tempore co-ordinator of OPTIMA in the Governing Body, four seats for the Scientific Committee and a substitute in the Reviser College. These nominations are as follows:

  • Pro tempore co-ordinator of OPTIMA: F. Raimondo
  • Delegates of Scientific Committee: A. Charpin, W. Greuter, J. Iriondo and F. Raimondo
  • Substitute in the Reviser College: G. Venturella

C. Heyn and B. Valdés were also nominated vice-delegates of the Scientific Committee.

The Council also decided to maintain the current OPTIMA membership fees for 1997.

INTERNATIONAL BOARD

The Board members approved the annual report and the financial report for 1995, submitted by the Secretary on behalf of the President and the Executive Council. The Board also elected the auditors, S. Pajarón and F. Fernández-González, for 1996.

SECRETARIAT

In addition to the keeping of OPTIMA's accounts and the accounts of the Publications Commission and Prize Commission, the management of publication sales and the administration of membership files, the OPTIMA Secretariat also functions as a liaising centre for Council and Board members and the working groups and commissions of our Organization.

Further activities taking place at the Secretariat include the edition of OPTIMA Newsletter and the preparation of a Website for OPTIMA.

DEATHS

† Prof. P. Critopoulos, Athens, Greece, died on 12.03.96.

† Mrs. Rose A. Clement, Edinburgh, U.K. (Royal Botanic Garden) died in July 1996 at the age of 43 years.

† Prof. Dr. Tadeus Reichstein, Basel, Switzerland (Institut für Org. Chemie) died on 1.08.1996 at the age of 99 years. He was a member of OPTIMA since its foundation in 1974.

 

UPDATES ON COMMISSIONS

CONSERVATION OF PLANT RESOURCES

The database on "Current Research on the biology of threatened plant species of the Mediterranean basin and Macaronesia" has been transferred into a new data structure managed in "Microsoft Access".

As part of the process of updating data a new questionnaire has been issued (see Conservation News section in this newsletter).

DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE ON MEDITERRANEAN PLANTS

The DKMP commission has made some progress in two aspects:

  1. We arrived at a general layout of the book "Vegetal landscapes of the Mediterranean" (temporary name). An example of a specific chapter will be sent to the authors in the near future.
  1. We received the consent of experts to cover the introductory and the general parts of the book, as well as the vegetation and flora of Spain, Italy (and Islands), and the Near East (Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria).

FLORISTIC INVESTIGATION

The VIII Expedition of OPTIMA Itinera Mediterranea is being organized by F. M. Raimondo from the Department of Botany of the University of Palermo, G. Cesca from the Department of Ecology of the University of Cosenza and G. Spampinato from the Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Agrobiology of the University of Reggio Calabria. It will be held in Calabria from 31 May to 21 June 1997.

A circular with information on this expedition was issued to all OPTIMA members. The deadline for applications is 31 December 1996. Further details on this expedition are presented in the Field Work News section of this newsletter.

HERBARIUM MEDITERRANEUM

The International Foundation «pro Herbario Mediterraneo» was legally recognised by Italian ministerial decree of 1 March 1995. By the end of 1996, the Management Board of the Foundation will be installed and regular activity will start in 1997.

Regional Law no. 19/96 of the Sicilian Region financed the completion of the acquisition of the building adjoining the Palermo Botanical Garden in order to house the Herbarium Mediterraneum.

INFORMATION TRANSFER AND NETWORKING

Call for collaboration !

The commission was established during the 1995 OPTIMA meeting in Sevilla (Secretary: Walter G. Berendsohn, BGBM Berlin). As a first step towards integrating available information resources, it is planned to establish World Wide Web based directories under the following headings:

  1. Established phytotaxonomy-related databases relevant to the Mediterranean area. This can include all publicly available data sources - from structured word processor files held by individual researchers, to institutional database, to databases accessible via Internet.
  2. Taxonomic computing expert resources. This is to identify companies and individuals who have experience in the design and implementation of botanical databases.
  3. Botanical Database projects for the Mediterranean area. This directory is to list projects which are in the planning stage, or which have not yet produced publicly available data.

Very short abstracts or key words (max. 2 lines) are provided on the pages. Links to more extensive documents can be included (documents should be submitted in HTML format, if possible). The commission will edit these pages and the BGBM in Berlin has offered to initially house and administer the site (which can later be moved or mirrored to any other WWW Server).

All OPTIMA members are urged to contact (preferably by E-mail) W. Berendsohn or the OPTIMA Secretariat if they have knowledge of data-resources which fit one of the above categories.

Dr. Walter G. Berendsohn
Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem
Koenigin-Luise-Str. 6-8
14191 Berlin
Email : wgb@zedat.fu-berlin.de

 

PUBLICATIONS

Volume 5(1) of Bocconea dealing with the lectures presented at the VII OPTIMA Meeting held in Borovec from 18 to 30 July 1993 has been issued. Volume 6 of Bocconea has also been published and holds a checklist of Mediterranean lichens.

Volume 5(2) of Bocconea, with the posters presented at the VII OPTIMA Meeting, and Flora Mediterranea vol. 6 are being printed and distributed at about the same time as this issue of OPTIMA Newsletter.

Please check the publications offer sheet at the beginning of this issue of OPTIMA Newsletter to get further information on special discounts for OPTIMA members on these and other publications.

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CONSERVATION NEWS


IN SITU CONSERVATION IN TURKEY -


AN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM

by STANLEY L. KRUGMAN

Turkey has one of the richest temperate flora in the Mediterranean Region. With its diverse climatic and geological conditions and its location at the junction of several major flora regions; Europe, the Mediterranean and Central Asia, Turkey has given rise to a number of unique species found nowhere else in the world. Over 30% of the 8,800 plants common to Turkey are endemic. In addition there is high genetic diversity in the populations found in Turkey. As a crossroad at the junction of three major centers of culture between Asia, Africa and Europe, the historical migration of peoples and their eventual settlements in Turkey has furthered enriched the diversity of cultivated plants which were brought to Turkey from often distant lands. This has produced a number of diverse primitive cultivated varieties, or landraces that have and are still evolving under the influence of natural and human selection pressure.

As a result of these various conditions, Turkey has been and remains a center of origin and an essential source of important global genetic resources for numerous agricultural, horticultural, medicinal and ornamental and woody forestry crop plants. It is important to note that these crops were first domesticated from wild species which still exist in Turkey. The major non-woody and woody wild relatives include: wheat (Triticum spp.), barley (Hordeum spp.), lentil (Lens spp.), chickpea (Cicer spp.), pear (Pyrus spp.), apple (Malus spp.), cherry (Prunus spp.), walnut (Juglans spp.), pistachio (Pistachio spp.) and chestnut (Castanea spp.). There are also several important forest woody tree species which include several pines (Pinus spp.) firs (Abies spp.) and cedar (Cedrus sp.) some of which are at the extreme limits of their distribution in Turkey and found nowhere else. These genetic resources have and are still contributing to the raw material for much of modern temperate agriculture.

Modern agriculture is mostly based on improved varieties, hybrids and genetic selections. The importance of wild crop relatives are too frequently forgotten in the crop improvement process. Even in many current conservation programs emphasis is placed on the rare or threatened species. In Turkey with its centuries of human development, land clearing for agriculture and severe grazing pressure, many species and populations of wild relatives are themselves threatened with extinction. The genetic resources commonly found but little understood in the wild relative populations are still needed as a current and future source of important traits for worldwide agriculture. This is especially true as temperate agricultural crops are now being introduced at a rapid rate into non-temperate areas as in Asia and Africa.

There are of course many important and useful Ex-situ programs for the genetic resources of Turkey. But it was felt that such programs, as valuable as they are, failed to maintain the changes associated with evolutionary and selection pressures. In-situ conservation provides a proven method of preserving populations under natural conditions. If an area is properly designed and of appropriate size, wild and weedy crop relatives as well as their pests and pathogens, which are common agents of natural selection, can continue the evolutionary process. It is unfortunate that at this time there are very few programs worldwide designed to protect wild relatives In situ . This project is the first of its kind in the In situ world to protect the genetic variability and populations of both woody and non-woody wild crop relatives from an integrated multi-species approach on a landscape basis.

With funding support from the Global Environment Facility, an international financial mechanism to fund environmental protection projects, a three year In-situ conservation project to protect selected wild relatives was initiated in Turkey in 1993. Management of the project is being carried out by specialists from the Turkish Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Forestry and Environment. There are five major elements in this program:

  • a series of plant surveys and inventories in selected sites with unique and rich wild relative resources were conducted;
  • data managed systems to permit collection, cataloguing, and sharing of genetic information with other interested organizations both national and international were developed;
  • institutional capabilities were strengthened by workshops, technical assistance and training and the procurement of new scientific equipment;
  • a series of gene management areas for selected sites and species with appropriate management plans were established;
  • a national plan for the In-situ conservation of wild relatives was developed.

In a three year period it was not intended to provide a full national conservation program of all of the important wild relatives but to provide a series of possible models for future implementation. The key to this program are the Gene Management Zones (GMZs). The GMZs are large areas carefully selected and managed for the sole purpose of maintaining an array of wild relatives in their natural environment. At this time GMZs have been established in the Kaz Mountain area of the Aegean region of northwest Turkey. This area includes elements of the Euro-Siberian, Mediterranean, and Irano-Turanian flora. Chestnut (Castanea sativa), and plums (Prunus divaricata), as well as, Anatolian black (Pinus nigra subsp. pallasiana) and Turkish red pine (Pinus brutia)and the rare Kazdagi fir (Abies equi-trojani) are major elements of these GMZ.

In southeastern Turkey GMZs have been established in the Ceylanpinar State Farm which includes Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian flora containing wild wheat (Triticum dicoccoides, T. boeticum, and associated species of Aegilops speltoides, A. crassa, A. squarrosa), lentil (Lens spp.), chickpea (Cicer spp.), and barley (Hordeum spontaneum) genetic resources.

In south-central Turkey in the Bolkar Mountains forest, GMZs have been established to include additional forest flora of the southern regions of the Euro-Siberian, Irano-Turanian and coastal Mediterranean flora. Among the species placed under protection are: wheat, lentil, aromatic and medicinal plants (Lobaria spp. and Cladonia spp.), plum, apple and hazelnut (Corylus spp.). Southern populations of both red and black pine, fir (Abies cilicica) and cedar (Cedrus libani) are also included.

A key feature of the project is the close cooperation between the agricultural and forestry specialists. This is essential since in many cases the agricultural wild relatives can now only be found associated with various forest ecosystems.

The initial results of this program were presented during the International Symposium on In-Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Diversity held in Antalya, Turkey November 4 to 8 1996.

Stanley Krugman is Senior Forestry Specialist at the World Bank, Washington D.C., USA.

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SEED COLLECTION PROJECT OF TURKISH ENDEMICS

 

by TUNA EKIM

Data on Turkish endemics became clearer after the publication of Davis' monumental book "Flora of Turkey and East Aegean Islands". According to the information in this book that covers all Turkish vascular plants, the endemic taxa sum up to 2,700. This figure almost reaches 3,000 when the new species described in recent years, mostly by Turkish botanists, are added.

In Turkey, as well as in other industrial and highly populated countries, all organisms and especially local rare endemics, are highly affected by the pressure of human impact.

According to the Red Data Book for Turkish Plants, prepared by Ekim et al. and published by the Turkish Association for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in 1989, approximately 400 endemic species grow near big cities or in sensitive places where they are strongly threatened. Most of them are only known from type specimen which were mostly collected in the last century or at the beginning of this century.

This project, which is supported by the government through TÜBITAK (Turkish Scientific Research Council), started in 1992 and aims to collect seeds from as many endemics as possible and deposit them in seed banks in Turkey, particularly at Menemen-Izmir. The exchange of material will not be possible until the project is completed.

While in 1992 about 20 botanists were involved in the project, in 1995 and 1996 this number reached up to 28 botanists from 12 universities and several seed banks. Initially, the project was planned for three years. Due to some difficulties, the field work was not very satisfactory in the first and third year. Therefore, the project was extended for two more years. In the first period of the project, approximately 30 percent of total endemics were collected and preserved in the seed banks. During this period, several new species were found and some of them were published in journals, such as Turkish Journal of Botany, Karaca Arboretum Magazine, Flora Mediterranea, Willdenovia, etc.

During dense field work, some very interesting collections were carried out for some plant species which were known only from the type or which had not been collected for a long time. Unfortunately, even though we made a great effort and found some very critical species, there has so far been no parallel success in finding some other very rare and interesting species, such as Sartoria hedysaroides, Rhodothamnus sessilifolius and Kalidopsis wagenitzii. On the other hand, it is now clearer that the distribution of some species is more common than previously expected. Another task also carried out during this project has been to investigate the population richness and distribution of collected plants.

In the course of the project, we faced some problems related to seed collection. One of the major problems was to find a sufficient amount of seed, particularly for some rare and local endemics with very small populations, or in certain genera which produce small amounts of seed. Another problem was insect impact on some particular genera of Labiatae, Compositae, Leguminosae and even Liliaceae. A third kind of difficulty was the need to visit a particular mountain several times as the blooming and seed maturation season of the existing endemics was completely different in each case. In certain species the period between flowering and fruiting was so close that one had to visit the same place several times within a very short period. Terrorism in Eastern Anatolia was a big handicap for collecting local endemics of this region. Due to this and some other difficulties, we expect to collect at most 75 % of our endemics by the end of the project.

Plant specimens are deposited mostly in local herbaria of the universities of the project staff. If researchers do not have this type of facilities then their specimens are sent to the herbarium of the project centre, GAZI, Herbarium of Gazi University, Science and Art Faculty, 06500 T. Okullar, Ankara - TÜRKIYE.

By the end of the project, we expect to obtain satisfactory data for most of our endemics. We plan to publish a comprehensive illustrated book which will try to sort out most taxonomic and chorological problems of Turkish endemics, provided we find a publisher or supporter for such a big and expensive book.

The project work will go on for two more years. After this, we will finish the hard field work as only very rare and local endemics will be left. The collection expenses needed for these cases will not be reasonable enough to persuade the supporter to cover them.

Project Staff (in alphabetical order)

Nezaket Adigüzel, Yasin Altan, Zeki Aytaç, Lütfi Bekat, Halil Çakan, Nasip Demirkus, Musa Dogan, Ali Dönmez, Hayri Duman, Murat Ekici, Tuna Ekim (Project Leader), Yusuf Gemici, Ramazan Götürk, Güven Görk, Adil Güner, Fergan Karaer, Mehmet Koyuncu, Güray Kutbay, Erkuter Leblebici, Hasan Özçelik, Engin Özhatay, Neriman Özhatay, Özcan Seçmen, Necattin Türkmen, Mecit Vural, Bayram Yildiz and Alptekin Karagöz, Ayfer Tan (both from seed banks).

Prof. Dr. Tuna Ekim is Head of Department at Gazi Üniversitesi, Fen-Edebiyat Fakültesi Dekanligi, Biyoloji Bölümü Baskanligi, Ankara, Turkey.

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CURRENT RESEARCH ON THE BIOLOGY OF ENDANGERED PLANT SPECIES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN

 

Since 1989, the OPTIMA Commission for the Conservation of Plant Resources has been involved in the collection of data on what has been done and what's being done in the biology of threatened plants of the Mediterranean basin.

If you work in this area we would very much appreciate it if you would spend a few minutes to fill in the short questionnaire enclosed.

QUESTIONNAIRE ON CURRENT RESEARCH ON THE BIOLOGY OF ENDANGERED PLANT SPECIES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN

Please use a separate form for each species. Make copies of this form if necessary. Please read the appended notes first.

Species (1)
Family
Distribution (2)
Name of researcher/s:
Institution:
Postal address (3)
Area of study (4):
                                              IUCN category (1)






Anatomy
Biotic interactions
Conservation
Chorology
Culture techniques
Demography, pop. dynamics
Dispersal
Ecology
        Evolution
Experimental hybridization
Genetics
Germination, dormancy
Growth, development
Karyology
Micropropagation
Morphology
        Palinology
Pathology
Propagation methods
Reintroduction
Reproductive biology
Taxonomy


Period of study: Initial year
Final year
Bibliography (5):

Notes:
(1) Species of interest are those classified, in a worldwide scale, as EW (Extinct in the Wild); CR (Critically Endangered); EN (Endangered); VU (Vulnerable); and LR (Lower Risk); according to new IUCN categories or E (Endangered); V (Vulnerable); and R (Rare) according to the old IUCN categories.

(2) Country or countries and/or geographical region.
(3) Address of the organization or institution. Please include telephone, fax and E-mail if applicable.
(4) Check the area/s most closely related to your investigation.
(5) Please include published articles as well as those "in press" from your group or other sources. Make reference to the author, year, title, publication, pages.

Please make copies of this questionnaire and send them to the following address:
Mª José Albert
Dpto. Biología Vegetal, E. U. I. T. Agrícola
Universidad Politécnica, Ciudad Universitaria
E-28040 Madrid, SPAIN
E-mail: iriondo@ccupm.upm.es

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FIELD WORK NEWS

edited by BENITO VALDÉS


FIRST INTERNATIONAL BOTANICAL EXPEDITION

 

ARMENIA - JUNE 1996

During the two-week expedition thirty localities in different types of vegetation were visited: semidesert, salt marshes, "solonchak's", sand deserts, gypsaceous formations like hammada, mountain steppes (with Stipa and Festuca as dominants), traganth steppes, subalpine and alpine meadows, beech forests, oak forests (Quercus macranthera, Q. iberica), mixed forests with Pinus kochiana and Taxus baccata, open arid forests with Quercus macranthera and Juniperus polycarpos, "shibliak", petrophilous locations and others. Over 400 species from 69 families of vascular plants were collected. The material is being determined by participants of the expedition and specialists of the Institute of Botany of the Armenian Academy of Sciences. The organizers are interested in increasing the number of participants from other countries in future expeditions.

Reported by Dr. G. Fajvush.

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VIII EXPEDITION OF OPTIMA ITINERA MEDITERRANEA

EXPEDITION TO CALABRIA (S. ITALY)

(31 May - 21 June 1997)

This expedition is being organized by F. M. Raimondo from the Department of Botany of the University of Palermo, by G. Cesca from the Department of Ecology of the University of Cosenza and by G. Spampinato from the Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Agrobiology of the University of Reggio Calabria.

ITINERARIES

The expedition will allow the participants to visit the most interesting areas of Aspromonte and of the Serre. On June 2 the highest altitudes of Aspromonte will be seen, on June 3 the highmountain Ionian side of the Massif and some falls, on June 4 the Tyrrhenian side, on June 5 the southern Ionian coastal belt, on June 6 the woods and the rivers of the eastern side, on June 7 the mountain areas of the Serre, on June 8 the Marmarico falls and the Stilo cliffs. June 9 will be dedicated to the setting of the plant material collected. From June 10 to 14 the excursion will continue on the Sila. On June 15 it will be possible to visit the Argentino river valley and on June 16 the Rizzi cliffs. From June 17 to 19 the Pollino massif will be explored and on June 20 the excursion will end at Rende, from where on June 21 the participants will return to their own seats.

PROGRAMME

Saturday, May 31 Arrival of the participants to Reggio Calabria and accommodation in hotel. Each excursionist shall provide his or her own accommodation for this first overnight stay.

Sunday, June 1 Transfer from Reggio Calabria to Gambarie. Participants will be picked up from the hotels by the organization vehicles. Accommodation in hotel at Gambarie (Miramonti Hotel) and preparatory seminar. In the afternoon, beginning of the expedition in the surroundings of Gambarie.

Monday, June 2 Gambarie - Monte Basilico - Torrente Listi - Serro Sgarrone - Montalto - Gambarie

Tuesday, June 3 Gambarie - Ferraina - Cascate Foggiarelle - Torrente Menta - Cascate Maesano - Gambarie.

Wednesday, June 4 Gambarie - Piani d`Aspro-monte - Monte S. Elia - Canolo - Torrente Vasi - Gambarie

Thursday, June 5 Gambarie - Pentimele - Capo dell`Armi - Melito - Fiumara Amendolea - Bova Superiore.

Friday, June 6 Bova Superiore - C. Spartivento - Ferruzzano - Fiumara Buonamico - Serra San Bruno.

Saturday, June 7 Serra San Bruno - Monte Pecoraro - Passo Pietra Spada - Mongiana - Torrente Allaro - Serra San Bruno.

Sunday, June 8 Serra San Bruno - Ferdinandea - Cascate di Marmarico - Torrente Stilaro - Stilo - Serra San Bruno.

Monday, June 9 All day stop in Serra San Bruno to set the plants and visit the Certosa and the village.

Tuesday, June 10 Transfer from Mongiana to Camigliatello Silano (Camigliatello Hotel). Collections at Angitola, Gizzeria lakes.

Wednesday, June 11 Lepre river (Marchesato);

Thursday, June 12 Monte Basilicò (Sila Greca) and Trionto river (Ionian coast);

Friday, June 13 Macchialonga (Sila Grande);

Saturday, June 14 Transfer to Cetraro (S. Michele Hotel). Collections at Monte Botte Donato, Monte Curcio, Monte Scuro (Sila Grande); stop at the Botanical garden of the Calabria University

Sunday, June 15 Argentino river valley (Monti di Verbicaro-Orsomarso);

Monday, June 16 Rizzi cliffs (Tyrrhenian coast) and coastal chain;

Tuesday, June 17 Transfer on the Pollino Massif (De Gasperi refuge). Collections at Lao river valley (Monti di Verbicaro-Orsomarso)

Wednesday, June 18 Ruggio Plains and Serra del Prete (Pollino Massif)

Thursday, June 19 Pollino Plains (Pollino Massif)

Friday, June 20 Transfer to Rende (University guest-rooms). Collections at Petrosa (Castrovillari plains), Crati Valley

Saturday, June 21 Departure for one`s own seat

COST

The cost of the expedition will be ITL 2.400.000 for the senior botanists and ITL 1.200.000 for the junior botanists. This amount will cover petrol and a small fee for the use and maintenance of cars during the expedition, accommodation and meals starting from June 1, some organizative expenses, including postage of circular letters and reward to 2 assistants.

Junior participants that really need it, could apply for a grant of 300 SF to the OPTIMA Council.

Registration fee will be paid on the arrival of the participants. The estimated costs have been calculated without considering possible contributions by Calabria Institutions. If financial support by the mentioned Institutions were available, a partial refund of the registration fee could be given.

APPLICATIONS

The deadline for applications was 31 December 1996. Participants will be selected by the Executive Council of OPTIMA before January 31, 1997. All applicants will receive a communication about the decisions made by the Council of OPTIMA. Those selected for the expedition will also receive additional information about the expedition.

For general rules which regulate OPTIMA Expeditions, see B. VALDES in OPTIMA Newsletter 20-24: 44-46 (1988); Lagascalia 15 (Extra): 131-137 (1988); Bocconea 1: 7-8 (1991). Reported by Prof. F. M. Raimondo.

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HERBARIUM NEWS

edited by PALOMA BLANCO


HERBARIUM OF THE BALKAN PENINSULA (BEO)

Natural History Museum, Belgrade, Yugoslavia

by OLGA VASIC
BEOGRAD (BEO): Herbarium of the Balkan Peninsula
Botany Department, Natural History Museum
Tel./Fax: +381 11 4442263

  • Location: Njegoševa 51, 11000 Beograd, Yugoslavia
  • Foundation: 1895
  • Number of specimens: Vascular plants (more than 450.000), Bryophyta (1.000), Fungi (10.000), Lichens (4.000).
  • Herbarium: the former Yugoslavia, now Yugoslav countries (Yugoslavia-Serbia and Montenegro; Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia), Greece, Bulgaria, Albania.
  • Important collections: L. ADAMOVIC, H. DIKLI&, N. KOŠANIN, V. NIKOLIC, J. PANCIC, S. PETROVIC.
  • Head Curator: Olga VASIC.
  • Curators: Marjan NIKETIC - vascular plants, Boris IVANCEVIC - fungi, Sanja SAVIC- lichens.
  • Activities: (1) exchange of materials with other collections; (2) lending of materials for scientific analysis; (3) work on the Belgrade Natural History Museum's collection.

The Natural History Museum in Belgrade (Beograd), founded on 19 December 1895, is one of the oldest institutions of its type on the Balkan Peninsula. In comparison to famous museums around the world whose history goes back several centuries, a hundred-year period might not seem like much. However, considering that the Balkans have always been, and, unfortunately, continue to be the scene of tumultuous events, wars and destruction, a hundred years' continuity mustn't be underestimated. (For additional information, see: Vasi6, O. 1993: Herbarium of the Natural History Museum in Belgrade as a basis for the shaping and publishing of the Flora of Serbia I-X [Ed. 1, 1970-1986. Webbia 48, 259-265).

Although the Natural History Museum is housed in a building which is unsuitable and inadequate in every respect, its numerous, diverse, and rich collections represent a priceless naturalist, scientific, cultural and national treasure.

One of the richest and most valuable collections is the Herbarium of the Balkan Peninsula. The Museum's botanical collection rightfully bears this name, as, in addition to material from all parts of the former Yugoslavia, it includes ample material from Bulgaria, Greece, and Albania. Over the last hundred years, several generations of notable botanists, as well as amateur botanists, enthusiasts, and nature lovers, have helped the Natural History Museum's Herbarium acquire specimens of almost all species whose range is currently known to be partly or wholly in the territory of Serbia.

The greatest part of the Herbarium consists of plants of the Angiospermae group, as well as the Gymnospermae and Pteridophyta groups. The total number of herbarium sheets is 122.341. The scope of collection is estimated at 450.000 specimens; since depending on plant dimensions, more sheets contain more than one specimen. Herbarium specimens have been supplied with standard Museum labels, and have been inventoried and classified under E. Janchen's system.

Of smaller scope, but no less important are the fungi, lichen, and Bryophyta collections.

The Museum's Herbarium offers exceptional insight into the diversity, complexity, and wealth of the flora not only of Serbia, but also of the Balkan Peninsula, and is, in fact, a kind of database of the diversity of the region's flora. Even though every specimen has its value and importance, the most precious specimens are those that represent holotypes for the science of new species, subspecies, varieties and forms; specimens of species endemic to Serbia, or to the Balkan Peninsula, and specimens of relict species. Nowadays, at a time when man unthinkingly destroys plants' natural habitat, this evidence of past times is invaluable for the reconstruction of flora composition in the more recent historical, as well as in the more remote geological past, not only of Serbia and the Balkans but of the whole of Europe as well. Accordingly, a significant asset of the collection are plants existing today solely as herbarium specimens, since they can no longer be found in the natural environment.

The Herbarium of the Balkan Peninsula has served as a source of information for numerous works in the field of floristics, taxonomy, phytogeography, and phytocoenology, and it was also the basis for the production of the ten-volume work FLORA SR SRBIJE (1970-1986) [The Flora of the Socialist Republic of Serbia]. It is also indispensable in the preparation of the new expanded edition, FLORA SRBIJE [The Flora of Serbia], which is currently under way.

This botanical collection, the largest in scope in the Balkans, unfortunately still lacks adequate housing, as regards both space and equipment. The herbarium sheets are stored in cardboard boxes, which can only afford protection against dust. The boxes are kept on rough, makeshift wooden shelves. As there are no facilities or means of providing adequate protection whatsoever, the herbarium specimens are exposed to considerable fluctuations in temperature and humidity, a characteristic of the continental climate of Belgrade. It is only thanks to the devoted care of generations of curators that the collection has been preserved in good condition to this day. Thanks to regular checks and chemical treatment, it has been successfully protected from various museum parasites.

On the eve of the unfortunate disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, a solution to the problem of the Natural History Museum premises, and consequently of adequate housing for the herbarium, seemed to be in sight. However, even though it is necessary to ensure that the collection is stored in suitable rooms, which should be furnished with metal cupboards specifically for this purpose, and in which constant temperature and humidity can be maintained, as well as protection afforded to herbarium material from all potential damage, this will, considering the circumstances our country is currently in, probably have to await better times. Unfortunately, the preservation of the collection will undoubtedly continue to depend for the most part on the enthusiasm of us botanists curators. It is quite understandable that the funds allotted to culture and science are extremely meagre, when the state, until recently labouring under sanctions, is in a difficult economic situation.

It is a great comfort that the latest destruction and suffering caused by war on the territory of the former Yugoslavia had no direct impact on the Herbarium of the Balkan Peninsula, simply because the war was not fought on the territory of the present Yugoslavia. We do, however, encounter the effects of indirect impact daily.

In addition to the problem of inadequate storage, plaguing the collection for several decades now, over the last few years, as a consequence of the indirect impact of the war in our vicinity and the direct impact of the economic blockade of Yugoslavia, difficulties have arisen regarding the enlarging of the collection as well as its technical treatment and protection.

The collection of material for the Herbarium has been reduced to a minimum, and it has also become territorially restricted. Due to the very meagre funds at their disposal, and difficulties in petrol supply, the curators were forced to give up most of the previously planned excursions in the territory of Serbia and Montenegro. Moreover, due to the war and administrative-political measures, it was no longer possible to collect plants in the territory of other former Yugoslav republics. Although well aware that plants either know nor recognize our man-made frontiers, we were forced to limit ourselves, in our rare and brief field trips, to the territory of the FR Yugoslavia. Thus, the specimens in our Herbarium that were acquired in the past, from territory now inaccessible to us, have gained in value.

Even when we succeed in going out into the field to collect plants, on our return to the Museum we are faced with difficulties in the technical treatment and protection of the material, also caused by lack of funds. The pressing and drying of plants by means of old newspapers, although not so practical and fast a process as the use of special absorbent paper or dryers, fortunately gives no poorer results. However, we have a shortage of paper for herbarium sheets, and also of cardboard boxes, so that we are forced to keep the plants in newspapers even after they have been dried. We are not complaining about the fact that this manner of material storage makes handling somewhat more difficult. We are worried because the material is much more liable to damage and not as well protected from museum parasites, than it would be if it were preserved according to regulations. I suppose that our colleagues in museums throughout the world will find our discussion of these problems unusual, at the very least. I believe that they may not even be aware of the fact, not having had similar experiences, that war can cause numerous negative consequences indirectly as well, in fields to which we give no thought, as they tend to be overshadowed by the horror of direct destruction.

We consider it a question of personal honour as well as of museum and scientific ethics that in this difficult period we succeed in preserving the scientific and museum treasure of the Herbarium of the Balkan Peninsula in the Natural History Museum in Belgrade, until the better times we all hope for finally come.

Olga Vasic is Head Curator of the Herbarium of the Balkan Peninsula at Beograd, Yugoslavia

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WEB NEWS


OPTIMA WEBSITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

A preliminary version of OPTIMA homepages on the Web is already on the net at htpp://www.bgbm.fu-berlin.de/OPTIMA/ . The Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum at Berlin is kindly giving OPTIMA a place in its server. A mirror site will also be placed at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. The OPTIMA website contains general information on the organization and on the activities of its commissions. The latest news on the next OPTIMA Meeting, OPTIMA expeditions, OPTIMA Newsletter, OPTIMA databases, etc. will also be presented as well as a selection of links to other botany areas.

VASCULAR PLANT FAMILIES AND GENERA AND AUTHORS OF PLANT NAMES AVAILABLE ON THE NET

Since July 1996, Kew's external web site holds two databases containing Vascular Plant Families and Genera (comp. R.K. Brummitt) and Authors of Plant Names (eds. R.K. Brummitt & C.E. Powell). The service is located at http:/www.rbgkew.org.uk/web.dbs/web-dbsintro.html and it is compatible with any regular web browser. In this way, data on about 25,100 genus names and approximately 29,700 authors is made available online to a worldwide audience. We tested the site with a few enquiries and it worked to our satisfaction.

VISIT THE BOTANICAL GARDEN OF CATANIA, ITALY

Thanks to the project "L'Orto Botanico Multimediale" financed by the Italian Ministry of Universities and Scientific and Technological Research and directed by Prof. Francesco Furnari, it is now possible to take a break from work and visit the Botanical Garden of the University of Catania right from your computer. At http://www.dipbot.unict.it/orto/orto.html you will be able to learn about its history and organization, study a general map of the garden or take a look at beautiful pictures from any of the species present in the garden.

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PERSONALIA


At the meeting of the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Montreal, 13-23 October 1996, Dr. George Rabb retired as Chair of the Species Survival Commission after 7.5 years in the post. He was awarded with the Peter Scott Award for Conservation Merit, and with the creation of the George B. Rabb IUCN/SSC Internship. An endowment fund will support one internship per year, to be awarded to a graduate student pursuing study in the area of conservation biology or related communications. Mr. David Brackett, Director General of the Canadian Wildlife Service, was elected as the new Chair of the SSC.

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PROJECTS


ARABIAN PLANT SPECIALIST GROUP FORMED IN IUCN

Sixty-five botanists from ten countries gathered in a workshop whose purpose was to discuss the state of floristic knowledge and plant conservation in the Arabian Peninsula and formed the Arabian Plant Specialist Group. A Steering Committee was elected with Dr. Abdulaziz Abuzinada as Chair, Dr. Dawud Al-Eisawi, Dr. Ahmad Al-Farhan and Dr. A. Miller as Vice-Chairs and Dr. Said Zaghoul as Secretary. At the meeting, the need for botanists to initiate projects in the region, especially multidisciplinary projects, was stressed. Among the recommendations arising from the APSG Workshop was the need to develop a Regional Arabian Herbarium, a Regional Botanical Garden with a germplasm bank and a Regional Plant Database.

 


THISTLES WANTED ALIVE!

Two young scientists (Eva Häffner and Peter Hein) at the BGBM Berlin, Germany, are presently working on taxonomy and systematics of the Carduinae (tribe Cardueae, Compositae).

This huge subtribe of the Compositae comprises about 1600 species in about 36 genera. It is distributed mainly over Europe and Asia with some representatives in Africa, America and Australia. A great diversity of Carduinae taxa has developed especially in the Mediterranean area and in Southwest and Middle Asia.

The subject of P. Hein´s work is a revision of the genus Onopordum L., which comprises about 50 species occurring mainly in the Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia.

E. Häffner is preparing a phylogenetic analysis of the subtribe Carduinae on an anatomical and (micro-) morphological basis.

"For our work, living material of defined origin is required, but not easily available. For this reason, we would like to ask collectors who are planning field work in one of the areas mentioned above, for help. Seeds of the Carduinae genera Aegopordon, Arctium, Alfredia, Carduus, Cirsium, Cousinia, Cynara, Galactites, Jurinea, Jurinella, Lamyropsis, Myopordon, Notobasis, Onopordum, Olgaea, Picnomon, Ptilostemon, Saussurea and Silybum are very welcome to us! If anyone encounters seed material of the above-named genera, we would be grateful for being taken into consideration.

We would like to thank everybody who is going to help us in advance."

Contact address:
Eva Häffner & Peter Hein
Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum (BGBM)
Königin-Luise-Str. 6-8
D-14191 Berlin, Germany.


A DOMESTICATION PROGRAMME OF MEDITERRANEAN LEGUME SHRUBS

In 1985, a living collection of shrubby, non-spiny leguminous plants was established as a complement to the seed bank at the Department of Plant Biology of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos in Madrid. After over 10 years of direct sampling from wild populations and germplasm exchange with botanical gardens and similar institutions, over 400 taxa are stored as seeds and a growing plant collection of 50 different taxa and 70 different populations is now being grown at the experimental fields of the university. Moreover, a frozen collection of strains of potentially specific Rhizobium taxa complete this effort. The main genera present in this collection are:

Anthyllis, Chamaecytisus, Colutea, Coronilla, Cytisus, Dorycnium, Genista, Hedysarum, Hippocrepis, Medicago, Onobrychis, Teline and Trigonella.

Some of the above-mentioned taxa have been intensively propagated due to scarcity in nature or remarkable usefulness in forage production during unfavourable seasons, in rehabilitation of degraded soils or in increasing growth speed in native trees of the Mediterranean spontaneous woods.

We are now looking for further collaborations with other interested institutions with the purpose of increasing our collection and exchanging samples and bibliography on the leguminous flora of the Mediterranean basin.

Contact address:
José Luis Ceresuela & Fernando González Andrés
Dept. Biología Vegetal
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos
Ciudad Universitaria
E-28040 Madrid, Spain.

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MEETINGS


IV CONFERENCE ON PLANT TAXONOMY

 

The IV Conference on Plant Taxonomy (following the I -Sevilla, 1987, the II -Madrid, 1990- and the III -Munich, 1993) took place in Barcelona from September 19 to 22, 1996, organized by the University of Barcelona and the Botanical Institute of Barcelona. The main subjects were taxonomical studies on Mediterranean floras (Catalan Countries, Iberian Peninsula and Northern Africa) and the contributions of Cytogenetics and Molecular Biology to Systematics. 190 botanists from 20 countries -with a relevant presence of Maghribian (Moroccan and Algerian) scientists- who attended the Conference contributed with 13 invited plenary lectures and 106 poster communications. In addition, two computer displays on Flora Iberica and Flora Hellenica projects were held. The full Congress and the Cytogenetics section were dedicated to the memory of two Catalan botanists, Josep Cuatrecasas (Camprodon, 1903 - Washington, D.C., 1996), one of the most important world specialists in neotropical flora, and M. Àngels Cardona (Ferreries, 1940 - Barcelona, 1991), pioneer in the Iberian studies on karyology and cytotaxonomy of vascular plants. In the closing session, the decision was taken to celebrate the V Conference in 1999 in Portugal, organized by the University of Lisbon. In this session, the following document was approved:

"We botanists, numbering 190, coming from 20 countries, meeting in Barcelona at the IV Conference on Plant Taxonomy, accord:

  1. To claim from the authorities the recognition of the scientific task of taxonomists and the necessary financial support in this field. This research is mandatory for getting the appropriate level of knowledge on biodiversity, increasingly threatened by the impact of human activities. Only on the basis of this knowledge shall we be able to preserve our natural resources and to ensure their sustainable use.
  2. To manifest publicly the interest of continuing taxonomic studies on the Western Mediterranean flora without regard to any kind of frontier, especially to those that separate the North and the South of the Mediterranean.
  3. To declare that Herbaria are a basic reference for all works on biodiversity, systematics and evolution of plants. Thus, it is an exigency of the scientific community to support the institutions that maintain them, to ensure their conservation, accessibility and the dissemination of the information they convey.
  4. To call the attention of the competent authorities in scientific research to the need for accepting the challenge of providing suitable housing for the scientific collections in Catalonia, with particular emphasis on the collections of the Botanic Institute of Barcelona, and for making them available to the international scientific community.

Barcelona, September 21, 1996.

[Reported by J. Vallès i Xirau].

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WORLD CONSERVATION CONGRESS- MONTRÉAL (13-23 October 1996).

Scientists, politicians, environmentalists and business leaders debated global environmental issues under the theme "Caring for the Earth". As well as holding its 20th General Assembly during the Congress, IUCN also opened its doors to the public inviting everyone to the exhibition and workshops.

In the General Assembly, the IUCN President, Treasurer, Regional Councilors and Chairs of Commissions were elected and the Triennial Programme 1997-1999 was approved.

The exhibition was held from October 17-21 at the Montreal Convention Centre. Over 150 exhibitors focused on leading-edge developments in the field of integrated and sustainable natural resource management, featuring technologies, organizational issues and so on.

In three and a half days over 20 workshops were held, organised into nine main streams. Enhancing sustainability examined the different ways people use nature around the world and identified global principles of sustainability. Conserving vitality and diversity concentrated on new approaches, with an emphasis on support for the Convention on Biological Diversity. Protecting and managing land for conservation focused on the idea of "stewardship" to encourage personal and community responsibility for sound land management. This workshop also addressed such questions as the involvement of resource users, landowners and municipalities in extending conservation practices beyond the boundaries of protected areas. Sharing nature's bounty provided an opportunity to review trends in resource use patterns and look at new methods for improving integrated management of coastal and marine systems, mountains, freshwater wetlands, and arid lands. Other topics such as deforestation and desertification were also examined. The next workshop series Implementing strategies for sustainability was both practical and hands-on, bringing "thinkers" and "doers" together in small groups to examine real-life experiences to look at the tools and methods available to turn plans into action. Involving people in conservation explored the principles, requirements, process steps and institutional arrangements of successful partnerships for conservation. Using economics as a tool for conservation (or Putting the Eco back into (Eco)nomics) took a look at how to bridge the gap between economic theory and conservation practice. Acting on global issues looked at the urgency of relating conservation work to the wider context of events. The workshop programme concluded with a series on Learning from the Canadian experience. The overall goal of these workshops was to present and discuss the Canadian experience in a perspective to allow the world community to benefit from the lessons learned in areas of conservation and sustainable use.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS


4-8 November 1996

International Symposium on In-Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Diversity - Antalya.

The Symposium was a component of the In-situ Conservation of Genetic Diversity Project whose objectives are to establish and manage in-situ gene conservation areas in Turkey, for the protection of genetic resources of wild relatives of globally significant crops and forest tree species originated in Turkey. Sponsored by the Global Environment Trust Fund (GET) in collaboration with the Turkish Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Forestry and Environment.

Contact: Dr. Nusret Zencirci, Central Research Institute for Field Crops, P.O. Box 226, 06042 Ulus, Ankara, Turkey. Tel: (90) 312 2878957; Fax: (90) 312 2878958.

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12-14 November 1996

Methodological Approach to the Definition of the Mediterranean Physical and Biological Environment: A Project for the Mediterranean - Castro Marina .

Sixth Edition of "Colloquia Mediterranea". Working Group on Plant Biorhythms and Phenology. Società Botanica Italiana.

Contact: Prof. Fabio Garbari, Società Botanica Italiana,Via Giorgio La Pira 4, I - 50121 Firenze, Italy.

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15 November 1996

Qualitative and Quantitative Aspects of Italian Flora Worthy of Conservation - Castro Marina.

Working Groups on Plant Biosystematics, Nature Conservation and Floristics. Società Botanica Italiana.

Contact: Prof. Fabio Garbari, Società Botanica Italiana,Via Giorgio La Pira 4, I - 50121 Firenze, Italy.

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15 November 1996

Demonstration of Simulation Models on the Dynamics of Mediterranean Vegetation: ModMed Programme - Castro Marina.

Working Group on Ecology. Società Botanica Italiana.

Contact: Prof. Fabio Garbari, Società Botanica Italiana,Via Giorgio La Pira 4, I - 50121 Firenze, Italy.

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15-16 November 1996

Algology Working Group, Società Botanica Italiana - Rome.

Annual Scientific Meeting. Organized by N. Abdelahad.

Contact: Prof. Fabio Garbari, Società Botanica Italiana,Via Giorgio La Pira 4, I - 50121 Firenze, Italy.

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7 December 1996

Recent Progress in Research on Truffles of Commercial Interest - Perugia.

Micology Working Group. Società Botanica Italiana.

Contact: Prof. Fabio Garbari, Società Botanica Italiana,Via Giorgio La Pira 4, I - 50121 Firenze, Italy.

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25-27 May 1997

Plant Biotechnology as a Tool for the Exploitation of Mountain Land - Torino

Contact: Fondazione per la Biotechnologie, Viale S. Severo 63, I-10133 Torino, Italy. Tel/Fax: (39) 11 6600187

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8-9 August 1997

Chorological Problems in the European Flora - Helsinki.

The Botanical Museum of the Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki will host the VIII meeting of the Committee for Mapping the Flora of Europe. After the meeting there will be a three-day botanical excursion in southern Finland. The registration fee is 800 FIM (c. 800 SFr.) and it includes the material for the meeting and the Proceedings published afterwards, refreshments in coffee breaks and the local trips. The botanical excursion will have an approximate cost of 1,200 FIM (c. 330 SFr.) and it will include bus transport, accommodation and meals.

Contact: Leena Helynranta or Raino Lampinen; Botanical Museum, P.O. Box 7, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: Leena.Helynranta@Helsinki.Fi or Raino.Lampinen@Helsinki.Fi. Complementary information at: http://www.helsinki.fi/kmus/

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23-27 September 1997

ISHS Symposium on Brassicas. Tenth Crucifer Genetics Work-shop - Rennes.

Contact: Dr. Grégoire Thomas, Science du Végétal, Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Rennes, 65 rue de Saint-Brieuc, F-35042 Rennes Cedex, France. Tel: (33) 99 285476; Fax: (33) 99 285480; E-mail: brassica@rennes.inra.fr

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10-15 November 1997

Second World Conference on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants for Human Welfare (WOCMAP II) - Mendoza, Argentina.

Contact: Dr. A. Bandoni, SAIPA, Av. de Mayo 1324 - 1º piso, oficina 36, 1085 Buenos Aires, Argentina. Tel: (54) 13 832360; Fax: (54) 19 617637; E-mail: postmaster@saipa.org.ar

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14-19 June 1998

The IX International Congress on Plant Tissue and Cell Culture - Jerusalem

Contact: IX IAPTC Congress, KENEX, Organisers of Congresses and Tour Operators, Ltd., PO Box 50006, Tel Aviv 61500, Israel. Tel: (972) 3 5140000; Fax: (972) 3 5175674; E-mail: PLANT@Kenes.ccmail.compuserve.com

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NOTICES OF PUBLICATIONS

by Werner Greuter

 

Index


OPTIMA

 

  1. Werner Greuter (ed.) – Proceedings of the VII OPTIMA Meeting, Borovec, 18-30 July 1993. Part one: symposium lectures [Bocconea, 5(1)]. – Herbarium Mediterraneum Panormitanum, Palermo, 1996 (ISBN 88-7915-003-0). 394 pages, black-and-white illustrations, paper.

Long overdue, the first half of the Proceedings volume of the Borovec Meeting of OPTIMA has at last been published. It includes the full texts corresponding to 37 of the 44 lectures given by invited speakers at the 9 symposia of the Meeting. Thus, only 7 of the speakers (three in the Balkan symposium, one in that on Mediterranean-European relationships, and three in that on dysploidy) did not manage to produce a paper – a fairly gratifying rate. The 58 authors came from 14 different countries.

By its contents, the volume is as varied as OPTIMA itself and will be of interest to virtually anyone working with Mediterranean plants. The symposium titles may suffice to give an idea of the range of topics covered: the Bulgarian contribution to phytotaxonomy and phytogeography; the contribution of the Balkan countries to phytotaxonomy and phytogeography; relationships of the Mediterranean flora with Central and Eastern European floras; studies on threatened plant taxa; pollination and dispersal in Mediterranean plants; dysploidy and evolution in the Mediterranean flora; classification and evolution of Mediterranean Liliiflorae; studies on Mediterranean bryophytes and pteridophytes; and mycological studies in the Mediterranean area. Three of the papers are in French, all the others in English. W.G.

Index


Cryptogamae

  1. Pier Luigi Nimis (ed.) – Contributions towards a checklist of Mediterranean lichens. OPTIMA Commission for Lichens – publication no. 2 [Bocconea, 6]. – Herbarium Mediterraneum Panormitanum, Palermo, 1996 (ISBN 88-7915-004-9). 294 pages, 4 maps, paper.

Following a general introduction by the editor and programme co-ordinator, explaining the roots, structure and prospects of the Lichen Med-Checklist Project, the present volume includes five distinct and separately authored checklists of lichens, each for an individual country or part thereof: Morocco (by José Egea), Tunisia (by Mark Seaward), Israel (by Margalith Galun and Avihay Mukhtar), the Mediterranean provinces of S and W Turkey (by Volker John), and the Ukraine (by Sergej Kondratjuk, Irina Navrockaja, Aleksander Hodosovcev and Olena Solonina). The number of species varies from 227 (Israel) to 1147 (Ukraine), and the treatments themselves, also, vary to quite some extent – which will not go without causing some problems when their information is merged.

Except for Tunisia, data on within-country distribution are provided, either by political provinces (Turkey) or by phytogeographically defined territories. Literature or source references may be given either globally under each taxon (Israel, Ukraine) or under the individual territorial units. Ecological (substrate) indications are provided for Israel alone. Some of the lists give data on non-lichenized lichenicolous fungi, or even on some other fungi traditionally treated by lichenologists, either in an appendix (Morocco), or incorporated in the main list but singled out (Ukraine), or they are mentioned in the title but nowhere else (Turkey). Perhaps somewhat greater consistency might be achievable in the future, to expedite the task ahead.

All lists are primarily based on a thorough screening of extant, specialized literature, of which an astounding quantity exists. In addition, they rely to a varying degree on unpublished herbarium data, and in that case include original, new information on lichen distribution. In one list (Ukraine), three new combinations are validated. All in all, this volume constitutes a huge step forward in Mediterranean lichenology. W.G.

Index


Dicotyledones

  1. Theodorus (Ted) Hendrikus Maria Mes – Origin and evolution of the Macaronesian Sempervivoideae (Crassulaceae). Doctoral thesis University of Utrecht, privately published, 1995 (ISBN 90-393-1281-8). 215 pages, black-and-white illustrations, paper.

The Crassulaceae of the Atlantic islands, also known under the phytogeographical term of "Macaronesia", are a prominent example of a group that underwent adaptive radiation. In spite of a recent cladistic analysis of the largest genus, Aeonium, their relationships as inferred from morphology were still imperfectly understood. This is where the present study, using modern molecular techniques (DNA sequencing and restriction fragment length polymorphisms, random amplified polymorphic DNA) steps in. The attempt to reconstruct phylogenetic events that took place during adaptive radiation by using criteria not immediately subject to environmental pressure, with consequent risk of parallelism or convergence, is indeed promising.

Through this booklet, Dr Mes shows himself as a careful researcher and gifted writer. The presentation suffers, however, from the "publish or perish" syndrome: Rather than presenting us with a coherent, well-structured book, of which he would be perfectly capable, he offers a series of chapters each corresponding to an individual paper, some already published, others submitted for publication, still others soon to be submitted. The result is a stagewise rather than synoptic approach, with many duplications and redundancies, including figures and graphs published twice in identical versions a few pages apart.

This being said, the account is nevertheless well readable and worth reading. It starts by a crash course on basics of biogeography, molecular systematics, and cladistic philosophy and techniques, well suited for brushing up one’s knowledge of these topics and generously referenced to relevant modern literature. In this chapter, a critical discussion of the shortcomings and limitations of the presently fashionable methodologies is of note, a critique that unfortunately is given less prominence in the presentation and discussion of the author’s own results, later on.

Even when used with the appropriate scepticism and care, Mes’s conclusions are quite remarkable. He has built a strong case against the appropriateness of his own title, the endemic Macaronesian Crassulaceae being shown to be a likely monophyletic group that is quite unrelated to Sempervivum and obviously belongs in the Sedoideae. Convincing arguments are given for deriving this whole clade from an ancestor that also gave rise to a small group of North African Sedum species. For the phytogeographer, the most puzzling and revolutionary conclusion is that Aeonium sect. Aeonium, which includes the few non-Macaronesian species of the genus (found in North and East Africa plus Arabia), is by no means basal but terminal in the group’s evolution, and that the present disjunct occurrence of the genus must be viewed as the result of recent recolonization starting from the Canary Islands, not of fragmentation of an old, vast common area. This is a tough morsel for phytogeography to swallow and digest, and may yet cause much controversial debate in the future. W.G.

  1. Ali Asghar Maassoumi – The genus Astragalus in Iran. Vol. 1 Annuals; Vol. 2 Perennials; Vol. 3 Perennials. – Islamic republic of Iran, Research Institute of Forests and rangelands [Technical publication, 47-1986; 44-1989; 1995-133], [Tehran] 1986, 1989, 1995. 3 volumes, [2] + 106 +[2] pages; 386 + 44 + [2] pages; [4] + 502 + 141 + [1] pages; black-and-white illustrations; paper.

Three volumes have so far been published of Maassoumi’s monumental revision, in Persian, of Astragalus in Iran. Following Boissier’s and Buhse’s systems of infrageneric classification, the author has thereby covered five out of eight subgenera, which in Iran are represented by 43 sections and 372 species. These are amazing figures, and yet, more is to come.

The first volume is devoted to the two annual subgenera, Astragalus subg. Epiglottis and subg. Trimeniaeus, the first with two monospecific sections, the second with 17 sections and 43 species. The Iranian distribution of 35 species is shown on 12 maps, and 34 taxa are illustrated by photographs of herbarium specimens (the last of which, on page 105, lacks caption but shows A. campylotrichus).

Volume 2 treats Astragalus subg. Hypoglottis (5 sections, 54 species) and subg. Astragalus (8 sections, 133 species). Contrary to vol. 1, it includes full keys and synoptic species presentations in English. The illustration of individual taxa extends over no less than 124 pages and includes drawings of habit and analytical details along with herbarium specimen photographs. Distribution maps are, however, lacking.

Volume 3 concerns a single subgenus, Astragalus subg. Calycophysa, with 140 Iranian species. The presentation is again somewhat different. First of all, the English portion has been greatly extended thanks to the inclusion of selected specimen citations under the individual species. Secondly, the illustration of taxa has been reduced to analytical drawings of their floral parts, full-page habit drawings being provided to illustrate a typical representatives of each of ten sections. Thirdly, distribution maps are again present, but this time of the 11 sections, not of individual species.

The treatments yet to come will cover Astragalus subg. Tragacantha (Podlech’s separate genus, Astracantha) for which a gap of one section and 49 species numbers has been left in the consecutive numbering, between volumes 2 and 3; as well as subg. Calycocystis and subg. Cercidothrix. Once completed, Maassoumi’s revision will fill a significant portion of the present gap in Rechinger’s Flora iranica, for which the volumes devoted to Astragalus will presumably be the last to come. While more limited in geographical coverage, Maassoumi’s revision is nevertheless a big first step towards the bridging of that gap. W.G.

  1. Ali Asghar Maassoumi – Illustrated guide to the genus Astragalus in Iran. Vol. 2. – Islamic republic of Iran, Research Institute of Forests and rangelands [Publication, 86], Tehran 1993. [209] pages, black-and-white illustrations. paper. Price: Rials 4000 (US$80, DM 150).

The second volume of this Illustrated guide, of which the first was unavailable for consultation and comparison, comprises the treatments of 100 species of Astragalus, belonging to two of the sections dealt with in vol. 2 of Maassoumi's taxonomic revision (see above): sect. Caprini and sect. Malacothrix. Each taxon is illustrated by a full-page drawing of habit and analytical details, to which corresponds, on the opposite page, a detailed English description and a dot map showing the know distribution in Iran. Pagination has been dispensed with, and plate numbers have to be cited instead for reference purposes.

For Astragalus sect. Caprini, the book is a useful complement to the revision published four years before by Maassoumi, and to the 1988 monograph by Podlech, in that it includes skilfully drawn portraits of the whole plants. About half of the Iranian taxa are treated: 48 of the 99 species accepted in the 1989 revision, with 6 additional subspecies, and in addition a single species that had been described and validly named in the meantime, in 1990.

In Astragalus sect. Malacothrix the situation is completely different, and the present book is a major update of the 1989 text that recognized 33 species in Iran. Only 12 of the latter are illustrated here, but 5 previously described ones are added that had been omitted in 1989, and no less than 28 are species that were newly described between 1989 and 1993!

This book will therefore be welcomed not only by all interested in the Iranian flora and in the genus Astragalus, to whom it provides pictorial and descriptive aid in identifying the species concerned, but it also bears out the lack of previous knowledge of the group and the extent to which this has been improved in a short lapse of time thanks to the skill and dedication of a single Iranian botanist. W.G.

  1. Carlos Aedo – Revision of Geranium subgenus Erodioidea (Geraniaceae) [Systematic botany monographs, 49]. – American Society of Plant Taxonomists, Ann Arbor, 1996 (ISBN 0-912861-49-5). 104 pages, black-and-white illustrations; paper.

Geranium subg. Erodioidea is likely a paraphyletic group defined by symplesiomorphic fruit characters (as Nieto Feliner and Aedo have demonstrated in a separate, precursory paper). It is nevertheless a convenient classificatory unit, comprising 3 natural sections with 19 species in total, of which no less than 17 are Mediterranean endemics. Aedo’s revision follows classical standards and procedures and has significantly improved our understanding of taxon delimitation, if not of natural affinities (which remain unresolved), within the polymorphic, critical oreomesogean G. sect. Subacaulia in which 15 largely allopatric species are now recognized. No less than seven of these (one from Italy, 6 from Anatolia) have either been newly described or raised from varietal status by the author, in a preliminary publication, whereby the former imbalance between a wide eastern and a suitably narrow western species concept has been resolved. Among the positive features of the revision, the faithful and informative full-page drawings, with plentiful analytical details, of most of the species recognized (16 out of 19) deserves particular mention. W.G.

  1. Manfred Dittrich – Die Bedeutung morphologischer und anatomischer Achänen-Merkmale für die Systematik der Tribus Echinopeae Cass. und Carlineae Cass. [Boissiera, 51]. – Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques, Genève, 1996 (ISBN 2-8277-0067-0). 102 pages, black-and-white illustrations, laminated cover. Price: SFr. 75.

Not quite thirty years after his fundamental carpologically based systematic reassessment of the Cardueae, subtribes Centaureinae and Carduinae, Dittrich now presents us with an analogous treatment of the two other, much smaller cynaroid tribes, Echinopeae and Carlineae, both of which are largely centred on the Mediterranean-Oriental region. He has managed to produce a very convincing generic classification, based on material of all major groups and (except for the fairly homogeneous Echinops) a majority of the species, and he has thereby once more demonstrated the great significance of thorough carpological studies for a better understanding of generic limits and affinities in the Compositae. In passing, he has also reassuringly demonstrated that even nowadays it is possible to obtain fully satisfactory taxonomic results without resorting to cladograms!

The new classification is supported by ample descriptive material and good illustrations, mainly scanning electron micrographs of surface structures and microscope views of longisections. It largely confirms what had earlier been deduced from gross morphology, except by resurrecting some of the long neglected early splits of the most acute synantherological observer ever, Cassini. Echinopeae and Carlineae are not, it appears, closely related. The former consist of the two classical genera, Echinops and Acantholepis. The latter can be split into natural assemblages: the quite isolated Xeranthemum group (4 genera), the interrelated Staehelina and Carlina groups (2 and 5 genera, respectively), and the three highly deviating, mono- or dispecific genera Cardopatium, Tugarinovia, and Cousiniopsis.

The resurrected genera are Hirtellina (Cass.) Cass. (3 species; segregated from Staehelina) and Chamaeleon Cass. (4 species; usually merged under Atractylis). In both, some new combinations have been validated. Unfortunately, Dittrich has been less careful in handling nomenclature than in his carpological work, and his new combination Chamaeleon speciosus is plainly incorrect. To prevent spreading usage the long forgotten epithet speciosus and consequent displacement of the familiar one, I here validate the correct combination, as follows: Chamaeleon comosus (Spreng.) comb. nov. Acarna comosa Spreng., Syst. Veg. 3: 380. 1826 º Atractylis comosa [Spreng.] Sieber ex DC., Prodr. 6: 550. 1838). W.G.

  1. Helena Duistermaat – Monograph of Arctium L. (Asteraceae). Generic delimitation (including Cousinia Cass. p.p.), revision of the species, pollen morphology, and hybrids [Gorteria, Supplement, 3]. – Doctoral thesis University of Leiden, 1996 (ISBN 90-71236-28-5). [10] + 143 pages, black-and-white illustrations, laminated cover.

In her burdock monograph, Leni Duistermaat presents the results of her study of a many-faceted subject of just manageable size, the taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus Arctium. The problems she encountered and solved can be placed under three main headings: the delimitation of taxa in what at first may have appeared as unstructured, random and almost continuous variation; the identification of hybridity phenomena and hybrid individuals between the closely similar taxa thus defined; and the question of phylogeny and relationship within and beyond the genus as classically defined, leading eventually to a reassessment of generic limits.

While applying the instruments of morphometry and statistical treatment to the first set of problems, the author has obviously, if unacknowledgedly, made good use of her taxonomic flair and intuition in solving them. Her common sense has also prevented her being led astray by the rather unusual and I dare say impracticable species concept she professes to use, a kind of hybrid between Hennig’s "internodal" species and the biological species defined by hybrid sterility (or rather, in her case, by the absence of natural hybridization). Whether her decision to completely dismiss the formal recognition of intraspecific variation was a wise one, the future may tell. The scatter diagrams showing the variation of some of the more plastic characters rather support her view, at least in the case at hand. A major argument in favour of her proposed classification is that, with the species suitably circumscribed, hybridity can be reduced to a marginal phenomenon affecting less than 2 % of the specimens seen, when the expected picture was of large hybrid swarms connecting ill-defined, variable taxa.

A cladistic study of phylogenetic relationships, including a sizeable sample of the closely related, huge genus Cousinia, showed that the sister group of Arctium in its classical sense are five bur-headed Cousinia species belonging to three closely related sections in one of the three traditionally recognized subgenera. Wisely, Dr Duistermaat has opted for expediency and ready definability by extending the genus so as to encompass the five additional species. She thereby maintains it as a monophyletic unit, while deliberately accepting, for the time being, to leave Cousinia as a paraphyletic genus (in the hope that it may not, eventually, turn out to be polyphyletic altogether).

Owing to an evident want of nomenclatural routine, some incorrect spellings have unfortunately been retained (Arctium palladinii being misspelled "palladini", and A. sect. Lappacea as "Lappaceum"). The huge synonymies in the systematic treatment (almost four pages for A. minus alone) also include a few anomalies. The lack of detailed distribution maps is also to be deplored, particularly since no specimens are cited. Even so, however, this revision is a huge step forward in our understanding of one of the more tricky genera of the cynaroid Compositae. W.G.

Index


Monocotyledones

  1. Dagmar Lange – Untersuchungen zur Systematik und Taxonomie der Gattung Helictotrichon Besser ex J. A. Schultes & J. H. Schultes (Poaceae) in Südosteuropa und Vorderasien [Bibliotheca Botanica, 144]. – Doctoral thesis University of Frankfurt am Main; Schweizerbarth, Stuttgart, 1995 (ISBN 3-510-48015-5). [4] + 238 pages, black-and-white illustrations, paper.

Regional monographs have their merits and their problems. They often have a parochially narrow concept of taxa, and may fail to place them in a wider taxonomic and geographical context. On the other hand, they will normally profit from the author’s first-hand knowledge of the plants as they grow in nature, in a population context, which in a world revision can hardly if ever be achieved. The present revision of the perennial oats of SE Europe and SW Asia largely avoids the pitfalls of regionalism. The author deliberately places her conclusions in a very broad geographical context, and she also adopts a wide, synthetic species concept. Her treatment does to an extent include the study of live material, but in a group like grasses, in which structural characters well preserved and easily observed on dry material are essential, this adds but little to its conclusions.

Dr Lange presents us with an astounding wealth of facts and observations, consigned in an extremely thorough and well documented revision that will be of fundamental importance for Near and Middle Eastern agrostology. The generous, high-quality illustration of both macro- and micromorphological features usefully complements the exhaustive descriptions, very detailed identification keys and full specimen enumerations.

Readers will presumably have a rather hard time in finding their way through the overwhelming bulk of included material. In fact, the treatment might have gained considerably in clarity and user-friendliness by a more stringent limitation to essentials and a more rigorous structuring of the text. It is difficult, for instance, to find one’s way through the mass of historical data on taxonomy and nomenclature and through the synonymies encumbered with invalid names, non-names and later usages. While the author has devoted much time and energy to a full clarification of nomenclatural questions, she awkwardly uses the penultimate, partly obsolete edition of the botanical Code. Had she employed the Tokyo Code instead, she might not have blundered in the author citation for the generic name she adopts, Helictotrichon, which is to be credited to Besser alone (the author of the text portion that includes the protologue), not to the Schulteses who, being authors of the book as a whole, do not even pronounce themselves clearly on whether or not they accept Besser’s treatment. W.G.

Index


Floras

  1. Oriol de Bolòs & Josep Vigo – Flora dels Països Catalans. Volum III (Pirolàceis-Compostes). – Barcino, Barcelona, 1995 (ISBN 84-7226-657-5, volume; 84-7226-591-9, work). 1230 pages, maps and drawings, hard cover.

Extensive reviews of this Flora were written when the two first volumes had been published (OPTIMA Newsl. 20-24: (24-25). 1988; 25-29: (23-24). 1991), and the positive comments then made remain fully valid for the third volume. It is by far the largest of the three and covers a good third of the total flora of (French and Spanish) Catalonia – to be exact: 1197 species and a large number of infraspecific taxa, especially numerous in Hieracium which with its 95 recognized species is by far the largest genus treated. There and elsewhere, scattered through the text and its footnotes, a considerable number of new combinations have again been validated by the authors, without alas being indexed separately.

Volume three, comprising the "sympetalous" families, brings the dicots to completion and leaves but the monocots to be dealt with in the fourth and (presumably) last volume. Incidentally, in a footnote, we are told (for the first time as far as I could ascertain) which system of classification is reflected in the rather unusual family sequence followed throughout the Flora: it is the one that Firbas adopted in 1958 in the 27th edition of Strasburger’s Lehrbuch der Botanik.

It is a tremendous achievement for a small "team" of just two authors to write such a work, fully original in its concept and contents, and must have taken them many years. That this is indeed the case is confirmed, again incidentally, on p. 93: the Limonium account had been completed and edited by the end of 1989 already, i.e., well before vol. 2 had been published. By analogy, we may hope that much of volume 4 has by now already been written. The authors may remain assured that it is eagerly awaited. W.G.

  1. Manfred A. Fischer (ed.) – Exkursionsflora von Österreich. Bestimmungsbuch für alle in Österreich wildwachsenden sowie die wichtigsten kultivierten Gefäßpflanzen (Farnpflanzen und Samenpflanzen) mit Angaben über ihre Ökologie und Verbreitung.– Ulmer, Stuttgart, 1994 (ISBN 3-8001-3461-6). 1180 pages, drawings, cloth.

It is a curious fact that there has not so far been a Flora of Austria covering the whole of its national territory. The two previous excursion floras for Austria did on one hand cover vast territories outside the present political boundaries, south to the Adriatic Sea, and on the other hand omitted the easternmost, Pannonian portion of the country. This gap has now been filled, thanks to the efforts of a multi-author team under the co-ordinating editorship of Manfred Fischer.

Austria has a surprisingly rich vascular flora, with a total number of species and subspecies exceeding by c. 10 % that of much larger Germany. This flora is here treated in a synthetic way, making full use of abbreviations, symbols and conventions, yet exhaustive in coverage down to subspecies level and including common cultivated and alien species. Generous space is devoted to corollary material of interest to the local, non-professional user, such as basics of nomenclature and taxonomy, descriptive morphology, biology, ecology and chorology of plants. There are chapters on the vegetation and physical geography of Austria, on nature conservation, on the history of Austrian floristics, and on plant collecting techniques. The indexes and registers include a list explaining the meaning of Latin epithets, and also, as a curiosity, a short Austrian to "vulgar German" dictionary of special terms. The editor has developed his own system of family classification which, except for minor details, unacknowledgedly follows Ehrendorfer’s scheme as set out in the 33rd edition of Strasburger's Lehrbuch der Botanik (which in turn draws heavily on Arthur Cronquist’s Evolution and classification of flowering plants, ed. 2).

In the short time of its existence, this new Flora has become notorious, not thanks to its many merits, but chiefly because of a single trait that many feel to be revolutionary: the consistent and deliberate omission of author citations after scientific plant names. While this decision may not have been particularly wise, perhaps even unfortunate (since a Flora of this kind is indeed a choice place for users to look up the appropriate author citation when they need it), the general indignant outcry it aroused is disproportionate. This over-reaction shows that author citations are seen to bear a kind of pseudoreligious nymbus that they in no way deserve, and which it is high time to dispel. Manfred Fischer and his team may perhaps, through their omission, have put their finger on a real, underrated problem. W.G.

  1. Stefan Kozuharov (ed.) – Flora na Republika Balgarija. Flora Reipublicae Bulgaricae. Vol. 10. – Akademicno Izdatelstvo "Prof. Marin Drinov", Sofija, 1995 (ISBN 954-430-366-9). 429 pages, figures, inset folded map, hard cover.

The first post-communist volume of Bulgaria’s national flora has appeared under the new general editorship of Stefan Kozuharov, replacing Daki Jordanov, and with its title shortened to reflect the change of the country’s official name as defined in its constitution. Otherwise, little has been altered as compared with earlier volumes of the Flora of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria (see OPTIMA Newsl. 25-29: (26). 1991 for volume 9, published in 1989). If anything, the paper quality has improved. The standard of texts and illustrations has not suffered and remains exemplary.

Kozuharov and his prematurely deceased friend, Bogdan Kuzmanov, are co-editors of the present volume, which treats the Scrophulariaceae, Orobanchaceae, Plantaginaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Valerianaceae, and a handful of smaller families: altogether 38 genera and 239 species of Bulgaria’s wild flora, all illustrated by skilful original drawings grouped on 92 plates. Verbascum (45 species), Veronica (36, not counting 6 split off as Pseudolysimachion) and Orobanche (24) are the three largest genera. Four newly described varieties have their names validated in an Appendix, and some new infraspecific combinations are scattered in the text. Since publication of the last (4th) edition of Flora of Bulgaria, by Stojanov & al. in 1967, 4 newly described species, 8 that were newly discovered in the country, and 9 that were raised from infraspecific to specific status, sum up to an increase of 21 species for the families here treated. The number of confirmed, previously doubtful reports (4) exactly balances that of deletions of erroneous records.

Bulgaria has been going through difficult times of lately. It is good to see that its botanists have not lost courage and, hopefully helped by a recovering economy, successfully uphold the glorious tradition of Bulgarian botany. In so doing, they can be assured of our sympathy and support. W.G.

  1. M. Assadi, M. Khatamsaz, V. Mozaffarian & A. A. Maassoumi (ed.) – Flora of Iran. No. 11: Frankeniaceae (by H. Amirabadizadeh; 13 + [2] pages; 1995). No. 12: Saxifragaceae (by Z. Jamzad; 21 + [2] pages; 1995). No. 13: Caprifoliaceae (by M. Khatamsaz; 29 + [2] pages; 1995). No. 14: Plantaginaceae (by M. Janighorban; 55 + [2] pages; 1995). No. 15: Thymelaeaceae (by Kh. Akhiani; 29 + [2] pages; 1995). Nos. 16 (Gentianaceae) and 17 (Menyanthaceae) (by M. Khatamsaz; 36 + [7] + [2] pages; 1995). – Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, [Tehran]. 6 brochures illustrated with figures.

With seven families newly published in 1995, Flora of Iran (see OPTIMA Newsl. 25-29: (31-32). 1991; 30: (15). 1995) is continuing to make good, steady progress. This critical national Flora, unfortunately of difficult use for those who are not familiar with Persian language and Arabic script, will at least offer them full-page, good drawings – often with analytical details – of a large majority (c. 90 %) of the wild native species.

The treatments are a careful, critical but moderate update of the Iranian data included in Rechinger’s monumental Flora iranica, of which the earlier issues are beginning to become outdated. In fact, all corresponding families, in Flora iranica, were published between 1965 and 1972. No wonder that several additional species have since been discovered in Iran, some of them (Daphne pontica, Lonicera caprifolium, Viburnum opulus) new for the whole Flora iranica area, and one, Saxifraga ramsarica, recently described as new to science. Two additional genera are also mentioned: Lomatogonium and Limnanthes. Some former records are rejected as erroneous, and some species sunk into synonymy (mainly in the Gentianaceae). On the other hand, some nomenclatural errors of long standing have not been corrected (the illegitimate Plantago psyllium is adopted in preference to P. afra; Nymphoides is treated as masculine). W.G.

  1. S. I. Ali & M. Qaiser (ed.) – Flora of Pakistan. No. 197, Gentianaceae (by S. Omer; [2] + 172 pages, 53 figures, map; hard cover; "15 Sep 1995"). – Department of Botany, University of Karachi.

The newest part of this major critical Flora (see OPTIMA Newsl. 30: (15-16). 1995, and earlier reviews referred to there) is devoted to a family that has one of its centres of diversity in the high mountains of northern Pakistan, so that the treatment has claim to be submonographic. The author has indeed devoted years of study to gentianaceous taxonomy, and has authored or co-authored half a dozen papers on the subject, published in various international journals between 1988 and 1993. He has acquired a thorough knowledge of his plants, and one may be confident that his species definitions are sound and his descriptions and keys accurate. A major benefit of his in-depth studies is that the illustration is much more generous than usual: with the exception of Lomatogonium and Swertia, treated somewhat more cursorily, almost every species is illustrated by a full-page line drawing, showing the general habit as well as analytical details of floral organs.

Unfortunately, Omer proves to be a radical, and prematurely so. He chose to blast the classical genus Gentiana to pieces, to the extent that no Himalayan species remains in it, nor incidentally in the somewhat less familiar Gentianella. Instead, he ends up with no less than 9 genera, 3 of which described by himself, without having attempted to look at diversity patterns world-wide. The result is a highly preliminary, predictably unstable classification, based on few easily observed characters. It is particularly deplorable that he misapplied the generic name Ciminalis, typified by the European Gentiana acaulis, to an unrelated, predominantly Asian species group. Nomenclature is, anyhow, his weak point, as documented by the publication of an illegitimate and superfluous substitute name, Gentianodes eumarginata, in this same treatment.

Printing speed in Karachi has greatly improved over the years, and the discrepancy between the date on the cover (15 Sep 1995, being the date on which the finalized text went to the printer) and the date of effective publication has become negligible: my copy was poststamped on 14 Oct 1995. The publishers deserve a special compliment on that account. W.G.

Index


Flower books

  1. Isildo Gomes, Samuel Gomes, Maria Teresa Vera-Cruz, Norbert Kilian, Teresa Leyens & Wolfram Lobin – Plantas endémicas e árvores indígenas de Cabo Verde. – Instituto Nacional de Investigação e Desenvolvimento Agrário, S. Jorge dos Orgãos & Cooperação Técnica Alemã, Praia, 1995. 33 pages (incl. inside back cover), black-and-white and colour illustrations, brochure.

A product of bilateral co-operation between the Cabo Verde Republic and Germany, this small and unpretentious but nicely produced brochure includes illustrations, with short explanatory texts, of 54 species or subspecies endemic to the island group, plus 7 indigenous trees. With the exception of two sedges represented by line drawings, the illustrations are reproductions of colour paintings by Petra Leyens and Kay Rees-Davies (since the individual figures are unsigned, one is left to guess exact authorship of each). They and the six text authors have jointly produced a remarkable documentation of a little known and highly vulnerable small portion of the world’s biodiversity. W.G.

  1. Leslie Linares, Arthur Harper & John Cortes – The flowers of Gibraltar. Flora calpensis. – Wildlife (Gibraltar) Limited, Gibraltar, 1996 (ISBN 84-7207-088-3). 196 pages, figures and colour photographs, flexible cover.

Two self-taught botanists and hobby photographers and a trained biologist, all from Gibraltar, have joined efforts to produce this pretty and informative booklet on the flora of their home country. It represents, by colour photographs and short descriptive texts, a good selection of the more common or representative or characteristic, but not necessarily the most showy, members of the Gibraltar flora. 200 species are thus shown, and several more are shortly and diagnostically described, so that the booklet covers almost exactly one half of the known wild flora of the area (257 out of 530 species). There is also an introductory part, with an outline description of the geography and vegetation, again illustrated by colour photographs.

Perhaps inevitably with so large a selection, the photographs are of somewhat uneven quality. Some are definitely underexposed or show unnatural colours (e.g., the purples being too red). A few are hardly diagnostic of the plants they illustrate, and the odd one may even be wrongly identified (I strongly doubt that the plant said to be Medicago polymorpha is in fact M. arabica). In a general way, however, one will use the book with pleasure and profit. It shows some rarely portrayed common weeds such as nettle, pellitory-of-the-wall and chickweed along with the extremely rare, sometimes endemic chasmophytes of the Gibraltar rock. The unquestionable highlight among the latter is the Gibraltar endemic, Silene tomentosa, long thought to be extinct but recently rediscovered, and observed by the authors of this book as recently as 1994. W.G.

  1. Franco Rasetti – I fiori delle Alpi. Le specie che crescono al di sopra del limite della foresta illustrate da 568 riproduzioni di fotografie a colori eseguite dall’autore. Seconda edizione a cura di Walter Rossi [Collana Scienza e Natura, 1]. – Selcom, Torino, 1996 (ISBN 88-86553-03-x). 222 pages, figures and colour photographs, laminated cover. Price: Lit. 55,000.

Franco Rasetti is doubtless among the most fascinating personalities among 20th century scientists. A prominent atom physicist and spectroscopist, senior member of Nobel Prize winner Enrico Fermi’s illustrious research team, he is also an enthusiastic biologist and as such has achieved fame in three utterly distinct fields: as a coleopterologist in his younger days, as one of the world’s leading experts in Cambrian trilobites in his middle years, and as an explorer and photographer of the flora of the Alps and of Italian orchids, at the age of maturity. From 1958 onward, he climbed the various massifs of the Alps for at least twenty consecutive seasons, an indefatigable mountaineer, patient and scrupulous observer and pioneer nature photographer. Among the companions of his trips we find the most prominent Alpine botanists: Fenaroli, Melzer, Merxmüller, and several more. He shot well over 8000 colour photographs from which to select those published in the present book – certainly the most complete and most beautiful picture collection of Alpine plants ever assembled by a single person. The second edition of his book, Fiori delle Alpi, was presented to him in June 1996 on the occasion of his 95th birthday.

This second edition is significantly reduced as compared to the first one. Many paragraphs and whole chapters of the introductory portion have been deleted, most notably a whole section (80 pages) describing the vegetation, regional floristic aspects of particular areas, and photographical technique. The photographs have been slightly reduced in number (4 being omitted) and more significantly in size. Also, they have been incorporated in the descriptive part rather than being assembled in a single block at the end. The size reduction is more than compensated by a much better printing quality, resulting in improved neatness and a better colour balance. In several instances has the nomenclature been updated, among others by the adoption of generic splits recognized in Flora europaea and the recent Italian Floras.

The result of Walter Rossi’s editorial efforts and the printers’ skills is a slim, reasonably priced and splendidly illustrated vademecum for the field botanist, amateur and professional alike. While not the size of pocket book, it is the ideal companion for botanical holidays and a helpful adviser for holiday planning. W.G.

Index


Floristic inventories and checklists

  1. Daniel Jeanmonod & Hervé Maurice Burdet (ed.) – Compléments au Prodrome de la flore corse. Annexe n° 4. Flore analytique des plantes introduites en Corse, par Alessandro Natali & Daniel Jeanmonod. – Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques, Ville de Genève, 1996 (ISBN 2-8277-0811-6). 211 pages, black-and-white illustrations, laminated cover. Price: SFr 35.70.

To write the analytical inventory of the alien flora of a whole, large Mediterranean island is a challenging and promising idea. Not one that is easily realized though, since it poses many problems that require critical reflection and carefully balanced decisions. The authors had to develop accurate yet flexible definitions of what is alien, what indigenous, and had to decide how to evaluate the often fragmentary evidence. They have succeeded in producing a workable concept, and as a result, their publication may be seen as a milestone in Mediterranean plant geography.

Corsica was particularly suited for this kind of analysis, since the data on its flora, both indigenous and xenophytic, are abundant, well checked and readily accessible. Still, the basic difficulty remains, for all Mediterranean floras alike: the fact that reliable floristic data are available for the last two centuries at most, whereas the human influence on the flora, and therefore the phenomenon of plant introduction, has its early roots several millennia ago. The authors have wisely, though not quite consistently, renounced considering archaeophytes as elements of the alien flora, which probably explains the discrepancy between the 17 % incidence of alien taxa in the Corsican flora and the 50 % quoted for some areas with a much more recent human colonization history, e.g. New Zealand.

For each of the 473 taxa considered, the inventory gives detailed information on first and subsequent Corsican records, with source and date; on possible doubts concerning the alien status; on degree of naturalization; and on probable mode of introduction. Sensibly, a consistent distinction is made between (presumed) purposeful and accidental introduction. The occurrence of each species on neighbouring islands and island groups is also tabulated. The inventory proper is followed by an extensive analytical chapter, in which various statistical approaches are included along with case histories of well documented, recent successful introductions. There is much more to be found in this analysis than can be mentioned here, but one point in particular becomes obvious to the reader: comparisons and generalizations are virtually impossible at this stage, since no comparable data sets exist for any other Mediterranean (and perhaps even extra-Mediterranean) area. Natali & Jeanmonod have, by this book, set new standards for a type of analysis that should by all means also be undertaken elsewhere, even though the data at hand may be fewer and less reliable. Mediterranean islands provide choice models for this kind of study, since their natural seclusion avoids some of the problems one would face in mainland areas. Get started on the islands! W.G.

  1. David Aeschimann & Christian Heitz – Index synonymique de la flore de Suisse et territoires limitrophes (ISFS). Synonymie-Index der Schweizer Flora und der angrenzenden Gebiete (SISF). Indice sinonimico della flora della Svizzera e territori limitrofi (ISFS) [Documenta Floristicae Helvetiae, 1]. – Centre du Réseau Suisse de Floristique, Chambésy & Zentrum des Datenverbundnetzes der Schweizer Flora, Bern, 1996. lii + 317 pages, paper.

For Swiss people this is common knowledge, but they will rarely speak of it to the outsiders: their country is deeply split, politically and culturally, by what is locally known as the "Rösti trench", the divide between the Romance and German-speaking parts of Switzerland. This fundamental schism has, in recent years, extended to the botanical field. Since re-editing of the classical Swiss school and excursion flora, known as "the Binz", has been confided, for German and French respectively, to different people, the nomenclature adopted has kept drifting apart. The college and high-school kids whose mother tongue is "Schwyzertüütsch" have been trained in the spirit of Ehrendorfer’s compendium of the Central European flora, whereas their French-speaking counterparts have been schooled to the standards of Flora europaea and Med-Checklist.

The two editorial teams have now signed a truce, if not a treaty of peace, the terms being laid down in this voluminous Synonymic index, just published. It will not only serve as a dictionary to Switzerland’s botanically trained youth, enabling them to communicate across the language border, but it also recommends one given taxonomy and nomenclature and includes a commitment of the authors (and also of the prospective authors of a planned new Flora of Switzerland, here first announced) to henceforth follow the recommended standard and thus to make their country botanically unilingual.

It is to be hoped that they will not take this commitment too literally and will allow for the correction of obvious errors if and when they are discovered. There is one in particular that must be mentioned, which the authors should have spotted by themselves had they indeed, as they claim, verified cases of discrepancy at the source, in the Geneva library: the alleged illegitimacy and consequent rejection of Thlaspi rotundifolium (L.) Gaudin as a later homonym is the result of a bibliographical error imputable to Med-Checklist, and the name must be reinstated. The error was noted time ago by Gutermann (pers. comm.) and is easily detected upon verification.

Apart from details such as the above, the idea of establishing a pro-tempore consensus taxonomy for a whole country is interesting and has much to commend itself. A particularly positive aspect of the Synonymic index is that it provides unique, standardized sets of denominations in modern languages (French, German, and Italian) for all species and subspecies listed. W.G.

  1. M. Nabil El HADIDI & Abdel-Aziz Fayed – Materials for Excursion Flora of Egypt [Taeckholmia, 15]. – Cairo University Herbarium, Giza, 1995 (ISBN 977-5067-18-9). [3] + e + x + 233 pages, map, laminated cover.

It is rather curious to see two botanical inventories for the same country, with almost the same scope and a similar sequence and layout, published in the same year. Here it has happened: the Checklist by Loutfy Boulos (see OPTIMA Newsl. 30: (24). 1995) came out at the end of April 1995, and was followed in mid-November by the present Materials. Both are arranged, at least in principle, in the sequence of Vivi Taeckholm’s Student Flora of Egypt of 1974, but having obviously been written independently and perhaps without knowledge of each other (but see the final remark!), they differ in more than just trivial detail. The Checklist gives fuller synonymy and recognizes a much larger number of infraspecific taxa, whereas the Materials single out by an asterisk all post-1974 additions to the Egyptian flora; and they have the doubtful privilege of pullulating with typographical errors of all kinds.

The total of listed wild species is not very different: 2094 in the Checklist and 2076 in the Materials. A cursory analysis shows, however, that this similarity hides pronounced differences that nearly balance each other. Of the 127 species listed by El Hadidi & Fayed as additional to the Student Flora, 96 are cited by Boulos either as accepted or more rarely in synonymy, but 31 are additional to the Checklist, viz.: Azolla caroliniana, Persicaria attenuata, Polygonum argyrocoleum, P. balansae, Silene coniflora, S. oreosinaica, S. pendula, S. armeria (?!), Chenopodium rubrum, Atriplex mollis, Alternanthera bettzickiana, Gomphrena celosioides, Nymphaea micrantha, Hypericum aegyptiacum, Brassica juncea, Lepidium virginicum, Fagonia haplotricha (stat. nov.), Euphorbia maculata, E. nutans, Limonium bonduellei, L. mareoticum (sp. nov.), Ballota pseudodictamnus, Solanum americanum, S. linnaeanum, Physalis ixocarpa, Carduus acanthoides, C. tenuiflorus, Atractylis serrata, A. phaeolepis, Centaurea hyalolepis, and Varthemia sericea. Most are naturalized or anyhow weedy; but there is also a newly described species and an upgraded former variety among them, as well as some obviously new additions to the autochthonous flora such as Ballota pseudodictamnus. In a few cases, accidental omissions by Boulos have been rectified (e.g. Atriplex patula, Silene longipetala). In other words, one will have to use the Materials as a necessary complement to and update of the Checklist.

The reverse, however, is at least equally true. Not only is the nomenclature used by El Hadidi & Fayed sometimes faulty (see, e.g., Silene arabica and S. vivianii), but they also left out a considerable number of species. The main reason is apparently that they do not accept any new Sinai records by Danin and other Israeli botanists unless they have been confirmed by Egyptian collections. Is it conceivable that political considerations or, just as unaccountably, personal grudge should have outweighed scientific honesty? I hope not, and trust that the fact that undisputed species have been sunk into synonymy or simply forgotten when co-authored by Boulos (Persicaria obtusifolia) or dedicated to him (Atractylis boulosii) is an unfortunate coincidence. The authors of both books ought better join efforts and smooth out the differences to produce the definitive floristic inventory (or even a Flora) of their country. Some anastomoses must already exist, though rather mysteriously – unless one has to dismiss as fortuitous coincidence the fact that in at least one case exactly the same, unique misspelling appears in both books (Dianthus ‘cryi’ instead of D. cyri). W.G.

Index


Excursions

  1. Ina Dinter – Botanische Studienwanderreise. Abruzzen. Bergwelt im Herzen Italiens. Landschaften – Flora – Kultur. 1.-15. Juli 1995. – Privately assembled/duplicated, D-74348 Lauffen, 1995. [89] unnumbered sheets in plastic cover sheet, black-and-while illustrations.

 

  1. Ina Dinter – Botanische Studienwanderreise. Abruzzen. Bergwelt im Herzen Italiens. Landschaften – Flora – Kultur. [25.07.-08.08.1996]. [Natur-Exkursionen, K 9609]. – Privately assembled/duplicated, D-74348 Lauffen, 1996. 87 sheets in plastic cover sheet, black-and-while illustrations.

 

  1. Ina Dinter – Botanische Exkursion. Insel Sizilien. 9.-23. April 1994. – Privately assembled/duplicated, D-74348 Lauffen, 1994. [117] unnumbered loose sheets, black-and-while illustrations.

 

  1. Ina Dinter – Botanische Studienwanderreise. Perlen der Ägäis – die Inseln Lesbos und Chios in der Ägäis – vom 10.-24. April 1995. – Privately assembled/duplicated, D-74348 Lauffen, 1995. [73] unnumbered sheets in plastic cover sheet, black-and-while illustrations.

 

  1. Ina Dinter – Botanische Exkursion. Zypern – der nördliche Landesteil – vom 10.-24. März 1996. – Privately assembled/duplicated, D-74348 Lauffen, 1996. 72 loose sheets, black-and-while illustrations.

Ina Dinter’s botanical excursion guides are typical examples of "grey literature". Each is compiled for use by a small group of people, participants in one of the nature excursions planned and led by her, and none is commercially available. Their general pattern is more or less consistent (see also OPTIMA Newsl. 30: (25, 26). 1995): each pamphlet is a mixture of anecdotic information on the sites visited, with glimpses on cultural and local aspects, and of plant lists for the individual trips or stops. There is always a cumulative botanical index at the end, with locality numbers under each named taxon, so that floristic information can easily be accessed. The lists are based on Mrs Dinter’s own plant collections, kept in her private herbarium, made during preparatory excursions and sometimes increased during successive tours to the same area, when updated re-editions of the guide pamphlets are produced (e.g., items 21 and 22). The illustrations are seldom original, often plant drawings copied from some Flora of from Fiori’s Iconografia, or reproductions of postcards; there are also landscape photographs (presumably by the author) and map cuttings with itineraries, and in item 24, as an innovation, some photocopies of herbarium specimens. A special feature of item 23 is the reproduction, as an annex, of the plant lists of a student excursion of Stuttgart University, in 1985. All the included lists contain original floristic data, which may on occasion be novel and can, if desired, be checked against the herbarium specimens on which they are based. W.G.

  1. Arne Strid & Kit Tan (ed.) – Flora and vegetation of the Peloponnese and Kithira. Report of a student excursion from the University of Copenhagen. May 14-28, 1995. – Privately published, Copenhagen, 1996 (ISBN 87-982179-6-8). 91 + [24] pages, black-and-white illustrations, couloured maps and photographs on 6 extra plates, paper with plastic cover sheet.

The excursion, with 15 to 16 participants including 4 leaders, was based on Kithira (3 nights), in Sparti (4 nights) and Nafplio (6 nights). Over 1000 numbers of plants were collected, and several more observed, in 36 collecting localities. Their enumeration in locality lists and a tabular overview makes up for the larger portion of this report. The introductory, general chapters were written by the participating students and deal with geography, geology, climate, vegetation, flora, distribution patterns and endemism. The illustration consists of a choice of fairly splendid colour photographs, nicely reproduced by colour xerocopy, pre-prints of dot distribution maps intended for publication in Flora hellenica, and (authorized?) reproductions from copyrighted books. This report, being a "real" publication, well edited and almost luxuriously produced (even with its own ISBN!), is far more sophisticated than other excursion lists that have so far been reviewed in this section. W.G.

Index


Chorology

  1. Oriol de Bolòs i Capdevila, Xavier Font i Castell & Xavier Pons i Fernández (ed.) – Atlas corològic de la flora vascular dels Països Catalans. Vol. 3, 4 [ORCA: Atlas corològic, 3, 4]. – Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Secció de Ciències Biològiques, Carme 47, E-08001 Barcelona, 1993, 1994 (ISBN 84-7283-241-4 & -266-x). [327], [320] pages, maps 307-465, 466-619 with text; paper.

The Organization for the Mapping of plants of the Catalan Countries (ORCA; see OPTIMA Newsl. 20-24: (45-46). 1988) is a remarkably functional and productive group. Its chief activity (but see also items 30-35, below) is the production of grid distribution maps for the whole vascular flora of Catalonia. Four volumes have so far been produced, with maps for 503 species, 114 subspecies and 2 varieties, corresponding to 14 % of the total flora. Vol. 4 includes a consolidated index to the first four volumes.

While vol. 1 consists of loose maps printed on Bristol paper and assembled in a ring folder, vol. 2 (see OPTIMA Newsl. 30: (28). 1996) already has the same general appearance as the present volumes. What now gradually emerges is a concrete, coherent publication plan. Whereas the first two volumes treated an apparently random choice of taxa and differed as to their ordering principles, the new volumes are arranged strictly in conformity with the sequence and numbering of the taxa in Bolòs & al.’s Flora manual dels Països Catalans, and obviously endeavour at completing first parts first. True, the last third of vol. 3 (maps 412-465) still consists of "mixed pickles": 3 naturalized Compositae, 27 representatives of various liliiflorous genera, the 5 species of Eriophorum (Cyperaceae), and a selection of 19 grasses. But the earlier portion of vol. 3 as well as the whole vol. 4 (maps 307-411 and 466-619) are a single block, bringing the pteridophytes, gymnosperms and first dicot families (Lauraceae to Crassulaceae) to virtual completion when associated with the earlier maps relating to their kin (Nos 1, 26, and 104-137). When checking for the few remaining gaps among species Nos 1-222 of the Flora manual, one will find that most are easily explained away, either because the taxon is neither native nor naturalized (Picea abies, Berberis vulgaris subsp. vulgaris), or doubtfully present (Callianthemum coriandrifolium, not found recently; Thalictrum foetidum subsp. foetidum, Myosurus minimus subsp. minimus), or is treated as synonymous (Isoetes brochonii with I. echinosperma; Ophioglossum azoricum with O. vulgatum). Only 4 "early" species remain to be mapped: Cystopteris montana, Asplenium ruta-muraria, the naturalized Azolla filiculoides, and Aristolochia baetica. They may have been forgotten, or omitted for some unstated reason.

The map data are maintained in a continuously updated database, or rather two: one bibliographic and one floristic, as described by Vigo & al. (in Acta Bot. Barcinon. 39. 1989). They are thus easily updated and can be re-edited in no time. This is obviously what is intended, as implied by the fact that all maps, and other ORCA publications as well, bear the unusual qualification "first edition". Yet, it is to be hoped that the editors will give priority to the completion of that first edition before committing their funds to the production of costly updates. W.G.

  1. Kazimierz Browicz – Chorology of trees and shrubs in South-West Asia and adjacent regions. Supplement. – Bogucki & Institute of Dendrology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznao, 1996 (ISBN 83-86001-19-4). 48 pages, 25 maps, paper.

When reviewing the 10th and declared last volume of Browicz’s monumental Chorology (in OPTIMA Newsl. 30: (30). 1996) I expressed the "hope that either he or someone of his research team might perhaps consider to continue". My wish has been fulfilled sooner that I dared to hope, with a further 25 maps being added to the former impressive total of 550. The additional maps relate to taxa almost evenly scattered over 15 different families, none being represented by more than 4 species (Labiatae), and no single genus by more than 3 (Lonicera and Phlomis). Most of the species mapped belong to the Saharo-Arabian, Iranian or Caucasian floristic elements, but a few are Mediterranean (the Labiatae, and Suaeda vera) or sub-Mediterranean (Prunus cerasifera). Among the problems discussed in the explanatory texts that of the native range of widely cultivated trees like Juglans regia and Punica granatum is of particular interest. In both cases Browicz concluded that records from western Anatolia and further to the west refer to planted or naturalized trees, although walnut in particular has often been considered as a member of the autochthonous flora of the southern Balkan countries. The pollen record suggests that it reached Greece and SE Anatolia in Mycenean or Minoan times, about 3400 years b.p., which means that it is a well established archaeophyte there W.G.

Index


Regional studies of flora and vegetation

  1. Mercedes Herrera – Estudio de la vegetación de la cuenca del Río Asón (Cantabria) [Guineana, 1]. – Universidad del País Vasco,Bilbao, 1995. 435 pages, black-an-white illustrations, colour map, paper.

The area studied by Dr Herrera lies in the eastern part of the Province of Cantabria, east of the harbour town of Santander, and extends over c. 1000 km2 from the N Spanish coast to the watershed of the Cantabrian range. It corresponds to the catchment basin of the Río Asón, down to its estuary at Santoña and up to an altitude of 1632 m at the Picón del Fraile, except that the south-eastern portion of the valley has been chopped off as belonging to the Province of Vizcaya. In this ragged, loosely populated country, the author has collected no less than 1062 vascular plant taxa, several new for Cantabria, to which she adds a mere 26 recorded by others but not seen by herself.

The work is divided into two main portions, the floristic inventory and the description of the vegetation. They are preceded by a general, introductory part on the physical environment, and followed by a large annex of tabular phytosociological material. The vegetation map that summarizes the phytosociological results has unfortunately been so strongly reduced in size as to be barely legible and difficult to understand. The same is true for the other, black-and-white maps that illustrate the introductory chapter.

The book corresponds to the first volume of a new botanical journal, published by the Department of Plant Biology and Ecology of the Basque University in Bilbao. By its title, Guineana, this journal most appropriately commemorates the local botanist Emilio Guinea López, a very kind and erudite colleague whom I had the pleasure to meet frequently during his extended stays at the Conservatoire botanique of Geneva in the early sixties, when he was preparing the Biscutella and Ulex accounts for Flora europaea. W.G.

  1. Antoni de Bolòs i Vayreda & Oriol de Bolòs i Capdevila – Plantes vasculars del quadrat Santa Pau, 31T DG66 [ORCA: Catàlegs floristics locals, 1]. – Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Secció de Ciències Biològiques, Barcelona, 1987. [2] + 60 pages, black-an-white illustrations, paper.
  1. Oriol de Bolòs i Capdevila & Margarida Masclans i Aleu – Plantes vasculars del quadrat UTM 31T CF79 La Llacuna [ORCA: Catàlegs floristics locals, 3]. – Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Secció de Ciències Biològiques, Barcelona, 1990 (ISBN 84-7283-142-6). 57 pages, black-an-white illustrations, paper.
  1. Manuel Calduch i Almela – Plantes vasculars del quadrat UTM 31S CE01 Els Columbrets. The Columbrets Islands. Vascular plants of the UTM square 31S CE01 [ORCA: Catàlegs floristics locals, 4]. – Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Secció de Ciències Biològiques, Barcelona, 1992 (ISBN 84-7283-199-x). 37 pages, black-an-white illustrations, paper.
  1. Josep A. Conesa i Mor – Plantes vasculars del quadrat UTM 31T BF99 Sarroca de Segrià (Utxesa-Secà) [ORCA: Catàlegs floristics locals, 5]. – Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Secció de Ciències Biològiques, Barcelona, 1993 (ISBN 84-7283-239-2). 58 pages, black-an-white illustrations, paper.
  1. Jesús Riera i Vicent & Antoni Aguilella i Palasí – Plantes vasculars del quadrat UTM 30T YK03 Pina de Montalgrao [ORCA: Catàlegs floristics locals, 6]. – Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Secció de Ciències Biològiques, Barcelona, 1994 (ISBN 84-7283-262-7). 61 pages, black-an-white illustrations, paper.
  1. Ignaswi Soriano i Tomàs – Plantes vasculars del quadrat UTM 31T DG08 Gréixer [ORCA: Catàlegs floristics locals, 7]. – Institut d’Estudis Catalans, Secció de Ciències Biològiques, Barcelona, 1994 (ISBN 84-7283-267-8). 75 pages, black-an-white illustrations, paper.

This second series of ORCA publications (see also item 27, above) has been reviewed in some detail when No. 2 of the Catàlegs floristics locals became available, and I will not again repeat the general points then made (in OPTIMA Newsl. 25-29: (35). 1991). So far, seven out of a total of 848 possible mapping grid unit areas have been treated, still less than 1 % of the total. They are fairly equally scattered over the Catalan territory and when taken together encompass an altitudinal range from sea level up to 2536 m. While all follow the same basic pattern, the way in which they are presented, not only the type face but also the data categories included, varies considerably. In each the plants are listed alphabetically by families, genera and species within the main categories (pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicots and monocots); and all indicate taxon frequency and (optionally or consistently) occurrence in phytogeographical territories defined within the square; and all have a fairly similar introductory part with concise presentation of the flora, vegetation and physical environment, illustrated with some maps and diagrams. But then there are the optionals: only Nos. 3 and 4 include vernacular plant names; they and No. 7 give habitat indications. No. 4 is peculiar in having a bilingual (Catalan and English) introductory text, and is the only to consistently mention data sources. The absence of such information elsewhere, and the general lack or paucity of data on field work and on the whereabouts of voucher material, are the only substantial points of criticism one may raise.

There are striking differences, obviously correlated with altitude, in the floristic richness of the different territories. No. 7, treating of a high-mountain area in the Pyrenees, lists the highest number of taxa (1182), whereas the middle and lower altitude squares host between 600 and 900, and the Islas Columbretes (No. 4), which culminate at 67 m, have a mere 114. The latter, a little archipelago of small to minute, volcanic islets and rocks, are of particular interest for the phytogeographer. It is of note that their flora lacks the originality one would find in similar situation in the Aegean – but then, all but the 4 major islets are either unexplored or devoid of higher plants (which, we are left to guess). W.G.

  1. Ferat Rexhepi – Vegjetacioni i Kosovës (hartografimi dhe hulumtimi fitocenologjik). The vegetation of Kosova. – Universiteti i Prishtinës, Fakultetii i Shkencave të Naturës, Prishtinë, 1994. 163 pages, black-and-white illustrations, paper.

The Kosovo Province is the south-western part of Serbia, in Yugoslavia, that is mainly inhabited by Albanians. The present account of its vegetation is, indeed, written in Albanian, with a two-page "English" summary somewhat difficult to interpret because of obvious linguistic shortcomings. The manuscript was apparently finished in 1989 and took five years to be published, which when one looks at the country’s political and economic situation will surprise no one. Its basic aim, apparently, is to serve as explanatory background to a vegetation map (or maps) at a 1 : 50,000 scale which I have not seen, and which may still await publication.

The book synthesizes the result of 13 years of field work (1976-1988), mostly in impervious territory and without even so much as the benefit of a car. The vegetation analysis follows the method of Braun-Blanquet and the Zürich-Montpellier school (which is what is meant by "cyrical-mountlallier", in the summary), "considering the modern science achievements" (whatever this may mean). In his endeavour to classify his country’s vegetation the author ends up with 139 different associations, grouped in 63 alliances, 35 orders, and 20 classes, each briefly characterized by the mention of characteristic or differential component species. The phytocoenological part is followed by a phytogeographical analysis in which each of the 1455 vascular plant species known from Kosovo is attributed to the appropriate floristic element or sub-element. A most promising if slightly unorganized feature is the bibliography at the end, listing all papers and books relating to the flora and vegetation of the area from the early days until 1989. W.G.

  1. Artemios Yannitsaros, Irini Vallianatou, Ioannis Bazos & Theophanis Constantinidis – Flora and vegetation of Strofades Islands (Ionian Sea, Greece). – Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, Athens, 1995. 25 pages + sheets 25-26 + [10] sheets of illustrations (5 in colour), plastic cover sheet.

The Strophades are two small, completely flat islands of sedimentary rock (the larger, Stamfani, is just 22 m high and measures 1600 by 800 m), lying south of Zakinthos in the open Ionian Sea at about 50 km from the nearest land. Stamfani houses a venerable but almost deserted monastery and an unmanned lighthouse, whereas the smaller island, Arpia, is uninhabited. There is no regular boat service and no tourism, nor any major beach that might attract any. The flora is poor and trivial, and the vegetation consists of phrygana and an extensive, perhaps formerly degraded but now recovering dense wood of Pistacia lentiscus and Juniperus phoenicea.

The islands have been but rarely visited by naturalists, and perhaps not by any botanist prior to the present authors. Viennese zoologist Otto Reiser collected 56 species in 1899, published by Halácsy that same year. Later some geologists from Athens brought back a few specimens, publishing their finds in 1979. Unknown to the authors, the German herpetologist and biogeographer Harald Pieper went ashore on both islands on 14 October 1980 and brought back a handful of scrappy fragments, now in my herbarium, out of which I could identify 31 species largely additional to Halácsy’s. The basis of the present, thorough study of flora and vegetation are four visits by the junior authors, in April 1991, April 1992, and May and June 1995.

The authors list 300 wild vascular plants and a good dozen cultivated ones, none being particularly remarkable or rare let alone endemic to the islands. From their list, one should delete Delphinium peregrinum (Reiser’s specimen is cited by Paw5owsky among the paratypes of D. hellenicum), Pistacia terebinthus (an obvious slip of memory or pen in a letter by Reiser, P. lentiscus being meant), and perhaps Quercus ilex (which a geologist might easily have confused with mature Q. coccifera). Sarcocornia fruticosa is unlikely to grow on a rocky island coast and is almost certainly an error for Arthrocnemum macrostachyum, collected there by Pieper but not mentioned in the present list. Phillyrea sp. is P. latifolia, also collected by Pieper. The planted palm trees, of which Pieper brought back a colour slide, are not Phoenix but a fan-leaved species, perhaps Trachycarpus fortunei. Another large cultivated tree photographed by Pieper is Ficus cf. bengalensis. Finally, there are two genuine additions among Pieper’s harvest: Salvia verbenaca and Eryngium creticum.

Thanks to support by the WWF the authors have produced a nice case study which makes pleasant reading. Their plea to declare the islands a national monument is, however, far-fetched. It is true that the dense coastal woodland on Stamfani is an unusual feature, but it is not, as far as one can see, under any severe pressure or threat. The handful non-trivial species they mention are either found in the cultivated area (and might well vanish if protection were granted) or safely hidden on coastal cliffs. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of places in Greece more deserving and more needful of protection than this hidden, far-off, peaceful spot of land. W.G.

Index


Applied botany

  1. Pier Virgilio Arrigoni, Milena RIZZOTTO, Romano Zerboni & Mariangela Manfredi – Flora allergenica e pollinosi. Ricerche ed esperienze nel territorio fiorentino. – Università degli Studi di Firenze, Laboratorio di Fitogeografia & Nuovo Ospedale San Giovanni di Dio, Firenze, 1995. [4] + 184 pages, black-and-white illustrations, paper.

Hay fever is not a deadly plague, but often a severe handicap for those who suffer from it. It partakes of the general boom of allergic affections that one notes in recent years. The study of its mechanisms and causes is therefore of general interest, and is one of those fields in which plant taxonomy can claim to be of practical value. The present book is the result of joint efforts by a medical and a biological team, in which plant taxonomists, aerobiologists and immunologists have closely collaborated. It is mainly designed for practical use in the urban area of Florence, but has a number of features that may be of more general interest.

After a general description of the phenomenon of pollen allergy, the methods of aerobiology (the study of airborne biological material sampled by pollen traps), and relevant climatic and phenological data, the authors proceed by the study of individual taxonomic groups. These are defined by their distinguishable pollen and are mostly whole families or even family groups, for which the average air pollen concentration is graphically represented as a function of time, the year round. Other data categories are more specific and include flowering period, distribution in the Florence region (with maps indicating abundance), allergenic substances when known, and clinical aspects. One is surprised at the wealth of statistical data available in the medicinal field. Obviously, the term "hay fever" as a generic designation of pollen and dust allergies has still some justification, because a large majority of those suffering from such allergies are sensitive to (some or all) grass pollens: over 80 % in the Florence region, as compared to barely 20 % reacting to Parietaria. Pity the latter ones: pellitory-of-the-wall is omnipresent in Italian cities and rural settlements and keeps flowering for most of the year (April through October) without respite! W.G.

Index


Conservation topics, red data books

  1. Vasile Cristea – La conservation de la nature en Roumanie [L’uomo e l’ambiente, 18]. – Università degli Studi, Camerino, 1995. 105 pages, black-and-white illustrations, laminated cover.

This is a thorough and informative documentation on nature conservancy in Rumania, with an extensive, policy- and legislation-orientated historical introduction. Concrete measures of nature conservation in Rumania date back to the times of the monarchy and were forcibly promoted under the communist regime. At present there are no less than 585 protected areas in the country, their size varying from a mere 1000 m2 of some nature monuments to the 5800 km2 of the huge Danube Delta National Park. A tabular appendix lists them all, by categories and with their district, year of foundation and surface area mentioned. The main text describes several examples, naming the most prominent plant and animal species they house. Judging from this booklet, Rumania can indeed be proud of its achievements in the field of nature and landscape conservation.

The question may legitimately be asked: what will become of all this now, in a radically changed political context? The author’s optimistic assessment of the present situation is encouraging. Structures are being modernized, the efforts are progressively placed in an international context. University curricula in ecology and conservation are being developed. Environmentalists’ parties arise, giving political credit and weight to ecologically oriented policies. National economy permitting, Rumania will remain at the forefront of European efforts to safeguard nature as an inalienable patrimony of mankind. Let it become true! W.G.

  1. Vladimir Stevanovic & Voislav Vasic (ed.) – Biodiverzitet Jugoslavije: sa pregledom vrsta od meðunarodnog znacaja.Bioloski Fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu & Ecolibri, Beograd, 1995 (ISBN 86-7078-004-6). viii + 562 pages, black-and-white illustrations, 1 map in colours, laminated cover.

The new multi-author biodiversity manual edited by Stevanovic and Vasic concerns Yugoslavia in its present, restricted boundaries, i.e., Serbia and Crna Gora (Montenegro). It is written for the benefit of local biologists and policy makers, which is why it can dispense with an English summary, yet it is of general interest both because of the data it includes and the way in which they are presented. The volume consists of two unequal halves. The first and smaller, general part includes chapters defining biodiversity and discussing its social and economic aspects, man-made threats to it, international conventions, programmes and standards, as well as the impact of the physical environment. It ends with an outline subdivision of the country into biogeographical units. The much larger special part sets off with an attempt at a phylogenetic classification of the living world, to which the subsequent authors pay but little attention, followed by chapters each devoted to one of the major organismic groups. For botany, they are: macrofungi, lichens, freshwater algae (including Cyanobacteria), bryophytes, and vascular plants. In addition there are 18 zoological chapters covering all animals from the rhizopods to the mammals. Each chapter includes a tabular list of threatened taxa, with a rough indication of their altitudinal and horizontal distribution, IUCN red data category, etc. There is also a special chapter on vegetation diversity, with a coloured map of potential climax vegetation. W.G.

  1. Jani Vangjeli, Babi Ruci & Alfred Mullaj – Pibri i kuq. Bimët e kërcënuara e të rralla të Shqipërisë. Red book. Threatened and rare plants species of Albania. – Academy of Science, Institute of Biological Research, Tirana, 1995. [2] + 169 pages, black-and-white illustrations, paper.

The Albanian Plant Red Data Book deals with 320 species, almost exactly 10 % of the known wild vascular flora (3250 species). Of these, according to IUCN red data categories, 4 are said to be extinct, 12 doubtfully extinct, 58 endangered, 20 vulnerable, 194 rare, 29 insufficiently known, and 3 endemic but not threatened. Of the extinct or doubtfully extinct taxa 5 are said to be endemic and would thus have gone altogether. It is much to be hoped that their obituary need not be written yet, though. The fact that they have not been seen during the last 30 years does not necessarily mean that they have vanished: all are mountain plants living in remote border areas of difficult access and with little human disturbance of their habitats. Furthermore, four out of the five have become known from neighbouring areas: Ranunculus hayekii (extinct in Albania) from Bulgaria, R. degenii and R. wettsteinii (doubtfully extinct) from the F.Y.R. Makedonija, and Viola kosaninii (doubtfully extinct) from SW Yugoslavia. The only true endemic of which the survival is in doubt, then, would be Wulfenia baldaccii, one of the most interesting Balkan relict species, the rediscovery of which would be most desirable indeed!

This book has not quite achieved western standards in the quality of paper and printing, but it is remarkably well structured and carefully prepared, has an extensive summary in (excellent!) English, and includes maps (gross grid distributions, with 18 unit squares for the whole country) for all taxa treated. It is based on exhaustive literature search (less complete, however, for the neighbouring countries), on the National Herbarium in Tirana with its 120,000 Albanian specimens, and on more than 20 years of investigations in the field. It is a major national achievement on which the authors are to be congratulated. W.G.

  1. Dimitrios Phitos, Arne Strid, Sven Snogerup & Werner Greuter (ed.) – The red data book of rare and threatened plants of Greece. – World Wide Fund for Nature, Athens, 1995 (ISBN 960-7506-04-9). xlvii + 527 pages, black-and-white and colour illustrations, cloth.

If there should be a prize for the most remarkable of Plant Red Data Books, this one would be a likely and deserving prize-winner. It presents 263 specific and subspecific taxa of the Greek flora, belonging to 261 species (Erysimum senoneri and Scutellaria rupestris with two subspecies each), most of them endemic to Greece and often extremely rare and local, limited perhaps to a single locality and with only a few individuals known to exist. Each treatment is confined to two opposite pages and consists of a standardized text (status, description, distribution, habitat, conservation measures taken and proposed, peculiarities and value, references to publications), a map of Greek distribution, and illustrations whenever available. Some unique pictures of rare and critical plants have been included, perhaps not all of professional quality but each important as a scientific document. Technically (as to paper, printing, images and binding) the book has been produced to match the highest standards.

The plants presented are but a selection of the threatened flora of Greece. Time, funds and data available were limited. A choice had by needs to be made, and it was made most judiciously. Priority was given to the most spectacular species and to those that are most immediately at risk. By IUCN Red Data categories, 6 of the included taxa are presumed extinct, 36 endangered, 146 vulnerable, and 75 rare. Overall, the rare plants would outnumber by far all the other categories together, but they are not immediately threatened at present so were given less prominence. Even the most serious situation, extinction, is not however exhaustively covered: one gap I happen to know of is Isoetes heldreichii, of which I have recently searched all classical localities with the aid of Berlin pteridologist Brigitte Zimmer, to find they had all gone, the source waters having either been captured or flooded by a dam. On the other hand, one may hope that some, perhaps most of the species presumed extinct (Alkanna sartoriana, Astragalus idaeus, Centaurea tuntasia, Geocaryum bornmuelleri, G. divaricatum, Satureja acropolitana) may be rediscovered, especially those that grow in remote areas and in localities not known with precision. After all, the first, full-page colour photograph remarkably shows vigorous stands of Biebersteinia orphanidis and Adonis cyllenea growing side by side, two species that had long been believed extinct in Greece and have only recently been rediscovered. Two other, comparable cases of recent "exhumations" are Biarum fraasianum and Helichrysum taenari.

More than 30 different authors have contributed texts and data to this book. Among them are renowned specialists of the Greek flora or of certain of its genera, the discoverers and/or describers of new, endemic taxa, and also a fair number of Greek field botanists, amateurs and professionals alike. The author team is a perfect mix and vouches for a very high standard of scientific accuracy. Yet, a work of this kind can never be perfect and complete. On the contrary, one of its natural aims is to stimulate research and the forthcoming of new or updated information. In this it has already succeeded by prompting a note on "New sites for species included in the Red Data Book on the Greek flora", by George Sfikas (in Anthophoros 1996(2): [2]). May I then add my own grain of salt: the photograph published under Silene flavescens subsp. dictaea does not show that species but another Cretan endemic, S. antri-jovis.

The complete editorial team of Flora hellenica is credited with editorship of the volume, and I feel proud and honoured for being among them; but in fairness, the credit must mainly go to Dimitrios Phitos, and with him to his wife Georgia Kamari and to their young and active research team in Patras. They have spent years of assiduous, dedicated work assembling the data, writing many of the texts, investigating critical cases in the field, selecting the illustrations, preparing the distribution maps, and worst of all to get the printers do a proper job (and still they could not avoid upside-down reproduction of a few pictures, Sesleria doerfleri and Woodwardia radicans in particular). They have produced a book they may be justly proud of. W.G.

  1. Anastasios Anagnostopoulos & Kyriaki Athanasiou – Registration of the rare, endemic and threatened plants of Zakinthos (Ionian Islands, Greece) [WWF Project MR 4108]. World Wide Fund for Nature, Patras, 1994. 40 loose sheets, maps, colour photographs, with plastic cover sheets and clamp back.

The authors of this account, two members of the young and dynamic botanical team of Patras University, basically present 20 plant taxa that are rare and to various degrees threatened on Zakinthos, proposing measures for their protection and, more generally, for nature conservation on that island. Of the taxa discussed, 3 are island endemics (Limonium zacynthium, L. phitosianum, and the still unpublished Asperula naufraga), 9 are Ionian endemics (limited to the Ionian Islands, S and W Greece, and sometimes Mt Gargano in Italy), and 9 are more widespread in the Mediterranean area. There are brief descriptions (some of them compiled) of all taxa discussed, data on their local and total distribution and habitats, and maps of their local distribution.

The text looks rather like a preliminary report, not like a mature publication (as which it may not have become available before 1996). It is incomplete in several respects. Neither does it include an inventory of the island flora nor is there a concrete statement of the criteria of selection for the species presented. It is badly under-referenced as to the sources of distributional data, and includes several inaccuracies (e.g., Coris monspeliensis is not "common in Europe", nor is Scorpiurus vermiculatus "a central European plant", both being restricted to the W and central Mediterranean region). Some of the authors’ opinions on conservational matters are in my opinion quite dangerous. They want to "minimize collection [of plants] by specialists for scientific reasons" [sic!], and in the same context they claim that the collection of plants for trading purposes, with the single exception of the Cretan endemic Origanum dictamnus, "has not resulted in a significant or noticeable reduction of their populations" (when e.g. Gentiana lutea has become seriously threatened, in Greece and elsewhere in the Balkans, by local collectors contracted by Central European liquor factories). They call for reforestation measures in burnt areas with what they consider as the native forest, Pinus halepensis wood, when it is notorious that the Aleppo fir is a "tree weed" striving on burnt areas, and that afforestation in Mediterranean countries is, very often, the worst enemy of biodiversity conservation.

These critical notes are in no way meant to imply that the authors did a bad job but, quite on the contrary, want to encourage them to round off what they have so promisingly begun into a much more complete and really useful assessment of the threatened island flora. The subject deserves it, and they are the right people for the job. W.G.

Index


Gardens

  1. Günther Kunkel & Mary Anne Kunkel – Arboles ornamentales de Almería. Una introducción hortícola. – Editorial La Acacia, Almería, 1996 (ISBN 84-920339-3-2). 188 pages, black-and-white illustrations, laminated cover.

Books on trees cultivated in Spanish cities are as it seems the fashion. Two have been reviewed last time in this column (OPTIMA Newsl. 30: (46). 1996), and here is the third. Each is unique and has its own merits. Those of the present volume are, to my mind: the choice of the species represented, the sophistication of the descriptions and synonymies, and the accuracy and artfulness of its full-page drawings, both of habit and analytical details. When one compares this book with the two reviewed last time (which excel by a more sumptuous presentation, and beautiful colour photographs) one will find the species treated to be less numerous (77, as opposed to 135 and 172, respectively) but, to a remarkably high proportion, additional: 29 species portrayed here are absent from the two other volumes, 19 also appear in either of them, and 29 in both.

This is by no means the first book, on this or a similar subject, to result from the teamwork of the botanist Günther Kunkel and the artist his wife. Some of the drawings and texts here included are taken from earlier publication. As the preface explains, the text was written in no time and the selection made had to be pragmatic. The authors have already started a loose series of complementary drawings and texts, in the Hojas sueltas ("loose leaflets") published by Kunkel’s own "Ediciones Alternativas Illimited" (Nos 4, 1995; 13-14 & 17, 1996). Health and good sales permitting, a second, enlarged edition of the book may soon be forthcoming. W.G.

  1. Francesco Maria Raimondo, Pietro Mazzola & Andrea Di Martino – L’Orto botanico di Palermo. The Palermo Botanical Garden. – Edizioni Arbor, Palermo, 1995. 201 pages, colour map and photographs, laminated cover.

This is the pocket-book version of the larger and more sumptuous hard-cover book that had been published under the same title in 1993 (see OPTIMA Newslett. 30: (49). 1996). The texts, both the English and Italian version, have been reproduced in full, but only a selection of the colour photographs (51 out of 238) has been retained. In quality (paper and print) the new version equals the high standard of the original edition. W.G.

Index


Herbaria and libraries

  1. Ricardo Garilleti – Herbarium Cavanillesianum seu enumeratio plantarum exsiccatarum aliquo modo ad novitates cavanillesianas pertinentium, quae in Horti Regii Matritensis atque Londinensis Societatis Linnaeanae herbariis asservantur [Fontqueria, 38]. – Madrid, 1993. 249 pages, black-and-white illustrations; separate issue with plastic front sheet and taped back, lacking pages [1]-[2].

Garilleti had already co-authored, with Javier Fernández Casas, a very important, critically compiled index to names appearing in Cavanilles’s widely scattered papers and works (in Fontqueria 26. 1989). He has now produced an at least equally valuable, careful analysis of original material of all names of Cavanilles’s newly described species, insofar as present in his own type herbarium in Madrid or in James Edward Smith’s herbarium at the Linnean Society of London. All such names are listed, with their correct bibliographic citation and with full quotation of relevant indications in the protologue (locality data in particular). When original material was found, label texts and annotations are meticulously transcribed, with identification of the various handwritings, mention of differences in ink (or pencil) used, etc. Use of this book is a must for anyone lectotypifying one of the names in question and will prevent that future authors reiterate mistakes made in the past. Its only major shortcoming is the neglect of the historical herbaria in Paris, in which most of the original material for Cavanilles’s early names is to be found. These herbaria are now easily accessible as IDC microfiche editions, so that at least an attempt at taking them into consideration might have been made. W.G.

  1. Carlo Gregolin – I musei, le collezioni scientifiche e le sezioni antiche delle biblioteche. – Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, 1996. 183 pages, illustrations in colour or black-and-white, laminated cover.

The various traditional science institutes of the old Italian universities hold almost unbelievable treasures from their glorious past, which are presently being rediscovered as an historical patrimony of great public interest and in which the universities, which had contributed little to their maintenance for many years, now take pride. Padua University can serve as a model in this respect, as documented by the present volume. It gives the reader an overview, the merest glimpse one suspects, of the riches of Padua’s collections in domains as diverse as medicine, palaeontology, mineralogy and petrography, archaeology, geography, literature, zoology, veterinary science, and engineering. Botany is well represented in this concert, with a section of its own comprising four chapters on 40 pages.

One naturally fears that there might be much overlap between these botanical chapters and the gorgeous volume in English language published in 1995 to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the Padua Botanic Garden (see OPTIMA Newsl. 30: (49). 1996), but this is not so. The texts are by different authors and entirely new: Patrizio Giulini writes on the Botanic Garden, Noemi Tornadore on the herbaria and other collections, Elsa Maria Cappelletti introduces the new historical (19th-century) drugstore, and Fernanda Menegalle presents the library. Even the illustration shows but minimal duplication. In particular, different plates have been selected for reproduction out of the same old books and painted herbals (rather, curiously, the same plate has been reproduced twice in the same [1996] volume, on p. 149 and 179). It would be tempting, though far beyond the scope of a book review, to critically compare the 1995 and 1996 texts and look for differences in fact or stress. What is appropriate here, though, is to commend a timely and splendidly achieved effort at valorizing Padua’s historical patrimony in the academic domain at the eyes of the public authorities and citizenship. W.G.

Index


Bibliography and documentation

  1. Arne Strid – Flora hellenica bibliography [Fragmenta floristica et geobotanica, supplementum, 4.] – W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, 1996 (ISBN 83-85444-44-0). x + 508 pages, paper.

This publication lists a total of 10241 references of books and articles relevant to the forthcoming Flora hellenica. It includes floristic publications relating to the Greek territory and adjacent areas, taxonomic (including nomenclatural) papers dealing with Greek material, major taxonomic works involving Greek taxa, phytogeographical and phytosociological literature pertaining to Greece, and literature dealing with chromosome data. The accuracy and correctness of the references has been systematically verified. The list is arranged alphabetically and chronologically according to author(s) and year. The indices at the end of the book allow for searches by taxa (families and genera) or geographical area. The result is a most complete bibliography for botanists working on Greece, as well as a useful reference guide for all Mediterranean botanists.

José Maria Iriondo

Index


Reprints

  1. Filippo Parlatore – Le specie dei cotoni. – Facsimile reprint: Dipartimento di Scienze botaniche dell’Università di Palermo, 1995. [Original publication: Stamperia Reale, Firenze, 1866.] [4] + 62 + [3] pages, 6 coloured extra plates, cloth with gilt imprint.
  1. Agostino Todaro – Relazione sulla cultura dei cotoni in Italia seguita da una monografia del genere Gossypium. – Facsimile reprint: Accademia Nazionale di Scienze Lettere e Arti, Palermo, 1995. [Original publication: Stamperia Reale ditta P. A. Molina, Roma & Cromo-Litografia Visconti, Palermo, 1877-1878.] [5] + iii + 287 + [9] pages, frontispiece and 12 extra plates in colour, cloth.

These two sumptuous reprints, and even more the reprinted works, have much in common. First of all the subject treated, cotton taxonomy; then authorship by Italian, Palermo-born botanists; on a more formal level, both provide early examples of chromolithography (Parlatore’s is actually the first case, in Italy, of application of the then new technique to plant illustration); both consisted of two portions in different format, printed independently: the text in-4°, the plates in-folio. For the purpose of the reprints the format, for both, was unified by enlargement of the text and reduction of the plates; the occasion for producing them was one and the same: commemoration of the bicentenary of the Palermo Botanical Garden; and even the outward presentation, blue cloth with gilt imprint, is quite similar.

Why this sudden outburst of interest in cotton, of which these two works are not the only witnesses? The answer is political: the American Secession War (1861-1865) brought cotton exportation from the States to a standstill, which resulted both in a threat to European weaving industry and in a chance for Mediterranean agriculture to step in. The year 1864 saw the first Italian cotton fair in Torino, at which Parlatore’s manuscript report was presented; and in 1878 Italy featured cotton at the European Exhibition in Paris, for which purpose the Palermo Botanical Garden was appointed by government as the co-ordinating centre, with charge to produce a monographic revision of the genus. In other words, the two decades 1860 to 1880 saw a sort of cotton boom in southern Italy, to collapse soon after.

There ends the common ground for the two works. Taxonomically, Parlatore and Todaro stood at opposite ends. By 1866 Todaro, based on the rich stock of cultivated cottons in Palermo, had already described over a dozen new species. Parlatore sank them all into synonymy (where they still rest), considering them as expressions of polymorphism caused by selection and breeding within a few cultivated, "Linnaean" species. Well, of his two own novelties, too, neither survives today (one had been named independently in 1865). In his 1877-1878 monograph, Todaro upheld his splitter’s approach, describing many more new species and bringing the total of recognized ones to 54. Today’s monographer Fryxell has a mere 34, among which just 4 of the binomials credited to Todaro survive. Sic transit gloria Gossypii. W.G.

  1. Augustino Todaro – Hortus botanicus panormitanus. – Facsimile reprint: Accademia Nazionale di Scienze Lettere e Arti, Palermo, 1993. [Original publication: Francesco Lao & Ciro Visconti, Palermo, 1876-1878; Ignazio Virzì & Ciro Visconti, 1879-1892.] [6] + [1] + 91 + [3]+ 64 + [4] pages, frontispiece and 40 extra plates in colour, cloth.

Todaro’s Hortus botanicus is probably the most splendid of all publications dealing with and issued through the Palermo Botanical Garden. It is a large in-folio consisting of 40 oversize chromolithographic plates and two text volumes, and was issued in 21 instalments over a period of more than 16 years. The last issue, bringing the work to a (premature) completion, was distributed after Todaro’s death (18 April 1892) and includes his portrait, to serve as a frontispiece.

Under Todaro’s 36-year reign the Garden acquired international fame and a great wealth of plants from all continents, both in its living collections and in the associated herbarium. As was then natural, many of the acquired plants were new to science, or deemed such. An obvious purpose of this work was therefore to serve as an outlet for the description of new species, or for a more complete documentation of previously and separately published ones. Indeed, more than half of the 46 species treated, and most of the new varieties, make their first appearance in the Hortus botanicus, and another ten species, plus the genus Biancaea (now a synonym of Caesalpinia), had been previously named by Todaro himself, e.g. in his Nuovi generi e nuove specie di piante (1858-1861) or in various issues of the Garden’s Index seminum.

The reprint is a full-size reproduction of the original, and was produced as a gift to the invited guests at the bicentenary celebrations of the Palermo Garden. Sumptuously bound in navy-blue cloth with gilt imprint and on heavy quality paper, the text and plates are a good match of the original – except perhaps for the fact that the reproduced original had some of the plates badly stained and that the reproductions often show a predominance of red. One item that would have been of interest is alas missing: the fascicle covers, of which only a few are known (two of them in the incomplete copy of the Berlin-Dahlem library). They are informative not only because they bear the respective publication date (month and year) but, on the back, etchings of contemporary views of the Garden in Palermo that have documentary value. W.G.

  1. Bernardino da Ucrìa – Hortus regius panhormitanus aerae vulgaris anno mdcclxxix noviter extructus septoque ex indigenis, exoticisque plurimas complectens plantas. – Facsimile reprint: Edizioni Grifo, [Palermo], 1996. [Original publication: Typis regiis, Palermo, 1789.] [9] + vi + 498 pages, cloth.

Father Bernardino from Ucrìa, a village in the Province of Messina that still takes pride in having lent him his botanist’s appellation when his secular name Michelangelo Aurifici is long forgotten, was a modest Minorite friar with a vast botanical knowledge. It was he who introduced the Linnaean system of classification and nomenclature to Sicily. In 1786 he succeeded Giuseppe Tineo as "plant demonstrator" at the first, small botanical garden of the Royal Academy of Studies of Palermo (to become University in 1805), founded in 1779 on the city ramparts at Porta Carini. When between 1789 and 1795 the new botanical garden was built in its present location, on open ground outside the city walls, he was the one to design the layout and arrange the plantations. He may have felt frustrated when his less gifted but more agile competitor Tineo (father of his more famous successor Vincenzo Tineo) was the one to be appointed director of the new garden and harvested the fruits of his labour: he is known not to have taken part in the opening ceremony and, as the saying goes, died of chagrin within the year.

The book here reprinted on the occasion of the bicentenary of his death is the only major work he left to posterity. It is the inventory of the [old] Palermo garden and also of the wild flora of Sicily then known, in which 607 genera of plants (including cryptogams) and a multiple number of species are treated, arranged according to Linnaeus. For wild plants, provenance and vernacular names are given, and for all their (mainly medicinal) uses. The book wants to be popular: it defines the Linnaean classes in both Latin and Italian, and has a glossary with Italian definitions of Latin terms. Tineo, who in the following year published an 88 page Index plantarum horti botanici regiae academiae panormitanae, is said to have been very jealous of Ucrìa’s work. It is now extremely rare, virtually unavailable but for this meritorious reprint. W.G.

Index


Symposium proceedings

  1. Società Botanica Italiana. 90° Congresso. Manifestazioni celebrative del bicentenario dell’Orto Botanico di Palermo. Palermo, 9-13 dicembre 1995 [Giornale botanico italiano, 129(1, 2)]. – Società Botanica Italiana, Firenze, 1995. 490, 287 pages in 2 volumes, black-and-white illustrations, paper.

The 90th congress of the Italian Botanical Society coincided with the closing ceremony of the bicentenary celebrations of the Palermo Botanical Garden. The proceedings of the Congress, available upon registration, were published in two volumes, the first for the symposium lectures, the second for the poster presentations. For the 85 lectures either 1-2 page summary versions or full papers were submitted. The opening session (16 lectures) was devoted to the present and future of botanic gardens. It was followed by 8 symposia: on macromolecules and phylogeny (5 lectures), plant biosystematics (11), cryptogams (11), cell wall proteins (7), vegetation dynamics (14), marine plants (12), succulents (5), and palms (4). The 259 poster presentations, all in summary version, pertained to phycology (6), reproductive biology (18), biosystematics (15), applied botany (15), bryology (9), cytology (19), conservation (14), differentiation (17), ecology (30), herbaria (4), ethnobotany (4), floristics (19), mycology (10), gardens (21), palaeobotany (7), palynology and archaeobotany (18), medicinal plants (12), and vegetation science (21). All texts are in Italian or English except for two papers in French but with English summary and one French abstract for which an English translation is added on a loose sheet. W.G.

  1. Società Botanica Italiana. 91° Congresso. Ancona, 16-19 settembre 1996 [Giornale botanico italiano, 130(1)]. – Società Botanica Italiana, Firenze, 1996. 528 pages, black-and-white illustrations, paper.

The general scheme of this proceedings volume is quite analogous to that of the foregoing item, except for the fact that lectures (50) and poster presentations (204) are combined in a single volume, both being somewhat less numerous than the year before. This time, the symposia covered the following subjects: cell growth and differentiation (6 lectures), evolution and phylogeny (6), dioecious plants (10), agrarian landscape studies (13), climate, areas and vegetation units (9), and the Adriatic Sea (6). The posters which, regrettably, are not indexed, pertained to mycology (10), botanical gardens (10), palaeobotany (7), palynology (13), medicinal plants (8), bryology (3), biorhythms (2), phycology (13), biosystematics (12), differentiation (15), cytology (18), didactics (2), applied botany (11), conservation (8), floristics (19), vegetation science (21), and ecology (32). Overall, the subjects presented look like a sound, evenly balanced mix, both qualitatively and in quantity. It is particularly rejoicing to see the that classical subjects are not swamped by studies in the fields of physiology, cell biology and cytogenetics, as is so often the case nowadays elsewhere, at botanical congresses. W.G.

  1. Ellênikê Botanikê Etaireia. 5° epistêmoniko sunedrio. Praktika. Delfoi, 21-23 oktôbriou 1994, Eurôpaiko Politistiko Kentro. Hellenic Botanical Society. 5th scientific Conference. Proceedings. Delphi 21-23 October 1994, European Cultural Centre, Greece. – Ellênikê Botanikê Etaireia, Thessalonikê, [1995]. 380 pages, black-and-white illustrations, paper.

Participants to the VI OPTIMA Meeting in Delphi in 1989 will remember with pleasure the European Cultural Centre. Five years later that same Centre came to host the 5th scientific Conference of the Hellenic Botanical Society. The corresponding Proceedings volume gives the complete programme, with titles of the 51 lectures and 33 posters presented. Besides welcome and closing addresses as well as society business, it includes the corresponding papers insofar as submitted: 6 of 8 contributions to the round-table conference on botanical research in Greece, 39 of the lectures, and 23 of the poster presentations. Of these 68 papers, all but 2 are in Greek, but only 5 lack an English title and abstract.

No titles are given for the 7 Conference symposia, but judging from the contents, No. 1 was devoted to the flora of Greece in general, No. 3 to studies of wetland and aquatic plants, No. 5 included reproductive biology, and No. 6, floristics and plant taxonomy (the others dealing with, i.a., physiology, in-vitro cultures, and cell ultrastructure). Among the contributions of note, let me mention the rediscovery of Coriaria myrtifolia in Attiki and of the presumed extinct Onobrychis aliakmonia near its locus classicus in Thessaly (the population in Peloponnisos being now attributed to a distinct subspecies). Several of the posters present studies on the taxonomy and chorology of critical taxonomic groups of the Greek flora: Iris unguicularis, Biarum, Satureja calamintha, S. montana, and the Cretan hybrids of Phlomis. W.G.

Index


New periodicals (see also item 29)

  1. Conservación vegetal. Boletín del Comité Español para la Flora de la Union Mundial para la Naturaleza (CEF-UICN). – Comité Español para la Flora & Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. 1 (1996), 8 pages.

The Spanish Flora Committee for IUCN was founded in December 1995 at a meeting in Córdoba, when Enrico Salvo Tierra of the University of Málaga was designated to serve as its first president. It wants to co-ordinate and reinforce the efforts of the many groups working on conservation biology of plants at various research institutions throughout Spain. Its Newsletter, of which the first issue has just been published under the title of Conservación vegetal, is edited by Felipe Domínguez Lozano of the Universidad Autónoma in Madrid (email: helios@ccuam3.sdi.uam.es) and is due to be published at least twice 56. a year, with support from the publications services of that University. It is a tiny leaflet lacking cover and pagination, but with an attractive layout and printed in two colours (navy blue and olive brown).

This issue, apart from introducing itself and the new Committee, surveys present conservation status and priorities in several of the country’s regions: Castilla-La Mancha, the Canary Islands, Valencia, Aragón, the Madrid area, and the Sierra Nevada. There is a chapter devoted to one of Spain’s most prominently endangered plants, the dioscoreaceous Borderea chouardii, whose leaf has been chosen as the Committee’s emblem. A News Section is of course present, duly featuring César Gómez Campo’s "Artemis" project cosponsored by the OPTIMA Commission for the Conservation of Plant Resources.

Spain is probably the European country with the densest population of students of plant diversity. It is therefore highly appropriate that the Committee should, as it proposes, stress the importance of taxonomy as the basic science for conservation, just as it will promote ex-situ conservation and the botanical gardens’ contribution to it. Noting that 4 out of 6 scientific plant names appearing in the figure captions have been misspelt, one feels that the Committee has indeed an educational role to play in basic scientific matters, too. W.G.

  1. F.A.N. Florae austriacae novitates. – Arbeitsgruppe "Flora von Österreich" an der Forschungsstelle für Biosystematik und Ökologie der Östereichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und am Insitut für Botanik der Universität Wien. 1 (1994), 38 pages; 2 (1995), 53 pages; 3 (1995), 51 pages.

The set-up of a new Research Unit on Biosystematics and Ecology by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, at the beginning of 1993, gave new impetus and provided an improved basis to some of the associated research groups. Among them was the "Flora of Austria" project, that had budded off from the Catalogus florae Austriae Commission of the Academy largely on the initiative of Manfred Fischer and his team of the Botanical Institute of Vienna University. The Working Group for the Flora of Austria, still partly based at the Institute but having its Secretariat at the Research Unit, did not suffer as much as other projects (such as tropical biology) from the fact that the Unit’s first Director, Wilfried Morawetz, left almost immediately for the botanical chair at the University of Lipsia. The recent publication of a new Excursion Flora (see item No. 11, above) must have proved beneficial. Whether the first of the three planned volumes of the large, critical Flora will make the self-set publication deadline of 1996 remains to be seen.

The new periodical Florae austriacae novitates, edited by the Working Group and published by the Research Unit – symbolically featuring a rare Austrian endemic, Callianthemum anemonoides, on its cover –, is not as one might think a mere newsletter, but rather a collection of materials generated by and for use by the authors of the Flora. Much of the first issue is devoted to a detailed description of the background, structure and prospects of the Flora project. The entire third issue consists of a new classification of plant growth forms, and correlated terminology (in German only, alas!), inspired and co-authored by Meusel pupil Arndt Kästner of Halle – likely to become a landmark in that field and deserving general attention (presumably, also, translation into other languages). New floristic records and notes on the taxonomy of critical groups, some in the form of work-bench reports, make up for the remainder. W.G.

  1. Phytologia balcanica. – Institute of Botany, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofija. 1 (1995), 106 pages, 9 extra plates of black-and-white photographs. Price: per issue, US$ 25; annual subscription, US$ 70.

The Botanical Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, which has an international tradition of long standing, has decided to make one further, deliberate step in that direction by raising its house journal on an international scientific level. Outwardly, this is documented by a change in title. The already renowned Fitologija, of which 48 issues have been published between 1975 and 1996 (the last one considerably delayed, resulting in chronological overlap with its successor) is being relayed by Phytologia balcanica. The language is now English throughout (as it is also in Fitologija 48), and even the Bulgarian abstracts have been abandoned. An editorial advisory board, with members from 8 different countries, has been constituted. Contributions (from the fields of "taxonomy or biosystematics of higher plants [including bryophytes], chorology, floristics, phytocoenology, palaeobotany, plant anatomy, embryology, mycology, and biology of medicinal and aromatic plants") are also invited from outside Bulgaria. The first issue does not yet mark a breakthrough in this respect, though, since all 14 papers it includes are authored by staff members of the Academy at Sofia.

[author: Werner Greuter]

Please send all items for review directly to the author of this column:
Prof. Dr. Werner GREUTER,
Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem
Freie Universität Berlin
Königin-Luise-Straße 6-8
D-14191 Berlin, Germany.
Phone: (+4930) 838-50132 or 8316010, Fax: (+4930) 838-50218
E-mail: wg@zedat.fu-berlin.de.

 

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