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Botanical Electronic News (External Newsfeed)
BEN-Botanical Electronic News
An e-periodical by and for botanists.
Links go directly to articles assembled by Dr. Adolf Ceska of Victoria, British Columbia and published in the Botanical Electronic News. BEN is an email newsletter published twice a month. Subscribe to Botanical Electronic News
New Site for Polystichum californicum (Dryopteridaceae) on Texada Island, British Columbia
Author : Adolf and Oldriska Ceska, Helen Atthowe, James Mack, and John Wood | BEN No. 417 | 12 November 2009
The California Sword Fern, Polystichum californicum (D.C. Eat.) Diels, was first reported from British Columbia and Canada by Wagner (1979) based on the specimen that W.B. Anderson collected on Texada Island in August 1897. Until Wagner's 1979 revision of the genus Polystichum, W.B. Anderson's specimen (a small single frond) had been consistently misidentified as Polystichum setigerum (K. Presl) K. Presl. ....
Canadian Phragmites Database - Update: Notes For Use
Author : Paul M. Catling and Gisèle Mitrow, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa | BEN No. 417 | 12 November 2009
Using the NatureServe ranking system (Morse et al. 2004) Phragmites australis subsp. australis has been ranked as the top priority invasive alien plant in Canada (Catling 2005). Although there have been relatively few detailed studies of its impact on native biodiversity, the circumstantial evidence for a huge impact is very strong since the plant now occurs in many thousands of places previously occupied by a rich assemblage of native species .....
Notes on the Actual and Potential Impact of Invasive European Common Reed (Phragmites australis subsp. australis) in Eastern Canada
Author : Gisèle Mitrow and Paul M. Catling, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa | BEN No. 417 | 12 November 2009
Using the NatureServe ranking system (Morse et al. 2004) Phragmites australis subsp. australis has been ranked as the top priority invasive alien plant in Canada (Catling 2005). Although there have been relatively few detailed studies of its impact on native biodiversity, the circumstantial evidence for a huge impact is very strong since the plant now occurs in many thousands of places previously occupied by a rich assemblage of native species .....
Mushroom Poisoning: The Role of Careless Identifications
Author : Michael W. Beug, Chair, NAMA Toxicology Committee | BEN No. 416 | 20 October 2009
I have always considered the consumption of edible wild mushrooms a safe and enjoyable, indeed healthful, pastime. ... However, lately when I am leading a group in the woods, I have been reluctant to assure others that even my [identifiable at] 55 mile per hour mushrooms are foolproof. What follows are some accounts of recent misidentifications that stagger the imagination. ....
Vegetation-Plot Data and Databases in Europe
Author : Publication Abstract | BEN No. 416 | 20 October 2009
Schaminée J. H. J., Hennekens S. M., Chytrý M. and Rodwell J. S. (2009): Vegetation-plot data and databases in Europe: an overview. - Preslia 81: 173-185. During the last decade many electronic databases of vegetation plots, mainly phytosociological relevés, were established in different European countries. These databases contain information which is extremely valuable for both testing various macroecological hypotheses and for nature conservation surveying or monitoring. The aim of this paper is to provide estimates of the number of vegetation plots there are in Europe, how many are stored in an electronic format and to assess their distribution across European countries and regions. ....
Book Review: Mushrooms of the Pacific NorthwestBook Announcement - Audubon: Beyond Birds
Author : Book Announcement | BEN No. 416 | 20 October 2009
Small E., P.M. Catling, J. Cayouette, and B. Brookes. 2009. Plant portraits and conservation heritage of John James Audubon. NRC Press, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. xiv + 266 p. ISBN-13: 978-0-660-19894-1 [hardcover] CAN$49.95 ...
New York Botanical Garden: Recent Bryological Publications
Author : Book Announcement | BEN No. 416 | 20 October 2009
Two titles: Anderson, Lewis E., A. Jonathan Shaw, and Blanka Shaw. 2009. Peat Mosses of the Southeastern United States. (Memoirs of The New York Botanical Garden, Volume 102.) New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx, NY. 126 p. ISBN: 0-89327-505-0 [hardcover] Price US$42. .... Gradstein S. Robbert, and Anna Luiza Ilkiu-Borges. 2009. Guide to the Plants of Central French Guiana Part 4. Liverworts and Hornworts (Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 76,4) New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx, NY. 144 p. ISBN 0-89327-506-9 [hardcover] Price: $52 ...
