Home / Resources and Writings / Weblog / March 2005
Garry Oak Bibliography
Category(-ies): Botanical Resources , Plant Conservation
Interest in Quercus garryana has grown as Garry oak forest habitats decline. To accommodate this recent increase in interest, the USDA Forest Service has compiled a bibliography for publications on Quercus garryana and other geographically associated and botanically related oaks.
Continue reading "Garry Oak Bibliography"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:53 PM
Transgenic Trees Taking Root
Category(-ies): Plant Legal News and Issues
The benefits of bioengineering forest trees could be great: pest resistance, harder wood, and faster growth. Field tests are being conducted on GE trees in several countries. China has already planted over a million poplars modified with a gene from bacteria to produce disease resistant trees. In the US one genetically engineered tree, a papaya has been approved for commercial production.
Continue reading "Transgenic Trees Taking Root"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:51 PM
Amorphophallus titanum Becoming Rare in the Wild
Category(-ies): Plant Conservation
Titan arum, Amorphophallus titanum, is threatened by development in its native Sumatran rain forest habitat. The plant bears the largest cluster of flowers found in nature. Often billed as the world's largest flower, its rare bloom is a popular attraction at botanical gardens. Around 600 gardens now grow the plant outside of Sumatra.
Continue reading "Amorphophallus titanum Becoming Rare in the Wild"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:37 PM
Economic Botany at the Field Museum
Category(-ies): Botanical Resources , Herbaria , Plants, Food and Medicine
The Field Museum in Chicago has had an interest in the study of how people use plants, since it's founding. Its economic botany collection is one of the most comprehensive in the world. The collection includes over 12,000 specimens of raw materials and finished products of plant origin, such as: gums, resins, food crops, spices, medicinal plants, fibers, woods and many other useful plant products.
Continue reading "Economic Botany at the Field Museum"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:56 PM
George W. Douglas, Ph.D, 1938-2005
Category(-ies): Botanists and Horticulturists
We note the passing of British Columbian botanist, George W. Douglas, who died February 10, 2005 of cancer. George was born in New Westminster, BC, in 1938. His work as an ecologist led to botanical exploration of the North Cascades region and southwest Yukon. After his first bout with cancer he devoted his work time to botany. "Late in his career he joined the British Columbia public service as chief botanist for the BC Conservation Data Centre." (BEN)
Continue reading "George W. Douglas, Ph.D, 1938-2005"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:36 PM
Planning for a Drier Climate in the Okanagan
Category(-ies): Climate Change
The Okanagan Valley is one of the warmest and driest regions in Canada. Recent years have seen a drop in rainfall and warmer winter weather, resulting in reduced snow pack in the mountains. A recent report, Expanding the Dialogue on Climate Change and Water Management in the Okanagan Basin, prepared by Environment Canada researchers, studies the effects of climate change on the area.
Continue reading "Planning for a Drier Climate in the Okanagan"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:33 PM
Kudos for North Carolina Botanical Garden
Category(-ies): Other Botanical Gardens
The North Carolina Botanical Garden, in Chapel Hill, was awarded the 2004 Sustainable Business Award in the nonprofit category, by Sustainable North Carolina, a non-profit agency that promotes sustainable development and conservation in the state. The garden received the award for the design of its future Visitors' Education Centre.
Continue reading "Kudos for North Carolina Botanical Garden"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 12:30 PM
Botany in the Movies
Category(-ies): Botanists and Horticulturists
Although they play a central role in life on earth, plants are rarely the subjects of film and the people who study them are often quirky supporting characters. Sarah Gage, takes a look at Hollywood's portrayal of botany and botanists in a recent issue of the Botanical Electronic News.
Continue reading "Botany in the Movies"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 12:45 PM
Assessing Invasiveness in Plants
Category(-ies): Invasive Plants
Horticulturalist Mark Widrlechner and colleagues have developed an assessment tool to determine the potential invasiveness of plants in different regions. The team looked at the traits of 100 non-native woody plants that have been introduced to the landscape. Predictions of their likelihood of escape were compared to actual escape histories of the selected plants. Geographic risk factors based on the plants' native distributions were added to the assessment to determine the risk of invasiveness in all regions of North America.
Continue reading "Assessing Invasiveness in Plants"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 12:36 PM | Comments (0)
Plant Hunters in Australia
Category(-ies): Herbaria , Plant Explorers
Since the first collections by naturalists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander on captain Cook's voyage, Australia has been a fascinating destination for botanists. A new book, Herbarium by Robyn Stacey & Ashley Hay (Cambridge University Press) chronicles the history of the National Herbarium of New South Wales and the plant hunters who collected the specimens housed there.
Continue reading "Plant Hunters in Australia"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:14 PM
A Green Dilemma
Category(-ies): Invasive Plants , Plant Legal News and Issues
The city of Sebastopol, California is confronted with an invasion of perennial pepperweed, Lepidium latifolium. State officials have requested permission to spray the affected acres with herbicide to prevent the spread into the adjacent Laguna de Santa Rosa wetland. This posed a dilemma for the environmentally conscious city, which has an ordinance against all chemical spraying.
Continue reading "A Green Dilemma"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:30 PM
Global Warming in the Pacific Northwest
Category(-ies): Climate Change
The signs of global warming are gradually appearing in the Northwest of North America. Measurements taken by University of Washington scientists, since the 1950's, show that glaciers are shrinking in the region, some by as much as a third of their water volume. Mild winters and hotter, drier summers have promoted a massive infestation of British Columbia's forests by the mountain pine beetle.
Continue reading "Global Warming in the Pacific Northwest"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:29 PM
Seed Lists of the Nineteenth Century
Category(-ies): Botanical Resources , Herbaria
It is customary for botanical gardens to prepare seed lists for exchange. Lists from the 19th century often included descriptions and notes. Printed in limited quantities, remaining seed lists are rare and no library has a complete set. The National Herbarium of the Netherlands has created a database of the lists and associated descriptions.
Continue reading "Seed Lists of the Nineteenth Century"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:15 PM
Scientists Create Petrified Wood
Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants , Plant Discoveries
Petrified wood normally forms when the soft parts of wood leach away and are replaced by minerals. Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have produced a man-made petrified wood in the lab. Wood was soaked with acid and a silica solution before being treated with high temperatures. The process took only a few days.
Continue reading "Scientists Create Petrified Wood"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:19 PM
Do Plants Have Intelligence?
Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries
Plants do not think in the way humans do, but they do take in information and respond to it. Plants take cues from their environment to ‘decide’ when to send up shoots, set buds or abscise leaves. Some plants react to attacks by predators by releasing chemical warning signals that are sensed by other plants in the area. Scientists are debating whether these reactions should be considered intelligent.
Continue reading "Do Plants Have Intelligence?"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:02 PM
Rare Plants Stolen from Private Garden
Category(-ies): Plant Legal News and Issues
Although interrupted by the owner, thieves still made off with two cycads, valued at US$3,500, from a private garden near Los Angeles. The plants have become a popular target for thieves because of their high value. Many species of cycads are endangered and have import restrictions, making them rare in cultivation and increasing their value.
Continue reading "Rare Plants Stolen from Private Garden"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:55 PM
Climate Change “Tipping Points”
Category(-ies): Climate Change
Climate scientists have identified twelve areas where global warming could bring about sudden catastrophic changes, which would have far reaching effects and may intensify climate change. John Schellnhuber, research director at the Tyndal Centre for Climate Change Research in Norwich, U.K. calls these hotspots, “tipping points”. At the EuroScience Forum in Stockholm, last year, Schellnhuber called for a global effort to research these tipping points and identify others.
Continue reading "Climate Change “Tipping Points”"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:50 PM
The Unseen World of Plants
Category(-ies): Botanical Art
Modern technologies have expanded our view of the plant world. With magnification as high as 200,000x, scanning electron microscopes can transform the view of a grain of pollen from a simple speck to a highly-detailed textured form. Images produced this way reveal the unseen world of plants and with a bit of colourization become stunning 'botanical art'.
Continue reading "The Unseen World of Plants"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:56 PM
Fewer of the Sun's Rays Reaching the Earth's Surface
Category(-ies): Climate Change
English scientist, Gerry Stanhill, noticed an unusual drop in the amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth when he compared current sunlight levels to ones recorded in the 1950s. Recently researchers have confirmed his observations. The level of sunlight fell one to two percent each decade from the 1950s to the 1990s. Dr. Stanhill called this phenomenon “global dimming”.
Continue reading "Fewer of the Sun's Rays Reaching the Earth's Surface"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:34 PM
