Botany Commons^™

2015 Virginia Wildflower Of The Year: Sweet Pepperbush, Clethra Alnifolia, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Clethra alnifolia is a rhizomatous shrub with aerial stems from 1 to 3 m tall. Leaves are simple, alternate, and bear stellate hairs; petioles are short, 5–10 mm long; leaf blades are obovate to oblong, 5–10 cm long, with relatively blunt apices, cuneate (wedgelike) bases, and margins that are entire toward the base but finely serrate above the middle; venation is pinnate with secondary veins that extend to leaf margins. Stipules are lacking. Flowers are borne on erect terminal racemes that may be solitary or accompanied by additional racemes terminating few-leaved branches arising from upper nodes. Raceme axes and pedicels …

Assessment Of Species Diversity And State Of Stipa Tenacissima Steppes, Wahida Ghiloufi, Jose Luis Quero Perez, Miguel Garcia Gomez, Mohamed Chaieb

Turkish Journal of Botany

North African steppes are subjected to extreme degradation resulting in the reduction of their surface, genetic erosion of resources, and decrease in biodiversity. Stipa tenacissima steppes, which constitute one of the most representative vegetation types in the driest areas of the Mediterranean basin, are continuously degrading. With the aim of contributing to a better knowledge of the floristic composition and diagnosing the state of degradation of these steppes, we conducted a phytoecological analysis of 10 S. tenacissima sites in Tunisia. Floristic inventory compiled a systematic list of 46 vascular plant species belonging to 43 genera and 26 families. Species richness …

Perguson, Dee Carl, 1921-2010 (Sc 2861), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2861. Letters of Ohio County, Kentucky native Dee Carl Perguson, written to Marjorie Clagett, his French teacher at Western Kentucky State Teachers College, during his World War II military service and afterward. He writes observantly of military life while training in Ohio, Georgia and Pennsylvania, of his experiences while serving in North Africa and Italy, and of his reassignment to Florida after suffering an arm wound. He also describes local plant life to Clagett, an accomplished amateur botanist. After the war, he writes from England during his postgraduate study. Settled in Seattle, Washington, …

Oh No! Something Is Eating My Coral Honeysuckle!, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Let’s imagine a situation that could happen in your own backyard. Suppose you have a healthy specimen of 2014’s Virginia Native Plant Society Wildflower of the Year, coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens). Suppose further that this plant rewards you every spring with a flush of flashy red flowers that you treasure all the more because they consistently bring hummingbirds to your yard. Now imagine that one fine morning you notice some little green caterpillars voraciously eating the leaves of your beloved coral honeysuckle. What do you do?

Coral Honeysuckle Easy To Propagate With Cuttings, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

One of my earliest botanical/horticultural memories involves time spent with my dad taking cuttings of ornamental plants. Every spring, he would start several dozen new chrysanthemums from carefully overwintered stock plants. He was also fond of long yew hedges that he developed by taking numerous cuttings from just a few original shrubs in our yard. And, from time to time, both my grandmothers would propagate, via cuttings, house plants like geraniums, African violets, and Christmas cacti. But I think it was my dad’s comparatively larger scale operation that fascinated me; with just a little effort, a single shrub could yield …

Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia) Provide A 21st-Century Perspective On Infraspecific Ranks And Interspecific Hybrids: A Modest Proposal* For Appropriate Recognition And Usage, Aaron M. Ellison, Charles C. Davis, Pat Calie, Robert F. C. Naczi

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

The taxonomic use of infraspecific ranks (subspecies, variety, subvariety, form, and subform), and the formal recognition of interspecific hybrid taxa, is permitted by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. However, considerable confusion regarding the biological and systematic merits is caused by current practice in the use of infraspecific ranks, which obscures the meaningful variability on which natural selection operates, and by the formal recognition of those interspecific hybrids that lack the potential for inter-lineage gene flow. These issues also may have pragmatic and legal consequences, especially regarding the legal delimitation and management of threatened and endangered …

Humming Birds: Pollination Facts And Fancy, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), the 2014 VNPS Wildflower of the Year, is a classic example of a hummingbird-pollinated flower: bright red petals, often with contrasting yellow tones in the corolla throat, provide visual attraction, drawing hummingbirds to the flowers, where they are rewarded with a rich supply of nectar. Whereas hummingbirds have good color vision, they have a poor sense of smell. So it is not surprising that coral honeysuckle flowers are nearly scentless, at least to the human nose; even modern analytical instruments detect only traces of volatile molecules emanating from them. And open coral honeysuckle flowers, …

Two Honeysuckles: A Tale Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

There are about 180 species of Lonicera (honeysuckles) widely distributed in the north temperate zone. These are mostly shrubby plants, but in Virginia, we have two species that are woody vines (lianas). These two lianous honeysuckles should be familiar to all Virginia Native Plant Society members. One is this year’s VNPS Wildflower of the Year, Lonicera sempervirens (coral honeysuckle), and the other is Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle), widely and deservedly reviled as one of our most aggressive invasive exotic species. Together, these two plants make an odd pair, a sort of botanical Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. What is it, …

Botanists In The Canyonlands Of The Colorado Plateau – 1950–1983 & Prior, Stanley L. Welsh, Glen Moore

Books by Faculty of the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of botanical investigations in southeastern Utah, but is not so-restricted geographically. It grew out of the discovery of decades-old manuscripts on the flora of what became Canyonlands National Park in 1964, but from those typescript copies the coverage grew outward geographically and backward in time to the earliest inhabitants of what is today known as the Four Corners Region of the American Southwest. Reviewed is the account of utilization of the region and its natural resources by aboriginal inhabitants who were familiar with all of it. That early, and to an extent, continuous occupation …

Bryophyte Flora Of Erciyes Mountain In Turkey, With 6 Bryophyte Records From The Country, Recep Kara, Tülay Ezer, Merve Can Gözcü, Şadi̇ye Gül Bozdoğan

Turkish Journal of Botany

In this study, the bryophyte flora of Erciyes Mountain was investigated. In total, 244 taxa were found in this area. Of these, 9 families, 9 genera, and 11 taxa belong to liverworts and 25 families, 72 genera, and 233 taxa belong to mosses. According to Henderson's grid-square system, 138 bryophyte taxa for the B8 square are new records. Among them, Leiocolea heterocolpos (Thed. ex Hartm.) H.Buch., Scapania obscura (Arn. & Jens.) Schiffn., Schistidium pulchrum H.H.Blom., Tortula lingulata Lindb., Bryum knowltonii Barnes, and Brachythecium capillaceum (F.Weber & D.Mohr) Giacom are new records for the bryophyte flora of Turkey. Polytrichastrum sexangulare (Brid.) …

The Flora Of Yıldız Mountains (Kırklareli) Biosphere Project Area, Emi̇ne Akalin Uruşak, Fatma Neri̇man Özhatay, Necmetti̇n Güler, Hüseyi̇n Ersoy, Nesi̇be Başak, Yeter Yeşi̇l, Di̇lek Oral, Serpi̇l Demi̇rci̇

Turkish Journal of Botany

A floristic study of the Yıldız Mountains Biosphere Project was undertaken between May and October 2009. The project area is located in the north-eastern part of European Turkey, within flora square A1-A2 (E) (Kırklareli), and covers about 1300 km^2. The list of vascular plants was prepared mainly based on specimens collected during the flora surveys of the Project and supplemented by earlier gathered specimens kept in the EDTU, ISTE, and ISTO herbaria. In the project area 1315 taxa, belonging to 505 genera and 113 families, were determined. Among these, 18 taxa are Pteridophytes, 4 Gymnospermae, 1035 Dicotyledones, and 258 Monocotyledones. …

Redbud Cauliflory: The Inside Story, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

One of the most distinctive features of redbuds, Cercis canadensis, the 2013 VNPS Wildflower of the Year, is its production of flowers on mature trunks and major branches, a habit termed cauliflory. Redbud flowers also form on young, one-year old twigs; as explained below, twig- and trunk-borne flowers are parts of a single developmental continuum; twigs bearing flowers eventually becoming trunks and large branches that continue to bear flowers.

Dianthus Vanensis (Caryophyllaceae), A New Species From Turkey, Ahmet İlçi̇m, Lütfi̇ Behçet, Muzaffer Mükemre

Turkish Journal of Botany

Dianthus vanensis Behçet & İlçim is described as a new species. It is confined to Çatak District (Van) in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey. The diagnostic characters and taxonomic comments on the species are given. Notes are also presented on its ecology. A distribution map of new and related species is also provided.

Contributions To The Moss Flora Of The Caucasian Part (Artvin Province) Of Turkey, Nevzat Batan, Turan Özdemi̇r

Turkish Journal of Botany

The moss flora of Artvin Province (Ardanuç, Şavşat, Borçka, Murgul, and Arhavi districts) in Turkey was studied between 2009 and 2011. A total of 167 moss taxa (belonging to 80 genera and 33 families) were recorded within the study area. Among these, 3 species [Dicranella schreberiana (Hedw.) Dixon, Dicranodontium asperulum (Mitt.) Broth., and Campylopus pyriformis (Schultz) Brid.] are new records from the investigated area for the moss flora of Turkey. The research area is located in the A4 and A5 squares in the grid system adopted by Henderson in 1961. In the A5 grid-square 127 taxa were recorded as new …

Bryophyte Flora Of Melendiz Mountain In Turkey, Merve Can Gözcü, Recep Kara, Tülay Ezer

Turkish Journal of Botany

In this study, the bryophyte flora of Melendiz Mountain (Niğde Province) was investigated. In total, 99 taxa were found in this area. Of these, 4 taxa were liverworts and 95 taxa were mosses. According to Henderson's grid-square system, 39 moss taxa for the B8 square and 12 moss taxa for the C13 square are new records. Among them, Syntrichia caninervis Mitt. var. abranchesii (Luisier) R.H.Zander was recorded for the first time, and Cinclidotus pachylomoides Bizot and Orthotrichum sprucei Mont. were recorded for the second time in Turkey. In addition, the life forms and life strategies of the bryophytes in the …

A New Species And 2 New Records From Turkey, Zeki̇ Aytaç, Hayri̇ Duman

Turkish Journal of Botany

Campanula aktascii Aytaç & H.Duman (Campanulaceae) has been described as a new species. The diagnostic characters of C. aktascii were compared and discussed with its resembling species and the ecology and phenology of the new species were presented. Onopordum rhodense Boiss. ex Rech.f. (Asteraceae) and Daucus conchitae W.Greuter (Apiaceae) have been reported as a new records from Antalya (South Anatolia) for Turkey. The distribution map and Red List categories of these taxa according to the IUCN were also given.

Partridge Berry: Simple Beauty Belies Complexity, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Superficially, plants seem so simple. Rooted in place, they do not move around. And while plant growth is a dynamic process, without time-lapse photography, growth events are so imperceptibly slow that, to us impatient humans, plants seem both immobile and static. Nevertheless, there is a lot going on inside the plant body, and this is especially true for the events of reproduction that play out inside flowers and fruits. As one of my students recently commented, “I used to think it was just a matter of pollen plus stigma and, presto-change-o, seeds happen.” That student, I hope, learned otherwise, as …

2012 Wildflower Of The Year: Partridge Berry, Mitchella Repens, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Although partridge berry is a small and creeping herb, its jewel-like beauty rewards attentive naturalists year-round.

Floristic Lichen Records From Kemaliye District (Erzincan) And Van Province, Yalçin Karagöz, Ali̇ Aslan

Turkish Journal of Botany

Numerous lichen specimens from 32 locations in Kemaliye District of Erzincan Province and 4 locations in Van Province were examined. In total 144 lichens, including 5 varieties, 2 subspecies and 4 forms, in 47 genera were identified. Acarospora lavicola J.Steiner, Adelolecia kolaensis (Nyl.) Hertel & Rambold, and Arthonia apotheciorum (A. Massal.) Almq. were found to be new for Turkey. All identified taxa, excluding the ones mentioned above, are new for Kemaliye and 101 taxa are new for Erzincan Province.

Three New Records For Turkey: Allium Giganteum (Liliaceae), Grammosciadium Scabridum, And Ferulago Angulata Subsp. Carduchorum (Apiaceae), Lütfi̇ Behçet, İdri̇s Kaval, Mustafa Rüstemoğlu

Turkish Journal of Botany

Allium giganteum Regel (Liliaceae), Grammosciadium scabridum Boiss., and Ferulago angulata (Schlecht.) Boiss. subsp. carduchorum (Boiss. & Hausskn.) D.F.Chamb. (Apiaceae) are reported as new records for the Turkish flora. They have been identified using the collected specimens and Flora Iranica. The taxa's diagnostic characters, habitats, photos, and a distribution map of the new records in Turkey are given.

The Flora Of Greater San Quintín, Baja California, Mexico (2005–2010), Sula E. Vanderplank

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The plants of San Quintín (Baja California, Mexico) were documented through intensive fieldwork and collection of herbarium specimens to create a checklist of species. The region is located near the southernmost extent of the California Floristic Province, and the flora is influenced by the adjacent desert to the south. A total of 435 plant taxa were documented, of which 82% are native plants. Almost one in three native plant taxa in Greater San Quintín is a sensitive species, here documented as rare and/or locally endemic, and many taxa have yet to be evaluated fully for rarity and threats. Four major …

Oak Galls: A Strange Biology Indeed!, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Anyone who takes the time to look closely at several branches of oak will soon find one or another peculiar anomaly among the leaves and twigs. One can easily find structures resembling Ping-Pong balls, hard knots, fluffy tufts, horns—either single or clustered, or irregular thickenings, to mention just a few possibilities. These abnormal growths are galls, structures caused by the presence of small insect larvae living inside the tissue of the plant. Galls can be found on a wide variety of plants. They are common, for example, on the stems of goldenrods, and the leaves of maples, but oaks are …

Plants Of The Colonet Region, Baja California, Mexico, And A Vegetation Map Of Colonet Mesa, Alan B. Harper, Sula Vanderplank, Mark Dodero, Sergio Mata, Jorge Ochoa

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The Colonet region is located at the southern end of the California Floristic Province, in an area known to have the highest plant diversity in Baja California. A preliminary list of vouchered specimens is developed for the area, and a vegetation map for Colonet Mesa is presented. The Colonet region has at least 435 vascular plant taxa, of which 383 are native to Baja California, and 52 are endemic or nearly endemic. This list includes five local endemic taxa known only from the Colonet region, 18 taxa on the California Native Plant Society List 1B of taxa that are "rare, …

Hybrid Oaks: Full Of Vexation And Wonder, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Distinguishing different species of oak in the forests of eastern North America can be challenging. For one thing, there are simply a lot of different species to sort out. A recent reference (Stein et al. 2003), describes 50 species in the genus Quercusoccurring naturally east of the 100th meridian, and 90 species are distinguished for all of North America north of Mexico (Nixon 1997). With so many species to parse, confident identification requires careful study of leaves, stem and leaf hairiness, and fully mature acorns with their caps. But care is not always enough, because in addition to the …

2011 Wildflower Of The Year: White Oak, Quercus Alba, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Emblematic of strength and longevity, white oaks grace the deciduous forests of eastern North America.

Reseda Globulosa (Resedaceae): A New Record For The Flora Of Turkey, Zeki̇ Aytaç, Hayri̇ Duman

Turkish Journal of Botany

Reseda globulosa Fisch. & C.A.Mey. (Resedaceae) is reported as a new record for Turkish flora. It was identified using the collected specimens and Flora Palaestina. The description, illustration, and distribution of the species are given.

Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover: The Curious Case Of Wild Ginger Pollination, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

What pollinates wild ginger? This seems like an easy question. The inconspicuous little flowers are held close to the forest floor, often completely hidden by a dense canopy of ginger leaves above. Flower color is rather drab, dominated by brown and maroon hues. Wind pollination seems completely unlikely and flowers pollinated by bees, butterflies, moths, or hummingbirds are always much more showy and accessible to these flying creatures. Flies, however, given their natural inclination to seek carrion as a food source for their babies (i.e. maggots), are often attracted to brown and maroon flowers. And because their actual quarry, animal …

2010 Wildflower Of The Year: Wild Ginger, Asarum Canadense, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Wild ginger is a low herbaceous plant. The stem consists of a branched creeping rhizome at or just below the soil surface. Soft-hairy leaves arise in pairs annually from rhizome branches. Petioles can be up to 20 cm long, elevating the 7—25 mm wide kidney-shaped leaf blades above the forest floor. Small flowers appear in the spring shortly after the leaves have expanded. Typically, one must push the leaves aside in order to glimpse the jug-like flowers. A single flower stalk appears between the paired leaf bases, but it is short and barely lifts the flower above the soil surface. …

A New Record For Turkey: Michauxia Nuda A.Dc. (Campanulaceae), Serdar Aslan, Meci̇t Vural, Bi̇lal Şahi̇n, Esra Ergi̇n, Ömer Faruk Kaya

Turkish Journal of Botany

Michauxia nuda A.DC. (Campanulaceae) is recorded for the first time (C8 Siirt province) from Turkey. The diagnostic characters of M. nuda are described and its habitat and conservation status are indicated. Besides, it is illustrated, and a distribution map is presented. Notes on collecting number of type specimen of this species are provided.

2009 Wildflower Of The Year: Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus Foetidus, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Skunk cabbage is a coarse herbaceous plant. The stem consists of a stout rhizome oriented vertically in the soil. Leaves and flowers arise from the tip of the rhizome which is often not visible, resulting in the appearance of leaves and flowers arising directly from the swampy mires where these plants grow. Flowers appear during the winter, long before the leaves. The flowers are minute, clustered into a ball-like group (spadix) almost entirely enclosed by a fleshy, hood-like, spathe. The spathe ranges from 8 to 15 cm in height, is more or less pear-shaped, widest near the bottom, and tapers …