A knowledge of geology is requisite for an understanding of the ecology and plant geography of an area. Field geology exercises have come to be stereotyped and it is refreshing to find here a manual that varies from the usual type. Students are taught how to use topographic maps, but in addition are shown how to interpret aerial photographs.
This curious little plant book was prepared with a two-fold significance in mind. The work features stamps representing flowers which have, or formerly were supposed to have, therapeutic value.
The area of aquatic vascular plants is often neglected by botanists and by the general public, perhaps due to the relatively inaccessible habitats and to the tiny, non-showy flowers exhibited by many “pond weeds”. Other interested, but untrained individuals often become distressed when struggling with complicated, non-illustrated manuals. To fill this void, Winterringer and Lopinot have written a practical guide to the aquatic plants for Illinois and adjacent states.
This is a book of principles, methods and techniques, for student assistants in Biology. The book has also a comprehensive list of the assistant’s responsibilities, as well as suggestions for further work, research, term papers, etc.
One of the most readable expositions of plant geography known to this reviewer, is this text by Drs. Gleason and Cronquist, who are very qualified for their task.
A second edition of his earlier work (1959), this edition retains the excellent photographs, drawings, and descriptive materials. It has been enlarged somewhat (20 pages in crease) by additional material on species, on classification, and some new photographs. Many charts have been redone and improved.
Professor Montgomery’s long experience with the Canadian flora has given him an excellent background for the preparation of this unusual book. Most manuals for plant identification in the past have concerned only a limited geographical area.
On May 21, 1966, Robert J. Watson and I, while visiting the Cranberry Glades of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, discovered a small colony of greenish yellow coralroots growing in sphagnum and black muck in the shade under hemlocks and Rhododendron maximum located between the Forest Service Road and Round Glade. This little orchid proved to be Corallorhiza trifida Chatelain var. verna (Nutt.) Fern., an addition to the West Virginia flora.
Naturalists traveling along the Mississippi Gulf Coast may be interested in an especially nice stand of Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) BSP. (Cupressaceae). The usual common name of this tree is White Cedar or Atlantic White Cedar. The site is readily accessible and may be observed from the road. It is located at Vancleave, Jackson County, along Mississippi highway 57 and is 11 miles north of U. S. highway 90 which is the Gulf Coast highway. The grove is just south of the Vancleave Post Office and to the east of highway 57. The trees are growing along a small tributary of Bluff Creek at a locally popular, white sand swimming hole.
Flora North America, as the project will be called, was officially launched on 30 January 1967 when the newly formed Editorial Committee held its first meeting at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C. This three-day meeting, convened by William L. Stern (Smithsonian), Chairman pro tem. of the Steering Committee, was attended by all members of the Editorial Committee