Recent evidence has shown that the proposal of the new combination Leucothoe walteri (Willd.) Melvin is a superfluous and invalid name. The name L. walteri should not be used for the evergreen, montane species of Leucothoe, and L. fontanesiana as proposed by Sleumer (1959) should.
As Herbarium Assistant in the West Virginia University Herbarium, I have identified or examined every specimen coming into the Herbarium during the past year.
Heterotheca ruthii (Small) Harms is a herbaceous perennial (Small, 1897) which is currently on the Smithsonian Institution’s (1975) list of species proposed for inclusion on the federal endangered species list.
Panax quinquefolius L.; American ginseng. “Sang” has been harvested traditionally in West Virginia and is considered a part of our mountain heritage.
Dr. Wilbur H. Duncan, Professor Botany and Curator of the Herbarium at the University of Georgia, was the guest of honor at a recent retirement banquet at the Holiday Inn in Athens, GA. Dr. Melvin Fuller made the presentation of a Lamar Dodd painting, entitled “Rocks and Waves, Monhegan, Maine”, as a gift from the faculty, friends, and colleagues.
Regarding my 1977 paper on infraspecific variations of Sarracenia rubra Walter (Castanea 42:149-170), I have been informed just recently that my presentation of new combinations was perhaps too informal to comply exactly with Article 33 of ICBN.
Rock face vegetation, that of ledges and crevices, occurring in the mountains of western South Carolina, was studied during the summer of 1976. Eleven precipitous granitic habitats were sought out and investigated using rappeling techniques. The data accumulated serve as baseline criteria for these lithophytic and chasmophytic communities, as nothing similar to this had been done in the South Carolina mountains and only a few studies have been carried out elsewhere. Fifty-three genera and sixty-three species were recorded. The principal dominants are Selaginella tortipila, Krigia montana, Danthonia spicata, and Panicum tennesseense. Their dominance was determined on the basis of percent frequency and density.
The morphology and distribution of Achnanthes subrostrata var. appalachiana, an abundantly occurring diatom new to science was investigated. This diatom appears to be indigenous to mountainous streams and has been found in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
Regrowth of shrubs after one, two and three growing seasons following prescribed burning of herb-shrub communities at 1600-1800 m elevation in the Balsam Mountains of North Carolina was studied to determine (1) whether fire could initiate or maintain grassy balds in the southern Appalachians and (2) how often the U. S. Forest Service will need to repeat prescribed burning to maintain wintering habitat for the endangered golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). Fire and browsing by native herbivores temporarily set back shrubs but cannot maintain grassy balds in the open condition in which they were found in the early 1900’s. The results support the hypothesis that grazing by cattle, possibly preceded by deliberate burning, is responsible for bald information and maintenance. A maximum interval of five to eight years between prescribed fires will be necessary to retard further development of the shrub stand.
A cursory examination was made of aquatic macrophyte distribution along the 207 kilometer length of the Monongahela River, a 210 kilometer reach of the upper Ohio River, and the lower 116 kilometers of the Allegheny River where commercial navigation is maintained. Aquatic vascular plants were abundant and diverse in both the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers. Significant qualitative differences were observed in the aquatic macroflora of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers that may be related to basic differences in the channel morphologies and the substrates of these two rivers. Aquatic plants, at least conspicuous emergent vegetation, were not abundant in the reach of the mainstem Ohio River that was examined.