Volume 49 – Issue 2 (June 1984)

Jeweled shooting star (Dodecatheon amethystinum Fassett) was observed at 46 sites in 9 Illinois counties in 1981, 1982 and 1983. It apparently grows only on river bluffs and ravine habitats closely associated with river bluffs. The Illinois plants comprise two populations separated by 237 kilometers. While plants were found on bluffs covered by both the Kansan and Illinoian glaciers, no plants were found on bluffs overrun by the Wisconsinan glacier. The present populations are interpreted as relicts of a former more widespread distribution along the ancient Mississippi River either during the Sangamonian interglacial stage or the Wisconsinan glacial stage. The most reliable characters for separating D. amethystinum from D. meadia in Illinois were found to be capsule wall thickness and flower color.

This study examines five taxa of Sisyrinchium (Iridaceae) known to occur in Virginia: S. angustifolium Miller, S. arenicola Bicknell, S. atlanticum Bicknell, S. mucronatum Michx., and S. albidum Raf. Chromosome numbers were determined for all species except the latter. Sisyrinchium angustifolium Mill. had a chromosome number of n = 48, while the other three species had counts of n = 16. A nomenclatural framework which rejected the application of the name S. bermudiana L. to the blue-eyed grasses of North America was followed.

Radial increment of dominant and codominant oaks increased 17 percent over that expected on a ridgetop of the Appalachian Plateau after a four-year period of campground sewage effluent spray irrigation. Data were collected from randomly selected dominant and codominant northern red oak, chestnut oak, and white oak trees. Increment cores from each tree were used to determine the annual ring width for the four-year period, and the preceding six years.

Nestronia umbellula Raf., a clonal shrub in the Santalaceae, is reported for the first time in Tennessee. A general description of this unusual plant is presented, along with habitat data obtained from the new Tennessee sites.

Tradescantia longipes Anderson & Woodson is reported from Montgomery County, Arkansas, thus confirming its occurrence in the southeastern United States. Previous records are considered uncertain or erroneous. This species is found to differ consistently in leaf and bract pubescence from the closely related T. hirsuticaulis Small. Three subacaulescent specimens from Arkansas and South Carolina closely resembling T. longipes are concluded to belong to T. hirsuticaulis, which has not been previously recorded with a subacaulescent habitat.

The “U.S.-Mexican borderlands” extend within 100 miles from the international boundary and from the mouth of the Rio Grande to the western edge of the Sonoran Desert. This well-written book is a series of essays on the author’s observations and opinions from his 26 years of travel in this diverse region. The topics covered are diverse, too: vegetation types, birding near Brownsville, DDT and its effects, the “arch predator” (Homo sapiens), hummingbirds, “then-versus-now” photography, the coati, pupfishes, and many others. Gehlbach concentrates his efforts on animals, saying relatively little on plants.

Ten areas in the southern Appalachians surpass 5,500 ft (1,680 m), with maximum elevation ranging from 5,520 ft (1,682 m) to 6,684 ft (2,037 m). These high elevation areas might be viewed as a series of high elevation islands of northern community types. A total vascular flora of 342 species has been documented for these areas, with species richness on the separate areas positively correlated with size of the area, number of peaks, maximum elevation, and number of community types present. Rare species categories were more strongly correlated with area than was total species richness. A log/log plot of the species-area relations for the eight largest areas had a slope of .28 (similar to values reported for insular areas) when all ten areas were included the slope was .12 (similar to values reported for continental areas). The two smallest areas (Mt. Pisgah and Whitetop) had higher species richness than predicted from their size alone. An hypothesis is developed that explains this pattern and the patchy distribution of rare plants among the ten areas.

Seven plant species previously unpublished as occurring in South Carolina and one plant unreported from both South Carolina and North Carolina are reported herein. Collection data are given below. All specimens cited are in the Clemson University Herbarium, Clemson, South Carolina.

The Nature Conservancy, a national non-profit conservation organization, is interested in receiving information on the box huckleberry (Gaylussacia brachycera) and Canby’s mountain-lover (Pachistima canbyi) in West Virginia.

John Ball (1818-1889) collected an Orobanche on Roan Mountain in September 1884 which is tentatively identified as Orobanche ramosa L., the first report from North Carolina. The specimen is in the herbarium of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.