From aceska at telus.net Thu Oct 21 18:01:07 2010 From: aceska at telus.net (Adolf Ceska) Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 10:01:07 -0700 Subject: [BEN-L]BEN # 428 Message-ID: <003601cb7141$8ddb8d20$a992a760$@net> =20 BBBBB EEEEEE NN N ISSN 1188-603X BB B EE NNN N =20 BBBBB EEEEE NN N N BOTANICAL BB B EE NN NN ELECTRONIC BBBBB EEEEEE NN N NEWS No. 428 October 21, 2010 aceska@telus.net Victoria, B.C. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2 ----------------------------------------------------------- NEW OBSERVATIONS OF _ABRONIA UMBELLATA_ SUBSP. _BREVIFLORA_ = (NYCTAGINACEAE) IN BRITISH COLUMBIA AND NOTES ON ITS PERSISTENCE IN CANADA From: Matt Fairbarns matt_fairbarns@yahoo.com In early August of 2010, I discovered an individual plant of _Abronia umbellata_ subsp. _breviflora_ (Standl.) Munz (Pink Sand-verbena) = growing on a beach in Florencia Bay, between Tofino and Ucluelet on the west coast = of Vancouver Island. The plant was vigorous, had about 70 cm of stem = material, and bore a single flower cluster. It occurred a few metres below the driftwood zone, on an area of beach which is above the reach of summer = tides but is overrun by winter storm surges. Soon afterwards, Barry Campbell found a second plant of similar size farther down the same beach. Later = in August, Barry and I independently discovered a single individual on the beach at Schooner Bay, nearer Tofino. _Abronia umbellata_ subsp. _breviflora_ occurs south along the beaches = and dunes of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California as far as = the Point Reyes area, near San Francisco. It is ranked globally imperilled (NatureServe 2009). Southwards from San Francisco it is replaced by _A. umbellata_ Lam. subsp. _umbellata_. Tillett (1967) assigned populations = in Canada and Washington to _A. umbellata_ subsp. _acutalata_ (Standl.) Tillett, however, examinations of morphology and chloroplast DNA failed = to show any difference between subsp. _acutalata_ and subsp. _breviflora_ (Karoly ex Kaye 2002) so northern plants are now assigned to subsp. _breviflora_ In Canada. _Abronia umbellata_ subsp. _breviflora_ is = ranked as endangered and protected under the Species-at-Risk Act (Douglas 2000, 2004; Fairbarns 2010). There are several older Canadian records of _Abronia umbellata_ subsp. _breviflora_, all from beaches along the west coast of southern = Vancouver Island. C.F. Newcombe collected it from a sand beach in the Ahousat = area (either on Flores or Vargas Island) in 1915. It was collected at = Pachena Bay in 1909 (G. Fraser), in 1918 (J.R. Anderson) and in 1927 (A. Evans). = It was also collected at Bamfield Creek in 1917 (A.R. Sherwood). There are = no subsequent reports of the species at any of these three locations. It = has also been collected in the northern Olympic Peninsula at least three = times (C. Piper 1895, E. Webster 1910 and M. Ownbey 1940). =20 In 2000, Jim Hamilton reported two robust plants growing on the beach = along Clo-oose Bay. They were growing within a few metres of where the = species had been seen in the early 1940=92s, as confirmed by Dulcie Cox who = lived there at the time. The Clo-oose Bay plants died in the winter of = 2000/2001 but Hamilton had collected seeds from the population and used some of = them to grow a cluster of plants on the beaches of Clo-oose Bay in the = subsequent year. None of those plants survived the following winter. In 2008, = Parks Canada began a series of experimental re-introductions in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, using second generation plants derived from the balance of the seeds collected by Hamilton (Fairbarns 2010).=20 =20 PERSISTENCE IN CANADA Greenhouse studies have shown that _Abronia umbellata_ may persist as a perennial under favourable conditions but field monitoring has shown = that it is unable to survive winters along the southwest coast of Vancouver = Island, even where it is protected from winter tides (Fairbarns 2010). Three explanations have been proposed for its repeated occurrence in Canada: deliberate planting, persistence in a buried seedbank and repeated = natural introductions from southern populations. =20 The species was deliberately planted at Clo-oose Bay as an unauthorized experiment in 2001. It was planted there again from 2008 and 2009 as = part of a formal re-introduction project (Fairbarns 2010). It seems = unlikely, however, that individuals collected/observed near Ahousat in 1915, at =93Bamfield Creek=94 in 1917, at Pachena Bay in 1909, 1918 and 1927, at = Clo-oose Bay in the early 1940=92s, or at Florencia Bay and Schooner Cove in 2010 = were planted. =20 The observation of plants at Clo-oose Bay in 2000, very close to where = they grew in the early 1940=92s, strongly suggests that the species is also = capable of =93dispersing in time=94 =96 that is, persisting in a soil seed bank = until circumstances allow it to successfully regenerate in place. There is independent evidence that the seeds may remain viable for long periods. Apart from the three collections made at Pachena Bay between 1909 and = 1927, Kaye (2004) also reports the re-discovery of _Abronia umbellata_ subsp. _breviflora_ at Tenmile Creek in southern Oregon, adjacent to a historic site. Kaye (2001) demonstrated that the loss of viability among seeds = of _Abronia umbellata_ subsp. _breviflora_ appears to be very slow, at = least in seeds stored in paper bags at room temperature. Over 90% of the seeds = from one lot remained viable after 10 years storage. Similarly, several = seeds collected from the Clo-oose Bay population in 2000 - first stored in a plastic bag and then in a glass jar - were successfully propagated in = 2010. This year I also observed plants growing in a plot at Clo-oose where I = had shallowly buried numerous fruit in 2008. It seems probable that the plant is capable of dispersing across great distances in long-shore currents. The Canadian populations, along the periphery of the taxon=92s range are presumably derived from a more = southern source and the plant=92s strict coastline distribution leaves little = doubt that dispersal occurred in the ocean rather than on land. Perhaps there have been repeated natural introductions from populations in the U.S., = but it also possible that there has been a single successful event of long-distance dispersal leading to the establishment of a northern stronghold, which has spread seed to the other Canadian locations where = it has been observed. The plants observed at Florencia Bay and Schooner = Cove may well have derived from seed produced in the experimental area at Clo-oose in 2008 and 2009. If this is true, they have made a remarkable = 85 kilometre journey in, at most, two years (including a 20 km drift across = the open waters of Barkley Sound). Plants found on beach sites over-run by winter storms, may have a = precarious toehold. Such sites may provide a stepping stone to sand dunes above = the reach of winter tides. The natural population at Port Orford and the introduced population on the Coos Bay North Spit, both well above the = reach of storm tides, are large and vigorous (pers. obs.). Natural = occurrences have not yet been reported from sand dunes in Canada, however, and transplants on the Clo-oose dune had very low vigour (Fairbarns 2010). =20 REFERENCES Douglas, G.W. 2000.=20 _Abronia umbellata_ ssp. _acutalata_ (pink sandverbena) - the rarest = plant on the planet or the rarest plant in Canada? _BEN (Botanical Electronic News)_ # 261 December 12, 2000. http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben261.html =20 Douglas, G. 2004.=20 _COSEWIC status report on the pink sand-verbena_ Abronia umbellata _in Canada._ Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. = Ottawa. 19 p. http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/CW69-14-403-2004E.pdf =20 Fairbarns, M.D. 2010. =20 _Pink Sand-verbena_ (Abronia umbellata): _2009-10 Recovery Activities._ Prepared for Parks Canada Agency. 21 p. Kaye, T.N. 2002.=20 _Conservation strategy for Pink Sandverbena_ (Abronia umbellata _ssp._ breviflora). Unpublished preliminary draft, Institute for Applied = Ecology, Oregon. State Univ., Corvallis OR. Kaye, T.N. 2004.=20 _Reintroducing the endangered pink sand-verbena to Pacific Coast = beaches: Direct seeding and out-planting._ Pp. 131-139 in, M.B. Brooks, S.K. Carothers, and T. LaBlanca [eds.], _The Ecology and Management of Rare Plants of Northwestern California: Proceedings from a 2002 Symposium of = the North Coast Chapter of the California Native Plant Society._ California Native Plant Society, Sacramento, California. =20 NatureServe. 2009.=20 _NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 7.1_ NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://www.natureserve.org/explorer (Accessed: August 15, 2010 ).=20 Tillett, S.S. 1967.=20 The maritime species of _Abronia_ (Nyctaginaceae). _Brittonia_ 19: = 299-327 http://www.springerlink.com/content/4481116403004611/fulltext.pdf=20 CREVICE GARDENS =96 A REVIVED [CZECH] STYLE OF THE ROCK ALPINE PLANTS GARDENING From: John Pinder-Moss [jpindermoss@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca] Zvolanek, Zdenek. 2006. The Crevice Garden & its Plants. [Edited by = Joyce Carruthers and John Good] Foreword by John Good Oct 2006 Alpine Garden Society [AGS Publications Limited], 68 p. Price =A36.95 Ordering information: http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/sales/books/agspublications/Crevice+Ga= rde ning/123/ =20 Zdenek Zvolanek is an excellent craftsman in rockwork and a = knowledgeable & well-travelled plants-man. He cares deeply about plants. Crevice = gardens provide a wide range of microhabitats in a very small space and hence = enable the cultivation of plants with widely differing habitats.=20 Crevice gardens are not a new way of growing alpine plants, but there is = a renewed interest in them as more and more people find that, if well constructed, they combine an attractive appearance with the ability to provide ideal homes for a wide range of alpines, including many of the choicer species. Zdenek Zvolanek [=93Zee-Zee=94 in the rock gardening = circles] is a major practitioner of the art of crevice gardening and has built successful examples on all scales from small troughs to the grand scale = of an acre or more. Here he describes the concepts involved in crevice gardening, crevice garden construction, planting and maintenance, emphasizing the ability of crevice gardens to provide a wide range of micro-habitats in a small space, and hence enable the cultivation of = plants with widely differing requirements.=20 In this small well-illustrated book Zdenek shows you how to craft a = crevice garden from any stone including unprepossessing field boulders. With = four figures and 22 colour plates, he demonstrates how to design and = construct this unique garden bed. He lives in and references Victoria, B.C. and = the Czech Republic and how he plants his gardens with the local climate in = mind. The second half of the book is a descriptive list of alpine plants = suitable for this type of bed. His list reflects his preference for plants that = once established, require no watering. The plants are also illustrated with = 44 postage-size stamp colour photos to entice you to try them. =20 GENUS _MYRIOPHYLLUM_ (HALORAGACEAE) IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST From: Oldriska Ceska and Adolf Ceska aceska@telus.net=20 For the accompanying figures see: http://bomi.ou.edu/ben/428/myriophyllum_ben428.pdf =20 1. Leaves alternate or in whorls with additional alternate leaves = scattered outside the whorls. 2. Flowers in axils of submerged leaves, not forming terminal spikes; alternate leaves more common than those in whorls .................................. _M. farwellii_ 2. Flowers in terminal spikes in axils of bracts; leaves essentially in whorls with some alternate leaves scattered on the stem. 3. Fruits (mericarps) with tiny warts on the dorsal ridges=20 ............................._M. pinnatum_ 3. Fruits (mericarps) with glabrous, rounded dorsal ridges. 4. Stems whitish, lighter than the leaves; leaves dark green; bracts shallowly sharp-toothed;=20 bracteoles at the base of flowers 1-1.3 mm long; petals 1.5-3 mm long; mericarps prominently beaked from=20 a persistent stigma ...................... _M.heterophyllum_ 4. Bracts comb-like; bracteoles at the base of flowers 0.6-0.7 mm long; petals 1-2 mm long; mericarps without permanent beaks ......................._M. hippuroides_ 1. Leaves in regular whorls or opposite, but without any additional alternate leaves scattered outside the whorls. 5. Plants dioecious usually forming single populations of the same sex. 6. Plants robust; stems 2-5 mm in diameter; leaves usually in whorls of 5 to 8 ............................ _ M. aquaticum_ 6. Plants delicate; stems 1-2 mm in diameter; leaves in whorls of 3 or 4, often also opposite ............................ _M. ussuriense_ 5. Plants monoecious, male and female flowers in the same inflorescence. 7. Floral bracts pinnate ... ..... _M. verticillatum_ 7. Floral bracts entire or dentate. 8. Young shoots with one or several parts of entire leaves at the base; plants with strong=20 whitish rhizomes; flower bracts triangular, over 4 mm long, toothed;=20 bracteoles 1.0-1.5 mm long ......................._M. quitense_ 8. Young shoots lacking entire leaves at the base; plants usually without whitish rhizomes;=20 flower bract lanceolate, less than 4 mm long, entire or shallowly notched, lacking a waxy bloom; bracteoles less than 1.0 mm long. =09 9. Leaves with 14-24 pairs of segments; segments declined in sharper than 45=B0 angle; segments parallel to each other throughout the whole leaf=20 .................... _M. spicatum_ 9. Leaves with 4-14 pairs of segments; segments declined from 45=B0 angle to almost perpendicular to the axis=20 of the leaf, angles varying throughout=20 the leaf ............ _M. sibiricum_ _Myriophyllum aquaticum_ (Vell.) Verdc. - Parrot's-Feather Syn.: _M. brasiliense_ Camb., _M. proserpinacoides_ Gillies ex Hook. & = Arn. Introduced in North America from South America. Dioecious, only female plants known in North America. Easily recognized by thick stems, firm = leaves and overall bright green colour. Winter buds absent. _Myriophyllum farwellii_ Morong - Farwell's Water-Milfoil North American species distributed in eastern North America; in the = Pacific Northwest known from Alaska & British Columbia. Easily overlooked since = it grows relatively deep at the bottom of dystrophic lakes. Usually copiously fruiting at the base of the stem leaves. Winter buds absent. _Myriophyllum heterophyllum_ Michx. - Two-Leaf Water-Milfoil Introduced to Alberta, British Columbia and Washington from eastern = North America. In BC it occurs in a park ponds in Vancouver. Easily = recognizable by whitish stems and leaves in pseudowhorls. Winter buds absent. _Myriophyllum hippuroides_ Nutt. ex Torr. & Gray - Western Water-Milfoil Occurs from California to the Lower Fraser Valley in British Columbia; = there it forms dense stands in sloughs of the Fraser River and its = tributaries. Easily recognized by deep green colour, dense foliage with additional numerous leaves outside the whorls. Winter buds absent. _Myriophyllum pinnatum_ (Walt.) B.S.P. - Cut-Leaf Water-Milfoil Eastern North American species with disjunct occurrences in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. Recognized by the dark-green stems and foliage. Winter buds not seen. _Myriophyllum quitense_ Kunth - Andean Water-Milfoil Syn.: _M. elatinoides_ Gaud. South American species that extends to western USA and to British = Columbia; also in eastern Canada. It occurs in wind-swept parts of large lakes or = in flowing water of rivers. Dried herbarium specimens are dark grey. The lowermost leaves are reduced to bract-like structures and the system of strong whitish roots are the best identification characters of the = sterile plants. Winter buds absent. _Myriophyllum sibiricum_ Komarov - Siberian Water-Milfoil Syn.: _M. exalbescens_ Fern.; _M. spicatum_ subsp. _exalbescens_ = (Fern.) Hult=E9n Native to North America, northern Europe and eastern Asia, widespread in North America (except Texas and SE states). Stem whitish, leaves with smaller number of =93untidy=94 segments. Winter buds frequent, = cylindrical. _Myriophyllum spicatum_ L. - Eurasian Water-Milfoil Introduced and invasive. North American invasive populations are = considered tobe of a hybrid origin [_M. spicatum_ x _M. sibiricum_] by Moody & Les=20 (2002, 2007). Stem drying reddish. No winter buds. _Myriophyllum ussuriense_ (Regel) Maxim. - Ussurian Water-Milfoil Syn.: _M. isoetophyllum_ Komarov=20 Amphiberingian species, Far East of Asia and British Columbia, = Washington and Oregon. Dioecious, population clonal, usually of one sex (female populations prevailing) some populations rarely with hermaphroditic individuals. Terrestrial or semiterrestrial at the margins of lakes and rivers with fluctuating water table, truly aquatic plants rare. Habit is unlike of any other our milfoil. Winter buds inconspicuous, filiform. _Myriophyllum verticillatum_ L. Whorled Water-Milfoil Circumpolar species. Occurs sporadically throughout Canada, Pacific Northwest, and NE parts of the USA. Stems and leaves green, leaves often with =93myriophylloid glands=94 at the base of the lowermost segments. = Winter buds frequent, clavate. Selected References Aiken, S.G. 1978. [Counts on Haloragaceae] p. 522. In: A. Love, IOPB Chromosome number reports LXII. Taxon 27:519=96535 Aiken, S.G. 1978. Pollen morphology in the genus _Myriophyllum_ (Haloragaceae). _Can. J. Bot._ 56: 976-982.=20 Aiken, S.G. 1979. _North American species of_ Myriophyllum _(Haloragaceae)._ Ph.D. thesis. University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN. Aiken, S. G. 1981. A conspectus of _Myriophyllum_ (Haloragaceae) in = North America. _Brittonia_ 33: 57-69. http://www.springerlink.com/content/9j166741t2t21857/fulltext.pdf=20 Aiken, S. G. & A. Cronquist. 1988. Lectotypification of _Myriophyllum sibiricum_ Komarov (Haloragaceae). _Taxon_ 37: 958=96966. Aiken, S.G. & J. McNeill. 1980. The discovery of _Myriophyllum = exalbescens_ Fernald (Haloragaceae) in Europe and the typification of _M. spicatum_ = L. and _M. verticillatum_ L. _J. Linn. Soc._ Bot. 80: 213-222.=20 =20 Aiken, S.G. & K.F. Walx. 1979. Turions of _Myriophyllum exalbescens._ _Aquatic Bot._ 6: 357-363.=20 =20 Aiken, S.G., P.R. Newroth & I. Wile. 1979. The biology of Canadian = Weeds. 34. _Myriophyllum spicatum _L. _Can. J. Pl. Sci._ 59: 201-205. =20 Ceska, A. & O. Ceska. 1986. Notes on_ Myriophyllum_ (Haloragaceae) in = the Far East: The identity of_ Myriophyllum sibiricum_ Komarov. _Taxon_ 35: 95-100. =20 Ceska, A. & P.D. Warrington. 1976. _Myriophyllum farwellii_ = (Haloragaceae) in British Columbia. _Rhodora_ 78: 75-77. =20 Ceska O. 1977. _Studies on aquatic macrophytes, part XVII : = Phytochemical Differentiation of_ Myriophyllum _taxa collected in British Columbia._ Water Investigation Branch, Victoria. 33 p. http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wat/wq/plants/milfoiltlc.pdf=20 Ceska, O. & A. Ceska. 1986. _Myriophyllum_ (Haloragaceae) in British Columbia: problems with identification. Pp. 39-50. In: Lars W. Anderson, = Ed. _Proceedings of the First Symposium on water milfoil and related Haloragaceae species._ Aquatic Plant Management Society, Vicksburgh, MS. = =20 Ceska, O., A. Ceska, & P.D. Warrington. 1986. _Myriophyllum quitense_ = and _Myriophyllum ussuriense_ (Haloragaceae) in British Columbia, Canada. _Brittonia_ 38: 73-81. http://www.springerlink.com/content/9m6255354837w286/fulltext.pdf =20 Christy J.A., O. Ceska & A. Ceska. 2000. Noteworthy collections =96 = Oregon. _Myriophyllum ussuriense_ (Regel) Maxim. new in Oregon. _Madro=F1o_ = 47: 212. Christy J.A., O. Ceska & A. Ceska. 2000. Noteworthy collections =96 Washington. _Myriophyllum ussuriense_ (Regel) Maxim. new in Washington. _Madro=F1o_ 47: 212-213. Couch, R.W. & E. N. Nelson. 1983. _ Myriophyllum_ in Oklahoma. Proc. Okla. Acad. Sci. 63:103-104. http://digital.library.okstate.edu/oas/oas_pdf/v63/p103_104.pdf=20 Couch, R. & E. Nelson. 1985. _Myriophyllum spicatum_ in North America. = Pp. 8-18. In: Lars W. Anderson, Ed. _Proceedings of the First Symposium on = water milfoil and related Haloragaceae species._ Aquatic Plant Management = Society, Vicksburgh, MS. =20 Couch, R. & E. Nelson. 1988. _Myriophyllum quitense_ (Haloragaceae) in = the United States. _Brittonia_ 40: 85-88. http://www.springerlink.com/content/9456rl261206p528/fulltext.pdf =20 Faegri, K. 1982. The _Myriophyllum spicatum_ group in north Europe. = _Taxon_ 31: 467-471. MacRae, I.V. & N.N. Winchester, 1989. An evaluation of _Cricotopus myriophylli_ a as a potential biocontrol for Eurasian watermilfoil (_Myriophyllum spicatum_). _Acta. Biol. Debr. Oecol. Hung._ 3: 241-248. Mathewes, R.W. 1978. Pollen morphology of some western Canadian _Myriophyllum_ species in relation to taxonomy. _Can. J. Bot._ 56: 1372-1380. =20 McAlpine, D.F., G. Bishop, O. Ceska, M.L. Moody, & A. Ceska. 2007. = Andean watermilfoil, _Myriophyllum quitense_ (Haloragaceae), in the Saint John River estuary system, New Brunswick, Canada. _Rhodora_ 109(937): = 101-107.=20 Moody, M.L. 2004. _Systematics of the angiosperm family Haloragaceae R. = Br. emphasizing the aquatic genus_ Myriophyllum: _Phylogeny, hybridization = and character evolution._ Dissertations Collection for University of Connecticut. Paper AAI3166004.=20 http://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/dissertations/AAI3166004/=20 Moody, M.L. & Donald H. Les. 2002. Evidence of hybridity in invasive watermilfoil (_Myriophyllum_) = populations. _Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences_ 99: 14867-14871. http://www.pnas.org/content/99/23/14867.full=20 Moody, M.L. & D. H. Les. 2007. Geographic distribution and genotypic composition of invasive hybrid watermilfoil (_Myriophyllum spicatum_ x _M. sibiricum_) populations in North America. _ Biol Invasions_ = 9:559=96570. http://www.springerlink.com/content/u465q4462658w668/fulltext.pdf=20 Moody, M.L. & D.H. Les. 2007. Phylogenetic systematics and character evolution in the angiosperm = family Haloragaceae. _American Journal of Botany_ 94: 2005-2025 http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/94/12/2005=20 Moody, M.L. & D.H. Les. 2010. Systematics of the aquatic angiosperm = genus _Myriophyllum_ (Haloragaceae). _Systematic Botany_ 35: 121-139.=20 Orchard, A.E. 1981. A revision of South American _Myriophyllum_ (Haloragaceae), and its repercussions on some Australian and North = American species. _Brunonia_ 4: 27-65. Patten, B.C. 1954. The status of some American species of _Myriophyllum_ as revealed by the discovery of intergrade material between _M. exalbescens_ and _M. spicatum_ in New Jersey. _Rhodora_ 56: 213=96225 Patten, B.C. 1956. Notes on the biology of _Myriophyllum spicatum_ L. in = a New Jersey Lake. _Bull. Torrey Bot. Club_ 83: 5-18. =20 Reed, C.F. 1977. History and distribution of Eurasian water milfoil in United States and Canada. _Phytologia_ 36: 417-436. =20 Ring, R.A., N.N. Winchester, & I.V. MacRae, 2002. _Myriophyllum = spicatum_ L., Eurasian Water Milfoil (Haloragaceae). Pp. 402-407 In P.G. Mason, = and J.T. Huber.(eds.) _Biological Control Programmes in Canada, 1981-2000._ = CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. ________________________________________________________________ Subscriptions: http://victoria.tc.ca/mailman/listinfo/ben-l Send submissions to aceska@telus.net BEN is archived at http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ ________________________________________________________________