From aceska at telus.net Tue Oct 4 08:19:19 2011 From: aceska at telus.net (Adolf Ceska) Date: Tue, 4 Oct 2011 00:19:19 -0700 Subject: [BEN-L]BEN # 443 Message-ID: <000f01cc8265$eed3fdc0$cc7bf940$@net> 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. 443 October 4, 2011 aceska@telus.net Victoria, B.C. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Ceska, 1809 Penshurst, Victoria, BC, Canada V8N 2N6 ----------------------------------------------------------- RESEARCH BIOGRAPHY - KENDRICK BROWN Kendrick Brown recently joined the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) as a research scientist with expertise paleoecology and fire disturbance dynamics. Kendrick received his PhD from the University of Victoria, = where his research focused on understanding the origin, evolution and dynamics = of the coastal temperate rainforest complex of western North America (Brown = & Hebda 2002a, 2003), including human modification of the fire regime = (Brown & Hebda 2002b). Part of this research also involved quantitatively reconstructing Holocene precipitation to assess how the rainforest = complex responded to past changes in precipitation (Brown et al. 2006). Through collaboration with a colleague at Delft University, Netherlands, this = data is now being integrated into a hydrological model to examine how the = stream flow in two forested watersheds has changed through time and in response = to climate forcing. =20 Upon completion, Kendrick accepted a research associate position at the University of California, where he participated in a large-scale = restoration project designed to convert agricultural lands into tidal freshwater wetlands. To help guide the restoration effort, a multi-proxy approach = that used both sedimentological and paleoecological indicators was employed = to examine the geomorphic dynamics and environmental history of the site = slated for restoration (Brown & Pasternack 2004, 2005; Pasternack & Brown = 2006). Subsequently, the results were integrated into a hydrological model to generate a range of restoration scenarios. =20 Thereafter, Kendrick accepted a post-doctoral position at Duke = University, where he examined the climate history and disturbance dynamics of the Northern Great Plains (Brown et al. 2005; Grimm et al. 2011). The = results revealed that generally wet conditions prevailed during the early = Holocene interval. In contrast, the mid Holocene was characterised by great variability in moisture on a multi-decadal scale, with severe droughts alternating with more humid periods. Notably, a mega drought that lasted about 200 years was identified during this interval. Though wetter than = the mid Holocene, the late Holocene was likewise characterised by = multi-decadal climate variability, as evidenced by the discovery of a 160-year climate cycle that has characterised the interior plains of North America for millennia. During the wet phases of the cycle, fuel-dense grasslands = expand and fire disturbance increases, whereas in the dry phases the grasslands contract and fire disturbance decreases. =20 Following his tenure at Duke, Kendrick was awarded a Marie Curie International Fellowship by the European Commission, taking him to = Denmark where he worked as a senior scientific researcher at the Geological = Survey of Denmark and Greenland. While in Europe, he was involved in several projects, including the characterisation of the boreal fire regime = (Ohlson et al., 2011), determination of the amount of carbon stored in black = carbon in Scandinavian forest soils (Ohlson et al. 2009), assessment of the historical incidence of fire in Denmark, and quantification of Holocene climate change in Denmark (Brown et al. 2011). Furthermore, he also participated in a project that examined the effect of black carbon deposition on the darkening and melting of the ice sheet margin in = northeast Greenland (B=F8ggild et al. 2010).=20 As a research scientist with CFS, Kendrick is examining the various = factors that influence the Canadian fire regime, with an emphasis on determining = how the fire regime may change in the future (Brown 2011). Records of fire disturbance are being collected from fire prone regions, particularly in = the boreal forest, across both lightning strike and precipitation gradients. = In addition, charcoal records from the boreal-prairie ecotone are being analyzed to assess the role of fire disturbance at this dynamic = vegetation boundary, particularly during times of climate change. Furthermore, he = is also engaged in a project that is examining Pliocene-aged charcoal = profiles from the Canadian high arctic that were deposited when boreal-like = forests were located further north under past warm conditions. Contact information: Kendrick.Brown@NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca=20 List of publications Brown KJ. 2011.=20 Nature=92s archives of global climate change. _Information Forestry_, August 2011: 6-7. Brown KJ & Hebda RJ. 2002a. Origin, development, and dynamics of coastal temperate conifer=20 rainforests of southern Vancouver Island, Canada. _Canadian Journal of Forest Research_ 32: 252-272. Brown KJ & Hebda RJ. 2002b.=20 Ancient fires on Southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada: A change in causal mechanisms at about 2,000 ybp. _Environmental Archaeology_ 7: 1-12. =20 Brown KJ & Hebda RJ. 2003.=20 Coastal rainforest connections disclosed through a Late Quaternary=20 vegetation, climate, and fire history investigation from the Mountain hemlock zone on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia,Canada. _Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology_ 123:=20 247-269. Brown KJ & Pasternack GB. 2004.=20 The geomorphic dynamics and environmental history of an upper deltaic floodplain tract in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,=20 California, USA. _Earth Surface Processes and Landforms_ 29: 1235-1258.=20 Brown KJ & Pasternack GB. 2005.=20 A paleoenvironmental reconstruction to aid in the restoration of Floodplain and wetland habitat on an upper deltaic plain, California, USA. _Environmental Conservation_ 32: 103-116. Brown KJ, Clark JS, Grimm EC, Donovan JJ, Mueller PG, Hansen BCS & Stefanova, I. 2005.=20 Fire cycles in North American interior grasslands and their relation to prairie drought. _Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences_ 102: 8865-8870.=20 Brown KJ, Fitton RJ, Schoups G, Allen GB, Wahl KA & Hebda RJ. 2006. Holocene precipitation in the coastal temperate rainforest complex of southern British Columbia, Canada. _Quaternary Science Reviews_ 25: 2762-2779.=20 Brown KJ, Sepp=E4 H, Schoups G, Fausto R, Rasmussen P, & Birks HJB. = 2011.=20 A spatio-temporal reconstruction of Holocene temperature change in southern Scandinavia. _Holocene_ [In Press] B=F8ggild CE, Brandt R, Brown KJ, & Warren S. 2010.=20 The ablation zone in NE Greenland: Ice types, albedos and impurities. _Journal of Glaciology_ 56: 101-113. Grimm EC, Donovan JJ, & Brown KJ. 2011.=20 A high-resolution mineral, pollen and charcoal record of climatic=20 variability and landscape response from Kettle Lake in the Northern Great Plains of North America. _Quaternary Science Reviews_=20 [In press] Ohlson M, Dahlberg B, =D8kland T, Brown KJ, & Halvorsen R. 2009.=20 The charcoal carbon pool in boreal forest soils. _Nature Geoscience_ 2: 692-695. =20 Ohlson M, Brown KJ, Birks HJB, Grytnes JA, H=F6rnberg G & Bradshaw RHW. = 2011.=20 Forest composition as a dominant driver of late-Holocene wildfire in boreal Europe. _Journal of Ecology_ 99: 395-403.=20 Pasternack GB & Brown KJ. 2006.=20 Natural and anthropogenic geochemical signatures of floodplain and=20 deltaic sedimentary strata, Sacramento Delta, CA. _Environmental=20 Pollution_ 141: 295-309. HISTORY OF IMPROVEMENT IN INSECT PEST CONTROL IN THE CANADIAN NATIONAL COLLECTION OF VASCULAR PLANTS (DAO) From: Paul M. Catling and G. Mitrow, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Environmental Health, Biodiversity, Saunders Bldg., Central=20 Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6 Canada=20 catlingp@agr.gc.ca=20 As a result of questions about pests and how they are controlled in the collection, in 2010 we prepared a poster for the meeting of the Society = for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) in Ottawa = (Catling & Mitrow 2010). Subsequent dialogue revealed that many were unaware of = the climate control techniques of pest control and the problems that can = occur if these techniques are not used. This was not a surprise because some recent surveys have suggested that less than half of the herbaria in developed countries are using environmental (climate control or air conditioning) methods. Here we expand on the content of our poster. A history of improvement in insect pest control at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) National Collection of Vascular Plants (acronym = DAO) may be useful to know because it led to an extremely successful result. = Anyone who has visited herbaria or borrowed specimens will know that = most herbaria around the world have had problems with the Tobacco Beetle, _Lasioderma serricorne_ (F.), which feeds on dried plant material. DAO = has been no exception from the early days, and specifically from 1948 until = 1992 (W.J. Cody, pers. comm.; personal observation). The Tobacco Beetle is reported often as the most common and serious herbarium pest in a fairly extensive literature on pests of dried plant collections (Retief & = Nicholas 1988, Kabir et al. 1996). Plants with seeds or dried nectar in flower = heads (e.g Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Liliaceae, Ranunculaceae, Tropaeolaceae, Capparidaceae, Nymphaeaceae, Lamiaceae, Moringaceae, some Rosaceae, Araliaceae, Apocynaceae, some Fabaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Apiaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Araceae, Solanaceae and Papaveraceae) are particularly susceptible and ferns and their allies much less so. = However, these pest beetles can do serious damage to over 50% of most = collections.=20 1948-1987 With vigilance over the years these problems were not serious at DAO. To prevent pests from entering the collection area, incoming specimens, = gifts, loans and staff collections, were fumigated with Methyl Bromide in a fumigation chamber. The entire collection was housed in insect-proof and essentially air-tight steel cabinets, and the use of mothballs = (Naphthalene) and Vapona inside cabinets could easily control pests. = Paradichlorobenzene was used periodically, but was more offensive to staff and potentially dangerous in high concentrations (Shook 1995), and so was abandoned. = Also during this period there was some experimentation with Drione Dust, Pyrethrins combined with silica gel to form a powder (Schofield & = Crisafulli 1980). Although effective, the dust caused an asthmatic reaction in some staff and was also abandoned. In 1983 freezing was initiated to replace = the Methyl Bromide fumigations, and when occasional outbreaks of Tobacco = Beetles were found all specimens were removed temporarily to a freezer to assist = in control. During this period experiments revealed that Tobacco Beetles = could survive mothballs but were deterred by them. They could also survive freezing (as noted by others =96 Macklin 2009) but were killed by a = rapid series of freezing and thawing events. Although these treatments = appeared helpful they were not considered entirely successful. Beetles still = found their way in, particularly during warm humid periods of some summers.=20 1987-1989 As a result of space limitations an automatic compactor with open = shelving was installed in 1987 (Barr et al. 1987). Whenever the compactor was = opened or closed many aisles would open briefly and the main aisle opened = exposed an average of 540 shelves including approximately 27,000 specimens. = Prior to this, opening and closing a cabinet exposed 32 shelves and average of = 1600 specimens. Thus regular use of the collection was vastly increasing = exposure to the flying pest insects (by at least 17 times). Within a year after compactor installment, Tobacco Beetles had become more noticeable, and = this resulted in herbarium staff urgently looking for solutions. The best = that was available at the time was Integrated Pest Management (IPM) using chemical control with physical measures such as sealing to prevent = entry, quarantine and freezing (Croat 1978, Story 1985, Hall 1988).=20 1989-1992 It was in June 1989 that climate control was first recommended to the administration. It had been noticed that some air conditioned = collections had much less of a problem with pests, but there was also data available from other sources. As it happened entomologists had been studying the ecology of the Tobacco Beetle for some time in an attempt to control it = as a major pest of tobacco and stored food products. Through a survey of the literature, a climate control plan developed quickly; the scientific justification read: =93(1) climate control has been widely recommended = to control _Lasioderma serricorne_ (e.g. Desmarchelier 1988); (2) Relative humidity less than 43% would prevent growth of larvae (e.g. Ebeling = 1974) and would reduce the survival period of adults (Khan 1983); (3) _L. serricorne_ grows 4 times faster at 30=B0 C than at 20=B0C (e.g. Nilho = 1984).=94=20 This recommendation was clever but not entirely new and certainly long overdue. As a result of serious damage to tobacco, there were actually = many references to control by temperature, some as early as the 1930s (Crumb = & Chamberlain 1934, Swingle 1938). In 1975 Ebeling wrote, =93The minimal temperature for development was about 18=B0C (65=B0F) and food stored = below that temperature was found to be safe from infestation.=94 The effectiveness = of temperature (environmental control) as an alternative to fumigation for protection of food and tobacco has been mentioned many times since (Imai = & Harada 2006). However, the development of chemical pesticides had a = strong influence and this remained a widespread method of control over many centuries.=20 Until the climate control could be installed in 1992, a number of = interim measures were taken. Pyrethrin insecticides were used with limited = success, followed by Dichlorvos (DDVP, trade name - Vapona) in form of strips and regular fumigation with DDVP smoke bombs. These measures were = potentially hazardous to staff and expelling fans were installed to reduce staff exposure. Experiments during this period revealed that not all insects = were affected by Dichlorvos treatments, presumably as a result of the = treatment times (weekends when staff were away being insufficient to deliver = poisonous air to all isolated air pockets between sheets in all parts of the collection. Recently it has been shown that Dichlorvos exposure may = impede extraction and amplification of DNA from museum specimens (Espeland et = al. 2010), so these actions were both ineffective and damaging to specimens. = Specimens in parts of the collection where Tobacco Beetles had been = present and that were especially susceptible (Asteraceae etc. - see above) were consecutively frozen and thawed and put in plastic bags. This was mostly effective. Also humidity was monitored, and when it reached high levels, portable humidifiers were installed to achieve lower levels that would curtail development of _Lasioderma serricorne_. Beetles were monitored = with sticky card traps. The monitoring suggested relatively effective control = but the time required to implement these controls made the start of climate control in 1992 a very, very welcome event.=20 1992 =96 a new era It seems remarkable that the least expensive and safest (for people and = the environment) methods of pest control were generally known in the 1930s = but not implemented in herbaria for 60 years. Such was our confidence and satisfaction with poisons. As recently as 1988, when Hall reviewed pest control methods in herbaria, the use of low temperature to control = Tobacco Beetles was still not widely known, nor was it featured by Strang in his otherwise useful 1999 review. It was sometime later that only some of = the literature mentioned temperature as a worthwhile control measure, and = even this did not mention experience in herbaria. Mallis (1997) for example alluded to Crumb & Chamberlain=92s (1934) article on the effectiveness = of storing cigars at 13=B0C (55=B0F). Penniger (1994) alluded to the value = of low temperatures but without specific information, and in his later = references (Penninger 1998), he focused on lethal temperature control.=20 =20 In some cases climate control techniques might be confused with = =93thermal control=94 which is involves exposing insects and specimens to high or = low temperatures (Strang 1999) such as +55=B0C (131=B0F) or =96 20=B0C = (-4=B0F), which may damage the specimens. This is sometimes called =93control with = lethal temperatures=94 and it is intended to kill pests. Environmental (or = climate control) utilizes low temperatures that prevent pest activity. Pests = become inactive and eventually die, but pupae or eggs may remain viable for = long periods. The effectiveness of environmental control is based on the continuous maintenance of cool conditions.=20 Climate control measures at the DAO herbarium involve continuous = exposure to 16=B0C (61=B0F). This has the added benefit of maximizing the = preservation of paper and specimens which are best maintained by low, non-fluctuating temperatures and low humidity (e.g. Hill 1999; Balazic et al. 2007). In general the control of pest insects in museums (those feeding on wood, cotton, silk, skins, plant material, etc.) is controlled by a = temperature of less than 15=B0C (59=B0F) where reproduction stops and movement is = substantially decreased (Child 2007).=20 Since the implementation of climate control in 1992 in the DAO = herbarium, the total success has been reflected in five ways: (1) no insect pests = have been found in the collection; (2) a substantial amount of money has been saved on costly fumigations and other procedures; (3) there have been = great savings in time; (4) achieved complete safety for staff and visitors; = (5) reduced environmental impact; and (6) use of best practices for = preservation of archival materials. =20 Literature Cited Balazic , A., S. Habicht, M. Smodis, J. Kolar & M. Strlic. 2007.=20 Extending the useful life of paper =96 evaluation of the effect of Various Preservation actions. Pp. 39-41 in T. Padfield & K. Borchersen. _Museum microclimates._ National Museum of Denmark.=20 Barr, J.S., W.J. Cody & J.A. Parmelee. 1987.=20 State-of-the-art herbarium compactor systems for DAO and DAOM. _Taxon_ 36(2): 413-421. Catling, P. M. & G. Mitrow. 2010.=20 History of pest control in the AAFC National Collection of Vascular=20 Plants. _Biodiversity 2010 and beyond, science and collections"=20 2010 SPNHC and CBA-ABC joint conference, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, May 31 to June 5, 2010. Program and Abstracts. Canadian Museum of Nature. Abstr. p. 64.=20 Child, R.E. 2007.=20 Insect damage as a function of climate. Pp. 57-60 in T. Padfield & K. Borchersen, _Museum microclimates._ National Museum of Denmark. Croat, T.B. 1978. Survey of herbarium problems. _Taxon_ 27(2/3): 203-218.=20 Crumb, S.E. & F.S. Chamberlain. 1934. The effect of cool temperatures on some stages of the Cigarette Beetle. _Florida Entomologist_ 18: 11-14.=20 Desmarchelier, J.M. 1988.=20 The relationship between wet-bulb temperature and the intrinsic rate of increase of eight species of stored product Coleoptera. _Journal=20 of Stored Products Research_ 24(2): 107-114.=20 Ebeling, W. 1974. Permeability of insect cuticle. Pp. 271-343 In M. Rockstein, ed., _The physiology of insecta_. 2nd edition, vol. 6. Academic Press,=20 New York.=20 Ebeling, W. 1975. _Urban entomology._ University of California, Division of Agricultural Sciences, Riverside, CA. 695 p. =20 Espeland, M., M. Irestedt, K.A. Johanson, M. =C5kerlund, J.-E. Bergh & = M. K=E4llersj=F6. 2010.=20 Dichlorvos exposure impedes extraction and amplification of DNA from insects in museum. _Frontiers in Zoology_ 7: article no. 2.=20 Hall, A.V. 1988. Pest control in herbaria. _Taxon_ 37(4): 885-907.=20 Hill, G.J. 1999.=20 Paper conservation and the herbarium. Pp. 189-204 in D.A. Metsger &=20 S.C. Byers. _Managing the Modern Herbarium._ Society for the preservation of natural history collections.=20 Imai, T. & H. Harada. 2006.=20 Low-temperature as an alternative to fumigation to disinfect=20 stored tobacco of the cigarette beetle, _Lasioderma serricorne_ (F.) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae). _Applied Entomology and Zoology_ 41(1):=20 87-91.=20 Kabir, S.M.H., M.S. Khan & S. Begum. 1996.=20 Pest insects from two herbaria in Dhaka City. _Bangledesh Journal of Zoology_ 24(2): 121-124. =20 Khan, M.A. 1983.=20 Effect of relative humidity on adults of 10 different species of=20 stored product beetles. _Zeitschrift fuer Angewandte Entomologie_ 95 (3): 217-227. Macklin, J. 2009.=20 An =93odd=94 discovery. BEN - Botanical Electronic News 308. Mallis, A. 1997.=20 _Handbook of pest control._ 8th edition. Mallis Handbook and Technical Training Company, University Park, Pennsylvania.=20 Nilho, C. 1984.=20 Ecological study of the Tobacco beetle (_Lasioderma serricorne_): 2. Growth of Tobacco beetles fed on bread crumbs. _Japanese Journal of Applied Entomology and Zoology_ 28 (4): 209-216.=20 Penniger, D. 1994. _Insect pests in museums._ Archetype Publications, London. 58 p. Penniger, D. 1998.=20 Controlling insect pests: alternatives to pesticides. _Conserve O=20 Gram (US National Park Service)_ 3(8): 1-4. Retief, E. and A. Nicholas. 1988.=20 The cigarette beetle _Lasioderma serricorne_(F.) (Coleoptera:=20 Anobiidae): a serious herbarium pest. _Bothalia_ 18(1): 97-99. Schofield, E.K. & S. Crisafulli. 1980.=20 A safer insecticide for herbarium use. _Brittonia_ 32(1): 58-62.=20 Shook, G. 1995.=20 The museum worker and Paradichlorobenzene: a literature review=20 of health effects. _Journal of the Idaho Academy of Sciences_ 1: 25-30. Strang, T.J.K. 1999.=20 Chapter 3. A healthy dose of the past: a future direction in=20 herbarium pest control. Pp. 59-80 in D.A. Metsger & S.C. Byers, eds. _Managing the modern herbarium._ Society for the preservation of=20 Natural history collections, Washington D.C.=20 Story, K.O. 1985. =20 _Approaches to pest management in museums._ Conservation Analytical Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution. 165 p. Swingle, M.C. 1938. Low temperatures as a possible means of controlling Cigarette Beetle in stored Tobacco. _U. S. D. A. Circular_ 462. =20 INSECT CONTROL IN HERBARIA USING PLASTIC BAGS From: Adolf Ceska aceska@telus.net=20 In the early 1990=92s, the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria = undertook an extensive program of removal of asbestos from their buildings. At = that time, the contents of the RBCM herbarium (V) had to be moved to the area behind the public exhibits, where the herbarium specimens would have = been exposed to possible (and highly probable) insect attacks. In order to protect herbarium specimens, the specimen bundles from each shelf were wrapped in clear plastic bags. The bags used were clear flat = polyethylene bags, 56cm wide and 91.5cm long, 3 mill thick. After the renovation of the original herbarium space, the herbarium collection was moved back to the original herbarium cabinets on movable compactors. The use of polyethylene bags has been retained even after = the move of the herbarium back to its permanent site.=20 The advantage of this technique is that any insect infestation is = limited to the content of a single shelf of the herbarium cabinet. The disadvantage = is that the users have to be careful when folding the top of the = polyethylene bag under the base of bagged specimens. Handling of herbarium specimens = is more difficult, since this technique adds a slight inconvenience when removing specimens from the polyethylene sleeve and returning them to = the sleeve. I have met several top Canadian botanists who complained about = this and even refused to work with the RBCM herbarium specimens. I believe, however, that this small annoyance is outweighed by the advantages that = this technique brings to pest control in the herbaria, namely the possibility = of early detection of insect infestation and the ability to isolate this problem to a single herbarium shelf. In my opinion, the end clearly justifies the means. ____________________________________________________________ Subscriptions: http://victoria.tc.ca/mailman/listinfo/ben-l=20 Send submissions to aceska@telus.net=20 BEN is archived at http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/=20 ____________________________________________________________ From aceska at telus.net Wed Oct 12 01:17:36 2011 From: aceska at telus.net (Adolf Ceska) Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:17:36 -0700 Subject: [BEN-L]BEN # 444 Message-ID: <00ef01cc8874$58964a10$09c2de30$@net> 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. 444 October 11, 2011 aceska@telus.net Victoria, B.C. ----------------------------------------------------------- Dr. A. Ceska, 1809 Penshurst, Victoria, BC, Canada V8N 2N6 ----------------------------------------------------------- HOW DO YOU TELL THE REAL CHRISTMAS MISTLETOE? From: Paul M. Catling and Gis=E8le Mitrow, Agriculture and Agri-Food = Canada, Environmental Health, Biodiversity, Saunders Bldg., Central=20 Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6 Canada=20 catlingp@agr.gc.ca =20 All native Canadian mistletoes are very small plants without conspicuous leaves (genus _Arceuthobium_). So where does our leafy Christmas = Mistletoe come from and what is it? There are two possibilities: (1) The European Christmas Mistletoe, _Viscum album_ L., is sometimes imported from Europe,and (2) the North American Christmas Mistletoe, _Phoradendron serotinum_ (Rafinesque) M.C. Johnston is sometimes imported from the southern United States, perhaps mostly from the southeast as subsp. _serotinum_ (previously _P. flavescens_, but see Nickrent et al. 2010 regarding the complex nomenclature of this taxon), or from Texas or = Oregon as subsp. _tomentosum_ (DC.) Kuijt (Hawksworth & Wiens 1993, previously = P. villosum). It appears that almost all importation of Christmas Mistletoe into Canada has been, and still is, _P. serotinum_ from the United = States, but there have been a few instances of importation from Europe involving _Viscum album_.=20 The European Mistletoe (_Viscum album_) is established in Canada in Victoria, British Columbia (Dorworth 1989, Heide-Jorgensen 2008), but = its locations are kept secret, for fear that it would be eliminated as an invasive potentially damaging to North American trees. The plants are = said to have been brought over by a returning war veteran in 1945. There were only a couple left in early 2000 and it had not spread. At one time = there was also a plant in the Royal Botanical Garden in Hamilton, Ontario, = growing in an Apple tree.=20 European Mistletoe is well established in California where it occurs in = at least three counties (Hawksworth & Wiens 1993). Since the two species generally do not occur together in regions covered by floras, there are = very few keys that include both of them. The Flora North America volume = including mistletoes has yet to be produced. However, the _Jepson Manual_ = (Hawksworth & Wiens 1993) does include _Phoradendron serotinum_ and _Viscum album_ = in a key. Both are also included in Rehder=92s (1937) manual of cultivated = trees and shrubs. Neither of these however, includes a reference to the major difference in branching which we were reminded of by mistletoe expert = Job Kuijt. Using these and other sources as well as the examination of = herbarium specimens we have developed a key. Here the characters in each couplet = are presented in what we consider the order of their usefulness. 1a. Stems branching, or forking, into two or more equal parts (pseudodichotomous); berry 6-10 mm in diameter; flowers or berries in small clusters (dense cymes) of 1-5; flowers not sunken into the branch axis; anthers several-chambered; flower parts generally 4=20 _Viscum album_ L. 1b. Stem branching with a main axis, not forking (percurrent); berry 3-6 = mm in diameter; flowers or berries many and in more or less interrupted spikes;flowers sunken into the branch axis; anthers 2-chambered; flower parts generally 3 _Phoradendron serotinum_ (Rafinesque) M.C. Johnston The two species vary in leaf shape, so this is of limited value in identification. A key is available for the three subspecies of = _Phoradendron serotinum_ in Kuijt (2003). One subspecies (subsp. _serotinum_) is found = in the eastern and midwestern US, one in Mexico (subsp. angustifolium in Mexico) and two (subspp. _macrophyllum_ and _tomentosum_) in the western = US. There are also subspecific taxa (varieties) of _V. album_ which occur = across Eurasia. The closely related _Viscum coloratum_ (Komorov) Nakai, with = its yellow berries, was introduced to Switzerland from Korea in the 1980s = and is attracting increasing interest as a source of medicinal compounds (Park, 2000).=20 Outside of the north temperate region, the species used as Christmas Mistletoe may depend on what is locally available and the custom is less well developed. In parts of Australia, it is _Amyema sanguineum_ (F. = Muell.) Dans. which is sometimes hung at Christmas. While our Christmas = Mistletoes, in the family Viscaceae, have inconspicuous flowers, the Australian = plant, like many other species in the family Loranthaceae, has very showy, = tubular red or yellow flowers. Since the Australian plant is in a different = family, there are many other differences that are less readily observed (Calder = and Bernhardt 1983, Table 1, p. 9).=20 We see less real Christmas mistletoe and more of the plastic product now than in the past. There are probably several reasons for this. All = mistletoe for trade is wild-collected and in some places it has become scarce due = to unsustainable harvest and/or changes in the landscape. It is still = readily available on the web, and most of the product advertised originates in = the United States and is _Phoradendron serotinum_.=20 The former harvest of Viscum album in Apple orchards in England may have been sustainable to some extent and possibly benefited the host trees by keeping the mistletoe plants relatively small. European Mistletoe is = also sometimes said to be cultivated. This appears to be mostly for medicinal compounds (Ramm et al. 2000), the usefulness of which is still controversial. Since plants develop slowly, it seems unlikely that cultivation for the Christmas trade will become widespread and = profitable. Other reasons why we are seeing less may be the increasing concern over importation of: (1) plants that may escape and affect native species; = and (2) plants that are poisonous. These may not be major concerns because = there have been few deaths as a result of ingestion and the climate over most = of Canada is too cold to allow the most frequently imported species (_Phoradendron serotinum_) to survive. However, both species are listed = by the _Canadian Food Inspection Agency_ (CFIA) among substances determined = to be an unacceptable health risk for human and/or animal health (CFIA = 2011). At present mistletoes are not regulated in Canada and thus we can expect = to continue to see real plants imported for Christmas and weddings.=20 Acknowledgements We very much appreciate the help of mistletoe experts Job Kuijt and = Daniel Nickrent in preparing this note. Conservationist Dave Fraser provided helpful comments.=20 References Calder M. & P. Bernhardt. 1983. _The biology of mistletoes_. Academic = Press, New York. 348 p. =20 Canadian Food Inspection Agency. 2011. Appendix A: Substances determined = to be an unacceptable health risk for human and/or animal health.=20 =09 http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/orgbio/nvplist/nvpappene.shtml=20 Dorworth, C.E. 1989. European Mistletoe (_Viscum album_ subsp. _album_) = in Canada. _Plant Disease_ 73(5): 444.=20 Hawksworth, F.G. & D. Wiens. 1993. Viscaeae, Mistletoe family. Pp. = 1092-1097 in J.D. Hickman, ed. _The Jepson Manual, higher plants of California_. University of California Press, Berkeley.=20 Heide-J=F8rgensen H.S. 2008. _Parasitic Flowering Plants_. Koninklijke = Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. 438 p. Kuijt, J. 1969. _The Biology of Parasitic Flowering Plants_. University = of California Press, Berkeley, California . 248 p. Kuijt, J. 2003. Monograph of _Phoradendron_ (Viscaceae). _Systematic = Botany Monographs_ 66: 1=96643.=20 Nickrent, D.L., D.E. Boufford & J. Kuijt. 2010. (1986) Proposal to conserve the name _Viscum serotinum_ (_Phoradendron serotinum_) against _V. leucarpum_ (Viscaceae). _Taxon_ 59(6): 1903-1904.=20 =09 http://www.plantbiology.siu.edu/faculty/nickrent/NickrentPDFs/Nickrent201= 0Ta xon2.pdf=20 Park, W.-B. 2000. Chapter 4, Korean Mistletoes and other east-Asian populations. Pp. 45-60 in Arndt B=FCssing, _Mistletoe, the genus_ Viscum. Harwood Academic Publishers, Amsterdam. 266 p. =09 http://www.amazon.com/Mistletoe-Medicinal-Aromatic-Industrial-Profiles/dp= /90 58230929#reader_9058230929=20 Ramm, H, K. Urech, M. Scheibler and G. Grazi. 2000. Chapter 6, = Cultivation and development of _Viscum album_ L. Pp. 75-94 in Arndt B=FCssing,=20 _Mistletoe, the genus_ Viscum. Harwood Academic Publishers,=20 Amsterdam. 266 p. =09 http://www.amazon.com/Mistletoe-Medicinal-Aromatic-Industrial-Profiles/dp= /90 58230929#reader_9058230929 =20 Rehder, A. 1937. _Manual of cultivated trees and shrubs, hardy in North America_. The MacMillan Company, New York, NY. 930 p. =20 A NEW OAK _CORTINARIUS_ DESCRIBED FROM CALIFORNIA ALSO OCCURS ON = VANCOUVER ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA From: Dimitar Bojantchev dimitar@pontix.com =20 _Cortinarius xanthodryophilus_ D. Bojantchev & R.M. Davis was described recently from California as one of the most commonly occurring = Cortinarius species under oak (Bojantchev & Davis 2011). The species belongs to the genus _Cortinarius_ subgen. _Phlegmacium_, and is a member of the = extensive clade of calochroid cortinarii, most of which were previously known as = the subgenus _Bulbopodium_. The species is characterized by predominantly = light to dark yellow colors, distinctly emarginated bulb, weak alkali = reaction, and association with oaks. Based on phylogenetic analysis of the nrITS = gene region, it is placed in the pseudoglaucopodes clade. Despite the diverse external coloration of the members of that clade, the spore size and = macro chemical reactions, which are rather well evolutionary conserved = characters, remain very similar. =20 This species is common in California under live oak (_Quercus agrifolia_ N=E9e). In the Sierra Nevada foothills it occurs under interior live oak = (_Q. wislizeni_ A. DC.) and canyon live oak (_Q. chrysolepis_ Liebm.). In northern California coastal areas it was collected under tanoak (_Notholithocarpus densiflorus_ [Hook. & Arn.] Manos, Cannon & S.H. Oh). = In all the Californian localities, _Cortinarius xanthodryophilus_ grew in association with evergreen trees. There is also a collection from = Vancouver Island, British Columbia, under deciduous Garry oak (_Quercus garryana_ Dougl. ex Hook.). [University of British Columbia herbarium specimen was originally identified as _Cortinarius subfulgens_: UBC F17181, Elkington Property near Duncan, British Columbia, Canada; growing under _Quercus garryana_. Coll.: O. Ceska, November 23, 2002, GenBank #: GQ159771.] The description of the species is Open Access and can be retrieved from _Mycotaxon_ 116 online http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mtax/mt/2011/00000116/00000001/art0= 003 5=20 In addition, the authors maintain a website where they provide = exhaustive pictorial treatments of the species they describe.=20 http://mushroomhobby.com/Gallery/Cortinarius/Cortinarius%20xanthodryophil= us/ index.htm=20 [Editorial comment: Dimitar Bojantchev has been an avid amateur = mycologist for several years, but his primary research interests rest with the most challenging genera of macromycetes, such as _Cortinarius_ and _Russula_. = He teamed with Prof. Mike Davis (UC Davis) in running an extensive = molecular analysis of hundreds of collections from California, the Pacific = Northwest and Europe. They are aware of a number of undescribed species in both _Cortinarius_ and _Russula_, as well as the intricacies of the = challenging species complexes that occur in the broader Pacific Northwest. There are several taxonomic papers currently in print. Dimitar Bojantchev is = active on the NAMA club speaker circuit=20 http://www.namyco.org/education/speakers_bureau.html =20 and will attend the Northwest Mushroomers Association in Bellingham, WA = on November 10, 2011, where he will discuss advanced amateur mycology, molecular methods and the genus _Cortinarius_.] Literature cited Bojantchev, D. & R.M. Davis. 2011 _Cortinarius xanthodryophilus_ sp. nov. - a common _Phlegmacium_=20 under oaks in California. _Mycotaxon_ 116: 317-328.=20 =09 http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mtax/mt/2011/00000116/00000001/art0= 003 5 =20 WRITING THE POACEAE OF OREGON TREATMENT FOR THE OREGON FLORA PROJECT From: Barbara L. Wilson, _Carex Working Group_, 2710 Emerald Street, Eugene, Oregon 97403 e-mail: bwilson@peak.org (abbreviated=20 article was originally published in the _Oregon Flora Newsletter_ Volume 17, No. 1, August 2011) The _Carex Working Group_ is thrilled and relieved! We=92re done = writing the grass treatment for the Oregon Flora Project. =20 =09 Mystified that the work was taking more than a year, friends would say =93Writing the grass treatment must be easy, now that the _Flora of = North America_ (FNA) grass volumes are out.=94 And we would want to scream. Writing the Oregon grass treatment has not meant simply stripping all of = the non-Oregon grasses out of the FNA treatment. =20 =09 What did we really do? =09 First, we sought to write a simple key to genera. Early leads of the = FNA key are intimidating. Very different grass keys from the _Jepson = Manual_ (JM) and _Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest_ (H&C) both work, but neither includes all Oregon species. We started with the JM key and consulted FNA to add missing Oregon taxa. =20 =09 Nick Otting and Richard Brainerd (=93the guys=94) tested this key by = running all 354 Oregon grass species through it. Students in our grass = identification mini-classes gave us different perspectives on the keys, causing us to = tweak wording or totally rewrite sections. The final version of the key = (number 23!) is much different from the first. =09 =09 For species within genera, we started with whatever key we liked best, = from FNA, JM, H&C, or other sources. _Poa_ expert Robert Soreng wrote a key = for us to that complex genus. Sometimes there was no good key for Oregon = and we wrote our own. Cindy Roche read the draft keys critically, providing = many helpful suggestions.=20 =09 Writing the genus treatments was a multi-step, iterative process. =20 (1) I consulted floras or OFP=92s morphology database to write treatments for all species. Each treatment included a genus=20 description, key to species, species descriptions, and sometimes=20 habitat, range, and discussion. =09 (2) Once the first drafts for all species were finished, I worked through each genus, trying to understand it. I might modify the key or description, write discussion sections, or add habitat or range. I might note problems needing further work. =20 (3) Then the guys took over each genus treatment. They keyed every species. They rewrote keys, modified descriptions, provided habitat information, and wrote or rewrote summary discussions. Sometimes the draft pages were virtually covered with scribbles, glyphs, and arrows! =20 (4) Then I would rewrite and the guys would retest until we were satisfied. =20 =09 Published technical information was mostly accurate, but not always. = Maybe FNA reported awns as 8-15 mm long but we found some 20 mm long. Maybe = the lemmas are longer elsewhere, so FNA reports them to be 5-15 mm long, but Oregon=92s longest are 10 mm long. Lemmas of _Festuca subulata_ are = reported to be =93glabrous, sometimes sparsely scabrous=94 but occasional Oregon specimens have hairy lemmas. We found _Cynosurus echinatus_ and = _Scribneria bolanderi_ individuals nearly twice as tall as reported in FNA. =20 We annotated more than 900 specimens from the combined herbaria at OSU. Some annotations confirmed identities; others corrected errors. We were able to remove taxa from the Oregon checklist (e.g. _Achnatherum occidentalis_ subsp. _occidentalis_, _Festuca minutiflora_, = _Hesperostipa comate_ subsp. _intermedia_, _Podagrostis aequivalvis_, and _Thinopyrum junceum_) and add others (e.g. _Agropyron fragile_ and _Thinopyrum pycnanthum_). _Bromus arvensis_ made a mess of our key because its = traits bridge the gaps between other little weedy bromes, so we were happy when = we borrowed the only Oregon specimen and found it had been misidentified. =09 Most of our distribution information came from the Oregon Plant Atlas. = When OPA mapped seemingly out of range records, we examined the voucher = specimens if possible. We reported apparently erroneous records to OFP for correction. Embarrassingly, we sometimes deleted observations we had = made. =09 We made taxonomic judgments. We chose to recognize Mountain Brome, = often called _Bromus marginatus_, as a subspecies of _B. carinatus_. FNA recognizes subspecies or varieties of _Bromus hordeaceus_, _Deschampsia cespitosa_, and _Vulpia octoflora_, but they aren=92t distinct in = Oregon; we omitted them. However, we tentatively recognized the controversial subspecies of _Thinopyrum intermedium_ and _Muhlenbergia mexicana_. =20 =09 _Calamagrostis_ gave us trouble. The FNA key looks simple, but the = traits are surprisingly hard to interpret correctly. We rewrote the key in = major ways, tested, and rewrote. By comparing specimens, we learned that many Oregon records were misidentified. By the end, the ranges of most = Oregon _Calamagrostis_ species were radically reduced, the description for _C. tacomensis_ was significantly modified, and the key cycled back to = something similar to the original. =20 =09 We fought our computers. Faced with spell-checking technical terms for grass morphology, Microsoft Word offered to import dictionaries for = =93French France=94 or =93Portuguese Brazil.=94 Dick=92s computer preferred = Italian. We refused on the grounds that the treatments were English and we could = teach the software how to spell culm, panicle, spikelet, glume, etc. Spurned, = the computers refused to spell-check the technical descriptions at all. =20 =09 At last we were done. We had written treatments for Oregon=92s 354 = grass species. (Except _Poa_ =96 we were still working on _Poa_). Time to celebrate! We turned our treatment in to OFP. OFP was not excited. We considered this done? Nothing was in OFP format. Hadn=92t we read the _Contributor=92s Guide_? Oops. When we started there hadn=92t been a _Contributor=92s Guide_. Now we spent a month reformatting the = treatments. We tried to shorten the descriptions to the recommended 100 words. That = was hard, especially in big genera. I cut _Elymus_ descriptions an average = of 27%, but they still averaged 175 words. =20 =09 Right near the end, one of us was inspired to include the most commonly occurring named wheatgrass hybrids in our treatment. Nearly any two = species of _Elymus_, _Hordeum_, _Leymus_, _Pascopyrum_, and _Pseudoroegneria_ = might hybridize if they grow together. Each hybrid is variable. We sat down = for three solid days of examining wheatgrass hybrids. At last I wrote a = key. It might even work. =20 =09 In February we turned in all the treatments for Oregon grasses. Joy, oh joy, oh joy. Now OFP taxonomic editor Stephen Meyers gets to read all = 400+ pages. Have fun, Stephen! [The Poaceae treatment will be posted by the _Oregon Flora Project_ at http://www.oregonflora.org/flora.php some time soon. We have found = that for the Poaceae, =93soon=94 is a longer period of time than any of us = might have expected.] ____________________________________________________________ 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/ ____________________________________________________________ =20