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  News from MO - 2001 Table of Contents  

 
Missouri Botanical Garden Press

The past year has been full of editorial activity, but the highlight for the Press, and for Research in general, has been the publication in February 2001 of the Flora de Nicaragua. Edited by W. D. Stevens, Carmen Ulloa Ulloa, Amy Pool, and Olga Martha Montiel, with technical editing assistance from Alba L. Arbeláez and Diane M. Cutaia, this much anticipated Flora covers the native and adventive seed plants known from this Central American republic, about 5,800 species. Prepared by 175 contributors from 16 countries, this is the first modern flora of that country and the first complete flora of a Latin American country published in Spanish. Published whole in three volumes, this Flora will serve as the best current reference for the plants of the Mesoamerican region. It is Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden (MSB) Number 85.

An important electronic foray for the Press has been the inclusion of the Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden and the early issues of the Annual Report (1890–1912) in JSTOR, an online scholarly journal archive. The back issues of the Annals and Annual Report were included in the Ecology & Botany Collection, which was launched in December 2000. Developed in cooperation with the Ecological Society of America, the Collection includes the archives of 29 select journals, offering online access to more than one million pages of important literature for biologists and ecologists. JSTOR is available at www.jstor.org.

Another electronic innovation of the past year has been the launching of the Press’s online catalog at www.mobot.org/mbgpress. Check it out for the latest information about Garden publications — and place your orders online through our secure server. Available since January 2001, the catalog receives over 970 hits per month.

Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden and Novon

The journals continue to serve as important outlets for articles of interest to the botanical community. Tables of Contents, Author and Key Word Indexes, and full-text abstracts of all the articles for issues from 1998 to the present for both the Annals and Novon are available on the Web. Go to apt.allenpress.com.

The Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Garden’s primary scientific journal, contains papers in systematic botany and related subjects. It is issued quarterly and is now in its 88th year of continuous publication. Highlights of the past year include a series of articles related to the rediscovery of Takhtajania perrieri, a Malagasy endemic thought to represent the only extant representative of the Winteraceae in the Africa/Madagascar region. The topics range from paleobotany, relationships and geographic history of Winteraceae to molecular evidence for the phylogenetic position of Takhtajania in the Winteraceae. The papers were organized by George Schatz, who provides an account of the history and rediscovery of this “Holy Grail of Malagasy botany,” and appeared in Annals 87(3). The proceedings of Coevolution, the 46th Annual Systematics Symposium, were published in Annals 88(1), and include an introduction by Victoria C. Hollowell and P. Mick Richardson. Annals 88(3) includes a comprehensive study of the phylogeny and a new subfamilial classification of the grass family (Poaceae) by the Grass Phylogeny Working Group. For more information about back issues of the Annals; instructions for authors are available on the website.

Novon, a journal devoted to the establishment of new nomenclature, is in its 11th successful year of publication. Six genera and 150 species were described as new to science from summer 2000 through summer 2001; in addition, more than 114 new nomenclatural combinations were made. Novon is issued quarterly and is included in the subscription price of the Annals; individual copies are also available for purchase. Contact MBG Press Orders for more information about purchasing copies; instructions for authors are available on the website.

Other achievements of the past year innclude the following: The translation of the Saint Louis Code into Chinese, by Guanghua Zhu, was published in June 2001. This monumental work makes the current tenets of botanical nomenclature accessible to the Chinese botanical community.

Flora of China, Volume 8, Brassicaceae through Saxifragaceae, was also published in June 2001. This volume treats the mustard (Brassicaceae), mignonette (Resedaceae), horse-radish tree (Moringaceae), bretschneidera (Bretschneideraceae), pitcher-plant (Nepenthaceae), sundew (Droseraceae), stonecrop (Crassulaceae), and saxifrage (Saxifragaceae) families, respresented in China by 1,204 species. This volume, edited by Ihsan Al-Shehbaz, Nick Turland, Mike Gilbert, Guanghua Zhu, and colleagues, is dedicated to the memory of Jane Davenport Jansen, founder and benefactor of the Quarryhill Botanical Garden. Flora of China, Volume 6, Caryophyllaceae through Lardizabalaceae, is anticipated in December 2001.

Flora of China Illustrations, Volume 18, Scrophulariaceae through Gesneriaceeae, appeared in October 2000. This volume, edited by Guanghua Zhu, Nick Turland, Ihsan Al-Shehbaz, and colleagues, accompanies text volume 18, which was published in 1998. It includes drawings representative of the Scrophulariaceae, Bignoniaceae, Pedaliaceae, Martyniaceae, Orobanchaceae, and Gesneriaceae. Flora of China Illustrations, Volume 4, Cycadaceae through Fagaceae, is in production and is scheduled for publication in early autumn 2001.

Moss Flora of China, Volume 2, Fissidentaceae through Ptychomittriaceae, was published in January 2001. This volume, edited by Si He [Editors in Chief are Gao Chien and Marshall Crosby], treats the Fissidentaceae, Calymperaceae, Encalyptaceae, Pottiaceae, and Ptychomitriaceae. The Moss Flora of China, English version, is planned as a series of eight volumes containing descriptions of all mosses known to be native or naturalized in China. It contains identification keys, illustrations of Chinese and other East Asian endemic taxa, habitat information, distributional ranges, and specimen citations.

Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana, Volume 6, edited by Paul E. Berry, Kay Yatskievych, and Bruce K. Holst, was published in February 2001. The Venezuelan Guayana is home to nearly 10,000 species of vascular plants, including many endemic species and genera. Volume 6 continues the treatment of the Spermatophyte families alphabetically from Liliaceae through Myrsinaceae, a total of 28 families. The volume treats 209 genera and 1,207 species and includes 640 line drawings.

Managing Human-Dominated Ecosystems, Proceedings of the symposium held at MBG in March 1998, was published by MBG Press as MSB 84 in February 2001. This symposium was held to celebrate the dedication of the newly opened Monsanto Center. Conference topics ranged from the characterization of ecosystem services, with examples provided from Latin America, Australia, Africa, and Madagascar, to economic values and modeling considering the monetary/commercial worth of biodiversity, of water and watersheds, of forests and forest products, and of ecosystem services.

A World Synopsis of the Genus Grimmia, by Jesús Muñoz and Francisco Pando, appeared in December 2000 as MSB 83. Grimmia is considered to comprise 71 species. This volume presents synonyms for each accepted speciess, mostly based on the study of their type material; lectotypifications of 130 names, and references to previous correct lectotypifications where appropriate; a key; and the distribution of each species, based solely on specimens studied by the authors.

Icones Pleurothallidinarum XXI, Systematics of Masdevallia, Part Two, by Carlyle A. Luer, MSB 82, also appeared in December 2000. Like Part One, Icones XIX, Part Two contains about 100 species in four sections of subgenus Masdevallia and of subgenus Pygmaeia. Each species is treated with a full-page, black and white illustration, description, citation of specimens, discussion, and distribution map.

A Treasure of Masdevallia, Volume 25, also by Carlyle A. Luer, was published in December 2000. In the same fooormat as all 24 preceding fascicles, 20 as Thesaurus Masdevalliarum, and the last four as A Treasure of Masdevallia, 15 species are presented with a full-color, watercolor painting in natural size by Stig Dalström. A page with description and discussion in both English and German faces the painting, and citation of specimens, a distribution map, and at least one black and white illustration occupy the reverse. The German translations are by Fritz Hamer, author of the Orchids of El Salvador and Orchids of Nicaragua. With TM-25, a total of 375 species of Masdevallia have been treated. An estimated 10 additional fascicles will be required to exhaust the number of species estimated for the genus.

Index to Plant Chromosome Numbers 1996–1997, edited by Peter Goldblatt and Dale E. Johnson, was published as MSB 81 in November 2000. This is the latest in the popular IPCN series. Earlier volumes in the series are available.

The past year has also provided numerous co-publishing and distribution opportunities for the Press:

Cape Plants: A Conspectus of the Cape Flora of South Africa, was co-published by the National Botanical Institute, South Africa, and MBG Press in September 2000. Cape Plants, by Peter Goldblatt and John Manning, is a complete synoptic account of the Cape flora, including ferns and fern allies, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. Keys to families and genera are also included. Species entries include a diagnostic description, flowering time, habitat, and distribution. Species are arranged alphabetically and grouped in natural clusters to facilitate identification. Cape Plants follows the most recent available treatments for all plant groups, and the accounts of several families and many genera have been contributed by specialists in those groups. An introductory essay describes the geology, climate, and the physical and floristic characteristics of the flora and includes color photos. The Garden is the official North American distributor of this title. Orders outside of North America can be purchased through the National Botanical Institute.

Flora of Pakistan, No. 203, Salicaceae, edited by S.I. Ali and M. Qaiser, was co-published by the University of Karachi and MBG Press in March 2001. The Flora series continues with the Salicaceae, including descriptions of the 26 Salix and 6 Populus species. A map of the districts of Pakistan is included, as well as keys and line drawings of 11 species. Flora of Pakistan, No. 204, Chenopodiaceae, edited by S.I. Ali and nd M. Qaiser, was co-published by the University of Karachi and MBG Press, in May 2001. The Chenopodiaceae are represented by 35 genera and ca. 106 species in Pakistan. This volume includes a map of the districts of Pakistan as well as keys and 32 pages of illustrations.

Footsteps in the Forest: Alfred Russel Wallace in the Amazon, by Sandy Knapp, was published in 1999. MBG Press became the official North American distributor for this Natural History Museum, London, title in 2000. The British naturalist Alfredd Russel Wallace set out for the Amazon in 1848 to collect natural history specimens. During his time there, he spent almost two years traveling up the Rio Negro, a region few Europeans had explored. A fire on the return journey to England destroyed all of his collections but among the possessions rescued was a collection of sketches of fish, later presented to The Natural History Museum of London. This book is an account of Wallace’s expedition describing the naturalist in the making, the tragic loss of his collections, and how this affected his future. Throughout the book the role of chance in the making of naturalists and in the course of science in general is explored. The work is illustrated with his fish sketches, palm drawings, and scenes of life in the Amazon.

Staff of MBG Press Editorial Office: Victoria Hollowell is the Scientific Editor and Head of the Press; Amy S. McPherson is Managing Editor; Diana Gunter is Associate Editor; Aida Kadunic is Senior Secretary; and Barbara Mack, Administrative Assistant, is Text Formatter for titles in the Garden's book series and assists in manuscript preparation for the two journals.

MBG Press Orders: Sales, marketing, and distribution of MBG Press titles are handled by Christine Turland and Brian Gardner. To order a book or to request information about a title, call at 314-577-9534; fax: 314-577-9591; email: mbgpress@mobot.org.

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News from MO 2001 was created by Kathy Hurlbert, Leslie Miller, Eloise Cannady and Mary Merello (October 2001) and placed on the MOBOT webserver 1/22/02.

 

 
 
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