Canadian Botanical Research Articles

Early Canadian Botanical Photography at the Exposition universelle, Paris 1867

Sites et végétaux du Canada was an early photographic experiment in botanical illustration. Presented at the 1867 Paris exposition, the album’s 35 albumen prints were part of the Canadian displays. The photographs were a collaborative effort between Joseph-Charles Taché, Canada’s Executive-Secretary at the exposition; Louis-Ovide Brunet, a Catholic priest and botany professor at the Université Laval; and Livernois & Cie, a Québec City photography studio. Previous work has considered the album as the aesthetic accomplishment of Jules-Isaïe Benoît dit Livernois, excluding Taché and Brunet from the art historical narrative. In this paper, I consider the album’s political and botanical contexts, and viewership, to more clearly situate the album in the visual culture of early Canadian science. In its representation of Canadian landscapes and native-plant specimens, the album effectively employed photography to present Canada as a centre of cutting-edge scientific investigation.

Remembering W. Alan Charlton: a great friend and supporter of Canadian botany

Alan Charlton was born in Prestwich (Manchester, England) on the 27th of December, 1938, and died in the South Lake District town of Ulverston, England, on the 8th of July, 2013. Although Alan was born, lived, and worked in and aroundManchester, England, for most of his life, he was to some extent a Canadian at heart. During his long and distinguished career as an outstanding botanical researcher, Alan seemed to have one foot firmly planted in Canada. He received a Master's degree at the University of Saskatchewan, published 28 articles in the Canadian Journal of Botany (now Botany), and collaboratedwith andmentored many members of the Canadian Botanical Association / Association Botanique du Canada (CBA/ABC). In fact, Alan was a member of the CBA/ABC for many years, attending and contributing to numerous meetings. Alan’s parents came from the North East of England, the area around Newcastle-upon-Tyne whose residents are colloquially referred to as Geordies. His father was a research chemist with Imperial Chemical Industries and his mother was trained in domestic science at a well-established regional college. Alan received a scholarship to attend Bury Grammar School and then spent a year at Salford Technical College. He was a keen longdistance cyclist and very involved in building and flying model aircraft and keeping tropical fish. In 1957, Alan entered The University of Manchester to study Botany. He graduated in 1960 with a First Class degree in Botany and then moved on to the University of Saskatchewan at Saskatoon to work on his M.Sc. with Taylor Steeves. At this stage, Alan’s tremendous interest in plant morphogenesis developed and various aspects of it formed the basis of his research for the rest of his career. In Saskatoon, his focus was on the roots of the weedy species Linaria vulgaris. Alan’s respect and affection for Taylor were very deep and he kept in close touch with him for the rest of his life. In 1962, Alan returned to Manchester. The work from his masters was published in 1966 in the Canadian Journal of Botany in a series of two articles, “The root system of Linaria vulgaris Mill.: I. Morphology and anatomy” and “The root system of Linaria vulgarisMill.: II. Differentiation of root types”. At The University of Manchester, he began his Ph.D. studies with Professor Claude Wardlaw, probably the foremost plant morphogeneticist at that time. In 1964, Alan was awarded a Ph.D. degree. His thesis was entitled, “Anatomical and experimental investigations of roots of the Linaria vulgaris Mill.” After obtaining his Ph.D., Alan was appointed as lecturer at The University of Manchester and continued his research. He also met a young graduate student, Anne Turner, who was completing her Ph.D. with Wardlaw. They married on the 22nd of September, 1965. After graduating, Anne also took up a position at The University of Manchester but she moved away from the study of plants and established an internationally renowned research group focusing on cancer education, which was closely associated with Cancer Research UK. Anne’s work with children and smoking became world famous and she was duly recognized with a professorship, becoming Professor of Cancer Health Education in the Medical School. As can be seen from Alan’s M.Sc. and Ph.D., his first interests were dicot roots but he soon moved on to water plants, specifically at that stage in the 1960s to Echinodorus tenellus. This was the first of a series of papers on the Alismataceae in which he described the development of the shoots of Echinodorus and the developmental stages leading to the reproductive phase. There would be a remarkable 12 papers in the Alismataceae series, all published in the Canadian Journal of Botany and ending in 2004with the paper, “Alismataceae. XII. Floral organogenesis in Damasonium alisma and Baldellia ranunculoides, and comparison with Butomus umbellatus”. Always interested in the mathematics of plants and their development, several of Alan’s research studies had a mathematical basis. Because he considered that studies on stomatal development inmonocot leaves were lagging behind those of dicots, Alan studied stomatal patterns in Chlorophytum comosum, Galanthus nivalis, Schizostylis coccinea, and Scilla lanicifolia in the mid 1980s, publishing the work in Annals of Botany. Mathematics also played an important role in the investigation of primary vascular patterns in root meristems in Pontederia iii

History of the series on the Biology of Canadian Weeds

In the mid-1960s the founding of the Canadian Botanical Association provided a forum for the discussion of new botanical initiatives in Canada. At that time there was, coincidentally, a much increased interest in several areas of botany that had previously been little studied or ignored (e.g., plant autecology, plant population biology). As a result, many research projects became focused on individual species or small groups of closely related species. Botanists studying the native flora as well as those working with weed species became aware of the need for the compilation of all available information on important species, essentially in the format pioneered in Great Britain in the ‘‘Biological Flora of the British Isles’’. Botanists from the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa (the Plant Research Institute) and the Botany Department at the University of Western Ontario in London decided to prepare a manuscript format for a Canadian version of the Biological Flora. Gerald Mulligan and Paul Cavers agreed to undertake this work. The initial plan was to ask the Editorial Board of the Canadian Journal of Botany to initiate a series with a tentative title ‘‘The Biological Flora of Canada’’. However, the Editor of the Canadian Journal of Botany did not accept this proposal. When we re-examined all the letters and other material received while the original proposal was being prepared, it was evident that by far the greatest support had come from scientists studying weeds and invasive plant species. In particular, many members of the Canada Weed Committee (later known as the Expert Committee on Weeds and currently as the Canadian Weed Science Society) enthusiastically recommended that this series be established. The Agricultural Institute of Canada, publishers of the Canadian Journal of Plant Science, agreed to publish the series under the title ‘‘The Biology of Canadian Weeds’’. We quickly revised the manuscript format to include aspects of weed biology not featured in the original proposal and published it in July 1972 (Cavers, P. B. and Mulligan, G. A. 1972. A new series The Biology of Canadian Weeds. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 52: 651 654). Gerry Mulligan was the first Editor of the series and Paul Cavers took the lead in finding authors and maintaining a list of Accounts in Preparation. The first account, published in October 1973, dealt with sheep-laurel (Kalmia angustifolia L.), a native species that is a weed of lowbush blueberry fields and pastures in eastern Canada. Since then, more than 150 accounts have been published, many on two or more species. In recent years, updates of several of the early accounts have been published. These updated accounts incorporate information on well-studied species published after the original account appeared. The series was popular from the outset, in fact there was such a great demand for many articles that the authors’ stocks of reprints soon were exhausted. In 1979, a book containing the first 32 accounts in the series was published by Agriculture Canada. Gerald Mulligan was the Editor and Compiler. In 1984, a second volume containing the next 29 accounts, with the same Editor/ Compiler and publisher, was printed. Volumes 3, 4 and 5 were published with Paul Cavers as the Editor/ Compiler by the Agricultural Institute of Canada in 1995, 2000 and 2005. In total, 129 original accounts plus three updated accounts were published in these five volumes (Table 1). In 2003, a new complimentary series was started, ‘‘The Biology of Invasive Alien Plants in Canada’’, in response to an expanding need for information on plants newly established or showing increased expansion in Canada, but for which there may be relatively little information available in a Canadian context. This series was intended to be similar in style and scope, but to concentrate on non-native plant species that have been more recently introduced into Canada than many of our common agricultural weeds, and for which there is substantial evidence that they may generate adverse economic impacts and management difficulties in agricultural systems or a broader landscape. The format for the Biology of Canadian Weeds has changed little over the years. Each contribution consists of 13 sections. The first section lists the currently accepted scientific name and the English and French vernacular names plus any synonyms that appear in the weed literature. The second section begins with a brief

Jack Lamont Mclachlan (1 April 1930–13 December 2010)

On Dec 13, 2010, the phycological community lost one of its most distinguished members, with the passing of Jack L. McLachlan. McLachlan was born April 1, 1930, in Huron, SD, and lived in that state until his family moved to Anacortes, WA, in 1938. His postsecondary education was undertaken first at Western Washington College in Bellingham and then at Oregon State College, Corvallis. There he earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees, completing his PhD in 1957 on culture and autecology of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, under the direction of Harry K. Phinney. Teaching was a large part of McLachlan's career and, like most National Research Council of Canada scientists, he had cross-appointments to local universities as a lecturer and student research supervisor, the latter being supported in part by his external research grants. Among other major honors McLachlan received were election to the Royal Society of Canada (1979) and the George Lawson Medal from the Canadian Botanical Association, for cumulative lifetime contributions to Canadian botany (1992).

2008 American Society of Naturalists Awards

Previous articleNext article Free2008 American Society of Naturalists Awards Sewall Wright AwardSpencer BarrettJanis AntonovicsJanis AntonovicsUniversity of Virginia Search for more articles by this author University of VirginiaPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreIn 2008, the American Society of Naturalists honored Spencer Barrett with the Sewall Wright Award, which recognizes an active midcareer or senior investigator who has made major contributions to the conceptual unification of the biological sciences. Spencer Barrett has contributed enormously to our understanding of the forces driving evolutionary transitions in plant mating systems. He has carried out extensive field studies on the evolution of selfing, dioecy, and mechanisms involved in pollen donation, receipt, and mating compatibility. This work has greatly broadened our understanding of floral evolution, the origins of dioecy, and the evolution of plant breeding systems. He has elegantly shown that floral characteristics can evolve through mechanisms that increase the efficiency of pollen transmission or receipt as well as through mechanisms that regulate different levels of outcrossing.In the true tradition of Sewall Wright, he has shown that knowledge of both genetics and population substructuring are absolute prerequisites for understanding the evolution of mating systems. His work on the evolution of floral polymorphism in water hyacinths is a tour de force showing how population differences are determined by the direct interplay of pollinator activity, the magnitude of genetic drift in founding populations, and the underlying genetics of the polymorphism. This work on the pathways of breakdown of tristyly to different distylous and monomorphic populations constitutes perhaps the most complete example of the real‐world operation of processes central to Sewall Wright’s shifting balance theory. He has also made important contributions to our understanding of species invasions, especially the idea that these invasions are likely to be accompanied by substantial genetic change. Indeed, this pioneering work was crucial in bringing the impact of plant invasions to the forefront of the consciousness of biologists and the general public.Spencer Barrett is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a recipient of a Merit Award from the Botanical Society of America. Recently, he received the Lawson Medal from the Canadian Botanical Association in recognition of his lifetime contributions to Canadian botany. He has also been a recipient of an outstanding teacher award at the University of Toronto and has mentored numerous graduate students and postdocs who are now leading researchers throughout the world. Throughout his research, he has combined a thorough mix of field observations, experiments, and theory, all of which have been strongly grounded in a broad knowledge of natural history. He incorporates rigor and imagination, combines theory with empiricism, and has a breadth that reflects a true integration of population genetics, ecology, systematics, and applied biology. For these many reasons, the American Society of Naturalists considers him to be an ideal recipient of the Sewall Wright Award. Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The American Naturalist Volume 173, Number 1January 2009 Published for The American Society of Naturalists Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/593708 Views: 266Total views on this site © 2008 by The University of Chicago.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Medicinal plants used by the Inuit of Qikiqtaaluk (Baffin Island, Nunavut)This paper was submitted for the Special Issue on Ethnobotany, inspired by the Ethnobotany Symposium organized by Alain Cuerrier, Montréal Botanical Garden, and held in Montréal at the 2006 annual meeting of the Canadian Botanical Association/l’Association Botanique du Canada.

The traditional medicinal uses of plants by the Inuit of Nunavut, Canada were analysed using quantitative ethnobotanical methodology. Traditional knowledge was collected during interviews with volunteer Inuit informants and from historical interview transcripts. A total of 13 different species were mentioned, which included 1 moss, 1 algae, 1 fungus, and 10 vascular plant species. An informant consensus index value, Fic > 0.7, for many use categories revealed a high level of informant agreement, consistent with a well-preserved oral tradition and low flora biodiversity. The documentation of this information is a useful tool for the preservation of Inuit culture, as well as for the integration of Inuit traditional medicine with Western medical practices in Arctic communities (Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, IQ).

Plants and habitats — a consideration of Dene ethnoecology in northwestern CanadaThis paper was submitted for the Special Issue on Ethnobotany, inspired by the Ethnobotany symposium organized by Alain Cuerrier, Montréal Botanical garden, and held in Montréal at the 2006 annual meeting of the Canadian Botanical Association/l’Association botanique du Canada.

This paper discusses local understanding of plants and habitats, based on the linguistic evidence [terms for plants and (or) habitats] gathered from ethnobotanical and ethnoecological field work conducted with several Dene Nations of the Canadian northwestern boreal forest and adjacent regions. Nations involved in the study include Gwich’in (Mackenzie Delta Region), Sahtú’otine’ (Great Bear Lake), Kaska Dena (southern Yukon), and Witsuwit’en (northwest British Columbia). Key plant-related habitats include meadow, “swamp”, forest, “willows”, and “brush”. The ethnobotanical classification of willows is explored in conjunction with the explanation of the Dene habitat concept. In local classifications, ‘willow’ is not co-extensive with the genus Salix , but includes a variety of medium to tall woody shrubs that lack either conspicuous flowers, ‘berries’, or thorns; these may include shrubby species of Salix, Alnus , Cornus , and Betula . Shoreline and alpine environments are also discussed as plant habitats. Dene use of alpine environments and resources is ancient, according to the results of recent alpine ice patch research in the Yukon region. The Human dimensions of habitat knowledge are presented. Indigenous concepts of plant taxa and of landscape associations or habitats may differ substantially from those of scientific botany and ecology, and are based in a holistic and interactive ethnoecology.

From complex to simple: balsamroot, inulin, and the chemistry of traditional Interior Salish pit-cooking technologyThis paper was submitted for the Special Issue on Ethnobotany, inspired by the Ethnobotany Symposium organized by Alain Cuerrier, Montréal Botanical Garden, and held in Montréal at the 2006 annual meeting of the Canadian Botanical Association/l’Association Botanique du Canada.

This paper presents the results of an experiment replicating traditional Interior Salish pit-cooking methods to process balsamroot ( Balsamorhiza sagittata (Pursh) Nutt.), a former food staple that contains the complex carbohydrate inulin. Analysis of fresh and cooked balsamroot samples reveals that with sufficient heat, moisture, and the release of volatile organic acids, inulin is hydrolyzed during pit cooking. This process converts complex carbohydrates into simple ones, resulting in an increase of 250% in the energy provided by simple sugars. When the average energy contributions of protein, simple and complex carbohydrates are tallied, the net result is an energy gain of approximately 65% between fresh and pit-cooked balsamroot. This research demonstrates the effectiveness of ancient pit-cooking practices in transforming unpalatable and inedible root resources into sweet-tasting, highly digestible sources of carbohydrate energy and supports my assertion that this processing technology was a key component of the wild plant food production systems of Interior Salish Peoples.

Documenting ancient plant management in the northwest of North AmericaThis paper was submitted for the Special Issue on Ethnobotany, inspired by the Ethnobotany Symposium organized by Alain Cuerrier, Montréal Botanical Garden, and held in Montréal at the 2006 annual meeting of the Canadian Botanical Association.

Ethnographic literature documents the pervasiveness of plant-management strategies, such as prescribed burning and other kinds of cultivation, among Northwest Peoples after European contact. In contrast, definitive evidence of precontact plant management has been elusive. Documenting the nature and extent of precontact plant-management strategies has relevance to historians, archaeologists, managers, conservationists, forest ecologists, and First Nations. In this paper, we summarize the various lines of evidence that have been, or could be, used to document ancient cultivation in the northwest of North America. We organize this discussion by the ecological consequences of ancient plant-management practices and their documented or potential visibility in the paleo-, neo-ecological, and archaeological records. Our review demonstrates that while finding evidence of ancient plant management can be difficult, such evidence can be found when innovative research methods are applied. Further, when various independent lines of evidence are compiled, reconstructions of past plant-management strategies are strengthened considerably.

“Where our women used to get the food”: cumulative effects and loss of ethnobotanical knowledge and practice; case study from coastal British ColumbiaThis paper was submitted for the Special Issue on Ethnobotany, inspired by the Ethnobotany Symposium organized by Alain Cuerrier, Montreal Botanical Garden, and held in Montreal at the 2006 annual meeting of the Canadian Botanical Association.

Knowledge and practices of indigenous peoples relating to local plants used for food, medicine, materials, and other purposes are threatened in many parts of the world. The reasons for declining knowledge and use of traditional resources are complex and multifaceted. We review a series of case examples of culturally valued food plants in British Columbia and identify a suite of interacting social and environmental factors that have resulted in decreased use of and dwindling cultural knowledge about these plants over the past 150 years. Reasons for this loss include compounding influences of changing knowledge systems owing to religious conversion and residential schools, loss of indigenous languages, loss of time and opportunity for traditional practices owing to participation in the wage economy, increasing urbanization of indigenous populations, loss of access to traditional resources, restriction of management practices for sustaining these resources, and most recently, forces of globalization and industrialization. Efforts to renew and restore traditional practices and relationships with plants and environments must recognize the cumulative effects of these factors and find ways to retain and reinforce the knowledge and practices still held by individuals and communities, to reverse some of the negative influences on cultural retention, and to develop new, relevant, and effective ways to revitalize languages, cultures, and ethnobotanical knowledge within contemporary contexts.

Reflections on lichenology: achievements over the last 40 years and challenges for the future

In June 2000, at the joint meeting of the Canadian Botanical Association and the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists, the author of this review was presented with the George Lawson Medal for lifelong contributions to botany and was invited to prepare a special contribution for the Canadian Journal of Botany. Subsequently, an invitation was received to give the Swinscow Lecture to the British Lichen Society and the Linnean Society in London. This commentary is a written version of that January 2001 lecture and presents a personalized view of developments in those areas of lichenology studied by the author during a career in Canada and other parts of the world. Aspects touched upon include lichen identification, spore dispersal, nutrient transfer between the symbionts, water relations, and lichen strategies in particular climatic regions. The value of lichens for monitoring pollutants is noted, and the developing problem of lichen conservation is discussed. Finally, a plea is made regarding the value of field teaching and field excursions with respect to recruiting the next generation of lichenologists.Key words: lichens, asci, carbohydrate transfer, ecophysiology, pollution, old-growth forests, lichen societies.

Introduction

The genus Carex includes the sedges that dominate wetlands, pastures, prairies, tundra, and the herb layer of temperate forests. These plants are not only frequently dominant in terms of biomass in plant communities, but they are also prominent in terms of numbers of species. Carex is one of the largest genera in the Canadian flora with approximately 300 species, and consequently almost one-tenth of the native vascular plants of Canada are sedges. In North America there are about 500 species. Worldwide, there may be as many as 2000 species.The results of the recently increasing interest in Carex include regional taxonomic treatments, simplified identification, and many improvements to classification. Basic taxonomic work was supported through the application of chemical, anatomical, and cytological techniques. The first detailed ecological studies of Carex have been completed, and much general ecological information has accumulated. Many scientists are now actively involved in research concerning Carex, and the recent and rapid growth of this research area suggests that a review of the subject will be of value, not only to the researchers involved, but also to the general botanist.On 16 June 1987, the Systematics and Phytogeography section of the Canadian Botanical Association/l'Association botanique du Canada hosted a symposium to review major aspects of Carex research and outline appropriate directions for future study in each area. We are pleased to offer the presented papers to a wider audience as a record of the first international symposium on the systematics and ecology of one of the largest and least well known genera of plants in the temperate regions of the world.

Seed Biology Canadian Botanical Association and Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists Joint Symposium June 21 and 26, 1982 University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan

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BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA and CANADIAN BOTANICAL ASSOCIATION

American Journal of BotanyVolume 70, Issue 2 p. 311-314 Botanical Society of America and Canadian Botanical Association BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA and CANADIAN BOTANICAL ASSOCIATION First published: 01 February 1983 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1537-2197.1983.tb07873.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume70, Issue2February 1983Pages 311-314 RelatedInformation

Species Collected in Alberta on the First 1971 Foray of the American Bryological and Lichenological Society. Part I. Introduction and Lichens

This report presents an annotated list of the 206 lichen taxa collected in the foothills and mountains of Alberta, on Field Trip 2 of the joint meetings of the Canadian Botanical Society and the American Institute of Biological Sciences. Included are 44 taxa that have not previously been reported from the province and one species, Solorinella asteriscus, that is new to North America. The foray, which had 13 collection stops, was over a 645 mile long route with an elevation range of 2200-7000 feet from Calgary, through Rocky Mountain House and Jasper, to Edmonton. Also included is a description of the vegetation of the area. Fifty-three people (Fig. 1) took part in Field Trip 2 of the joint meetings of the Canadian Botanical Society and the American Institute of Biological Sciences. The foray, 18-20 June 1971, was exciting as it was through a floristically rich region that had received little lichenological and bryological study. The response to this challenge was excellent; 45 additions to the lichen flora of the province were discovered, including one species, Solorinella asteriscus, that was new to North America.

Species Collected in Alberta on the First 1971 Foray of the American Bryological and Lichenological Society. Part II. Bryophytes

In June 1971 the Canadian Botanical Association and the American Institute of Biological Sciences held their first joint meeting, in Edmonton, Alberta. The pre-meeting field trip (No. 2) of the American Bryological and Lichenological Society consisted of 13 collecting stops in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and foothills in the Banff-Jasper area of Alberta. The participants collected 112 taxa of mosses and 42 of hepatics. Of these, Hylocomium pyrenaicum, Oligotrichum hercynicum, and Moerkia blyttii were collected for the first time in Alberta. Field trip number 2 of the first joint meeting of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and the Canadian Botanical Association was held 18-20 June 1971. Fifty-three scientists participated in the trip which contained 13 collecting stops in the Canadian Rocky Mountains and eastern foothills between Calgary and Edmonton. Part I (Bird, 1973) of this series gives a description of the general area in which the trip was held and includes an annotated list of the 206 lichen taxa collected on the trip.

Abstracts of Papers to be Presented at the Interdisciplinary Meeting of the Canadian Botanical Association and the Botanical Society of America at the University of Alberta, June 20-24, 1971

Abstracts of Papers to be Presented at the Interdisciplinary Meeting of the Canadian Botanical Association and the Botanical Society of America at the University of Alberta, June 20-24, 1971

Plan to Attend the Joint Meeting of The Canadian Botanical Association L'Association Botanique du Canada and The American Institute of Biological Sciences

Plan to Attend the Joint Meeting of The Canadian Botanical Association L'Association Botanique du Canada and The American Institute of Biological Sciences Get access BioScience, Volume 21, Issue 5, 1 March 1971, Pages 234–236, https://doi.org/10.1093/bioscience/21.5.234 Published: 01 March 1971