WYOMING NATIVE PLANT SocteTY Box 1471 Cheyenne, WY 82003 Voluse 10, Number 1 October 1990 Treasurer's Report ~ salance as of May 11, 1990: $153.79; deposits: dues 999.00, T-shirt sales §12.00, scholarship fund $60.50; disburseaents: newletter printing $i4-64; new balance as of October 15, 1990: $310+65. BD Anowal Meeting - The anual meeting vas called to order by Vice-President Brnie Nelson at Fost Greek Picnic Ground ta the Big Horn Mountains at 8:40 om on July 21, 1990. “leven persons were in attendance. The folloving offieure were elected for the coming year: President ~ Nell Snow, Vice-President - Nancy Mastning, Secretary-Teeagurer - Robert Dor, Boatd Member — Mary Neighbours Hollis Mirciote is the carryover Board Meaber- No unfinished or new business was brought up. Next year's seeting was scheduled for the Big Horm Cauyou = Pryor Mountatas area around June 20. Jerry Maatel oved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Jounlfer Whipple, spproved unaniaousiy. RD Book Review Colorado Flora: Eastern Slope by Willtan A. Weber, 1990, mavi + 396 pp + 101 Wp. of Line dravinga + ST pp- of coloved plates, Ustvorsicy Press of Colorado, Ps 0. Box 849, Niwot, CD 80364, Cloth $32.50, Paper $19-95- Bill Weber’ has completed an’ up-to-date synthesis of the Colorado flora vith this ew book which eonplinenes his recent Colorade Flora: Western Slope. ‘The Rev Eastern Slope book covers nearly 2/3 of the state and aade fone Teacures ot found in the Western Slope book, nanely sections on How to Collect aad Preserve Botanical Speciseus, Plant identifieation, iow to Use the keys, and Sone Basic Terminology. The Introduction provides @ discussion of the physiography and florsetic eleaests found on the eastern slope along. vith spectal habitats and characteristic plants. The text is Iike that ia the Western Slope book vith bracketed Leys: Fauilies are arranged alphebet ically fm the three ajor groups of Ferae and Fern Allies, Gyancaperas, and Angiosperas. Subspecses and varieties are included but poscibly wot ia ‘every case. The Line dravings are all together on 101 pages following the keys and fare referenced in the keys." Sisy-four colored plates ate iacluied in two groups and referenced in the Keys. Some of tho colored plates are a bit dart, ‘and ore of the common and showy wildflovers might have been better to inelude rather than the pletures of paper bizeh, willows, and the Tpomoea toot, Six of fo traditional fanities are split into additional fauiiives which can be justified to cone extent. More questionable 1s Weber's genoroelty with genera’ Host users vith any previous knowledge of pleat’ games will Likely be Ssappoiated with the many segregate genera that are recogoised. Although this isnue' is extrenely complies, 2 review would be incoaplete withow addressing. It oue ust refer to Weber's iestern Slope book to acquire a better understanding fof why he chose to tocogmize these aegregace genera Weber quotes from Davis and Gilmartin, "species concepts have evolved to the point that morphology is now considered one of the weaker criteria of 'erue’ speciation. In adhering to a biological species concept the significance of sorphological change in the speciation process can be trivialized on definitional grounds." He then adds his om view that, “The sane way be satd of goueric concepts.” That 1s 4 faulty assumption in ay view because there 12 4 najor fundamental difference between the Task of specieo and the rank of Bens, The species Le the bueie taxonomic unit, the genus 1s not- Weber alco States that, "ve must remenber that s sclentific naae 19 4 concise expression of a point of view, and that taxonomists are aa entitled co differing opiatons fis any other sclontista.” One cannot disagree too strongly wich the ststement by itself. Disagreement arises in bow this entitlenent 12 pur to use: weber apparentiy nae forgotten that the original reason for plane naues wa elaply For communication, not for expressing opinions. I don't believe that a. book ‘such a5 Colorado Flora is the place to offer one's ditferieg opinions unless ehey aca backed up by Justification from experiaental evidence or other research or a direct reference to that evidence. Weber does discuss the inportance of aodern blosyateaatie research, but he cites sone to back up hts opinions. tather, he falls back on the opinions of 18th, 19thy and eerily” 20eh century botanists’ who based their decisions on « knowledge of che flora that ‘wes much Inferior ¢o our om. Those pioneering days are gone, forever ta North Aneriea. T (and apparently most other bocaniate in the region) must agree withArthur Cronquist, “Since the rank {s sot inherent in supraspecific groups, it fe only by giving some veight to custom ebat any stability in the taxonoaie Scheae cen ever be achieved. A good operating principle fs to maintain the Selocing classification shenaver'1t can be defended on aatural grounds, and £0 Sold changing the rank of groupe Af no significant change in the concept of their relatienship to each other and to other groupe is involved” (The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants, 1968, p. 31). Furtheraore, The Tntersatlomal Code of Botanlcal Noweuclature’ “nine at the provision of & stable pethod of amlig tatonomic gioups, avoiding and rejecting the use of hanes which may cause etvor oF anbiguity or throw science into confusion” (from Preanble, aphasia tine), "The only proper reasons for changing a name are Gliher a wore profount Koovledge of che facts resulting from adequate taxonomic Study ot the necessity of giving up a nomenclature that is contrary to the Coles” (from Preamble); In nearly ali eases, Webor has not denonstrated either Of these. if taxonomic ranks are so iaportent, then vhy has be mot gone back to a phylogenetic rather than alphabecie arrangement of the families and genera? Holsh (A Ussh Ploca, p- 2) some t up im one sentence, "Sone vill wish Eovdissect the genera into ever sualler units, based on various tangible and Gncongibie features, a0 if guch restructuring was of teenendous importance.” The debate will Likely continve Despite the inconventence of these sogrogace geuera, Weber's new book Ss otherwise perfectly ueeful- Ac Least partial syoonyay is provided so that if One wishes co use aore generally accepted nases, it 18 possible to do so by Feferring to other floras in the region or fo Harrington's Colorado Manual get the complete naaes and spellings ‘Afew other shortcosinge were noted- Typos are relatively few snd aostly sasigaificant. The Glossary pege number (just above figure on p. 1d) vas not [Eserted in the final deafe, one of those things all authors worry about and tore doesn't happen. On page 287 under Ipomopeis, Verne Grand shovid be Grant. On pose 287, the nuaber 1a parentheses in Tead Tb. of the Ipomopeis key should Spoateatly’ be (5) rather than (B)> On Plate 35, an 70" ie miseing in colored: on page 312 under Teaucverteria, an "I" is missing in Sgrotiitensiss tn Figure 63, the “Cr ir aissiag on the plate. Soae errors Sere asted- "dn page svi, leat full poragraph, note chat Carcx Iivida is know Tron beth Wyoaing and Woscana, whieh ate bardiy 1a "boreal Worth America." On page 46, che Apiaceae have 5 sepals, petals, and stamens, not 4. On page 179, Titnynadue soutanuy should bef. robuatus.” Euphorbsa wontana’ Engel. was & [atv loaboje of E: montana Raf. “Euphorbia robusta dates from 1897, 9 years before Tenypalue Someenua, co cho apithet robusta must be used when the eo ate coubiaeds Os pays 238, che original spelling of penssylvanica (Fraxinus) bas co a'a- On page 242, “Oz eeespstosa .-.” should be deleted from Key lead Yas On page 290, the authors for Phlox pulvinata are (Wherry) Crong. On page 315, Framguia albus has never boon ia the alder genus Alouz ae the sycone indicates bot dhoula rather be Rhamnus frangula. On page 319, the auchore for Oreobatus deLictorss should be (Torrey) Ryab- On page 329,” che authors for Selix lucida aep- caudate and ssp. lasiandra should be (Jutt.) Murray and Giesthin) Murray, Tespectively. Tha term "endenic™ is either used rather Soocely or in orcas. One ‘would anmume “endemic to Colorado” but arbourla Erachypleura (p+ 50), Grindalia subalpine (p- 87), and Eciogonum exilifoliua (ps 298) all occur se Wyouing’ it appears as ff Weber does not possess 2 copy of the aost recent tuternstionsl Code of Sotanses! Nogenclature, or eariter versions for that Gaiters oF else be has aot studied then.” The basionya of Descurainia Hehardoonii ‘ie illegitinate (Art. 32, fx. 3) requiring a nev mane. The gender ‘SP Melslotue was fixed as masculine (Art. 76-1) eo the correct spelling 1s Heiilotus stows. The bagloaym of Alysoum ainus io {Llegitinate (Art. 45, Ex. Ty requiring a diferent aame- Weber's ciaplifying of author citations involving "ex" 12 contrary to the Code (Are. 6.3). One algo wonders how well fe hae checked the botanical Literature. Under Cagteolychnie Kingit be eeatee Thats “ehere hap’ bees no serious revision ceceitly Toes be consider Bocquet's 361 pene revision in 1969 not serious of aot recent, or hag he lost Comunication eatively by using the genus cane of Gastrolychnis? Schrader's publication of Eeitrichon war ‘oot valid. The eatTfest valldation used the Spelling Sriccichium, correctly gives 1a Index Nouiuum Genericorun. Astrag#lus [Saehocaspus, clearly mapped on the eastern elope in Barneby's Atlas, is wot ineluded 18 M49 book Despite the incouventences and errors in the book, we are fortunate chat Weber has put in writing bis 43 years of experience vith ehe Colorado flora £0 that ell of us might benefit from 4¢- The University Press of Colorade te to be comented for making the book available ata reasonable price. Tt is a Sergain even for those with ooly « peripheral interest in planta. 8 ‘ee Included flyer for WUPS amber discount for this book: 2Wyoming Plant Faniltes ~ Planes are classified using a hierarchy of categories. ‘The highest category is Kingdom which inclules all plante. The Plast ingen is contrasced to the Aninal Kingdom. Under the Plant Kingdom se a nusber of Divisions. Exauplee are Division Fuggi which includes ushvcoma and molds, Division Polypodiophyca which includes ferns, and Division Magoliophyes which includes the flovering plants. There are around 17 divisions inthe Plant Kingdom, but Division Magnoliophyta (floveriag plants) accounts for over balf of ali spocies in the oncire Plast Kingdom. ach ¢iviaion 1a divided into Gia Diviston Magooliophyca contains only two classes, Clase Magnoliopsida ‘and Claas Liltopsida, commonly known as dicots and aonocote. Each clase ie 4ivided tato Orders, and each order ia divided into Families. When stteuptiag to ddeatify the bigher plants, one nomally stares with the tantly. The higher categories listed above are generally irrelevant with vaapect to idoncificacion. Each family is divided into Genera, and each genus is divides into Species. the spectos ts the basic unit for claseification- Looking at classification from the botton up, # group of related species constitutes a Genus, 4 group of related genera constitutes @ family, a group of related fantiles constitutes an order, and so on up to Kingdon. ALL the wala, cstogories can be further subdivided, so ve can have Subkingdon, Subdfyision, Subelass, Suborder, Subfamily, Subgenus, and Subspecies. These in turn cat bo subdivided yielding categories Like Tribe, Section, and Variaty: Many auazeurs are interested 1a being able to identity the higher plants but sre overubelmed by the number of species, nearly 2400 ia Wyoming alone- The higher animals can be learned one at a tise bacause there are tot very aaty (about 117 mamnais, 600 birda, 34 reptiles and amphibians, and 78 fish 1a Wyoning). To learn the plants in this manner da inefficient snd often frosteatiag. “Te te much easter to first mageer the Mgher categories auch a2 family, of which chere 1s 4 aanageable qumber (120 ta Wyoming)» in fact, it te even easter than it first appears since, in Wyoming, tuo families account for 25 percent of. the species, six fan{lies account for 50 percent of the species, and cighteen fentlies account for 75 percent of the species. Being able to Facognize uly 20 faatiies means that 6 out of every 10 species can be placed ina family. Once these fev famillee are aastered, thea one can work on the genera In each fantly and ultinately che species tn each genus Tels new series in the newletter will look at the aajor families of higher plants in #yoming with ao aia at providing a means to aaster the 20 of 9 fan{iles tha account for 60 percent of the species. Tvo families will be covered in each newolecter. Since the nevlecters appear largely outeide the Broving season, it will be best to save each newletter until sumer and take thea into the field where living plante can be studied directly. This gives Sle fanilies to vork with che fleet sumer which will account for 1 of every 2 Species. Those Living outside Wyoaing can participate as well, since these Same fan{lies tend to dominate the vegetation over mich of North America Foaily 1: Asteraceae (alternate name: Compositae), Sunflower Panily This 1s the largest family of flovering planes in Wyoming and probably {n the world. In Wyoming there are about 400 ‘species. Included are comon plants Like the dandelion, sagebrush, aster, thistie, daisy, sunflower, goldearod, coneflower, and ragweed. In this family, what ie commonly called a flower by the layman te really an aggregation of aany flowers. Refer to the sunflower 1a Figure A. The twelve rays radiating from the center are each individual flowers, one of which ie showa 1a detail in Figure D and is called a ray Hover." At the center in Pigure A is an agacegation of disk flowers. bette Seon in the sectional view of Figure B and as a single individual tn Pigure © (Geteils aay be slightly different in ountlower). ‘The dandelion has oaly tay Mowers while the sagebrush has ouly disk lovers. They all have one thing 40 common, @ series of tnvolucral bracts enclosing the flowers (soe Figure C) called’ collectively the involuere. The comon term “sunflower seed” really rofers co tho fruit of a siugle Flower 1n a sunflower head (collective tera £0 Involucre and the enclosed flowers). The vechnical cers for this kind of fruit is achene. ote that the achene 1s borue below the corolla (collective tera for petals) 50 Is considered interior (below corolla)-~ [Fruits enclosed by the corolla are considered superior (above base of corolla), but this typo of arrangeaent does ‘not occur in this faaily.] One other characteristic 1s faportant in the family. The stamens (pollen bearing male structures, Figure 4B) are usually 5 in number and ‘Usually united to form s tube around the atyle~ In tome species che heads contain only flowers with male parts (stenens) oF vith only female parte (ovary, style, stignas). In other species the ray Flowers say have pares from oly one vex while the disk flowers have both. 1 4 few species some of the Flowers (especially the rays) may be nelther male oor feaale but neutral. In susmary, the threo characteristics that sepatate this (iy fro our other families are (1) tavolucre eaclosing several to any Flowers, (2) inferior ovary (which becoues the achene), (3) anthers generally 5 3and ussally united to fora a tube. Find a eunflover ot aster, a dandelion, and 4 sagebrush and study the differences in flow generally flower in late sumer) family: Faasly 2: Poaceae (altersate name: Gramineae), Grass Family ‘This is the second largest family of flovering plants in Wyoaiag with about 225 species, and, in terms of number of indivigual plants, probably the Largest ond ost videspréad fanily in Wyouing and in the orld. The econoade ebvious when we consider wheat, oats, barley, tye, corns and. fo Nearly everyone can recognize such as ve see in our lavas. The asin problen ie excluding the Look Ehat axe not grasses. These will be mostly sedges The’ g. oually subtended by 2 to 4 chaffy bracts and the grase etea ia round or flattened. Sedge flowers are usually subtended by a single brace and the sedge stea is often ertangular. Most sedges are found in wolat ox wot places, Sines grass flowers are not particularly showy and a special tcrainology is) necked for identification to species, beginners are advised to stop with the Lastly fang save species identification until after the easier groupe of fastered. "As an lternative, some of our sost Be grastes can be Reamned individusliy (see figures). These are blue grana (Soutelous gracilis), 4snooth broue (Bromus inerais), western wheatgrasa (Elymus smith{t or Agropyron suichit), Indian ricegrass (Oryzopete ywonoides), tiwothy (Fhleus pratense), Kentucky’ bluegrass (Poa pratensis), and needle @ thread (Stipa comata)- Find gone grasses in flower and examine ‘che flower parte to ery to identify stauens, ovary, and stigaas. Examine the grasa leaf and identify the sheath and ligule ‘8,3, 6) Find a sedge in flower and with tr ‘tens ina wet fe the flover In direct comparison to @ grass. Also compare the id States by A. 5 ‘are copyrighced ta Hiceheock, revised by Agnes Chas Vaseular Plante of Wyoxing by = Dorn, 1988. 5Contributors This Issue - AD = Robert Dora, Mi = Macy Neighbours . Wyouing Native Plant Society T-shirte - We would like to print up another design for WNPS t-shirts. Can you draw a new design of native Hyoming plane? The currene design and ordering information 12 given below. Make checks payable co Mary Neighbours and order diectiy from Mer. SM ane i Se snes $a tone, ia ‘Lees phones aie Me cea x a on nee a con rswimgetsamaren am a cotnnimas area Wyoming Native Plant Society et eco Wyoming ative Plant Sactety Box 147 Cheyenne, We 82003