You are here:
News / Systematics in the News
Systematics in the News
News:
IAPT has published Systematics, Evolution, and Biogeography of Compositae (V.A. Funk, A. Susanna, T. Stuessy & R. Bayer, eds.) IAPT: Vienna. Published in August 2009.
The Compositae (Asteraceae) are the largest and most successful flowering plant family in the world with ca. 1700 genera and 25,000 species. They grow everywhere but Antarctica but prefer open areas and are common garden plants (i.e., sunflowers, daisies, artichokes, thistles, lettuce). This volume is based on recent morphological and molecular data and has overview chapters that cover topics such as chromosome numbers and chemistry as well as a chapter on every clade in the family. Nearly every chapter has a color-coded biogeography tree and color photos of plants and there is a summary chapter with a ca. 900 taxon tree (metatree) for the whole family. Appendices include an illustrated glossary and a combined literature cited (each chapter has a literature cited as well). A pdf file of the metatree can be found at www.compositae.org and a video about the book can be found at www.YouTube.com (search Compositae).
This is the first family wide phylogenetic treatment for the Compositae and the book contains 44 Chapters, 1000 pages (ca. 200 in color) contributed by over 80 authors. It is a bargain at $110 (including shipping) for addresses in the USA and Canada and $120 for addresses elsewhere in the world. Please email compositaebook@gmail.com or go to www.compositae.org for information on ordering. This low price is possible because of the support of IAPT and the Smithsonian Institution. All proceeds go to IAPT.
OSH Named for Neil Harriman
The herbarium at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (OSH) was officially named in honor of its founder and Curator Emeritus, Dr. Neil A. Harriman on September 8, 2009, as part of opening-day ceremonies for the new academic year. University Chancellor Dr. Richard H. Wells presented Harriman with a framed certificate that read in part, “For over four decades, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh professor emeritus Neil Harriman has focused his attention and expertise on the establishment, development and collection of materials that will be perpetually used by students, faculty and staff as well as scientists, scholars and researchers from across the global community. This collection is recognized as one of the largest and best in the state of Wisconsin and will benefit all citizens in northeastern Wisconsin and beyond.”
The herbarium was established by Harriman at the time of his arrival on campus in 1964. By the time of his retirement in 1998, OSH had grown from a few cabinets and a handful of teaching specimens to a well curated facility housing almost 100,000 vascular plant specimens from around the globe and a botanical library of nearly 4000 volumes plus major runs of serials and a large collection of reprints.
Since retiring and accepting the title of Curator Emeritus, Harriman has continued to work in the herbarium on an almost daily basis, collecting, mounting, filing, and identifying specimens. Today, accessions total over 117,000 sheets, approximately half from outside Wisconsin. The facility continues to be used daily by his successor in meeting the teaching, research, and service missions of the university. -- Thomas G. Lammers, Curator
News Aggregators: