Reviews of publications

Sexual Selection and Animal Genitalia, by William G. Eberhard
The Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland, by Michael J. Roberts
The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 2, Cossidae—Heliodinidae, edited by J. Heath and A. M. Emmet     

782. EMMENOPTERYS HENRYI

The Chinese tree Emmenopterys henryi is described and illustrated based on the rare blooming of a specimen at Cambridge University Botanic Garden in summer 2012. Other known flowerings in cultivation are reviewed with particular reference to Britain. The origin of the Cambridge tree, propagated from an original introduction at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and distributed in the early 1980s is discussed. Based on original herbarium collections and archive material the discovery and introduction of this species into cultivation is reviewed.     

Some notes on new or uncommon aphids recently found in Britain

Examination of plants in areas as far apart as Malham Tarn, Yorkshire; Gower peninsula, Glamorgan; Salcombe, Devon; and Kew Gardens, London have revealed populations of aphids not previously recorded in Britain or only occasionally reported. The various species, including one new subspecies (Fimbriaphis fimbriata pernettyae subsp. nov.) have been cultured in laboratory and several produced morphs which hitherto have not been described. Full biometric data are included, together with a key to alate and apterous viviparae of British species of Lipaphis Mordvilko and of Fimbriaphis Richards.     

SHORT REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Poplars of the British Isles. Theresa Brendell. 24 pp., 29 colour and black-and-white illustrations
A Field Guide to the Crops of Britain and Europe. G. M. de Rougemont
A Garden for all Seasons. Text by Jay Pridmore. 140 pp., many colour photographs. Chicago Horticultural Society
Gardens of England. Frances Gapper, Patience Gapper and Sally Drury. 638 pp., 10 maps. A. & C. Black, London (ISBN 0–7136-3389-1) and W. W. Norton     

Framework bolsters stem cell progress

With many of the leading science nations still stuck in debates on the use of embryonic stem cells, Britain, with a regulatory framework in place, is well-positioned to take the lead. Michael Gross reports.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
The Conservation of Butterflies in Britain. Past and Present by John Feltwell.
Catalogue of the Brambles of Britain and Ireland in the Herbarium of Liverpool Museum (LIV). by Michael Palmer edited by John Edmondson.
The Royal Horticultural Society Plant Finder. 1995/06. devised and compiled by Chris Philip and edited by Tony Lord.
The Natural History of a Country Estate: Wye College, Kent.     

The Botanic Garden of Trinity College Dublin 1687 to 1987

WYSE JACKSON, P. S., 1987. The Botanic Garden of Trinity College Dublin 1687 to 1987. The first botanic gardens in Europe were Physic Gardens. In Britain the earliest established was at Oxford (1621) and in Ireland at Trinity College Dublin (1687). Apart from a short-lived garden at Harold's Cross the Physic Garden remained in the College until 1806 when land was leased at Ballsbridge.
In 1804 James Townsend Mackay was appointed as gardener in the College, marking a change in the College to pure botany for the first time. The new Botanic Garden was created and cared for by Mackay for almost 60 years. He was succeeded as Curator in 1862 by John Bain, who was followed by Frederick Moore in 1877. In 1879 Moore succeeded his father David Moore as Curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. Frederick W. Burbidge then came to the post of Curator from England in 1879.
The Curatorship of the garden was abolished from 1905 to 1981, and the Professor of Botany became Director. In 1967, when the lease of the College's land at Ballsbridge was ending, a new Botanic Garden was established at Dartry and the valuable plant collection was transferred. Today-it has a high national and international reputation and is widely used for botany teaching and research.     

Plant parasitic nematodes associated with the roots of wind toppled trees at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Root and soil samples from 21 trees blown down in Kew Gardens during the gales of October 1987 yielded 29 species of plant parasitic nematodes. Pratylenchus crenatus, P. thornei and P. penetrans were the only endoparasitic nematodes found. The common occurrence of P. crenatus and the root ectoparasitic nematodes, such as Merlinius microdorus, Paratrichodorus pachydermus and Rotylenchus robustus reflected the predominantly sandy nature of most of the soil samples. Species rarely recorded in Britain included Hemicriconemoides pseudobrachyurum, Paralongidorus maximus and Xiphinema pseudocoxi, all of which may be introductions.     

Reviews of publications

Book reviewed in this article:
The Zoological Explorations of Southern Africa, 1650–1790, by L. C. Rookmaaker
Aphid Predators, by Graham E. Rotheray
The Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland, by Michael J. Roberts
Primitive Ghost Moths, by Ebbe S. Nielsen & Niels P. Kristensen
Scanning Microscopy of Vertebrate Mineralized Tissues, edited by Lawrence Martin, Alan Boyde, Frederick Grime & Sheila Jones
British Pyralid Moths, A Guide to their Identification, by Barry Goater
Antibodies: a practical approach. Volume II, edited by D. Catty     

Breeding ecology of the Clay-coloured Robin Turdus grayi in lowland Panama

The breeding ecology of Clay-coloured Robins Turdus grayi was studied in 1979 in the former Canal Zone of lowland Panama. Two study areas were chosen close together, Summit Gardens (27-3 ha), an ecological island of habitat suitable for Clay-coloured Robin surrounded by forest, and Morgan's Gardens (3–6 ha), a similar island surrounded by deforested areas and settlements. Eighty-three active nests were found and checked. The breeding season lasted from 2 March to 21 June. In Morgan's Gardens the first broods were raised in the dry season and second broods in the rainy season; in Summit Gardens most broods started at the beginning of the rainy season. In comparison to the closely related Blackbird T. merula in Poland, Clay-coloured Robins build nests on isolated trees or bushes, usually in more conspicuous sites (interpreted as an anti-predator adaptation) and on flexible, horizontal branches off the main trunk. Over 45% of broods were destroyed by predators but other factors causing brood loss were negligible. Nests built on palms were considerably safer. In the dry season the predation rate was low (5%) and increased during the course of the rainy season. Unlike Blackbirds, Clay-coloured Robin nestlings were given a lot of fruit; their diet was diversified. Starvation occurred in 60% of nests although usually only the youngest nestling died. Breeding density in Morgan's Gardens at 50 pairs per 10 ha was much higher than in Summit Gardens at 15>8 pairs per 10 ha. Breeding losses were lower, the nestlings were fed more fruit, the average nestling weight was lower and the production of fledglings per breeding pair was twice as high in Morgan's Gardens. It was concluded that a strategy of settling in a rather overpopulated place with hard foraging conditions but lower predation was better than settling in a area with a better food supply but higher predation.     

The role of National Botanical Gardens to benefit sustainable development

China has an in situ conservation system built around national parks, and has begun establishing an ex situ conservation system led by National Botanical Gardens. We highlight how this National Botanical Gardens system will serve the global biodiversity conservation goal of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.     

The Hookers and the development of the Royal Botanic Gardens,Kew*

Following the recommendations of an investigating committee headed by John Lindley, responsibility for the maintenance of the neglected royal estates at Kew was assumed by the State in 1840. Sir William Jackson Hooker, who had long coveted the post, was appointed the first Director. Under his able supervision, the Royal Botanic Gardens rapidly expanded and were imaginatively landscaped, new greenhouses, including the famous Palm House, were erected, and three museums of economic botany were opened. Hooker's own extensive collections formed the nucleus of the Herbarium and Library which made Kew an important centre of taxonomic research. Joseph Dalton Hooker who succeeded his father as Director, although continuing to improve and develop the Gardens, concentrated his efforts on essentially scientific activities particularly in the fields of systematics and phytogeography. To a great extent the international reputation enjoyed by the Gardens today is due to the vision, determination and energy of the two Hookers.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Gardens and Gardening in Papal Rome . David R. Coffin, xiii + 285 pp., 193 black-and-white illustrations.
Walter Hood Fitch: a Celebration . Jan Lewis, viii + 34 pp. + 73 colour plates.
Oriental Gardens . Norah Titley and Frances Wood. 128 pp., 115 colour and monocrome illustrations.     

The impact of the botanical gardens on theaeroplankton of the city of Cagliari, Italy

In this study the authors analyse the incidence inthe airborne pollen from exotic plants that grow inthe Botanical Gardens of the University of Cagliari.It was possible to collect the pollen grains of 52 ofthe species cultivated in the Botanical Gardens, mostof which belong to the Leguminosae, the Moraceae and the Myrtaceae. Casuarinastricta Aiton of Australian origin shows the highestconcentration with 137 grains per cubic metre of air.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Private Gardens of England. Penelope Hobhouse. 223 pp., 65 colour plates, 160 black and white photographs.
Flower Painting. Clare Sydney. 80 pp., 32 colour and 9 black and white Manual of Cultivated Broad-leaved Trees and Shrubs Vo13 Pru-Z. Gerd Krussmann illustrations.
The Brightest Jewel. A History of the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin. E. Charles Nelson and Eileen M. McCracken
Porophyllum Saxifrages. R. Horn+, K.M. Webr and J. Byam-Grounds
Cacti for the Connoisseur. John Pilbeam     

The root rot fungus Armillaria mellea introduced into South Africa by early Dutch settlers

Dead and dying oak (Quercus) and numerous other woody ornamental trees and shrubs showing signs and symptoms of Armillaria root rot were identified in the Company Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa, which were established in the mid-1600s by the Dutch East Indies Trading Company. Nineteen isolates from dying trees or from mushrooms were collected and analysed to identify and characterize the Armillaria sp. responsible for the disease. The AluI digestion of the amplified product of the first intergenic spacer region (IGS-1) of the rRNA operon of 19 isolates from the Company Gardens was identical to that of some of the European isolates of A. mellea s. s. The IGS-1 region and the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) were sequenced for some of the Cape Town isolates. Phylogenetic analyses placed the Cape Town isolates in the European clade of A. mellea, which is distinct from the Asian and North American clades of this species. Identification based on sexual compatibility was conducted using A. mellea tester strains in diploid-haploid pairings, which showed some compatibility between the Cape Town isolates and testers from Europe. Somatic compatibility tests (diploid-diploid pairings) and DNA fingerprinting with multilocus, microsatellite probes indicated that the Cape Town isolates were genetically identical and may have resulted from vegetative (clonal) spread from a single focus in the centre of the original Company Gardens (c. 1652). The colonized area is at least 345 m in diameter. Assuming a linear spread rate underground of 0.3 m/year to 1.6 m/year, the genet (clone) was estimated to be between 108 and 575 years old. These data suggest that A. mellea was introduced into Cape Town from Europe, perhaps on potted plants, such as grapes or citrus, planted in the Company Gardens more than 300 years ago.     

青岛耐冬山茶的多样性 (Ⅱ)——居群的遗传多样性分析

采用等位酶电泳技术,检测了青岛近海岛屿--长门岩岛、大管岛和浙江普陀山的天然山茶居群的遗传状况,并与青岛植物园和杭州植物园的栽培山茶居群作了比较。分析结果表明：青岛近海岛屿山茶居群内的遗传多样性水平较高,每个位点的等位基因平均数为2.3,多态位点比率为83.3%,平均观察杂合度与期望杂合度分别为0.245及0.320,这个结果可以为青岛耐冬山茶的保护提供依据。为了探讨形态分化与等位酶变异之间的关系,对山茶居群内一些形态特殊类型的酶谱作了比较。     

THE MADAGASCAR ORCHID PROJECT Growing Orchids for Conservation

Summary. A collaborative project between the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Pare de Tsimbazaza Botanical Garden to cultivate and propagate the endemic orchids of Madagascar is described.     

Introduction to the NCCPG: Conservation in action

The aims and achievements of the National Council for the Conservation of Plants & Gardens (NCCPG) and its National Collections Scheme are described.     

青岛耐冬山茶的多样性（Ⅱ）

采用等位酶电泳技术,检测了青岛近海岛屿———长门岩岛、大管岛和浙江普陀山的天然山茶居群的遗传状况,并与青岛植物园和杭州植物园的栽培山茶居群作了比较。分析结果表明：青岛近海岛屿山茶居群内的遗传多样性水平较高,每个位点的等位基因平均数为２３,多态位点比率为８３３％,平均观察杂合度与期望杂合度分别为０２４５及０３２０,这个结果可以为青岛耐冬山茶的保护提供依据。为了探讨形态分化与等位酶变异之间的关系,对山茶居群内一些形态特殊类型的酶谱作了比较