Torrey Botanical Society Annual Lecture Series

Fall 2009 and Spring 2010

Lectures are free and open to the public

Great Goddess of Decay! - A History of Amateur Mycology in the United States
Tuesday, October 6, 2009, 6:30 PM
Presented by David W. Rose, archivist, writer, and past president of the Connecticut-Westchester Mycological Association.

Abstract:
This illustrated talk focuses on the role of amateurs in advancing the science of mycology in the U.S. Beginning in the 1890’s, popular interest in mushrooms was stimulated by mycology clubs that began to form in cities on the East coast. Prominent professionals like Charles Horton Peck of the New York State Museum and William Murrill of the New York Botanical Garden, and amateurs like Charles McIlvaine, published illustrated works on the fungi; by the twentieth century the study of mushrooms became fixed as a popular adjunct of botany. By mid-century, amateur mycology was re-invigorated by Robert Gordon Wasson’s discovery of a mushroom cult among the Mazatecs in Oaxaca, Mexico. Soon after, the North American Mycological Association was formed, enlisting the help of noted composer John Cage in promoting the study of mushrooms. This talk will trace the history of amateur mycology, the interactions between amateurs and professionals, and the place of mycology in American society from the 1890s to the present day.

Evolution of Pollination Mechanisms in Apocynaceae
Monday, November 2, 2009, 6:30 PM
Presented by Dr. Tatyana Livshultz, Assistant Curator of Botany, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia

Abstract:
The relationship between plants and their pollinators is usually regarded as a mutualism beneficial to both. In fact, it is a careful balance between mutualism and antagonism since the two parties have fundamentally different interests (reproduction and food, respectively). For the average flowering plant, only 0.4% of the pollen removed by the pollinator is delivered to stigmas of the same species; the other 99.6% is lost or eaten, a stark illustration of the hazard of relying on animal pollinators. Milkweeds (Apocynaceae, subfamily Asclepiadoideae) have incredibly complex flowers that function as an effective countermeasure to the unreliability of animal pollinators. The average pollen transfer efficiency of milkweeds is 26%. In this presentation, the function of the remarkable milkweed pollination will be explained. A hypothesis of the evolutionary origin of milkweed pollination will be presented and tested against an evolutionary tree based on DNA sequences. Finally, current research on pollination biology in Apocynaceae that may shed light on the origin of the milkweed flower will be discussed.

The Landscape of Scales – human influences on wetland loss in coastal Louisiana supported by 24 yrs of study in the Mississippi River bird foot delta
Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 6:30 PM
Presented by David A. White, full professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Loyola University, New Orleans

Abstract: Historically coastal Louisiana had 40% of the wetlands within the continental United States.  These lands formed over the past 6–7000 years from sediment deposited by the Mississippi River.  This talk will present an Introduction to the Louisiana coast’s ‘scales of landscape’ – the smallest scale of individual deltaic lobe is nested in several increasingly larger scales to the largest, the entire Mississippi delta.  Following this Introduction, details of this vital importance of the River to State’s wetlands will be outlined from data collected over 24 years of study at the mouth of the Mississippi River.  Since their zenith in the mid 1950s, the coastal wetlands of Louisiana have been experiencing unprecedented loss (currently 80% of all loss in the Unites States) from human activity ranging from levee construction and maintenance for flood prevention, to oil and gas extraction, and now to sea level rise brought by climate change.  Loss rates have dropped from highs of 50 square miles/yr to the now less than 20 – the reduction only because there now is less land to loose.  Hurricane Katrina in 2005 contributed another one time loss of over 100 square miles.  The PowerPoint talk will show dramatic aerial imagery as well as photos of wetland communities and plants native to the Louisiana coast.

Botany and Natural History of the Remote Island of Rapa Iti, French Polynesia
Sunday, March 7, 2010, 1:00 PM (Annual Banquet)
Presented by Timothy Motley, J. Robert Stiffler Professor of Botany, Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University

Abstract: A land of unique music, plants, culture and geography Rapa Island (Rapa iti or Oparo not to be confused with Rapa nui or Easter Island) is a volcanic island 650 km south southeast of Tahiti and 200 km southeast of Raivavae the nearest island in the Austral archipelago. The island is the remains of a volcanic cone that collapsed on one side making the aerial view of the island resemble the letter “C” surrounding a large lagoon. The view from the lagoon reveals an amphitheater of towering peaks connected by razor-shape ridges. The highest peak on the island reaches 650 m in elevation and several others are well over 400 m in height. Atop each peak are built ancient fortresses or pa that were abandoned before the time of European discovery in 1871. The geographic location 400 km south of the Tropic of Capricorn and resulting temperate climate make Rapa Iti botanically unique and a hotspot for plant diversity and endemism in French Polynesia. Scientists have found the vegetation of Rapa Iti to be one of the most difficult to classify and one of the most botanically distinctive islands of central Polynesia. Typical Polynesian crops such as breadfruit and coconut do not thrive in this climate. Plant species endemism does.  The small island contains three, endemic, monotypic genera (Apostates and Paciferigeron, Asteraceae and Metatrophis, Urticaceae) and 70 % species endemism. Join Dr. Timothy Motley and his team of botanical experts on a National Geographic expedition as he recounts the their unique discoveries of new plant species, rare birds, unusual animals, archaeology, ethnobotany, and ship wreck adventures while on isolated island of Rapa iti.
 

The Flora of the Northeastern U.S.A. and Adjacent Canada: Advancing the Legacy
Tuesday, April 6, 2010, 6:30 PM
Presented by Robert F. C. Naczi, Curator of North American Botany, The New York Botanical Garden

Abstract:  Since its founding, The New York Botanical Garden has made the study of the plant life of northeastern North America an institutional   priority. In the process, Garden scientists have published a series of Floras that enable users to identify the plants that grow spontaneously within this huge region. The past two decades have seen considerable advances in understanding botanical relationships and knowledge of plant distributions.  Accordingly, the Garden has renewed its commitment to research on northeastern plants by embarking on a program to produce a new Flora for northeastern North America.  This presentation will review the Garden's legacy, explain the need for a new Flora of this region, and describe progress on this Flora.

Wildflowers, climate change and Walden Pond
Thursday, May 6, 2010, 6:30 PM
Presented by Richard Primack, Professor of Biology, Department of Biology, Boston University
This lecture is presented in collaboration with NYC Wildflower Week (nycwildflowerweek.org)

Abstract: From 1851 to 1858, Henry David Thoreau recorded plant flowering times, leafing out dates, and bird arrival times at Walden Pond and elsewhere in Concord. When compared with modern observations, these records demonstrate that plants and birds are already responding to a warming climate. In addition, these warming temperatures are already affecting the abundance of many wildflower species.

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