Australian Systematic Botany Society newsletter

MRe LsG. ADAMS,
HERBARIUM AUSTRALIENSE,

‘CeSeIeRO0- v

P.O. BOX 1600,

asbs
newsletter

AUSTRALIAN SYSTEMATIC BOTANY SOCIETY

Newsletter No. 2

President:

Vice President:

‘Secretary:
Treasurers

Councillors:

July, 1974.

AeSeBe S e COMMITTEE

Dr. Trevor Whiffin, Department of Botany,
La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria. 3083.
Prof. Dennis Carr, Research School of
Biological Sciences, Australian National
University, Canberra.

Mr. Don McGillivray, National Herbarium,
Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. 2000,

Dr, Andrew Kanis, Herbarium Australiense,
Canberra.

Mr. Des Boyland, Queensland Herbariun,
Meiers Road, Indooroopilly, Old. 4068,
Mr. Alex George, Western Australian
Herbarium, Department of Agriculture,
Jarrah Road, South Perth. W.A. 6151.

. This newsletter is produced three times a year and deadlines
fox copy are 20th January, 20th May and 20th September. The
editor is pleased to receive any articles or newsworthy items for
incorporation in the newsletter, | |

Des Boyland +: Editor (address above).

CALL FOR SPEAKERS

ANZAAS = Canberra 20-24th January, 1975

The Australian Systematic Botany Society became officially affiliated.
to ANZAAS earlier in this year. Our next general meeting will be held during
the 46th ANZAAS Congress in. Canberra, 20-24 January 1975, The Program
Committee of the Society is organising a symposium of invited papers on
modern approaches in plant taxonomy, which will be an integral part of the
program of Section 12 (Botany).

Contrary to what we have written in an earlier circular letter to all
heads of botany departments and state herbaria it will now be possible to
present "contributed papers" within the program of the Botany Section and
an independent open meeting of the A.S.B.S. for this purpose will not be
necessary. However, it has been agreed that the A.S.B.S. will now organise
a session within the ANZAAS program, and we should like to hear from those
interested to speak on topics in plant taxonomy and geography or in closely
allied disciplines, We should like to have an idea about the number of
potential speakers and the subjects of the papers offered as soon as possible,
so that selection can be made if necessary, .

We should also like to hear from anyone interested in organising a
demonstration or exhibition in one of our fields of activity, whether in
conjunction with a contributed paper or not, We might be able to find
suitable accommodation for such efforts i£ we know as soon as possible,
the latest by the lst of October, about their nature and the space required.

aA. Kanis

Convener,

AeSeB.eS. Program
Committee

PUNGI AND THE FLORA OF AUSTRALIA

Although most mycologists realize that fungi are not really |
plants, they are, for practical purposes, still treated as an annexe
of the Plant Kingdom, It is thus reasonable to include them in the
project of the proposed Australian flora, The flowering plants, ©
and many of the green cryptogams, differ sufficiently in different.
parts of the world, often at genus — or even family —- level, to make
regional flora'’s highly desirable. The same applies to several groups
within the fungi. Specialized parasites are limited by the geographic
distribution of their hosts, and some saprophytes are sufficiently
sensitive to minor details in their substrate, e.g. many Basidiomycete
species, to be geographically limited in a similar manner as higher
plants. To study Basidiomycetes on a regional basis is a sensible approach.
Although genera are usually widespread, many species show a limited
distribution; it remains essential to compare local material with related
species from other areas = too often Basidiomycetes have been named |
by assumption rather than comparison, A similar approach seems suitable
in the case of many Ascomycetes, particularly the specialized plant
parasites among them. Many other groups of fungi, however, are
considerably more international, This is well known for saprophytic
Hyphomycetes, particularly the soil inhabiting ones, but it applies
to several ecological groups like keratinophilic, thermophilic, and
doprophilous fungi. Most of these fungi have always been studied |
regardless of geographic distribution and there is little reason to
include them in any regional type of flora, A check list of such
organisms will be useful, but further details like keys and |
descriptions are already available in the existing literature and _
thus need not be repeated on a regional basis. This does not mean that
such fungi are in no need of local studies; on the contrary, our _
knowledge of the Australian fungus flora is so scanty that taxonomic and
ecological studies in any groups of fungi carried out locally are |
bound to yield useful and interesting information.

‘University of Melbourne

oe 8 s

TERM AS LIAISON OFFICER AT KEW

‘GoM. Chippendale

Following is a precis of parts of a talk which I gave to the
‘AeCeT. Chapter of the A.S.BsS. on 31st October, 1973, but I have
added a few more notes. .

I arrived in London, with my wife and youngest child, on the ©
8th July 1972, We were unable to get a suitable flat for two months,
but were accommodated in a hotel in central London for this period on
a generous settling-in allowance as an Australian Government Officer.
Eventually, in September 1972 we moved to a flat in Kew Road, only ten
minutes walk from the Herbarium and this was a most happy situation for
the rest of our stay in Britain.

We found it economic to hire a car for weekend trips, rather than
buy one, and this proved satisfactory for our circumstances,

In the work as Liaison Officer, I received about 100 letters from
Australian botanists, most of which were simply answered.

I was comfortably settled in a bay of the Herbarium at the top of
Wing B near the eucalypts. There was binocular microscope and light
belonging to the position, and while I was there I requested CSIRO to
provide a 35 mm camera and this (Pentax) was purchased before I left,
I had been using my own camera to photograph specimens till then,

My project at Kew was to photograph all type specimens of Eucalyptus,
and also to list all label information for transfer to computer cards as
part of my EUCALIST project. In order to photograph the type specimens,

I had firstly to extract the published information for all species,
including most synonyms, and then search for these specimens as I worked
through the genus, Dr. Nancy Burbidge had photographed some of the types
in 1953-4, but there were many more which had not been put in a type folder.

t also did this work at the Herbarium of the British Museum of ,
Natural History, and thus worked there for one day each week to keep parallel
with my work at Kew. I can fully recommend to all future Liaison Officers
that a definite time at the:B.M. is very worthwhile. The Keeper of the
Botany Dept, at the:BsM. has donated 64 duplicate specimens of eucalypts
collected by Robert Brown and Allan Cunningham, respectively, to the
Porest Research Institute Herbarium, Canberra, following work I did in
identifying these,

I visited herbaria in Cambridge, Edinburgh, Leiden, Vienna, Geneva
and Florence, and at each of these I photographed type specimens of
eucalypts, as well as carrying out investigations as requested,

My family and I were most happy being in Britain, but were also
delighted to come home to Australia again, and we were home in Canberra
on 18th August, 1973.

' RESOLUTION 9 ¢ STRENGTHENING OF ‘TAXONOMY

'TsUsBeS. Sept-Oct. 1973.

Prof. Dennis Carr (Vice Pres.) has informed us of the following
resolution passed by the General Assembly of the International Union
of Biological Sciences:~

Resolution 9 : Strengthening of Taxonomy

RECOGNIZING that the future of mankind depends on the treatment given
to natural resources and that a rich variety of living organisms is a
fundamental part thereof,

- that our present knowledge is very deficient and that in most
biological disciplines, and especially in ecology, a proper knowledge
of the systematics of the investigated organisms is of decisive import-
ance,

REALIZING that the biota of many countries are still imperfectly known,
that taxonomic handbooks are Lacking for many organisms and areas, and
that competent taxonomists are too few to cope with all the material
that requires determination,

BE IT RESOLVED that IUBS urge all governments, asbéclalty those
providing technical assistance to developing countries, to strengthen
taxonomy and especially taxonomic infrastructure required for training
taxonomists and for making the ecological studies necessary to facilitate
improvements in the use of resources and the effectiveness of technical
development and also urge the responsible authorities of all countries
to recognize taxonomy as a fundamental branch of biological science

and to support it accordingly.

This sounds all very nice = but words have been thrown around
many times before =» what we need is action} = Ed, comment

a a

IT have prepared a list of Eucalyptus specimens photographed |
overseas, and this is available for interested botanists, I have listed
where the specimen is housed and have given a judgement on the type
status.

I was deeply moved by the sense of botanical history at Kew and the
-BeMe, and was thrilled with the documentary material available, for
instance all of Bentham's diaries and a copy of his will. I t was
exciting to read such entries in Bentham's diary as "24.10.65, At
Kew til1:4.22 finished my paper on Leguminosae and got out Eucalyptus
to begin upon for Fl. Australiensis,." Later, "5.1.66, At Kew till
:'4,.20 finished Myrtaceae for the Australian flora."

I also saw Cunningham's field notes and extracted references to
eucalypts.

Benthamiana at Kew included the pen with which Bentham wrote the
Flora Australiensis and Genera Plantarum, At the:B,M. is the table
which belonged to Sir Joseph Banks and later to Robert Brown, And of
course, Linnaeus’ specimens are in a modern new vault at the Linnean
Society offices. |

I found a house at Strand<-on~the=Green, near Kew, where Allan
Cunningham Lived between his two visits to Australia. I found the
house in Wilton Place where Bentham lived from 1862 until his death in
1884, and I have suggested to the London Council that a plaque be placed
on this house. In Brompton Cemetery I found Bentham's grave in an
unmarked plot, and recommended to the Director, (Prof. J. Heslop<Harrison)
at Kew that the grave be marked, This has just recently been done.

{I was impressed by the sense of history also, when several botanists
from the: B.eM, and Kew went to Kensal Green Cemetery to commemorate
the 100th anniversary of the death of fF, Welwitch ~- they placed some
plants of Welwitschia on his grave I feel that we could well hold small
celebrations for many suitable dates, such as the birth or death date of
such men as Banks, Brown, Cunningham, Bentham, and others.

The library at Kew is wonderfully arranged, beautifully kept and
must surely be the best botanical library in the world.

As a result of a suggestion I made before leaving Kew, the Deputy
Director, Mr. Pat Brenan has agreed that where I can indicate that there
are several duplicate specimens of historic collections of Eucalyptus
at Kew, he is prepared to consider donating these to Australian herbaria,
~ will prepare a list based on my notes, but I realise that this will be
a slow business, as the Kew staff are very busy,.

I enjoyed working with the botanists and staff both at Kew and
the BoM, and I feel I have friends in both places.

AUSTRALIAN BOTANICAL LIAISON OFFICER

Mr. Don Blaxell of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney (N.S.W.)
will be our next Liaison Officer.

Don, with his family, will be leaving Sydney on the 25th
July and en route to London will be visiting a mmber of botanical
institutions: D.S,IeRe, Christchurch, .0.R.S.T.O.M. Noumea; Bishop
Museum, Honolulu; University of California (Davis, Berkley and Irvine);
Missouri Botanic Garden; University of Akron; and Oakes Ames Orchid
Herbarium, Harvard. He will arrive in London on the 30th August,
allowing time for discussions with Miss Helen Aston who completes
her term as Liaison Officer on the Gth September,

Australian orchids will be the main subject of his research and
he will be gathering data for a revision of Prasophyilum.

Don plans to attend -the 8th World Orchid Conference in Frankfurt-
am=Main (April 1975) and the 12th International Botanical Congress in
Leningrad in July 1975. |

Details of his itinerary of visits to European herbaria in April-
May 1975 will be given in a later issue. | |

GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION OF TAXONOMIC PAPERS

As a coordinated effort, the Advisory Committee for the
Australian Journal of Botany (chairman: T.C, Chambers), the Advisory
Panel for the Contributions from Herbarium Australiense (chairman:
Hj. Eichler), and a special committee of the Australian Systematic |
Botany Society (convener: P,G. Wilson) are engaged in drafting a nov
version of Recommendations for the Preparation of Rotanical and
Taxonomic Papers which will supersede those issued by CSIRO in 1953,
Any member of the Society who is dissatisfied with the outdated 1953
issue, or wishes to make comments thereon, is invited to communicate
eriticism and suggestions before the lst September, 1974 either to
Mre:P.G, Wilson (Western Australian Herbarium, Jarrah Road, South Perth,
6151) ox to the undersigned, so that members! views can be duly considered
in drafting the new version.

je Eichler,

Herbarium Australiense,
CSIRO, P.O. Box 1600,
CANBERRA CITY, A.CsT. 260

Members this is your opportunity to have your say -
please assist the Advisory Panel with your comments, Ed.

INTERNATIONAL INDEX OF CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
IN PLANT SYSTEMATICS

This index has been compiled by the Flora North America
Program for the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, It contains
a Catalogue of 3,500 projects arranged systematically and geographically,
representing 1,769 individuals, The index is most complete for North
America, followed by Western Europe and least complete for Asia, About
60 Australian systematists have their projects listed, .

Dr. Stanwyn:G. Shetler, Program Director, FNA (Smithsonian
Institute, Washington D.C. 20560,:U.5.A.) advised that as long as the supply
lasts, copies will be sent out in response to demand,

Information about Current Taxonomic Research in Australia will
continue to be made available in reports from the Heads of Herbaria.
Answers to the questionnaire in the back of our first newsletter will
-help to make this information more complete, If you haven't already
done this please complete the form and Bend, it off to our editor Des
Boyland, at the Queensland Herbarium.

COMING PUBLICATIONS

Flora of New South Wales - Gramineae. |
No. 19, part 2 and a supplement to part 1 by Dr. Joyce W. Vickery
are in presSe

"An Extended Phytochemical Survey of the Australian Species of Acacias
Chemotaxonomic and Phytogenetic Aspects" by Mary D. Tindale and
‘D.G. Roux is in press in Phytochemistry Vol, 13.

Contr. Qd. Herb. No. 16: Solanum nigrum (Solanaceae) and allied species
in Australia. iReJd.F. Henderson. in press.

Contre Qd. Herb. No. 17: Revision of the genera Cymbopogon and
‘Schizachyrium (Gramineae) in Australia. ST. Blake. in press.

Contre Od. Herb. No. 18: A Revision of extra~Australian species of
Acacia subg. Heterophyllum. B. Pedley. in the editors hands.

COMMITTEE OF INOUIRY ON MUSEUMS
' AND NATIONAL COLLECTIONS

The Government, through the Special Minister of State, has
appointed a Committee to advise on the future development of national
collections and museums. Notice of the Committee's terms of reference
appeared in newspapers on or about 15th May,

The Committee calls for submissions (typed wherever possible)
from private persons to be lodged if possible by 3lst July, 1974 and
from organizations, institutions and societies by the 3lst August, 1974,

Membership of the Committee is :=

Chairman ~ Mr. P, Pigott, managing director of several companies;
interests in conservation, .

Prof. :GsN. Blainey, University of Melbourne (Economic History)
Mr. RoW. Boswell, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission
Prof. DeJe Mulvaney, Australian National University (Prehistory)
DreiFeHe Talbot; Director, Australian Museum
Dre DF. Waterhouse, (Chairman, ABRSIC) C.SeTeReO,
Mrs Andrew Clayton, National Park and Wildlife Foundation
My. Frank Waters, ex General President APWU
plus 1 member from Special Ministry of State,

In particular the Committee has been asked ~
(i) To advise on the scope, objectives and functions of an
Australia Institute to develop, co-ordinate and foster
collections, research and displays of historical,
cultural and scientific material of national significance,
giving particular attention to its relationship with
Government and other institutions;

(ii) to recommend steps to establish such an institute;

{iii) in relation to the Australian Government's direct field
of responsibility and interest, to recommend measures which
should be taken in the immediate future to
(a) improve collection and conservation facilities for
national material, with particular attention to research
needs and training;

(b) ensure effective co-ordination of the Australian
Government's activities in this ~ield;

(c) institute new developments and institutions, with
particular attention to the establishment of a national
museum of history in Canberra;

= se

(iv) to recommend longer term measures in the field of
museums and collections, with particular attention to
the Australian Government's role in relation to state,
local government and institutional authorities.

The announcement also mentions that the Committee is interested
in proposals relating to a museum of natural history.

Engquities and submissions should be addressed to :+

The Secretary, .

Committee of Inquiry on Museums and National Collections,
Box §286, P.Oe, ibd

CAIBERRA CITY, A.C.T, 2600,

RNOW THE HERPARTA
This newsletter will attempt to cover a different herbatium every
issue, The first in this series is that attached to the Waite Institute,
Adelaide South Australia,
WALITE INSTITUTE HERBARIUM ADYW

Curator: DeEe Symon

Assistance: One technical assistant.

Duties: To provice a taxonomic service to the Institute.
To give lectures in the Faculty of Agriculture,

To supervise the Waite Arboretum (65 acres, 1500 trees,
760 species).

To carry out taxonomic research.
‘Current Interests:

Actives A revision of the Australian Species of Solanum
{this is well advanced)

Dormant: Previous work on Australian Cassia

Potential: Mot yet active (Anthocercis, Anthotroche)

Herbarium:

m 1D =

The herbarium was established in the early 1930's and now
contains 40,000 sheets of higher plants, No bryophytes,
lichens, algae and few ferns are kept.

The collection is mainly Australian augmented with exchange
material from Europe and California, The accent is towards
weedy and agricultural plants, but it is in no way confined
to them, |

A small amount of type material is held and there may be a
small number of isotypes or syntypes in material received in
the A, Morris herbariun,

The specimens are all mounted and each sheet is enclosed in
a 'flimsy' and stored in metal cupboards, The specimens are
poisoned by dipping in lauryl penta-chlor=phenate in white
spirit before mounting, Each sheet is numbered in a single
numerical sequence,

No register of sheet numbers is kept but a card for each
species in the collection contains the number of the sheet,
date and brief locality details, This card index is not used
very often and may be discontinued,

The backlog of unidentified, unincorporated specimens is
relatively small and it is now policy to get material
incorporated as soon as possible if only identified to genus,
Most recent collections have included duplicates and general
policy is to return a duplicate to the State in which it
was collected, to send a duplicate to CANB and depending on
the amount of material available to known specialists or to
KylapBe

A limited amount of exchange with several European and
American herbaria is practised, Material wanted: any
Solanaceae; Available: miscellaneous Australian plants.
Library facilities are not large and interlibrary loans have
to be used freely.

‘De. SYMON

ADEQUATE NAMES FOR OUR LOCAL CHAPTERS

The politico-administrative system of Australia is often reflected
in the structure of bodies with a nation-wide membership, even when their
activities are essentially non-political. The reasons for this tendency
probably are geographical as well as traditional, However, when the
Constitution of the A,S.B.S. was discussed, there was no debate between
the founding members about federalist principles as opposed to centralist
ones. There is no doubt that a relatively small, profession~oriented
society like ours should not spread its capabilities too thinly and its
nationally elected Council should be empowered to represent it at all
levels. On the other hand, it was envisaged from the start that many
activities of direct interest to the membership would be best organised
at a local level, Now that chapters have been established in most
metropolitan areas it has become opportune to look at their position
more closely. _

Chapters established so far are all based in capital cities,
obviously because members are concentrated there in sufficient numbers
to make viable groups possible, It might therefore seem logical that they
should claim to represent or cater for the whole of the Society's
membership in the respective states and territories, as would appear from
the names adopted by the chapters at present, However, in time it could
foster the possible miconception that the A.S.B.S. would be subdivided
in state branches or would be a mere confederation of state bodies,

Apart from the ideological aspect there is the practical consideration
that members in remote secondary centres and country towns can not be
reached effectively from capital cities for the normal chapter activities
as day or evening lectures and meetings. In fact there will always be
a mumber of Society members who, for geographical or other reasons, will
not become members of any chapter and this imposes important restrictions
on representative claims by chapters.

In a not too distant future it is well possible that more chapters
will be established in some of the states and territories for reasons
of convenience. It is not yet likely to happen in Western Australia,
South Australia and Victoria, but people in the Townsville-Cairns area are
well accustomed to organising their affairs independently from Brisbane
and it could also occur in the Armidale<Coff's Harbour region of New
South Wales. On the other hand, members living in the south-eastern
corner of the latter state should be able to join the chapter based in
Canberra.

In conclusion it is suggested here that the various chapters name
themselves after the city or town they are centred on rather than after
the state or territory they happen to be in, thus avoiding the appearance
of state branches preempting the establishment of further chapters,

(A, Kanis) -
‘Herbarium Australiense, Canberra,

- 12 =

I agree entirely with Andrew's comments and have taken the
liberty of ammending the names of the various chapters - Ed,

CHAPTER NEWS

PERTH

Since the formation of the Chapter the following meetings have
been held: .

23 July 1973. Mr, Paul Wilson led a discussion on the
Flora of Adstralia project.

3 September 1973. | Mr, Charles Nelson, Australian National
University : the genus Adenanthos (Proteaceae) «

19 November 1973. Dr. Warren Stoutamire, University of
Akron, Ohop: "Pollination Studies in Australian Terrestrial Orchids",

18 February 1974. A resume of current activities at the
Western Australian Herbarium, and the Botany Department, University

of Western Australia, presented by various speakers, Dr. Neville
Marchant delivered a short talk on plant collecting techniques.

lL May 1974, Prof.:- B,J. Grieve: the history and
development of Blackall and Grieve "How to know Western Australian
Wildflowers".

SYDNEY

At a meeting in March 1974 the local chapter was formed with MY S«
‘Kel. Wilson as Convener and Mr. A Rodd as Deputy Convener,

Our main activity this year centres on the informal evening
seminar series originally initiated by the National Herbarium and the
Botany Dept., Sydney University, for which Dr, Johnson has given
permission for use of the Botanic Gardens Eduction Centre (this is
beside the National Herbarium), Not just ASBS members but as wide
an audience as possible is welcome _Wisitors to Sydney please note.);
for example, librarians came to the talk given by Miss Edwards,
Topics for this year are as follows:~

3rd April - Dre LeAsSe Johnson, Director, National
Herbarium
- "Evolution and Classification in the
. Proteaceae"
3rd May ~ Miss P,I, Edwards, Librarian, British Museum

(Nat. Hist.) - "The British Museum : some
of its manuscripts and collections."

Sth May = Dr. Helene Martin, Dept. of Biology, Univ.
of NeSeW. = "A new approach to biogeography"

i2th June - Dre: J. Sved, School of Biol. Sciences,
Univ. of Sydney - "Recent advances in.
population genetics"

10th duly = . Mire Se Jacobs, National Herbariun <
"Ecological significance of the Cy pathway"

l4th August ~ Mre:I. Southwell, Mus, of Applied Arts and
Sciences ~ “Eucalypts and the Koala”

Day and weekend trips are being planned for later in the year to
Ashton Park (at Bradleys Head), Castlereagh State Forest and Warrah
Research Station, with appropriate specialists to discuss points of
interest.

Apart from the above activities, special seminars will be organised
as needed to enable overseas visitors to be heard (as was done in the
ease of Miss Edwards).

; MELB QURNE

At a meeting in the National Herbarium on the T4th Pebruary it
was Cecided to establish a Victorian Chapter of the A.5.B.S.

De, U.ed, Swart and Mrs:J, Martin were elected as Convener and
Secretary respectively, Tt was decided to hold reguiar meetings on
tha third or fourth Tuesday of alternate months, the first being on
Tuesday, 23rd April, with Mx. J, Willis as speaker, Further meetings
are planned for June, speaker Mrs:-S.C, Ducker, and August, speaker
Dr. T. Whiffin.

I

“ADELAIDE

The chapter was formed at a meeting of members and interested
people at Mr. David Symon'’s home on November 7th, 1°73, _

It was decided that a convener be elected each vear to organise
and run the chapter, The convener would co-opt members when necessary
to assist in the organisation and running of the chapter, It was agreed
that meetings and field excursions would be arranged on alternate
nonths and these would be kept as informal as possible and when possible
meetings would be held at members homes,

Mr, Bob Chinnock was elected convener for 1974,

Interstate visitors who wish to join in on a field excursion or
lecture are asked to write to the convener for further particulars,
Talks by interstate members passing through Adelaide would be welcomed,
and anyone prepared to do so is asked to contact the convener and a
meeting will be arranged to fit in with his or her plans, ‘Two weeks
notice of pending visit is necessary,

Name and address of Convener of South Australian Chapter 1974:-
Mr. Bob Chinnock,
State Herbarium of South Australia,
Botanic Garden Department,
North Terrace,
ADELAIDE, :SsA. 5000
Telephone: 268 1021 (home); 223 3038 (work)

Current membership for South Australia is 20,

Programae January ~ November 1974
Friday, 22nd Pebruary

Sunday, 30th March
Wednesday, 24th April
Sunday, 26th May

Wednesday, 26th June

Wednesday, 3lst July
Sunday, 25th August

Wednesday, 25th September

Wednesday, 30th October

Sunday, 24th November

BRISBANE

-— Interstate members welcome, +

Informal wine and cheese.

Cape Jervis and surrounding area,
Fleuieu Peninsula.

Problems of Taxonomy in a large
cosmopolitan genus =~ Mr. D. Symon.

Marine plants ~ Port Willunga and
Victor Harbour ~ Leader Dr. E. Wollaston.

The Pteridophyte Flora of Australasia,
Mr. Re Chinnock « Lecture room |
Administrative Block, Botanic Garden,

The Classification of the Algae
Dr. E.- Wollaston = University of Adelaide.

Roachdale, Mt, Lofty Range.
Leader Mr.:B. Jackson,

Heath Vegetation ~ Mr, J, Carrick
Lecture Room, Administration Block,
Botanic Garden.

Discussion Evening and Election of
Convener for 1975,

Mangroves at Port Gawler -
Dr, A, Butler, Zoology Department,
University of Adelaide.

A local chapter has been formed in Brisbane, Mr, Rod Henderson
(Queensland Herbarium), Mrs. Estelle Ross (Queensland Herbarium) and

Dr. Valerie Boughton (Queensland University) have formed a committee

to organise meetings.

The first meeting is to be held on the 25th dunee Meetings will
take the form o£ informal discussions with discussion leaders appointed
tather than the formal lecture=discussion approach.

NEWS AND NOTES

Miss Pel. Edwards, Librarian of the Botany Department, British Museum
of Natural History made a visit to Australia privately, but spent some
time visiting people and institutions with common interests in Australian
botany and its history. While in Sydney Miss Edwards showed annotated
examples of the different kinds of Robert Brown's specimens, viz. ~
study set, private herbarium, national collection, Banksian herbarium
and duplicate collection. Photographic negatives of these specimens are
available to other herbaria on loan from the Director, Royal Botanic

Gardens, Sydney, 2000. A special meeting of the Sydney Chapter, complemented
by librarians, heard an enlightening illustrated talk from Miss Edwards
about "The British Museum (Natural History) some of its Collections and
Manuscripts".

Bernie Hyland (Atherton) has visited antipodean herbaria to consult
material relevant to his studies on Eugenia sens. lat.

We'ye had the good news that Jim Willis is to be the recipient of

a very well deserved Doctor of Science Degree (conferred by the University
of Melbourne) .

Dr, David Given,:D.5.I.R., Christchurch visited Sydney for a few
days to study ferns and Celmisia in the herbarium and in the field,

REQUESTS

John Carrick, State Herbarium South Australia would be grateful
for collections of Prostanthera, particularly mature fruits (nutlets in
calyx), and full-blown flowers preserved in fluid,

Wee Lek Chew, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney requests material of
Epacridaceae, Piperaceae and Urticaceae from Malesia, Melanesia and
Australia.

AUSTRALIAN BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES STUDY INTERIM COUNCIL

Announcement of grants by ABRSIC for 1973=<74 are expected by the
time this Newsletter is issued. It is understood that funds made available
for 197374 may be carried over if necessary.

Since March the Government has called for further applications to
ABRSIC for 1974-76, Applicants who made submissions prior to the 4th
March relating to grants for 1974~76 did not have to re-apply and were
given the opportunity of amending their original submissions relevant
to that period. That part of the Council's role relating to grants |
for and advice on the maintenance of national biological collections would
appear to be subsumed by the Committee of Inquiry on Museums and
National Collections (see page 8), Further news on this in the next
newsletter.

Any inquiries about the Interim Council and its grants may be
made to the Secretary, Australian Biological Resources Study Interim
Council, Department of Science, P.O. Box 449, Woden, A.c.T. 2606.

REQUESTS

Mre Don Blaxell, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney 2000, would be
grateful for spirit collections of Prasophyllum (Orchidaceae) with
collection data and if possible a dried voucher specimen. Please send
specimens to Sydney where arrangements have been made for them to be
processed during his absence overseas as Liaison Officer, If it is
possible to send material which arrive in Sydney in fresh condition this
also can be handled.

Bernie Hyland, Botanist at the Forestry and Timber Bureau, Atherton
would appreciate material of Australian species of Eugenia sens, late
Acnena, Cleistocalyx, Eugenia, Jossinia, Syzygium and related genera.

Rex Filson, National Herbarium, Melbourne, requests specimens of
Cladia and Heterodea for determination and if possible duplicates for
retention at Melbourne,

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ARE YOU A. FINANCIAL MEMBER?? .

PLEASE FORWARD SUBSCRIPTIONS’ FOR 1974

THREE DOLLARS
Cheques payable to A.S.B.eS. and forwarded to

Dr. A. KANIS (Treasurer, AsSeBe Se)
Herbarium Australiense,
CeSelsReOe,

P.O, Box 1600,

CANBERRA CITY. A..C.eT. 2601.

Please find enclosed $3.00 for 1974 membership fees.

NAMES sce cen sre eee bs eres eoneenesereoores
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