HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: exspes@gdr.bath.ac.uk (P E Smee)
Newsgroups: bionet.plants,rec.gardens,soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Giant Hogweed
Date: 16 Nov 92 18:39:47 GMT
Reply-To: P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol c/o University of Bath

In the referenced article, djd@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (david.j.daulton) writes:
>In article <19856.2af4f60f@ul.ie> mckeonj@ul.ie writes:
>
>>the "giant hogweed" from America (South, I think) for decor.....
>>...is a large umbelliferous plant up to 8 feet tall and of alien
>
>Is this what we call "giant cow parsnip"?  I grew one a few years
>ago.  It looked like a gigantic acanthus.

According to my dictionary (Chambers) 'hogweed' is another name for
'giant parsnip'.

(Of course, considering the way the names of plants and animals shift
around from one country to another, that may not be relevant.  Anyone
doubting this need only compare English, American, and Australian
'robins'.)

-- 
Paul Smee, Computing Service, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UD, UK
 P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk - ..!uunet!ukc!bsmail!p.smee - Tel +44 272 303132
Newsgroups: bionet.plants
Subject: Plant Biotechnology Text
From: lebowitz@krypton.Mankato.MSUS.EDU (Robert J. Lebowitz)
Date: 19 Nov 92 11:34:27
Distribution: bionet
Organization: Mankato State University

I teach a course each winter quarter dealing with plant biotechnology and
research methods.  In the past I've used Principles of Plant Biotechnology,
a Blackwell Press book that covers a reasonably broad range of topics.  The
bookstore just called and informed me that the book is now out of print.  I
would welcome suggestions on an alternate text, preferably available in 
softcover at a reasonable price for this course.

--
Robert J. Lebowitz           Internet         lebowitz@krypton.mankato.msus.edu
Mankato State University     VOX              (507) 389-2540
Mankato MN 56002-8400
From: bwilliam@oyster.smcm.edu (Bill Williams)
Newsgroups: bionet.plants
Subject: Re: H2O/CO2 diffusion rates
Date: 16 Nov 92 16:19:54 GMT
Organization: St. Mary's College of Maryland
X-UserAgent: Nuntius v1.1.1d10
X-XXMessage-ID: <A72D4366020101D2@williams.smcm.edu>
X-XXDate: Mon, 16 Nov 92 17:24:06 GMT

In article <1992Nov11.180614.12030@gserv1.dl.ac.uk> Tony Travis,
ajt@rri.sari.ac.uk writes:
>Hans Meidner (a famous stomatal physiologist) once told me that he had
>made an instrument like an engineers needle micrometer that was
>sensitive enough to be placed directly in a stomatal aperture and
>measure stomatal movements directly!
>
>This was at an SEB conference in Sterling (Scotland) a long time ago,
>and we were just chatting about measuring stomata in the dark (I was
>using a viscous flow porometer at that time).  I believe he did make
>such an instrument (he was a watchmaker's apprentice as a boy) but I
>never saw it in use ...

I'm delighted to know that Hans Meidner was once a watchmaker's
apprentice!  He looks (and sounds!) precisely like the archetypal
"little ald vatchmaker" one imagines carefully turning out precision
machinery in a  cottage in the Black Forest.  For that matter, he also
looks like the archetypal German scientist I suppose.

Unfortunately, I can't find the reference to the
microscopic/gas-exchange work in my reference list, but I'll keep
looking ("micro" and "stoma" didn't turn up anything).  
___________________________________
William E. Williams, bwilliam@oyster.smcm.edu
Divison of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's City, MD 20686
From: lns@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu
Newsgroups: bionet.plants
Subject: amber snails, Succinea sp.
Date: 17 Nov 92 18:20:57 GMT

Information regarding amber snails, Succinea sp., requested.  What is
the diet of this critter?  Thanks.
Xref: sparky bionet.plants:636 rec.gardens:8092 soc.culture.british:16076
From: gerard@caliban.soest.hawaii.edu (Gerard Fryer)
Newsgroups: bionet.plants,rec.gardens,soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Domestication of poison ivy
Date: 18 Nov 92 19:12:27 GMT
Organization: Scum Of the Earth and Senile Tenured

In article <BxMIuM.Moq@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, cl27111@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Christopher  Lindsey) writes:
|> 	This brings up the interesting issue of ethics in gardening.  Is it
|> ethical for people to plant species that may damage native habitats (i.e.
|> kudzu, Purple loosestrife) if they find it attractive?  Is it ethical to
|> plant harmful plants that have the ability to spread off of your own
|> property, such as Poison ivy?
|> 

As a resident of a place that has been almost completely overrun by
exotics - Hawaii - I say No!  It is not ethical.  People here plant
lantana (from Malaysia?), maleleuca (= paperbark, from Australia), kiawe
(= mesquite = thorn tree, from Africa), and a whole abundance of other
Gondwana flora such as gum trees.  These things are taking over.  No
plant you might associate with Hawaii - hibiscus, ginger, orchids,
shower trees - got here naturally, with the sole exception of the
coconut.  The local plants - giant thornless raspberries, sandalwood,
and a zillion others whose names you'd never recognise - are all
receding before the more robust intruders and many are extinct.  Stay
at a bed and breakfast on the cool slopes of Haleakala and the oaks and
irises and laburnum will have you swearing you are in England:
delightful, but completely out of place.  The same thing is happening
everywhere.  We are condemning the world to a stultifying homogeneity.
Afghan pines are taking over the desert southwest of the US (and being
plugged by that idiot organization Global Releaf), water hyacinth clogs
streams in the southeastern US, eucalypts march up hillsides in
California, the list is endless.

Years ago there was an organization in England trying to get azaleas
and rhododendrons banned because they were "not British."  Some of the
more militant actually tried to saw down some rhododendrons or spray
them with defoliants (which is appropriate: rhododendron leaves are
packed with toxins which poison the ground for other plants; did you
ever wonder why there is no ground cover in the Rhododendron Dell at
Kew?).  I used to think those people were a bunch of whackos.  Now I'd
like their address (if they still exist), as I'd like to sign up and
start an overseas branch.

|> 	When I worked at the Morton Arboretum, they had a plant (I can't
|> remember the scientific name off the top of my head) called a varnish tree
|> or varnish plant that produced SEVERE dermatitis on contact.  Once it started
|> spreading, they just yanked it out even though it was their only specimen.

Bravo.  Would that more gardeners were so sensible.
-- 
Gerard Fryer  (g.fryer@soest.hawaii.edu)
School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology
University of Hawaii at Manoa
From: dr@ducvax.auburn.edu
Newsgroups: bionet.plants
Subject: Re: gardening ethics
Date: 18 Nov 92 22:49:05 GMT
Organization: Auburn University, AL

In article <92319.175714MEK104@psuvm.psu.edu>, <MEK104@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:
>  ...<deletions>...
> By using the phrase 'devil's advocate', do you mean that you expect most
> people would disagree with high-yield agriculture or the importation of
> exotic plants and animals for food?  I know that some people disagree with
> it, but I've always considered them to be a radical fringe.
 
At the risk of being considered in the radical fringe, I will admit to
disagreeing with aspects of high-yield agriculture, and the importation
of many exotic plants and animals for food.  I should give some examples.
I think the following were mistakes:

1) The clearing of the great southeastern forests for the mega-cultivation 
   of cotton, resulting in a number of eco-disasters (Charasmatic example: 
   the extinction of the carolina parakeet.  Related disaster: The massive 
   soil erosion in the 20s-30s, caused in large part by the continued 
   clearing of woodlands from marginal areas.
2) The over-grazing of the american west with cattle.
3) The introduction of the european rabbit into Australia.
4) The introduction of kudzu. (as a high-yield crop)

Note that these decisions were largely social/economic/political decisons,
although they were sometimes partially informed by science, and thought to
be a Good Idea at the time (altho there were some radical fringe farmers 
who opposed the introduction of Kudzu ;^)).  I used to carry in my head 
dozens of such examples, in considerably more detail than I now can recall.  

I take it as a given that all subscribers are familiar with the above 
examples; my main point is that these matters are sufficiently complicated
that simply dismissing the opposing view as "radical fringe" is, at the
very least, intellectually imprudent.  On more than one occasion, after 
carefully considering a view I disagreed with, I've had to modified my
view to accommodate the new insight.  This is generally a delight...

	D.R.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Roller  |    Bitnet = dr@auducvax            |  "Because we're all
Auburn Univ.  |  Internet = dr@ducvax.auburn.edu   |   in this together."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: suter@VAX.MPIZ-KOELN.MPG.dbp.de
Newsgroups: bionet.plants
Subject: rna from seeds
Date: 16 Nov 92 19:30:40 GMT
Distribution: bionet
Content-Identifier: 12
Original-To: plantbio@uk.ac.daresbury
Conversion: Prohibited


Subj:	rna from seeds
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i am repeating this question on behalf of detlef becker, who is getting
rather frustrated....

he is trying to isolate mRNA from tobacco seeds. he has already tried two
classes of methods: guanidinium and phenol. basically what happens is that
everything turns an ugly kind of brown and is very sticky.
to circumvent this, he has added vitamin C and triton: total RNA looks 
better then.
but he is unable to isolate mRNA with either dynabeads or oligo dT cellulose...
both these matrices are attacked by his total RNA mix and partly
destroyed (this could be a pH effect: the Fe++ may dissolve from the
magnetobeads at low pH).

as i understood, he has learned from others in the mpi that they have 
practically the same problems with RNA from the seeds of other plants 
(rape i believe).

could anybody suggest what substances in seeds produce these problems ?
does anybody have a sure-fire method, that (s)he or a clever colleague
has used already ??? (yeah, yeah, he will accept a kit
also, as long as it works).

please post your answers to me or the newsgroup, i will forward them to detlef.



 
cheers,

clemens





===============================================================================
Clemens Suter-Crazzolara, PhD
Max-Planck-Institut fuer Zuechtungsforschung
Abteilung Genetische Grundlagen der Zuechtungsforschung
Carl-von-Linne Weg 10
5000 Koeln 30
Tel. xx49-221-5062.221           fax. xx49-221-5062.21
suter@vax.mpiz-koeln.mpg.dbp.de
===============================================================================
Xref: sparky bionet.plants:619 rec.gardens:8015 soc.culture.british:15954
From: per@aber.ac.uk (Peter David Roberts)
Newsgroups: bionet.plants,rec.gardens,soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Giant Hogweed
Date: 16 Nov 92 16:54:11 GMT
Organization: University of Wales, Aberystwyth

In article <1992Nov12.154101.21237@cbfsb.cb.att.com> djd@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (david.j.daulton) writes:
>In article <19856.2af4f60f@ul.ie> mckeonj@ul.ie writes:
>
>>the "giant hogweed" from America (South, I think) for decor.....
>>...is a large umbelliferous plant up to 8 feet tall and of alien

The origin of the plant is thought to be Asian introduction into the UK is 
believed to be via a botanist collecting in Central Russia.
The plant found favour as a large ornamental in parks in the late Victorian
era.
>
>>.. The sap has a synergic effect with UV light, raising
>>painful weals on the skin, and apparently in some cases interfering
>>with cardiac functions...
>
>
>Is it really that dangerous?  Should I dig up the seedlings I have been
>nurturing?
>
>Dave Daulton, Columbus, Ohio

Indeed it is having escaped from parkland the species colonised the banks 
of many UK waterways and is very resistant to chemical controls. Most local 
authorities now opt for a control method cutting and burning the plant before
it flowers. The plant is notifyable in the UK as indeed the sap is highly 
dangerous especialy as the stem forms into hollow "pea shooters".
My advice would be to dispose of said seedlings ASAP especialy if you have 
chilren .


Two related notes
Several years ago there was a caseof alleged child abuse in the UK where two
chilren were found with marks similar to cigarette burns over their bodies.
It then transpired that they had been using the stems of an Umbellifera as
pea shooters. Was this also G.H. or are other members of this family toxic
to varying degrees?

For a semi-humurous account of the species and its history listen to the Return
of the Giant Hogweed by Genesis (on either Foxtrot or Nursery Cryme) it was
written at about the time the extent of the problem was realised in the UK
Pete
-- 
% Peter Roberts, JANET per@uk.ac.aber   INTERNET per@aber.ac.uk.     %
% Palynology (Postgrad): University of Wales, Aberystwyth.           %
% " Ah but mountains are holy places, and beauty is free, you can    %
%  still walk through the garden, our earth was once green" - Runrig %
From: ajt@rri.sari.ac.uk (Tony Travis)
Newsgroups: bionet.plants
Subject: Re: super-optimal stomatal conductance
Date: 16 Nov 92 12:22:36 GMT
Distribution: bionet
Original-To: MEK104@EDU.PSU.PSUVM, plantbio@uk.ac.daresbury
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]

MEK104@EDU.PSU.PSUVM said:
> 
> [...]
> A very intriguing possibility.  However, I was thinking more along the lines
> of plants exploiting a normally limiting resource when it is abundant.  One
> of the possible benefits of superoptimal stomatal conductance (at least in
> my mind) is that the increased transpiration is used to maximize soil water
> uptake and thus mineral nutrient uptake as well.
>  
> I see the beginning of another interesting discussion, here.  Would you like
> to continue it on bionet.plants so that others may join in?

Yes, I would.

I thought I'd posted a reply to the net, but I must have just sent
private email - sorry.

I agree with you about 'sacrificing' water for mineral uptake - we tend
to dwell on water use efficiency as if water is *allways* in short
supply.  One thing people tend to forget about is winter drought though
(when the available water is frozen).

It isn't in short supply here, today, in Scotland ;-)

	Tony.
-- 
Dr. A.J.Travis,                       |  Tony Travis
Rowett Research Institute,            |  JANET: <ajt@uk.ac.sari.rri>
Greenburn Road, Bucksburn,            |  other: <ajt@rri.sari.ac.uk>
Aberdeen, AB2 9SB. UK.                |  phone: 0224-712751
Xref: sparky bionet.plants:648 bionet.biology.tropical:112
From: smith-una@yale.edu (Una Smith)
Newsgroups: bionet.plants,bionet.biology.tropical
Subject: Botany Symposium
Date: 20 Nov 1992 10:07:20 -0500
Organization: Yale University Science & Engineering UNIX(tm), New Haven, CT 06520-2158
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: minerva.cis.yale.edu


IV Botanical Symposium

Sponsored by the Cuban Botany Society, the Ecology and Systematics
Institute of the Cuban Academy of Science and the National
Ministry of Superior Education Botanical Garden, will be taking
place in the Convention Palace at La Habana, between June 21 to
June 25 of 1993, the IV Botanical Symposium.  For more information
please contact: Dr. Murray J. Little John, University of Adelaide,
Dept. of Zoology, Box 498 GPO, Adelaide South Australia 5001, AUSTRALIA


Information taken from Yungas, No.2, June 1992, and translated by
Jessica Rojas.

Forwarded from OTS-L.  For subscriptions to OTS-L, send email to
listserv@YALEVM.cis.yale.edu, with the text SUBSCRIBE OTS-L Your Name.

-- 

      Una Smith      Biology Department       smith-una@yale.edu
                     Yale University
                     New Haven, CT  06511
Newsgroups: bionet.plants
From: Thomas Bjorkman <Thomas_Bjorkman@cornell.edu>
Subject: Re: Light??
X-Xxdate: Mon, 16 Nov 92 08: 39:06 GMT
Nntp-Posting-User: tnb1@cornell.edu
Organization: Cornell University
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d7
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 13:35:03 GMT

In article <1dpkl1INNq6r@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> Kevin Currie,
ck041@cleveland.Freenet.Edu writes:
>	Will a plant grow off of a regular 100watt light bulb?
> Or does it need a special "grow" light or sunlight?

While just about any light source will be fine for driving photsynthesis
(and energy efficiency is worth considering in this regard), what will
make or break your lighting are the developmental responses to the
spectrum.  Each species has its own preferences, and some are not very
picky. 

Some examples:  When grown in straight cool-white fluorescent light,
radish hypocotyls will elongate.  Rather than getting a round radish, you
get a long red "thread" between the soil surface and the cotyledons.  The
result is a rosette hanging upside-down on the side of the pot.
In the greenhouse, we use high-intesity lighting to keep the plants happy
in the winter.  Cabbage grows very well under high-pressure sodium
lights, but beans do not.  Beans do fine under metal halide.  
There may be primary data that are useful for predicting these responses,
but it is often easier just to try it with the plant you want to grow. 
For Mr. Currie, a fluorescent light is probably the best start, adding
some far-red with an incandescent if the plant is not happy.
From: bwilliam@oyster.smcm.edu (Bill Williams)
Newsgroups: bionet.plants
Subject: Re: super-optimal stomatal conductance
Date: 17 Nov 92 18:14:42 GMT
Organization: St. Mary's College of Maryland
X-UserAgent: Nuntius v1.1.1d10
X-XXMessage-ID: <A72EAFCCA50101D2@williams.smcm.edu>
X-XXDate: Tue, 17 Nov 92 19:18:52 GMT

One reasonable place to look for supra-optimal conductance might be in
plants from very hot environments but with ready access to plenty of
water, which they might use for evaporative cooling.  I participated in
a study of Mimulus species several years ago that appeared to
demonstrate that conductance was NOT super-optimal in these plants
(which met the above requirements), but that conclusion was not as
strong as it might have been.  We did, however, demonstrate that the
stomata had normal sensitivity to relative humidity

At the most recent conference of American Society of Plant
Physiologists (ASPP), Eduardo Zeiger and his colleagues presented a
series of papers about some cotton plants they'd been looking at.  They
are bred for maximum productivity in very hot, well-irrigated locations
in Arizona, and he found that they had increased stomatal conductance
and decreased leaf size in relation to cotton plants not so bred. 
Stomatal conductance in these plants increased with increasing air
temperature and so their response to VPD was presumably inverted
(Eduardo hadn't done the gas-exchange experiments to verify this at the
time, but he undoubtedly has by now).  This may well be a case of
"supra-optimal" conductance, but of course the plants were specifically
bred for maximum production in rather unusual circumstances.
___________________________________
William E. Williams, bwilliam@oyster.smcm.edu
Divison of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's City, MD 20686
Newsgroups: bionet.plants,rec.gardens,misc.rural
From: claird@NeoSoft.com (Cameron Laird)
Subject: Re: Growing fodder..
Organization: NeoSoft Communications Services -- (713) 684-5900
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 14:08:13 GMT
Followup-To: misc.rural,rec.gardens

In article <1992Nov18.090359.5839@news.Hawaii.Edu> yee@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Jonathan Yee) writes:
>	Anybody have any experience growing fodder for farm animals?
>Lately, for my newly established duck & goose enterprise I have decided to
>try to grow my own feed -- at least as a supplement.  I've so far sown
>clover, alfalfa, & buckwheat seeds purchased at a health food store.
			.
			.
			.
I haven't raised waterfowl, and I've never been to
Hawaii, but I'd guess you've made some good choices.
Acquaintances with geese and ducks report they're
generally low-maintenance sorts of friends to have,
and not difficult to feed.  My recollection is that
they do well (even) on lower-grade rations than the
ones you've started.  On the horticultural side,
clover, alfalfa, and buckwheat are all easy for
first-timers--they germinate easily, stand well,
crowd out weeds, and generate LOTS of green growth.
Also, they are among the forages whose seeds are
easiest to collect without mechanization.

Follow-ups to misc.rural and rec.gardens, I suggest.




Mmmmmm, I'm pining already for the fragrance of
cut clover ...
-- 

Cameron Laird
claird@Neosoft.com (claird%Neosoft.com@uunet.uu.net)	+1 713 267 7966
claird@litwin.com (claird%litwin.com@uunet.uu.net)  	+1 713 996 8546
From: GELLMORE@PEARL.TUFTS.EDU (BIOHEAD)
Newsgroups: bionet.plants
Subject: Precautionary Principle
Date: 16 Nov 92 18:03:00 GMT
Distribution: bionet

Delwiche broaches one of the two major themes to have emerged from
the Earth Conference in Rio, and that is the Precautionary Principle.
Paraphrased, it suggests that modern policy should be guided by the
idea that if we have doubts about the outcomes of a policy, we should
not implement it. (Versus the traditional principle of having to prove
that a policy would be harmful before discontinuing it -the kind of
thinking that compromised the stratospheric ozone layer, and who knows
what else).

On the other hand, what does "harmful" mean? Is it synonymous with "change"?
Were the policies of the Green Revolution harmful in being powered by
increased chemical fertilizers that degraded ground water supplies in those
countries that could afford to buy them in the first place? Or would it
have been less harmful to permit famines to go on unabated? 

How about the availability of antibiotics or vaccinations? Is it harmful
to change population dynamics by artificially curbing mortality rates?

In other words, what are "reasonable precautions". I think this falls under
the heading of "Risk Assessment", a field currently in vogue. I think the
bright spot in precautionary thinking, is that for the first time in 
my lifetime, the biosphere is being given very explicit consideration at
the highest levels of decision making in the industrial world.


George Ellmore
Biology
Tufts University
Medford, MA  02155
From: L.BERTSCHINGER@CGNET.COM ("L. Bertschinger, CIMMYT")
Newsgroups: bionet.plants
Subject: Cereal virus newsgroup
Date: 20 Nov 92 16:44:29 GMT
Distribution: bionet

Comment: Some time ago, I sent the following message to the BIONAUTS
	 newsgroup. I now thought to reach even more people through the
         PLANT-BIOLOGY newsgroup.
	 I am looking forward to any response. In case you are interested
	 please specify briefly your particular interests, i.e. why you
	 believe that a cereal virus newsgroup would be useful for you.


----- Begin message from IN%"L.BERTSCHINGER@CGNET.COM"  12-Nov-92

From:	IN%"L.BERTSCHINGER@CGNET.COM"  "L. Bertschinger, CIMMYT"    12-NOV-1992 11:02
To:	IN%"@CGNET.COM:bio-naut@net.bio.net"  "bio-naut"
CC:	
Subj:	Cereal virus usersgroup

Return-path: <@CGNET.COM:BIOSCI-REQUEST@net.bio.net>
Date: 12 Nov 1992 09:07:50 -0600 (CST)
From: "L. Bertschinger, CIMMYT" <L.BERTSCHINGER@CGNET.COM>
Subject: Cereal virus usersgroup
To: bio-naut <@CGNET.COM:bio-naut@net.bio.net>


CIMMYT may be interested in the future to electronically connect
people studying barley yellow dwarf viruses or cereal viruses in
general.

I am trying to find out how many BYDV and cereal virus researchers
are currently using BIOSCI. I am also especially interested
to know how many scientists in the developing world may have access
to these communication channels.

Please let me know if you are conducting research in this area, if
you would be interested in such a mailing list, or if you just know
of somebody who is working in this area and who may be hooked onto
e-mail.

______
L. Bertschinger
CIMMYT, Apdo Postal 6-641, 06600 Mexico, D. F., Mexico
Tels. (595) 42100/42011; Fax (595) 41069
E-mail (Internet): l.bertschinger@cgnet.com; (Cgnet): l.bertschinger


----- End forwarded message




Newsgroups: bionet.plants