The Southern Appalachian Botanical Society (formerly the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club) is an American botanical society formed in 1935 at West Virginia University. [1] The focus of the society has gradually changed and now includes the botany of the entire eastern United States, including the taxonomy, biogeography, ecology, physiology, and biochemistry of plants. The society has about 500 members. [2]
The society was founded in 1935 and produced its first journal in 1936. The majority (52%) of the first members were from West Virginia, and early leaders included Earl Core, Perry Daniel Strausbaugh, and Elizabeth Ann Bartholomew. The early years of the society were characterized by botanical forays, or expeditions, that served to build relationships and communication among Appalachian botanists and to foster botanical exploration. The society expanded its geographical focus, adapted its governance, and modernized its journal in the 1980s and early 1990s, and the name was officially changed to Southern Appalachian Botanical Society in 1992. [2] The history of the society was put into the context of Appalachian botanical heritage in a 1994 movie entitled And Who Will Weigh the Mountains. The archives of the society are housed at West Virginia University.
The society publishes Castanea , a quarterly journal of botanical research. The first issue of the society's journal was issued as The Journal of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club in 1936. Articles cover topics such as the systematics of eastern U.S. plants, rare and endangered plants, local floras, changes in species distributions, physiological ecology, and the ecological analysis of vegetation types. Larger studies are produced as part of an irregular series entitled Castanea, Occasional Papers in Eastern Botany.
The newsletter Chinquapin was first published in 1993 to provide news about the society, to answer questions about botanical problems, to present informative articles, and to act as an outlet for member questions or observations.
Each year the society has an April meeting in conjunction with the Association of Southeastern Biologists and the Society of Herbarium Curators. The meetings, held in various southeastern states, include lectures, posters, banquets, and local field trips to botanically interesting areas. The society also supports the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The Richard and Minnie Windler Award rewards outstanding research in the area of plant taxonomy and is given annually for the best article published in Castanea. The Elizabeth Ann Bartholomew Award recognizes people who have made significant contributions to southern Appalachian botany, to the society, or to botany through professional and public service. The society funds student research projects through the Earl Core Student Research Award. These awards are announced at the annual meeting in April, in addition to an award for the best student lecture presentation and best student poster presentation. [2]
Castanea pumila, commonly known as the Allegheny chinquapin, American chinquapin or dwarf chestnut, is a species of chestnut native to the southeastern United States. The native range is from Maryland and extreme southern New Jersey and southeast Pennsylvania south to central Florida, west to eastern Texas, and north to southern Missouri and Kentucky. The plant's habitat is dry sandy and rocky uplands and ridges mixed with oak and hickory to 1000 m elevation. It grows best on well-drained soils in full sun or partial shade.
Hugh Iltis was a professor of botany and director of the herbarium at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. While he is most noted as a scientist for his role in the discovery of perennial teosinte, a wild diploid relative of modern maize, he is also remembered as an outspoken environmental conservationist.
Chinquapin or chinkapin may refer to:
E. Lucy Braun was a prominent botanist, ecologist, and expert on the forests of the eastern United States who was a professor of the University of Cincinnati. She was the first woman to be elected President of the Ecological Society of America, in 1950. She was an environmentalist before the term was popularized, and a pioneering woman in her field, winning many awards for her work.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to botany:
The Botanical Society of America (BSA) represents professional and amateur botanists, researchers, educators and students in over 80 countries of the world. It functions as a United States nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership society.
Abraham Erasmus van Wyk, also known as Braam van Wyk is a South African plant taxonomist. He has been responsible for the training of a significant percentage of the active plant taxonomists in South Africa and has also produced the first electronic application (app) for the identification of trees in southern Africa.
Earl Lemley Core was a botanist and botanical educator, researcher, and author as well as a local West Virginia historian. He was founder of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Club and editor of its journal, Castanea, for thirty-five years. He was a teacher and professor at West Virginia University (WVU) from 1928 to 1972. He served for four years on the Morgantown City Council, and served as mayor of Morgantown for two years. The Earl L. Core Arboretum at WVU was named in his honor in 1967.
The Phycological Society of America (PSA) is a professional society, founded in 1946, that is dedicated to the advancement of phycology, the study of algae. The PSA is responsible for the publication of Journal of Phycology and organizes annual conferences among other events that aid in the advancement of related algal sciences.
The University of Michigan Herbarium is the herbarium of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the United States. One of the most-extensive botanical collections in the world, the herbarium has some 1.7 million specimens of vascular plants, algae, bryophytes, fungi, and lichens, and is a valuable resource for teaching and research in biology and botany. The herbarium includes many rare and extinct species.
Castanea, The Journal of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society, is a biannual, peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society. It was established in 1936 and covers the botany of the eastern United States, in particular systematics, floristics, ecology, physiology, and biochemistry. The journal name Castanea comes from the genus of chestnuts that were fresh in the minds of the founders of the society when the journal was established; the chestnut blight ravaged the American Chestnut, Castanea dentata, in the early part of the twentieth century and drastically changed the plant communities of the Appalachians.
Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences is one of the oldest comprehensive research institutions in China. It has led the development of plant science in China since its establishment in 1928. The institute has received three first-level National Natural Science Awards, as well as more than 160 awards at the national and provincial level. With a focus on integrative plant biology, IB-CAS conducts innovative research at the molecular, cellular, physiological, ecological and landscape levels, and develops applications to benefit agriculture and the environment. Its five key research areas are systematic and evolutionary botany, vegetation and environmental change, plant molecular physiology and development, photosynthesis, and the sustainable use of plant resources.
The Association of Southeastern Biologists (ASB) is a scientific professional organization in the southeastern United States focused on promoting research and education across the biological sciences. The ASB hosts an annual meeting featuring paper and poster sessions, workshops, and symposia across a variety of biological disciplines. The ASB also issues the yearly publication Southeastern Biology.
The German Society for Plant Sciences is a non-profit network for plant sciences and botany in the German-speaking area. It was founded 1882 at Eisenach, Germany. In July 2020 it comprises more than 900 individual members and persons working or interested in plant science. The society supports young scientists and unites all generations.
Elizabeth Ann Bartholomew was an American botanist dedicated to the study of plant systematics. The standard author abbreviation E.A.Barthol. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
Perry Daniel Strausbaugh was an American botanist and expert in the flora of West Virginia. The standard author abbreviation Strausb. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
Norman C. Melvin III is a botanist and plant ecologist.
Warren Lambert Wagner is an American botanist, a curator of botany, and a leading expert on Onagraceae and plants of the Pacific Islands, especially plants of the Hawaiian Islands.
Lena Clemmons Artz was an American botanist and secondary-school educator dedicated to the study of the flora of Virginia, particularly that of its shale barrens and other mountain ecosystems. The standard author abbreviation Artz is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
Peter Bannister was an English-born New Zealand botanist and academic.