Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America, 2 nd ed Boughton. Cobb, Elizabeth. Farnsworth, Cheryl. Lowe . 2005. [Peterson Field Guide Series] Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston. 417 0.00

2006·2.1 MB·English

by  R James Hickey

Fern 00-]
AiiUM-ican Journal 90(3): 02 (2000]
1
Review
nd
Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America, 2" by Boughton Cobb,
ed.,
Elizabeth Farnsworth and Cheryl Lowe. 2005. [Peterson Field Guide
Series]
Houghton
417
MiiTlin Co., Boston. $20.00.
pp.
much
Boughton
After loo long a wait, Cobb's guide to ferns once again
is
Lowe
Farnsworth and
available. Elizabeth Cheryl are be congratulated
to for
rewriting, with the assistance of a host of area specialists from across North
new
America, new
this version of a familiar favorite. Species coverage in the
addition expanded and updated, taking advantage now and
of discoveries
is
new
understandings within Each
the field of pteridology. taxon entry begins
mmon
ecology and range. The greatly amplified morphological characterizations that
down
follow broken by and emphasize
are character
distinctive features.
Treatments generally conclude with concise
a short, 'notes' section that covers
especially diagnostic features, similar species and, in the case of well-
understood
polyploids, ancestral taxa. All in this second edition the
all, fulfills
presumed
goal of providing an update Cobb\s
of original field guide.
new
This guide new
a fancier, glossier version of the original with
is
by
sketches, co-author Elizabeth Farnsworth, supplement
to the elegant
simplicity of Laura Louise Fisher's original artwork. unfortunate
that
is
It
some newer
of these drawings did not reproduce well and appear
rather
The
coarser than Fisher's plates. line however, reinforced with 105
art
is,
numerous
illustrative color photos as well as others added With
for art's sake.
few exceptions these photos add greatly an appreciation form and
to of
characteristics of the plants being
illustrated.
This while wonderful and
field guide, a production, not without
artistic
is
my
problems. Most
seriously, in opinion, is that suffers from a certain
it
amount
of 'unevenness' in content, format and organization. Color plates
appear
outside of species treatments, either with the generic treatment
or
following full species treatments, on those pages reserved 'secondary
for
species'. get a sense that their use within the book more opportunistic than
I is
planned: Dryopteris with 13 taxa has four color plates; the monotypic OnocleQ,
Marsilea and Deparia each have and
2 plates apiece; several genera, Azolla,
Pleopeltis, Pteridiuni, Schizaea, Ophioglossum, Lycopodiella, Psuadolycopo-
diella and Isootes, have no photographic plates Such organizational
at all.
problems unique As
are not the
to illustrations. part of the introductory
example,
section, for there is a rather nice, 5-page, illustrated introduction to
fern morphology. This section, however, not integrated with the sometimes
is
redundant, 7-page glossary at the end of the book. In this same vein, the
introductory 'Tern and
section Habitats Conservation" separated from the
is
topically associated 'Terns in Cultivation and Culture" section the back of
at
the book.
REVIEW 101
many
More problematic perhaps the uneven species treatments found in
is
As an example, the Adiantuni treatment, covering four species,
genera.
two pages Adiantuni pedatum and tm^o interrupted pages for
consists of full for
Admittedly
remaining
three.
mor ^endrium, with two pages of coverage.
full
.
Taxonomic
treatment can be found in other genera.
em
circumscn
Lycopodium
the end of the hook where the classic genus is split, not into three
many modern treatments such the Flora North America, but
rera as in as of
DendroJycopodium and
most
into seven, including the recent segregates
Spinulum. Morphological and molecular data sets are available that clearly
does
show that these splinter genera are monophyletic, but the ability to split
not translate into the requirement to do so. Current trends to treat all
m
while transmitting
)nophyletic groups the generic or familial rank,
at
phylogenetic
completely ignore
phylogenetic information,
a certain set of
new
relationships other hierarchical levels. With the generic concept in the
at
among
we Diphasiastrum,
group
edition, lose sight of the relationships
Spinulum and Dendrolycopodium and between Lycopodiella
Lycopodium,
from
name
we
many
may but expect they will
copodium] not yet be familiar to botanists,
common The evidenced
be more in the next few years." splitting in the
Ophioglossaceae
the
lycopod section in direct contrast to the situation in
is
and
morphologically
and Equisetaceae. Both of these families contain
not recognized the generic level.
molecularly distinct clades that are at
um
North America and the majority of current
keeping with the Flora of (1993)
we under genus Botrychium...." This
treatments, retain the species the single
consistency problem; unnecessary splitting of genera does not help
lack of a
is
groups
young students establish an understanding of rank or a feeling for
fern
and
their relationships.
"True Ferns"
ement
Osmunda] and
the
are divided into the higher leptosporangiate ferns (+
Within
genera arranged alphabetically. The next section, "Fern Relatives", is
the are
more arrangement
nuixotic
in
um
- Lycopod
lycopods those species (and genera) previously treated as
all
This
and follow sequentially.
Equisetum, Selaginella
Isoetes,
the edition.
first
and
and phylogeny discordant
anomalous admixture alphabetizing
of is
mi
mom
framework book.
ignored within the organizational of the
relationship
is
fam
names menti
m
understand and
attempt
to
AMERICAN FERN VOLUME NUMBER
102 JOURNAL:
96
3 (200('.]
My
concern with hook
final the is that fails to provide a solid stepping-
it
stone more advanced One
for studies of difficult fern groups. aspect of fern
downplayed
biology that the frequency and evolutionary importance
is is of
hybridization. For
serious fern students, the search for hybrid taxa in genera
such and Asplenium
as Diyopteris, Cystopteris can represent an
exciting,
challenging, and educational The
experience. guide's glossary definition of
"hybrid" make
is clear, but does not an adequate distinction between primary
hybrids and hybrid derived both which may
taxa, of be important elements
in
fern rich areas within the area covered. one examines
In fact, as species
treatments across genera in which hybridization does one
occur, notes
that
typically all of the higher ploidy taxa are called hybrids, and given
often
less
coverage Such
as a result. indiscriminate use of the term hybrid confusing
is to
the amateur and the unwary and misrepresents
the actual biology of the
organisms concerned. Although two
[of the stated 27] hybrids are enumerated
under
Diyopteris they are provided with short, inconsequential descriptions
same
[on the page two
as geographically peripheral and
fertile taxa) are poorly,
common
There no mention
if at all, illustrated. is of other hybrids, example
for
those involving Diyopteris marginalis, and no help provided how
as to to
know
when
one has found Space
a hybrid. of course always an with
is issue
such and
field guides the authors were undoubtedly
constrained by page
length.
Mv
Company M\
Mifflin in 1956.
the seventh printing and examine worn
as well book
this notice years of
I
I
my
notes,
locality data, dates of first finds of a species, and even a snippet of
CheUonthes
tomentosa reminder
as a of an exciting day in the with Herb
field
Wagner
and
no
Joe Bcitel. longer use Cobb's book doorway new
I as the into a
and
exciting world, but do use reminder
as a of youthful exuberance and
I it
Now, new
exploration.
as generations burgeoning
of pteridologists begin
their
may
careers, they also carry a copy of Cobb with Uiem and
into the
field
carefully annotate new
their discoveries in the pages of this and expanded
version. Although have some
disagreements with coverage and have
scope,
I
I
already bought and away
given
several copies book young
of
this to fern
students and recommend
heartily
I as the starting point for young fern
it
enthusiasts of northeastern North America.—
R. Jamks Hickey, Botany Department,
OH
Miami
University, Oxford, 45056.