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LATIN-AMERICAN BOTANICAL CONGRESS
The 1st Latin-American Botanical Congress was held at the National Medical Center, in Mexico City, December 3-9, 1972. About 500 persons, including sizeable delegations from the more distant countries of Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, attended the sessions. The Congress was sponsored by the Sociedad Botánica de México, with the cooperation of national and state universities, and various other agencies of the national government of Mexico.
At a special session of the Sociedad Botánica, on the evening of December 6, the Society presented its gold medal for outstanding contributions to Mexican botany, to Ida K. Langman, Efraín Hernández Xolocotzi, Jerzy Rzedowski, and (posthumously) to Paul C. Standley.
Regular sessions of the Congress were devoted to contributed papers on paleobotany, taxonomy, floristics, morphology, phytochemistry and physiology, ecology, evolution, genetics, teaching of botany, economic botany, ethnobotany, and bibliography. A special session was devoted to discussion of the Flora Neotropica project.
Discussion at the Congress centered on the subject-matter of seven half-day or full-day symposia devoted, respectively, to new work in paleobotany, new work in floristics, advances in systematics and evolution, advances in physiology and autecology, advances in synecology, the teaching of botany and, finally, the potential contribution of botany to problems of development and utilization especially in the American tropics.
In the discussion there was agreement that the development of Botany in Latin America must be closely tied to emerging problems of human development, and that much effort must be devoted to education and training in Botany, to the stimulation of interest in neglected branches of Botany, to the completion of floristic inventories in the tropics, and to improved methods of utilization of data in ways that will reconcile the conservation of natural resources with the basic needs of growing human populations.
R. McVAUGH (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
THE AFRICAN COLLECTION AT MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN
A note by Dr. Walter Lewis, which appeared in this column in 1970, explained the interest of the Missouri Botanical Garden in the African flora. Since this Institution became recognized as the official repository for African flora in North America, our progress in expanding our African collections has been increasing in a most promising manner. Most new acquisitions have been made through private collectors rather than botanical institutions and herbaria. This situation requires correction and it is believed that one handicap to official exchanges with institutions having African specimens is that the Missouri Botanical Garden lacks suitable material for exchange—most of our duplicates being neotropical.
Although African duplicates are gradually being accumulated, a more positive approach is being taken. This takes the form of an offering of prints from our extensive collection of type of African plants, stored either at Kew or the British Museum herbarium. These photographs were made at the end of the last War by Garden staff and are a valuable asset not only to this Institution, but potentially to any institution interested in African flora. The offering of the prints is primarily to promote our exchanges with institutions who have duplicate African plant material, but the photographs can also be purchased at cost in sets. Other offers for exchange of herbarium specimens, especially from the tropics will also be considered. The prints will be exchanged for two plant specimens or at a cost of 75c (US). Institutions interested in the type photograph collection should contact the Missouri Botanical Garden.
PETER GOLDBLATT
1. Missouri Botanical Garden, 2315 Tower Grove Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.
MAY 1973
