Current issues | Past issues
V18-1, Fall 2004 – “A Little Mustard that Looks for Land Mines” by Peter Lesica, about a genetically modified form of Thale cress, Arabidopsis thaliana, that turns red when its roots are exposed to nitrogen dioxide; “SW Montana Plant Surveys Yield New Finds” by Sue Crispin, reporting on the documentation of 48 new occurrences of species of concern on BLM lands in Beaverhead and Madison counties; Kathy Lloyd and Drake Barton reviewed “The Story of the Bitterroot: a cross cultural odyssey of discovery,” a DVD by Looking Glass Films directed by Steve Slocomb; “Marilyn Marler Receives Outstanding Service Award,” by Kathy Lloyd and Peter Lesica; a “Big Sky Sketches” piece on Western Redcedar, Thuja plicata, by Jim Habeck; “Peatlands Need Bigger Buffers to Protect Species,” by the Heritage Program; and an appreciation of Harvey and Sheila Bjornlie and Aquilegia jonesii, “The 1995 T-shirt… a real fashion statement” by Patrick Plantenberg.
V18-2, Winter 2005 – In “Riparian Forests of the Upper Missouri Wild and Scenic River,” Greg Kudray reports on changes that have taken place in plains cottonwood gallery forests along the Missouri River, emphasizing the role of smooth brome and Russian olive; Kathy Lloyd reports that the Montana Noxious Weed List advisory committee recommended adding a new Category 4 “Watch List” to the Administrative Rules of Montana; Lloyd also reviewed “Trails of the Wild Selkirks South of the Canadian Border” by Dennis Nichols; Big Sky Sketches focused on Jim Habeck’s “Reflections on Bitterroot,” discussing the idea that horse pastures used by Native Americans increased bitterroot populations, because grazing reduced bunchgrass competition.
V18-3, Spring 2005 – “Pollinators and Predators” by Peter Lesica describes life and death drive among species that use wildflowers; Dee Strickler reports on “Orchid Seed Longevity”; H. Wayne Phillips describes the discovery of a mislabeled specimen in “Prunus pennsylvanica at the Lewis and Clark Herbarium”; “A community partnership: native plant gardening and education” is a small grant report by Liz Bezkiewicz and Marilyn Marler; and “Are Spring Flowers Blooming Earlier in Montana: Two Concepts Presented” 1) Jim Habeck compares the observation of early flowering buttercups in 2005 with records of a similar phenomenon in 1934, and 2) Sharon Eversman discusses the importance of phenological records to interpret what may be happening.
V18-4, Summer 2005 – In “UM Native Plant Gardeners Honored,” Kelly Chadwick appreciates 6 dedicated volunteers who rescued the native plant garden on the UM campus to establish it as the educational resource it is today; Mark Majerus offers practical suggestions for “Landscaping with Native Grasses;” Sue Habeck links Beatrix Potter to field botany in “Rabbits and Lichen, Oh My;” in “MONTU Awarded National Science Foundation Grant,” Peter Lesica and Elizabeth Crone tell about the bioinformatics program to digitize information on the 72,000 items in the UM herbarium; “Wildflowers of Montana” by Donald Anthony Schiemann is reviewed by Drake Barton and Kathy Lloyd; Shannon Kimball announces the opening of the “Krause Basin Interpretive Trail;” and “Knapweed Crash!” by Carol Flaherty, is an MSU news service reprint.