In This Issue

Noel Pavlovic and colleagues have been studying the population dynamics of the Great Lakes shoreline endemic, Pitcher’s thistle, Cirsium pitcheri, for some time. Their opening article in this issue contains a description, and first report, of fasciation in this iconic species. More than that, however, this fascinating article gives a brief account of fasciation in general (abnormal growth that produces contorted or flattened stems and inflorescences) throughout the flowering plants and discusses causes and the possible evolutionary significance. The next article, by Robert Tatina, examines the composition of woody species in the canopy layer in comparison to that of the understory layer in the forested dunes along the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan to determine whether the forest is at an old-growth stage or at some early successional stage and, if the latter, to predict the future composition of the forest. Dennis Riege’s article is a contribution from his continuing series of studies on the forest composition of two white pine stands in the northwestern Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in this case, a study of the understory and ground vegetation of these stands in order to determine the relationship between understory and canopy diversity. Unlike most such studies, Dr. Riege’s includes saplings of the canopy trees in the stands and discusses the effect of the inclusion of this element on the results. In this day of environmental destruction, the restoration of natural areas is an important endeavor. Although it is natural to think of restoration as primarily an activity for rural areas, the paper by Christopher Bouma, Elizabeth Huizenga, and David Warners considers the efficacy of restoring small plots in an urban setting and asks whether such efforts are effective in attracting increasing diversity and higher trophic levels. Daniel Carter and Matthew Pace report on their recent discovery of a rare orchid, Spiranthes ovalis var. erostellata, in southeastern Wisconsin, previously known in that state only from the far southwestern corner. This species, which is sparsely distributed throughout the eastern United States, reaches the northern edge of its range in the southern Great Lakes region, where the discovery of any new population is an event. In recent years, Steve Chadde has written and published a number of field guides to the wetland plants, the general flora, and the pteridophytes of various states and regions in the western Great Lakes. Neil Harriman, a former editor of The Michigan Botanist, and a prolific contributor of reviews over the years, performs the great service of providing us with reviews of all of Mr. Chadde’s books. Dr. Harriman skillfully distributes comments applicable to all or many of the books among the several reviews, while carefully delineating their differences. These reviews are thus best read in one or two groups. We publish here reviews of all the wetland guides, leaving the remaining reviews for a later issue.