Berberis ×ottawensis is the hybrid of B. vulgaris (common barberry) and B. thunbergii (Japanese barberry). In the wild, this interspecific taxon appears to have been largely overlooked. Here, we report that this hybrid is relatively widespread in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Furthermore, we present evidence that the hybrid individuals are capable of producing some viable seed and pollen.

We used the geographic distribution of genetic diversity in the beach pea, Lathyrus japonicus (Leguminosae) to reconstruct the location of a Pleistocene refugium and Holocene range expansion. DNA sequence data for the chloroplast ndhF-trnH spacer from a global sample of 22 populations in Asia, North America, and Europe were used to assess broad-scale, circumpolar patterns. The cpDNA data revealed five haplotypes including two largely allopatric, widespread haplotypes (one Pacific, the other Atlantic and inland in the Great Lakes). Three geographically restricted haplotypes were also recovered: one each in New Jersey, Lake Champlain, and the Pacific Northwest. The distribution of isozyme variation at 14 loci for 38 populations of beach peas from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America, Lake Champlain, and the Great Lakes was used to reconstruct a North American history. One subset of allozymes was found on the Atlantic Coast and in the Great Lakes; a second subset was widespread from northwestern North America to Newfoundland. There was a nested pattern to the localization of allozymes along the Atlantic Coast; Cape Cod had the greatest number of allozymes. Pacific and Atlantic isozymes and cpDNA haplotypes occurred together along the coast of Newfoundland and adjacent Labrador. The pattern of genetic variation as assessed from isozymes and cpDNA allow the inferences that: 1) an early divergence yielded Atlantic and Pacific lineages and 2) the Atlantic lineage occupied a Wisconsinan refugium on the now-submerged coast of northeastern North America. Our evidence is consistent with there being Holocene secondary contact between the Atlantic and Pacific lineages in the area where they now overlap. We also suggest that an early post-glacial vicariance event is implicated in the history of the Lake Champlain populations.

We examined the distribution of Drosera filiformis (thread-leaved sundew) in one of only five bogs in southern Nova Scotia where it is known to occur in Canada, to verify anecdotal observations that the plant grows most abundantly in water-filled ruts created by all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). The distributions of D. filiformis, ATV tracks, standing water, and a variety of common bog plants were measured using transects of 3 m, 30 m, and > 100 m length. At the > 100 m scale, density of D. filiformis was significantly correlated with ATV tracks and standing water or wet peat. At the 30 m scale, 70.7% of quadrats that intercepted an ATV track also contained one or more individuals of D. filiformis; the species was negatively associated with woody plants, but positively associated with Eriophorum virginicum L. (tawny cotton-grass), which also prefers wet depressions. At the 3 m scale, significantly more D. filiformis were counted within water-filled ATV tracks than on the drier, undisturbed Sphagnum around them. Moderate and dispersed ATV traffic, sufficient to depress the peat layer without displacing the Sphagnum, evidently creates micro-habitat for D. filiformis.

Past typifications of the 27 generic names allied to Salix (Salicaceae) published by Rafinesque in 1817 and 1838 are reconsidered in light of the current rules of nomenclature. A lectotype is proposed here for Diplima. Some generic names previously designated as lectotypes are here corrected to neotypes: Diplopia, Disynia, Oisodix, Opodix, Vetrix, and Vimen. Full bibliographic citations are given for each of Rafinesque's new names or combinations. Amerina balduiniana is lectotypified with a Baldwin specimen (ph) from Florida, and Vetrix linearifolia, a name that predates S. interior (1900), is lectotypified with a Nuttall collection (ph). However, a new combination in Salix is prohibited by the existence of S. linearifolia Rydb. (1901). To assure this, a step-two lectotypification is proposed for S. linearifolia. Oisodix fulva has been proposed for rejection. A John Bradbury collection, the type of Amerina missurica, has not been located, but if it proves to be a collection of S. amygdaloides Andersson as suggested recently by a monographer, the Rafinesque epithet would have priority. The use of Pleiarina (1838), a recently adopted segregate genus, as presently circumscribed is not correct, as Opodix (1817) has priority.