Table Of ContentSoftwareReviews
pollen over itself. Ifthe female wasp then for the armchair traveller, but beware, the
enters a female syconium to lay its eggs in armchair may be traded in for a ticket to
the neuter flowers, it pollinates the female any one ofthe fantastic places illustrated.
flowers in the process. Some ofthe hidden Bye now. I’m offto see how anything can
relationships include those ofthe nitrogen grow at Coyote Buttes near the Arizona-
fixing bacteria and the mycorrhizae. The Utahborder.
final chapter dealing with plant evolution
is a romp through geologic time and pre- Maria Gibson
sentsan excellentoverview. PlantEcologyResearchUnit
The book provides hours and hours of SDcehaokoilnoUfnBivieorlsoigtiyc,alBaunrdwoCohde,miVciactlorSicaie3n1c2e5s
entertainment and is highly recommended.
It is ideal for those with little or no back-
ground in plantbiology and wouldprovide
a wonderful and instructive resource for
teachers and their students. It is also ideal
Forgotten Flora Resource Kit
byJ Milne, T Lebel, A Veenstra-Quah andG Shadforth
Publisher: RoyalBotanicGardensMelbourne, Australia, 2004. 3 CD-R
and 10posters, ISBN0975136232. RRP$154.00
Forgotten Flora is aptly named. Indeed, interactive. Each CD includesabriefintro-
bryophytes, fungi and lichens (fungi with duction to the groups of organisms com-
one or two algal symbionts) have been prisingthe forgotten flora, andexplains the
overlooked by scientists and the public existence ofthe othertwo CDs and the ten
alike, yet they are vital to the ecology and posters. The ‘Educators Note’ explains
health ofall terrestrial habitats and most how the information in the kit can be
aquatic habitats. The resource kit consists incorporated into the Key Learning Areas
ofthree CDs and ten posters. It is aimed of the Curriculum and Standards
primarily at teachers and is presented at a Framework for Biological Science.
level such that those untrained in plant Following the general introduction, which
biology or mycology can understand and is specific to the group oforganisms perti-
successfully usethe information presented. nent to the CD in question, there are five
The authors aimed to promote increased sections which provide detail on the rele-
awareness ofthe Forgotten Flora, educate vantgroupoforganisms,their interactions,
people about their importance to the envi- how to study them, a list ofactivities and
ronment, andshow theirbeauty. They have associated worksheets and a bibliography
done this admirably, and producing the kit and glossary. These are accompanied by
for teachers of older primary and sec- superb photographs and drawings. The
ondary school children ensures a future activities, which would be ofgreat benefit
generation with a better understanding and to teachers, include making spore prints of
appreciation ofthese small but exceeding- fungi, using fungi to make ink, looking at
ly importantorganisms. what lives in the fruiting structures of
The CDs are presented much like a text fungi, graveyard lichens, finding out
book but are partially interactive. whether lichens are ‘fussy’, using lichens
Flopefully, the next edition will be fully as bioindicators ofpollution, finding out
122 The Victorian Naturalist
SoftwareReviews
why mosses haveteeth andmaking amoss students. They also would be excellent for
terrarium. Wordfinds,crosswordsand alist public displays and are ideal to educate the
ofpossibleprojects also are provided. The public on the ecologic significance ofthe
activities and worksheets sections begin Forgotten Flora. The posters centre around
with ‘Fascinating Facts’.presented as particularthemessuchas ‘takinga likingto
answers to a series ofquestions, for exam- lichens’ or ’Poisonous mushrooms’, and
ple: What have mosses got to do with the provideanswersto intriguingquestions, for
Tyroleanman? Whatarethegreenumbrel- example, what mushrooms caused symp-
las growing with my pot plants? Each toms displayed by ‘witches7 in the 17th
activity comes with a complete set of centuryandwhatarethe littlecupsgrowing
instructions and includes a list ofmaterials inthecarpetofmycar?
so that the inexperienced teacher/techni- Limited resources dealing with
cian easily can prepare and/or run the bryophytes, fungi and lichens are available
activity. to teachers and the general public.
Although the bibliography provides a Forgotten Flora successfully fills that void
useful list of story books, general text and is a valuable addition to any class-
books, field guides and keys, it would be room. The authors are commended for
morehelpful ifitwasannotatedto indicate their initiative and imagination and the
the level ofexpertise required to use the resource kit is certain to fulfill theiraim of
item. Forexample, thekeyto the generaof increasing awareness, knowledge and
Australian mossesby Buckefal. requiresa appreciation of the forgotten flora. The
good knowledge ofbryology and associat- CDs and posters are highly recommended
ed terms while the field guide to mosses for anyone with an interest in these fre-
and allied plants by Meagher and Fuhrer quently overlooked organisms but particu-
can be usedby both experienced and inex- larly toteachers.
periencedbryologists.
Production of the CDs seems to have MariaGibson
been rushed, indicated by the number of PlantlicologyResearchUnit
SchoolofBiologicalandChemicalSciences
typographical errors, the admission that the DeakinUniversity,Burwood,Victoria3125
CDs were only partially interactive and the
occasional repetition of information in
some sections. The posters, however, are
excellent. They are visually pleasing, clear-
ly presented and would be informative dis-
plays for primary, secondary and tertiary
Vol. 123 (2) 2006 123
