Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Roadside wandering uncovers rose relative Date: Sun, 1 Nov 92 20:06:09 EST Message-ID: \SE A;SCIENCE/HEALTH \SS (WS) \HD Roadside wandering uncovers rose relative \BY Robert Holquist \CR REDDING RECORD-SEARCHLIGHT \DT REDDING, Calif. REDDING, Calif. - Two scientists doing some casual roadside exploration have discovered a new species of shrub in eastern Shasta County and sent a stir through the scientific community. The discovery of the "Shasta snow-wreath" marks the first time in 134 years a new species has been added to the group of plants called Neviusia in the rose family. No one knows what special properties the plant contains. All plants hold the potential to produce important substances that might be used to make drugs or other products. Dean Taylor and Glenn Clifton, botanists with the consulting firm BioSystems Analysis Inc. in Santa Cruz, Calif., made their discovery in May. The men have long been intrigued by some limestone cliffs they could see from Highway 299 just west of Round Mountain. "I've driven to Burney 100 times in the last five years," Mr. Taylor said. But Cedar Creek was always running too high to make crossing easy, or the men were in too big a hurry to stop and poke around. They knew they might find something interesting in the special microclimate near the cliffs, but they had no idea they would make such a major discovery. "No botanist in his wildest dreams would have expected to find this. Winning the lotto is a bigger probability," said James Shevock, a botanist with the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region office in San Francisco, who helped Mr. Taylor and Mr. Clifton confirm the plant's significance. On May 5 Mr. Taylor and Mr. Clifton stopped to take a closer look at the base of the cliffs and found a shrub they did not recognize. "Odd plants grow in odd places," said Barbara Ertter, collections manager of the herbaria at the University of California at Berkeley. She helped determine the shrub was something never known to science. Mr. Shevock, Miss Ertter and Mr. Taylor are publishing their findings in the scientific journal Novan, issued by the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. Editor Marshall Crosby will run the article as the cover story in December. The paper will introduce the discovery to the scientific community, include a precise description of the plant and announce its botanical name. Mr. Taylor named the plant after Mr. Clifton. The scientific name for the plant used by botanists will honor Mr. Clifton's numerous contributions to the science. Mr. Crosby said the article on the Shasta snow-wreath is scientifically interesting because it is such a strange plant and because the find itself is unusual. "It must say something about the state of our knowledge. There must be other interesting plants out there," Mr. Crosby said. David Whetstone of Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Ala., is an expert on the closest living relative to the Shasta snow-wreath, the Alabama snow-wreath, which grows only in the Southeastern United States. Mr. Whetstone said many scientists feel they must travel to the tropical rain forests to make major discoveries, but the Shasta County find proves otherwise. "There is a lot of science and discovery that is really exciting right in our back yard," Mr. Whetstone said. Jim Nelson, a botanist with the California Department of Fish and Game in Redding, said the plant qualifies for protection under the California Environmental Quality Act. Scientists will have to survey the region to determine how rare the plant is. * Distributed by Scripps Howard. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM