Botanical Research in Alaska— Steere 105 



us, Mr. J. P. Anderson has nearly completed an excellent and 

 extremely useful series of well-illustrated papers on the "Flora 

 of Alaska" which makes possible the identification of the higher 

 plants of Alaska. Mr. Anderson's contribution becomes all the 

 more valuable when we realize that his extensive explorations 

 and collections were made largely at his own expense, during 

 a long residence in Alaska. 



It may seem to you that I have put undue weight on taxonomy 

 in emphasizing the achievements of Hulten and Anderson, yet 

 it seems to me that these are among the very few comprehensive 

 publications on Alaskan botany. Furthermore, an inventory 

 of the flora is the backbone of all botanical research, since the 

 solution of even a completely nontaxonomic problem depends 

 on an exact knowledge of the plant materials used. Because of 

 the high physiological and ecological specialization of different 

 species, improper identification of materials employed by physi- 

 ologists, geneticists, cytologists, or ecologists may result in con- 

 clusions that are open to suspicion, if not actually misleading. 

 The extremely practical considerations involved in the inter- 

 pretation of aerial photographs in order to determine traffic- 

 ability, water resources, etc., depend upon a thorough under- 

 standing of flora and vegetation. Many phenomena connected 

 with permafrost may be very closely related, either as cause or 

 effect, to definite species of higher plants or even of mosses. 



Since most if not all of the other participants on this program 

 are especially interested in higher plants as research material, 

 it would seem appropriate for me to touch upon the need for 

 research in the enormous field of cryptogamic botany in Alaska, 

 insofar as my time allows. Although many groups of seedless 

 plants far outnumber in species the seed plants of Alaska, no 

 comprehensive study of any major cryptogamic group has been 

 published since the reports of the Harriman Expedition a half- 

 century ago, so far as I know. The series of researches on wood- 

 rotting and other higher fungi, both in the field and in the 

 laboratory, by Professor Dow V. Baxter of the University of 

 Michigan are internationally known. Many papers on Alaskan 

 lichens have been published both in this country and abroad, 



