December. 1958 



Carter: Aimm.ikd Botany and Plant Pathoi.oc.y 



161 



of pepper and for diseases caused by soil- 

 borne microorganisms including bacteria, 

 fungi, and nematodes. 



If the future can be measured in terms 

 of experience in the past, new diseases 

 and other types of new plant disorders 

 will appear each year to require addi- 

 tional attention of the research personnel 

 of the Section of Applied Botany and 

 Plant Pathology. 



FUTURE POSSIBILITIES 



Future possibilities in the botanical 

 survey include further collections of na- 

 tive and naturalized vascular plants to 

 increase the knowledge of the habitats 

 and the range of these species in the state. 

 As plants migrate, slowly under natural 

 conditions but swiftly with the help of 

 man, it is necessary to be on the alert for 

 new additions to the state flora and to 

 give warning if any introductions are of 

 an obnoxious character. The final aim 

 of a floristic study is to produce a manual 

 of the flora of Illinois which will give 

 not only good descriptions of the species 

 but also a discussion of the variations of 

 the species within the state and a discus- 

 sion of their distribution In Illinois. 



Collections of the nonvascular plants 

 — algae, fungi, and bryophytes — should 

 be expanded. Although a small collec- 

 tion of bryophytes — mosses and liver- 

 worts — is housed in the herbarium, much 

 collecting remains to be done before the 

 present bryophyte flora and its distribu- 

 tion in the state can be known. A nu- 

 cleus of a phycologlcal collection has been 

 made and should be increased. Only a few 

 of the nonpathogenic fungi are repre- 

 sented in the Natural History Survey col- 

 lections. Collections of slime molds, 

 lichens, and fleshy fungi — mushrooms and 

 bracket fungi — should be started, as these 

 plants are a part of the flora of Illinois 

 and thus a part of the natural resources 

 of the state. 



Vegetatlonal studies should be contin- 

 ued. Although many of the original prai- 

 rie types of Illinois have been destroyed 

 and only remnants remain, these remnants 

 should be described so that future citizens 

 of Illinois will have some botanical 

 knowledge of the prairie types. Hill prai- 

 rie studies should be continued to solve 



some of the problems of succession in this 

 type of prairie and to learn how such 

 prairie recovers from heavy grazing. Ad- 

 ditional study should be made of the vege- 

 tation of the sand areas of the state. An 

 ecological studs of the forests in Illinois 

 should be made. The ultimate aim of 

 these studies is to produce a manual of 

 the plant geography of Illinois. 



Not only should the various vegetations 

 of Illinois be described; remnants of 

 them should be preserved. This is true 

 especially of the prairie types. As we do 

 not know what lies in the future for land 

 use In the locations of the present hill 

 prairies, now one of the least disturbed 

 prairie types in Illinois, several of these 

 beautiful grasslands should be set aside 

 as natural areas by the state or federal 

 government and should be so adminis- 

 tered that picnic parties, hunters, or oth- 

 ers cannot disturb them but that inter- 

 ested persons may view and study them. 

 Although only very small remnants of the 

 flatland and bottomland types of prairie 

 remain, several such remnants should be 

 set aside and allowed to expand so that 

 future generations may have a general 

 idea of the nature of these types of prairie 

 which gave the name "the prairie state" 

 to Illinois. Examples of sand prairies 

 should be preserved. Some of these prai- 

 ries which come under state control should 

 be left as prairies instead of being 

 converted into pine plantations. Aban- 

 doned railroad trackways in sand prairie 

 regions should be permitted to develop as 

 a type of the sand prairie. Other vegeta- 

 tions also should be preserved. The bogs 

 In northeastern Illinois, In Lake County, 

 are valuable from the botanist's point of 

 view. The few remaining, sizable tam- 

 arack bogs could be easily set aside for the 

 study of bog plants and animals and of 

 succession in the bogs. 



Future research on plant diseases will 

 continue the advancement of present re- 

 search, and new fields of research will 

 open up. Some of the types of research 

 that appear promising in the control of 

 plant diseases include the use of chemo- 

 therapeutants, antibiotics, and soil fungi- 

 cides. Further research is needed on in- 

 secticides and their indirect role in the 

 control of plant diseases. One Instance 

 of this is illustrated in the control of bac- 



