Yes, the site has been down for a couple of weeks now. No word on when it might be back.

Hi Tiffany. You wrote: .......... I don't know who Jpaz is .......... I am a lover and grower of cactus & succulent plants, Tiffany - just like you. I was responding to this solicitation, "I will appreciate any comments and observations' That is correct. No offense or disrespect was intended, you know that's not my style. I most sincerely apologize if any was perceived .......... No offense taken, Tiffany, and no apologies necessary.. I would appreciate any corrections to anything incorrect that I said about nomenclature. It's my goal to not say incorrect things, just to call plants by the correct names, according to the info out there about what the correct names are, and how they are sometimes changed. Very mysterious stuff .......... I like that last observation of yours, Tiffany, for many mysteries do seem to sometimes accompany the assignment of names in cactus (especially) and succulent taxonomy. The trouble is there is no central "clearing house" or authority to determine what is the official nomenclature to be universally adopted and used by the cactus & succulent community. Over the years I have seen so many classification systems (that often involved drastic name changes) - each with passionate advocates - come and go. Sometimes that advocacy has led to deep divisions (I particularly remember Britton & Rose versus Backeberg) among C&S enthusiasts, even in the same clubs. Rather sad I think. As for me, I adapt to the nomenclature being used by any fellow enthusiast I am conversing with - life is much simpler that way, besides, the plants don't care what we call them. Leave it to Shakespeare: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." BTW, Jeff is an old friend of mine JP

sergnic - what part of Italy are you living in? Are you in the city or out in a rural area? I see mentioned in, "your page" that you are a botanist. I am very interested in more input from you concerning the types of figs grown in different parts of Italy. I have been there quite a few times. Many in the spring of the year when the figs where not ready to eat. I had to fill up on the Nespoli. My family has a farm in the Cilento, Campania area just south of Palinuro a sea coast town called Marina di Camerota, Italy. There are many different type of figs and other fruit growing there. This year we are planning a September trip. I should be able to get my fill of ripe figs during this seasion. I plan to ask what the names of the trees are take photos of them and also have a notebook to write down what my relatives tell me about the figs and other type fruit trees they are growing. My one uncle even has some sort of banana tree growing in his yard. How I wish I could take along home with me just small rooted trees of all sorts. Living in northeastern Pennsylvania Zone 5 makes it a bit rough but I still would like to try other trees I have seen growing there. I know other people using this forum would feel that way as welI. I have seen what some people have told me was a grape vine that they called a, "strawberry grape". Are you familiar with that type of fruit? I will be looking forward to whatever you can contribute concerning the questions I posed to you. Regards and thank you Tanti saluti Lou NE., PA

ZM, "if such a stimulus is applied to one part of a plant, might the response be exhibited in only a part of the plant" Very likely, sometimes. However, there is considerable evidence of remote signaling. So, a stress in one part of a plant can trigger a response in other parts. Percy Wright, a Canadian plant breeder, told a story of how "His uncle moved from Saskatchewan had moved west to the Okanagan and for sentimental reasons had grafted some ultra hardy Saskatchewan plums onto a few branches of the peach trees in his orchard. A harsh test winter arrived after a few years which decimated not only the peach crop, but also the trees themselves. Most were killed outright or at the least severely injured. However the peach trees with ultra hardy Saskatchewan plums grafted in the branches had no winter damage whatsoever!" The environmental stress (cold? short days?) was detected by the ultra hardy plums, which then communicated an appropriate response -- presumably to the roots. When they went dormant, the rest of the tree had no choice but to follow. Here's a more recent example of remote signaling: Plant Mol Biol. 2003 Nov; 53(4): 493-511. Rootstock effects on gene expression patterns in apple tree scions. Jensen PJ, Rytter J, Detwiler EA, Travis JW, McNellis TW "Like many fruit trees, apple trees (Malus pumila) do not reproduce true-to-type from seed. Desirable cultivars are clonally propagated by grafting onto rootstocks that can alter the characteristics of the scion. For example, the M.7 EMLA rootstock is semi-dwarfing and reduces the susceptibility of the scion to Erwinia amylovora, the causal agent of fire blight disease. In contrast, the M.9 T337 rootstock is dwarfing and does not alter fire blight susceptibility of the scion. This study represents a comprehensive comparison of gene expression patterns in scions of the 'Gala' apple cultivar grafted to either M.7 EMLA or M.9 T337. Expression was determined by cDNA-AFLP coupled with silver staining of the gels. Scions grafted to the M.9 T337 rootstock showed higher expression of a number of photosynthesis-related, transcription/translation-related, and cell division-related genes, while scions grafted to the M.7 EMLA rootstock showed increased stress-related gene expression. The observed differences in gene expression showed a remarkable correlation with physiological differences between the two graft combinations. The roles that the differentially expressed genes might play in tree stature, stress tolerance, photosynthetic activity, fire blight resistance, and other differences conferred by the two rootstocks are discussed." The stress (fire blight infection) affected the scion, but the rootstock somehow mediated the response. You're right that stress "can encompass a wide range of factors, many of which we might not think of as 'stress'." To paraphrase Forest Gump, "Stress is as stress does." In the broad sense, any sort of change in conditions is stressful. Many kinds of environmental stress are easily tolerated and usefully exploited by plants (or animals) long accustomed to them. However, unfamiliar changes/conditions can provoke more profound disturbances. Changes in photoperiod, for example, are often exploited by plants to provide a trigger for flowering. But when certain plants (e.g., tropical) are exposed to the wide ranging photoperiods of northern regions, they may respond oddly. In its native habitat (Brazil) the beautiful Amaryllis fulgida (Hippeastrum striatum var. fulgidum) bears a cluster of 2-4 flowers on a scape around 18 inches tall. But when the species was first cultivated in Britain in the early 19th century, it changed dramatically. "This specimen was imported by Mr. Harrison, from Brazil, and was drawn at Aighburgh, April, 1832. Some of the leaves measured twenty-nine inches in length and nearly three in breadth; the first flower-stem (bearing eight flowers) attained the height of thirty inches, and would probably have become somewhat taller, but was generously cut for the completion of the present figure; a second scape immediately succeeded it, twenty-eight inches high and having six flowers." By the end of the century, the gigantism was gone. Generations of offspring from the original specimens soon became adapted to the British seasons and reverted to the original "type." Other differences in "stress" are obvious. I was thinking of various species of roses that tolerate very different conditions, and are also stressed by very different conditions. Forest species (e.g., Rosa pinetorum) are weakened by exposure to full sun, whereas R. arkansana thrives in full light. R. rugosa happily tolerates salt spray when grown near the ocean, while others are likely to be killed. Some favor in humus (woodland types) while others grow and flower best in sand. Furthermore, there are distinct "sensitive periods" (or "critical periods") in plant development. An environmental condition that is usually tolerated without much difficulty can become very stressful during a fairly brief period of transition. And one more item that I just found while looking for something else: Biosystems. 1995 ;36 (1):71-7 8527698 Adaptive determinism during salt-adaptation in Sorghum bicolor. H Seligmann , G N Amzallag During adaptation to salinity, plants of Sorghum bicolor showed malformations affecting the leaves in development (DPL). At the end of the adaptation process, the plants were regrouped according to their pattern of DPL response. The distribution of the plant population in different patterns depended on environmental conditions. However, a positive relationship between the frequency of a pattern and its rate of development has been found. Similarly, a negative relation between the frequency of a pattern and the rate of senescence for the same pattern has been observed. The results reveal the existence of an orientation of the plant response towards the patterns with highest developmental rate and lowest rate of senescence. This property is defined as "adaptive determinism". Results indicate that the NaCl acts as a trigger for adaptation to a whole range of environmental perturbations. This suggests that adaptation to salinity is not a pre-programed response of the plants, and may be related to learning processes occurring in animals. Amzallag made some very interesting studies of the effects of salt on sorghum. I just decided to make a bibliography of his papers. Karl Here is a link that might be useful: Salt stress in Sorghum bicolor