Showing papers in "Brittonia in 1992"

Fossils and seed plant phylogeny reanalyzed

Abstract: In a cladistic analysis of Recent seed plants, Loconte and Stevenson (1990) obtained results that conflict with our 1986 analysis of both extant and fossil groups and argued that fossil data had led us to incorrect conclusions. To explore this result and the general influence of fossils on phylogeny reconstruction, we assembled new “Recent” and “Complete” (extant plus fossil) data sets incorporating new data, advances in treatment of characters, and those changes of Loconte and Stevenson that we consider valid. Our Recent analysis yields only one most parsimonious tree, that of Loconte and Stevenson, in which conifers are linked with Gnetales and angiosperms (anthophytes), rather than with Ginkgo, as in our earlier Recent and Complete analyses. However, the shortest trees derived from our Complete analysis show five arrangements of extant groups, including that of Loconte and Stevenson and our previous arrangements, suggesting that the result obtained from extant taxa alone may be misleading. This increased ambiguity occurs because features that appear to unite extant conifers and anthophytes are seen as convergences when fossil taxa are interpolated between them. All trees found in the Complete analysis lead to inferences on character evolution that conflict with those that would be drawn from Recent taxa alone (e.g., origin of anthophytes from plants with a “seed fern” morphology). These results imply that conclusions on many aspects of seed plant phylogeny are premature; new evidence, which is most likely to come from the fossil record, is needed to resolve the uncertainties.

Causes of evolution : a paleontological perspective

Abstract: By studying evolution across geological time, paleontologists gain a perspective that sometimes complements and sometimes conflicts with views based solely on studies of extant species. The contributors to Causes of Evolution consider whether factors exerting major influences on evolution are biotic or abiotic, intrinsic or extrinsic. Causes of Evolution presents a broad sampling of paleontological research programs encompassing vertebrates, invertebrates, and vascular plants; empirical work and theoretical models; organisms ranging in age from Cambrian to Recent; and temporal scales from ecological time to hundreds of millions of years. The diverse array of research styles and opinions presented will acquaint scientists in related fields with the strengths and weaknesses of paleontology as an approach to evolutionary studies and will give evolutionary biologists of every stripe new bases for evaluating the scope and bias of their own work.

A formal classification of the extant cycads

Abstract: My previously published provisional classification of the Cycadales is here formally published. This classification is based upon a cladistic analysis of characters ranging from gross morphology to phytochemistry. Encephalartos is lectotypified.

Hallucinogenic plants of the Shuar and related indigenous groups in Amazonian Ecuador and Peru.

Abstract: Banisteriopsis caapi, Brugmansia suaveolens, andNicotiana tabacum are the principal hallucinogens used by the Shuar and related ethnic groups in Amazonian Ecuador and Peru. These three species are common hallucinogens throughout northwestern Amazonia.Banisteriopsis caapi (natem) is the hallucinogen most frequently employed by the Shuar. The Shuar drink the juice ofN. tabacum duringnatem healing ceremonies. They also believe that smoke fromN. tabacum cigarettes repel evil spirits.Brugmansia suaveolens is the strongest Shuar hallucinogen. Considered very dangerous, it sometimes is added tonatem mixtures or it may be taken alone. Other plants used in hallucinogens or in narcotic beverages includeBrunfelsia grandiflora, Cyperus spp.,Diplopterys cabrerana, Heliconia stricta, Herrania spp., andIlex guayusa.

Tropical Lichens: Their Systematics, Conservation, and Ecology.

Abstract: List of contributors and participants D.J. Galloway: Biogeographical relationships of Pacific tropical lichen floras J.A. Elix: The lichen genus Relicina in Australasia C.W. Smith: Lichen conservation in Hawaii G.N. Stevens: The tropical Pacific species of Usnea and Ramalina and their relationship to species in other parts of the world P.W. Lambley: Lichens of Papua New Guinea H. Krog: Lichenological observations in low montane rainforests of eastern Tanzania E. Farkas: New and interesting records of Tanzanian foliicolous lichens I. Karnefelt: Evolutionary rates in the Teloscistaceae L. Arvidsson: Lichenological studies in Ecuador H.J.M. Sipman: Notes on the lichen flora of the Guianas, a neotropical lowland area M.P. Marcelli: Aspects of the foliose lichen flora of the southern-central coast of Sao Paulo State, Brazil S.C. Tucker, S.W. Matthews, & R.L. Chapman: Ultrastructure of subtropical crustose lichens L. Arvidsson: On the importance of botanical gardens for lichens in the Asian tropics J.C. Wei & Y.M. Jiang: Some foliicolous lichens in Xishuangbanna, China P.A. Wolseley: Observations on the composition and distribution of the 'Lobarion' in the forest of South-East Asia M. Wedin: Spore ontogeny of Sphaerophorus diplotypus and S. fragilis A. Aptroot: Tropical pyrenocarpous lichens, a phylogenetic approach T.D.V. Swinscow: Epilogue Index.

Chusquea sect. Swallenochloa (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) and allies in Brazil.

Abstract: The 13 high altitude/latitude, dwarf species ofChusquea in Brazil are described, illustrated, and mapped, and their morphology, habitats, distributions, and taxonomic affinities are discussed. Two keys to species are provided, one based solely on vegetative characters, and the other on vegetative and flowering characters.Chusquea erecta, C. nutans, C. riosaltensis,C. windischii, C. caparaoensis, andC. nudiramea are described as new, andC. microphylla is elevated to specific status. Two subspecies are recognized within the variableC. mimosa: C. mimosa subsp.australis and subsp.mimosa. Seven species are formally classified withinChusquea sect.Swallenochloa; the remaining six species are classified into two informal categories, theNudiramea andHeterophylla groups. A list of all the species currently included withinChusquea sect.Swallenochloa is provided.

A revision of Erythrochiton sensu lato (Cuspariinae, Rutaceae)

Abstract: In the rutaceous subtribe Cuspariinae, species with relatively large, valvate, colored calyces have been assigned to Erythrochiton, but differences in arrangement of leaves, type of inflorescence, union of petals, of filaments, and of carpels, indument of corolla and testa, appendages of anthers, height of the intrastaminal disc, and exine of the pollen argue for the recognition of three genera. Erythrochiton s. str., characterized by often perennating inflorescences, connate, usually glabrous petals, free carpels, tomentulose seeds, and spinulose exine, consists of seven species of which four are new: E. fallax from the eastern flanks of the Andes from Colombia to Bolivia, E. odontoglossus from western Ecuador and adjacent Peru, E. trichanthus from eastern Peru, and E. gymnanthus from Costa Rica. The assignment to Toxosiphon of four species with woolly, coherent petals, connate carpels, glabrous seeds, and reticulate exine necessitates three new combinations: T. carinatus, T. macropodus, and T. trifoliatus. Recognition of a third unispecific genus with opposite simple leaves, sparsely pubescent, coherent, clawed petals, and spinulose exine requires a new genus name, Desmotes, and a new combination, D. incomparabilis.

A synopsis of Rhynchospora (Cyperaceae) in Mesoamerica

Abstract: This treatment provides a key, brief synonymy, habitat descriptions, and distributions for the 81 species ofRhynchospora known from Mesoamerica. Included are descriptions and illustrations of three new species and one new subspecies (R. davidsei, R. rosae, andR. fascicularis subsp.Sierrensis described by the author andR. talamancensis described jointly with J. Gomez-Laurito). In addition, the achenes of 17 species ofRhynchospora are illustrated as an aid in identification.

Centennial beans: A miscellany of American Fabales

Abstract: Descriptions, diagnoses and commentary are presented for new or critical taxa of the three fabalean families: in Mimosaceae: Mimosa pedalis, nom. provis. (illustr.) and Pithecellobium micranthum Benth. ≡ Acacia acuifera Benth.; in Caesalpiniaceae: Senna monilifera Irwin & Barneby, sp. nov., Chamaecrista coradinii Irwin & Barneby, sp. nov, Macrolobium cidii Barneby, sp. nov. (illustr.), M. cowanii Barneby, sp. nov. (illustr.), M. grallator Barneby, sp. nov. (illustr.) and Dicymbe praeruptorum Barneby, sp. nov. (illustr.); and in Fabaceae: Swartzia ingens Barneby, sp. nov. (illustr.), Lecointea hatschbachii Barneby sp. nov. (illustr.), and Astragalus cremnophylax var. hevronii Barneby, var. nov.

New taxa and combinations in Protium Burm. f. Studies in neotropical Burseraceae VI

Abstract: Revision ofProtium in eastern Amazonia and the Guianas yielded one new section, three new species, three new subspecies, and five new combinations in the genus. SectionSarcoprotium Daly is distinguished principally by the cucullate petals with clawed bases and usually with a dorsal thickening produced vertically as an appendage; staminate inflorescences with a few 3-merous flowers; thecae of the anthers completely separated by the connective and the dehiscence latero-introrse; and fruit ellipsoid when only one pyrene develops.

Manual of the flowering plants of Hawai’i. 2 Vols. By Warren L. Wagner, Derral R. Herbst, and S. H. Sohmer

Abstract: Ezcurra, C. 1989. Ruellia sanguinea (Acanthaceae) y especies relacionadas en Argentina, Uruguay y sur de Brasil. Darwiniana 29: 269-287. & D. de Azkue. 1989. Validation and genetic and morphological relationships of Ruellia macrosolen (Acanthaceae) from southern South America. Syst. Bot. 14:297-303. Nees, C.G. 1847a. Acanthaceae. In: C. Martius, editor. Flora Brasiliensis 9: 1-164. 9 1847b. Acanthaceae. In: A. P. de Candolle, editor. Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis 11: 46-519. Wasshausen, D.C. 1988. New and interesting species of Acanthaceae from Peru. Beitr. Biol. Pflanzen 63: 421-429.

Neotropical floristics and inventory: who will do the work?

Abstract: In 1980 the National Academy of Sciences, in their report Research Priorities in Tropical Biology (Committee on Research Priorities in Tropical Biology, 1980), recommended a fourto five-fold increase in the number of taxonomists studying tropical organisms. At the time, they estimated that there were approximately 1500 tropical taxonomists in all fields of biology. The purpose of this commentary is to discuss the current situation for one group of these taxonomists, the Neotropical plant monographer. The biodiversity crisis, especially the loss of plant and animal species in the tropics, is now recognized as one of the most important environmental concerns of our time. Unfortunately, the number of monographers--the very biologists responsible for defining biodiversity-has not increased sufficiently, since 1980, to adequately respond to this crisis. The Association of Systematics Collections (1989) reported an increase of slightly less than one curator per institution among memberS of their organization from 1976 to 1986 (Hoagland & Mabee, 1988; Mabee & Hoagland, 1988). This modest increase may be partially attributed to a disproportionate increase in staff at relatively few institutions (for example, the Missouri Botanical Garden). In contrast, other institutions concerned with the study of botanical diversity in the Neotropics, such as the Institute of Systematic Botany of the University of Utrecht, The New York Botanical Garden, and the Botany Department of the Smithsonian Institution, actually have fewer monographers on their staffs now than they had in 1980. Moreover, there is no indication that this situation will improve because the number of systematists being trained is insufficient to meet current and future needs for descdbing the variety and variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they live (Committee on International Science's Task Force on Global Biodiversity, 1989). The combination of high plant diversity, the furious and unabated rate of destruction of habitats, and the woefully small pool of plant monographers means that many Neotropical plant species will disappear before they are described and classified, a process referred to as \"anonymous extinction\" by Campbell (1989). Once extinct, the role that these species had played in maintaining healthy ecosystems and a livable planet, as well as their potential use to mankind, would never be known.

On the identity of Jacquinia armillaris (Theophrastaceae) and related species

Abstract: TheJacquinia armillaris group, a natural assemblage of chiefly Caribbean taxa, is revised. The group was found to include three species with different but slightly overlapping distributions:J. keyensis Mez, northern Caribbean,J. arborea Vahl, of central and southern Caribbean, andJ. armillaris Jacq., of southern Caribbean (Lesser Antilles), northern South America, and eastern Brazil. All taxa are described and illustrated. Nomenclature is discussed and most names are typified.

Metamerism, heterochrony, and inflorescence morphology of the Pithecellobium-complex (Leguminosae : Mimosoideae : Ingeae)

Abstract: The diverse inflorescence morphology of species in the Pithecellobium-complex is shown to be a result of: 1) the organization of the components of the inflorescence and their relative positions; 2) the hierarchical relationship of the axes of the inflorescences and the position they assume in total tree architecture; and 3) heterochronic development of the components of the inflorescence. It is shown that the typological system of nomenclature of inflorescences leads to false assumptions of homology and therefore must be discarded. The morphology of inflorescences is discussed in terms of metamerism, and the term Repeating Growth Unit (RGU) is introduced and is defined as the smallest complete sequence of metamers produced by a meristem. A module is defined as the sequence of RGUs produced by a meristem. An inflorescence is defined as that sequence of metamers in an RGU which participates in the production and/or presentation of flowers and fruit. Heterochrony, proleptic and sylleptic buds, and shoot dimorphism are discussed and their role in modifying inflorescence morphology in the Pithecellobium-complex is illustrated. Examples from the Pithecellobium-complex are provided which demonstrate the various modifications of the inflorescence that result from the interaction of these various phenomena.

Ecological Chemistry and Biochemistry of Plant Terpenoids.

Abstract: Recent chemistry of conifer terpenoids, A. San Feliciano and J.L. Lopez terpenoids of marine plants, S. De Rosa chemistry, biogenesis, and chemotaxonomy of the diterpenoids of Salvia, J.G. Luis environmental control of essential oil production in Mediterranean plants, J.D. Ross and C. Sombrero terpenoid production in plant cell cultures, B.V. Charlwood and K.A. Charlwood plant iridoids, their biosynthesis and distribution in angiosperms, S.R. Jensen terpenoid phytoalexins - aspects of biosynthesis, catabolism, and regulation, D.R. Threlfall and I.M. Whitehead inhibition of phytosterol biosyntesis and the consequences for plant growth, L.J. Goad pharmacology of diterpenoids, M.J. Alcaraz and J.L. Rios plant saponins - chemistry and molluscicidal action, A. Marston and K. Hostettmann chemical ecology of terpenoid and other frangrances of angiosperm flowers, G. Bergstrom lower terpenoids as natural insect control agents, J.A. Pickett sequestration of iridoids by insects, H. Rimpler plant ecdysteroids and their interaction with insects, F. Camps plants terpenoids as allelopathic agents, N.H. Fisher recent advances in the ecological chemistry of plant terpenoids, J.B. Harborne.

A revision of Casimirella, including Humirianthera (Icacinaceae)

Abstract: Casimirella Hassler (1913) is accepted and Humirianthera Huber (1914) considered a synonym. Casimirella diversifolia and C. lanata from Brazil are described as new species. Casimirella ampla (Miers) based on Leretia ampla Miers, C. crispula (Howard) based on Humirianthera crispula Howard, and C. rupestris (Ducke) based on Humirianthera rupestris Ducke are new combinations.

New species of Cheilolejeunea and Otolejeunea (Hepaticae; Lejeuneaceae) from Australia

Abstract: Two new species belonging to Lejeuneaceae subfamily Lejeuneoideae have been found in northern Queensland, Australia: Cheilolejeunea hallingii and Otolejeunea australiensis. Both are described and illustrated, and keys to related species in the paleotropics are included.

New species of Selaginella (Selaginellaceae) from the Guayana Highland of Venezuela

Abstract: Three new species of Selaginella are described from the Guayana Highland of Venezuela: S. cardiophylla, S. hemicardia and S. pruskiana. They are illustrated and the relationships of each are discussed. Another species, provisionally determined as S. terezoana, is reported for the first time from Guyana.

A new species of Boletus section Luridi from Colombia

Abstract: Boletus pyrrhosceles (sectionLuridi) is newly described from Dept. Narino, where it is associated withQuercus humboldtii. This is the first report of a red-pored bolete from Colombia.

Henry Hurd Rusby: the father of economic botany at the New York Botanical Garden.

Abstract: Henry Hurd Rusby (1855–1940) is one of the outstanding personalities in the history of the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG). He played a significant role, not only in the founding of NYBG in 1891, but also in establishing a strong precedent of research and exploration in the field of economic botany at the new institution. As a result of Rusby’s influence and activity, the study of useful plants formed an important part of NYBG’s original mandate, an institutional commitment that was rejuvenated nearly a century later, with the formation of the Institute of Economic Botany. An indefatigable researcher both in the field and in the herbarium, Rusby left behind a voluminous corpus of published work in systematic and economic botany that is a legacy for modern botanists and pharmacologists.

Chimborazoa (Sapindaceae), a new genus from Ecuador

Abstract: Paullinia lachnocarpa has been known only from flowering and immature fruiting material collected in Ecuador. A recent collection with mature fruit shows that this biternate-leaved plant with multi-stelar stems and schizocarpic (indehiscent) fruit is best placed in its own genus,Chimborazoa. The only known species isChimborazoa lachnocarpa, which appears to be endemic to mountainous areas (1200–2000 m) in the provinces Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, Ecuador. The pollen morphology ofChimborazoa differs from that ofPaullinia. The lectotypification ofP. lachnocarpa is discussed, the new genus is described and illustrated, and a key to the genera of the Paullinieae is provided.

A re-evaluation of the Abutilothamnus complex (Malvaceae) I. Two new species and two new genera, Sidasodes and Akrosida

Abstract: A revision of certain generic boundaries within the tribe Malveae is made. A new genus,Sidasodes, is described with two species, one of which is new,Sidasodes colombiana.Akrosida is segregated as a new genus, based onBastardia macrophylla. The new realignment also recognizesTetrasida as a distinct genus, and describes as newTetrasida serrulata. New combinations includeSidasodes jamesonii (based onSida jamesonii),Akrosida macrophylla (based onBastardia macrophylla), andTetrasida chachapoyensis (based onSida chachapoyensis)

The evolutionary process. A critical study of evolutionary theory. Second edition . By Verne Grant

Abstract: Verne Grant is at least as well known for his lucid, beautifully written textbooks as for his research on evolutionary theory and the taxonomy of the Polemoniaceae. Here he presents another book that can be enthusiastically recommended to both students and professional colleagues. I read it with interest and pleasure. He has updated the first (1985 ) edition, and addressed himself to many ongoing controversies. Botanists will welcome the frequent use of plants as examples. Naturalistically inclined biologists like myself will be glad that one need not be a mathematician to understand what he has to say. Is there anything I would have liked to see done differently? Of course. More orthodox than I, Grant is a bit too defensive about traditional synthetic evolutionary theory for my taste, a bit too reluctant to accept new parts into the overall scheme. I would have liked to see more about regulatory genes in relation to macro-evolutionary changes and punctuated equilibria. I would have liked to see something about the work of Dover, Flavell, and their colleagues on gene conversion and duplicative transposition, even if only to discount their evolutionary importance. I would have liked to see some attention paid to the relative looseness of morphological integration in higher plants as compared to higher animals, the muted operation of competitive exclusion in plants, and the evolutionary consequences of these factors. The obvious reply to this wish-list is that it is Grant's book, not mine. Not everything can be addressed in a book of less than 500 pages, and the choice of what to include must be up to the author. The book is a good job, well done.-ARTHUR CRONQUIST, The New York Botanical Garden.

Collected notes on Coccoloba L. (Polygonaceae)

Abstract: New species ofCoccoloba are described from Mexico (Coccoloba ortizii), Honduras (Coccoloba cholutecensis), Panama (Coccoloba gentryi andC. johnstonii), Venezuela (Coccoloba yaracuyensis), and Brazil (Coccoloba bullata). Recent collections have permitted the re-examination of species from Central and South America.Coccoloba escuintlensis Lundell,C. floribunda (Bentham) Lindau, andC. williamsii Standley, which had been placed in synonymy, are now re-established. The following species have been placed in synonymy after the examination of additional collections:Coccoloba itzana Lundell,C. matudai Lundell,C. oligocarpa Lundell,C. petensis Lundell,C. tenuis Lundell,C. verapazensis Lundell,C. viridis Lundell,C. ecuadorensis Brandbyge,C. trollii Brandbyge andC. inaequilatera Rizzini.