The Plant Press

Art by Alice Tangerini: Dillandia subumbellata

From Plant Press, Vol. 5, No. 2 from April 2002.

The discovery of a new genus by W. John Kress (see article, page 6) wasn’t the only new genus described recently in Botany. Vicki Funk and Harold Robinson have discovered a new genus of Compositae. Phylogenetic and morphological analysis suggests that three species of Compositae, including Dillandia subumbellata, form a monophyletic group. Dillandia is defined by the possession of bullate leaf surfaces and pale anther thecae. This study is an example of how molecular and morphological data, when used together, can lead to a better classification. (Systematic Botany 26: 216-225. 2001.)

Staff Lecture Series Begins at NMNH

From Plant Press, Vol. 5, No. 2 from April 2002.

At the beginning of the year, a new lecture series began at the museum. Botany curators will be delivering research seminars each month. The past three months offered the following lectures:

• W. John Kress presented “The Evolution of the Zingiberales (Gingers, Bananas and Relatives): A Tropical Model Group for Studies in Ecology, Phylogeny and Classification” on 15 January;
• Harold Robinson presented “Some Basics of Chemotaxonomy” on 12 February;
• Dan Nicolson presented “The Forsters and Botany of the 2^nd Cook Expedition (1772-1775)” on 12 March.

Coming to Terms with Biodiversity

From Plant Press, Vol. 5, No. 2 from April 2002.

By Robert DeFilipps

The Second Smithsonian Botanical Symposium, held on April 5-6 at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, gave 200 participants an opportunity to delve into the impact of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in relation to scientific investigations during the past decade, and to explore the convention’s many ramifications for understanding our natural world. A treaty and strategy for the conservation, sustainable development, and equitable sharing of the benefits of biodiversity, the Convention was adopted at the famous 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and has to date been ratified by approximately 180 countries. The Secretariat of the Convention is in Montreal, Canada, and its financial mechanism is the $2.7 billion Global Environmental Fund (GEF). The entire world is affected in one way or another by the CBD, an ever-widening phenomenon which W. John Kress, Head of Botany at the Smithsonian, has referred to as the “Globalization of Natural History Science.”

The Hon. Bruce Babbitt, Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior (1992-2000), delivering his keynote address, "A Retrospective View of the Rio Convention" at the Smithsonian Botanical Symposium, (Photo by Leslie Brothers)

The panel of specialist speakers was international, with representatives from the United States, Brazil, Panama, Kenya and Spain, and the scope of their presentations was truly comprehensive. In fact, it soon became evident that the vocabulary of biodiversity has recently been dramatically expanded, in order to keep pace with changing dimensions of research. It now includes such relatively new terms as: “GMOs” (genetically modified organisms), “biodiplomacy,” “unnatural natural products” (biocombinatorial secondary metabolites), “agrobiodiversity,” “biosafety” (the transport of GMOs), and the “taxonomic impediment.” To this may well be added a statement made by Kress during the symposium, to the effect that in the wake of the CBD, Earth’s biodiversity has become a commodity, and terms (concepts) such as commercial value, guardianship and ownership have become “the currency of Nature.”

To start the April 6 sessions, the attendees were welcomed by Kress as convenor of the symposium, and by Ira Rubinoff, Acting Deputy Director of the National Museum of Natural History. Rubinoff’s remarks included recognition of the work of museum staff as providers of an important scientific foundation to support the Convention, while referring to multinational collaborative initiatives between the museum and host-country researchers in many nations including Mexico, Venezuela, China, Fiji and Myanmar (Burma).

Next, the José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany was presented by Kress to P. Barry Tomlinson of Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts). Although Tomlinson was unable to attend due to his recent return from extensive sabbatical field studies in Hawaii, New Caledonia and New Zealand, the award was accepted on his behalf by Dennis Stevenson of the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York), and a message of thanks was read. Tomlinson, a native of Leeds, England (b. 1932), is recognized for his multifaceted research on the architecture and morphology of tropical plants, including many monocotyledons (see related article, page 7).

The Convention on Biological Diversity: The Globalization of Natural History Part 2

From Plant Press, Vol. 5, No. 2 from April 2002.

The Convention on Biological Diversity: The Globalization of Natural History Science (Part II)

Biological collections housed in the great natural history museums and botanical gardens and their associated data on the distribution and diversity of plants and animals can be of great benefit to society and are essential in addressing the three objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity: 1) the conservation of biodiversity, 2) the sustainable utilization of biodiversity, and 3) the equitable sharing of the benefits to humans arising from biodiversity. However, we are far from a complete or even adequate inventory of the natural world. Recently Prof. E. O. Wilson (2000) has issued a call to arms for biodiversity research: “To describe and classify all of the surviving species of the world deserves to be one of the great scientific goals of the new century.

In applied science, this completion of the Linnaean enterprise is needed for effective conservation practices, for bioprospecting, and for impact studies of environmental change.”

Taxonomists and systematists in all countries must cooperate in a concerted effort to pool our collections and data to complete this task. The problem we immediately face is to determine what we currently know about the extent and distribution of global biodiversity. We also recognize that most of the information and documentation about the world’s plants and animals in both developed and developing countries reside primarily in developed countries. The challenge before us is to assemble this information in a usable form and to provide free and open access to this information for all of the world.

Abstracts from the Speakers of the Smithsonian Botanical Symposium

From Plant Press, Vol. 5, No. 2 from April 2002.

The second annual Smithsonian Botanical Symposium was held 5-6 April 2002. The symposium, “The Convention on Biological Diversity: The Globalization of Natural History Science,” addressed the impact of the CDB on scientists and its ramifications for understanding the natural world. Below are the speakers’ abstracts from the papers that were presented.

The speakers at the Smithsonian Botanical Symposium. From left, Ira Rubinoff, Brian Boom, Scott Miller, Tom Lovejoy, Gerald Bills, Stella Simiyu, Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Paula DePriest, Cristian Samper K., and W. John Kress (Head of Botany).

Botanical Type Collection on the Web

From Plant Press, Vol. 5, No. 2 from April 2002.

The 10,000^th type specimen has recently been imaged in an effort to generate digital images of the Type Collection in the U.S. National Herbarium. This is great progress considering the limited resources. To date, there are only 84,000 specimens remaining to be digitized.

Beginning just over two years ago, and with seed money from the Provost’s Office, the types were digitized family by family. The results can now be seen on the Botanical Type Specimen Register Web site at http://rathbun.si.edu/botany/types/.

Currently, Ingrid Pol‑yin Lin, a volunteer in the Herbarium, has been doing much of the digitizing. Another volunteer, Thomas Bingel, and the graciousness of the Office of Imaging, Printing and Photographic Services (NMNH) have also contributed to the progress.

Between 70‑90 percent of the specific requests received by the Herbarium for type specimens can be satisfied with a good, high‑quality digital image. The number of such requests has increased considerably in the last year and these requests have been fulfilled while saving the type specimens from the stress of handling, shipping and potential damage or loss. The 15MB images are excellent documentation of the specimens in the event of loss. In addition to the family-by-family approach to selecting which types are digitized, all type specimens requested as a loan have been digitized prior to sending.

 “This is an extremely worthwhile project,” says Vicki Funk, curator of the Asteraceae. With sufficient support, the Botany Digital Lab can be made into a full‑time operation and almost triple the current production levels, while simultaneously documenting and preserving the critical type specimens.

New Genus, Smithatris, is a Smithsonian Highlight

From Plant Press, Vol. 5, No. 2 from April 2002.

The discovery of a new plant genus by W. John Kress and his colleague Kai Larsen, University of Aarhus, Denmark, is featured as a “Natural History Highlight” on the National Museum of Natural History’s Web page <http://www.mnh.si.edu/feature.html>. Kress and Larsen named a new genus of ginger after first noticing the unusual plant in a flower display in Singapore, and then collecting it in the wild in 1998 in the limestone hills of the Saraburi Province north of Bangkok, Thailand. The new genus Smithatris joins 50 other genera and over 1,200 species in the plant family Zingiberaceae.

The Web site features a description and illustration of Smithatris supraneeana, a photograph of the flower, and maps of Thailand where it was discovered. In addition, the site describes how species are named and how frequently new species and genera are discovered.

The article and supplementary images will be available for another few weeks, after which it will be archived in the “Past Highlights” section of the site.

Monocots III is Announced

From Plant Press, Vol. 5, No. 2 from April 2002.

The Third International Conference on the Comparative Biology of the Monocotyledons and The Fourth International Symposium on Grass Systematics and Evolution will be hosted by Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (Claremont, California) on 30 March ‑ 5 April 2003. Topics will include morphology, anatomy, development, reproductive biology, molecular biology, cytology, genomics, genetics, biochemistry, paleobotany, phylogenetics, classification, biogeography, ecology, and data integration. Sessions will be devoted to particular groups within monocots such as grasses and orchids. Monocots III will provide a rare opportunity for researchers in diverse fields to interact, share ideas, and form collaborations. The organizing committee is accepting proposals from those who wish to organize sessions. A call for contributed papers and posters will follow. The conference proceedings will be published. Springtime marks the flowering peak of the diverse California flora, and field trips are planned. Visit http://www.monocots3.org for conference details; or write Monocots III, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, 1500 North College Avenue, Claremont, California 91711‑3157 USA; E‑mail: info@monocots3.org; Fax: 1-909-626-7670; Tel: 1-909-625-8767 ext. 333. Co‑sponsors include the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, Botanical Society of America, and the International Association for Plant Taxonomy.

P. Barry Tomlinson Receives Second Cuatrecasas Medal

FromPlant Press, Vol. 5, No. 2 from July 2002.

P. Barry Tomlinson, recipient of the Jose Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany. (Photo by Harvard University)

P. Barry Tomlinson of Harvard University received the Cuatrecasas Medal at the 2^nd Annual Smithsonian Botanical Symposium. The medal is in honor of José Cuatrecasas, a pioneering botanist and taxonomist who spent nearly a half-century working in Botany at the Smithsonian Institution. Cuatrecasas’ research, especially in the flowering plant family Asteraceae, was devoted to the classification, biogeography, exploration, and ecology of plants of the paramo and subparamo regions of Andean South America. Out of enduring respect and admiration, the José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany was established. This medal is presented annually to a botanist and scholar of international stature who has contributed significantly to advancing the field of tropical botany. The award serves to keep vibrant the accomplishments and memory of this outstanding scientist.

The recipient of the Cuatrecasas Medal is selected by a committee made up of botanists on the staff at the National Museum of Natural History, in consultation with other local plant scientists in the Washington area. This year the Committee was composed of Laurence Dorr (Chair), Pedro Acevedo, Alan Wittemore, and Pat Herendeen. Nominations for the Medal are accepted from all scientists in Botany at the Museum. The award consists of a bronze medal bearing an image of José Cuatrecasas on the front with the recipient’s name and date of presentation on the back.

The selection committee was impressed by the many important contributions that Tomlinson has made to tropical botany over his long and distinguished career. Tomlinson was born in 1932 in Leeds, England where he received both his undergraduate and graduate training at the university there in conjunction with work at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. He has held positions since that time at the University of Malaya, Singapore Botanic Gardens, the University of the Gold Coast in Ghana, West Africa and at Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami. Currently he is the E. C. Jeffrey Professor of Biology at Harvard University.

DC Flora Website Adds Localities

From Plant Press, Vol. 5, No. 2 from April 2002.

The Flora of the Washington-Baltimore Area Web site now has a new feature. The DC Herbarium is now on-line, and the specimen database can be queried for collection information and distribution maps. Most specimen collection localities are linked to general map locations using TopoZone <http://www.topozone.com>. You can access the Web site at http://persoon.si.edu/dcflora/dcspecimens/query.cfm.