The Plant Press

Two New Monographs are Published in Contributions from the United States National Herbarium

From Plant Press, Vol. 6, No. 1 from January 2003.

Maria Faust has published “Identifying Harmful Marine Dinoflagellates” (2002, Smithsonian Institution, Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 42: 1-144). The guide is the most comprehensive reference manual for identifying harmful algal bloom (HAB) dinoflagellates. The guide illustrates the morphology of toxin-producing HAB species, which have been implicated to cause red tides, marine life mortality, and seafood-borne human diseases. The taxonomic treatment of species includes nomenclatural types, type locality, synonyms, and etymology. Information is also available on species reproduction ecology, biogeography, distribution, habitat and locality. Species illustrations are presented as SEM and light micrographs and line drawings. A comprehensive glossary and reference section is included. This fully illustrated reference guide is intended for the scientist, instructor and student. It can also serves as a field guide for marine biologists, environmental researchers and health professionals.

Tom Hollowell, Lynn Gillespie (Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa), Vicki Funk, and Carol Kelloff have published “Smithsonian Plant Collections, Guyana: 1989 – 1991, Lynn J. Gillespie,” (2003, Smithsonian Institution, Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 44: 1-104). This publication details the Guyana collections of Lynn J. Gillespie. It is intended as a comprehensive reference for herbaria holding collections made by the collector and as an aid to taxonomists interested in particular groups of plants. The volume also contains a list of collections of particular interest, a fascinating narrative about the collecting trips, and photographs of localities and plants taken by Gillespie. Part I provides the collector’s notes on trips in chronological order. Part II lists collection localities, with collection number ranges, habitat descriptions, geographic coordinates, and assisting collectors. Part III consists of maps of Guyana showing collecting localities. Part IV lists collections in numerical order with identifications and authors. Part V lists collections ordered by determined name. The appendix is a personal account by the collector describing some of her experiences while collecting plants in Guyana. This volume is the second in a series on the Smithsonian Institution’s Biological Diversity of the Guianas collectors, the first being on the collections of John J. Pipoly, which is available at <http://www.mnh.si.edu/biodiversity/bdg/collector.html>.

Natural History Research and Collections: An Integrated Enterprise to Inventory Life on Earth

From Plant Press, Vol. 6, No. 1 from January 2003.

The Smithsonian Institution was started in 1846 to curate the nation’s natural history collections of biological, anthropological, and geological specimens. These collections numbering in the thousands originated first from the activities of the Columbia Institute for Science of the 1820s followed by the Wilkes U.S. International Exploring Expedition of the 1840s. Even at that time in the history of our country the potential scientific value of plant and animal collections for understanding our world was recognized. With these natural history collections and the bequest of James Smithson the Smithsonian became the premiere scholarly scientific institute in the nation, not only housing the collections, but promoting research that utilized these specimens.

In the late 1800s the Institution accepted a third mission: to educate the public about science by presenting displays of these collections in the Smithsonian Castle. The public education function came to prominence during the tenure of Secretary S. Dillon Ripley when a host of new museums were initiated on and off the Mall. Science and collections activities continued to grow, but the large measure of resources were directed to public exhibitions and educational programs. During the last two decades the emphasis on public programs has grown disproportionately at the expense of scientific activities at the Smithsonian, especially as the leadership changed from science-based to management-based.

The decline of support for science and collections at the Smithsonian during the last half-century was confirmed by the recent Report of the Smithsonian Science Commission appointed by the Board of Regents. As a result of an extensive review of the research endeavors throughout the Smithsonian, the Science Commission has laid out a plan including 48 specific recommendations to reset the institutional mission to balance science and education activities. Within the scientific ranks at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), we heartily welcome the recommendations of the Science Commission, especially the call to invigorate the leadership in our Museum by establishing in the director’s office a firm base in science and research. The appointment of Dr. Cristián Samper as the next director is a tremendously encouraging sign of progress.

Staff Lecture Series Continues

From Plant Press, Vol. 6, No. 1 from January 2003.

The Botany lecture series continued on 8 October with Laurence J. Dorr presenting “Guaramacal: Botanical Exploration in the Venezuelan Andes.” On 5 November, guest speaker, Qing-Jun Li, from the Xishaungbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in Yunnan, China, presented “Research on Flexistyly, a Unique Floral Mechanism in Alpinia (Zingiberaceae).” Botany curators will resume delivering research seminars each month at the start of the new year.

Art by Alice Tangerini: Serjania erythrocaulis

From Plant Press, Vol. 6, No. 1 from January 2003.

Serjania erythrocaulis Acev.-Rodr. & Somner. is a new Serjania species collected by Acevedo and a collaborator while doing field work in the southeastern states of Brazil.  This woody vine has a reddish coloration not known from any other species of Serjania. It is known only from the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil.

Botanist Untangles Carribean Vines

From Plant Press, Vol. 6, No. 1 from January 2003.

By Robert DeFilipps

Most people are surprised to learn that the largely tropical dicot family Sapindaceae, source of the edible fruit-bearing trees yielding akee (Blighia), rambutan (Nephelium) and leechee nuts (Litchi), also contains a large number of saponin-laden, toxic vines. The New World representatives of these vines are a special focus of research by curator Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez.

Indeed, a mere look at some of the species epithets in the vine genus Serjania Miller, which is now being revised by Acevedo, can give a premonition of the effects of their various chemical constituents. These include plants named S. inebrians (“inebriating, intoxicating”), S. lethalis (“lethal”), S. noxia (“noxious, injurious”), and S. piscatoria, the latter an indication of use as a fish poison. A number of Amazonian Amerindian tribes employ the ichthyotoxic vines to catch fish, by introducing the macerated tissues of the crushed plant into rivers to release their stupefying saponins. As a whole, perhaps about 90 percent of Sapindaceae are usable as fish poison.

Besides their fish-numbing virtues, some vining members of the Sapindaceae exhibit unusual anomalous growth, with stems produced as a rope-like structure, and “watch-spring” tendrils that are probably modified lower cincinni of the inflorescences: they coil in one flat plane, instead of being spirally coiled in three dimensions. In addition, many unisexual-flowered members of this family, such as the Serjania and Talisia being studied by Acevedo, exhibit a peculiar syndrome wherein populations of the plants produce a male-flowered phase, followed by a female phase, and then by another male phase. This little-explored phenomenon has been termed “sequentially monoecious” and “(duo) dichogamy,” and is believed by Acevedo to be a natural way to promote gene exchange among populations. Altogether a fascinating array of inquiries are presented by the neotropical vines, but an even larger research subject, studies of the flora of the West Indies and Caribbean Basin, particularly the Greater Antilles, with their varying degrees of plant generic endemism, is also under his purview.

Introducing Hotel Heliconia

From Plant Press, Vol. 6, No. 1 from January 2003.

In November, W. John Kress introduced a screening of the BBC documentary Hotel Heliconia at the National Museum of Natural History Film and Lecture Series. Serving as an advisor to the film, Kress provided natural history anecdotes to producer and director Phil Savoie. The 45-minute film reveals the story of the Heliconia, a tropical rain and cloud forest plant with some of the most beautiful flowers on Earth. Both a rainforest “hotel” and “supermarket,” it provides a home and food for many fascinating creatures, all of which seem to be using the plant for their own gain. Stunning macro photography reveals how butterflies, bees, ants, hummingbirds, bats and frogs take advantage of the plant’s offerings, while unwittingly making a vital contribution to the survival of the plant as pollinators, fertilizers and protectors.

Revealing the Beauty of Vegetable Gardens

From Plant Press Vol. 6, No. 1 from 2003.

Susan Pennington, contractor to Paul Peterson, has recently released Feast Your Eyes: The Unexpected Beauty of Vegetable Gardens, published by University of California Press, in association with Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. The book examines the historical antecedents of the modern movement of beautifying traditional vegetable gardens as well as the changing perceptions of the beauty of vegetable gardens over time and among different cultures. Generously illustrated with over one hundred historical and contemporary photographs and artwork highlighting material from the Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Gardens, this book provides a fascinating and wide-ranging discussion of such topics as the vegetable garden at Versailles, Ming dynasty vegetable gardens, the war gardens of World War I, World War II victory gardens—including those of the Japanese American internees—and vegetable still lifes.

As the boundary between vegetable garden and flower garden has become blurred, the same is true for vegetables. Horticulturists have developed popular garden ornamentals from kale, chili peppers, sweet potato, and eggplant. Pennington provides “biographies” of these vegetables and describes new varieties that are being developed for their aesthetic qualities. She shows how this is not a uniquely modern phenomenon but is rooted in the introduction of exotic vegetables to Europe starting as early as the thirteenth century.

Rediscovering an Unpublished Type

From Plant Press, Vol. 6, No. 1 from January 2003.

During a recent examination of unpublished types, Dan Nicolson came across a Philippine specimen from Mindanao collected by Edgar Mearns in 1904. It was annotated Hoya schallertiae by C. M. Burton on 1 April 1982 and “Holotype.” Nicolson pondered whether this specimen was named for Botany’s librarian, Ruth Schallert.

 Hoya schallertiae does not appear on the Web site of the International Plant Name Index (IPNI). The Kew Record of Taxonomic Literature under publications by “Burton CM,” however, lists number 67 (of 91 publications) as “Hoya schallertiae Burton CM Hoyan 3(4): 96‑97. 1982 (illustr.).” The listing in The Hoyan shows a valid Latin description and diagnosis, as well as a citation of the US specimen. Best of all was the dedication: “This hoya ... is named in honor of Mrs. Ruth Schallert, Botany Librarian at Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. U.S.A., who has helped me, (and HSI) far beyond the call of duty, in obtaining Hoya research material.” Schallert was unaware that a species had been named for her, and she plans to write a thank-you note, twenty years late. Nicolson contacted Rosemary Davies, indexer for Index Kewensis, who confirmed that this overlooked name will be added.

Awards and Grants

From Plant Press, Vol. 6, No. 1 from January 2003.

Laurence Dorr received one of two 2002 Scholarly Studies Program awards made to scientists at the National Museum of Natural History. The Scholarly Studies Program was established to foster Smithsonian scholarship by providing support for projects that advance knowledge in important and significant ways, including new research initiatives. The successful proposal entitled “Flora de Guaramacal, Venezuela: I” will assist Dorr to complete the first of three projected volumes of this flora of ca. 1,350 species of vascular plants. The first volume will treat ca. 500 species of ferns and fern allies, gymnosperms, and monocots that occur in the 200 km² Guaramacal National Park in the Andes of Venezuela.

John Kress, along with collaborators Norman Bourg, a Ph.D. candidate in biology at the University of Maryland, Douglas Gill, a professor of biology at the University of Maryland, and William McShea, a research scientist at the Smithsonian Institution’s Conservation and Research Center, has recently received a one-year grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for their research into the ecology and genetics of a fire-adapted plant. A rare species of lily called mountain asphodel (Xerophyllum asphodeloides) or turkeybeard, listed as state-endangered in portions of the Appalachian range, rarely blooms in undisturbed, closed-canopy forests. The research team, however, has documented spectacular mass flowerings in several of the study populations after fires burned through the sites in 1996 and 1999. An episode of fire disturbance increases the chance that an individual plant receives pollen from another turkeybeard plant. Outcrossing produces more fruits and seeds than self-pollination. Thus, habitat disturbance by fire may influence the abundance and distribution of this rare species over the forest landscape. Bourg will be conducting genetic population analyses using isozyme electrophoresis in the Botany laboratory at Smithsonian’s Museum Support Center (MSC).

Science Commission Propose New Vision for Science at the Smithsonian

From Plant Press, Vol. 6, No. 1 from January 2003.

The Smithsonian Science Commission, an 18-member committee established by the Board of Regents, the Institution.s governing body, recently released "The Report of the Smithsonian Institution Science Commission," a 15-month study examining all science activities at the Institution. Headed by Jeremy A. Sabloff, Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and including Warren Wagner among its members, the Commission called on the Institution to renew its dedication to science by improving leadership, communications and funding.

The Commission proposed a core mission based on four key themes that "will provide a strategic platform for both the short- and long-term growth of science at the Institution, none of which require costly, large-scale administrative reorganization." These themes would provide a blueprint or vision for the future of science at the Smithsonian. The commission calls this vision Science Smithsonian, and lists the themes as follows: Origin and Nature of the Universe; Formation and Evolution of the Earth and Similar Planets; Discovering and Understanding Life’s Diversity; and, Study of Human Diversity and Culture Change.

Sabloff told the Board of Regents, at its meeting on 6 January, that "the science mission of the Smithsonian is vital to the future of the Institution," and that its collections make the Smithsonian an internationally important resource.  But, in recent decades, science has been "unfocused and under-funded." To recapture its prominence in the sciences and once again become a national leader in science will "require strong leadership, setting of Institution-wide priorities that emphasize the four-theme vision and a reversal of years of declining support through better communication of the importance of scientific research at the Smithsonian."