New Species of Mortoniodendron is Described

From Plant Press, Vol. 8, No. 1 from January 2005.

Cover of Lundellia with photograph of Mortoniodendron uxpanapense.

Laurence Dorr and his colleague, Tom Wendt from the University of Texas at Austin, describe the taxonomic history of the genus Mortoniodendron in the latest issue of Lundellia (7: 44-52. 2004). The genus was named in honor of Conrad V. Morton (1905-1972) who served for many years as a curator in Botany. Characters that define M. pentagonum, a species known from a limited area in Guatemala, are elaborated in the paper. A closely related, but distinct species from Veracruz, Mexico, M. uxpanapense Dorr & T. Wendt, is described for the first time and is accompanied by illustrations by Alice Tangerini. The new species is considered to be Critically Endangered (CR) under the IUCN Red List classification for endangered species.