From Plant Press, Vol. 12, No. 3 from July 2009.
Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez was honored by having a new species named after him, Psitticanthus acevedoi Kuijt (Syst. Bot. Monographs 86: 1-361; 2009). With only two known collections, both by Acevedo, Job Kuijt named this species to recognize Acevedo as a collector. This species of Loranthaceae is only known from Amazonas, Brazil.
In the same monograph, the late John J. Wurdack (1921 – 1998) was honored with the species Psittacanthus wurdackii (Rizzini) Kuijt. Previously recognized as a variety, this species from northern Venezuela is elevated to species rank, and recognizes Wurdack as the senior collector of the type species.
Emanuela Appetiti has been appointed to the Scientific Committee of the forthcoming international meeting “Darwin, Darwinisms and Evolution (1859-2009),” to be held at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, on 22-23 September 2009.
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries (CBHL) Annual Literature Award, a Special Recognition Award was presented to TL-2, more formally known as Taxonomic Literature: a Selective Guide to Botanical Publications and Collections with Dates, Commentaries and Types, 2nd edition. This monumental work is one of the most important resources in taxonomic literature. Originally created by Frans Antonie Stafleu and Richard S. Cowan, this resource was continued by Erik A. Mennega, and then most recently by Laurence J. Dorr and Dan H. Nicolson and honored by CBHL for significant contributions to the literature of botany and the study of plants. The judges described the series as “an indispensable and essential resource in supporting the research of systematic botanists.” The award was announced at the CBHL annual meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, on May 12-16.
Robin Everly
At the 41st annual meeting of CBHL Robin Everly was elected to its Board of Directors. In a four year term, Everly will serve as Board President in the third year. Currently, her position is as second Vice-President. One of her goals is to increase CBHL’s visibility among the library community and botanical gardens. She would also like to see the organization’s members do more outreach within the botanical and horticultural communities.
Paul Peterson and Jun Wen each received a $5,000 grant from the National Museum of Natural History’s Office of the Associate Director for Research and Collections. Proposals for the competitive Small Grants process for 2009 were rated and ranked by an internal committee of scientific staff members. Peterson’s project is titled “A molecular phylogeny of the grass subfamily Chloridoideae, tribe Cynodonteae and subtribe Muhlenbergiinae,” and Wen’s is “Biogeographic diversification of the ginseng plant family in the Indonesian archipelago - testing the Wallace’s Line.”