From Plant Press Vol. 16 no. 2
The tenth botanical treasure is a specimen of Compositae artistically illustrated.
Fulcaldea stuessyi Roque & V.A. Funk is a recently described member of the Compositae, or sunflower family of flowering plants. The specimen was discovered in 2010 in northeastern Brazil by research botanist Vicki Funk (Smithsonian Institution) and confirmed as a new species using DNA sequencing and morphological examination (Taxon 60(4): 1095-1113, 2011). Known only from the type collection, this species is restricted to Bahia occurring in seasonally deciduous forests.
Full color illustrations of the new species' physical characteristics were captured by Alice Tangerini, botanical illustrator. These plates and over 9,100 others are archived as part of the Catalog of Botanical Illustrations.
The Compositae collection is one of the most significant collections in the U.S. National Herbarium, having been actively curated for at least the past 100 years. There are approximately 500,000 specimens, with the strongest representation in the Neotropical Compositae.
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