The Plant Press

A New Revision of the Grass Genus Bromus in Mexico and Central America

From Plant Press, Vol. 18, No. 1, January 2015.

By Jeffery M. Saarela and Paul Peterson

The grass genus Bromus includes about 160 species distributed in temperate regions around the world. In North America, the bromes of Canada and the United States are well known, but the taxonomy of the group has been much less clear in adjacent Mexico and Central America. Eugène Fournier (Mexicanas Plantas, 1886) recognized three species of Bromus in México, including one with eight varieties. In an early twentieth century revision of Mexican grasses, Albert S. Hitchcock (Mexican Grasses, 1913) recognized seven Bromus species in México, and he later recognized two of these in Central America (The Grasses of Central America, 1930). Thomas R. Soderstrom and John H. Beaman (The Genus Bromus in México & Central America, 1968) produced the first revision of Bromus in México and Central America recognizing 16 species. The different names and, in some instances, taxon concepts in these previous revisions have resulted in considerable confusion. Alan A. Beetle (Las Gramíneas de México, 1988) and Adolfo Espejo-Serna et al. (Poaceae in Las Monocotiledóneas Mexicanas, 2000) recognized 25 and 26 species, respectively. We recently published a revised taxonomic treatment for Bromus in México and Central America (Phytotaxa 185: 1-147). We accept 22 species in the flora, of which twelve are native and ten introduced. We include a key to the species in English and Spanish, descriptions, synonymies, complete illustrations of all species, distribution maps, images of representative herbarium specimens, and lists of all specimens examined.

Our revision is based on examination of over 2000 herbarium specimens, including over 400 numbers of Bromus collected in Mexico by Paul Peterson on numerous trips. Many of these collections have provided important new knowledge on the distribution of Bromus species in Mexico, serving as a reminder of the critical importance of new fieldwork as part of revisionary work. Searching for species of Bromus in Mexico was one of the main focuses of our expeditions to Mexico in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Studying the plants in the field proved critical for understanding, clarifying and developing species concepts for some taxa. For example, plants that we now recognize in a single species, B. richardsonii, are morphologically variable in Mexico, and we experienced considerable difficulty understanding their variation in the context of previous species concepts applied to this variation. Based on careful study of this variation in the herbarium, we concluded that only a single, variable taxon could be recognized.

Notes from Plant Mounting

From Plant Press, Vol. 18, No. 1, January 2015.

By Melinda Peters

I have been here over two years now and 2014 proved to be a challenging and exciting year for the plant mounting program at the U.S. National Herbarium. We will be recruiting volunteer plant mounters in the coming months. If you know of anyone interested in working with a talented, skillful, and spunky crew, please let me know. Last year, volunteer plant mounters contributed 5,000 new specimens, while staff plant mounters contributed 6,200 specimens to the collection. We have been working on “cleaning up” and getting older accessions prepared and into the permanent collection. Stay tuned for highlights from these specimens.

A few plant mounters have been working in the Department of Botany for more than 20 years. Gwen Petitjean is a Monday volunteer and has been coming in since April 1987. Margaret Schweitzer is a Wednesday volunteer and has been coming since November 1992. Thanks to these two wonderful women for their continued work in the Department.

Specimen US 3639592 is a hybrid ×Chiranthomontodendron lenzii from California.

New acquisitions this year consisted of many specimens for specialists or specific geographic regions. Laurence Dorr received an interesting gift in the fall that adds the only specimen of this species to our collection. The gift brings the naming of this species to fruition. Dorr recognized the need to update the naming of an artificial hybrid, now known as ×Chiranthomontodendron, which is a cross between two parent plants: Chiranthodendron (male parent) and Fremontodendron (female parent), completed in 1981. The updated species name, ×Chiranthomontodendron lenzii was published in 2009 (Taxon 58: 1357-1358), and the type specimen is housed at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (RSA).

The acquired specimen is a voucher from the residential home of Rudolf Schmid in Kensington, California. Evidently, in February 2014, the tree was topped by a neighbor to get a better view of the San Francisco Bay.

Dorr asked Schmid to salvage a specimen because we did not have any material in the US National Herbarium. It is now properly vouchered and preserved for future researchers.

 

The hybrid tree ×Chiranthomontodendron lenzii was topped without the tree owner’s permission by a neighbor to improve his view of the San Francisco Bay. (photo by Rudolf Schmid)

Robinson Endowment Fund Announced

From Plant Press, Vol. 18, No. 1, January 2015.

National Museum of Natural History Director Kirk Johnson (center) thanks Harold Robinson and Vicki Funk for a gift establishing an endowment toward research awards to people studying the Compositae collection. (photo by the Smithsonian Institution)

The Department of Botany is pleased to announce a generous gift in 2014 in the amount of $25,000 each from two of its former and current departmental members, Harold Robinson and Vicki A. Funk. The gift will create an award fund to support and sustain the work of early career research fellows conducting research involving Compositae (Asteraceae) collections in the US National Herbarium. The Department of Botany will make awards from the fund that target studies focusing on taxonomy, phylogeny, or anatomy. Robinson and Funk have asked that the fund be managed for future growth to increase the payout and that should the endowment grow to a sufficient amount, it could be used to support a postdoctoral fellow or even a curator focused on Compositae research.

The U.S. National Herbarium has a rich collection of plant specimens from the Compositae family (currently ca. 500,000)—one of the best in the world. This is due in large part to the long history of research fostered by the Smithsonian (over 150 years). In fact, since its inception, the U.S. National Herbarium has consistently hosted a scientist that studied this family and as a result, an enormous amount of research has been published (over 1,500 papers and books), including papers by Asa Gray, Benjamin L. Robinson, Sidney F. Blake, and José Cuatrecasas. However, due to the large size of the family (ca. 25,000 species), there is still much to be done.

This $50,000 gift established an endowment known as the Harold Robinson Endowment Fund (to be changed to the Harold Robinson & Vicki Funk Endowment Fund upon Funk’s retirement) in honor of the combined 80+ years of study of the family these two scientists have given the Institution.

Anyone wishing to donate to this fund should contact the Chair of the Botany Department, Warren L. Wagner (wagnerw@si.edu).

Funk Receives Rolf Dahlgren Prize

From Plant Press, Vol. 18, No. 1, January 2015.

In December, Vicki Funk traveled to Sweden to receive the Rolf Dahlgren Prize from the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund, Academy for the Natural Sciences, Medicine and Technology. The Society was founded on the December 2, 1772, and his Majesty, the King of Sweden, is its patron. The goal of the Society is to provide researchers and scholars from different disciplines the opportunity to meet and hear presentations of new research results, to exchange thoughts and ideas, and to assist in the publication of those results. The Society is the trustee of several large donations and foundations, and some donations are specified to provide funds for prizes and medals. In these cases it is a question of rewarding outstanding and prestigious research, and, for obvious reasons, it is mostly well-established scholars whose work is considered.

Vicki Funk with Professor Ib Friis, University of Copenhagen, at the Royal Physiographic Society dinner and ball on December 2, 2014. Friis read the citation of the Rolf M.T. Dahlgren Prize at the annual award ceremony. (photo by Jim Nix)

The Rolf M.T. Dahlgren Prize (International award in Botany) is given every three years. Funk, the 2014 recipient of the prize, was cited for her outstanding and pioneering work in phylogenetic systematics, her commitment to collections based research, and her use of molecular phylogenetics in understanding the flowering plant family Compositae. The Prize was presented at the annual dinner and ball on December 2 (the anniversary of the founding of the Society) at the Grand Hotel in Lund.

“For Vicki to be selected for this prize is a great honor,” says Botany Chair Warren Wagner. “It shows the international recognition and esteem that her research has garnered and her leadership in the community of Compositae workers that brought about the fine book summarizing the current knowledge across this, the largest of plant families. It also, once again, demonstrates the quality of science that the Department is known for around the world.”

NMNH Cupid: Starry Campion

Love is in the air at the National Museum of Natural History! Our scientists are helping species look for love in this series of “dating profiles” to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Will #NMNHcupid help them find their one and only?

Screen name: StarryNight

Species: Silene stellata

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NMNH Cupid: Heliconia

Love is in the air at the National Museum of Natural History! Our scientists are helping species look for love in this series of “dating profiles” to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Will #NMNHcupid help them find their one and only?

Screen name: RedFlame

Species: Heliconia caribaea

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NMNH Cupid: Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Love is in the air at the National Museum of Natural History! Our scientists are helping species look for love in this series of “dating profiles” to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Will #NMNHcupid help them find their one and only?

Screen name: JackorJillParsons

Species: Arisaema triphyllum

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NMNH Cupid: Purple Fringed Orchid

Love is in the air at the National Museum of Natural History! Our scientists are helping species look for love in this series of “dating profiles” to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Will #NMNHcupid help them find their one and only?

Screen name: purple_petals

Species: Platanthera psycodes

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NMNH Cupid: Wooly Lip Fern

Love is in the air at the National Museum of Natural History! Our scientists are helping species look for love in this series of “dating profiles” to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Will #NMNHcupid help them find their one and only?

Screen name: proud2Bseedfree

Species: Myriopteris tomentosa

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NMNH Cupid: Coco de Mer

Love is in the air at the National Museum of Natural History! Our scientists are helping species look for love in this series of “dating profiles” to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Will #NMNHcupid help them find their one and only?

Screen name: DoubleCoconut

Species: Lodoicea maldivica

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