New plant species named in honor of Vicki Funk

From Plant Press, Vol. 23, No. 2, April 2020.

Illustration of Xenophyllum funkianum by Alice Tangerini. Tangerini corresponded multiple times over email with Joel Calvo to highlight key characters in the drawing. One key character she emphasized is the very dark involucres on the head.

A new species from the Ecuadorian Andes, Xenophyllum funkianum J.Calvo, was recently described and named in honor of Vicki A. Funk (1947–2019) who greatly contributed to the understanding of the family Compositae worldwide. It grows in the dry superparamo at elevations of 4100–4300 m in the provinces of Bolívar and Chimborazo. The species was first collected by Funk and Mauricio Bonifacino in the Mt. Chimborazo area in April 2018. The species is described in a recent publication written by Joel Calvo and Vicki Funk (Phytokeys 139: 29-38; 2020). The publication includes a second new species, Xenophyllum lorochaqui J.Calvo & V.A.Funk, endemic to the Argentianian Andes.