Botany Profile Continued on page 9 New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2 New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2 New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2 New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2 New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2 April-June 2005 April-June 2005 April-June 2005 April-June 2005 April-June 2005 The Plant Press The Plant Press The Plant Press The Plant Press The Plant Press Department of Botany & the U.S. National Herbarium T he grasses (Poaceae) are the fourth largest family of flowering plants, with some 11,000 species. Grasses are worldwide in distribution, and they are components of most eco- systems. Grasses include many of the world’s crop species, such as wheat, rice, oats, corn, millet, barley, rye, and sugar- cane, and have an increasing horticultural role. Given their ecological and eco- nomic prominence, grasses have a long history of scientific study. Agrostolo- gists have made substantial progress identifying, describing, classifying, and elucidating phylogenetic relationships among the world’s grass species, but scientific exploration of the grasses is nowhere near complete. New species and genera are continually discovered and described, and genetic information is providing fresh insight into the genomic structure and evolutionary history of the family. Continued exploration in the field and laboratory will be necessary to further characterize grass biodiversity. In July 2004, I participated in a month-long expedition to collect grasses in northwestern Canada. We were lead by Paul Peterson, curator of grasses, who has been studying the taxonomy and systematics of grasses for over 20 years. The second member of our team was Stephen Smith, museum specialist. I am a Ph.D. student in Sean Graham’s plant molecular systematics laboratory at the University of British Columbia, where I conduct taxonomic and phylogenetic research on grasses, their close rela- tives, and other monocots. It was our goal to collect samples of North to Alaska: Grass Collecting in America By Jeff M. Saarela all of the grass species that we encoun- tered, specifically targeting Bromus (the brome grasses; ~160 species) and Calamagrostis (the reed grasses; ~250 species). These large genera are distrib- uted widely in temperate regions around the world, and each includes several species that are important components of many ecosystems in northern Canada. Differing taxonomic opinions among floras in the treatments of Calamagrostis and Bromus in northwestern Canada identify several species complexes that need to be studied in detail in the field and lab to properly characterize species boundaries. One goal was to collect as much material of these species as possible to support future studies of these taxonomic problems. W e collected from Manitoba to Alaska, which allowed us to pass through the varied habitats of the prairies, mountains, and arctic, to maximize the diversity of species that we encountered. We generally stopped to collect when we observed a prospective species or habitat from the road, and we often hiked along trails in search of novel species. Every time we stopped, we collected all the grass species that we encountered locally, took photographs, and attempted to identify all other flowering-plant species at the site. We recorded as much detailed information on the site as possible, placed samples of leaf tissue from each species into silica gel to rapidly dry and preserve DNA for molecular analyses, and pickled additional leaf tissue from some species for anatomical studies. We typically spent a few hours each day getting our collec- tions in order, and putting them into the expanding plant press by the roadside, at our campsites, in front of motels, or wherever we happened to be. We planned our trip for July, at the peak of grass flowering in northern Canada. We made our first collections in south-central Manitoba in an unculti- vated area, with several hectares of short-grass prairie, forest, and four square kilometers of open sand dunes. Here we watched a northern prairie skink (Eumeces septentrionalis) skitter across the sandy slopes, and collected needle and thread (Hesperostipa coma- ta), a native grass that is widespread in western North America. In a small prairie remnant, we collected Hooker’s oat grass (Helictotrichon hookeri) and June grass (Koeleria macrantha), native species that are widely distributed across the Great Plains. The nearby mixed deciduous-coniferous forest provides habitat for rough-leaved rice grass (Oryzopsis asperifolia), a species that is a common understory element of boreal and parkland regions in Canada. We made our next collections in the Cypress Hills, which straddle the Alberta/Saskatchewan border in south- ern Canada. Rising 600 m above the surrounding prairie, the hills are a rugged mosaic of forests, prairie, wet- lands, lakes and streams, with over 700 plant species. Many of these species are not found in the neighboring prairies, but are common in the Rocky Moun- tains several hundred kilometers to the
Transcript
Botany Profile
Continued on page 9
New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2 April-June 2005April-June 2005April-June 2005April-June 2005April-June 2005
Department of Botany & the U.S. National Herbarium
The grasses (Poaceae) are thefourth largest family of floweringplants, with some 11,000 species.
Grasses are worldwide in distribution,and they are components of most eco-systems. Grasses include many of theworld’s crop species, such as wheat, rice,oats, corn, millet, barley, rye, and sugar-cane, and have an increasing horticulturalrole. Given their ecological and eco-nomic prominence, grasses have a longhistory of scientific study. Agrostolo-gists have made substantial progressidentifying, describing, classifying, andelucidating phylogenetic relationshipsamong the world’s grass species, butscientific exploration of the grasses isnowhere near complete. New speciesand genera are continually discoveredand described, and genetic information isproviding fresh insight into the genomicstructure and evolutionary history of thefamily. Continued exploration in thefield and laboratory will be necessary tofurther characterize grass biodiversity.
In July 2004, I participated in amonth-long expedition to collect grassesin northwestern Canada. We were lead byPaul Peterson, curator of grasses, whohas been studying the taxonomy andsystematics of grasses for over 20 years.The second member of our team wasStephen Smith, museum specialist. I ama Ph.D. student in Sean Graham’s plantmolecular systematics laboratory at theUniversity of British Columbia, where Iconduct taxonomic and phylogeneticresearch on grasses, their close rela-tives, and other monocots.
It was our goal to collect samples of
North to Alaska: Grass Collecting in AmericaBy Jeff M. Saarela
all of the grass species that we encoun-tered, specifically targeting Bromus (thebrome grasses; ~160 species) andCalamagrostis (the reed grasses; ~250species). These large genera are distrib-uted widely in temperate regions aroundthe world, and each includes severalspecies that are important components ofmany ecosystems in northern Canada.Differing taxonomic opinions amongfloras in the treatments of Calamagrostisand Bromus in northwestern Canadaidentify several species complexes thatneed to be studied in detail in the fieldand lab to properly characterize speciesboundaries. One goal was to collect asmuch material of these species aspossible to support future studies of thesetaxonomic problems.
We collected from Manitoba toAlaska, which allowed us topass through the varied habitats
of the prairies, mountains, and arctic, tomaximize the diversity of species that weencountered. We generally stopped tocollect when we observed a prospectivespecies or habitat from the road, and weoften hiked along trails in search of novelspecies. Every time we stopped, wecollected all the grass species that weencountered locally, took photographs,and attempted to identify all otherflowering-plant species at the site. Werecorded as much detailed information onthe site as possible, placed samples ofleaf tissue from each species into silicagel to rapidly dry and preserve DNA formolecular analyses, and pickled additionalleaf tissue from some species foranatomical studies. We typically spent a
few hours each day getting our collec-tions in order, and putting them into theexpanding plant press by the roadside, atour campsites, in front of motels, orwherever we happened to be.
We planned our trip for July, at thepeak of grass flowering in northernCanada. We made our first collectionsin south-central Manitoba in an unculti-vated area, with several hectares ofshort-grass prairie, forest, and foursquare kilometers of open sand dunes.Here we watched a northern prairieskink (Eumeces septentrionalis) skitteracross the sandy slopes, and collectedneedle and thread (Hesperostipa coma-ta), a native grass that is widespread inwestern North America. In a smallprairie remnant, we collected Hooker’soat grass (Helictotrichon hookeri) andJune grass (Koeleria macrantha),native species that are widely distributedacross the Great Plains. The nearbymixed deciduous-coniferous forestprovides habitat for rough-leaved ricegrass (Oryzopsis asperifolia), a speciesthat is a common understory element ofboreal and parkland regions in Canada.
We made our next collections in theCypress Hills, which straddle theAlberta/Saskatchewan border in south-ern Canada. Rising 600 m above thesurrounding prairie, the hills are arugged mosaic of forests, prairie, wet-lands, lakes and streams, with over 700plant species. Many of these species arenot found in the neighboring prairies,but are common in the Rocky Moun-tains several hundred kilometers to the
News ContactsMaryAnn Apicelli, Robert Faden, EllenFarr, George Russell, Alice Tangerini, andElizabeth Zimmer
The Plant Press is a quarterly publication providedfree of charge. If you would like to be added to themailing list, please contact Gary Krupnick at:Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution, POBox 37012, NMNH MRC-166, Washington, DC20013-7012, or by E-mail: [email protected].
New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2New Series - Vol. 8 - No. 2
TravelTravelTravelTravelTravel
Mark and Diane Littler traveled toFort Pierce, Florida (12/15-2/10) tocontinue ongoing research in the IndianRiver Lagoon and to speak at the MartinCounty Library Systems Eleventh Annual“Book Mania” (1/22-1/23); and to CarrieBow Cay, Belize (3/9 - 3/23) withBarrett Brooks to continue ongoingresearch on the Belizean Barrier Reef.
Robert Faden traveled to London,England (1/17-2/10) to conduct researchon African Commelinaceae at the RoyalBotanic Gardens, Kew.
Vicki Funk traveled to Australia (1/17-2/4) to present a seminar and conductresearch at the Australia National Her-barium in Canberra and at the Universityof Queensland, Brisbane; and to Bronx,New York (2/24-2/25) to attend theeditorial meeting for LINNE and toconduct research at the New YorkBotanical Garden.
Rusty Russell traveled to Chania,Crete (1/17-1/24) to attend the confer-ence “From Ink to Electrons: Challengesand Solutions in Digitising Herbaria, “sponsored by the European Network forBiodiversity Information (ENBI) and theGlobal Biological Information Facility(GBIF).
W. John Kress traveled to Oahu,Hawaii (1/5-1/11) to visit Lyon Arbore-
Naomi Delventhal, University of Wis-consin; Lepechinia (Lamiaceae) (1/5-1/6).
David Dick, West Virginia Department ofAgriculture; West Virginian invasivespecies (1/6).
Jose Hernandez, Systematic Botany andMycology Lab, USDA; Hosts of rustfungi (1/6).
Patrick McMillan, Clemson University;Southeastern U.S. Rhynchospora (Cyper-aceae) (1/21).
Stephen Talbot, U.S. Fish & WildlifeService; Vegetation ecology and floristics(1/28).
Bonnie Gisel, Sierra Club LeConteMemorial Lodge; John Muir collections
tum with Qing-Jun Li from China; toLondon, England (2/5-2/8) to present atalk at the First International Barcoding ofLife Conference at the Natural HistoryMuseum in London and to visit the EdenProject with Sir Ghillean Prance; and toDominica (3/30-4/4) to conduct researchon Heliconia and hummingbirds withgraduate student Vinita Gowda.
Laurence Skog and John Boggantraveled to Sarasota, Florida (1/23-2/1) toattend the American Gloxinia andGesneriad Society Board of Directorsmeeting at Marie Selby Botanic Gardens. Robert Soreng traveled to Brno, CzechRepublic (2/7-2/11) to give a lecture on“Biogeography, Molecular Systematics,and Breeding Systems in Poaceae,” andserved as an external reviewer to thedissertation defense by Sierra DawnStoneberg Holt at Masaryk Univerisity.
Dan Nicolson traveled to London,England (2/10-2/23) to work on the lastsupplement(s) to Stafleu & Cowan’s“Taxonomic Literature” (TL-2) at theRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Alice Tangerini traveled to Kalaheo,Hawaii (2/17-3/2) to prepare illustrationsof herbarium specimens and living plantsfor the Flora of the Marquesas Islandsproject under the direction of WarrenWagner.
Alain Touwaide traveled to Boston,Massachusetts (2/22-2/23) to make a
presentation at the Earthwatch Institute; toDearborn, Michigan (2/25-2/27) to meetwith Dan Moermann at the University ofMichigan, Dearborn; to Berkeley,California (3/9-3/14) to collaborate withChris Meacham and to present “MedicinalPlants of Antiquity: A Computerized Data-base” and “Ancient Botanical Illustra-tions”at the University of California,Berkeley; to Palo Alto, California (3/17-3/18) to present “Paleo-ethnopharmaco-logy. Ancient Medicines for ModernTimes” and “Phthisis, Consumption andOther Respiratory Affections of Antiq-uity: Pathology and Treatment” atStanford University; and to Miami,Florida (3/31-4/2) to present a paper atthe annual meeting of the MedievalAcademy of America, co-organized byFlorida International University.
Pedro Acevedo traveled to Bronx,New York (2/23-2/24) to conductresearch at the New York BotanicalGarden.
Warren Wagner traveled to Kauai,Hawaii (3/12-4/25) to work with collabo-rators on the Flora of the Marquesas atthe National Tropical Botanical Garden.
VisitorsVisitorsVisitorsVisitorsVisitors
(1898 southern U.S. expedition) andHarriman Expedition collections (1899)(2/16-2/18).
Raymund Chan, Independent researcher;Arctoteae and Vernonieae (Asteraceae)(2/17-3/17).
Hidehisa Koba, Kanagawa PrefectualMusuem of Natural History, Japan;Leymus (Poaceae) (2/17-2/18).
Benjamin Torke, University of MissouriSt. Louis; Swartzia (Fabaceae) (2/17-2/28).
Mary Chor, United States Botanic Gar-den; Herbarium tour (2/19).
Continued on page 5
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To Barcode or not to Barcode? That is no Question
If the last few decades are any indication, we areheaded for a major revolution in the way weconduct taxonomic research in the near future. The
quantum leap in our ability to understand evolutionaryrelationships among taxa that resulted from theacceptance of Willi Hennig’s method of phylogeneticsystematics, or cladistics, started the ball rolling inthe 1960s. Our capacity to provide well-supportedphylogenies has amplified the impact of the field ofsystematics on other disciplines, both scientific andapplied. In one case the impact of phylogeneticthinking has been taken to an extreme. A few amongour ranks, who have been called “phylogenetic fun-damentalists” by some, have advocated (wrongly in myview) an entirely new system of nomenclature thatabandons traditional binomials and the hierarchicalLinnaean classification in favor of names based solelyon phylogeny. This newly proposed system has notreceived much support among botanists, but it is anindication of the type of new thinking that is unfoldingin the taxonomic community. Another event thatradically changed the perception of taxonomy, biodi-versity, and the value we place on nature was the 1992Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro that led to the Conven-tion on Biological Diversity now ratified by over 180countries. As a result of this international treaty plantinventory and collecting outside (and even inside) ofone’s country has become a quagmire of rules andregulations governing the way we document andunderstand plant diversity. In addition to these theo-retical and political developments a smorgasbord ofnew technologies is ready to overturn our traditionalmethods of managing and analyzing taxonomic data.Rightly or wrongly, the process of discovering,describing, naming, and classifying new taxa ischanging.
One of the newest innovations that has taken theworld of taxonomy by storm is DNA barcoding. Theuse of short DNA sequences for biological identifica-tions was first proposed by Paul Herbert and col-leagues with the ultimate goal of quick and reliablespecies-level identifications across all domains oflife. These ideas have been applied most successfullyin animals, although the usefulness and practicality ofsuch approaches have been long accepted for microor-ganisms for which morphological data is limiting ordifficult to obtain. Until recently plants have beennotably absent in the early stages of barcoding eventhough a Consortium for the Barcode of Life (seehttp://www.barcoding.si.edu/) has been established tostimulate the creation of a database of documentedand vouchered reference sequences to serve as auniversal barcode library.
As with the introduction of any new method ofanalyses in science some controversy and concern hasarisen about the feasibility and utility of DNA
barcoding in taxonomy. A number of taxonomistsappear to be particularly concerned that new technolo-gies might be substituted for the taxonomic specialistworking directly with specimens. Others believe thatthese new techniques will be misused and give faultyresults. These misconceptions arise for a number ofreasons, such as associating DNA barcoding with DNAtaxonomy (which it is not), equating “service identifi-cations” through barcoding with the entire field oftaxonomy (when identification is only one aspect ofwhat we do as taxonomists), misusing DNA barcodesto reconstruct phylogenies (when their primarilypurpose is for quick identification), and, finally,believing that any new tool, such as DNA barcoding,will replace the need for taxonomic specialists orsiphon off all of our funds. These misguided concep-tions are simply not true. DNA barcoding will undoubt-edly become one of the many important tools on themodern taxonomist’s work bench.
The notion that barcoding will make the work oftaxonomists and taxonomy obsolete could not befurther from the truth. Barcoding, when successfullyapplied to plants, will provide the user with rapidspecies-level identifications. Yet the species name isnot an end in itself. The name alone is a simple two-word identifier that gives the typical user littleinformation about the species. However, stick thatname into Google or any biodiversity database and anexplosion of information about that species willtumble out. We taxonomists are the ones that haveprovided, are currently providing, and will alwaysprovide that biodiversity information. The public aswell as our fellow scientists will continually wantmore of this information that will remain largelyunavailable without rapid access to the name of thespecies. Barcoding provides that rapid access.
The easier it is for end-users to access goodtaxonomic data through modern methods and tools,such as DNA barcoding, the more the field of tax-onomy and taxonomists will be appreciated for theirskills and knowledge. The interest of non-profession-als in nature, biodiversity, and the environment issoaring and the demand by the public for effective fieldguides that provide correct and easy identification ofspecies is at an all time high (just search Amazon.comfor “field guides”). The more taxonomic informationthat is available to the non-specialist to use for speciesidentifications, the more appreciation and respect willbe accorded to the taxonomists who have supplied thatinformation from the start. And in the long run, respectfor nature and its conservation will proportionallyincrease as well. Barcoding is not an option; it is adone deed.
Robert Faden spent a month at the RoyalBotanic Gardens, Kew, 17 January to 10February, to conduct research on AfricanCommelinaceae, particularly for the Floraof Tropical East Africa. He studied someof the blue-flowered species of Commeli-na that are poorly understood and anorange-flowered Commelina species thatoccurs throughout the savanna regionsurrounding the Congo rainforest. Thelatter “species” turned out to be a speciescomplex with multiple names all de-scribed from syntypes belonging to morethan one taxon. Taxonomic limits in thisgroup still need to be finalized. He alsostudied the type of a species of Murdan-nia that is endemic to Thailand but is notcorrectly identified in any herbarium inThailand. Faden spent one day at theNatural History Museum (BM) studyingthe same species as at Kew. On 16 March,Faden gave an invited illustrated talk, “TheRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Reflectionsfrom a Frequent Visitor,” to the FourSeasons Gardens Club at a private homein Arlington, Virginia.
From 17 January until 4 February, VickiFunk was in Australia. She visited theAustralia National Herbarium in Canberrawhere she worked with Randy Bayer onthe Compositae Supertree and presented aseminar. She then visited the Universityof Queensland, Brisbane, for two weekswhere she worked on biodiversityquestions with Karen Richardson of theRainforest CRC. Currently they are inves-tigating species turnover rates acrossspace using data from the Smithsonian’sBiological Diversity of the Guiana ShieldProgram. She also presented a seminar atthe Queensland Herbarium. On the 4th ofFebruary she left Australia for the SouthIsland of New Zealand where she gave aseminar at Land Care Systems in Christ-church.
Mark and Diane Littler traveled toSmithsonian Marine Station, Fort Pierce,Florida, 15 December to 10 February tocontinue ongoing research in the IndianRiver Lagoon with colleagues from
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution.They collected and identified over 150species from the Indian River Lagoon (thetwo summer hurricanes that did muchdestruction in the area cleaned the Lagoonof harmful sediments and many of thespecies collected were new records forthe Indian River). Over 3,000 digitalphotographs were taken (both macro-scopic and microscopic) in support oftheir ongoing project, “Marine Plants ofthe Indian River Lagoon,” in collaborationwith M. Dennis Hanisak (HBOI). Theyalso worked extensively with Brian E.Lapointe (HBOI) and Peter J. Barile(HBOI) on several papers concerning theshifts in nutrient stoichiometry ofCaribbean reef macroalgae: specificallygreen macroalgal blooms in southeastFlorida generally though to be generatedby anthropogenic nutrients. Along withBrian E. Lapoint the team began organiz-ing a new project in the Bahamas toproduce a floristic guide to the marineplants of Green Turtle Cay, AbacosIslands. The Littler’s were also featuredspeakers at the Martin County LibrarySystems Eleventh Annual “Book Mania”(22-23 Jan), a fund raising social weekendwith proceeds going to The LibraryFoundation of Martin County. Theirpresentation “Waterways & Byways of theIndian River Lagoon” was followed by abook signing.
The Littlers, along with and BarrettBrooks, traveled to the SmithsonianResearch Station at Carrie Bow Cay,Belize, 9-24 March, to continue ongoingresearch in on the Belizean Barrier Reefwith colleagues from the SmithsonianMarine Station, Fort Pierce, Florida. Theycollected over 150 specimens from thereef wall to a depth of 190 feet. Over1,000 digital photographs were taken insupport of one of their long termprojects: Caribbean Reef Plants: FirstRevision. They initiated a new long termproject to experimentally answer theongoing debate/problem in marine paleo-biology which might be termed the“paradox of the coralline algae.” Theparadox stems from the fact that althoughcoralline algae are nearly always abundant(often dominant) in terms of cover oncoral-reef systems worldwide, they onlyshow up abundantly within fossil coral-reef deposits in relatively few isolatedformations. The hypothesis that thisdisappearance during fossilization is due
to differential taphonomic processes isbeing experimentally analyzed. Also, dueto the growing problems associated witheutrophication and overfishing alongtropical and subtropical shorelines, theecological responses of coral reefs andmacroalgae to nutrient enrichment andrelease from predation have beenrepeatedly cited as priority areas in needof further research. The team’s ongoinglong-term research, which begun in 2003,is directly addressing this need and willprovide new insights into the nutrient andherbivore status of Caribbean coral reefs.This experimental setup was thoroughlydocumented with dramatic new resultsand will successfully improve our under-standing of the ecology and sustainablemanagement of coral-reef ecosystems.
Dan Nicolson was in London, 10-22February, to work on the last supple-ment(s) to Stafleu & Cowan’s “Taxo-nomic Literature” (TL-2), bringing vol. 1(A-G) up to the standards of H-Z. At theRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Nicolsonfinished entering information from Kew’sreprint holdings and checked the originalpublications in periodicals, starting withAsa Gray (where he left off during hislast visit). Nicolson tracked down incom-plete information previously collected.Nicolson was given permission to workin the Kew Library on Saturday where heexploited their new 2004 edition (61volumes) of the DNB, TL-2’s code forOxford’s “Dictionary of National Biogra-phy”. He spent his second week was at theBotany Library at the British Museum(Natural History) to see what could beaccumulated there.
Nicolson presented a post-showlecture on 16 March, at the Environmen-tal Film Festival showing of “Banks’Florilegium: A Flowering of the Pacific”at the National Arboretum. The filmtraces the first voyages of botanistJoseph Banks, who accompanied CaptainJames Cook on his first journey ofcircumnavigation and collected over 700unknown species of plants, which wererecorded in drawings by Sydney Parkin-son. Nicolson explained how collectionsof drawings and paintings assist thebotanical world.
On January 17-24, Rusty Russellparticipated as a working group leader atthe meeting “From Ink to Electrons:Challenges and Solutions in Digitising
Herbaria,” which was sponsored by theEuropean Network for BiodiversityInformation (ENBI) and the GlobalBiological Information Facility (GBIF),in Chania, Crete.
On February 17, Russell conducted avideoconference with Coastal CarolinaUniversity on “The Botany of Lewis &Clark” and tied it to the theme of theirthree day conference “Memory, Place,Identity.”
On 21-22, February, Russel partici-pated in a meeting at the museum and atthe Heinz Center in Washington, DC,sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution,DiscoverLife, and the National BiologicalInformation Infrastructure. The meetingwas to brainstorm a better strategy tostudy and monitor life on Earth. Inattendance were Peter Raven and E.O.Wilson.
Russell presented a lecture at the U.S.Botanic Garden on 8 April, on “The Plantsof the U.S. Exploring Expedition,” inwhich he gave special attention to theflora of Australia and New Zealand.
Stanwyn Shetler chaired the annualworkshop of the Virginia Native PlantSociety at the University of Richmond, inRichmond, Virginia, on the topic “Bio-diversity: The Wise Stewardship ofVirginia’s Native Flora,” on February 26.
Pedro Acevedo received a grant from theU.S. Department of Agriculture whichwill assist him with the publication of thefirst volume of “Monocots of PuertoRico and the Virgin Islands,” and facilitatethe completion of the manuscript of thesecond volume.
Vicki Funk has been selected as thePresident Elect of the InternationalBiogeography Society. She will serve2005-2007 as President Elect and 2007-2009 as President.
Alain Touwaide’s Earthwatch grant hasbeen renewed for the 2004/2005 year.“Medicinal Plants of Antiquity” is a studyof Renaissance herbals. With the help ofEarthwatch volunteers, Touwaide ispreparing a Web site in collaboration withSmithsonian Libraries that will belaunched in August this year.
Ihsan Al-Shehbaz, Missouri BotanicalGarden; Flora North America, Arabis(Brassicaceae) (2/22-2/25).
Future of FlorasW. John Kress recently published an
invited book review of Flowering Plantsof the Neotropics in the American Jour-nal of Botany (91: 2124-2127; 2004).This extended review addresses the“Future of Paper Floras” and outlines newtechnologies, including electronic fieldguides and DNA barcoding, which havethe potential to radically change how weunderstand, identify, and classify biodi-versity. This same theme, “The Future ofFloras,” will be the core topic in the 2005Smithsonian Botanical Symposium hostedby the Department of Botany in April.Seven speakers, including Vicki Funk,and a keynote address by Rita Colwell, arelined up to discuss and debate the newtechnologies that further the inventoryand classification of life on April 15-16,2005, in Baird Auditorium at the NationalMuseum of Natural History. The UnitedStates Botanic Garden and the Interna-tional Association for Plant Taxonomy arecosponsoring the event.
VisitorsContinued from page 2
Contributions onthe Web
The Contributions from the UnitedStates National Herbarium is nowaccessible at <http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botany/pubs/CUSNH/>. The Contribu-tions series has featured externally peer-reviewed articles of scientific botanicalresearch since 1890 (see Plant Press,vol. 7, no. 4; 2004). These articlesinclude taxonomic papers, checklists,floras, and monographs produced by thestaff and associates at the U.S. NationalHerbarium. PDF files of the most recentissues (vol. 49-present) of the journal areavailable, as well as an illustrated list ofall previous issues (vol. 39-present). TheWeb site was created through the work ofPaul Peterson and Susan Pennington.
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Japanese Artists Visit the MuseumAlice Tangerini was host to a group
of 21 visiting members of the JapaneseAssociation of Botanical Illustrators(JAPI) on 4 March. Tangerini wascontacted by artist Mieko Ishikawa, whomTangerini had met on a previous visit in2003 when Ishikawa had exhibited hercherry blossom paintings at the JapaneseCultural Institute in Washington, DC.Ishikawa, along with JAPI president,Hidenari Kobayashi, organized the recentgroup visit to coincide with the exhibit of“Botanical Illustration of Japan’s Endan-gered Plants” at the National Arboretum.Tangerini arranged for the group to have atour of the herbarium, graciously guidedby Gregory McKee. Tangerini alsoescorted the group to the Cullman Librarywhere Leslie Overstreet presented adisplay and a lecture on rare botanicalbooks. Mary Ann Apicelli and Berna-dette Gibbons provided a tour of theChairman’s office, which features adisplay of botanical paintings from theDepartment’s collection. Finally, thegroup received a tour of Tangerini’soffice in Botany and illustrator VichaiMalikul’s office in Entomology.
Alice Tangerini (second from left) provides a tour of the museum for 21 visitingartists from Japan, including Mieko Ishikawa (standing to the right of Tanger-ini). This photo was taken in the Entomology office of Vichai Malikul (center).
Identifying DNA Barcodes in PlantsA new technology that uses short gene
sequence bar codes to distinguish onespecies from another could revolutionizethe world of taxonomy and biologicalcollections. Scientists are developing aportable device that will provide a rapidmethod for non-taxonomists to identifyunknown specimens and then link theinformation to a massive biologicaldatabase.
In February, the Consortium for theBarcode of Life (CBOL), which is hostedby the National Museum of NaturalHistory (NMNH), convened The FirstInternational Barcoding of Life Confer-ence at the Natural History Museum inLondon. DNA barcoding, effective onmost of the animal groups so far tested,including insects, fish, birds, and mam-mals, has not worked yet in plants. At themeeting, botanists unveiled the firstconcrete proposal to add a feasiblesystem for plants. W. John Kress alongwith Lee Weigt, Director of the Laborato-ries of Analytical Biology, Ken Wur-dack, Botany Research Associate, andDan Janzen, tropical ecologist at the
University of Pennsylvania, attended themeeting and presented their results onidentifying a workable barcode for plants.They proposed a dual system that wouldcombine a short nuclear region called ITSwith a short, hypervariable intergenicspacer region of the chloroplast genomethat worked in the over 100 species intheir trials. The next step is to test thissystem on the 8,000 species of plants inthe Central American country of CostaRica. This project will be initiated incollaboration with botanists from CostaRica and the Royal Botanic Gardens atKew. Funding is still being sought for thisproject.
CBOL wants to tag every organism onEarth—starting with the 1.7 millionspecies that have already been identifiedand continuing with the estimated 10–20million that have not. CBOL membersanticipate myriad applications of theinformation the new technology willyield, from enforcing food laws, to pro-tecting wildlife and developingbiodefense systems. A review of thebarcoding conference in London appears
in a recent issue of Science magazine(307: 1037).
The ExpandingLichen Collection
The US National Herbarium recentlyreceived a gift from the National Her-barium of Canada, lichenology section,consisting of 1,599 lichens collected byStephen Sharnoff and Sylvia DuranSharnoff (Accession No. 2035962).These collections represent more than adecade of collecting by the Sharnoffs insupport of their seminal work, Lichens ofNorth America, co-authored by IrwinBrodo, a wonderfully illustrated refer-ence published in 2001 by Yale UniversityPress. These important collectionssupported the extensive research involvedin the production of this excellent workand informed the accounts of most of thelichen species. The gift is significantcontribution to the country’s largest andmost important lichen herbarium here atthe Smithsonian Institution.
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Collecting Plantsin Guyana
Tom Hollowell, Vicki A. Funk, andCarol Kelloff, along with colleagues TimMcDowell (Eastern Tennessee StateUniversity) and Doorjoohan Gopaul(University of Guyana), have published“Smithsonian Plant Collections, Guyana:1990 - 1991, Tim McDowell” (Contribu-tions from the United States NationalHerbarium 50: 1-150; 2004). Thispublication details the Guyana plantcollections of Tim McDowell, who wasthe fourth Resident Plant Collector toparticipate in the Biological Diversity ofthe Guiana Shield (BDG) Program. Over anearly 18 month period, McDowellcollected 3,242 plant numbers; thespecimens were first processed at theUniversity of Guyana and then at the U.S.National Herbarium at the SmithsonianInstitution. This publication is a compre-hensive reference for herbaria holdingcollections made by the collector and anaid to taxonomists interested in particularplant groups.
The paper is divided into five parts, inwhich Part I provides the collector’snotes and narratives on the expeditions inchronological order. Part II lists collec-tion localities, with collection numberranges, habitat descriptions, geographiccoordinates, and assisting collectors. PartIII consists of maps of Guyana illustratingthe collecting localities. Part IV listscollections in numerical order withidentifications. Part V lists all collectionsordered by determined name. The volumealso contains a listing of collections ofparticular interest. Illustrations or photosof all of McDowell’s type collections are
A New Classifica-tion of Gingers
W. John Kress and research col-leagues from China and Scotland havepublished a recent article in the AmericanJournal of Botany on the classificationof the gingers (92: 137-178; 2005). Thestudy focuses on the genus Alpinia, whichincludes the largest group of species inthe ginger family (Zingiberaceae).Species of Alpinia often predominate inthe understory of forests, while others areimportant ornamentals and medicinals.Alpinia as currently defined includes sixpolyphyletic clades in the tribe Alpinieae.This paper provides the phylogeneticbasis for erecting a new classification andgeneric boundaries of the subfamilyApinioideae, an equally importantevolutionary framework for tracing thepathways of plant-pollinator interactions.
American Journal of Botany coverillustration: At the Cai Yung HuReserve in Yunnan, China, the singleanther of a flower of Alpinia blepharo-calyx (Zingiberaceae) deposits pollenon the back of a Bombus pollinator asit enters the flower to take nectar.(Photo by W. John Kress)
also included. This is the third in a serieson the Smithsonian’s BDG Program’scollectors, the others being on thecollections of John J. Pipoly and Lynn J.Gillespie, which are both available at<http://www.mnh.si.edu/biodiversity/bdg/collector.html>.
Protecting CropBiodiversity
On March 1, the National Museum ofNatural History played host to an infor-mative evening event, “Start with aSeed...At the Intersection of Gastronomy,Good Health, and Global Food Security,”co-sponsored by the American Institute ofWine & Food and the Global CropDiversity Trust. Museum DirectorCristián Samper welcomed the event’sguests to a panel discussion moderated byW. John Kress and featuring Peter Raven,director of the Missouri BotanicalGarden, as the keynote speaker withpanelists Nora Pouillon, chef/proprieterof Restaurant Nora, America’s firstcertified organic restaurant; GeoffreyHawtin, Executive Secretary of the GlobalCrop Diversity Trust; and Rayna Green,Curator of “Julia Child’s Kitchen” at theNational Museum of American History.The panel discussions focused on theglobal origins of our foods, the factors
threatening agricultural diversity, and themeans necessary to protect and continuecultivating our essential food staples.After the discussion in Baird Auditorium,guests adjourned to the Rotunda tosample dishes from a diverse menu ofculinary food crops prepared by sixteenof Washington’s leading chefs.
Chinese VisitorsView Dinoflagel-late Collection
Maria Faust hosted two visitors fromChina, Guo Hao and Du Fei, on 27January. Both researchers are from theNational Marine Environmental Monitor-ing Center, Dalian, People’s Republic ofChina. Their visit was organized throughthe Office of International Relations,National Oceanic & Atmospheric Admin-istration in Silver Spring, Maryland. Thevisitors received a tour of the UnitedStates National Dinoflagellate Collec-tions. They were especially interested inongoing research activities on the red tideand toxins producing marine harmfuldinoflagellates. Harmful dinoflagellatesoften cause toxic out breaks in aquacul-ture facilities that result in unoxia inChinese coastal waters, resulting insignificant economical loss.
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Putting Botany onthe MapBy Heijia L. Wheeler
If you watch a group of very youngkids, you can almost predict the ones whowill develop a love affair with maps.Before they know it, these same peoplehave an attic full of National GeographicMagazines and just cannot understand whythe local library is not thrilled to get adonation from them as they tidy up theirlives at age 70 or 80. Maps are multifac-eted. They are beautiful in their own right,and full of fascinating information. Theyare often carefully framed and displayedas valuable art objects. They tell storiesfrom historic, political, and botanicalpoints of view. All maps are ultimatelyuseful. Most of us have a stack of utilitymaps to help guide us around unfamiliarplaces, and explorers of all variety haverelied on maps to guide them in theirvarious quests. Jim Harle, a Botanyvolunteer, is one of those kids who alwaysloved maps.
The U.S. National Herbarium hasbetween 8,000 to 10,000 maps of variousvarieties and vintages collected over timeby Botany staff and others. They arescattered all over the department andthroughout the museum. These arebotanical maps of various ages and inmany different languages. The problemwas that the collection was not wellorganized, making it difficult to find auseful map. Outside of the central mapcollection, smaller assemblages of mapswere located in various offices aroundBotany. Since there was no index to thesemaps, it was often a time consumingtreasure hunt to find a specific map. Theyneeded to be cataloged and made moreeasily accessible to researchers.
Harle was excited about volunteeringon the map project in response to a callfrom Rusty Russell. Since there was nosystem in place, Harle volunteered tocreate one while he organized thecollection. First, he had to design the database to enter the information about thesemaps. Some of these maps are very oldand have no coordinates, some are drawnwith interesting scales, and many are inforeign languages. The Western Europeanlanguages were easy enough for Harle todecipher, but for the ones in Russian heneeded help. Margarita Gospodinova, a
volunteer in Botany from Bulgaria, waspressed into service and translated thelegends of a dozen or so maps whileHarle carefully took notes.
Harle first created a data base manage-ment program to enter the pertinentinformation about each map. He workedin concert with the Smithsonian informa-tion technology group and with theSmithsonian librarians who were de-lighted to know about this project. WhatHarle enjoys most about this project isthat it requires his creative talents andproblem solving acumen. So far he hasrelabeled and inventoried maps of Brazil,Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Bolivia, Argen-tina, Chile, Puerto Rico, the West Indies,Europe, North Africa, Australia, and NewZealand.
Harle was a computer specialist whoretired from the US Naval Academy inAnnapolis, Maryland, in January 2004, buthe has loved maps for many years. Heworked in nearly all areas of computerscience from hardware manipulation tosoftware design to management for nearly40 years. In addition to the usual informa-tion technology functions, he helpeddesign the first online course registrationsystem. That was over 30 years ago andthe first of such systems that are nowubiquitous and indispensable to nearly allcolleges and universities.
Harle loves to travel and his love ofmaps has resulted in a perfect fit. Many of
his trips have been with Earthwatch, anorganization that invites people to comeand do work for them on various projectsall over the world. Volunteers have to payfor that privilege, but they gain a feelingof accomplishment in making a valuablecontribution to basic research. He hasanother Earthwatch trip planned, in whichhe is heading off to Russia in a fewweeks.
The map database, currently a work inprogress with over 1,700 maps cata-logued, is accessible to Botany staff andthere are plans to make these map dataavailable publicly. While much needs tobe done to both the details of the databaseand the number of maps included, Harleposts a copy of the database on the sharedinternal museum directory at the end ofeach day.
A book-length monograph by WarrenL. Wagner, Stephen G. Weller, and Ann K.Sakai was published in March 2005 inSystematic Botany Monographs (vol.72). The monograph is the result of morethan a decade of collaboration betweenthe authors with support from grants fromthe National Science Foundation, theNational Geographic Society, and three
Schiedea Explored
Jim Harle creates a database of maps. (Photo by Deborah Bell)
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west. One such disjunct species isRichardson’s brome (Bromus richard-sonii), which we found growing on ashallow, open slope after half a day ofsearching. A stretch of open prairie in theCypress Hills provides habitat for severalnative grass species, including oat grass
(Danthonia sp.), fescue grass (Festucasp.), and Hooker’s oat grass (Helictotri-chon hookeri), while a moist ravine ishome to Virginia wild rye (Elymusvirginicus), mountain brome (Bromusmarginatus), and slender wedge grass(Sphenopholis intermedia).
After a night in Calgary, we collectedin the prairies and parkland in westernAlberta. A small creek running through adry sedge meadow yielded severalcommon wetland grasses, including waterwhorl-grass (Catabrosa aquatica), reedcanary grass (Phalaris arundinacea),tufted hair grass (Deschampsia caes-pitosa), slough grass (Beckmannia syzi-gachne), short-awn foxtail (Alopecurusaequalis), reed manna grass (Glyceriagrandis) and alkali grass (Puccinelliasp.). The dry ditches along the edge of thehighway are dominated by several prairiegrasses, including red fescue (Festucarubra), a native species that is commonlyplanted to re-vegetate disturbed sites andprevent erosion along highway slopes,western wheat grass (Agropyron smithii),a widely distributed native species that isused for feed and erosion control, andsmooth brome (Bromus inermis), aspecies introduced from Europe in thelate 1800s and now widespread andcommon in disturbed habitats acrossNorth America.
Entering the Rocky Mountains, ourfocus shifted to western North Americangrass species. With official collectingpermits in hand, our first few stops inBanff National Park yielded severalspecies that we had not yet encountered,as well as park wardens who wonderedwhy we were collecting plants in aprotected area. We found bluebunchwheat grass (Pseudoregneria spicata)growing sporadically among the rocks ona steep, dry slope, several differentfescue (Festuca spp.) species growing inopen habitat among the aspen and douglasfir, and spike trisetum (Trisetum spi-catum) growing in rocky soil. Drivingnorth through the mountains, we ascendedto the subalpine zone (~2000 m above sealevel). Many of the species in the subal-pine zones do not occur at lower eleva-tions, and are adapted to the severegrowing conditions, including shortergrowing season, low air temperature, andhigh wind. Common high-elevation
Continued on page 10
ProfileContinued from page 1
sources from the Smithsonian Institution(Scholarly Studies Program, Andrew W.Mellon Smithsonian Fellowships toWeller and Sakai, and the SmithsonianWalcott Botanical fund).
Schiedea (Caryophyllaceae, carnationfamily), is one of 31 genera of plants en-demic to the Hawaiian Islands, and is oneof the most critically endangered lineagesin the Hawaiian flora. Schiedea is one ofthe best examples of adaptive radiation inthe Hawaiian Islands, with some of themost conspicuous evolutionary shifts ofany Hawaiian plant lineage. Among themost prominent evolutionary changeshave been the remarkable changes ingrowth habit, which are particularlynotable for a lineage within the carnationfamily, normally a family of herbaceousannuals and perennials. Schiedea speciesoccur in an extraordinary range of habitatsin the Hawaiian Islands, and includedeciduous perennial species in coastalhabitats, sprawling subshrubs in mesicforests, woody shrubs in dry, mesic, andwet forest, rainforest vines, and smallsubalpine shrubs. Schiedea also exhibitsthe greatest diversity in breeding systemsof any native Hawaiian angiosperm genus,with species ranging from full cleisto-gamy and mixed mating systems, to gyno-dioecy, subdioecy, and dioecy.
Morphological and molecular phylo-genetic analyses support the division ofSchiedea into seven sections and 34species. In a majority of the species eachfloral nectary is either terminated by atubular, straight structure (a shaft) thatextrudes a drop of nectar at the tip, or inthree species a recurved shaft thatdeposits a pool of nectar on the adaxialface of each sepal. In four species(formerly treated as a separate genus,Alsinidendron) the nectary appendagesare flap- or cup-like, and collect largequantities of black nectar. These hypoder-mic, flap- or cup-like extensions of thefloral nectaries are unique within thefamily, and serve as a key feature todelineate Schiedea as a monophyleticgroup resulting from a single colonizationof the Hawaiian Islands. Molecular infor-mation indicates that a clade of two smallcircumboreal-Alaskan genera is most-closely related to Schiedea, suggestingthat the ancestor of this subtropical genuscolonized the Hawaiian Islands from anorth temperate-boreal region. Species
are hermaphroditic and insect- or bird-pollinated or autogamous, or dimorphic(dioecious, subdioecious, and gynodioe-cious) and wind-pollinated. Nearly allhermaphroditic species occur in mesic orwet forests, whereas all dimorphicspecies are found in dry, often windyhabitats. The morphological changesassociated with the evolution of windpollination, including a shift to smallerflower size, abundant pollen productionand high pollen/ovule ratios, smallerpollen grains, and upright, highly con-densed inflorescences, have had profoundeffects on the morphological diversityfound within this lineage.
Two new species were published in themonograph (S. laui, S. perlmanii) andtwo others were published in papersleading up to the monograph (S. attenu-ate, S. jacobii). Several species presumedextinct were rediscovered during thecourse of intensive fieldwork for theproject, but two species (S. amplexicau-lis, S. implexa) were not relocated andare considered extinct. Most of the otherspecies of Schiedea are greatly at risk ofextinction. All species are illustrated andtheir ranges mapped. This monograph pro-vides information critical for assessingbiodiversity, and documents loss of biodi-versity in Schiedea due to global change.
Schiedea verticillata. (Photo by WarrenWagner)
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species that we collected included alpineblue grass (Poa alpina) and alpinetimothy (Phleum alpinum), which haveboth evolved to be much smaller instature compared to closely relatedlower-elevation species.
In central and northern British Colum-bia we collected several species of reedgrass (Calamagrostis), each distin-guished by subtle morphological charac-teristics and habitat differences. Wecollected pine grass (C. rubescens) in theunderstory of conifer-dominated forests,and two varieties of bluejoint reed grass(C. canadensis), the most common andwidespread species of Calamagrostis inNorth America, in moist sites in thewoods, meadows, and wetlands. Wecollected purple reed grass (C. purpa-rascens) in dry areas on slopes and in theopen understory of conifer-dominatedforests, and plains reed grass (C. montan-ensis) in dry sites at higher elevations.Through study of DNA sequence datafrom these and other Calamagrostisspecies from around the world, we aim toreconstruct the evolutionary history ofthis ecologically important genus ofgrasses.
We reached the Yukon Territory on theeighth day of our trip, greatly anticipatingthe prospect of exploring Canada’s mostnortherly flora. Our first major stop in theYukon was Whitehorse, where we pickedup collecting permits. Next we metConnie LaRochelle, director of landclaims for the White River First Nation,in Beaver Creek, 500 km west ofWhitehorse at the Alaska/Yukon border.LaRochelle had requested our help toproduce species lists of grasses in areasthat have histories of traditional usearound Beaver Creek. We spent a dayexploring the boreal wetlands and forestssurrounding Snag, an original village siteof the Upper Tanana people that wasabandoned after the construction of theAlaska Highway in 1942. The grass floraat Snag is typical of the Yukon, andincludes quack grass (Agropyron repens),bent grass (Agrostis scabra), bluejointreed grass (Calamagrostis canadensisvar. langsdorfii), narrow small-reed(Calamagrostis stricta), spike trisetum(Trisetum spicatum), timothy (Phleumpratense), several blue grass species
To access the more northerly roads inthe Yukon, we took a shortcut throughwestern Alaska, along a stretch of road cutout of a forest that had been devastated byfire only days earlier. After passingthrough the tiny community of Chicken(named because the gold prospectors inthe early 1800s could not agree on how tospell ptarmigan, the game bird that theyrelied on for food), we ascended a gravelroad high into the hills and re-entered theYukon above the tree line at Canada’shighest elevation border crossing. Thetundra-like vegetation along the Top ofthe World Highway is dominated byseveral low-stature shrubs, and includesseveral familiar grasses and alpine sweetgrass (Anthoxanthum monticolum), aspecies with a long history of traditionaluse in spiritual ceremonies. A few hourslater, we approached the gold rush town ofDawson City, and collected the nativespecies pumpelly brome (Bromus pum-pellianus) in the mud while waiting forthe ferry to take us across the YukonRiver.
Beyond Dawson City, we travelednorth along the 25-year old DempsterHighway, an 800 km dirt road thatconnects Inuvik, the homeland of the
Inuvialuit and Gwich’in people, to the restof Canada. Recently dubbed Canada’s lastgreat road trip, the Dempster Highwaytypically provides endless hours ofbreathtaking scenery through mountainsand valleys, but much of our view wasobscured by thick smoke generated byforest fires burning further south. Overfive days, we crossed the Arctic Circle inthe North West Territories and traveled toInuvik and back, searching many habitatsfor grasses while battling thick clouds ofmosquitoes. Most of the grasses weencountered were the same as thosefurther south, although we found our firstpopulation of the low-arctic speciespendant grass (Arctophila fulva) growingalong the edge of a small pond, and manypopulations of the northern species polargrass (Arctagrostis latifolia). We kept aneye out for the arctic species Fisher’stundra grass (Dupontia fisheri) andcircumpolar reed grass (Calamagrostisdeschampsioides), but these are knownpreviously only from the arctic coast,which is accessible only by plane.
After over twelve days exploring manyregions of the Yukon, a bit of Alaska, andparts of the western North West Territo-ries, we began the long journey south.Explorations in the eastern Yukon yieldeda population of Bromus richardsonii atthe northern tip of its western North
GrassesContinued from page 9
Stephen Smith (L) and Paul Peterson collecting grasses in northwestern Canada.(Photo by Jeff Saarela)
Aliotta, G., N.G. De Santo, A. Pollio, J.Sepe, and A. Touwaide. 2004. The diuret-ic use of Scilla from Dioscorides to theend of the 18th century. In: The History ofNephrology, New Series 1, pp. 130-135.
Faust, M. A. 2004. The dinoflagellates ofTwin Cays, Belize: biodiversity, distribu-tion and vulnerability. Atoll ResearchBulletin 514 Pp.1-20. CCRE Contribu-tion No. 678.
Gillespie, L.J. and R.J. Soreng. 2005. Aphylogenetic analysis of the bluegrassgenus Poa based on cpDNA restrictionsite data. Systematic Botany 30: 84-105.
Hollowell, T., T. McDowell, V.A. Funk,C.L. Kelloff and D. Gopaul. 2004. Smith-sonian plant collections, Guyana: 1990 -1991, Tim McDowell. Contributionsfrom the United States National Her-barium 50: 1-150.
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American range; our collections appear tobe only the second record of this speciesfor the territory. Leaving the Yukon, wetraveled through northwestern BritishColumbia, where we hoped to find twodistinctive species that occur only alongthe pacific coast, Pacific reed grass(Calamagrostis nutkaensis) and Pacificbrome (Bromus pacificus). After severaldays of searching, we found them eachwithin a hundred meters of the coast,exactly where the floras indicated that weshould look. We continued collectingthrough the southwestern portion ofBritish Columbia, and returned toVancouver after 26 days on the road.
By the end of our trip, we had traveledover 10,000 km and made more than 400collections at over 70 localities in fourprovinces, two territories, and one state.Although we were looking for plants, weencountered 140 bird species and 29mammal species, including pronghornantelope, moose, coyotes, a wolf, blackbears, Dall’s sheep, caribou, a mink, and ared fox. Our plant collections are cur-rently housed in the U.S. National Her-barium. After further study and identifica-tion, duplicates of our specimens will bedeposited widely in herbaria in the USAand Canada. Ultimately, our collectionswill become part of the growing scientificrecord that documents the world’s flora inspace and time, and the material wecollected for genetic analysis will be usedin phylogenetic and taxonomic studies,increasing understanding of the biodiver-sity of the world’s grasses. For me, thememories of the long days, massive size,and largely untouched wilderness ofCanada’s extreme northwest will last alifetime.
The Robert Bateman Arctic ResearchFund, an endowment at the SmithsonianInstitution, provided funding for this trip.
Calamagrostis nutkaensis. (Photo byPaul Peterson)
I am also grateful for support from theNatural Sciences and EngineeringResearch Council of Canada and theUniversity of British Columbia.
Jeff M. Saarela is a doctoral student inthe Department of Botany and the UBCBotanical Garden & Centre for PlantResearch at the University of BritishColumbia. Saarela was a Paul Peter-son’s student in the 2001 SmithsonianResearch Training Program, where hegot his start in plant systematics.
This new grass found in theDepartment of Ayacucho,
Peru, was first collected byPaul M. Peterson and
graduate student NancyRefulio (Rancho Santa Ana
Botanic Garden) in 2002among large boulders andbeneath thorny shrubs in
the mountains east ofPuquio. The new species is
characterized by havinglaterally flattened spikelets,
pilose ligules, 1-veinedlower glumes, and 3-veined
upper glumes. In a recentpaper submitted to Taxon,
graduate student JeffSaarela (University of
British Columbia),Peterson, and Refulio
describe this new species,discuss its phylogenetic
placement with other spe-cies of Bromus using DNA
sequence data, and includea key to the 12 species of
Bromus found in Peru.
Bromus sp. nov.
Department of BotanyPO Box 37012NMNH, MRC-166Washington DC 20013-7012
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
Art by Alice TangeriniArt by Alice TangeriniArt by Alice TangeriniArt by Alice TangeriniArt by Alice Tangerini
