Botany Profile

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The Plant PressThe Plant PressThe Plant PressThe Plant PressThe Plant Press

Department of Botany & the U.S. National Herbarium

What is the link between Larreatridentata (creosote), thescale insect Tachardiella

larrae, the native Tarahumaras ofnorthern Mexico, and a former 19th

century Army medic? The answer is lac.You see, the scale parasitizes the plant,one of only three species that serve asits host, producing a resiny substancecalled lac. And for more than onehundred years, the Tarahumara have usedthis material to seal cracks in earthen-ware.

Using Smithsonian plant, insect andethnographic collections that date to the19th century, we can clearly documentthis biological and ethnobotanicalphenomenon. And the person responsiblefor these collections is Edward Palmer, aformer agent of the Smithsonian, U.S.Department of Agriculture and Harvard,who helped define the subject ofethnobotany in the New World. This isjust one of many stories being recon-structed in an exhibit case that will beunveiled in the National Museum ofNatural History’s Constitution Avenuelobby in December 2006.

The exhibit is but one early productof a three year project entitled “Ethno-botanical Diversity of the BorderRegions of the U.S. and Mexico.”Designed and managed by CollectionsManager Rusty Russell, funded by theSmithsonian Latino Center, and sup-ported by a large cast of Smithsonianstaff, Mexican colleagues, contractors,and volunteers, this project represents amodel way to highlight the value ofhistorical plant collections beyond the

traditional and highly productive taxo-nomic research that takes place in theUnited States National Herbarium. Andthe results have been impressive.

Focusing on herbarium specimenscollected by Palmer, the MexicanBoundary Survey and our holdings fromChihuahua, almost 20,000 specimenshave been located and inventoried. Highresolution images of thousands of thesehave been produced. Palmer’s journalsand handwritten notes have been as-sembled from the Botany Library, theNational Anthropological Archives, theHarvard Botany Library and Archives, andfrom the fragment pockets of Palmer’sown plant collections! Photographs takenby Palmer or his hired photographers havebeen located and will be digitized.

The wealth of Palmer’s ethnographicmaterial in the Department of Anthropol-ogy is being linked directly to herbariumspecimens, which was always Palmer’sintention. The herbarium specimens,scarce of label data, are being augmentedwith dates, uses, references, and improvedlocality data. This spring a team of GISstudents from George Mason University,working with biodiversity experts inMexico, will begin to analyze theselocality data and assign geo-referencepoints to each specimen. A website, whichwill integrate all of these resources in amanner useful to both researchers and thegeneral public, is under construction.

Over the last few decades, muse-ums have returned to a multi-disciplinary approach in attempt-

ing to understand biological and humanphenomena, reversing an early 20th cen-

tury trend to compartmentalize researchdisciplines. Ironically, this was alwaysEdward Palmer’s purpose in choosing tocollect what he did. Following on hisexperiences as a medic, an archaeologi-cal field assistant, and a professionalcollector for numerous academicinstitutions, Palmer followed theexpanding railroad lines into areas ofMexico that had been little explored.

In addition to collecting tens ofthousands of herbarium specimens inthe traditional manner, Palmer consultedwith local inhabitants to understand howthese plants were used; he studied anddocumented the processing of plantmaterial into consumables, medicines,and a wide range of tools and usefulobjects. Where appropriate, he de-scribed the relationship between theseplants and other biological organisms.He purchased plant material directlyfrom markets. And he acquired thou-sands of objects produced or used bymany native cultures in southwesternUnited States and northern Mexico.Between expeditions, he returned toWashington where he processed anddistributed his collections. Unfortu-nately, the plant and ethnographicmaterials have been separated sincetheir arrival in the Museum, to thedetriment of both collections.

Now, through the collaborativeefforts of the Department of Botany andother NMNH collections, we areimproving the physical and informa-tional state of the collections andassembling the many puzzle pieces that

A Century of LinksBy Rusty Russell and Jamie Whitacre

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Chair of BotanyWarren L. Wagner(wagnerw@si.edu)

EDITORIAL STAFF

EditorGary Krupnick(krupnickg@si.edu)

News ContactsMaryAnn Apicelli, Robert Faden, EllenFarr, Shirley Maina, Rusty Russell, AliceTangerini, and Elizabeth Zimmer

The Plant Press is a quarterly publication providedfree of charge. If you would like to be added to themailing list, please contact Dr. Gary Krupnick at:Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution, POBox 37012, NMNH MRC-166, Washington, DC20013-7012, or by E-mail: krupnickg@si.edu.

Web site: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botany

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Pedro Acevedo traveled to Berlin,Germany (8/22 – 8/27) to attend theFlora of the Guianas meeting and topresent a talk on floristics and conserva-tion.

Norm Bourg traveled to Chico,California (7/27 – 8/3) to present a paperat the Botany 2006 conference; and toMemphis, Tennessee (8/6 – 8/11) toattend the Ecological Society of Americameeting.

Maria Faust traveled to Fort PierceSmithsonian Marine Station, Florida (7/5– 7/14) tocontinue field workon deep seaoceanicdinoflagellate algaein the GulfStream; andto Copenhagen, Denmark (8/2– 8/10) to give presentations on thedistribution ofharmful, bloom-formingdinoflagellates and toxic Gambierdiscusspecies in the Belizean coral reef-mangrove ecosystems at the 12th Interna-tional Conference on Harmful Algae.

Vicki Funk traveled to Barcelona,Spain (6/30 – 7/10) to present a talk atthe International Compositae Alliancemeeting; to Chico, California (7/27 – 8/3) to present a paper at the Botany 2006conference; and to Tibet, China (8/29 – 9/20) to collect Asteraceae.

Carol Kelloff traveled to Barcelona,Spain (7/1 – 7/6) to attend the Interna-

tional Compositae Alliance meeting; toLondon, England (7/6 – 7/10) to study theGrammitidaceae for the Flora of theGuianas treatment at the Kew Herbarium;and to Chico, California (7/29 – 8/2) topresented a paper at the Botany 2006conference.

W. John Kress traveled to Singapore(7/3 – 7/6) to attend the InternationalSymposium on the Family Zingiberaceae;and to Kunming, China (7/6 – 7/21) toconduct field work and with Ida Lopezand Vinita Gowda to give presentationsat the Association for Tropical Biologyand Conservation annual meeting.

Mark and Diane Littler traveled toJuneau, Alaska (7/67/13) to make apresentation at the Phycological Societyof America meetings; to Green TurtleCay, Abacos, Bahamas (7/20 – 8/5) withBarrett Brooks to continue ongoingcollaborative research with BrianLapointe which this year focuses onintensified sampling of the poorly knowwindward reefs of the outer islands.

Paul Peterson traveled to Chico,California (7/30 – 8/3) to present a paperat the Botany 2006 conference; through-out northern California and Oregon (8/3 –8/13) to collect grasses; and throughoutMexico (8/29 – 10/4) to collect grasses.

Harold Robinson traveled to Bar-celona, Spain (7/1 – 7/7) to present a talkat the International Compositae Alliancemeeting.

Laurence Skog traveled to Chico,California (7/29 – 8/3) to attend theBotany 2006 conference.

Robert Soreng traveled througheastern Kyrgyzstan (8/1 – 8/27) to

collect grasses on a USDA sponsoredexpedition.

Alice Tangerini traveled to Madison,Wisconsin (7/30 – 8/6) to attend theannual meeting of the Guild of NaturalScience Illustrators.

Alain Touwaide traveled to London,England (7/19 – 7/21) to attend themeeting of the International Associationfor the History of Nephrology (IAHN) asthe president of the association; toLondon, England (8/19 – 8/26) withEmanuela Appetiti to attend the Con-gress of the International Society forByzantine Studies; to Budapest, Hungary(8/26 – 8/31) with Appetiti to attend the41st Congress of the International Societyfor the History of Medicine; and toPadua, Italy (9/13 – 10/26) with Appetitito participate in the Earthwatch Programat the Botanical Garden of Padua and toconduct research in Naples and Pompeii.

Warren Wagner traveled to Chico,California (7/29 – 8/3) to give an invitedpresentation paper at the Botany 2006conference; and to Kauai, Hawaii (8/3 –8/30) to conduct research.

Jun Wen traveled to China (7/12 – 8/10) to conduct field work on Prunus andAraliaceae in seven provinces; and toTibet, China (8/29 – 9/20) with VickiFunk and Deborah Bell for biodiversityand conservation research and training inthe Eastern Himalaya with support fromthe MacArthur Foundation as a collabora-tive effort with colleagues of the FieldMuseum.

Kenneth Wurdack traveled to Guyana(8/19 – 10/4) to conduct field work.

VisitorsVisitorsVisitorsVisitorsVisitors

Federico Luebert, Universidad de Chile,Santiago; Heliotropium (Boraginaceae)(2/5-8/4).

Wenying Wu, Philipps University,Marburg, Germany; Nolana (Solanaceae)(2/28/06-2/27/08).

Shiliang Zhou, Institute of Botany,Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing;Calycanthaceae (3/14-8/14).

Hui Ren, South China Botanical Garden,Guangzhou; Vitaceae (5/7/06-4/1/07).

Qing Liu, South China Botanic Garden,Guangzhou; Poaceae (6/13-7/21).

Joao Nunes, Universidad de Sao Paulo,Brazil; Brazilian Bromeliaceae (6/26-7/10).

Stefanie Ickert-Bond, University ofAlaska; Altingiaceae and other interconti-nental disjunct plants (7/10-9/23).

Uriel Bachrach, Hebrew University,Jerusalem, Israel; Historia PlantarumLibrary (7/13).

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Theodosius Dobzhansky, one of the greatevolutionary biologists of the 20th century,published a statement in 1973 about the

relevance of the study of evolution to the field ofbiology. He said “Nothing in biology makes senseexcept in the light of evolution.” This quote hasbecome a classic when referring to the role that thetheory of evolution has played in the development ofthe biological sciences during the last sixty years. Thecontribution of the “Modern Evolutionary Synthesis”beginning in the 1930’s and 1940’s to a wide range offields was immense and even today many fields, suchas evolutionary psychology and other areas of medi-cine, are incorporating evolutionary models into theirconceptual foundations. The influence of Darwinianevolution on science has been profound.

More recently a new field of science, namelyconservation biology, has similarly begun to influencehow various biological disciplines are structured. Awave of books published in the last few years, amongthem Phylogeny and Conservation, Plant Taxonomyand Conservation, Plant Conservation - An Ecosys-tem Approach, and our own volume Plant Conserva-tion - A Natural History Approach, all link a particu-lar sub-discipline of biology to the theory and practiceof environmental conservation. Especially in the fieldsof organismal biology, what we do as scientists seemsto be more and more linked with assessing and conser-ving biodiversity. It is no secret why this linkage ishappening. As the degree of environmental degradationand threat of extinction of species increases, ourcommitment as biologists to protecting and saving thisdiversity has become more and more relevant to oureveryday work. Perhaps Dobzhansky’s statementshould now be paraphrased to read “Nothing in biologymakes sense except in the light of biodiversityconservation.”

Concern for the environment and the importance ofconservation have not only affected the way we con-duct science, but obviously has increased in society asa whole. The environmental movement has grownexponentially since the publication of Aldo Leopold’sA Sand County Almanac in 1949. The bewilderingarray of non-governmental organizations devoted toconservation is nearly intractable. Today we not onlyhave “green” architects designing green buildings toprotect the environment, but also green politicians andgreen political parties with platforms designed toconserve biodiversity and legislate regulations todecrease our human impact on the environment. Yetwith the world population continuing to grow (I wasastounded that we actually celebrated in the UnitedStates reaching the 300,000,000 population mark!),and our natural resources continuing to be dispropor-tionately exploited around the world, it is clear we arenot yet green enough.

“Nothing makes sense…”Perhaps the most surprising, but not unexpected

nor unwelcome, emerging environmental group is thegreen Christian evangelical movement, which is partof a larger movement that crosses all religiousdenominations. A recent article in the New York Timesdescribed the work of the National Religious Partner-ship for the Environment that supports efforts totackle local environmental issues, such as preservingwetlands, stopping landfills, and reforming miningpractices. The article focused on efforts by Christianenvironmental activists in Appalachia to halt“mountaintop removal” coal mining practices that areseverely degrading forests, creeks, and the atmo-sphere of surrounding areas. The Times reporterquoted one former coal minor who is now verycritical of mountaintop removal mining practices assaying “The coal company says it’s God’s will. Well,God ain’t ever run no bulldozer.”

Another sign of the times is the book recentlypublished by Prof. E.O. Wilson of Harvard Universityentitled simply The Creation. The book is written asone long letter to the pastor of a church in which helays out his rationale for conserving biodiversity andthe environmental. Wilson’s sermon is essentially thesame line of reasoning that he has eloquently arguedfor years, but now it is specifically directed at theevangelical Christian community. As Wilson stated inhis book-signing address at the National Cathedral inWashington a few months ago, the two most influen-tial forces in society today are science and religion.His efforts now attempt to bring both of those forcesto bear on the critical necessity of environmentalconservation. I have recently heard that some NGOs,such as Conservation International, are also about toinitiate an evangelical community environmentalcampaign. If the 21st century is the “Century of theEnvironment” as it has been dubbed by many, then wemust apply our efforts to biodiversity conservationwhether they are in scientific disciplines or religiouspartnerships. Perhaps it is time to paraphraseDobzhanky’s statement even further to be “Nothing insociety today makes sense except in the light of theenvironment.”

P.S. As I step down from being chairman of theDepartment of Botany this contribution will be mylast “Chair with a View.” Thanks for everyone’ssupport, enthusiasm, trust, and tolerance during thesepast nine years.

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StaffStaffStaffStaffStaffResearch &Research &Research &Research &Research & Activities Activities Activities Activities Activities

As President Elect of American Societyof Plant Taxonomists (ASPT), VickiFunk gave the after dinner presidentialaddress at the “Botany 2006” meeting atthe University of California in Chico,California, on 29 July - August 2. The talk“Enology and Phylogeny, A BotanicalPerspective” featured a biodiversity andphylogenetic analysis of flowers on winebottle labels. Others who attended andgave presentations at the Botany 2006meeting were Norm Bourg, Pat Heren-deen, Carol Kelloff, Paul Peterson,Laurence Skog, Warren Wagner, andgraduate student Karen Redden. Bourg’stalk was titled “Pollination Biology ofXerophyllum asphodeloides in theAppalachian Mountains in the Context ofFire.” Peterson’s lecture was titled“Evolution of the Muhlenbergiinae(Poaceae: Chloridoideae: Cynodonteae)in México.” A collaborative paper wasdelivered by Lynn Gillespie titled “DeepStructure and Reticulate Evolution in aLarge Polyploid Genus: ITS and trnT-trnFData Help Crack the Bluegrass (Poa)Puzzle,” by L.J. Gillespie, R.J. Soreng,and A. Archambault.

After the meeting Paul Peterson wasjoined by Jeff Saarela (former Smith-sonian Research Training Intern and Ph.D.student at the University of BritishColumbia) and Chris Sears (Ph.D. studentat the University of British Columbia) fora 10 day collecting trip visiting thecoastal redwood forests, the SiskiyouMountains, Russian Wilderness, ScottMountains, Mount Shasta, and MountLassen. One hundred seventy-fournumbers (mostly grasses) were collected.In addition to looking for species ofBromus and Calamagrostis who Petersonand Saarela are studying the phylogeny,biogeography, and evolution usingmolecular markers, Sears was looking forspecies of Crepis (Asteraceae). It wasparticularly interesting collecting near theDarlingtonia-Narthecium bogs of ScottMountain Summit where the elusiveCalamagrostis koelerioides Vasey waslocated. Peterson also collected grasses

throughout Mexico during the month ofSeptember.

In May and June, Robert Irelandcollected approximately 200 specimensof bryophytes in the Atacama Desertregion of northern Chile and then pre-pared the specimens for the herbarium atthe Universidad de Concepción andduplicate specimens for the US NationalHerbarium. During August and September,Irelandwas at the Missouri BotanicalGarden in St. Louis identifying the Chilemosses and writing research papers.

W. John Kress, Ida Lopez and VinitaGowda attended the Association forTropical Biology and Conservation annualmeeting in Kunming, Yunnan, China held17-21 July. Kress and Gowda chaired asession of talks on Vertebrate Pollination- Specialists vs. Generalists. Gowdapresented a talk titled “Heliconia-Purple-throated Carib (Eulampis jugularis)Interaction in the Caribbean: An Exampleof Geographical Mosaics in a Co-evolving Plant-Pollinator System.” Lopezpresented a poster with research studydata titled “Genetic Drift in a Plant-Pollinator Coevolutionary System in theCaribbean.”

Mark and Diane Littler presented alecture “Assessment of Coral ReefsUsing Herbivory/Nutrient Assays andIndicator Groups of Benthic PrimaryProducers: A Critical Synthesis, ProposedProtocols and Critique of ManagementStrategies” at the Phycological Society ofAmerica 60th Annual Meeting with theNorthwest Algal Symposium. The meetingwas held at the University of AlaskaNortheast in Juneau, Alaska, on 6-12 July.

Stanwyn Shetler is teaching an eight-week course on Fall Woody PlantIdentification again for the GraduateSchool, USDA. The course, which runsfrom 13 September to 1 November,includes lectures, practical exercises, andfield trips.

Robert Soreng traveled through easternKyrgyzstan during the month of August, asa grass taxonomist on a U.S. Departmentof Agriculture sponsored expedition tosearch for drought and grazing tolerantturf grasses. He collected over 200herbarium specimens of different steppegrasses, nearly all of subfamily Pooideae,

in the Tien Shan. In Soviet days there wereas many as 40 million sheep in the TienShan, but as numbers are down to around3 million today the vegetation is recover-ing nicely in many places.

Alice Tangerini attended the nationalannual meeting of the Guild of NaturalScience Illustrators (GNSI) held this yearat the University of Wisconsin in Madi-son, Wisconsin. The meetings began witha portfolio sharing with members explor-ing the variety of techniques and methodsof illustration in the science field. Atleast half the portfolios involved someform of digital media often combiningtraditional drawing as well. There weremany PowerPoint lectures including onewhere Tangerini supplied several of herdrawings as examples of design. Tangerinirepresented the Washington DC chapterof the GNSI at the chapter’s businessmeetings. Tangerini’s drawing of Rhyn-chospora bolivarana was on display inthe GNSI annual exhibit at the HealthSciences Learning Center on the Madisoncampus.

Tangerini’s ink drawing, “Precatorybean, Abrus precatorius” from Tippo andStern’s Humanistic Botany, is included inthe fall exhibition, What We Collect:Recent Art Acquisitions, at the HuntInstitute for Botanical Documentation atCarnegie Mellon University in Pennsylva-nia. The exhibit is on display until 20December.

Alain Touwaide and Emanuela Appetitiattended the 21st International Congressof Byzantine Studies held in London, 21-26 August, where Touwaide organized asession on “Byzantine Medicine.” Duringtheir time in London, Touwaide also metwith Ashgate Publishing to discuss theseries “Medicine in the Medieval Medi-terranean,” which he is the series editor.Five volumes of the series are undercontract and three more proposals arecurrently under review by the Board.

Touwaide and Appetiti also attendedthe 41st Congress of the InternationalSociety for the History of Medicine, inBudapest, 26-30 August. Touwaideorganized and chaired a session on“Renaissance Medicine;” delivered apaper on “Sambucus’ Project of a NewGreek Edition of Dioscorides, Demateria medica;” and attended themeeting of the Administrative Council of

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Awards &Awards &Awards &Awards &Awards &GrantsGrantsGrantsGrantsGrants

the International Society for the Historyof Medicine, as well as the GeneralAssembly.

In mid-July, Jun Wen gave an invitedlecture at a symposium on the biodiver-sity and biogeography of eastern Asia,held in Kunming Institute of Botany, theChinese Academy of Sciences. Her talkwas on the biogeographic relationships ofeastern Asia and the New World. After,she conducted field work in sevenprovinces of China and collected 400plant specimens, including two newspecies of the ginseng plant family.

W. John Kress and his co-PrincipalInvestigator Ethan Temeles from AmherstCollege have been awarded a four-yeargrant from the National Science Founda-tion to continue their work on “Coevolu-tionary Convergence and DisplacementAcross a Geographic Mosaic: Humming-birds and Heliconias of the LesserAntilles.” Kress and Temeles togetherwith GWU graduate student VinitaGowda and undergraduates from AmherstCollege will pursue studies on theinteractions between the purple-throatedCarib Hummingbird and two species ofthe plant genus Heliconia on the islandsof Dominica, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, andTobago in the Eastern Caribbean. Follow-ing on their 2003 paper in Science theresearchers will explore the ecology andsystematics of adaptation in this co-evolved system between plants and theirpollinators.

W. John Kress has received the YunnanProvince International Cooperation Award(called the “Caiyun Award” in China) forhis work with the Xishuangbanna TropicalBotanical Garden (XTBG). This award isthe highest honor at the provincial levelfor foreign scientists who have contrib-uted to the development of Chinesescience and technology. Kress, who wasnominated by his colleague Li Qing-Jun,

Ethan Temeles is a Smithsonian SeniorFellow with W. John Kress and GaryGraves, currently on sabbatical fromAmherst College, where he is a professorof biology specializing in evolutionaryecology. His current research consists oftwo projects that examine polymorphismsand coevolution in hummingbirds andheliconias. In one project, he will quantifysexual dimorphism in size and billmorphology within the subfamilyPhaethorithinae, one of two subfamiliesof hummingbirds, using the museum’sornithological collection. The speciescomprising this subfamily are commonlynicknamed “the hermits,” owing to theirdrab plumage, and have been believed toexhibit little sexual dimorphism.Temeles’s pilot research indicates thatsexual differences in bill curvature arepresent in approximately 50 percent ofthe hermits, and that it is closely associ-ated with heliconias as food plants. Hisresearch will test hypotheses for ecologi-cal causation of sexual dimorphism inhermit hummingbirds, and especially forassociations with heliconias, using themuseum’s botanical collection. In thesecond project, he will use the museum’scollections as well as field data to test forthe evolution of non-random size differ-ences within assemblages of hermithummingbirds and the Lesser Antilleanhummingbird fauna (non-hermits),matched with corresponding tests in theirHeliconia food plants.

Omar A. Monsegur Rivera from theUniversity of Puerto Rico, MayagüezCampus, is a Smithsonian GraduateStudent Fellow with Pedro Acevedo. Hisresearch goal at the Smithsonian is tocomplete a floristic inventory and to get ahistorical perspective of changes in thefloristic composition of the GuánicaForest Reserve (GFR) in southern PuertoRico. During Rivera’s visit, he has been

able to study over 550 plant specimenscollected within the general area of theGFR. These represent 275 species, someof which constitute new records for theGFR. The majority of the specimens arehistorical collections from the earlybotanist that worked in Puerto Ricoduring late 19th and early 20th centuries.This includes primarily the collections ofPaul Sintenis and Nathaniel L. Britton,who substantially contributed to theknowledge of the Puerto Rican flora. Thedata associated with these collections areessential to study changes in the compo-sition of the flora. Moreover he has beenable to identify all of his unidentifiedsamples by comparing them with theherbarium specimens. Duplicates fromhis collections will be deposited at theUS National Herbarium as a reference forfuture studies on the flora of the Carib-bean.

an ecologist at the Garden, has worked inChina for the last ten years collaboratingon research projects and publications,training students, and providing guidanceto XTBG on developing long-termprograms in research. He is an honoraryprofessor at XTBG and the ChineseAcademy of Sciences.

New Faces

Cassava Targetedfor GenomeSequencing

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) hasrecently been selected by the U.S.Department of Energy Joint GenomeInstitute’s (DOE JGI) Community Se-quencing Program to have its 770 millionbase pair genome fully sequenced. Thestarchy roots of cassava daily feed over600 million people in tropical areas. Thecassava project is lead by Claude M.Fauquet of the Danforth Plant ScienceCenter in St. Louis and includes Smith-sonian participation from KennethWurdack. Wurdack is an expert on thesystematics and evolution of the familyEuphorbiaceae to which cassava belongs,along with other familiar members,poinsettias, castor bean, and naturalrubber plants. Museum director CristiánSamper and colleagues had recentlyadvocated (Science 311: 468, 27 Jan2006) the importance of cassava as thenext major plant genome to be sequenced.The genome will allow modern tools tobe applied to crop improvement andprovide a bridge to related economicplants.

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Zohara Yaniv, Agricultural ResearchCenter of Israel, Tel Aviv; HistoriaPlantarum Library (7/13).

Catherine Bornfleth, Diane Wright andLaVerne Zehrung, Earthwatch Institute;Medicinal Plants of Antiquity (7/24-7/28).

Eduardo Garcia M., Independent re-searcher, Spain; Volunteer interview (7/27).

Elizabeth Williamson, The WashingtonPost; Plummers Island flora and springflowering database (7/28).

United States National Arboretum (10visitors); Intern tour of Botany Green-house (8/9).

Douglas Ladd, Nature Conservancy;Ozarks lichens (8/14-8/18).

Maria Fokina, Iowa; Research TrainingProgram (8/16).

Smithsonian Associates (50 visitors);Botany Greenhouse tour (8/17).

Lori Bristol, National Park Service;Botany Greenhouse tour (8/19).

Emmet Judziewicz, University ofWisconsin-Stevens Point; Poaceae (8/21-8/22).

Ted Hoff, Katherine Keane, RichellMintzlaff, Jeane Renick and BarbaraRutzer, Earthwatch Institute; UsefulPlants of the Pacific Islands (9/11-9/15).

Robert Bye, UNAM, Instituto de Biolo-gia, Mexico City; Northern Mexico floraand Edward Palmer collections (9/11-9/30).

Shirley Ballard, Kathleen Desterhaft,Florence Jacksen, Don McVay, SandiMcVay, and Jill Pulgar, EarthwatchInstitute; Useful Plants of the PacificIslands (9/18-9/22).

Le Kang, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing; Biodiversity management (9/21).

Zhiduan Chen, Institute of Botany,Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing;Parthenocissus (Vitaceae) (9/22-12/20).

VisitorsContinued from page 2

This summer the Department teamedup with the Earthwatch Institute to pursuean extensive effort to database and imageethnobotanical specimens from thePacific Islands. Under the direction ofRusty Russell and W. John Kress, theproject, titled “Plants and People throughthe Ages,” aims to inventory specimenswith label-explicit ethnobotanical datasuch as common name or use informa-tion, ultimately providing a searchabledatabase of the ethnobotanical specimensof the US National Herbarium.

The project attracted a total of 27volunteers from across the country andone from the UK. Over the course of 5weeks, the volunteers successfullyextracted and databased more than 3,200specimens while enjoying the privilege ofworking behind-the-scenes in the USNational Herbarium. Elaine Haug wasinstrumental in providing data-entryorientation and program support through-out the project.

Mirroring the success of AlainTouwaide’s collaboration withEarthwatch on “Medicinal Plants of

A Blossoming Relationship:The Department of Botany HostsEarthwatch Institute VolunteersBy Bianca Lipscomb and Rusty Russell

Earthwatch volunteers Don and Sandi McVay plugging away at the database.(Photo by Earthwatch volunteer Jill Pulgar)

Antiquity” in Rome, “Plants and Peoplethrough the Ages” began as a response tothe ever increasing need to support theimmense task of databasing one of theworld’s largest herbaria. The EarthwatchInstitute provided the funding and volun-teer labor to support databasing needs,acquire project equipment, and create astudent intern position, this summer heldby Bianca Lipscomb. More importantly,the relationship between the Departmentof Botany and the Earthwatch Institute hasdefined a model for the future of volun-teer based inventory projects in the USNational Herbarium. The 2007 Earth-watch program will comprise 8 weeksbeginning in the spring. Volunteers willcontinue their focus on Pacific Islandethnobotany.

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Plant diversity is the highest in thetropics of the world where it is beingthreatened by continued deforestation.One of the first steps in plant conserva-tion is to know what grows where; and thisis the goal of the Flora of the GuianasConsortium which is a multinationaleffort to document the plant diversity ofthe three northeastern South Americancountries: Guyana, Surinam, and FrenchGuiana. The Consortium met from 24 to26 August at the Botanical Garden andMuseum of the Freie Universität ofBerlin, Germany. Pedro Acevedorepresented the Department at themeeting.

The Flora of the Guianas books aboutdifferent plant families are authored bybotanical specialists throughout the worldwho are recruited and directed by aninternational advisory board consisting ofrepresentatives from Botanischer Gartenund Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem;Institut de Recherche pour le Développe-ment, Centre de Cayenne; University ofGuyana; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew;New York Botanical Garden; NationaalHerbarium, University of Suriname;Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle,Paris; Nationaal Herbarium Nederland,Utrecht, and the US National Herbarium.The collections in these plant museumsprovide the information needed todescribe the plants of the Guianas in sucha way that plant species can be distin-guished from other plant species. Thefirst step in obtaining knowledge aboutplants is learning the name of the plantand that is perhaps the principal goal ofthe project. The editorial office of theConsortium is at the University ofUtrecht and the books are published bythe Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew.

The August meeting marked thetwentieth year of the project. During thisperiod, 32 books describing families ofplants have been published totaling 4,676printed pages. Although a great detail hasbeen accomplished during this periodthere is still much to do as only 21 per-cent of the flowering plant species grow-ing in this region have been described inthe books.

All members of the Consortiumenthusiastically endorsed studies of the

Flora of the Guianas Consortium Meetsin Berlin

plants of the Guianas and efforts will bemade over the next several years to renewthe Memoranda of Understanding amongthe nine institutions heading the project.Especially important was the continueddesire of the three Guianan countries tocontinue to promote the studies of plantsof their countries. The following state-ment from the representatives of Guyana(Phillip da Silva), Surinam (CarolineRahan-Chin), and French Guiana (SophieGonzalez), respectively, was issued:

“The Guianas appreciate previousefforts made by the collaboratinginstitutions to document our Flora bythe world’s botanists and wish tocontinue and expand this collaborationwith the Flora of the Guianas consor-tium. We appreciate the expressedintention of the collaborating insti-tutes to, through this program,promote capacity building in ourHerbaria where thousands of valuablecollections representing our Flora arehoused.”

Botany AwardedAndrew W. MellonFoundation Grantfor Digitizing TypeSpecimens

The Department has been awarded agrant of $234,000 from the Andrew W.Mellon Foundation to continue work ondigitizing the type collections in the USNational Herbarium. Principle Investiga-tors W. John Kress and Rusty Russellwill oversee the two-year project that willfocus primarily on type specimens fromLatin America. The work in the Depart-

ment is part of a large project supportedby the Mellon Foundation to develop acoordinated digital database of imagesand information on Latin American plants.A number of international botanicalinstitutions are participating.

Currently the Herbarium holds approx-imately 41,000 types from Mexico,Central and South America. This numberaccounts for nearly half of the total95,000 type specimens. A major part ofthe project will be to comb through thegeneral collections for “hidden” typesthat are not yet recorded in the BotanyType Specimen Register. These hiddentypes include historical specimens as wellas duplicates that may have been previ-ously overlooked by scientists working inthe collections. It is estimated that asmany as 12,000 additional Latin Americantypes may be located as a result of thiseffort. Five temporary staff will be hiredto help on the project with funds from theMellon Foundation grant. In addition newspecimen scanning equipment andassociated computer hardware will beacquired to facilitate creation of the high-resolution digital images of the speci-mens.

This project will build on the 79,500images of type specimens alreadyavailable on-line through the Depart-ment’s Botany Type Specimen Registerweb site <http://ravenel.si.edu/botany/types/>. The digital plant type library atthe Smithsonian Institution is the mostthoroughly documented collection in theworld and is accessed over the web byhundreds of scientists each year.

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The International Compositae Alliance Meets in BarcelonaBy Vicki Funk

The International Compositae Alliance(TICA) held its third global meeting inBarcelona, Spain, on 7-9 July. Over 120attendants and 226 authors from 36countries (Argentina, Australia, Austria,Bolivia, Brasil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba,Czech Republic, France, Germany,Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Lebanon,Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, NewZealand, Nigeria, Poland, Russia,Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden,Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia,Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA andYemen) presented 135 contributions(invited talks, oral presentations andposters) reflecting the latest advances inall fields of systematics and evolution.Together these presentations provided amodern synthesis for the Compositae.

The impetus for the meeting was the30th anniversary of the Heywood, Har-borne & Turner meeting (1975) andvolume (1977) and like the originalmeeting a publication is planned. Sevenattendees were present that had partici-pated in the 1975 meeting (V. Heywood,C. Jeffrey, W. Lack, B. Nordenstam, H.Robinson, J. Skvarla, T. Stuessy).

The invited talks for the meeting weredivided into two types, the first ten paperswere general talks covering many aspectsof the Compositae; among other impor-tant presentations such as, the history ofthe Compositae systematics (V. Hey-wood), the updated supertree (V. Funk, etal.); floral evolution (C. Jeffrey), gene

flow and hybridization (J. Whitton & L.Rieseberg), micro-characters (H. Robin-son); pollen types (S. Blackmore, et al.),economic importance (B. Simpson);colonization of oceanic islands (D.Crawford & T. Lowrey).

The second type of invited presenta-tions were the twenty systematic talksthat offered state-of-the-art revisions ofthe systematics of the tribes. The list of63 contributors to the systematic talkscovers just about everyone working on thephylogeny of the family (including adiscussion on the closest relatives of thefamily). Presenters were as follows: A.Anderberg, B. Baldwin, R. Bayer, L.Brouillet, D. Crawford, M. Dillon, S.Freire, N. Garcia-Jacas, B. Gemeinholzer,L. Katinas, P.O. Karis, S. Keeley, D. Keil,W. Lack, J. Lundgren, B. Nordenstam, C.Oberprieler, S. Ortiz, P. Pelser, H. Robin-son, T. Stuessy, A. Susanna, and M. Unwin.It was clear that major advances had beenmade in understanding many of the majorclades but especially notable were thenew phylogenies for the tribes Astereaeand Senecioneae, which had been prob-lems in the past. In addition, manycharacters that had confusing patterns inthe 1977 volume, such as pollen andfloral morphology, were shown to fit wellwith the new phylogenies.

Afternoons were devoted to the 36oral presentations (87 authors) whichcovered a broad scope within Composi-tae: from the hybridization process inSenecio reviewed by J. Kadereit or the

search of low-copy genes for phyloge-netic studies by I. Álvarez, to the ethnobo-tanic studies in Compositae by J. Vallès, areview of the importance of phytomelaninby A. Pandey and T. Stuessy, and discus-sions of problematic taxa such as Heli-chrysum by M. Koekemoer.

A diverse array of 67 posters (157authors) was contributed, covering abroad range of interests within the Com-positae. A good indicator of the relevanceof poster presentations was the geo-graphic origin of the posters: Argentina,Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Den-mark, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan,Greece, New Zealand, Russia, SlovakRepublic, South Africa, Thailand, Tunisia,the USA, and, as could be expected, anexcellent representation of Spanishcontributors, demonstrating the goodhealth of Compositae studies in theorganizing country.

Part of the final day of the meetingwas devoted to a workshop on the GlobalSpecies Checklist for the Compositaeproject headed by I. Breitwieser, J.Cooper, C. Flann, and C. Miller and alarge group of partner institutions.

The final part of the program wasdevoted to the business meeting for TICA.The main goal of this short meeting of theAlliance was to discuss the future of thegroup. The success of the Barcelonameeting in figures of attending people andrelevance of contributions speaks to thegood health of our association. As for themeetings, a consensus was reached thatthe next TICA meeting will be in fouryears (2010) hosted by the BotanicalInstitute and Botanic Gardens of Mont-réal, Canada, the representative of which,Luc Brouillet, gladly volunteered.

A field trip was organized so thatparticipants could see the boundariesbetween the Mediterranean and the Euro-siberian vegetation in the Pyrenees: fromthe foothills of the dry Prepyrenees to thealpine meadows of Central Pyrenees. Theexcursion was thoughtfully organized byNeus Nualart, Samuel Pyke, Ángel Romoand Ignasi Soriano, who made an excellentdescriptive booklet of the places thatwere visited and the most remarkableplants to see. Forty-two people took partin the excursion. Additional informationand photos can be found on the website<http://www.compositae.org>.Participants of the 2006 TICA meeting in Barcelona, Spain.

Page 9

The recent delivery of the front officekeys from W. John Kress (having servedas Chair for 9 years) to Warren Wagner(who is beginning a second term as Chair)led to a question: has any chairman servedlonger than Kress? A difficulty is that theterm “Chairman” is relatively new – a sin-gle Curator was essentially the “Chair-man” for many years.

The history of botany at the Smith-sonian Institution dates from the foundingof the Institution in 1846, involving plantcollections from early U.S. expeditions.These were turned over to Asa Gray(1810-1888) and John Torrey (1779-1873). In 1868 the specimens werereturned and arrangements were made tohouse them at the Department of Agricul-ture. Joseph Nelson Rose (1862-1928)was made Assistant Curator (1896-1905)and became Associate Curator (1905-1912), the first full-time professionalbotanist.

In 1893, Spencer Baird (secondSecretary of the Smithsonian) establishedthe U.S. National Museum and the U.S.National Herbarium. Frederick VernonCoville (1867-1937), Chief Botanist ofthe Department of Agriculture, was ap-pointed Honorary Curator of the NationalHerbarium, a post Coville retained untilhis death (served 44 years).

In 1894, Charles Louis Pollard(1877-1945) was appointed AssistantCurator, a post he held until 1903 (served8 years).

In 1899, William Ralph Maxon(1877-1948) was appointed Aid in theDivision of Plants and became its firstCurator following Coville’s death in 1937retiring in 1946 (served 9 years).

In 1946, Maxon retired and EllsworthPaine Killip (1890-1968) was madeCurator. Shortly after, the former Divi-sion of Plants of the Department of Biol-ogy became the Department of Botanywith the four divisions: Phanerogams,Grasses, Ferns, and Cryptogams.

Following the retirement of Killip in1950 (served 4 years), Jason RichardSwallen (1903-1991) was made Curatorand retired in 1964 (served 14 years).

William Louis Stern (1926-x) wasChair during the move from the Castle(1965) and left in 1968 (served 3 years).

Mason Ellsworth Hale, Jr. (1928-

A History of ChairsBy Dan H. Nicolson

1990) became Chair 1 July 1968, andstepped down in 1970 (served 3 years).

Edward Solomon Ayensu (1935-x)became Chair 2 April 1970, and steppeddown in 1976 (served 6 years).

Dieter Carl Wasshausen (1938-x)became Chair 18 July 1976, and steppeddown in 1982 (served 5+ years).

Mark Masterson Littler (1939-x)became Chair in 1982, and stepped down31 August 1987 (served 5 years).

Lawrence Edgar Skog (1943-x)became Chair 1 September 1987, and

stepped down August 1992 (served 5years).

Warren Lambert Wagner (1950-x)became Chair 1 September 1992, andstepped down December 1997 (served 5years).

(Walter) John Kress (1951-x)became Chair January 1998, and steppeddown September 2006 (served nearly 9years).

Warren Lambert Wagner (1950-x)started a second term 1 October 2006,indicating he will serve three more years.

The Botany Chairs: (top row left to right) J.N. Rose (photo from the New YorkBotanical Garden), F.V. Coville, C.L. Pollard, W.R. Maxon; (second row) E.P.Killip; J.R. Swallen; W.L. Stern; M.E. Hale, Jr.; (third row) E.S. Ayensu (photofrom Botany Department Archives); D.C. Wasshausen (photo from BotanyDepartment Archives); M.M. Littler (photo from Botany Department Archives);L.E. Skog; (bottom row) W.L. Wagner; W.J. Kress; and W.L. Wagner, again (Allphotos from the Washington Biologists’ Field Club Archives, except wherenoted).

Page 10

ProfileContinued from page 1

Taxon PublishesPresentationsfrom BotanicalSymposium

For centuries botanists have createdfloras for the purposes of inventory,identification, and classification of plants.But what will the floras of the future looklike? New technologies are now beingdeveloped to facilitate the coupling offield work with rapid and direct access todata that exist in biodiversity institutions.To address this issue “The Future ofFloras: New Frameworks, New Technolo-gies, New Uses” was the topic of discus-sion at the Smithsonian Botanical Sym-posium hosted by the Department and theUnited States Botanic Garden in April2005. Written versions of four of the sixinvited oral presentations, plus anintroduction by W. John Kress and GaryKrupnick, who edited the contributions,appear in the August 2006 issue of Taxon.Each paper represents a different per-spective on the forms and uses of florasand identification systems that will beavailable in the near future. Smithsonianbotanists Norm Bourg, Vicki Funk andRusty Russell also contributed to thepapers as authors.

allow us to tell stories that describe theintersection of nature and human culturealong the border.

Stories include the sustainableharvesting of a threatened species ofDasylirion (Nolinaceae) that is used bythe Tarahumara in making baskets; howtunas (Opuntia spp.) are harvested in thesame manner as a century ago, using thesame plant materials; the use of mesquitespines (Prosopis sp.) for ceremonialtattooing; the development of numerousplant species for fiber products; howlogging has affected the distribution ofApache pine (Pinus engelmannii) in theSierra Madre which, in turn, modified themigration pattern of the thick-billedparrot; and defining a connection betweenthe historic boundaries of cultural groupsand the natural distributions of the plantspecies they used.

Establishing the value of historical

plant specimens to science is more easilyaccomplished than demonstrating theirrelevance in a modern social context. Inorder for biological systematics collec-tions to continue to receive the necessarysupport they require, it is important toclearly illustrate why the general publicshould care. The Mexican Ethnobotanyproject is one of many efforts underwayin the U.S. National Herbarium to helpbridge the gap between our work and thepublic appreciation for our work. How-ever, it is far more than a public relationsexercise. At the same time, we aresignificantly enhancing the physical andinformational content of our collections.Physical conservation, more specimendata, high quality images, and exceptionaloutreach vehicles all serve to make ourcollections a more useful and moreaccessible resource.

Projects of this size are never asingular effort. To help tell these stories,and assist in project management, JamieWhitacre was hired to work with RustyRussell, Bill Merrill in Anthropology, andRobert Bye, an ethnobotanist at theUniversidad Autonoma de Mexico. Hercoordination of activities ranging fromresearch in the archives and collectionsof both SI and Harvard, production of a

poster presented at the National ScienceCollections Alliance meeting in Albu-querque, developing content for thewebsite, and oversight of volunteers hasbeen outstanding.

Rob Leopold (National Anthropologi-cal Archives) and Deb Hull-Walski (An-thropology Conservation Lab) and theirstaffs have been extraordinarily helpful.

Edward Palmer’s 1875 collection of creosote (below) is covered with the lacused by the Tarahumaras to seal pots like this Mohave seed-carrying pot (above;Accession #10319), also collected by Palmer. Both specimens will share adisplay in the National Museum of Natural History’s North Lobby, marking thefirst time in more than 120 years that these related collections have beenbrought together.

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PublicationsPublicationsPublicationsPublicationsPublications

Agarwal, G., H. Ling, D. Jacobs, S.Shirdhonkar, W.J. Kress, R. Russell,N.A. Bourg, P. Belhumeur, N. Dixit, S.Feiner, D. Mahajan, K. Sunkavalli, R.Ramamoorthi and S. White. 2006. Firststeps toward an electronic field guide forplants. Taxon 55: 597-610.

Almeda, F. and L.J. Dorr. 2006. Miconiaamilcariana (Melastomataceae: Mico-nieae), a new species from the VenezuelanAndes with notes on the distribution andorigin of dioecy in the Melastomataceae.Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 4 57(19):549-555.

Chen, S.L. and P.M. Peterson. 2006.Eragrostis. Pp. 471-479. In: Z.Y. Wu,P.H. Raven and D.Y. Hong, eds. Flora ofChina: Poaceae, Volume 22. SciencePress and Missouri Botanical GardenPress, Beijing and St. Louis.

Chen, S.L., Z.L. Wu, S.L. Lu, B.X. Sun,S.M. Phillips and P.M. Peterson. 2006.Tribe Eragrostideae. Pp. 457-487. In: Z.Y.Wu, P.H. Raven and D.Y. Hong, eds. Floraof China: Poaceae, Volume 22. SciencePress and Missouri Botanical GardenPress, Beijing and St. Louis.

Cowan, R.S., M.W. Chase, W.J. Kress andV. Savolainen. 2006. 300,000 species toidentify: problems, progress, and pros-pects in DNA barcoding of land plants.Taxon 55: 611-616.

De Santo N.G., C. Bisaccia, R.M. DeSanto, M.Cirillo and A. Touwaide. 2006.Pre-Vesalian anatomy: the kidney ofBerengario da Carpi. Dialysis Trans-plant. 34(6): 388-394.

Dorr, L.J. 2006. Review: WilliamStimpson’s Journal from the NorthPacific Exploring Expedition, 1853-1856. R.S. Vasile, R.B. Manning & R.Lemaitre, eds. Taxon 55(2): 550-551.

Funk, V.A. 2006. Floras: a model forbiodiversity studies or a thing of the past?Taxon 55: 581-588.

Ireland, R.R., H. Robinson and G.Bellolio. 2006. On the distribution andmorphology of Hebantia rigida (Bryop-sida, Polytrichaceae). J. Hattori Bot. Lab.100: 201-209.

Kress, W.J. and G.A. Krupnick. 2006.The future of floras: new frameworks,new technologies, new uses. Taxon 55:579-580.

Kvist, L.P., L.E. Skog, M. Amaya-Márquez and I. Salinas. 2005. Las Ges-neriáceas de Perú. Arnaldoa 12(1-2): 16-40.

Littler, M.M., D.S. Littler, B.L. Brooksand B.E. Lapointe. 2006. Nutrient manip-ulation methods for coral reef studies: acritical review and experimental fielddata. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 336: 242-253.

Littler, M.M., D.S. Littler, B.E.Lapointe and P.J. Barile. 2006. Toxiccyanobacteria (blue-green algae) associ-ated with groundwater conduits in theBahamas. Coral Reefs 25: 186.

Liu, L., G.H. Zhu, R.J. Soreng and M.V.Olonova. 2006.Poa. Pp. 257-309. In: Z.Y.Wu, P.H. Raven and D.Y. Hong, eds. Floraof China: Poaceae, Volume 22. SciencePress and Missouri Botanical GardenPress, Beijing and St. Louis.

Prince, L.M. and W.J. Kress. 2006. Phy-logenetic relationships in the Prayer PlantFamily (Marantaceae): Insight from plas-tid DNA sequence data. Taxon 55: 281-296.

Robinson, H. 2006. Compositae-Heliantheae, Part I: Introduction, generaA-L. In: Harling, G. and L. Andersson.Flora of Ecuador 77(1): 1-232.

Robinson, H. 2006. Compositae-Heliantheae, Part II: Introduction, generaM-Z. In: Harling, G. and L. Andersson.Flora of Ecuador 77(2): 1-235.

Robinson, H. 2006. Mikania urcuensis,a new species from Ecuador (Eupa-torieae: Asteraceae). Phytologia 88(1):107-110.

Robinson, H. 2006. Two new species ofGrosvenoria from Ecuador and Peru(Eupatorieae: Asteraceae). Phytologia88(1): 100-106.

Sakai, A.K., S.G. Weller, W.L. Wagner, M.Nepokroeff, T.M. Culley and D.R.Campbell. 2006. Adaptive radiation andevolution of breeding system in Schiedea(Caryophyllaceae), an endemic Hawaiiangenus. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 93: 50-65.

Skog, L.E. and J.K. Boggan. 2006. A newclassification of the Western HemisphereGesneriaceae. Gesneriads 56(3): 12-17.

Stauffer, F.W., R. Duno de Stefano, L.J.Dorr, F. Jacquemoud and N. Fumeaux.2006. Contribución del Dr. José MaríaVargas a las ciencias botánicas en Venezu-ela. Acta Botánica Venezuelica 29(1):135-164.

Terrell, E. and H. Robinson. 2006.Taxonomy of North American species ofOldenlandia (Rubiaceae). Sida 22(1):305-329.

The staffs of the Harvard Botany Libraryand the Gray Herbarium have assistedsignificantly. Patty Gomez has single-handedly databased every specimen.Ingrid Lin provided the high resolutionimages. Anu Krishnan has researched eth-nographic issues and Aleithea Williamshas provided online research. Rocio Ruf-rancos, Lynn Russo, Christine Allocca,and an army of high school and collegestudents over two summers have locatedand organized all the plant specimens.

Page 12

In 1887, plant collectorEdward Palmer (see cover

article) collectedBlepharoneuron shepherdii,

in Hacienda San Miguel,near Batópilas, Chihuahua,

Mexico. The Lectotype,housed in the US National

Herbarium, is one of theoriginal specimens used to

describe Sporobolusshepherdii Vasey, which was

then transferred toMuhlenbergia by Jason R.

Swallen. Paul Peterson andCarol Annable placed it inBlepharoneuron (Poaceae:

Eragrostideae) in a revisionof the latter genus pub-

lished in 1990 (SystematicBotany; 15: 515-525). This

grass species is endemic tothe Sierra Madre Occidental

and found in wet seepagebanks, washes, and slopes of

pine-oak-madrone forestsbetween 1,440 and 2,600 m

in Chihuahua, Durango, andSonora.

Blepharoneuron shepherdii (Vasey) Peterson & Annable

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