Category: Phytokeys

The grass genus Diplachne only includes two species, but it the does not fall short when it comes to remarkable features. It was precisely this affinity to the unusual displayed by the nearly worldwide genus that inspired Dr Neil Snow and his co-authors to delve deeper in a dedicated monograph published in the open access journal PhytoKeys.

Occuring widely on all continents except Antarctica, Diplachne fusca, one of the two known species, is by far not just another grass species, with two of its four subspecies displaying high salt tolerance.

Even more intriguing is the discovery of a German research team from the 1980s, which discovered that some populations from southern Asia harbor a nitrogen-fixing bacterial species, which when described was new to science.

“The combination of nitrogen-fixing bacteria and high levels of salinity tolerance is unknown in others grasses, at least that I am aware of”, explains Snow.

“The high tolerance for growing in saline soils suggests the plants may have untapped potential for the reclamation of salinized agricultural soils, which is more and more problematic for some producers.”

In significant contrast, the second species Diplachne gigantea is restricted to small pockets in Africa. Having been collected only a few times and not since the early 1980s, the enigmatic plant is an emergent species, meaning its roots are in the water but upper portions typically extend well above the surface.

“I spent two long and hot days in a boat in the Okavango Delta in Botswana in 1996 looking for this elusive plant, but regrettably without success”, comments Snow on his attempt to encounter Diplachne gigantea in its natural surroundings. “Given the widespread potential habitat in the Okavango, it seems odd the species is collected so infrequently, but it may well be that it is quite rare”.

Snow’s colleagues at the Smithsonian Insitution, Drs. Paul Peterson and Konstantin Romaschenko , included a molecular phylogenetic analysis of 21 individuals of Diplachne, which indicated that while the genus is monophyletic, some accessions of the four subspecies of D. fusca are in fact polyphyletic.

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Original Source:

Snow N, Peterson PM, Romaschenko K, Simon BK (2018) Monograph of Diplachne (Poaceae, Chloridoideae, Cynodonteae). PhytoKeys 93: 1-102. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.93.21079

While untangling the complex taxonomy of Neotropical liana genus Pachyptera, scientists Ms. Jéssica Nayara Carvalho Francisco and Dr. Lúcia Garcez Lohmann from the University of São Paulo used integrative taxonomy to help them recognize five well-defined species, one of which newly described from Colombia and Venezuela. The monograph study was published in the open access journal PhytoKeys.

How do you separate one species from another? Having remained a major challenge in biology as a whole, species delimitation becomes a rather daunting task when it comes to tropical plant groups, where insights on biology, morphology and distribution are often scarce.

For Francisco and Lohmann it took three field expeditions to different states of the Brazilian Amazon, combined with deep morphological and molecular studies, to set straight uncertainties in the complex taxonomic history of Pachyptera lianas.

“We used an integrative approach, which means we combined data from different sources to further understand the taxonomy, evolutionary history and biogeography of Amazonian lianas,” explains Ms. Jéssica Francisco. “We also used different analytical approaches to clearly delimit species and further understand their origin, evolution and diversification history,” she says.

For the authors, the results from this multi-approach effort amounted to recognizing five well-delimited species in the genus, while also describing a previously undiscovered species.

“Pachyptera linearis was discovered thanks to existing materials from herbarium collections, emphasizing the value of collections for the identification of new species. The molecular dataset was also essential to confirm this discovery”, says Ms. Jéssica Francisco.

“Lianas are important members of tropical forests, constituting ca. 25% of their species diversity and contributing up to 40% of leaf productivity. Accurate species recognition and enhanced scientific understanding of species diversity is critical for accurately establishing conservation priorities,” says Dr. Lúcia Lohmann.

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Original source:

Francisco, JNC., Lohmann LG (2018) Taxonomic revision of Pachyptera (Bignonieae, Bignoniaceae). PhytoKeys 92: 89-131. doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.92.20987

Known for their biodiversity richness, the Caribbean Islands are now adding two new species of bird-catcher trees to their list of botanical treasures. Commonly referred to as bird-catcher trees, the species whose ripe fruits are sticky and can be glued to birds, are from the four-o’clock family (Nyctaginaceae) and only found in Puerto Rico.

Baptised Pisonia horneae and Pisonia roqueae by authors Marcos A. Caraballo-Ortiz, doctoral candidate at The Pennsylvania State University, US and Jorge C. Trejo-Torres, researcher at The Institute for Regional Conservation in Florida, US, the two unusual trees were named to honor the unrecognised work of two extraordinary self-driven women who devoted decades on educational projects in botany. The research was published in the open access journal Phytokeys.

“Finding large organisms new to science from a relatively small and well-studied island seems implausible, but this recent naming of the two large trees from Puerto Rico proves that explorations in nature and museums can still produce exciting novelties.” explains Trejo-Torres.

The two new trees belong to an extraordinary genus (Pisonia), containing rare plants mainly known for the ability to tangle birds with their sticky fruits, which inspired the common name “bird-catcher” used in the Pacific region. Characteristic for the two new trees are also swollen trunks that wrap over the rocks resembling an elephant foot with toes.

“Birds are the main dispersal agents for Pisonia trees, carrying the sticky fruits glued to their feathers to distant islands. However, sometimes these fruits can trap too tightly and even kills birds, as seen in documentaries.” remarks lead author, Caraballo-Ortiz. “So far, we do not know of cases where birds have been trapped by the sticky fruits of the new species, but future studies will explore this possibility”

One of the trees, Pisonia horneae, is dedicated to Frances W. Horne (1873-1967), an American illustrator who spent 45 years painting 750 watercolors of plants from Puerto Rico, of which only a small fraction were published. The other tree, Pisonia roqueae, was named after Dr. Ana Roqué de Duprey (1853-1933), a Puerto Rican educator, writer, and suffragist. As an amateur ethnobotanist, she spent over three decades to prepare a manuscript aimed to make botany accessible to the general public, which was never published.

“It only seemed natural to name the two new species after these two extraordinary women who spent decades on large educational projects aimed to divulge botanical knowledge in Puerto Rico.” explains Trejo-Torres. “Just like the two large trees remained unrecognised by science until now, the enormous efforts of these two women, who dedicated part of their lives to botanical work, remained largely unrecognised by the community.”

“The scientific relevance of naming these trees is that they thrive in the Puerto Rican forests, including the Luquillo Mountains, which are among the most well studied areas in the world. World-scattered ecologists and conservationists actively working on Puerto Rican forests and plants now have a nice and surprising update to make in their databases.” concluded Caraballo-Ortiz.

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Original source:

Caraballo-Ortiz MA, Trejo-Torres JC (2017) Two new endemic tree species from Puerto Rico: Pisonia horneae and Pisonia roqueae (Nyctaginaceae). PhytoKeys 86: 97-115. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.86.11249

Additional Information:

Funding organisations include the United States Department of Agriculture-Forest Service-International Institute of Tropical Forestry, The Institute for Regional Conservation, and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Environmental degradation, unsustainable resource use, and biodiversity loss are just a few points in the long list of pertinent issues that call for collaborative solutions from science and society together.

Unanimously supported by participants at the XIX International Botanical Congress, held in July 2017, Shenzhen, China, the Shenzhen Declaration for Plant Sciences, runs under the slogan of “Uniting plant sciences and society to build a green, sustainable Earth” and comes in response to the rapid changes experienced by both our Planet and society.

On 29 July 2017 in the closing session of the Congress, nearly 7,000 plant scientists from 77 countries endorsed a statement to focus their research and educational efforts on finding solutions to the growing problems of of our changing world.

Central to the declaration comes a commitment from its signatories and supporters alike to take immediate in both their lifestyles and their research programs to find solutions before an environmental threshold is crossed that will inevitably lead to irreversible degradation of our societies, natural habitats, and biodiversity.

Although it was largely agreed that the immense changes are the result of unbridled human activities, it was also made clear that it is still in society’s power to find solutions to reverse or slow down some of these processes.

Many scientists believe that humanity and the planet may have already crossed that threshold,” explain PhytoKeys Editor-in-Chief, John Kress, Smithsonian Institution, USA and his Deputy Editor-in-Chief Sandy Knapp, Natural History Museum London, UK, in their dedicated Editorial for the journal. “However, the authors of the Declaration and the botanists who have endorsed it believe that time still exists for answers to be found and implemented. However, that time is short.”

The Declaration calls for collaborative approaches by the rapidly evolving field of Plant Science and other disciplines and society, including implementation of new technologies, valuing local and traditional knowledge and greater engagement with the public.

Paving a solid and inspiring roadmap for development for the botanical community, the Declaration outlines seven priorities:

• To become responsible scientists and research communities who pursue plant sciences in the context of a changing world.
• To enhance support for the plant sciences to achieve global sustainability.
• To cooperate and integrate across nations and regions and to work together across disciplines and cultures to address common goals.
• To build and use new technologies and big data platforms to increase exploration and understanding of nature.
• To accelerate the inventory of life on Earth for the wise use of nature and the benefit of humankind.
• To value, document, and protect indigenous, traditional, and local knowledge about plants and nature.
• To engage the power of the public with the power of plants through greater participation and outreach, innovative education, and citizen science.

Find the full text of the Shenzhen Declaration, co-published in the open access journal PhytoKeys and the Journal of Systematics and Evolution.

“We believe that, by working together, we can achieve these goals and connect the increasingly innovative plant sciences with the needs and strengths of human societies.” comment the authors of the Declaration. “We strongly believe that only through such collaboration we can work towards creating new paths to a green, sustainable future for Earth, where plants and people in harmony is at the centre.”

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Original Sources:

Shenzhen Declaration Drafting Committee (2017) The Shenzhen Declaration on Plant Sciences – Uniting plant sciences and society to build a green, sustainable Earth. PhytoKeys 86: 3-7. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.86.20859

Kress WJ, Knapp S (2017) The Shenzhen Declaration on Plant Sciences: Too late or just in time? PhytoKeys 86: 1-2. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.86.20712

* Image Credits: This image is designed for the Shenzhen Declaration on Plant Sciences by Genlin Jiao, Alice Tangerini and Jun Wen. Photo credits go to Chip Clark, Genlin Jiao, Hong Jin, Sandra Knapp, Steven Manchester, Jun Wen, Bob Wick and Li Zhang. The picture on the top row (right) appeared in the Los Angeles Times on April 7, 2017.

A new tree species, Melicope stonei(Rutaceae or citrus family), endemic to the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i, is already assessed as Critically Endangered according to IUCN criteria. The newly described Melicope is apparently restricted to unique old growth forest featuring a combination of tree species that are only found on Kaua’i.

The volcanic island of Kaua`i is the oldest of the high Hawaiian Islands featuring deeply eroded drainages, well-defined canyons, and stunning tall coastal seacliffs. It is also the most floristically rich of the Hawaiian islands with Melicope stonei becoming the 249th endemic plant species known from only Kaua`i and nowhere else on earth.

Numerous threats currently endanger the new species and its unique home, including habitat degradation by introduced pigs and deer, predation of seeds by rats, environmental events such as hurricanes, fire caused mostly by humans, and competition with invasive non-native plant species.

Interestingly, the new species was first collected and documented as early as 1988. Since then 94 individuals have been mapped by local botanists in regions featuring unique high canopy mesic forest.

The new species has been officially described and named in the open access journal PhytoKeysonly now. In their paper, the team of scientists from the National Tropical Botanical Gardenand Smithsonian Institution (both USA), and the University of Göttingen, Germany, also raise concerns on the conservation status of this unique tree which is severely limited to a 1.5 km2 area of occupancy on Kaua`i.

When interviewed, the authors make a strong case for increasing funding opportunities and enhancing a greater conservation ethic throughout world communities. “Unfortunately, in Hawai`i alone there are 424 federally threatened and endangered plant taxa with very few research biologists and limited funding available to adequately monitor and protect them,” explains the team of scientists. “We are hoping for a renaissance in the natural sciences whereby society values the perpetuation of species diversity with as much enthusiasm as perhaps sports and entertainment.”

“With respect to previous research scientists, we are pleased to name Melicope stonei in honor of Benjamin Clemens Masterman Stone, British-American botanist who had contributed over 300 publications to science during his career along with many keen insights into Hawaiian Melicope.”

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Original Source:

Wood KR, Appelhans MS, Wagner WL (2017) Melicope stonei, section Pelea (Rutaceae), a new species from Kaua’i, Hawaiian Islands: with notes on its distribution, ecology, conservation status,and phylogenetic placement. PhytoKeys 83: 119-132. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.83.13442

A team of botanists from the US has named a new bush tomato species, based on collections made by their Australian colleagues, during government-funded surveys in a brand new national park.

After looking at collections from biodiversity surveys of a 10,000 km2 area now known as Limmen National Park, Bucknell University biology professor, Chris Martine, decided to form an expedition to relocate and describe a mysterious bush tomato uncovered during the government-sponsored studies.

A year later, Martine and his co-authors, including an undergraduate student, have published the new species in the open access journal PhytoKeys. The discovery offers a powerful case for investing in conservation through park systems at a time when these systems are under threat.

For the team of US scientists, knowing where to go was one challenge, but understanding the landscape in such a remote corner of the Australian Northern Territory and figuring out how to get there was quite another. Martine and his team from Bucknell (undergraduate lead author Mae Lacey and postdoctoral fellow Jason T. Cantley) could not do it without the local assistance and expertise of Peter Jobson, Senior Botanist at the Northern Territory Herbarium in Alice Springs.

To acknowledge the pivotal role of Jobson in the successful search, the new species, Solanum jobsonii, has been named after him.

“Jobson is one of a handful of botanists employed by the Northern Territory government who are tasked with stewarding a vastly diverse flora,” explains Martine. “Not only are many species there of conservation concern, but unknown numbers of species are yet to be found and given names. Those scientists are doing yeoman’s work.”

Martine named a previously discovered species for Ian Cowie, the Curator at the Northern Territory Herbarium in Palmerston, in 2011. Solanum cowiei, a species from Litchfield National Park, was described in a paper appearing also in PhytoKeys.

The scientists hope that the discovery of this latest new species turns a spotlight on the importance of protecting natural areas and supporting the individuals who are charged with their care.

“Notably, the use of trained biodiversity scientists in surveys of the proposed parkland provided masses of data in support of protecting this area as a national treasure,” write the authors in the article. “The discovery of the new species described here, and the potential description of other new forms of biodiversity from Limmen National Park, is a testament to the benefits of not only investing in national parks in Australia and elsewhere, but also investing in parks-based scientific inquiry.”

The new species, a relative of the cultivated eggplant, has been recorded under specific habitat conditions from only four locations in the monsoon tropics of northern Australia. Because of this, Martine and his colleagues have suggested that it be listed as “Vulnerable” as per the Red List Categories and Criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

“There are rare and unusual species all over the world, just like this one, that deserve our appreciation and protection”” said Martine. “Luckily, many are already living within the boundaries of conservation areas like state and national parks in Australia, the US, and elsewhere.”

“However, the rise of anti-science and anti-conservation rhetoric in the US, especially, has put federal and state protected lands here at risk,” he said. “It also threatens the rich biodiversity our Founding Fathers celebrated and the American scientific enterprise they held so dear.”

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Original Source:

Lacey LM, Cantley JT, Martine CT (2017) Solanum jobsonii, a novel andromonoecious bush tomato species from a new Australian national park. PhytoKeys 82: 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.82.12106

It seemed rather unusual that the largest tree genus, Syzygium, containing over 1500 species, was only represented by about a dozen of records on the biodiversity-rich island of Sulawesi, the latest new species description dating back to the mid-19th century.

One hundred and fifty years onward, a new article published in the open access journal PhytoKeys, highlights the large portion of undocumented plant diversity on the island, by introducing not one, but five new species to add to the abundant tree genus.

Conducting fieldwork on plant diversity and ecology of the tropical mountain forests of Sulawesi in the period 2006-12, a team of ecologists from the University of Göttingen had difficulties identifying plant specimens of the myrtle family brought back from their field surveys. They noticed that only some 14 species of Syzygium were known to occur in Sulawesi, surprisingly few compared to around 200 each in neighboring Borneo and the Philippines.

“In addition to the limited knowledge about plants in Sulawesi, we were dealing with what is probably the largest genus of trees in the world, the size of which was apparently putting off to many researchers of the past.” comments PhD student F. Brambach. “This is probably why our basic knowledge of the taxonomy of Syzygium hasn’t improved much since the early days of botanical exploration of the region in the first half of the 19th century.”

The ecologists turned to Dr Byng, director of Plant Gateway and Visiting Research Fellow at Naturalis Biodiversity Centre in the Netherlands, who is coordinating a global revision of Syzygium, a genus best known for the clove tree. To him the possibility of what appeared to be undescribed species came as no surprise.

“After extensive screening of herbarium specimens from Sulawesi, I had estimated around 90 additional species to be present on the island, most of which are not yet named and probably only occur there. This would mean we only currently known around 13% of the island’s real diversity,” explains the expert.

The potential number of new Syzygium still waiting to be described raises concern, especially when considering the fast rate at which tropical forests in Indonesia are lost. Sulawesi is no exception, with three of the five newly described species considered to be “endangered” following the criteria of the IUCN.

“In this time of rapid species loss worldwide, cooperation between field ecologists and herbarium taxonomists is important to document the vast diversity of organisms in understudied regions, such as tropical mountain forests, especially for large and complicated groups like Syzygium,” Dr Culmsee said.

Well-known for its unique fauna, the flora on the island of Sulawesi has received considerably less attention to date. With the publication of the new five species, the authors, Fabian Brambach, Dr Heike Culmsee, and Dr James W. Byng, hope to change this and instigate more botanical research in the area.

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Original source:

Brambach F, Byng JW, Culmsee H (2017) Five new species of Syzygium (Myrtaceae) from Sulawesi, Indonesia. PhytoKeys 81: 47-78. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.81.13488

Additional Information:

The research was founded by by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst (Germany).

Named to honour the peace-making efforts of the Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, recently awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize, a new species of the sunflower family genus Espeletia is described from the Páramo de Presidente. The study was published in the open access journal PhytoKeys.

Located 28 km south from the closest city Chitagá, the Colombian Páramo de Presidente has been considered unsafe for decades due to the country’s turbulent history. Like in many dangerous areas around Colombia, the flora of this páramo has not been studied well yet.

Closed to researchers for decades, the peace agreement opened this and other places for fruitful botanical explorations during the post-conflict times in Colombia. The new species was collected during an expedition of the authors in 2009, in which they met with left-wing armed members.

“Thanks to the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, and his persistent efforts to achieve peace with the guerillas FARC in Colombia, after 52 years of conflict, we are now able to explore previously unreachable areas,” comments the lead author, Mauricio Diazgranados, research leader at Kew Gardens, Ardingly, UK.

“Naming our species to honour his peace efforts, we hope that this publication will further inspire the President to continue with more actions for the preservation of Colombian biodiversity.”

The new species is endemic to Colombia and is only known from the Páramo de Presidente, at elevations of 3400-3600 m. Although a large population of several hundreds of individuals growing in the grasslands of the páramo was observed, this particular area is not under any sort of protection, and there are signs of grazing activity. In addition, the proximity of extensive potato plantations suggests that the species is probably Critically Endangered.

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Original Source:

Diazgranados M, Sánchez LR (2017) Espeletia praesidentis, a new species of Espeletiinae (Millerieae, Asteraceae) from northeastern Colombia. PhytoKeys 76: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.76.11220