Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden

A Key to the Neotropical Genera of Lauraceae

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 06:25:49 -0800

Lauraceae are a diverse family of the Neotropical flora that have recently undergone extensive taxonomic changes in the delimitation of genera. Here we review 30 currently accepted Neotropical genera of Lauraceae based on the combination of vegetative and reproductive characters, with a focus on floral characters. We present an identification key, as well as diagnostic descriptions, number of species, distribution, and phylogenetic information for the accepted Neotropical genera.

Taxonomic Revision and Conservation Status of the Species of Eryngium (Apiaceae, Saniculoideae) Native to Australia

Ariana Lucía Padin — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 06:29:51 -0800

The “Pacific” clade of Eryngium L. is a group comprising ca. 40 species that grow in Australia, Chile, the western United States, and east-central South America. Taxonomic studies of the American lineages of this clade have recently been published. However, the Australian species of Eryngium have not been taxonomically revised for more than a century. The objective of this study was a taxonomic revision of the Eryngium species native to Australia, including an analysis of their conservation status. For this, the morphology, geographic distribution, and habitat of ca. 550 herbarium specimens were analyzed. In addition, the conservation status of each species was informally evaluated following the IUCN Red List categories and criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In total, nine Eryngium species native to Australia are recognized, eight of which are endemic. A key for the recognition of these species is provided. For each species, a list of accepted synonyms, a morphological description, an illustration, a distribution map, and a discussion of habitats are presented. Two new synonyms are proposed, a new combination is presented, and nomenclatural problems are analyzed and resolved, including the typification of seven names. The morphological analyses of this study show that the majority of Eryngium species from Australia are heterophyllous. This characteristic had been reported previously for only two Australian Eryngium species. Two of the nine Australian species of Eryngium were found to be in a threatened category.

Synopsis of the New Section Nothoscordum sect. Gracilia (Amaryllidaceae)

Agostina B. Sassone, Silvia Arroyo-Leuenberger, Pablo Moroni — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 06:04:07 -0800

Nothoscordum Kunth is a New World genus distributed from the United States into South America, where its highest diversity is found in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, and Uruguay. The circumscription of the genus, as well as the taxa included, has been a source of confusion. The large number of taxa described, combined with incomplete keys to species and the difficulty or impossibility of contrasting published descriptions with type material, and with illustrations when available, has created a deep-rooted taxonomic confusion. The convergence of this challenging scenario with the difficulty of finding diagnostic morphological characters has transformed species circumscription into a formidable task. As a first step toward a comprehensive revision of Nothoscordum, a description and nomenclatural account of Nothoscordum sect. Gracilia (Aiton) Sassone, S. Arroyo & P. Moroni (including the cosmopolitan weed N. gracile (Aiton) Stearn) is addressed. Following an extensive review of specimens covering the entire distributional range of the section, a list of names and their types is provided here. It also entails the lectotypification of 10 names, alongside the designation of eight neotypes and one epitype. Fifteen names are synonymized. Additionally, six doubtful species are discussed and one excluded.

Alwyn Gentry: Explorer, Conservationist, Father

Diane Gentry — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 06:07:45 -0800

Introduction to the special collection commemorating the life and work of Alwyn Gentry

Plant Diversity and Endemism of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, with Floristic Comparisons to Surrounding Mountains

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 06:14:12 -0800

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (SNSM) is a large, isolated mountain on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Its isolation has led to high diversity and endemism in its fauna; however, knowledge of the mountain’s floristics remains limited. Here, we aim to better characterize the flora of the SNSM above 1700 m.s.m. Using occurrence records and a literature review, we compile a list of all known seed plants endemic to the SNSM montane flora and perform biogeographical analyses to compare the cloud forest and páramo floras of the SNSM to those of surrounding mountain ranges in the northern Andes and Central America. We first compared broad patterns in collection efforts and species diversity across mountain ranges. We then analyzed the elevational limits of plant species on the SNSM and surrounding mountain ranges to test for the Massenerhebung effect (i.e., the phenomenon that species have higher elevational limits on large mountains rather than small mountains). Finally, we performed a cluster analysis to explore compositional similarities among floras. We identified 164 plant species that are endemic to the SNSM and that occur above 1700 m.s.m., the largest list of SNSM endemics to date. Overall, the SNSM has lower plant diversity than surrounding mountain ranges but also much lower collection effort, indicating a need for continued botanical exploration of the mountain. Our analysis supported the Massenerhebung effect, with the SNSM showing lower elevational limits when compared to larger mountain ranges. The cloud forest and páramo floras of the SNSM were most similar to those of the Cordillera de Mérida in Venezuela. Our results highlight the importance of increasing efforts to explore and conserve the SNSM’s unique flora.

The Andes of Colombia and Ecuador as a Barrier to Fern and Lycophyte Species from Mesoamerica

Sarah Morris, Robbin C. Moran — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 06:18:47 -0800

We compiled a list of the fern and lycophyte species that occur in Mesoamerica and extend into Colombia and Ecuador, where they are restricted to the western side of the Andes; that is, they occur only west of the crest of the easternmost cordillera and are absent from that cordillera’s eastern slope and in adjacent Amazonia. We found 131 species with this Mesoamerican and west-of-the-eastern-cordillera distribution. Those 131 species constitute 7% of the total 1805 fern and lycophyte species that have been recorded west of the crest of the easternmost cordillera in Colombia and Ecuador. All 131 species have elevation ranges with midpoints at low (0–900 m) or middle (900–3000 m) elevations, and none occur above 3000 m. This suggests the cordilleras have acted as elevational barriers. We also investigated the blockage of these 131 species by each of the Andean cordilleras. We found that 75 (57%) of the 131 species were limited eastward by the western cordillera, 15 (11%) by the central cordillera (this cordillera in Colombia only), and 40 (31%) by the eastern cordillera. If estimates of endemics to the western Andean region are considered, then at least 20%–22% of all fern and lycophyte species in the region are restricted west of the crest of the easternmost cordillera. Although usually exhibiting larger geographic distributions compared to angiosperms, fern and lycophyte species may show significant geographic restriction by mountain ranges.