THE JEPSON GLOBE A Newsletter from the Friends of The Jepson Herbarium VOLUME 18 NUMBER 3 January 2008 Director’s Column New Zealand Ferns - A Jepson by Brent D. Mishler Herbarium Workshop Recent Herbaria Retiree’s Text and Photos by Joan Eiger Continue Research Efforts Gottlieb You know you’re in fern Dr. Alan R. Smith and Dr. heaven when you land in New Zealand Barbara Ertter, two of the herbaria’s and see silver fern logos on everything dedicated curators, have recently re- from sport shirts to the sides of inter- tired. Fortunately, each will remain ac- island ferries. This global hot spot for tive in their research endeavors. Dr. ferns is home to about 200 species scat- Smith came to Berkeley in 1969 as a Mehrabadi, Share Doust, Doran, Mishler, Rahmani, and Tahbaz tered through coastal, forest, low mon- research botanist specializing in Pteri- tane, and even alpine habitats. About dophytes. He was curator of this major Visiting Iranian officials seek to 40% are endemic – a result of the long group and also worked closely with geographic isolation of this 3-island graduate students, leading monthly enhance scientific exchange with UC botanists nation (the size of California) follow- “forays” to explore the collection. Bar- ing its separation from the Gondwana by Staci Markos bara Ertter came to Berkeley in 1985, supercontinent about 80 million years was Curator of Western North Ameri- ago. Since then, its flora and fauna can Flora, and served as Administrative High-level Iranian officials have been shaped by tectonic plate col- Curator until 2006. She also participated made a rare visit to the University and lisions, mountain uplifts, volcanic ac- in the American-Iranian Botanical pro- Jepson Herbaria in late December, tivity, sea level fluctuations, a series of gram. Below, each describes a handful 2007. Three distinguished visitors, Dr. Pleistocene ice ages, and biotic ex- of their ongoing projects. Mostafa Rahmani, (Director of Inter- changes across the Tasman and South Dr. Smith: In January 2007, est Section of the Islamic Republic of Pacific waters. Spores disperse espe- soon after teaching a 10-day fern work- Iran’s office at the Pakistan Embassy cially easily; about 13% of New shop on the North Island of New in Washington D.C.), Dr. Abolfazl Zealand’s fern species are shared with Zealand, I retired. It was a great field Mehrabadi, (Deputy Director of Inter- Tasmania and Australia, ~1,500 km trip and wonderful experience with kin- est Section of the Islamic Republic of (930 miles) to the west. There have dred spirits (See New Zealand Ferns Iran at D.C.), and Dr. Ali Asghar Share been extinctions and adaptations as article, this issue), but it was time, I Doust, (Professor & General Secretary both original and migrant species wanted to pursue other activities in of the Iranian Counsel Abroad, Continued on page 5. addition to continuing research in fern President’s Office), came to discuss the systematics. I continue working in the American-Iranian Botanical program ALSO IN THIS ISSUE herbarium three or four days a week, that was initiated in 1999 at the Uni- to work on ongoing and long-deferred versity Herbarium by Dr. Fosiee Univ. Herbarium Research projects. Often, the research is collabo- Tahbaz. The ongoing scholarly collabo- rative with individuals at other institu- ration between scientists and students C. Perrine moves to SLO tions, for example, the ferns of Bolivia from Iran, UC Berkeley, and other U.S. (with a German colleague), or those of institutions has resulted in three expe- Donald Kaplan, In Memoriam Continued on page 2. Continued on page 4. Director’s Column, continued from page 1. Venezuela, each of which contains covery prompts new questions, sug- the herbaria, I will be rehired on 20% more than a thousand fern species. gests a new avenue of research, or in- time to continue as Curator of Western Undescribed taxa and taxonomic prob- volves me with colleagues. North American Flora. This will allow lems abound in the wet tropics, and me to prepare updated versions of my there are no modern fern treatments for Annotated Checklist of the East Bay most neotropical countries. I continue Flora and The Flowering Plants and to collaborate on phylogenetic work Ferns of Mount Diablo, and to work (evolutionary relationships), especially with UC entomologists Gordon Frankie on the family Polypodiaceae, with and Robbin Thorp on a UC Press field colleagues in Europe and South guide to urban bees and their preferred America. Occasionally, I look at plants. I will also continue my work Californian and western North American on the history of California botany, my ferns, for instance as a contributor to interest in Juncus, and my involvement the second edition of The Jepson in the American-Iranian Botanical Pro- Manual. gram coordinated by Dr. Fosiee Tahbaz. Last March, a new opportunity My immediate focus is to com- arose – a McBryde Fellowship at the plete treatments needed for volume 9 National Tropical Botanical Garden in of Flora of North America North of Kauai, Hawai'i. I spent four weeks an- Drs. Smith and Ertter, January 2008. Mexico, as well as the second edition notating specimens in the herbarium, Photos by Bridget Wessa of The Jepson Manual. In collabora- mainly from Pacific islands, going in tion with Reidar Elven, Jim Reveal, and the field with colleagues, and involv- David Murray, I am responsible for gen- ing myself in projects already under- era in tribe Potentilleae, notably Poten- way there: ferns of the Marquesas Is- tilla s.l., Ivesia, and Horkelia. I am also lands, and from Rapa in the Austral Is- assisting Walter Lewis in the treatment lands, Polynesia. New species, prob- of Rosa. The last continent-wide treat- lematic genera, and phytogeographic ments of Potentilla and Rosa were in relationships are the central focus of my the early 1900’s, and numerous changes interest in ferns of these areas. have accumulated since then with no One of my passions over the consensus existing across regional flo- years has been fern identification, es- ras. As an essential preliminary to the pecially in the Neotropics; this is a treatment itself, I have produced ten niche served by fewer than a handful publications during the last year con- of individuals around the world. Lately, taining nearly a dozen new species and I have expanded my interests in identi- varieties, numerous new combinations, fication to such exotic localities as the Dr. Ertter: After 22 years at several lectotypifications, and other islands of Sulawesi (Indonesia), UC Berkeley, I opted for early retire- important clarifications of the species Pohnpei, the Society Islands (Moorea), ment in September 2007, after passing and genera to be treated. Far from New Caledonia, and Madagascar, and administrative responsibilities into the wrapping up my research on to fern-rich areas of Vietnam. In any capable hands of Andrew Doran. This Potentilleae and Rosa once volume 9 is given year, the number of specimens I was coupled with moving my primary completed, I am already making plans identify exceeds 5,000, and this also residence back to my roots in Boise, to address multiple questions that re- involves the curation of these speci- Idaho, where most of my relatives still main unanswered, which will not only mens into the collections at Berkeley. live and where I could have easy ac- involve field work throughout western Most recently, a shipment of nearly 500 cess to vast mountains, remote deserts, North America but also collaborators in specimens arrived for identification and the amenities of a vibrant small Alaska, the Czech Republic, Sweden, from the richest areas of southern city. and Germany. China, in Yunnan Province. By no means am I retiring While I look forward to in- Diversity in life is a good thing, from botanical research, which remains creased opportunity for foreign collabo- both in helping maintain my interest in my lifelong passion, nor am I abandon- ration and travel, my primary focus re- ferns, and as I reach those "Golden ing my ties to the University and mains western North America, with its Years.” I plan to stay active as long as Jepson Herbaria. Indeed, thanks to wealth of uncatalogued biodiversity, the spark is there, and each new dis- Mary L. Bowerman’s generous gift to complex biogeography, and awesome Ertter, continued on page 7. 2 New Research at the University Herbarium Bryophyte collecting in Costa Rica Professor Paul Wilson of Cal State Northridge is visit- by Dan Norris, Research Botanist ing the herbarium on sabbatical. He has done research on pollination in Penstemon, Calochortus, and several other From 3-17 July, 2007, I was a guest at Nectandra wildflower groups, but this year he is studying mosses. Al- Gardens, about 80 km northwest of San Jose, Costa Rica. I ready he has brought in was sponsored by the Nectandra Institute (a non-profit Oligotrichum parallelum and organization based in Alameda, California). Nectandra Warnstorfia pseudostra- Gardens is open to the public and is part of the Nectandra minea from the Sierra Ne- Cloud Forest Preserve, a parcel of about 130 hectares of vada, which are range exten- cloud forest, owned by David and Evelyne Lennette since sions with the nearest previ- 1999. They are developing an ecological education and ous records from Washing- conference center there, and they co-founded the Nectandra ton. He is collaborating with Institute. UC botanists on a compari- My role in the project was to develop a list of species son of the moss florulas of 14 of bryophytes and lichens found in the reserve. About 648 natural areas around Califor- separate collections were made during my two weeks of nia.