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cultivated plant taxonomynews Issue 4 ■ February 2016 The first European Cultivated Plant Taxonomists Forum MIKE PARK LTD Acanthophyllum Books Books on botany, horticulture and natural history We buy and sell second-hand Catalogues of very interesting stock issued botanical, horticultural regularly, either by post or email. and architectural books including Monographs, Floras, Historical works. monographs and Floras. To search our stock, Please ask to go on our mailing list please visit our web site: [email protected] www.heswallbooks.co.uk visit our website at or email your enquiry to www.mikeparkbooks.com [email protected] Telephone 020 8641 7796 Tel: 0775 858 3706 HORTAX CULTIVATED PLANT TAXONOMY GROUP CPT News ■ ■ February 2016 Expanding into the future James Armitage EDITOR The organiser of any gathering, from a meeting of nations to a family get-together, will know the feeling of anxious anticipation that unsettles the mind on the eve of the event. Will all the effort be worth it? Will it be a success? About Hortax HORTAX CULTIVATED PLANT TAXONOMY GROUP In April 2015, at RHS Garden Wisley, I foundHortax, formedTaxonomists in 1988, Forum can be held in 2017, shortly Above. Delegates at the first myself the nervous convener of the firstis a small committeebefore the XII International Symposium on the European Cultivated Plant European Cultivated Plant Taxonomistsof Forum, European plantTaxonomy of Cultivated Plants. Taxonomists Forum, April prey to just such a sense of trepidation.taxonomists I needn’t and 2015. The three-day event have worried. Within moments of the delegateshorticulturists One with of the things arising from the event in April was jointly hosted by the assembling I knew all would be well, sucha professional was was a decision to broaden the membership RHS and the Cultivated Plant the mood of mutual purpose and good interestcheer in theof classification Hortax to include and anyone with an interest Taxonomy Group (Hortax), that here, at last, was an opportunity to talk to in cultivated plant taxonomy. Under this new Photo. Barry Phillips. nomenclature of cultivated plants. colleagues and discuss common problems. arrangement the Group as it was previously constituted becomes the Executive Committee, Over the course of three days we heardThe 18 talks committee which meets will to continue to meet regularly. However, covering an impressive range of topics,discuss giving topics nowof relevance there will be a wider membership who thoughtful and thought-provoking perspectivesto the International will receive Code agendasof and minutes and have the on issues which ultimately affect everyoneNomenclature opportunity for Cultivated to Plants have their say by email. The hope dealing with cultivated plants. The PowerPoint(ICNCP) and seeksis to bring to find together solutions a community of people presentations associated with each of theseto the plentifulinterested problems inpresented the classification of cultivated plants talks can be found on the Hortax websiteby (humanity’swww. and attempts keep them to better informed of relevant hortax.org.uk/european-cpt-forum.htmlclassify). In the plantsissues it grows.and developments. Membership is entirely addition the content of six of the talks are without charge and if you would like to become a featured in this special edition of CPT NewsTo find. out moremember about of the Hortax please contact hortaxgroup@ committee orgmail.com the conference,. Best wishes for a happy and healthy EUROPEAN CULTIVATED If a suitable venue can be found it is veryemail much [email protected] 2016. ■ hoped that a second European Cultivated Plant PLANT TAXONOMISTS Right. Camellia japonica, painted by an unknown 19th- century Japanese artist (RHS, Lindley Library). Cover. Lilium 2 ‘Nicotine’ (RHS / Carol Sheppard). HORTAXFORUM 2015 3 CULTIVATED PLANT TAXONOMY GROUP Useful links & publications The Hortax leaflet on the names of garden plants: ► www.hortax.org.uk/hortax-leaflet.html RHS GARDEN WISLEY Issues of Cultivated Plant Taxonomy News: Tues 7 – Thurs 9 April 2015 ► www.hortax.org.uk/cultivated-plant-taxonomy-newsletter.html Information on the Lost Names Project: #cptaxo ► www.hortax.org.uk/lost-names-project.html rhs.org.uk/science The Hortax plant discussion forum: ► www.hortax.org.uk/forum.html#nabble-td4635193|a4635194 RHS Reg Charity No: 222879/SC03862 CPT News ■ ■ February 2016 Chris Stapleton Muddles and has studied bamboos for misapplications many years in the Himalayas and has Taxonomic difficulties worked for US and UK botanic gardens. associated with He is author of the Bamboo bamboos in cultivation Identification website and here discusses what makes the taxonomy of these plants so troublesome and how progress can be made in resolving their Above. The main morphological use names that refer to more major groups of bamboo distinction between temperate desirable species, invent new originated by hybridisation. classification in the (left) and tropical bamboos (right) unpublished species names or Our current polyploid groups future. is considered to be that they have employ trade designations. – the temperate, tropical 3 stamens rather than 6. However, and herbaceous bamboos some temperate bamboos (e.g. – all arose as hybrids between Sasa) have 6 stamens. Photos. Chris Splitting and diploid lineages. Hybridisation AMBOO PLANTS ARE Stapleton. has obscured distinctions poorly labelled weaving between interwoven groups in European same plant can vary widely, We are in a mess, but why? ever since they first evolved. Bhorticulture. In especially between European Bamboos are certainly quite This has made it difficult to supermarkets, garden countries. difficult to split into groups define and separate genera and centres and botanic gardens and classify, because groups species, even when substantial inappropriate names are Bamboos cultivated for are not well separated. differences are apparent. often in use. Genus, species, centuries may still be grown Taxonomic groups at all levels and cultivar may all be under different names. Newly have indistinct interwoven Within the temperate incorrect, and names for the introduced bamboos are boundaries with overlapping bamboos we do see plenty frequently even worse. Because characters and understanding of variation. There are their taxonomy has not been of the characters that differences in compression of studied adequately, we often distinguish groups has been inflorescences, e.g. separating cannot identify bamboos in poor. Thamnocalamus, Borinda Left. A close up of shoots of the wild. Consequently, when and Fargesia. There are also Phyllostachys nigra at Jungle Giants, new bamboos are introduced, One reason for this is differences in vegetative Shropshire. Photo. RHS / Tim Sandall. sellers may guess at names, hybridisation. Even the characters. The semi-flattened 4 HORTAX 5 CULTIVATED PLANT TAXONOMY GROUP CPT News ■ ■ February 2016 internodes of Phyllostachys Foresters and horticulturists Right. Phyllostachys in flower. were recognised 150 years preferred vegetative The long flowering interval of ago. Branching patterns and characters. Molecular biologists some bamboos leads to a slow buds have more recently expected DNA to solve this rate of molecular evolution. In been found to show great conflict, but all temperate P. bambusoides, for instance, an variability, now distinguishing bamboos have very similar interval of 130 years has been Fargesia, Himalayacalamus DNA. recorded. Photo. RHS / Tim Sandall. and Thamnoocalamus clearly. Similarly, rhizomes are now The solution is to use all these reduces the number of better understood, different characters together. This is generations. Only after many forms leading to different called integrative taxonomy. generations will DNA and clumping or spreading However, groups are still often physical characters become behaviour, which is critical for hard to separate, with members well differentiated. horticulture. that have odd characters weaving and blending across DNA is useful to reveal So we have many characters, boundaries. Hybridisation has convergent evolution (species but which are most important? certainly occurred between which appear similar but are Conflict has arisen when genera and species in the near not closely related). Species researchers have prioritised and distant past. Moreover, of larger, older groupings different characters. Grass temperate bamboos diversified such as broadly defined taxonomists favoured those relatively recently, and long Arundinaria, Sinarundinaria of the familiar inflorescence. periods between flowering and Thamnocalamus were shown to be less closely related than expected. More, smaller genera are now recognised. Isolated bamboos such as Thamnocalamus tessellatus from South Africa and Arundinaria densifolia all published names, following need improvement and from Sri Lanka were shown by advice from around the world. consolidation. their DNA to be unrelated to It became a benchmark, and others such as Thamnocalamus started a sense of stability. Much work remains. A spathiflorus from the Himalayas The Flora of China bamboo large number of plants in and Arundinaria gigantea from account (2006), supported cultivation are not well known, the USA. New genera were by molecular phylogeny, and there are many new required, e.g. Sarocalamus, described half the world’s species and cultivars yet to Bergbambos, Oldeania and bamboos. be discovered, named and Kuruna. described. Collections need Above. Collections of Fargesia nitida Since 1981 the
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