Journal of Botanic Gardens Conservation International

BGjournalVolume 4 • Number 1 • January 2007

Special 2007 anniversary issue

Taxonomy and plant conservation the tercentenary of the birth of Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)

20 YEARS 1987-2007 Contents

02 Editorial Editors: Etelka Leadlay and Sara Oldfield Co-editors: Suzanne Sharrock and Fiona Wild 04 The legacy of Linnaeus Cover Photo: Sarracenia flava L. a species described by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum 1:510 (1753) in Linnaean names and their types: a permanent reference point cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 08 (Photo: BGCI)

Design: John Morgan, Seascape 12 Taxonomy and plant conservation E-mail: [email protected] Submissions for the next issue should reach the editor 16 Botanical buffet – the importance of living collections for plant before 20th March, 2007. The theme of this issue will be climate change. We would welcome contributions. systematics Please send text on diskette or via e-mail, as well as a hard copy. Please send photographs as original slides or prints unless scanned to a very high resolution (300 21 Taxonomy is the tool that measures plant diversity – and our pixels/inch and 100mm in width); digital images need to level of knowledge be of a high resolution for printing. If you would like further information, please request Notes for authors.

BGjournal is published by Botanic Gardens Conservation 24 The Catalogue of Life: indexing the world’s species International (BGCI). It is published twice a year and is sent to all BGCI members. Membership is open to all interested individuals, institutions and organisations that 30 Book notices and taxonomic support the aims of BGCI (see page 32 for Membership resources application form). Further details available from: • Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Descanso 31 Linnaean Celebrations 2007 House, 199 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3BW UK. Tel: +44 (0)20 8332 5953, Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 5956 E-mail: [email protected], www.bgci.org 32 Registration Form for the • BGCI-Russia, c/o Main Botanical Gardens, Botanicheskaya st., 4, Moscow 127276, Russia. International Agenda for Botanic Tel: +7 (095) 219 6160 / 5377, Fax: +7 (095) 218 0525, Gardens in Conservation E-mail: [email protected], www.bgci.ru • BGCI (U.S.) Inc., c/o Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1000 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, New York How to join Botanic Gardens 11225-1099, U.S.A. Tel: +1 718 623 7200, Fax: +1 718 857 2430, E-mail: [email protected] Conservation International www.bgci.org/us • BGCI-Netherlands, c/o Utrecht University Botanic Gardens, P.O. Box 80162, NL-3508 TD, Netherlands. Tel: +31 30 253 2876, Fax: +31 30 253 5177, E-mail: [email protected], www.bi.uu.nl/botgard 08 12 • BGCI-Canarias, c/o Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo, Apartado de Correos 14, Tafira Alta 35017, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Spain. Tel: +34 928 21 95 80/82/83, Fax: +34 928 21 95 81, E-mail: [email protected] • BGCI – China and South East Asia, c/o Registry, Singapore Botanic Gardens, 1 Cluny Road, Singapore 259569. E-mail: Bian.Tan @bgci.org, [email protected], www.bgci.org/china • BGCI-Colombia , c/o Jardín Botánico de Bogotá, Jose Celestino Mutis, Av. No. 61-13 – A.A. 59887, Santa Fe de Bogotá, D.C., Colombia. Tel: +57 630 0949, Fax: +57 630 5075, E-mail: [email protected], www.humboldt.org.co/jardinesdecolombia/ html/la_red.htm • BGCI-Deutschland, c/o Botanischer Gärten der Universität Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 171, 53115 Bonn, Germany. Tel: +49 2 2873 9055, Fax: +49 2 28731690, E-mail: [email protected] 04 BGCI is a worldwide membership organization established in 1987. Its mission is to build a global network for plant conservation. BGCI is an independent organization registered in the United Kingdom as a charity (Charity Reg No 1098834) and a company limited by guarantee, No 4673175. BGCI is a tax-exempt (501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the USA and in Russia.

Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Boards or staff of BGCI or of its members

BGjournal replaces BGCNews and is published twice a year. BGjournal has been given a new name as the news section of BGCNews and Roots (Botanic Gardens Conservation International Education Review) is now contained in Cuttings which is published quarterly. There are 31 issues of BGCNews published twice yearly from 1987-2003. 16 21 24

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 01 Editorial

Right: Dracaena The diversity of plant species is a draco is under fascination to all botanists, an threat in the inspiration to gardeners and, although wild (IUCN generally taken for granted, provides Category: the basis for all life on earth. Species Vulnerable). The diversity represents millions of years of Botanic Garden evolution and is the most important ‘Viera y Clavijo’, visible expression of biodiversity, giving within the conservation debate. plant species. He believed that this Las Palmas, character to ecosystems and shape to The ecosystem approach dominates represented roughly half the world’s Spain has genetic diversity. Understanding and discussion of biodiversity conservation flora. Now we know that closer to undertaken a recording plant diversity depends on whereas mammals and birds are used 300,000 vascular plant species exist. successful naming species. In this issue of as indicators of biodiversity status and programme to BGjournal we mark the 300th health. The Convention on Biological Target 2 of the GSPC depends on the restore the anniversary of Linnaeus, the founder of Diversity (CBD) Global Strategy for classification and naming of plants. It island’s last modern species nomenclature and Plant Conservation (GSPC) was calls for A preliminary assessment of laurel forests variously described as “the Prince of developed to address both the relative the conservation status of all known and reintroduce Flowers” or “the Father of Botany”. invisibility of plants in international plant species, at national, regional and the Dragon Tree conservation fora and, more critically, international levels. At present, to the wild. Botanic gardens have an extremely the actual loss of plant species. progress towards meeting Target 2 is (Photo: BGCI) important role to play in studying, slow at an international level, not naming, cataloguing and displaying plant The GSPC is currently the subject of because of the lack of data but diversity. All these roles are clearly an in-depth review and the progress because of lack of organization of the important as a basis for plant towards meeting its ambitious targets information on conservation status. conservation. As pointed out by Tim will be highlighted within CBD over the This is an issue of concern, resulting in Entwisle in this issue, having a focussed next two years. The contribution that the invisibility of plants in global collections policy is a basic requirement botanic gardens are making to the species assessments and conservation for each botanic garden to manage its GSPC is remarkable, individually and planning. Botanic gardens, however, plant resources to maximum effect. collectively through BGCI and the are playing a major role in assessing Managing information on plants in the Global Partnership for Plant the conservation status of plant collections is also an important Conservation. Target 1 of the GSPC, as species and recording this information, requirement recognized by botanic highlighted by Vernon Heywood, Karen for example in the TROPICOS gardens around the world. Collection Wilson and Frank Bisby in this issue, database maintained by Missouri policies and management of collections calls for A widely accessible working Botanical Garden and the taxonomic depend on taxonomy and plant list of known plant species, as a step publications produced by the Royal nomenclature, the often invisible towards a complete world flora. There Botanic Gardens, Kew. sciences that determine the nature of is a good likelihood of this target being botanic gardens. met and this achievement in itself will Targets 1 and 2 underpin the other 16 validate the importance of the GSPC. targets of the GSPC and are In the wider scheme of things, plant Linnaeus described and catalogued fundamentally important for botanic species are being lost both literally with around 9,000 plant species, laying the gardens to do their work. BGCI is the increasing pace of extinctions and basis for a global working list of known taking a lead role in facilitating Targets

02 BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 8 and 14 of the GSPC, reflecting the data. At present there are over 150,000 and Genera of 1992 and eliminated key responsibilities of botanic gardens taxa recorded in PlantSearch provided misspellings, synonyms and misplaced in ex situ plant conservation and by 637 gardens, of which over 11,000 names. Currently BGCI screens all education. Target 8 calls for 60 per cent species are recorded as globally plant names in PlantSearch against the of threatened plant species in threatened. International Plant Names Index (IPNI) accessible ex situ collections, preferably (www.ipni.org) as a means of in the country of origin, and 10 per cent Managing the PlantSearch database is eliminating invalidly published names. of them included in recovery and a major challenge for BGCI and I would Looking ahead, do we need to promote restoration programmes. A major tool like to begin a dialogue about the a standard naming system for gardens, for monitoring Target 8 at a global level priorities for developing the database to allow for easy collaboration both is the BGCI PlantSearch database. as a conservation planning tool for all nationally and internationally? Is there The development of this online botanic gardens. A few years ago, Dr any value in recording cultivars in the database represents an ambitious James Cullen reviewed the data database? How do we give due attempt to record the diversity of plant maintained by BGCI, organized the prominence to plants of particular species in cultivation in botanic plant names according to Dick value, such as medicinal species and gardens and link this to conservation Brummitt’s Vascular Plants: Families crop wild relatives? How do we address the lack of currently compiled information on globally threatened plants within the IUCN Red List? Do we need to continue the policy of not revealing the location of plant species in collections? Your views on the utility of PlantSearch and its future development will be extremely valuable.

There will be good opportunities to discuss the links between plant taxonomy, nomenclature, conservation evaluations and conservation actions at the 3rd Global Botanic Gardens Congress in Wuhan in April this year. During the Congress we will be celebrating 20 years of BGCI. Various other BGCI anniversary events are planned throughout the year, starting with a public lecture by Wangari Maatthai, the Nobel Prize winner, in London on 8 February. Another event, Left: Dracaena organised jointly by BGCI, IUCN and draco (L.) L. ArtDatabanken will take place in was named by Uppsala in Sweden – an international Linnaeus from a meeting on 3 May entitled Secrets of description and Species. This links to the Linnaean illustration Tercentenary celebrations in Sweden published by and will be used to promote the Clusius in 1601. fundamental importance of plant Now considered conservation. Throughout 2007 there Vulnerable in will of course be events around the the wild, it is world to celebrate the 300th one of the most anniversary of Linnaeus. A summary of commonly these is given on page 31. One of the cultivated, best memorials to Linnaeus is the globally commitment of botanic gardens to threatened plant classifying, naming and conserving species, as plants, so that none of the plant recorded in the species known to Linnaeus or PlantSearch subsequently described are needlessly database. lost. © Natural History Sara Oldfield Museum, London (NHM)

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) • 14-18 03 Author: Magnus Lidén

The legacy of Linnaeus

Där man får tänka och skriva vad man unveiling the secrets of Flora while Philosophia Botanica (1751), it still will, där blomstra studier. Där religionen surrounded by hordes of admiring owes its clarity and precision to är fri blomstrar landet. Där teologin pupils seems hard to reconcile with the Linnaeus. His precise and logical regerar fungerar intet. self-sufficient book keeper, jealously descriptions of taxa are more similar to guarding his territory while meticulously present-day format than to those Where there is freedom of speech, pigeonholing each and every dry immediately preceding him. The Sexual science prospers. Where there is specimen to its appropriate box System enabled new and old genera to Background: religious freedom, the country prospers. according to the Methodus (Linnaeus, be classified and recorded in a simple The original In a theocracy nothing prospers 1736). and straightforward manner – he did drawing for bring order to a former chaos. The Linnaeus’ (C. Linnaeus, Diaeta naturalis [1733] Both pictures are true. Linnaeus was a binomial system for naming species is Garden. 129, A. Uggla 1958). direct and spontaneous person, more ingenious than Linnaeus himself normally not hampered by protocol. He understood at the time, and – it is my Below: Some of what Linnaeus wrote in the made friends but also enemies; his firm conviction – will survive as long as Linnaeus’ 18th century during a long, productive disciples adored and loved him but taxonomy. His encyclopaedic project summer house life may seem alien, or even bizarre, to some of his colleagues in science did Species Plantarum (1753) is a fantastic at Hammarby, in the modern mind. Did he really believe not. But was he really a great achievement based on an the countryside that swallows hibernate on the bottom scientist? Did he make any theoretical encyclopaedic knowledge (containing southeast of of lakes, or that God created, once and or experimental breakthrough, like many mistakes, of course, like all Uppsala, is one for all, immutable species in a single Darwin or Kepler, or did he just compile encyclopaedias). Numerous are his of the best act? At other times he feels very things in a new framework? J. Sachs contributions based on observation in preserved 18th- modern, for example, when he (1875) even argued that Linnaeus had the field and in the botanic garden on, century houses comments on superstition, diet, or delayed the progress of botany. He was for example, ecology, aetiology, in Sweden and discusses in detail the behaviour of an perhaps not a profound theoretician; phenology and ethnobotany – Omniam has hardly insect. Our Swedish national hero has much (but not all) of his thoughts on mirare, etiam tritissima (wherever you changed since suffered disparate judgments: the ecology, economics, metaphysics or look, there is something worthy of a Linnaeus’ time. romantic picture of the Flower Prince morals were common ideas at the time, thesis). And, of course, we must thank and he could occasionally contradict him for “the Swedish thermometer”, himself. However, genius can take reversing Celsius’ temperature scale, different forms. otherwise we would have had a human body temperature of 63 degrees. Nomina si nescis, perit et cognitio rerum Deus creavit, Linnaeus Without names, no knowledge disposuit God created, Linnaeus classified It is indisputable that Linnaeus was of immense importance for the But, enough of praise. What about his development and popularization of classification of plants? It has been botany. Although botanical disproved, hasn’t it? It was newspaper terminology has developed since his headlines some years ago! As Linnaeus Fundamenta Botanica (1736) and was aware, the Sexual System was

04 BGCI • 2007 • BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) • 04-07 completely arbitrary. There are no observations that could disprove or corroborate it. It cannot possibly be “wrong”. However, the lower ranks, genera and species, were treated by Linnaeus (as by us today) as natural taxa, i.e. as individual entities with an existence independent of our observation. This clash between two principles led to inconsistencies, like the placement of, for example, a species with three stamens (Galium triandrum) in Class Tetrandria. Linnaeus’ sense for naturalness simply made him unable to divorce this species from its 4-staminate relatives in the rest of Galium.

The truth is, as all botanists know when not making propaganda, that the Sexual System was already becoming Apart from that, the search for the considered the most important in Above: The obsolete in the early 19th century – natural system has been a story of reproduction, the male part, the bark Baroque Garden certainly to Linnaeus’ delight, had he continuous improvement from the time (which produced the stamens), only at Uppsala still been alive. Commonly, the starting of Linnaeus until today, without any adding superficial variation. The idea is Royal Palace point for the quest towards a natural drastic paradigmatic shifts as to how consistent with his view of an became the new system is taken to be Genera the general pattern of plant biodiversity increasing land mass that could be botanic garden Plantarum by Antoine Laurent de is depicted. However, we have not only extrapolated backwards to a quite in 1790. The Jussieu (1789). That is to grossly perfected our picture of the natural small and comprehensible Eden where Linnaeanum, in underestimate the attempt made by system; since Darwin we also believe all animals and plants were within the background, Linnaeus. He considered the search for we understand its background: taxa reasonable reach and present in a which dates a natural system an important are explained by common ancestry. reasonable number when God brought back to 1800, undertaking, and in Systema Naturae them before Adam so he could name will house (1758) he lists 58 Ordines Naturales in It is less well known that Linnaeus also them (1. Moses 2:19). These fantastic exhibits and an the Plant Kingdom. A majority of these thought about the reason for the speculations nevertheless give the information we still recognize today, as families, occurrence of natural taxa beyond the same basic explanation for the centre during subfamilies or orders. The treatment by simple “God’s plan”. He came up with occurrence of natural taxa as we do the Linnaeus de Jussieu is much more elaborate (it the modern explanation that each of today – common ancestry. To be fair, it jubilee this year. is a complete classification down to his Ordines Naturales had a single was not all speculation: Linnaeus had the level of genus), but its theoretical origin, thus explaining the whole Plant correctly observed that land is rising in Left: What better foundation is not stronger. It is Kingdom with only 58 creations. These the mid-Swedish coastland with which crown for the interesting to note that de Jussieu 58 originally created plants crossed he was familiar, and his finds of marine Prince of actually did not believe his own system with each other to form the natural fossils high above sea level confirmed Flowers, than to be “true”. He considered the pattern genera, which in his thesis (Skånska resa, 1751). He his own Fumaria of life to form a continuum, which turn crossed noted that they could not be explained nobilis L. could not possibly be reflected with each by The Flood. (now Corydalis by a hierarchical other to nobilis). system of groups form the Characterem non constituere within groups. species. genus The Characters do not make the genus During the crossings 18th did not result in Like many icons, Linnaeus has been century, a intermediates subject to (sometimes deliberate) continuum-view of the and chaos, misinterpretation. If you want to make order of nature was because the your point, it is of course easier if you widespread – from lineages were can denigrate the Master by turning Buffon to de Jussieu held together him into a straw-man of your own and Lamarck – and by the female making. For instance, Linnaeus has did not completely give seed- been portrayed as an Aristotelian or an way to the “Linnaean” producing Essentialist, partly because of his love paradigm of an inner tissue, for catchy aphorisms, but perhaps inclusive hierarchy until the medulla, more because it fits a simplified picture A. P. de Candolle. which he of science as a steadily progressing

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 05 Right: Fritillaria and Rudbeck in Uppsala to Gronovius, meleagris was Boerhaave, Burman and Clifford in naturalised in Holland. The rapid spread of his the garden system is explained first and foremost before Linnaeus' by its clarity and utility, but without time. Here it is well-timed promotion, money and naturalised with authority provided by senior scientists, a traditional its success would have been less Swedish certain. Linnaeus made these men Gärdesgård (a immortal in the names of plant genera. fence made from What more could anyone ask for? thin raw spruce (Picea abies) Nu begynte hela marken fägna stems cut into sig och le, nu kommer Flora halves and tied och sover hos Febus together with Now the earth begins to thrive and tiny spruce- smile, now Flora comes and sleeps stems or with Phoebus spruce-roots). So starts his Lapland diary. It shows a side of Linnaeus that is very important for his status as a national Swedish monument - his personal and poetic prose, full of love and amazement and yet with remarkable descriptive economy. There are few 18th-century Swedes who can still be read with pleasure, but Linnaeus can. Consequently, his travelogues and other works in Swedish are time and again printed in new editions and read voyage from ignorance to tapestry and put man thereupon to by new generations. Unfortunately, few understanding. However, traces of stroll, live and be happy have been translated into other Aristotelianism and Essentialism languages. survive alongside other world views in Linnaeus was a brilliant teacher, as was present day scientific papers as well as testified unanimously by many of his In Latin, his language is personal and Right: Linnaeus’ in the 18th century, even in the same pupils. Much of his teaching was in the efficient, not only in the telegrammatic house in individual. field, and his herbationes took the form staccato of works such as Species Linnaeus’ of veritable triumphal processions. His Plantarum. He tells us that the ideal Garden was The truth is that Linnaeus was not known students amount to about 500, scientific prose (such as his own) turned into a overly concerned about ontological many of whom made great careers. should have a clear style with short museum in questions; his approach is pragmatic. No fewer than 74 came from other and precise words and without 1937. In the Consequently, there are countries. The same appealing traits – tautology, and that such writing is foreground inconsistencies in his works. Although quick intelligence, pedagogical skill, easier and more entertaining to read Corydalis he used terms like “essential”, there is charm and persuasive abilities – than one that is needlessly nobilis still little to suggest that he embraced an earned him benefactors from the early embroidered. This recommendation thrives. It was Essentialist philosophy. For him these years, from Stobaeus in Lund, Celsius still holds. introduced in words were equivalent to 1765 and “taxonomically useful” (see, for Linnaeus example, a brilliant essay by Winsor predicted it 2006). You could with equal would have a justification argue that he was an grand future as explicit non-Essentialist; the famous an ornamental. phrase above this paragraph is echoed The Linnaeus in the modern idea of “taxa as Garden had individuals”. been abandoned by the end of Gud skapade världen till en the 18th century blomstertapet och satte but was människan däruppå att restored in spatsera, leva och sig förnöja 1920. God made the world a flowering

06 BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) Homo, nosce te ipse Left: The picture Homo, know thyself of the whale (with young), Linnaeus is the authority for Homo above the door sapiens. In Systema Naturae Linnaeus to his bedroom “describes” Homo sapiens with the at Hammarby above profound phrase, taken from the has a proverb inscription on the Delphi temple to which reminds Apollo (Gr: gnothi seauton) - which half the students at the University Information can be sought on us of God's gives food for thought for the spiritually (which seriously upset envious www.uu.se/linne2007/, omnipresence inclined, not least today with the revival professors whose students did not www.linnaeus.uu.se and Innocue vivito: of the original gnostic Christianity. attend their lectures). Not only are www.botan.uu.se. If you have not numen adest Linnaeus himself was, as is well there numerous references to “HU” in made a pilgrimage to these revered (lead a righteous known, deeply religious and rarely his herbarium, books and letters, it is sites, this is the time to come. I would life - God is missed a sermon if he could avoid it. also indirectly obvious how often he like to welcome you to Linnaeus’ everywhere). He knew the Old Testament and the owes his ideas and conclusions to Garden, Linnaeus’ Garden at Apocrypha well, and frequently alluded observations in the garden. Hammarby and Uppsala Botanic to them in his writings. References to Garden this summer! the Gospels or to Jesus are wanting. This is no less relevant today. As a He thinks that we have been put on systematist, I am grateful to botanic References Earth to praise the blessed creation of gardens for the opportunity to study the Lord, and this is our Paradise. He my plants throughout their life cycle, ➡ Anonymous. A very long time ago. did not seem to entertain the idea of a thus gaining knowledge unavailable Genesis. life after death. Linnaeus’ God is not from herbarium specimens or restricted ➡ Jussieu, A. L. de, 1789. Genera only the Creator, he is also the field studies. The potential for new Plantarum, secundum ordines Nemesis, and it follows that sinners are discoveries based on botanic garden naturales disposita. Paris. punished in this life; innocue vivito – material in areas unrelated to pure ➡ Linnaeus, C. 1733 (1958). Diaeta numen adest (lead a righteous life – botany – biotechnology, chemistry, and naturalis. Manuscript compiled by God is everywhere). Much of his so on – is underexploited. This needs A. H. Uggla, Uppsala. religious and ethical speculations were to be stressed to balance the current ➡ Linnaeus, C. 1736. Fundamenta made available only long after his somewhat one-sided message that the Botanica. death, when a collection of notes to his main justification for botanic gardens is ➡ Linnaeus, C. 1751. Carl Linnaei son was published as “Nemesis plant conservation. Sadly (as I consider Skånska resa: på höga öfverhetens Divina”. Here we are able to see the conservation important), I cannot credit befallning förrättad år 1749. dark aspects of Linnaeus, and it refutes Linnaeus with much insight in the latter Stockholm. the criticism that he was uninterested field, although he did emphasise the ➡ Linnaeus, C. 1751 (2003). in the social and political arena. significance of botanic gardens for Philosophia Botanica. Translated by education in a broad sense. However, S. Freer. Oxford. But did he “know” himself? As W. T. his naming system has greatly ➡ Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species Stearn points out (1971), Linnaeus facilitated communication between Plantarum, Stockholm. wrote his autobiography five times, and botanists working in botanic gardens ➡ Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema was obviously the human being he all over the world. Naturae, ed. 10, vol. 1. Stockholm. himself had studied most closely, and ➡ Sachs, J. 1875. Geschichte der so is the natural choice of type It is 300 years since Carl Linnaeus Botanik vom 16 Jahrhundert bis specimen for the species name Homo was born “when the cuckoo was 1860. München. sapiens. An additional guideline for the announcing the imminence of ➡ Stearn, W. T. In Blunt, W. 1971. choice of Linnaean types is that the summer”. In Sweden, Uppsala The Compleat Naturalist. A life of chosen element should conform to University, the Royal Swedish Academy Linnaeus. London. the original description accompanying of Sciences and the Swedish Linnean ➡ Winsor, M. P. 2006. Linnaeus’ the name. Society, and others, are collaborating biology was not essentialist. Ann. to highlight Linnaeus2007. The Missouri Bot. Gard. 93: 2-7. Botanic gardens and objective is to stimulate interest in Linnaeus2007 natural science among the young, Magnus Lidén where there has been a serious decline E-mail: [email protected] Hortus Upsaliensis (now Linnaeus’ in the last decade. The Tercentenary Postal address: Uppsala University Garden), laid out in 1655 by Olof has also prompted a general evaluation Botanical Garden, Rudbeck the Elder, was greatly of Linnaean material. Events, Villavägen 8, SE-752 36 Uppsala, transformed and enriched by Linnaeus. exhibitions, flower shows, tours and Sweden It was essential for his teaching, and festivities are planned all over Sweden, Tel: +46-18-4712830 important for his botanical works. His especially in Uppsala and indeed in Fax: +46-18-4712831 demonstrations in the garden were several other countries. Internet: http://www.botan.uu.se/ extremely popular, and could attract

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 07 Author: Charlie Jarvis

Linnaean names and their types: a permanent reference point

In day-to-day life, using common or 2006). As McNeill & Turland write in the vernacular names to communicate Preface to the ICBN, “Unambiguous about organisms can often work well names for organisms are essential for enough between people who share the effective scientific communication; same language, and who are familiar names can only be unambiguous if with the same geographical area. there are internationally accepted rules governing their formation and use”. However, there can be pitfalls. Use of the name “bluebell” in the United How binomials arose Kingdom can, depending on area, risk confusing the blue-flowered bulbous Before Linnaeus’ introduction of plant of deciduous woods binomials, organisms were given (Hyacinthoides non-scripta (L.) Rothm.) descriptive Latin names, which not with the low-growing bellflower of open only acted as a tag, but also described ground (Campanula rotundifolia L.). their features. These names were Horticulturally interesting groups of initially fairly brief, but, as more species plants, too, provide scope for became known, names became longer confusion, with the vernacular and more difficult to remember. “geranium” referring to a member of the genus Pelargonium (not to the crane’s-bill genus, Geranium), and “veronica” used to indicate species belonging to the genus Hebe (rather than the speedwell genus, Veronica). Above: It is essential for anyone studying and The type of working with living organisms to know These problems are only compounded Sarracenia flava their correct scientific names. As Peter when many different languages are L. is a Mark Raven of Missouri Botanical Garden (in involved, over a wide geographical Catesby Jarvis, 2007) writes, “Precise names are area. Hence the immense utility of the illustration. important because all of our food and binomial naming system introduced for © NHM most of our medicines come from plants by the Swedish physician Carl Right: plants, either directly or indirectly; the Linnaeus (1707-1778) in 1753. Still in The type of ecosystems that they dominate protect use today, it provides a fundamental Sagittaria our topsoil and regulate our framework for the scientific naming of lancifolia L. in watersheds, determine local climate, plants. Consisting of a genus name Linnaeus’ and absorb greenhouse gases and (e.g. Ginkgo) and a species name (e.g. herbarium in other pollutants. Moreover, we are just biloba) in Latin form, these binomials London. beginning to understand plants properly are used according to an internationally © Linnean at a molecular and cellular level, agreed set of rules which are laid out in Society of applications that demand precise ways the International Code of Botanical London (LINN) of naming and understanding them.” Nomenclature (ICBN) (McNeill & al.

08 BGCI • 2007 • BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) • 08-11 and establishes the name’s use. Any words themselves – the 18th century Left: Linnaeus’ name can be checked against its type saw the publication of the first Species specimen, and if two names are found dictionaries and encylopaedias. It was Plantarum (1753) to apply to the same species, the also a golden age of exploration – showing the earlier of them becomes the correct when James Cook departed on his account of name to use. Although the type system epic voyage around the world in 1768, Arbutus with the developed gradually from the middle of on board was the young Daniel species names the 19th century, it was not formally Solander, a favourite pupil of Linnaeus. (Unedo, adopted in a Code of Botanical Inspired by Linnaeus’ teaching, many acadiensis, alpina Nomenclature until 1930. of his students (known as the and Uva-ursi) “Apostles”) set off on journeys to placed in the America, to Egypt, to India and Japan, margin. collecting plants and seeds to take © NHM back to the great master in Sweden.

For example, what was known as Arbutus folio serrato (Arbutus with saw-toothed leaves) in 1623 had become Arbutus caule erecto, foliis glabris serratis, baccis polyspermis (Arbutus with upright stems, hairless, saw-toothed leaves and many-seeded berries) 130 years later. Linnaeus’ corresponding binomial (now cited followed by an abbreviation of the author’s name, in this case “L.”) was Arbutus unedo L. This idea proved so simple and useful that others started to coin their own names for species they were describing for the first time. By The Linnaean Plant Name Typification the 1770s, most biologists had Project, based at the Natural History adopted them and the majority are still Museum in London, has been working in use today. Linnaeus named more to establish type specimens than 9,000 plants, including most retroactively for the 9,000 plant names major crop and medicinal plants and of species (and a small number of many commercially important varieties) coined by Linnaeus, so that ornamentals, as well as numerous the names can be correctly used. When common tropical species, and most of the Project was set up in 1981, the common wild plants of Europe. His information on Linnaean typifications landmark work, Species Plantarum was widely scattered and it was not (1753), marks the starting point for the known how many names had been use of these names. typified. Many choices (typifications) had been published piecemeal over the The Type Method years, and in a wide variety of Linnaeus’ own travels were more Above: The type publications, so a major part of the modest. He knew his native Sweden of Alyssoides Linnaeus (1751) himself wrote in Project’s work has involved making a well, and lived in the Netherlands for utriculata (L.) Philosophia Botanica, “If you do not huge literature search in order to draw three years, making short trips to Medik. in know the names of things, the this information together. Germany, Paris and England during Linnaeus’ knowledge of them is lost too”. Today, that time. However, wherever he was, herbarium. stability in plant naming is established Linnaeus and his sources of he continued to observe and list and © LINN by what is known as the type method – information describe everything he saw, not just Above centre: when a new species is identified, a plants but also mammals, birds, fishes The type of dried, pressed specimen of the plant, Carl Linnaeus was a born and minerals, as well as people and Desmodium demonstrating its typical characters, is encyclopaedist in an age that fostered their habits and customs. He also nudiflorum (L.) preserved and designated as the and encouraged the methodical examined the herbaria of other DC. is a specimen “type” of the name that is published for cataloguing of everything, from the collectors, such as the North American collected by John it. The type specimen provides a organisms that make up the natural plants collected by John Clayton and Clayton in Virginia. permanent reference point for everyone world to the listing and defining of in the possession of Linnaeus’ friend © NHM

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 09 and we know from his letters that Linnaeus did not acquire Browne’s specimens until 1758, five years after Crescentia cujete was published. It follows that Browne’s specimen was not eligible to be selected as the lectotype, so the next choice (made by Wijnands 1983), of an illustration published by the English apothecary, Leonard Plukenet and cited by Linnaeus, is the lectotype of this name.

Above: Linnaeus’ Johan Gronovius in Leiden, and the methods is essential for anyone original account Ceylon collections made by Paul undertaking the task of analysing of Crescentia Hermann 70 years earlier. By 1746 Linnaean names and designating cujete L. (1753). Linnaeus had made a start on the work types. No specimens which is perhaps his most well-known, were cited but Species Plantarum. Then aged 39, he The literature survey revealed that there are had been collecting plants and around a quarter of all Linnaean names references to his recording them all his life and had had been the subject of typification, earlier Hortus written guides to the floras of Lapland but it was necessary to establish Cliffortianus and Sweden as well as books on his whether these type statements had (1738), and philosophical approach to botany and been validly chosen, and where more works by others accounts of the plants, native and non- than one type statement existed, which Designating new types including native, to be found on estates such as one should take priority. Before being Commelin, the Hartekamp in the Netherlands, accepted, each typification statement For the many names that, at the start Plumier, Plukenet home to the keen plantsman George was carefully assessed. It was of the Project, did not have a and Sloane. Clifford, which contained such exotics important to ensure that, for example, designated type, studies were made of © NHM as the banana. the chosen material was not collected the preserved specimens and after Linnaeus described the name (in illustrations that Linnaeus used. Right: In other words, when Linnaeus which case it clearly could not have Working in close collaboration with The type of described and classified plants, he was contributed to forming his concept of many hundreds of specialists in Ginkgo biloba L., drawing on a very wide range of the species he was naming). For different plant groups from around the the maidenhair sources of information, and his notion instance, in naming the the small world, we have designated type tree, in Linnaeus’ of what constituted a species could be tropical tree, Crescentia cujete L. specimens for well over two thousand herbarium. The very broad, taking in under a single (calabash) in 1753, Linnaeus used as more of his names. In concentrating on British name what we would regard today as a his sources a number of published some of the larger flowering plant horticulturalist number of different species. Because descriptions and illustrations from groups (e.g. the families Apiaceae, James Gordon the 18th-century Swede did not work other authors (including one that is Asteraceae, Boraginaceae, sent living according to our modern type concept, identifiable as an entirely different Brassicaceae, Caryophyllaceae, material to only very rarely can we be sure that he species, Amphitecna latifolia (Mill.) Convolvulaceae, Cyperaceae, Linnaeus in based his concept of a particular Gentry). However, Linnaeus could not Ericaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, 1769. species on a single specimen (a have used the specimen (now in Orchidaceae, Poaceae, Ranunculaceae © LINN “holotype”). For names other than Linnaeus’ own herbarium at the and Rosaceae), type choices have these, it is necessary to choose a type Linnean Society of London (LINN)) that been published by nearly 200 (a “lectotype”) from among the Gentry (1974: 831) chose as the specialists from 34 different countries. specimens and illustrations that lectotype. This is because the material In addition, because Linnaean Linnaeus used in arriving at his is marked as having come from Patrick binomials are also the earliest for plant concept of the species in question. Browne (author of The Civil and Natural groups such as the ferns and fern- A good comprehension of his working History of Jamaica, published in 1756) allies, liverworts, lichens, some algae

10 BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) and some fungi, we have also A co-publication between the Linnean of the lichen names described by published detailed accounts of Society of London and the Natural Linnaeus. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 115: Linnaeus’ lichen (see Jørgensen et al. History Museum, this contains not only 261-405. 1994) and algal (see Spencer et al. in a detailed catalogue of all Linnaean ➡ McNeill, J. et al. 2006. International press) names. binomials for plants, it also details Code of Botanical Nomenclature Linnaeus’ own publications and those (Vienna Code). Regnum Vegetabile Linnaeus often drew his knowledge of of other botanists that contributed to 146: I-xviii, 1-568. species, particularly from tropical his understanding of plants. Significant ➡ Spencer, M., Irvine, L. M. & Jarvis, areas, from descriptions and plant collectors are enumerated, with C. E., in press. The typification of illustrations (for specimens were simply examples of important specimens from Linnaean names relevant to algal unavailable). As a consequence, about Linnaeus’, and other, herbaria. Its nomenclature. Taxon. 25 per cent of Linnaean names have publication coincides with the ➡ Wijnands, D. O. 1983. The Botany of Left: Caption: illustrations as their lectotypes. They tercentenary of Linnaeus’ birth. A the Commelins. Balkema, Jacket of “Order include, for example, threatened valuable contribution to the botanical Rotterdam. out of Chaos” by species such as Dracaena draco (L.) L. literature, it will be of use to students, Charlie Jarvis. (dragon tree), Prunus lusitanicus L. botanists, historians and Charlie Jarvis © LINN and subsp. lusitanicus (palo de loro), conservationists worldwide, and E-mail: [email protected] NHM Cedrela odorata L. (Central American another aid to nomenclatural stability. Postal address: Department of cedar) and Santalum album L. For further information, see Book Botany, Natural History Museum, Below: The type (sandalwood). notices and taxonomic resources. Cromwell Road, London of the cactus SW7 5BD, UK Selenicereus The majority, however, do have Internet: (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/ grandiflorus (L.) herbarium specimens as their types. researchcuration/projects/linnaean Britton & Rose Although many of these are found in -typification) is in the Linnaeus’ own herbarium (LINN), e.g. Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5000 herbarium of the Datisca cannabina L. (false hemp), Fax: +44 (0)20 7942 5529 Anglo-Dutch Ginkgo biloba L. (maidenhair tree), horticulturalist, Isoplexis (Digitalis) canariensis (L.) George Clifford. Loud. (cresto de gallo) and Drosera © NHM rotundifolia L. (round-leaved sundew), others can be found in additional herbaria that were studied by Linnaeus. Examples include the type of the night- flowering cactus, Selenicereus grandiflorus (L.) Britton & Rose in the herbarium of the Anglo-Dutch banker and plantsman, George Clifford, now at the Natural History Museum in London (BM), and those of Mandragora officinalis L. (mandrake) and Parnassia palustris L. (Grass of Parnassus), which are in Joachim Burser’s herbarium in Uppsala (UPS). Some, such as Acknowledgements Epifagus virginiana (L.) W. Bart. (beechdrops) are in John Clayton’s The generous grant support of the herbarium of Virginian plants (BM), Linnean Society of London to the while others, e.g. Pavetta indica L. can Linnaean Plant Name Typification be found in Paul Hermann’s Ceylon Project is gratefully acknowledged. herbarium (BM). References Project Publications ➡ Gentry, A. H. 1974. Bignoniaceae. Much of the information we have In: R. E. Woodson & R. W. Schery, assembled during the Project is Flora of Panama. Ann. Missouri Bot. accessible online via the Natural Gard. 60: 781-977. History Museum website ➡ Jarvis, C. E. in press. Order out of (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research- Chaos - Linnaean Plant Names and curation/projects/linnaean-typification), their Types. Linnean Society of and May 2007 will see the publication London and Natural History of a major book, Order out of Chaos, Museum, London. a comprehensive, 1,200 page guide to ➡ Jørgensen, P. M., James, P. W. & Linnaean Plant Names and their types. Jarvis, C. E. 1994. The typification

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 11 Author: Vernon Heywood

Taxonomy and plant conservation

Some aspects of taxonomy and some time before such procedures are systematics, notably our knowledge of routinely applied. Another approach, the relationships of the flowering known as DNA barcoding, has been plants, have undergone dramatic heralded by some as a panacea for the developments in recent years, as the problem of accurate species result of the accumulation and analysis identification in the field, but the of molecular and phenetic data sets application is dependent on the basic Above: An ABI Human society is dependent for survival using cladistic and other methods classification of the groups concerned Prism automated on our performing daily, countless acts (Soltis et al. 2005). This has led to being available and the building up of a DNA sequencer of classification, both of the natural and drastic changes in the circumscription database of the sequence data of showing trnL-F physical world. As humans we are of some well known families and the correctly identified samples of known chloroplast DNA primarily dependent on visual inputs in merger of others. Thus, the inclusion of taxa against which new samples can sequences for our classificatory activities, in finding the the duckweeds, Lemnaceae, in the be compared. the endangered way around our environment and Araceae and of teak (Tectona) in a Isoplexis choosing which parts of biological recircumscribed Lamiaceae may be A parallel development to the (Digitalis) diversity suit our particular purpose, disconcerting for some. molecular advances has been the chalcantha and which explains the morphological bias revolution in computer capacity and relatives. in biological classification. A recent The realignment of families suggested the development of electronic systems (Photo: A. editorial in Science (Wheeler et al. 2004) as a result of molecular phylogenetic for databases and information systems Culham) noted that “Society has a growing need studies may be of considerable interest - biodiversity informatics - which have for credible taxonomic information in in comparing the floras or faunas of facilitated the availability, storage, order to allow us to conserve, manage, different areas and in determining their access and exchange of taxonomic understand, and enjoy the natural phyletic distinctiveness, but in practice and associated data. world”, yet there is widespread mistrust it seldom affects decisions on what to of the activities of taxonomists, and the conserve, where to conserve or how to In 2007 we shall be celebrating the state, aims, theory and practice of conserve. Of course, the same is true 300th anniversary of the birth of classification and taxonomy are the of much of the work published in Linnaeus, who laid the foundations for subject of almost endless debate (e.g. journals of conservation biology: it many of today’s taxonomic and Wortley et al. 2002; Vane-Wright 2003). rarely informs the decisions of, say, the nomenclatural procedures, although Much of the debate revolves around protected area manager. On the other now greatly modified and with a totally two fundamental issues - the hand, the use of DNA sequence and different scientific philosophy. It is relationship between taxonomic and finger-printing data can be remarkable that despite the major phylogenetic measures of diversity incorporated along with morphological molecular and bioinformatic (Humphries 2006) and between data at the species and infraspecific developments, the procedures of basic taxonomy and phylogenetic level in biodiversity assessment and taxonomy, such as field work, floristics, reconstruction (phylogenetic conservation (Caesar et al. 2006; herbarium studies and essentially systematics), and the nature and Culham 2006), for example, in morphological description and key delimitation of species. Added to this, determining more accurately which construction, with the results published another recent debate concerns the way populations of species to conserve. in stylised products such as Floras, in which taxonomists “do business”, as Although there are now many remain in use. In fact it was such front- Vane-Wright (2003) terms it. examples in the literature, it will be line work of morphologically based

12 BGCI • 2007 • BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) • 12-15 taxonomy carried out over the past two Of course, no-one would argue that the the main disciplines that led to its to three centuries that provided the pursuit of science should be emergence as a concept. Taxonomic basis and context that made the constrained by the need to be practical diversity is one of the main success of molecular systematics but, from its very origins, taxonomy components of biological diversity and possible and allowed the results to be has been a means of communicating the species is one of the most used communicated effectively, at least for information about the identity and also, units to measure it, although there are higher organisms. in folk classifications, the properties of of course many other measures that organisms (Heywood 1985), so by its can be applied. Concern has been expressed that very nature it comprises both purely molecular systematics and biodiversity scientific and practical aspects. This Of course, it does not help that several informatics have tended to draw effort can lead to conflicts where the science different species concepts - away from traditional taxonomic work leads to results that may be onerous to morphological/phenetic, biological, and reduce the number of students apply in practice, such as the evolutionary, phylogenetic - are who are willing to work in this area, acceptance of groups that are not currently in use by taxonomists and and the dying out of naturalists. This morphologically recognizable. what is more, there is little likelihood of could have very serious consequences Likewise, the application of certain reaching agreement on a unified for biodiversity conservation. It is species’ concepts and definitions concept in the foreseeable future notable that in the Global Strategy for where the criteria cannot readily be (Cracraft 2000). Because different Plant Conservation adopted by the met or would lead to consequences species are not equivalent in terms of Parties to the Convention on Biological unacceptable to many, such as the their evolutionary history, species Diversity (CBD), the emphasis is on multiplication of the number of species diversity is regarded as insufficient issues such as inventory, training and recognized, is clearly limited. This is when attempting to maximize the capacity building, not on research. not a new situation if one recalls the amount of phylogenetic diversity in the decades when the biological species selection of protected areas, and so- The social dimensions of concept dominated taxonomic called complementarity-based taxonomy thinking, although a majority of plant methods have been applied in a taxonomists did not in practice follow it number of instances to achieve this Should taxonomists be concerned (even though many claimed to do so!). (Rodrigues & Gaston 2002). about the the practical needs of the This gap between theory and practice various user groups of taxonomy? I was what I termed double-think - doing A recent editorial in Nature (29 have myself always insisted that one of one thing while professing to be doing September 2005), entitled “Bridging the aims of taxonomy is to provide a something else (Heywood 1983). the gulf”, calls for ecologists and service to the rest of biology, while conservationists to work more closely others regard such a requirement as Species have to be used by a wide with economists. Equally, efforts superfluous. For example, in presenting range of interest groups including should also be made to bridge the gulf what I termed a new paradigm for biodiversity and conservation between taxonomists, conservation taxonomy (Heywood 2001), I practitioners and as Cracraft (2000) biologists and practitioners. It seems suggested that, inter alia, it should be uncompromisingly states: surprising that the problems of socially responsive to the needs of “… we should be careful in seeking conservation have been largely society and be both scientifically sound justification for a particular species regarded as the concern of the and practicable. As I noted, “No concept if it cannot embrace the ecologist (and subsequently of the longer can taxonomists judge the value vagaries of real-world data with conservation biologist), while the of their work just by the reactions of aplomb. No hemming. No hawing. It taxonomist’s role has remained their taxonomic peers. As with other must work. This does not mean that somewhat vague, despite being key for branches of science in this post- we should abandon theory and our knowledge of the environment modernist world, a range of societal philosophy, ontology and (Heywood 1971, 1973b). Both groups needs has to be met”. This evoked the epistemology, individuality, reality, need to cooperate more closely: on the response from Schaal & Leverich pattern versus process, and all the one hand, taxonomists should consider (2001) that “We do not need to justify other notions that orbit around how they might contribute more our fields by making tenuous discussions of species concepts. But effectively to conservation planning connections to practical issues” and we must keep our feet firmly planted and on the other hand, “Early biosystematists would be very on the ground”. conservationists should be prepared to surprised at this turn to social familiarize themselves with the nature relevancy, since much of our Taxonomy, systematics and of the taxonomic process, its discipline’s research has traditionally biodiversity conservation advantages and limitations. It is often, been in the pursuit of pure science”. incorrectly, assumed that taxonomic Such a response contrasts with the Despite the disagreements about its knowledge will be available or at least theme of the Third BioNET- nature and aims and the difficulties of can be produced on demand for all INTERNATIONAL Global Taxonomy defining species and other taxa, groups that they work on. Workshop (3GTW) held in Pretoria, taxonomy has a pivotal role to play in Recommendations for closer South Africa: Partnerships for Demand- the assessment and conservation of cooperation between taxonomists and Driven Taxonomic Capacity Building. biological diversity and is in fact one of conservationists have been made by

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 13 Right: The ranges of the taxa concerned and their particles, and there are practical threatened degree of rarity. As Floras were not consequences to every species bromeliad designed for this purpose, Golding and concept if those elementary particles Vriesea Smith suggest a 13-point strategy to are not discovered and understood botafogensis facilitate this purpose, including: properly”. growing in the wild in • Stating if the plant is only known The consequences of inaccurate Brazil. Although from the type specimen taxonomy can be serious or even fatal. formerly • Citing as many collections/localities Accurate taxonomic information is an regarded as a as possible so as to give a general essential underpinning for much work synonym of indication of the frequency of the in biological conservation. Correct V. saundersii it Golding & Timberlake (2003), Heywood taxon identification of species is an essential is now again (2003a), Lowry & Smith (2003), Leadlay • Citing endemic status within the step in many conservation strategies recognized as and Jury (2006) and others. area concerned as it provides not only the key to the a distinct • Giving as much information as associated literature but establishes species. (Photo: It is not normally realized, especially by possible of the distribution and the basis for repeatability (Miller et al. Claudio Ricardo decision makers, just how incomplete habitat data, especially in the case 1989). The value of accessions in Peixoto is the inventory and state of knowledge of endemics botanic gardens, for example, depends França) for most groups of organisms and that • Citing collections from National critically on their correct identification if the vast majority of species described Parks if possible they are to be used as conservation in the literature are “herbarium” or resources or as reference material, a “museum” species, based on a small Whatever reservations one may have requirement not, alas, met by many number of often unrepresentative about such a strategy, the point made collections. samples (often just the original is a valid one that taxonomists should collection), about which we only know consult more often with conservation The use of classifications in Floras and a few morphological facts, and their colleagues about the ways in which handbooks is bedevilled by problems existence as coherent, repeatable they (and their products) might be of synonymy which can be confusing population-based phenomena is only made more useful for a range of to many users. It is simply an historical suppositional (Heywood, 1988: 48). conservation purposes. fact that the same species or other Completion of the inventory has been taxon can have several to many given high priority by the CBD and the A particular case where taxonomic synonyms. Failure to understand the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation tools such as Floras and Faunas are significance of synonymy can have gives as Target 1 for the year 2010: A critical for conservation is in the unexpectedly serious consequences. widely accessible working list of known preparation of lists of threatened plant species, as a step towards a species (Red Data Lists or Red Books). The potentially serious consequences of complete world flora. Even for such In fact, it is the lack of taxonomic mistaken designation of synonyms at well-studied groups as the Flowering information that has been largely the specific and infraspecific level are Plants, little is known of the majority of responsible for the dearth of threat pointed out by Leme (2003), who notes species apart from some basic facts of assessments for species in tropical that they can lead to “nominal their morphology and localization: for countries. A much closer alliance extinction” through their disappearance most of them, their demography, should be established between Red from official endangered species lists reproductive biology, breeding system, List authorities and taxonomists and I and inclusion in ecological or floristic genetic variability and so on is have suggested (Heywood 2003b) that studies, so that they do not benefit from unstudied. Yet the fact is that for many consideration should be given to conservation action. For example, the purposes, conservationists require nominating a Taxonomic Focal Point or bromeliad Vriesea botafogensis Mez., information beyond identification and Centre in countries where Standard which is endemic to the cities of Niterói description of species such as data on Floras and identification manuals are and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and breeding and movement of species. outdated or non-existent. threatened with extinction by human This has led to calls for taxonomists to activities, was reduced to a synonym of take into account the needs of While much effort has been made in another species endemic to Rio de conservation in designing Floras and recent years to improve the criteria for Janeiro, V. saundersii (Carrière) Mez in other taxonomic outputs. Golding & the definition of the IUCN categories of 1955 and thus could have become Smith (2001), for example, note that threat, little attention has been paid to extinct by nomenclaturally caused Flora volumes are a prime resource for the problems posed by the different neglect until it was restored as a the preparation of Red Data Books and species concepts used by different separate species in 1994. are relied upon, along with herbarium authors, let alone the major Synonymy is a major deterrent to the specimens, as a source of data for this development in taxonomic thinking in use of taxonomic data and this is likely purpose, especially in many developing recent decades. This need is well put to continue for many years until countries. They point out that Floras by Cracraft (2000), who reminds us adequate synonymic checklists are (and for animals, Faunas) are often that “systematics is the fundamental available for all countries or regions. The used to make best estimates and science of biodiversity … and species increasing use of electronic databases inferences regarding the distribution are arguably systematics’ elementary and information systems is likely to

14 BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) provide some relief, in that information ➡ Cracraft, J. 2000. Species concept ➡ Leme, E. M. C. 2003. Nominal on a taxon may be achieved by entering in theoretical and applied biology: a extinction and the taxonomist’s a variety of names other than the systematic debate with responsibility: the example of currently accepted or “correct” one consequences. Pp. 3-14 In: Wheeler, Bromeliaceae in Brazil. Taxon 52: under the Code. Eventually, alternative Q. D. & Meier, R. (eds) 2000. Species 299-302. classifications will be offered so that a Concepts and Phylogenetic Theory: ➡ Lowry, P. P. & Smith, P. P. 2003. species will no longer necessarily A Debate. Columbia University Closing the gulf between botanists belong to just one higher taxon in any Press, New York. and conservationists. Conservation classificatory system. ➡ Golding, J. S. & Timberlake, J. Biology 17: 1175-1176. 2003. How taxonomists can bridge ➡ Miller, D. R., Rossman, A. Y. & Conclusion the gap between taxonomy and Kirkbride, J. H. 1989. Systematics, conservation science. Conservation diversity, and germplasm. In: It is incontestable that the conservation Biology 17: 1177-1178. Knutson, Ll. & Stoner, A. K. (eds), and sustainable use of biodiversity ➡ Golding, J. S. & Smith, P. P. 2001. A Beltsville Symposia in Agricultural requires accurate taxonomic 13-point flora strategy to meet Research [13] Biotic Diversity and knowledge of its components. conservation strategies. Taxon 50: Germplasm Preservation. Global However, taxonomic data alone will not 475-477. Imperatives. Pp. 3-11. Kluwer of course lead to effective action: ➡ Heywood, V. 1971. Preservation of Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, conservation also depends on the European flora - The Boston & London. multidisciplinary cooperation that taxonomist’s role. Bulletin du Jardin ➡ Rodrigues A. S. L. & Gaston, K. J. includes taxonomy, and political will. Botanique National de Belgique 41: 2002. Maximising phylogenetic While this may seem self-evident, it 153-166. diversity in the selection of networks arises as part of the ongoing debate as ➡ Heywood, V. H. 1973. Ecological of conservation areas. Conservation to whether one ought to give priority to data in practical taxonomy. In: Biology 105: 103-111. conserving ecosystems or species, not Heywood, V. H. (ed.), Taxonomy and ➡ Schaal, B. A. & Leverich, W. J. 2001. that they are alternatives. For example, Ecology. Pp. 329-347. Academic Plant population biology and Brooks et al. (2004) argue for species Press, London & New York. systematics. Taxon 50: 679-695. data being a better option for planning ➡ Heywood, V. H. 1983. The ➡ Soltis, D. E., Soltis, P. S., Endress, P. protected areas than relying on broad- mythology of taxonomy. K. & Chase, M. W. 2005. Phylogeny scale attributes, a viewpoint vigorously Transactions of the Botanical and Evolution of Angiosperms. rebuffed by Cowling et al. (2004), who Society of Edinburgh 44: 79-94. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland comment that data do not save ➡ Heywood, V. 1985. Linnaeus - the Mass. species. On the other hand, without an conflict between science and ➡ Vane-Wright, R. I. 2003. Indifferent accurate knowledge of species, much scholasticism. In: Weinstock, J. philosophy versus Almighty of conservation will be in the dark. (ed.), Contemporary Perspectives on Authority: on consistency, Linnaeus. Pp. 1-15. University Press consensus and unitary authority. References of America, Lanham, New York & Systematics and Biodiversity 1: 3-11. London. ➡ Wheeler, Q. D., Raven, P. H. & ➡ Brooks, T. M., da Fonseca, G. A. B ➡ Heywood, V. H. 1988. The structure Wilson, E. O. 2004. Taxonomy: & Rodrigues, A. S. L. 2004. of systematics. In: Hawksworth, D. impediment or expedient? Science Protected areas and species. L. (ed.) Prospects in Systematics. 303: 285. Conservation Biology 18: 616-617. Pp. 44-56. Clarendon Press, Oxford ➡ Wheeler, Q. D. & Meier, R. (eds) 2000. ➡ Caesar, R. M., Sörensson, M. & (1989). Species Concepts and Phylogenetic Cognato, A. I. 2006. Integrating ➡ Heywood, V. H. 2001. Floristics and Theory: A Debate. Columbia DNA data and traditional taxonomy monography - an uncertain future? University Press, New York. to streamline biodiversity Taxon 50: 361-380. ➡ Wortley, A. H., Bennett, J. R. & assessment: an example from ➡ Heywood, V. 2003a. Meeting the Scotland, R. W. 2002. Taxonomy edaphic beetles in the Klamath demands for taxonomic information and phylogeny reconstruction: two ecoregion, California, USA. Diversity from users in conservation and distinct research agendas in and Distributions 12: 483-489. genetic resources. Phytologia systematics. Edinburgh Journal of ➡ Cowling, R. M., Knight, A. T., Faith, Balcanica 9: 425-433. Botany 59: 335-349. D. P., Ferrier, S., Lombard, A. T., ➡ Heywood, V. 2003b. Red Listing - Driver, A., Rouget, M., Maze, K. & too clever by half? Plant Talk 31: 5. Vernon Heywood Desmet, P. G. 2004. Conservation ➡ Humphries, C. J. 2006. Measuring E-mail: [email protected] Biology 18: 1674-1676. diversity. In: Leadlay, E. & Jury, S. Postal address: Centre for Plant ➡ Culham, A. C. 2006. Molecular (eds), Taxonomy and Plant Diversity & Systematics, School of systematics: measuring and Conservation. Pp. 141-161. Biological Sciences, Plant Science monitoring diversity. In: Leadlay, E. Cambridge University Press, Laboratories, Whiteknights, & Jury, S. (eds), Taxonomy and Plant Cambridge. Reading RG6 6AS, UK, Conservation. Pp. 236-254. ➡ Leadlay, E. & Jury, S. (eds), Taxonomy Tel: +44 (0) 118 978 0185 Cambridge University Press, and Plant Conservation. Cambridge Fax: +44 (0) 118 989 1745 Cambridge. University Press, Cambridge. Internet: www.biosci.rdg.ac.uk

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 15 Author: Tim Entwisle

Botanical buffet - the importance of living collections for plant systematics

Botanic gardens have plenty of uses, but I want to talk about just one aspect here: how important are the living collections for systematics and taxonomic research? As the head of a major world botanic garden, I often pontificate on the importance of the collection for science. The link to horticulture (and the development and maintenance of cultivars) is relatively easy to explain. The link to conservation is also relatively straightforward (see Makinson 2006), although often overplayed in terms of the ex situ importance of the living collection seen by most visitors. But do we need the collection for systematics, for discovering how plants have evolved, their relationships, and how they are best classified? Well, yes we do.

Firstly let me narrow the definition down a little. Prompted by Makinson (2006), I will exclude seedbanks and other forms of storing genetic material (e.g. tissue collections), and discuss only the whole plants that populate our botanic gardens. These are what Makinson calls “whole-plant live collections”, and which I will lazily call “living collections”. Systematics science and botanic gardens have had Right: Alloxylon a close association since the time of pinnatum at Linnaeus, but why, and is this link still Mount Tomah relevant? Botanic Garden, Sydney. (Photo: I can think of a dozen, somewhat Botanic Gardens overlapping, reasons why living Trust, Jaime collections are important for Plaza) systematics but have grouped them

16 BGCI • 2007 • BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) • 16-20 here into three main areas. These are: the range of material, the value of living material and the access to other information. Hay and Herscovitch (1997) covered some of the same ground in their passionate plea for the responsible sharing of living collections. Like them, I’ve drawn examples from the science programs at the Botanic Gardens Trust to illustrate my points.

Range of material

A botanic garden collects together plants from many different places and grows them in a relatively contained area (although up to 400 ha in the case of our Mount Annan Botanic Garden, or 900 ha for the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in southern China…). This provides easy access to a wide range of living plants and efficiencies in sampling. So our systematist can observe and sample a great diversity of plants in the one place. This saves the costs of organizing extensive field trips which may or may not be successful.

Our understanding of plant diversity is organised around plant families. Over years to complete and we would have even extensive field collecting. A large Above: Rock 80 per cent of the approximately 450 a much poorer knowledge of the number of genera can sometimes be Garden at families are easy to recognize and are, phylogeny of angiosperms today if the sampled in one place. Darren Crayn, a Mount Tomah for the most part, thought to be rich living collections held by botanic systematist at the Botanic Gardens Botanic Garden, monophyletic. The Angiosperm gardens around the world, including Trust, made extensive use of the Sydney Phylogeny Group has rebuilt the those in Sydney, were not available for collections held at Marie Selby featuring evolutionary tree for flowering plants this research. Botanical Gardens in Florida, when he proteas. (Photo: from molecular data (Chase et al. 1993) was working as a post-doc at the Botanic Gardens which is helping us understand the Botanic Gardens Trust scientist Peter Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Trust, Jaime taxonomy of plant families. Almost half Weston and his colleagues have in Panama. He identified CAM Plaza) of the 499 species sampled in the 1993 published extensively on the phylogeny (crassulacean acid metabolism, usually paper, representing about 265 families, and biogeography of the iconic found in plants living under arid were from botanic gardens (in later southern hemisphere family conditions) photosynthesis by papers the percentage was even Proteaceae. For their paper on South measuring C12 to C13 ratios (reflecting higher, driven partly by Mark Chase’s African Proteaceae (Barker et al. 2002), the different enzymes used in CAM and move to the Royal Botanic Gardens, all but a couple of the 50 species C3 photosynthesis, and their different Kew). It would have taken many more sampled were from botanic gardens in affinities for C13) in 56 of the 57 genera South Africa and Australia - many are of Bromeliaceae, and 1,873 of the rare and difficult to sample in the wild. approximately 2,890 species. Crayn Left: Bromeliads found that CAM photosynthesis and in the Tropical Botanic gardens also hold unique the epiphytic habit had evolved several Centre at Royal collections of species or variants which times. At least 90 per cent of the taxa Botanic Gardens no longer exist in the wild (e.g. sampled were from living collections Sydney. (Photo: Sophora toromiro from Easter Island), (Crayn et al. 2004), so this work was Botanic Gardens or are inaccessible due to political or made practically possible by collecting Trust, Jaime regulatory constraints. from botanic gardens. Plaza)

There is often more variety in botanical There is also an opportunity cost in not material available, particularly at the bringing plant material into cultivation. generic level, in a botanic garden than Our systematist can swan along the would be possible to access through Amazon or the Roper and collect bits

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 17 Right: Proteaceae garden. (Photo: Botanic Gardens Trust, Jaime Plaza)

and pieces of intriguing new species, results of the analysis supported Associate, Alistair Hay, grew and but we don’t know what will be useful continental breakup (from Gondwana) studied extensive collections of aroids in 10 or a 100 years’ time. We don’t and climate change as the key drivers as part of his detailed monograph of a know what bit of the plant might behind the present diversity of genus of the Araceae (e.g. Hay & provide useful data once back in the waratahs and where they occur in the Yuzammi 2000). The accuracy of the laboratory examining our pickings. We Southern Hemisphere. taxonomy relied on detailed add value by collecting propagation observations on developing flowers, material and maintaining that plant in Systematists can observe a plant including their colour, odour and pollen the living collection. There is a cost, of throughout its life history, seeing shed. Inflorescences are difficult to find course, in caring for any plant features that may not be visible at the in the field, and a single herbarium introduced into a botanic garden, but time of a field visit (e.g. buds, flowers, collection will rarely include all stages there is often a greater cost in not fruits…). They can also watch how of development. introducing it when you have the fruits develop, how a flower opens or opportunity… even the germination of seed and its It is usually easier to sample in a early growth. Ken Hill and Lawrie botanic garden than in the natural Value of living material Johnson used seedlings grown at the habitat, the hard work having been Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney to done already by the original collector. Many characters, e.g. morphology, help formulate their incisive views on Our systematist can choose a day to chemistry (including genetic markers), the classification of Australian suit the diary, or work around the chromosomes, and so on, are best eucalypts, including rearrangements to flowering time of the plant (which may examined from living material. It is the generic and subgeneric be well recorded or which can be usually easier to sample in a botanic classification (e.g. Hill & Johnson 1995). monitored by a colleague at the garden than in the natural habitat and a botanic garden). The scientists cited botanic garden may be able to provide Most systematists value living here all work in the botanic gardens of more material than is available in the collections as an adjunct to extensive the Botanic Gardens Trust in Sydney, wild. herbarium collections. A plant that is and are just part of the expertise taken directly from the wild and available. In a recent treatment of the waratahs preserved is a true representative of (Telopea and its relatives), 14 of the 16 the taxon and will provide information A botanic garden may also be able to taxa examined were grown in botanic to many generations of taxonomists. provide more material than is available gardens, making it straightforward to However, examination of a living plant in the wild. This can be particularly true assess characters from leaf anatomy helps to avoid misinterpretation and of a species that is rare or difficult to and floral development using living misunderstanding of the morphology. sample in its natural habitat. For material (Weston & Crisp 1994). The Botanic Gardens Trust Honorary example, there are fewer than 100

18 BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) individuals surviving in the natural such as the morphology of the extractions, photographs), may also be habitat of the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia indumentum are known to be available. All papers cited here have nobilis) near Sydney. These relictual environmentally variable in many fern used data from the various living populations are protected to stop the genera. John Thomson (see above) collections databases to help locate introduction of life-threatening fire and used a “standardised environment” to the plant material they have utilised - disease. For over ten years the help him define morphological groups its origins as well as its location in a collections held by the Botanic of bracken that matched the results of botanic garden. Gardens Trust have been used to study his extensive molecular sequencing not only the pine’s biology and work. He has also been able to use Taxonomists need access to ecology, but also its surprising these standard conditions to test the collections of preserved plants phylogeny and classification. The use of chemicals such as ptaquilosides (herbarium and spirit collections) and a Wollemi Pine is the only species in the for their use as characters in taxonomy good botanical library if they are to third living genus (Wollemia) of the (Smith et al. 1994). supply good species descriptions and conifer family Araucariaceae. It has distribution information, identification features in common with the other Mycologists from the Botanic Gardens tools and sound nomenclature. At the living genera Agathis and Araucaria as Trust Sydney in Australia, and the Botanic Gardens Trust, our three key well as with Cretaceous and early University of Stellenbosch in South scientific assets are the living Tertiary fossil groups such as Africa (Crous et al. 2000) made good collections on all our estates, the Araucarioides. A successful use of the living collections of four specimens in the National Herbarium propagation research programme has botanic gardens in Tasmania and New of New South Wales, and the books, responded to the great demand from South Wales to make a first cut of the archives and other materials held in the gardens around the world. This fungal diversity on the leaves of Royal Botanic Gardens Library. While research is based on the botanic Australian Proteaceae. Brett efforts are being made to make label gardens’ collection. Summerell, from the Trust, notes that information and images of preserved what would have taken many months specimens available on the web, and John Thomson, an Honorary Associate and considerable resources to sample an increasing amount of scientific with the Botanic Gardens Trust, from natural habitats, was completed literature is available on-line means needed to repeatedly sample in less than a week, and examining that some of these data may be specimens of bracken (Pteridium) to living material was quicker than available in the field, it’s not quite the improve his extraction technique for examining dried material. Their same - at least not yet. DNA fingerprinting, in order to resolve research gives us a snapshot of the the complex network of hybrids and fungal species likely to occur in the Much of the best information is held in polyploids obscuring the species level natural habitats of the host species. the minds of our scientists, taxonomy in this genus (Thomson horticulturalists, teachers and other 2000). Herbarium material of bracken is Importantly, the botanic gardens staff and associates. Together they are typically very fragmentary - sometimes collection is a potentially sustainable perhaps the fourth great scientific just a few pinnae from an unspecified source of scientific material and takes asset of the Botanic Gardens Trust. part of the frond and a piece of stipe. the pressure off wild material. A Botanic gardens around the world will Professor Thomson used the extensive collection can also be part of an either have their own experts in living collections which he had educational or horticultural display; the particular plant groups or can locate assembled to look at complete fronds, continued growing of the individuals someone close by. and all the fronds at all stages of and/or their offspring should be development. He found that the pinnae relatively economical as well. Conclusion on each frond form a Mandelbrot series, and that the basal (or near Access to other information So this “botanical buffet” is a basal) pinnae are the most reliable for wonderful thing. Is there a chance that comparative morphometric purposes Botanic gardens are institutions it is an expensive indulgence? It is (Thomson et al. 2005). It can be dedicated to research into plant important to have a focussed difficult to accurately locate the diversity. Their facilities and staff collections policy so there is a wide position of a pinna on a frond from the underpin systematic research. range of species (not only those that dried fragments held in herbaria. by chance are maintained in our By checking the database (whether on botanic gardens collections), be aware By growing a wide range of closely computer, on cards, or in the heads of that the collection might be a limited related species together, botanic experts, or any combination of these), genetic subset grown in gardens, be gardens can provide “standard our systematist can find out quickly aware of possible errors in record conditions”, allowing the morphology whether a plant is held in a given keeping translated into our thinking, and chemistry of plants to be Botanic Garden or not, and if it has and so on. But on balance, the compared without local variations in reached a stage when it displays convenience and potential of the living the environment. Conditions can be critical features (such as flowers or collections in our botanic gardens are controlled even more strongly in fruits). Additional information, such as too important to ignore, or indeed take glasshouses for experimental studies. what other scientific information may for granted. For example, key diagnostic characters exist (e.g. herbarium collections, DNA

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 19 Right: Amorphophallus titanum. (Photo: Botanic Gardens Trust, Simone Cottrell)

Systematics is all the better for having ➡ Crous, P. W., Summerell, B. A., cultivated worldwide collection held these collections at its disposal. The Taylor, J. E. & Bullock, S. 2000. in Sydney, Australia. Natural Toxins crux of this relationship is good record Fungi occurring on Proteaceae in 2: 347-353. keeping that allows the systematist to Australia: selected foliicolous ➡ Thomson, J. A. 2000. Morphological relate his or her findings back to the species. Australasian Plant and genomic diversity in the genus natural world - the botanic garden is a Pathology 29: 267-278. Pteridium (Dennstaedtiaceae). Annals great surrogate as long as the primary ➡ Hay, A. & Herscovitch, C. 1997. of Botany 85 (Suppl. B): 77-99. data is accurate. And the better the Living collections and taxonomy of ➡ Thomson, J. A., Chikuni, A. C. & systematics, the better decisions we Malesian Araceae: a basis for McMaster, C. S. (2005). The can make about the wise use and conservation. Conservation into the taxonomic status and relationships management of our natural world (but 21st Century - Proceedings of the of bracken ferns (Pteridium: that’s another story). 4th International Botanic Gardens Dennstaedtiaceae) from sub- Conservation Congress (Eds. Saharan Africa. Botanical Journal of References Touchell, D. H., Dixon, K. W., the Linnean Society 148: 311-321. George, A. S. & Wills, R. T.) pp. 301- ➡ Weston, P. H. & Crisp, M. D. 1994. ➡ Barker, N. P., Weston, P. H., Rourke, 307. (BGCI, London.) Cladistic biogeography of waratahs J. P. & Reeves, G. 2002. The ➡ Hay, A. & Yuzammi 2000. (Proteaceae: Embothrieae) and their relationships of the southern African Schismatoglottideae (Araceae) in allies across the Pacific. Australian Proteaceae as elucidated by internal Malesia I - Schismatoglottis. Telopea Systematic Botany 7: 225-249. transcribed spacer (ITS) DNA 9: 1-177. sequence data. Kew Bulletin 57: ➡ Hill, K. D. & Johnson, L. A. S. 1995. Tim Entwisle 867-883. Systematic studies in the eucalypts, E-mail: [email protected]. ➡ Chase M. W., Soltis D. E., Olmstead 7. A revision of the bloodwoods, gov.au R. G. et al. 1993. Phylogenetics of genus Corymbia (Myrtaceae). Postal address: Botanic Gardens seed plants: an analysis of nucleotide Telopea 6: 185-504. Trust (including Royal Botanic sequences from the plastid gene ➡ Makinson, R. O. 2006. Botanic Gardens, Domain, Mount Tomah rbcL. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Gardens and Conservation. In Plant Botanic Garden and Mount Annan Garden 80: 528-580. Conservation Genetics, ed. R. J. Botanic Garden) Mrs Macquaries ➡ Crayn, D., Winter, K. & Smith, J. A. Henry, pp. 75-90, The Haworth Road, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia C. 2004. Multiple origins of Press, New York. Tel: +61-2-9231 8112 crassulacean acid metabolism and ➡ Smith, B. L., Seawright, A. A, Ng, J. Fax: +61-2-9251 4403 the epiphytic habit in the C., Hertle, A. T., Thomson, J. A. & Internet: www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au Neotropical family Bromeliaceae. Bostock, P. D. 1994. Concentration Proceedings of the National of ptaquiloside, a major carcinogen Academy of Sciences of the United in bracken fern (Pteridium spp.), States of America 101: 3703-3708. from eastern Australia and from a

20 BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) • 14-18 Author: Charlotte M. Taylor

Taxonomy is the tool that measures plant diversity – and our level of knowledge

A species without a name does not indexes yet more information about our flowing in rapidly for tropical plants. exist in terms of science and plant - the diseases that attack its Tropical regions are areas of high conservation. Each plant species has a relatives and so might also attack our priority for conservation work because unique scientific name that is the tag plant, poisonous chemicals or drugs of their rich biodiversity and the rapid that allows it to be found, counted, those other species contain that might rates of habitat destruction; and researched, and monitored, and the be found in our plant too, or other ironically, tropical organisms are very index key that retrieves everything we species that might be crossed with our much less known scientifically than know about it from the Internet, books, plant to introduce resistance traits. temperate organisms. As a result, studies, databases and specimens. taxonomy and conservation run up The specimens in turn document the Taxonomy is the same as other areas against each other in these regions, physical attributes of the plant, and its of biology: it is only as good as the where the plants are being catalogued geographic distribution. available information. More information and identified scientifically at the same is always useful, and sometimes makes time as these areas are being urgently Taxonomy is the work that gives the us change our minds; in taxonomy a assessed for conservation priority and plant its scientific name and classifies change based on new information management. it among all the other plants in the takes the form of a change in scientific world. The classification encodes name. Thus as new information flows South America is estimated to have information about which other species in, names sometimes change in one of the richest floras in the world, if are related to our plant, and thus response; and new information is not the richest of all. The estimates of its plant richness vary widely depending on who does the estimate, Left: Nototriche as do counts of plant species for hartwegii is a individual tropical countries, parks and herb of the other sites. Generally the estimate of Mallow family species number for a tropical site that has starts with a count of the species recently been already known from there, and found in the extrapolates to add some proportion of high Andes species expected to be discovered Mountains of there in the future. This discovery rate Ecuador, adding is relatively high for tropical areas, with another species discoveries coming from both boots- to the country’s on-the-ground exploration and detailed flora. (Photo: taxonomic study of the plants the Carmen Ulloa explorers collect there. Exploration Ulloa) takes different forms; one widely used approach in South America is the Rapid Biological Inventory (RAP), which documents the plants found, with dried scientific specimens being made for later taxonomic study. RAP inventories

BGCI • 2007 • BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) • 21-23 21 1. “New Records”, or range extensions, are species that are already known to science from other regions, which have now been newly discovered in this particular country. These all constitute additions to the country’s known plant diversity. These additions depend on good taxonomic knowledge of the whole regional flora, so the same species can be identified throughout the region. Knowing these regional patterns of species distributions is essential for evaluation of the biological uniqueness of an area, and these range extensions often extend or refine the limits of areas of conservation concern.

2. “Taxonomic Changes” result when our improved knowledge of a plant species shows that it needs a different name. These are therefore changes in Above: Páramo make specimens because good measured for two of its most the scientific name but not usually in del Cajas lies taxonomic knowledge of an area’s botanically rich countries, Ecuador and the identities or number of the species above the plants is absolutely basic to a good Peru. A comprehensive catalogue of in the area, and thus do not change the treeline in the conservation assessment. Knowing all the plant species known from each diversity estimates for the flora. These Andes the level of taxonomic knowledge of country was published first for Peru changes do indicate our level of Mountains of the region is just as essential for (Brako & Zarucchi, 1993), then shortly knowledge of the plants: more changes Ecuador, and is conservation as understanding its afterwards for Ecuador (Jørgensen & indicate that our knowledge is where geology and history of human León-Yánez, 1999). Aferwards all the increasing. Nototriche occupation. subsequent taxonomic changes for hartwegii grows. these countries’ plants were tracked Some taxonomic changes arise from (Photo: Carmen One measure of an area’s level of and compiled (Peru: Ulloa et al., 2004; the unfortunate discovery that two Ulloa Ulloa) taxonomic knowledge is its rate of Ecuador: Ulloa & Neill, 2005). The plants in different regions actually change. The rate of change in our original checklist numbers and belong to the same species, so taxonomic knowledge of South subsequent taxonomic changes are although they previously had two American plants has recently been summarized below: different names, now they have only one name and the other name is subsumed, or “synonymized”, under the first name. Number of Area (km2) Elapsed Number of Percent Other taxonomic changes arise when Species Time Changes Change new information shows that the previous classification was not correct, Ecuador 15,901 276,840 5 years 1,246 8% and the plant now needs to be “moved” Peru 17,143 1,280,000 10 years 1,845 11% to a new genus or a new family. Such name changes can be frustrating to a field biologist – but can assist in finding The number of changes show specifically the improvement in knowledge of the close relatives of that plant, which may flora of each country: about what plant species grow there, and about what these possess for example, resistance genes plants “are” - widespread common species, local endemic species, rare species for a devastating fungus. of conservation concern, invasive plants, living fossils, species of economic importance, etc. 3. “New Species” are plants that are presented to science for the very first Where do these taxonomic changes come from? There are three categories of time, by receiving their first scientific changes, which are shown below as the number of species in each category description and their first scientific followed by the percentage this category comprises of the total number of name. Some of these are surprising changes for that country: organisms that have never been seen before; while others have been “hiding” inside known species, with the same New Records Taxonomic Changes New Species name being unknowingly applied to two different plants until a taxonomist Ecuador 337 (27%) 89 (7%) 820 (66%) found the confusion. The addition of Peru 669 (36%) 336 (18%) 840 (46%) new species directly increases the known diversity of the region.

22 BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) When our knowledge of a region’s If Peru may have more plant species in large part on the size of the taxonomic plants is deep, the names are generally than Ecuador does, why are the gap in South America vs. that of other stable, few new species are numbers of known species similar for regions. The number of species known discovered, and few significant range both countries? This indicates in part from various continents is not greatly extensions turn up. Thus a high rate of that Ecuador is probably better controversial, but the total estimated taxonomic change, as in the examples explored and known, and also that we richness depends also on the expected of Ecuador and Peru, shows that our are probably much closer to the rates of discovery for each region, and knowledge was limited; while relatively frontiers of taxonomy in Peru than in those rates are sometimes difficult to stable names, as for many temperate Ecuador. The scientific frontier here is estimate accurately. The African flora is European and North American plants, the difference between the high well enough known to confirm that shows that our knowledge is rather number of species that we expect to South America is more diverse. However good. The rate of taxonomic change find in Peru vs. the lower number of the level of knowledge of much of the thus provides a quick estimate of the species we have actually found. This flora of Asia and Oceania is probably level of knowledge on which taxonomic gap, or “taxonomic lower than that of South America, so the conservation assessments are being impediment”, is a gap in our taxonomic gap cannot even be based. knowledge: the plant species we know accurately estimated until taxonomy about now and the species yet to be advances in all of these regions. Do the numbers above indicate that discovered and named, which do not Peru is richer in plant species than yet “exist” scientifically. References Ecuador? Not necessarily, because Peru covers a much larger area than This taxonomic gap will never ➡ Alverson, W. S., L. O. Rodríguez & Ecuador so more plant species would completely close, but it will diminish in D. K. Moskovits (eds.), 2001. Rapid be expected to live there. Here in fact direct proportion to the amount of time Biological Inventories: 02: Peru: the generally similar numbers of species and effort applied to the study of the Biabo Cordillera Azul. The Field reported for these two countries plants of both these regions. In the Museum, Chicago. together with the large difference in meantime this taxonomic gap must be ➡ Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi, 1993. their areas actually suggest that the kept in mind, for both local work and Catalogue of the Flowering Plants plants of Peru are less well known than regional comparisons, as a confidence and Gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Ecuador’s flora. Looking at this in more limit for our knowledge of species Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45: 1- detail, RAP inventories of some richness and biodiversity. 1286. generally comparable areas in these ➡ Jørgensen, P. M. & S. León-Yánez two countries support this taxonomic This taxonomic gap exists for all (eds.), 1999. Catalogue of the impression that Peru may be more tropical floras, though its size varies Vascular Plants of Ecuador. Monogr. diverse botanically. For example, the widely between regions. Some on-line Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Garden 75: inventory of Serranías Cofá, Bermejo, indexes to the publication of new plant 1-1181. and Sinangoe in Andean Ecuador names allow simultaneous searches by ➡ Pitman, N., D. K. Moskovits, W. S. (Pitman et al., 2002) estimated 2,000- year of publication and country, which Alverson & R. Borman A. (eds.), 3,000 plant species for the region, while allow comparable estimates to be 2002. Rapid Biological Inventories: the inventory of the Río Biabo-Cordillera made for the rate of taxonomic change 03. Ecuador: Serranías Cofán, Azul region in Peru (Alverson et al., in different regions. An example is the Bermejo, Sinangoe. The Field 2001) was done by the same team with World Checklist of Selected Plant Museum, Chicago. the same methodology around the Families of the Royal Botanic Gardens, ➡ Ulloa Ulloa, C., J. L. Zarucchi & B. same time and estimated 4,000-6,000 Kew, England: http://www.rbgkew. León, 2004. Diez años de adiciones plant species for that region. org.uk/wcsp/home.do Only selected a la flora del Perú: 1993-2003. families are indexed here, but this Arnaldoa, Ed. Espo. Does the higher number of taxonomic information provides a preliminary ➡ Ulloa Ulloa, C. & D. A. Neill, 2005. changes indicate that Peru has more estimate of the recent rate of Cinco Años de adiciones a la flora active taxonomic work underway, and taxonomic change for a given region. del Ecuador, 1999-2004. Missouri thus our knowledge of its flora is However the information in this type of Botanical Garden, Universidad better? Not necessarily, because the index does not track range extensions, Técnica Particular de Loja, & larger number of taxonomic changes nor indicate the starting level of Funbotánica, Ecuador. for Peru’s plants suggests that actually knowledge of the regional flora. That the flora was less well known to begin sort of information depends on detailed Charlotte M. Taylor with, so more work was needed to taxonomic tracking of a particular flora, Postal address: Missouri Botanical bring its scientific understanding to the as done by Ulloa et al. (2004) and Ulloa Garden, P.O. Box 299, St Louis, same level as that of Ecuador’s flora. & Neill (2005). MO 63166-0299 Thus probably the plant diversity E-mail: [email protected] assessments from Ecuador are more Looking again now from our taxonomic Tel: (314) 577 5100 taxonomically reliable because of the viewpoint at current estimates of species Fax: (314) 577 0820 apparently better knowledge of the richness, is South America really the flora. richest continent for plant diversity? We can now see that this answer depends

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 23 Authors: Karen L. Wilson and Frank A. Bisby

The Catalogue of Life: indexing the world’s species

Right: Grevillea A list of all organisms is a basic baileyana necessity for accessing and organising McGilliv., Scrub information about them worldwide - Beefwood, is a and that list is available now: right? tree species in Actually - wrong. Many people are the family astonished to discover that the Proteaceae. taxonomic profession has no comprehensive catalogue of all the world’s organisms, or even of all the world’s plants. Some ask: “Why can’t we just use the list of names in Index Kewensis?” Extremely valuable as that resource is, we argue here that IK is not what is needed by society and the biodiversity professions as a working list of plant species around the world.

The members of Species 2000 and the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) are collaborating to complete the Species 2000 and ITIS Secondly, the checklist also needs to The second requirement is important Catalogue of Life by 2011 to meet this reflect accurately the accepted because one of the principal uses of need. scientific name of each species, and the catalogue is for synonymic the synonyms, other scientific names indexing. As an example, specimens What kind of catalogue do we by which the species, or prior species identified under different names in need? now included in the present concept, different herbaria or gardens may be have been named in the past or in samples of the same species. This can What is needed is a functioning and other catalogues. be detected by using the synonymy, maintained species checklist that lists which in this case may indicate that as nearly as possible a consensus view Both these requirements are important two of the names are synonyms of the of all known species. It needs to for practical reasons of how the species now known by the third name. combine two extremely important catalogue can function. The first is Conversely, using the synonymy prior components that are not trivial to difficult to attain on a global scale, but to an Internet search may allow a user deliver. Firstly, it needs to reflect expert without it a species may accidentally to search for a species under all of the taxonomic opinion as to which distinct be in the list twice (under different different names by which it is known. species exist, and how each is names), or a broadly drawn species circumscribed. Where opinions are and its sub-components may It is estimated that the world has about divided, a consensus may not be accidentally be listed alongside each 1.75 million known and named living possible, but then one responsibly other. It means that there is just one species of plants, animals, fungi and chosen view should be given, and entry for each biological species, and micro-organisms, and that the number access provided to alternatives. that they can be counted. of vascular plants (flowering plants,

24 BGCI • 2007 • BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) • 24-29 conifers, cycads and ferns) is between impressive Index Kewensis, initially 2003). It is this expert input that 223,000 and 420,000 (Scotland and funded by a donation from Charles differentiates these global lists from Wortley 2003) and bryophytes number Darwin, and published in hard copy for nomenclators. There are many global about 25,000 species. People agree more than a century. It is now also lists, often in hard copy or handwritten that reliable, readily available, core available electronically as part of the on index cards, but increasingly they knowledge of the individual species International Plant Name Index (IPNI, are being put together electronically that inhabit this planet is central to www.ipni.org), supplemented by the and being made available on websites understanding biodiversity, conserving Australian Plant Names Index and the scattered around the world. Commonly it, and using it in a sustainable fashion. Gray Card Index, which provide more these lists include more than just the For example, a working list of all in-depth coverage of infraspecific species’ names - protologue and type organisms has been adopted by the names than Index Kewensis. For fungi, information and geographic distribution UN Convention on Biological Diversity there is Index Fungorum, for bacteria are the most common inclusions. as a target under the Global Taxonomy the List of Prokaryotic Names with Initiative (see COP-8 VIII, decision 3), Standing in Nomenclature and for Thirdly, there are regional checklists, and a working list of all plant species animals there is the Index to Organism which aim to cover all species in a was earlier adopted at COP-VI Names. region. These are often variable in (decision 9) as Target 1 of the Global terms of taxonomic content and Strategy for Plant Conservation. Secondly, there are global species validation, but may be rich in extra lists, in the electronic world referred to information about the occurrence and Access to all knowledge about a as Global Species Databases (GSDs), variation of the species in that region. species, whether it is a description of a term coined by Species 2000. These its features, geographical distribution, are, or aim to be, taxonomically All these sources of information ecological associations, genetic authoritative lists of all the known (electronic and hard copy) about composition, or its usefulness to species in a group, with any synonyms organisms are scattered and, until humans, can be provided by using the listed under the relevant accepted recently, it was difficult for people to species checklist and the synonymic names as a result of revision or readily find out the names of whatever indexing of the scientific names that scrutiny by one or more taxonomists species were of interest to them, or to provide unique tags to access the (see example Box 1). In flowering find further information about those data. plants, it is estimated that there are an species. One had to know where to average of three synonyms for each find the sources of information and Why not use vernacular names? Well, accepted name (Scotland and Wortley then be knowledgeable enough to there certainly are cases where vernacular names precisely refer to just one species, and where a species has A. Example of entries in a nomenclator, i.e. a simple list of scientific just one vernacular name in one names and where they were published, without comment on whether the language, but these cases are rare. It is names are still in general use or are now treated as synonyms also true that vernacular names are Andropogon dulce Burm. f., Flora Ind.: 219 (1768). very widely used. However, many species have no vernacular name at all. Eleocharis difformis S. T. Blake, Proc. Royal Soc. Queensland 50: 99 (1939). Where they do exist, the same Eleocharis dulcis (Burm. f.) Trin. ex Henschel, Vita Rumph.: 186 (1883). vernacular name may be used for several different species, leading to Eleocharis ochrostachys Steudel, Synopsis 2: 80 (1855). confusion as to which is meant. Most Eleocharis tuberosa (Roxb.) Roemer & Schultes, Mantissa 2: 86 (1824). organisations agree that vernacular Eleocharis variegata (Poir.) Presl var. laxiflora (Thwaites) C. B. Clarke, names, and the languages and places Fl. Brit. India 6: 626 (1893). in which they are used, do make a useful addition to the species list, but it Scirpus laxiflorus Thwaites, Enum. Pl. Zeyl.: 435 (1864). is clear that scientific names provide a Scirpus tuberosus Roxb., Fl. Ind. 1: 213 (1820). better basis for the list.

Catalogues of species versus B. The same names as above, now organised as in an authoritative catalogues of names checklist of species Eleocharis dulcis (Burm. f.) Trin. ex Henschel There are three main kinds of lists or Synonyms: Andropogon dulce Burm. f. catalogues of scientific names of Eleocharis tuberosa (Roxb.) Roemer & Schultes organisms, often confused by people. Scirpus tuberosus Roxb. Eleocharis ochrostachys Steud. Firstly, there are the nomenclators, Synonyms: Eleocharis difformis S.T. Blake which are alphabetical lists of all Scirpus laxiflorus Thwaites names ever published (see example Eleocharis variegata (Poir.) Presl var. laxiflora (Thwaites) C.B. Clarke Box 1). There are various of these indexes. For higher plants, this is the Box 1. The difference between a list of names (A) and a list of species (B)

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 25 1.500,000 involving taxonomic expertise in 1.250,000 interpreting species and their relationships. The specialist knowledge needed to create and continuously 1,000,000 enhance a global species database for a group is the “tip of an iceberg”, 750,000 below which lies layer upon layer of taxonomic processes: from field observation and collections through to 500,000 monographic revisions and phylogenetic analysis. Names are the 250,000 mere tags by which this knowledge is accessed. 0.00 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2011 Indeed, the key component that marks the Catalogue of Life as being much Figure 1 - Progress with compiling the Catalogue of Life more than a list of names is the expert Currently, half of all known species (880,000) are included in the Catalogue of Life input from taxonomic biologists in all Annual Checklist, drawn from nearly 40 contributing species database projects. parts of the world to validate the The aim is to include all species by June 2011. (Diagram prepared by Yuri Roskov) complex biological content. Compilation is further complicated by interpret what was found: for example, The Species 2000 & ITIS the fact that understanding of did the species named A in country X Catalogue of Life biodiversity is still far from adequate, represent the same species as the one resulting in many scientific names not named B in country Y? And what Numbers of these database projects, yet being in a 1:1 relationship with about the species named C from spread around the world, are species. Much further taxonomic another region of country Y: was it the collaborating to produce a unified, research by experts is needed to sort same as A and/or B, or a different authoritative index of the world’s out such problems. species? species: the Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. This is a keystone The collaborative input has dictated a The last decade has seen a revolution knowledge set - the gateway to a distributed model for the Catalogue of in this area of research, as in most digital library of biodiversity information Life. Even though a centralised model is others, with the explosive development on the Internet, using species names to more efficient computationally, it is of e-Science. It is now much easier for link to other data systems on subjects sociologically very important to keep biologists in different regions to as varied as specimen data, the individual data-sets close to the collaborate on research projects, agriculture, pharmacognosy and taxonomists who provide the expertise thanks to innovations such as email conservation uses. The Catalogue of to update the species information. and video-conferencing, and aided by Life is available on the web Another advantage of the distributed the availability of analytical software (www.sp2000.org) as a Dynamic approach is that the work of and electronic images of specimens Checklist, with live access to aggregating taxonomic knowledge is and publications, increasingly contributing databases, and also as an going ahead in a massively parallel way, accessible on websites. Also, many Annual Checklist, available both on the rather than in a serial fashion as would biologists have been able to travel website and on a CD-ROM (Bisby happen with a centralised approach. more readily to extend their research et al. 2006). through study and fieldwork in relevant The success of this distributed parts of the world. Many biological The Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of approach is seen in the fact that, since database projects have started around Life is an example of: 2001, more than 880,000 species have the world in this decade, making • a successful approach to managing been added to the Catalogue of Life: available electronically information complex data in biology about 50 per cent of the world’s known about particular groups of plants, • the computational challenges in species (Figure 1). The aim is to add the animals or micro-organisms (Bisby managing complex data from other 50 per cent by 2011, but these 2000). These Global Species multiple sources species mostly belong to poorly studied Databases (GSDs) are key elements in • the sociology of international groups, especially amongst the insects, the Catalogue of Life because they collaboration between database and so it will be a major challenge to provide a comprehensive taxonomic projects in biology. reach 100 per cent in that time frame. snapshot of all the species in a particular group. Regional databases The genetic diversity inherent in living The Catalogue of Life is already that include all the organisms in a organisms means that compiling the proving useful as an index, even particular region of the world are also Catalogue of Life is far from a simple though it is not yet complete. For important in adding details not covered exercise of listing names (Bisby 2003, example, the Global Biodiversity in the GSDs. Wilson et al. 2005). This is a Information Facility (GBIF) uses it as knowledge-gathering programme, the taxonomic backbone for its web

26 BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) Progress with the World List of Left: Stands of Plant Species within the Casuarina Catalogue of Life cunninghamiana Miq. subsp. Within the Catalogue of Life cunninghamiana, programme, Species 2000 is co- the River She- operating with the Royal Botanic oak, fringe the Gardens Kew and other stakeholders rivers of eastern to bring together the taxonomic Australia. sectors that will complete the working list of plant species for the GSPC Target 1. A workshop organised jointly between them in June 2004 started the process of evaluating existing and potential coverage of all groups of flowering plants in a gap analysis. Botanists from around the world spent two days assembling both their knowledge of ongoing databases and projects, and of groups of experts who might be able to assist. Conclusions drawn from examining the coverage map created included: • Coverage of families: global checklists were done for 15 per cent of spp., in progress for 22 per cent, and in draft stages for 30 per cent. • Families that were not started constitute approx. 33 per cent of species.

Left: Potentilla neumanniana Rchb., Spring portal for biodiversity information users of this species index. cinquefoil, is a (www.gbif.net), as do some members Species 2000 began as a joint herbaceous of GBIF for their local databases. program between the perennial in the Committee on Data for family Rosaceae, Interaction with other global Science and Technology (seen here in the programmes (CODATA) of the International Aarhus Botanical Council for Science (ICSU), the Garden, Besides interaction with individual International Union for Denmark). taxonomic experts and databases, the Biological Sciences (IUBS) and Catalogue of Life interacts strongly with the International Union of a wide range of international and Microbiological Societies national bodies, as both supporters and (IUMS) in the early 1990s, which led to a workshop funded by • Jointly planned activities of the UNEP and the Global Environment Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Fund in Manila, the Philippines, in 1996. Missouri Botanical Garden and New Funding for the Catalogue of Life York Botanical Garden were likely to comes from many sources, both account for some 55 per cent of the directly to Species 2000 and ITIS and total, leaving a “gap” of 45 per cent indirectly through their contributing that needs both taxonomic members, with recent notable expertise and co-ordination. Left: Botanists contributions from the European Union Neil Gibson and and GBIF. Species 2000 and its regional The following priorities were agreed: Margaret groups actively support all the above • The larger missing sectors (thought Langley groups, as well as the Global Taxonomy to be Compositae (Asteraceae), examine Initiative (GTI) and other programmes of Melastomataceae and Malvaceae) specimens the Convention on Biological Diversity, must be started urgently if there is collected during and the International Working Group on to be any chance of even nearing a biological Taxonomic Databases (TDWG). completion by the 2010 target date. survey.

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 27 Right: Grevillea • For the very many smaller and wickhamii middle-sized families to be started Meisn. has or brought to completion, it is both distinctive bright an issue of focusing appropriate orange-red expertise on the task, and providing flowers and leadership, co-ordination and grey, holly-like funding to the programme of work. leaves. The A vigorous co-ordinating process, nectar of this possibly from Species 2000, the and other International Organization for Plant Grevillea species Information (IOPI) or the Integrated is popular with Twxonomic Information System native butterflies (ITIS) is needed for the 45 per cent such as the of sectors needed from outside the Caper White. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Missouri Botanical Garden and New York Botanical Garden programme.

Right: Acacia stenophylla A.Cunn. ex Benth., has striking seed pods. It is widespread near creeks of inland including the Bot. Garten and Bot. Species 2000 is implementing an Australia. Museum Berlin-Dahlem, and in the organisational architecture that is Americas, including the Missouri capable of both creating a complete Botanical Garden and the Smithsonian Catalogue of Life and maintaining its Institution. In other groups, Species taxonomic enhancement through time. 2000 has recently extended the At a superficial level, this programme is coverage provided within the about creating databases and Catalogue of Life: as well as the continuing to maintain them, but extensive coverage provided by the underlying this is a serious proposal for RBG Kew World Checklist for a range self-organization within the taxonomic of families, the Catalogue of Life now community and for rationalising and covers the algae (AlgaeBase), mosses structuring taxonomic effort on a global (Missouri BG), conifers (A. Farjon), and regional scale. The result of Leguminosae (the International Legume current initiatives is an exciting Database and Information System - opportunity to generate endorsement ILDIS), Annonaceae (AnnonBase), and further resources where all efforts Lecythidaceae (New York BG), and have failed in the past. • The coverage map created at the cycads and six flowering plant families workshop should be publicised from the IOPI Global Plant Checklist Another challenge is how to allow users and developed, working with the and Species Plantarum Programme to choose alternative classifications of Species 2000 metadatabase and (www.iopi.org). Regional datasets species (where they exist) within the GBIF to keep track of who is coming into the Catalogue of Life Catalogue of Life (Bisby 2003). More doing what. include Euro+Med PlantBase (part of systematically aware users want to be the Catalogue of Life Regional able to choose which classification they Since the 2004 workshop, significant Checklist for Europe) and the North use. Others just want a single, generally progress has been made. RBG Kew American plants from ITIS and the accepted classification that will allow has made steady progress with PLANTS databases (Catalogue of Life them to communicate information Right: Cycas extending its series, World Checklist of Regional Checklist for N. America). about their species of interest using a revoluta Thunb. Seed Plants, covering monocots and is native to the selected other groups. The message Challenges for the future Ryukyu Islands about the big gap for Compositae has of southern been picked up by GBIF and it is There are continuing challenges facing Japan and funding a major project, which started this project and taxonomy in general. possibly also to in early 2006 and is led by Ilse the Fukien Breitwieser in New Zealand, with One is the need to integrate activities province of partners in The International to avoid duplication of effort and to China. Compositae Alliance (TICA) in Europe, make best use of available funding.

28 BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) element 3, including an assessment Left: The alpine of present knowledge of key species zone of the groups. Report Kosciuszko UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/4/INF6. National Park in ➡ Scotland R. W., and A. H. Wortley southeastern (2003) How many species of seed Australia is plants are there? Taxon 52: 101-104. home to a wide ➡ Wilson E. O., (2003) The diversity of encyclopedia of life. Trends in organisms, but it Ecology and Evolution 18(2): 77-80. is a fragile ➡ Wilson K. L., F. A. Bisby, M. A. environment of Ruggiero et al. (2005) Progress with small extent. A the Species 2000 and ITIS rise of only a Catalogue of Life. Proceedings of few degrees in 2005 International Workshop on the average Integrated Biodiversity and Natural temperature Specimens Databases and Forum of would have Species 2000 Asia-Oceania. drastic Taichung, Taiwan, 30 Sep-2 Oct consequences 2005: 9-17. for endemic set of stable, accepted names. Our Proceedings. (National Federation of species of plants data structure and user interface aim to Science Abstracting and Indexing Karen L. Wilson and animals. allow all users to choose whichever of Services (NFSAIS): Philadelphia). E-mail: Karen.Wilson@rbgsyd. the available classifications they prefer Also available as of 15 November nsw.gov.au for their group of birds or legumes or 2006 at http://www.nfais.org/public Postal address: National whatever. ations/metadiversity_preprints7.htm Herbarium of New South Wales, ➡ Bisby F. A., M. A. Ruggiero, Y. R. Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, The overarching challenge globally for Roskov, M. Cachuela-Palacio, S. W. NSW 2000 Australia taxonomy is to study and document Kimani, P. M. Kirk, A. Soulier-Perkins Tel: +61 2 9231 8111 the living species that are not yet and J. van Hertum (eds.) (2006) Fax: +61 2 9251 4403 known and named. The Global Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Taxonomic Initiative has emphasized Life 2006 Annual Checklist. CD- Frank Bisby the shortage of systematic /taxonomic ROM and printed booklet (Species E-mail: [email protected] resources (both people and natural 2000: Reading). Also available as of Postal address: Plant Diversity and history collections) to document the 15 November 2006 at Systematics, School of Plant organisms of this world before http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annu Sciences, University of Reading, extinction strikes. About 1.7 million al-checklist/2006/search.php Whiteknights, Reading species of organisms have been given ➡ DIVERSITAS (2000) Implementing RG6 6AS, UK scientific names, but anywhere from 2 the GTI: Recommendations from Tel: +44 118 378 6437 to 50 million species or even more ( DIVERSITAS core programme Fax: +44 118 378 8106 DIVERSITAS 2000; Wilson 2003) are still not formally described, most of Left: Aroids are them micro-organisms or small very popular as invertebrates such as insects. Without potted plants. names as unique tags for species, we This colourful are floundering to understand all the species grows in wonders of our biodiverse world, let the Fortuna alone to conserve and sustainably highland area of manage them. Panama.

References

➡ Bisby F. A., (2000) The quiet revolution: Biodiversity informatics and the Internet. Science 289: 2309- 2312. ➡ Bisby F. A., (2003) Doing the impossible: Creating a stable species index and operating a common access system on the Internet. Preprints of the Metadiversity Conference

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 29 Book notices and taxonomic resources

Plant Identification: creating user-friendly breeding systems and introgression are flowering plants: APG II. Botanical Journal of field guides for biodiversity management carefully considered. Botanical nomenclature the Linnean Society 141: 399-436 [Available Reviewed by Helen Pickering and field and herbarium methods are discussed online: Full text (HTML) http://www.blackwell in two appendices. -synergy.com/links/doi/10.1046/j.1095- This is a practical book. It provides considerable 8339.2003.t01-1-00158.x/full/ | Full text (PDF) detail on how to produce a variety of The text is illustrated using analytical drawings, http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/ identification guides. Early chapters address the many of which have been developed as part of links/doi/10.1046/j.1095-8339.2003.t01-1- main issues of biodiversity, donors and the need the Generic Flora of the Southeastern United 00158.x/pdf]. to involve local rural communities as both States project. The book is accompanied by a producers and consumers of such tools. Later CD-ROM containing over 2,200 colour Angiosperm Phylogeny Website chapters provide detailed information on all photographs illustrating the diagnostic Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Version 7, May aspects of creating a field guide; collecting and characters of (and variability within) the vascular 2006 [http://www.mobot.org/ organising data, types of illustration, technology, plant families covered in the text, including MOBOT/research/APweb] presentation, printing and distribution. The many images showing floral and fruit range of field guides discussed include: printed dissections. The text assumes no prerequisites checklists, illustrated manuals and laminated other than introductory botany or biology. Taxonomy and plant conservation: the sheets that can easily be carried into the field cornerstone of conservation and the and used under adverse climatic conditions, Walter S. Judd, Christopher S. Campbell, sustainable use of plants Elizabeth A. Kellogg, Peter F. Stevens and The field guides discussed are aimed at a Michael J. Donoghue, 2002. This book was reviewed in the last issue of narrow range of stakeholders, working in a Sinauer Asscociates Inc., USA, 576 pp. BGjournal. It has many useful papers on the variety of botanically related projects, from the ISBN 0-87893-403-0, (Hardback) $94.95 practice of taxonomy and how it is necessary timber and agro-industry to conservation in (approx £61.99/$121). for conservation. It has several chapters which national parks. For these, it will be extremely Sinauer Associates, Inc., 23 Plumtree Road directly address the gap between plant useful. P.O. Box 407, Sunderland, MA 01375-0407, taxonomy as a science (where molecular USA, Tel: +1 (413) 549-4300, approaches are becoming ever more important Anna Lawrence and William Hawthorne, 2006 Fax: +1 (413) 549-1118, and debates rage about cladistics) and use of Earthscan, London, UK, 268 pp. E-mail: [email protected], the products of that science by practitioners in People and Plants Conservation Series, Internet: http://www.sinauer.com. other disciplines, who need usability and ISBN-10 1-84407-079-4 stability in the names that can be applied to ISBN-13 978-84407-079-4 particular organisms. Earthscan, 8-12 Camden High Street, Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG London NW1 0JH, UK Etelka Leadlay and Stephen Jury, 2006. Tel: +44 (0)20 7387 8558 The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, Cambridge University Press, UK, 300 pp. Fax: +44 (0)20 7387 8998 refers to an international group of systematic ISBN 978-0-521-60720-9 (Paperback) £35.00, E-mail: [email protected] botanists who came together to try to establish ISBN 978-0-52-84506-9 (Hardback) £70.00. Internet: www.earthscan.co.uk a consensus view of the taxonomy of flowering Cambridge University Press, The Edinburgh plants that would reflect new knowledge in Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK, angiosperm relationships. The results from Tel: +44 (0) 1223 326050, Plant systematics: a phylogenetic approach these collaborations were largely attempts to Fax: +44 (0) 1223 326111, (second edition) deal with the deficiencies in prior angiosperm E-mail: [email protected], classifications as seen by phylogenetic theories Internet: www.cambridge.org This is an introductory text that incorporates based on analysis of DNA. phylogenetic principles and methods throughout. Orders and families are The rapid increase in knowledge has led to many The secret life of trees recircumscribed to represent monophyletic proposed changes in classifications, and these groups, largely following the most recent pose problems for all users of classifications. By Although this is a popular book exploring the classification of the Angiosperm Phylogeny bringing together researchers from major way trees work, what they are, and how they Group. The sources of taxonomic evidence are institutions worldwide, and publishing jointly, the came to exist, it has an extremely good chapter discussed, including morphology, anatomy, APG have sought to provide a stable point of called ‘Keeping track’ which describes embryology, chromosomes, palynology, reference. This system deals mostly with higher identification and why it is difficult which would secondary plant compounds, proteins and ranks and, as there are still severe limits to our be very helpful for the layman and teacher. DNA. Molecular taxonomic methods are fully knowledge, a firm classification is not possible in presented, and throughout the book reference all cases. This made angiosperms the first large Colin Tudge, 2005. is made to the results of recent studies, both group of organisms to be systematically Allen Lane, UK, 320 pp. molecular and morphological. A chapter on the reclassified largely on the basis of molecular ISBN: 0713996986 (Hardback) £20.00 (approx. history of plant classification puts current characteristics (APG 2003). $39/€30); Penguin, UK, 452 pp. systematic methods in a historical context. ISBN: 0141012935 (Paperback) 2006 Issues relating to variation in plant populations Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2003). An £8.99 (approx. $18/€14) and species, including discussion of speciation, update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group Allen Lane, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, species concepts, polyploidy, hybridization, classification for the orders and families of Penguin, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL

30 BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) Order out of chaos: Linnaean plant names and their types Linnaean celebrations

This 1,200-page book is a welcome addition to the botanical literature, bringing together as it 2007 does all the known published information about Linnaean type specimens and publishing for the first time a significant number of newly designated types. To quote from the book’s Foreword by Peter Raven of Missouri Botanical Garden, “For conserving plant species, understanding them, and working with them in any way, the stability of names to which this volume makes such a singular contribution is an Scientific Meetings 14 September absolute necessity.” Royal Horticultural Society in association 20 February with the Linnean Society. “Linnaeus and the For 25 years the Linnaean Plant Name Meeting at the Linnean Society. Sir David Iconotype”. Typification Project, based at the Natural History King speaks on climate change. Museum, London, has been gathering 1-2 October information on Linnaean types, in other words 16-17 April Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts & the botanical specimens or illustrations that fix Festschrift at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Science. “Linnaeus 300 - the future of his the permanent usage of the names coined by Kew. “Plant Genome Horizons - Vistas and Science”. International symposium organised Linnaeus in the 18th century. Hundreds of Visions”. by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts & botanists around the world have been consulted Science in collaboration with the Linnean in the process of assessing existing type 23 April Society of London and the Embassy of designations and making definitive choices of Joint meeting of the Linnean Society and Sweden in the Netherlands. type. Valuable to taxonomists and scholars the Geological Society. “Dark energy and worldwide, this handsomely illustrated book is the history of chemosynthetic life in the 18 October published in Linnaeus’ Tercentenary year. deep sea”. Meeting at the Linnean Society. Lord (Robert) Publication May 2007 (pre-publication discount May speaks on “People, Parasites and available). A meeting to celebrate the 300th Poverty”. anniversary of the birth of Linnaeus, the Charlie Jarvis, 2007. Bicentenary of the Geological Society, the 31 October -1 November The Linnean Society of London and the Natural International Year of Planet Earth and the The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Museum, UK, 1,200 pp. 30th anniversary of the discovery of deep “Orchid evolutionary biology and Linnean Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, sea hydrothermal vents. conservation - from Linnaeus to the 21st London W1J 0BF, UK, century”. A celebration of the culmination of Tel: +44 (0) 20 7434 4479 8 May the Orchid Classification Project. Fax: +44 (0) 20 7287 9364 Joint meeting of the Linnean Society and E-mail: [email protected] the Zoological Society. “A Celebration of 22-23 November Internet: www.linnean.org the Tercentenary of the Birth of Carl Joint meeting of the Linnean Society and the The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, Linnaeus”. Discussion meeting organised Institution of Mechanical Engineers. “Colour South Kensington SW7 5BD, UK, by Dr Vaughan Southgate. Speakers Design and Engineering: Colour in plants and Tel: +44 (0) 20 7942 5000 include Professor Charles Godfray, animals - inspiration for design”. Internet: www.nhm.ac.uk Dr Sandy Knapp, Dr Andrew Polaszek and Dr Tim Littlewood. For up-to-date information on events, exhibitions and meetings in the tercentenary Systematic collections 11-23 June year, see www.linnean.org and Uppsala University. “Unlocking the Past - www.linnaeus2007.se. Order or systematic beds displaying living plants Linnaean collections past, present and in taxonomic groups have been a part of future”. Meeting beginning in London (11- If you are organising a relevant event, please botanical gardens since, or almost since 12 June), continuing in Uppsala (14-15), contact the Linnean Society for it to be inception. There is an extremely informative finishing in Gotland (17-23 June). included in the list of events. article on order beds by Dr. David Frodin on the Chelsea Physic garden website (www.chelsea physicgarden.co.uk/garden/docs/orderbeds.doc). a broad range of organisms, the text addresses being developed to deal with the computational The Botanical Gardens of France and French- the task of reconstructing and making best use complexity of such trees. It discusses factors speaking Countries (Jardins Botaniques de of the tree of life. Featuring the contributions of that have led some groups to speciate to a France et des pays francophones - JBF) held a leading experts, who examine recent progress staggering degree and also provides case workshop on systematic collections at their and consider future developments, it also studies that highlight the problems and recent workshop in Montpellier in May, 2006. discusses global diversity issues and the prospects of dealing with species-rich groups The programme and presentations can be taxonomic problems of dealing with large and in taxonomy. found at http://www.bgci.org/jbf-fr/Programme/. species-rich taxa. The book is divided into three parts: introduction and general concepts, Edited by Trevor R. Hodkinson and John A.N. reconstructing and using the tree of life, and Parnell. December 2006. CRC Press, 360 pp.; Reconstructing the Tree of Life: Taxonomy taxonomy and systematics of species-rich Systematics Association Special Volumes - and Systematics of Species Rich Taxa groups (case studies). It introduces, with Volume: 72 examples, the concept of species-rich groups ISBN 0849395798; Cat No. 9579. (hardback) Of relevance to both systematic and and discusses their importance in £68.99 (approx. $135/€103). evolutionary biologists, Reconstructing the Tree reconstructing the tree of life as well as their CRC Press UK, 24 Blades Court, Deodar Road, of Life: Taxonomy and Systematics of Species- conservation and sustainable utilization in London, SW15 2NU, UK. Rich Taxa draws from taxonomy and general. The book highlights how phylogenetic Tel: +44-(0)20 7017 6000 phylogenetics to provide both a systematics trees are becoming “supersized” to handle Fax: +44-(0)20 7017 6747 and evolutionary biology perspective. Detailing species-rich groups and the methods that are www.crcpress.co.uk

BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) 31 Please register your contributions to the International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation

International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation Registration Form

Name of Institution

Formal Board Resolution or other form of approval Please Tick Type of Registration from relevant governing bodies (e.g. university authorities, local, regional or national government

Informal E.g. by Director/Senior staff.

BGCI would welcome copies of any formal resolution, motion or other form of endorsement.

Name of responsible person

Position

Address

Date of Email Registration

Declaration

This institution welcomes the International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation as a global framework for the development of institutional policies and programmes in plant conservation for botanic gardens.

Without imposing any obligations or restrictions (legal or otherwise) on the policies or activities of this institution/organisation, we commit ourselves to working to achieve the objectives and targets of the International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation.

Signed Date

Please sign and detach this registration form and send it to The Secretary General, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Descanso House, 199 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3BW, U.K.

Thank you for registering with the International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation.

Please keep a duplicate copy of this form for your records.

32 BGjournal • Vol 4 (1) How to join Botanic Gardens Conservation International

The mission of BGCI is to mobilise Institutions can join BGCI for the following benefits: botanic gardens and engage • Membership of the worldwide plant conservation network partners in securing plant diversity • Botanic Garden Management Resource Pack (upon joining)* for the well-being of people and the • Regular publications: planet. It was founded in 1987 and - the regular newsletter, Cuttings now includes over 525 member - BGjournal – an international journal for botanic gardens (2 per year) institutions in 115 countries. - Roots - environmental education review (2 per year) - A wide range of new publications • Invitations to BGCI congresses and discounts on registration fees • BGCI technical support and advisory services

Institution Membership £ Stlg US $ € Euros

A BGCI Patron Institution 5000 8000 7500 B Institution member (budget more than US$2,250,000) 600 1000 940 C Institution member (budget US$ 1,500,000 - 2,250,000) 440 720 660 D Institution member (budget US$ 750,000 - 1,500,000) 300 500 440 E Institution member (budget US$ 100,000 - 750,000) 160 250 220 F Institution member (budget below US$100,000)* 75 120 110 *Generally applies to institutions in less developed countries

Other Membership Categories: • Regular publications: - the regular newsletter, Cuttings Membership benefits depend on - BGjournal - an international journal for botanic gardens (2 per year) category - see below. These can - Roots - Environmental Education Review (2 per year) include: • Invitations to BGCI congress and discounts on registration fees

Corporate Membership £ Stlg US $ € Euros

G Corporate Gold Member (BGjournal, Roots and Cuttings plus more) 5000 8000 7500 H Corporate Silver Member (BGjournal, Roots and Cuttings plus more) 1000 1600 1500

Individual Membership £ Stlg US $ € Euros

J Conservation donor (BGjournal, Roots and Cuttings plus more) 250 450 420 K Associate member (Cuttings and BGjournal) 356050 L Associate member (Cuttings and Roots) 356050 M Friend (Cuttings) available through online subscription only (www.bgci.org) 10 15 15

*Contents of the Botanic Garden Management Resource Pack: The Darwin Technical Manual for Botanic Gardens, A Handbook for Botanic Gardens on the Reintroduction of Plants to the Wild, BGjournal - an international journal for botanic gardens (2 past issues), Roots - environmental education review (2 past issues), The International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation, Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, Environmental Education in Botanic Gardens, BG-Recorder (a computer software package for plant records).

Payment may be made by cheque payable to Botanic Gardens Conservation International,or online at www.bgci.org or by VISA/Mastercard sent to BGCI, Descanso House, 199 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, U.K or Fax: +44 (0) 20 8332 5956.

❑ I wish to apply for membership of Botanic Gardens Conservation International.

Name ...... Telephone ...... Address ...... Fax ...... E-mail ...... Internet site ......

Membership category ...... Annual rate ...... VISA/Mastercard number ...... Credit card expiry date ...... Signature ...... Print name ......

❑ I would like to make a donation to BGCI. Amount ......

Please clearly state your name (or the name of your institution) on all documentation. Please contactBGjournal [email protected] • Vol 3 for (1) further • 14-18 information.3 This publication is Botanic Gardens supported through Conservation International Investing in Nature Descanso House, 199 Kew Road, A partnership between Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, U.K. BGCI, Earthwatch, HSBC and WWF Tel: +44 (0)20 8332 5953 and the Rufford Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 5956 Maurice Laing E-mail: [email protected] Foundation Internet: www.bgci.org

Printed on 100% recycled paper ISSN 1811-8712