Department of Botany & the U.S. National Herbarium The Plant Press New Series - Vol. 12 - No. 3 July-September 2009 Botany Profile Type Register Reaches 100,000 Records By John Boggan, Rusty Russell and Warren L. Wagner he Type Specimen Register of the Garden. It is being completed first as an cryptogamic collections and speci- United States National Herbarium online flora and then as a two volume pub- mens that have been out on loan during Treached a notable milestone on lication. The flora and more information this period, most of the photography June 17, 2009, with the addition of the about the project are available at http:// is complete and each online record is 100,000th type specimen record. Schäfer botany.si.edu/pacificislandbiodiversity/ now accompanied by an image of the 5462 was collected in 1975 on Tahuata marquesasflora/index.htm. specimen itself. Researchers anywhere Island in the Marquesas Islands, French in the world can now see type specimens Polynesia and is the holotype of Psy- ype specimens are of immense without visiting US or requesting loans, chotria oliveri Lorence & W.L. Wagner importance to systematists because and in many cases the loan of fragile and (Rubiaceae), published in Allertonia 9: Tthey are the specimens upon which irreplaceable type specimens is made 21 (2005). The specimen is apropos for an author bases his or her description of a unnecessary. a number of reasons: the species was newly named taxon, and thus provide for In addition to existing resources co-authored by one of our own curators, all later researchers a direct link between within the National Museum of Natural Warren L. Wagner, and its name honors that taxon as it exists in nature and its History and the Department of Botany, deceased staff member Royce Oliver. The scientific name and description. Exami- the success of the digital imaging of the specimen highlights our Pacific Islands nation of type specimens is necessary to type collection is the result of significant collections, one of our herbarium’s geo- determine what natural populations to financial support provided by the Smith- graphic strengths and an area of longtime apply a particular name to, and whether a sonian’s Assistant Secretary for Science, and ongoing research by Smithsonian name is properly applied in the first place. the National Science Foundation, the botanists. The species will be included in Type specimens can show whether two Mellon Foundation, and the Comisión the Flora of the Marquesas Islands, co- different names have been applied to the Nacional para el Conocimiento y la Bio- authored by Wagner. same taxon, or whether a taxon is distinct diversidad (CONABIO). Smithsonian botanist Royce Oliver from all known taxa and still undescribed. The Type Specimen Register has (1929–1997) collected in the Marquesas Particularly with many older names that grown steadily. During the 10 years from Islands in 1975 with Peter A. Schäfer and have brief and frequently inadequate 1999 to 2008, 7,305 new type records Marie-Helène Sachet, and collaborated descriptions, examination of type speci- were added to the Register, averaging with Sachet and F. Raymond Fosberg mens is often the only means to make such about 730 per year. Far from slowing on Marquesan plant studies and many determinations with any certainty. down, the number of new records added other Pacific projects. Oliver worked The U.S. National Herbarium (US) is each year has increased greatly in the at Washington University and Missouri one of the largest repositories of botani- last few years since contractors funded Botanical Garden from 1964 until 1979 cal type specimens in the world. Since by the Global Plant Initiative (formerly when he took a position in the Smithso- 1966, records of the type specimens at US the Latin American Plants Initiative) nian Institution’s Department of Botany have been maintained in the Type Speci- program have begun to systematically to work with Fosberg and Sachet, where men Register. These data are now avail- search for types in the main herbarium. he stayed until his retirement in 1992. able online in an easily searchable form In 2008 alone, 1,437 new type records The Marquesas Flora Project was <http://botany.si.edu/types/>, making this were added to the Register. originally a Smithsonian project orga- an invaluable resource for researchers Although the Type Specimen Reg- nized by Sachet, Fosberg and Oliver, but around the world. Since 2000, a project ister has 100,000 records that does not in 1988 was re-organized as a collabora- has been underway to photograph all type mean there are 100,000 specimens filed specimens. With the exception of some tion with the National Tropical Botanical Continued on page 9 Travel Pedro Acevedo traveled to Salvador Bow Cay on ciguatera-associated dinofla- to Woods Hole, Massachusetts (6/8 – 6/10) da Bahia, Brazil (6/19 – 7/20) to attend gellates in the western Caribbean Sea, and to meet with scientists of the Marine Bio- the Brazilian Botanical Congress, repre- to collect specimens of Gambierdiscus, logical Laboratory about the Biodiversity sent Botany at the Organization for Flora Ostreopsis and Prorocentrum benthic Heritage Library (BHL) and the Encyclo- Neotropica meetings, and to study the col- species. pedia of Life (EOL). lections of Paullinia and Serjania (Sapin- Vicki Funk traveled to Chicago, Anna Weitzman traveled to London, daceae) at local herbaria. Illinois (4/2 – 4/7) to give a talk at the England (6/1 – 6/3) to present a poster at Walter Adey traveled to Fayetteville, Chicago Botanic Garden and to conduct the e-Biosphere 09 International Confer- Arkansas, and Kalamazoo, Michigan (5/11 herbarium research at the Field Museum; ence on Biodiversity Informatics. – 5/15) to attend meetings at the Univer- and to Salvador da Bahia, Brazil (6/27 Jun Wen traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam sity of Arkansas and Western Michigan – 7/10) to present an invited talk, attend (5/2 – 5/24) to conduct field work on University; to Lancaster, Pennsylvania the Brazilian Botanical Congress, and to Prunus (Rosaceae); and with Sue Lutz to (6/11 – 6/12) to visit the Muddy Run ATS conduct field research with her colleague, Kunming, China (6/6 – 7/22) to collect Energy Project; to Newport News, Vir- Nadia Roque. plants in northwest China and Tibet. ginia (4/22 – 4/24) to give a presentation Linda Hollenberg traveled to Leiden, Jamie Whitacre traveled to London, on the ATS system; and to Steuben, Maine Netherlands (6/28 – 7/12) to attend the England (6/1 – 6/3) to attend the e-Bio- (6/22 – 9/15) to conduct field research in annual meeting of the Society for the Pres- sphere 09 International Conference on the eastern Gulf of Maine. ervation of Natural History Collections Biodiversity Informatics. Laurence Dorr traveled to Cambridge, (SPNHC). Kenneth Wurdack traveled to Massachusetts (5/4 – 5/9) to use the Oaks W. John Kress traveled to New York, Georgetown, Guyana (4/27 – 5/31) with Ames Orchid Herbarium at Harvard New York (5/12) to attend a graduate Karen Redden to conduct a research University and the Botanical Libraries of student defense for Marina Costes at expedition along the Upper Mazaruni Harvard to work on the Flora of Guarama- Columbia University; with Vinita Gowda River; and to St Louis, Missouri (6/9 – cal and especially to refine geographic dis- to the West Indies (5/17 – 5/30) to conduct 6/16) to conduct research at the Missouri tributions of Guaramacal orchid species. field work on ecological interactions Botanical Garden. Robert Faden traveled to London, between Heliconia and hummingbirds in England (4/5 – 5/23) to conduct research Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Dominica; on Commelinaceae of Tropical East Africa and to Hong Kong, China (6/26 – 7/18) to at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. conduct research on DNA barcoding and Maria Faust traveled to Belize (4/29 attend a conference on ginger biology. – 5/14) to conduct field research at Carrie Diane and Mark Littler traveled to Ft Pierce, Florida (6/1 – 7/20) to conduct on-going field research on the functional- The Plant Press form, biosystematics and comparative ecology of south Florida marine algae and New Series - Vol. 12 - No. 3 seagrasses. Alain Touwaide and Emanuela Chair of Botany Warren L. Wagner Appetiti traveled to New York, New York ([email protected]) (4/24) to meet with the Director of The New York University’s Institute for the EDITORIAL STAFF Study of the Ancient World; to Kos and Patmos, Greece (4/27 – 5/11) to attend the Editor second international meeting of the Hippo- Gary Krupnick cratic Foundation and to conduct research ([email protected]) at the Library of St. John’s Monastery; and News Contacts MaryAnn Apicelli, Robert Faden, Ellen Visitors Farr, Shirley Maina, Rusty Russell, Alice Tangerini, and Elizabeth Zimmer Blanca Leon, Universidad Nacional Yong Jiang Zhang, Institute of Animal The Plant Press is a quarterly publication Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru; Peru- and Plant Quarantine, Chinese Academy provided free of charge. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please contact Dr. Gary vian Tillandsia (Bromeliaceae) and flora of Inspection and Quarantine, Beijing; Krupnick at: Department of Botany, Smithsonian (10/18/07-10/18/09). Plant DNA barcoding (1/21-4/24). Institution, PO Box 37012, NMNH MRC-166, Washington, DC 20013-7012, or by E-mail: Michael Martin, Johns Hopkins Uni- Laura Lagomarsino, University of [email protected]. versity; Ambrosia (Compositae) (1/1/09- California, Berkeley; Heliconia (Heliconi- Web site: http://botany.si.edu/ 6/30/10). aceae) (1/21-5/15). Page 2 Associating with Botany Editor’s Note n this issue of the Plant Press, we begin a new series which Museum through their in-residence participation in the care profiles our Research Associates.