Special Symposium Issue continues on page 13
Department of Botany & the U.S. National Herbarium The Plant Press
New Series - Vol. 21 - No. 3 July-September 2018 Botany Profile Turn Back Time: Plant Fossils Find a Way By Kayleigh Walters and Gary A. Krupnick his year’s Smithsonian Botani- major overhaul of the National Fossil Hall, updated theory on seed ferns. He pre- cal Symposium explored the which is scheduled to open to the public in sented a new understanding of the origin Tdeep time of botany with the June 2019. of angiosperms based on his research of theme, “Plants in the Past: Fossils and Before the speakers’ talks began, Ken- fossils collected from the Early Creta- the Future.” Seven speakers presented a neth Wurdack presented the José Cua- ceous in Mongolia. He explained that whirlwind of information over the course trecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical the origin of the outer integument and of a day, focusing heavily on the benefit Botany to Alan Graham, a paleobotanist the carpel are two key questions for brought by developing technologies to from the Missouri Botanical Garden. understanding the origin of angiosperms. the field of paleobotany. The symposium, Graham recalled He argued that held on 18 May 2018, convened at the his time as a post- the curvature Warner Bros Theater at the National doctoral fellow at responsible Museum of American History, a change Harvard University for the second in scenery from past symposia as Natural and his “first social integument in History’s Baird Auditorium undergoes responsibility” in angiosperms has renovations. hosting a dinner for José Cuatrecasas and deep evolutionary roots. He explained Before the symposium began, the his wife. He was honored to be able to do that the origins of this curvature could be Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural that then, and now 56 years later, thrilled seen in diverse seed plants of the Meso- History opened its doors to attendees for to be receiving an award in Cuatrecasas’ zoic, such as Caytonia, corystosperms, special tours of the library’s paleobotany name. and similar plants. Curvature results books. The Library put on display a wide from the curvature of a seed-bearing selection of publications that highlight ir Peter Crane opened the sym- axis that sometimes also bears modi- fossil plants, from Boccone’s Recherches posium with a talk on the origin fied bracts. Sir Peter explained that in (1674), through the editions of Scheuchz- Sof flowering plants called “The pre-angiosperm seed plants, this curva- er’s Herbarium diluvianum (1709, 1723), Enigmatic ‘Mesozoic Seed Ferns.’” He ture might be associated with a flotation to Brongniart’s works in the 19th century, introduced the complexity of studying based pollination mechanism involving and more. Attendees learned the tale of the topic by discussing how the field saccate pollen, which appears to be basic Johann Beringer, a professor in 1725 of paleobotany has changed in recent in all but the very earliest diverging seed who was made a fool when two of his decades. In the 1970s, paleobotany was a plant lineages. He concluded that many colleagues planted fake fossils for him to field that was literally frozen in stone due of the seed-plant lineages we now treat find and research. Fortunately, this was to a lack of high-quality fossils and tools as independent may be closely allied. the only fakery of the day. to study them. Sir Peter demonstrated how The next speaker was Andrew Leslie, The symposium began with opening far the field has come when he showed a who gave a talk on the evolution of remarks by Kirk Johnson, Sant Direc- digital reconstruction of a fossilized flower cones called “Biotic Seed Dispersal, tor of the National Museum of Natural “bloom” for the crowd. Technology such Growth Architecture, and the Evolu- History and Laurence Dorr, Chair of as this allows scientists to study internal tion of Conifer Cone Diversity.” He the Department of Botany. Johnson was structures of fossilized plants. hypothesized what the first cones may pleased with the theme of the symposium Having demonstrated the advantages have looked like, and why present cones this year, as the symposium coincides conferred by recent advances in technol- look like the often spiky objects we are with the development of the Natural His- ogy and their impact on paleobotanical familiar with today. By examining the research, Sir Peter launched into his tory Museum’s Deep Time exhibition, a Continued on page 16 Travel Pedro Acevedo traveled to São Paulo, Ashley Egan traveled to Spokane, W. John Kress traveled to Guadeloupe Brazil (4/11 – 5/14) to teach a class on Washington (4/30 – 5/10) to work on a (5/21 – 5/29) to conduct fieldwork on neotropical lianas at the University of collaborative project on Phaeolus polys- Heliconia-hummingbird interactions as São Paulo and to collect Sapindaceae and tachios (Fabaceae) at the University of part of a long-term NSF-supported project; climbing plants in other families in Brazil. Washington. to Cambridge, Massachusetts (5/7 – 5/9) Marcos Caraballo traveled to Phila- Vicki Funk traveled to Ecuador (3/28 to give an invited talk, “Species interac- delphia, Pennsylvania (5/9) to study speci- – 4/28) for field work with Mauricio tions in the Anthropocene: Coevolution in mens and types of mistletoes in Loran- Bonifacino (MVFA) and Alina Freire- a rapidly changing world,” at the Harvard thaceae in the herbarium of the Philadel- Fierro traveling up and down the spine of Plant Biology Symposium – Natural His- phia Academy of Sciences; to Cambridge, the Andes collecting composites from the tory Collections in the Anthropocene; and Massachusetts (6/14 – 6/15) to study snow line to the cloud forests; to Vienna, to New York, New York (6/20 – 6/21) to specimens in the herbarium of Harvard Austria (5/15 – 5/25) to attend the Global participate as co-chair of the Earth BioG- University; to Chicago, Illinois (6/18 – Genome Biodiversity Network (GGBN) enome Project in a workshop and meeting 6/19) to study specimens in the herbarium meeting and to work in the herbarium of held at the Flatiron Institute. of the Field Museum; to Carbondale, the Natural History Museum in Vienna Sylvia Orli traveled to Bronx, New Illinois (6/21 – 6/22) to study specimens (W); and to Honolulu, Hawaii (6/1 – 6/10) York (4/18 – 4/20) to attend the Axiell in the herbarium of the Southern Illinois to work on a paper with Sterling Keeley, North American EMu User conference at University; and St. Louis, Missouri (6/25 – and to present an invited departmental the New York Botanical Garden. 6/29) to study specimens in the herbarium seminar at the University of Hawaii. Peter Schafran traveled to Texas (5/5 of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Morgan Gostel traveled to Vienna, – 5/10) to collect Isoetes with research- Manuela Dal Forno traveled to Austria (5/20 – 5/25) to attend the 2018 ers from Old Dominion University, Sam Jamaica (4/9 – 4/20) to collect lichens, Global Genome Biodiversity Network Houston State University, and the Texas including important types collected by conference to present on behalf of the Parks and Wildlife Department, which Olof Swartz, in the Blue Mountains of Global Genome Initiative for Gardens included the discovery of a new county Jamaica; and to Graz, Austria (5/9 – 5/25) (GGI-Gardens); and to Anaheim, Cali- record of I. melanopoda in Newton to work on lichen microbiome analy- fornia (6/3 – 6/8) to attend the annual County; to Columbus, Ohio (6/1 – 6/4) ses and to learn techniques in culturing meeting of the American Public Gardens to present a lightning talk, “Unravel- lichens. Association where he organized and lead a ing reticulate evolution of quillworts in symposium for GGI-Gardens. eastern North America,” at the meeting The Plant Press Carol Kelloff and Mark Strong of the Society of Systematic Biologists traveled to McBee, South Carolina (4/17 at the Ohio State University; and from New Series - Vol. 21 - No. 3 – 4/27) to collect genomic material for the Virginia to Louisiana (6/7 – 6/29) to col- Chair of Botany Global Genome Initiative (GGI) in sand lect longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) across Laurence J. Dorr hill ecosystems of the Carolina Sandhills its range ([email protected]) National Wildlife Refuge, Sugarloaf John Wiersema traveled to Hokkaido, Mountain (Sandhills State Forest), and Japan (6/10 – 6/17) to attend the annual EDITORIAL STAFF Hudsonia Flats (Cheraw State Forest), meeting of the International Seed Testing where some of the priority taxa for the Association in Sapporo as Chair of their Editor Global Genome Biodiversity Network Nomenclature Committee and to collect Gary Krupnick ([email protected]) (GGBN) and GenBank were collected and observe native populations of Japa- including three species of pitcher plants nese Nymphaea with Norio Tanaka of Tsu- Copy Editors (Sarracenia), sandhills bean (Phaseolus kuba Botanical Garden, National Museum Robin Everly, Bernadette Gibbons, and sinuatus), white wicky (Kamia cuneata), of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan. Rose Gulledge zenobia ( Zenobia pulverulenta), san- Kenneth Wurdack traveled to Bronx, The Plant Press is a quarterly publication pro- dhills pyxie-moss (Pyxidanthera brevifo- New York (5/31 – 6/2) to conduct research vided free of charge. To receive notification of lia), southern bogbutton (Lachnocaulon in the herbarium at the New York Botani- when new pdf issues are posted to the web, please subscribe to the listserve by sending a message beyrichianum), and the pygmy spiderlily cal Garden. to [email protected] containing only the (Hymenocallis pygmaea). following in the body of the text: SUBSCRIBE PLANTPRESS-NEWS Firstname Lastname. Replace “Firstname Lastname” with your name. Visitors If you would like to be added to the hard-copy Jie Yu, Southwest University, China; Plant logical Research Institute, Inc., Hawaii; mailing list, please contact Dr. Gary Krupnick at: Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution, DNA Barcoding (1/22/18-1/4/19). Wood collection (4/9-4/11). PO Box 37012, NMNH MRC-166, Washington, DC 20013-7012, or by E-mail: krupnickg@ Jennifer Ackerfield, Colorado State Uni- Blanca Leon, Universidad Nacional si.edu. versity; Asteraceae (4/4-4/14). Mayor de San Marcos, Peru; Peruvian Melastomataceae and ferns (4/13). Web site: http://botany.si.edu/ Jennifer Huebert, International Archaeo- Continued on page 5 Page 2 Among the Pioneers of Open Access in Botany, PhytoKeys is Celebrating its Editor’s Pick 100th Issue -Adapted from Pensoft Publishers ight years, more than 500 articles and no less 13,000 objective was to accelerate research and free information pages since its launch, Pensoft’s flagship botanical title exchange in fields such as taxonomy, phylogeny, biogeography EPhytokeys, celebrates its 100th issue. Among the open and evolution of plants, implementing the latest technology access pioneers in its field, the journal brings more than just and innovative workflows. As a result, PhytoKeys was the first numbers to the table when it comes to achievements and inno- botanical journal to introduce a XML-based publishing work- vation. PhytoKeys’ most notable milestones over the last 8 years flow, pre-publication registration of new taxa with the Interna- are featured in the Editorial of its anniversary issue. tional Plant Name Index (IPNI), semantic markup and tagging Following its main objective to speed up research in the field of taxonomic treatments and taxonomic names, extensive data of botany, in its 100th issue the journal features a rare species, publishing modalities, and many more. previously unknown to science – Poa laegaardiana, a new grass With a total of 466 new taxa published since its launch species found on sandy, volcanic soil in Ecuador, described by (including 1 tribe, 26 genera or subgenera, and 439 species Smithsonian botanists Paul Peterson and Robert Soreng (read or infraspecies) the journal can confidently claim to be suc- more about this species on page 9). ceeding in its original mission to speed up the publishing and Launched less than a decade ago in 2010, PhytoKeys main documenting of plant diversity in a world loss is occurring at unprecedented rates. While publishing new taxa in itself is a step forward for increasing our knowledge of plant diversity worldwide, PhytoKeys has always recognized the importance of develop- ing innovative methods for dissemination and preservation of knowledge for future discoverability and re-use. This is why the journal’s content is integrated with a significant number of global indexers and archives, such as PubMedCentral, CLOCKSS, Google Scholar, CAB Abstracts, DOAJ, Vifabio, BHL Citebank, to name a few. “I got involved with PhytoKeys almost a decade ago because I believe in a world where information is shared openly and transparently for the benefit of all, especially information about the biodiversity of our planet. We work hard save what we care about, but can only care for the things we know about,” shares Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Sandra Knapp, Natural History Museum London. “The innovative open access platform that PhytoKeys has established means all botanists, everywhere, can know about plant diversity as it is discovered, levelling the playing field for future collaborative action to conserve it. Plants matter to the planet, and open access to knowledge about them like that provided on the PhytoKeys platform is one key to their - and our – future,” says Knapp. “When we established PhytoKeys our number one goal was to bring open access to the field of botany, while at the same time accelerating the ways in which knowledge about plant taxonomy is published and disseminated around the world,” adds Editor-in-Chief, John Kress, Smithsonian Institution. “It has been our greatest pleasure to see the botanical community wholeheartedly accept these ideas and support us by choosing our journal as a venue for publishing their excellent research. I am sure that PhytoKeys will continue on this exciting and suc- Poa laegaardiana, a rare species known only from the type cessful trajectory for years to come.” collection in Provincia Bolivar, Ecuador, is featured in the 100th issue of the journal PhytoKeys (https://dx.doi. org/10.3897/phytokeys.100.25387).
Page 3 Staff Research & Activities
Manuela Dal Forno is now a Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow under advisor Eric Schuettpelz. Her project title is “Start- ing from scratch: Using whole genome sequencing to understand lichenization in Basidiomycota.” Dal Forno received her Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences and Public Policy with an emphasis on lichen molecular systematics from George Mason University in May 2015. She is interested in understanding the evolutionary relation- ships and biodiversity of lichens, particu- larly tropical lineages of basidiolichens. During her Buck Fellowship, Manuela will sequence the genomes of both part- ners in the symbiosis Cora-Rhizonema to investigate patterns of gene loss and gain associated with the lichenization pro- cess; to assess presence of horizontal gene transfer; and to develop new genetic mark- ers to understand the remarkable diversity within the Dictyonema clade (Basidiomy- cota, Agaricales). Peter Schafran presented a poster “The Isoëtes flaccida (Isoëtaceae) complex in the southeastern United States,” on 18 May at the Smithsonian Botanical Symposium in Washington, DC. Schafran also presented a lecture on 5 June to the Botanical Society of Washington titled, “Botanizing in hostile territory: field work in Iraq and the Deep South.” New Faces
Based in Lagos, Nigeria, Temitayo Ogun- biyi is a visual artist who creates work that considers and constructs contempo- rary channels of communication. She is currently working on a series that fuses hairstyles with botanical forms. This will be honed and developed further during her Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow- ship. Working with Gary Krupnick and John Kress, her research in the Depart- ment of Botany at the National Museum of Natural History will focus on medicinal plant species that thrive in the tropics. Her
Top: Manuela Dal Forno Middle: Temitayo Ogunbiyi Bottom: John H. Wiersema Page 4 findings will inform forthcoming works Garden; International Association for Plant Suelen Vianna, Instituto Agronômico de on paper and playground sculptures. She Taxonomy (4/24-4/27). Campinas, Brazil; Acrocomia (Arecaceae) is also conducting research at the National (6/18-6/22). Museum of African Art, the National Karol Marhold, Slovak Academy of Museum of American History, and the Sciences, Slovakia; Cardamine (Brassi- Dutilh Julie, Universidade Estadual de Smithsonian’s American Art Museum. caceae) (4/24-4/27). Campinas, Brazil; Brazilian Amaryl- Ogunbiyi’s work has been shown at the lidaceae, Hypoxidaceae, Hagenbachia Tom Lovejoy and 13 students, George (Asparagaceae) (6/19-6/22). Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, the Cen- Mason University; Plant conservation and ter for Contemporary Art Lagos (Nigeria), herbarium tour (4/30). Jared Margulies, University of Sheffield, Tiwani Contemporary Gallery (London), United Kingdom; Illegal wildlife trade Stephen Friedman Gallery (London), Juan F. Carrión R., Universidade Estad- (6/27-7/12). the Perm Museum of Contemporary Art ual de Feira de Santana, Brazil; Bernardia (Perm, Russia), and Berlin Art Projects (Euphorbiaceae) and allies (5/7-6/1). (Berlin). She recently took part in Strange William Trujillo, Universidad Militar Wonderful Attractors, an artist book that was pro- th Nueva Granada, Colombia; Piper (Piper- World of Plant duced as part of the 10 Berlin Biennale. aceae) (5/7-5/10). She earned her bachelor’s degree from Microtechnique Princeton University in Art History, Visual Blake Fauskee, University of Minnesota Art, and African-American Studies and an Duluth; Pteridophytes internship (5/9-6/6). A tour of the Department of Botany’s M.A. in Curatorial Studies and Critical Art Plant Anatomy and Histology Lab was Theory from Columbia University. Shirley Graham, Missouri Botanical presented for National Museum of Natural Garden; Lythraceae (5/17). History interns on June 20. This event was Retiring from the U.S. Department of coordinated by the Academic Resources Kelly Meiklejohn, North Carolina State Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Center’s Intern Team for Activities and University; Toxic plants (5/21-5/22). Service in Beltsville, Maryland after more Events. Participants had the opportunity to than 30 years, John H. Wiersema will Marco Pellegrini, Universidade de São learn in detail how plant anatomy is use- be continuing his taxonomic and nomen- Paulo, Brazil; Commelinales (5/29-6/27). ful in taxonomic research, and especially clatural work at the National Museum of about the intricate methods that reveal Natural History as a Research Associate Hannah Ranft, Johns Hopkins Univer- anatomical structure and cellular organiza- in the Department of Botany, a position sity; Pteridophytes internship (5/29-8/3). tion in plants. Featured lessons included he has held since 2014. Previously he was Deborah Ballem, Smith College; DNA fixation, paraffin embedding, microtomy, a taxonomist for the USDA’s national barcoding internship (6/4-8/4). whole mount clearing, critical point dry- germplasm system’s GRIN database. ing, and microscopy. The interns observed This position provided the opportunity to Paulo Windisch, Universidade do Vale microslide preparations in brightfield, develop GRIN Taxonomy into an exten- do Rio dos Sinos, Brazil; Brazilian ferns polarized light,and phase contrast, and sive and exhaustive taxonomic resource (6/15-6/18). research being conducted on the morphol- on economic plants important to global ogy of Vitis sp. (Vitaceae) seeds. The high- Nuri Benet Pierce, San Diego State Uni- agriculture. Through this work Wiersema light of the tour was to section buds using versity; Chenopodium (Chenopodiaceae) gained global standing as a specialist in a rotary microtome to produce exquisitely (6/18-6/19). plant nomenclature, and now has direct thin paraffin ribbons. editorial involvement with both the botani- cal and cultivated plant codes of interna- tional nomenclature and the international journal Taxon. Wiersema is also well known as a specialist on the taxonomy of the water-lily family, especially the genus Nymphaea, is responsible for the discov- ery and description of several new species, and has participated in over 30 scientific publications on the group. He expects to pursue both of these interests here in the Botany Department.
Visitors Continued from page 2
Sterling Keeley, University of Hawaii, Manoa; Compositae (4/23-4/27). Summer interns at the National Museum of Natural History received a tour of the Patrick Herendeen, Chicago Botanic Plant Anatomy and Histology Laboratory. Page 5 Collections-based Department member Jun Wen) discusses changed the way we perceive ourselves, the importance of collections based our environment, and our place in the st Science in the 21 research from the 1700s to 2100 (https:// universe. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ The narrative begins with the 18th cen- Century jse.12315). tury, which saw the beginning of formal A recent open-access paper published In the article, the author, Botany Cura- classification with Linnaeus proposing in the Journal of Systematics and Evo- tor Vicki Funk, discusses discoveries a system to classify all of life. Passing th lution (a journal co-edited by Botany from collections-based science that have through the 19 century, the age of explo-
Some of the biological collections housed at the National Museum of Natural History. (photos courtesy of NMNH Photo Services; assembled by Alice Tangerini) Page 6 ration ushered in as naturalists undertook large-scale collecting expeditions leading to major scientific advances (the found- ing of Physical Geography, Meteorology, Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution) and challenging long held beliefs about nature. Moving into the 20th century, Funk explains how collections were central to paradigm shifts, including theories of Continental Drift and Phylogenetic Systematics, and explains how Molecular Phylogenetics added testable hypotheses and computerized specimen records gave rise to the field of Biodiversity. In more recent times, the first 15 years of the 21st century, Funk suggests that tree- thinking has pervaded the life sciences leading to the emergence of Evolutionary Medicine, Evolutionary Ecology, and new Food Safety methods. Finally, Funk looks into the future and how collections-based research is staged to produce even more advances: 1) open access to large amounts of specimen data & images; 2) linking of collections and climate data to phylog- enies on a global scale; and 3) production of vast quantities of genomic data allow- ing researchers to address big evolutionary questions. Because of collections-based science, people see themselves not as the center of all things, but rather as part of a complex universe. The paper concludes by stating that it is essential that we integrate new discov- eries with knowledge from the past (e.g., collections) in order to understand this Bouteloua herrera-arrietae P.M. Peterson & Romasch., an endemic planet we all inhabit, and suggests that from Nuevo León, Mexico, was named to honor Herrera Arrieta we must come together and plan for the (drawn by Alice Tangerini in J. Syst. Evol. 53(4): 351–366. 2015. future. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jse.12159/epdf). This paper is posted on ResearchGate, a social networking site for scientists and Canyon), the deepest and most picturesque researchers, where readers can post com- canyon in North America. The two scien- ments. tists have known each other for more than 33 years, having first met while Peterson was on an expedition (extended camping Grasses of trip) collecting grasses in Mexico doing Chihuahua, Mexico his dissertation research on Muhlenbergia, a single-flowered chloridoid grass with The publication, “Grasses of Chihua- a center of diversity in Chihuahua where hua, Mexico” (Smithson. Contr. Bot. 107: 78 species are found. Eventually, Herrera 1−380; 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.5479/ Arrieta completed her doctoral studies in si.1938-2812.107), is a culmination of a 1995 at McGill University in Montreal, long and fruitful collaboration between also working on Muhlenbergia. The two Yolanda Herrera Arrieta (Instituto Politéc- agrostologists have coauthored 24 peer- nico Nacional, CIIDIR, in Durango) and reviewed manuscripts on grasses, rang- Paul Peterson. Chihuahua is floristically ing from floristic studies to monographs diverse, bordering the United States on the and phylogenetic classifications based on north along the Rio Grande while con- molecular DNA sequences. taining the Barrancas del Cobre (Copper Continued on page 8 Page 7 Grasses Continued from page 7 After finishing a floristic treatment of grasses in Zacatecas (Herrera Arrieta, Y., P.M. Peterson, and A. Cortés Ortiz. 2010. Gramíneas de Zacatecas, México. Sida, Botanical Miscellany 32: 1−239), the two began working on compiling a list of all the known grasses in Chihuahua while verifying all grass collections from the state tallied in the Mexican National database (CONABIO). Peterson has amassed nearly 12,000 collection numbers in Mexico, of which 1,521 are grasses from Chihuahua. Many of these were incorporated in the specimen examined section, documenting the occurrence of each species. Mexico contains about 1,215 grass spe- cies, 385 of these are included in this new treatment of the Chihuahua grasses, and 257 of these (66%) are illustrated. In the next few years Herrera Arrieta and Peter- son hope to finish many grass manuscripts, two notable projects are the grasses of San Luis Potosí and a revision of Muhlenber- gia for Mexico.
Celebrating the Summer Solstice with Pollinators The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) celebrated National Pol- linator Week 2018 in June in an effort to raise awareness of the decline of important pollinator populations. On June 23, the Smithsonian Institution hosted Solstice Saturday, a Smithsonian-wide celebra- tion kicking off the summer season. Top: Barbara Stauffer (Office of Education and Outreach) introduces Kimberly Nearly every Smithsonian museum in Winter and Gary Krupnick for a question and answer session after a screening of the Washington area, the Smithsonian “Pollinators Under Pressure” at a June 2018 Pollinator Family Night event at the National Zoo, Smithsonian Environmental National Museum of Natural History. (photo by Laura Cox, Tree Media) Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland, and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Bottom: Some of the pollinator-friendly plant specimens from the U.S. National Museum and the National Museum of the Herbarium that were on display. (photo by Gary Krupnick) American Indian Heye Center in New event, the film “Pollinators Under Pres- in a questions and answer session with the York City, extended their hours until mid- sure” was featured in the Q?rius Audi- audience after each of the three showings. night, some with special themed and joint torium. The film is about the plight of The Tree Media film, narrated by Leon- programming. NMNH had over 1,000 pollinators around the world and the ardo DiCaprio, is available on the website visitors to its bilingual Pollinator Family actions we can all take to ensure their sur- http://www.pollinatorsunderpressure.org Night programs. Over three hours, visitors vival and that of humans and ecosystems and on YouTube. engaged in a wide variety of activities in everywhere. Gary Krupnick (NMNH Krupnick also hosted a “Scientist is Q?rius and Qjr, as well as visiting the But- Department of Botany) and Kimberly In” station sharing stories of important terfly Pavilion and Insect Zoo. Winter (U.S. Forest Service) participated native plants for pollinators and display- During the Pollinator Family Night Page 8 ing several plant specimens from the U.S. Durko, features a diversity of managed Pollinator Week, a time to celebrate pol- National Herbarium. Other activities in and native pollinators that support healthy linators and native plants and to spread Q?rius included building a solitary bee wildlands and a nutritious food supply the word about what you can do to protect home, examining insect specimens under in North America. Krupnick served as them. The posters are one of the most magnification, creating orchid origami, the scientific advisor on the poster. The popular outreach material items offered. participating in the build-a-bug photo sta- poster’s website
Described 28 Years Post-Collection, New Grass Species Makes a Strong Case for Conservation Adapted from Pensoft Publishers Originally collected 28 years ago in Ecuador, new species Poa laegaardiana has been just described, only to find out its prospects for surviving in its type location seem bleak nowadays. The study was published in the open access journal PhytoKeys. When roaming in the Cordillera de los Andes of Ecuador, near the village of Facundo Vela, little did Smithsonian scientist and author, Paul Peterson, know that a small grass specimen will not only turn out to be an intriguing new species, but will also make a big statement on the importance of conservation. Almost three decades after its original collection the new species P. laegaardiana has finally emerged from its herbarium collection, but the story took an unex- pected twist. It took the authors a single Google Earth search to find out that what used to be the natural habitat of the newly found densely tufted bunchgrass, is now occu- pied predominantly by small farms. Heavy agricultural use of the terrain poses a good possibility for P. laegaardi- ana to have already been extirpated from this location. With the species currently known only from this area, chances are that this newly described species might in Pollinator Week 2018 poster, “Pollinators and Seeds” Continued on page 10 Page 9 Google Earth image comparison between the area of collection in 2011 and today. With the area having been plowed, chances of the grass still existing there are small, however it may still be found along the margins of the fields. (photo credit: Left @2018DigitalGlobe; Right @2018Google @2018CNES/Airbus)
Conservation induced habitat loss can indeed be a major dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00538 Continued from page 9 threat to the survival of life on Earth.” The new species was named after Commock, T., P.E. Rose, K.N. Gandhi, fact turn out to be already extinct. renowned Danish botanist Simon Lae- K.C.St.E. Campbell, K.J. Wurdack, J. “Further studies are needed to search gaard, who has made extensive collections Francisco-Ortega and B. Jestrow. 2017. the area and browse collections for speci- in South America, Greenland, Ecuador, Typification and nomenclature of five taxa mens from different locations,” explains and Bolivia (accompanied by the authors) endemic to Jamaica. Harvard Pap. Bot. Peterson. “But, in fact, it may well be that contributing to the documentation of the 22(2): 137-140. http://dx.doi.org/10.3100/ with our study we are documenting a pos- flora to make informed conservation and hpib.v22iss2.2017.n8 sible extinction of a species happening in management plans. Cornejo, X., D. Wasshausen and C. the space of just 30 years. The story of P. Bonifaz. 2017. Dicliptera francodavi- laegaardiana serves to show how human- lae (Acanthaceae): A new species from the coastal dry forests of the province Publications of Guayas, Ecuador. Harvard Pap. Bot. 22(2): 121-123. http://dx.doi.org/10.3100/ hpib.v22iss2.2017.n4 Adey, W.H., J.J. Hernandez-Kantun, pattananurak, P. Pramual, D.L.J. Quicke, P.W. Gabrielson, M.C. Nash and L.C. R.K. Robbins, W. Sakchoowong, M. Dorr, L.J. 2018. “You’ll Hear the Music Hayek. 2018. Phymatolithon (Melobe- Schutze, E.J. Vesterinen, W.Z. Wang, Y.Y. in the Bell” - Stanwyn Gerald Shetler sioideae, Hapalidiales) in the Boreal-Sub- Wang, G. Weiblen and J.S. Wright. 2018. (1933-2017). Taxon 67(1): 229-230. http:// arctic transition zone of the North Atlantic. A cross-continental comparison of assem- dx.doi.org/10.12705/671.34 Smithson. Contrib. Mar. 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Page 12 Graham Receives 16th Cuatrecasas Medal he Department of Botany and the ing authoring four books. His latest book, the University of Panama and Smithsonian United States National Herbarium Land Bridges: Ancient environments, plant Tropical Research Institute (2008); Norris Tpresent the José Cuatrecasas migrations, and New World connections, H. Williams from the Florida Museum of Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany was published in March 2018 by The Uni- Natural History and the University of Flor- to a botanist and scholar of international versity of Chicago Press. He has endowed ida, Gainesville (2009); Beryl B. Simpson stature who has contributed significantly research funds and been honored with from the University of Texas at Austin to advancing the field of tropical botany. Paleobotany and Biogeography, A Fest- (2010); Walter S. Judd from the Univer- The award is named in honor of Dr. José schrift for Alan Graham in His 80th Year sity of Florida at Gainesville (2012); Ana Cuatrecasas, a pioneering botanist and (Missouri Botanical Garden Press, 2014), Maria Giulietti Harley from the Universi- taxonomist, who spent nearly a half-cen- and the Asa Gray Award from the Ameri- dade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Brazil tury working in the Smithsonian Institu- can Society Plant Taxonomists (2009). (2013); H. Peter Linder from Zurich tion’s Department of Botany. Cuatrecasas Graham’s long interest in pollen and University (2014); Paulo Günter Windisch devoted his career to plant exploration in utilizing microfossils to track American from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande tropical South America and this award vegetation history included starting a ref- do Sul, Brazil (2015); Kamal Bawa from serves to keep vibrant the accomplish- erence slide collection, as an undergradu- the University of Massachusetts Boston ments and memory of this outstanding ate, that eventually grew to 25,000 slides (2016); and Robin B. Foster from the Field scientist. when it was gifted to the Smithsonian in Museum (2017). The winner of this prestigious award 2008. His long-term studies on Neotropi- is selected by a committee made up of cal paleobotany were supported by the four botanists on staff in the Department National Science Foundation and have in consultation with other plant scientists focused on late Cretaceous and Ceno- outside of the Smithsonian Institution. zoic terrestrial paleoenvironments. The Nominations for the Medal are accepted Cuatrecasas Medal selection committee from all scientists in the Botany Depart- took special note of Graham’s focus on ment. The award consists of a bronze understanding the origins and history of medal bearing an image of José Cuatreca- neotropical floras that has culminated in sas on the front with the recipient’s name impactful synthetic works. This paleo- and date of presentation on the back. perspective, which spans Central America, Highlights from past presentations to the South America, and the Caribbean, is of recipients are available at
Sir Peter Crane Speakers, conveners, and award recipients at the 2018 Smithsonian Botanical Oak Spring Garden Foundation, USA Symposium at the National Museum of Natural History (from left): Laurence Dorr, Sir Peter Crane, Alan Graham, Kirk Johnson, Selena Smith, Surangi Punyasena, “The enigmatic ‘Mesozoic seed ferns’” Andrew Leslie, Jonathan Wilson, Susana Magallón, Saharah Moon Chapotin, and A dominant trend in paleobotany over Mónica Ramírez-Carvalho. (photo by Ken Wurdack) the last several decades has been the dra- new perspectives that are likely to have architecture. For example, the simpli- matic expansion of a critically evaluated important implications for understanding fied fleshy cones found in some Cupres- angiosperm fossil record and increased seed plant evolution, including the origin saceae and most Podocarpaceae evolved appreciation of its relevance for under- of angiosperms. from small woody cones characteristic standing major patterns in angiosperm of conifers with highly ramified distal evolution. The picture that has emerged is twigs bearing imbricated scale leaves. In rich with new insights, and has revealed a Andrew Leslie contrast, conifer clades with large diam- pattern that is broadly consistent with evi- Brown University, USA eter branches bearing large cones never dence from the molecular phylogenetics of “Biotic seed dispersal, growth archi- evolve fleshy tissues for biotic dispersal, living plants. However, much more prob- tecture, and the evolution of conifer cone but instead produce large dry seeds that lematic have been attempts to understand diversity” animals pluck out of the cones. Because the origin of angiosperms and convincing Conifer cones are some of the most conifers combine rich living diversity with resolution of this question has eluded both recognizable and well-known botanical an extensive fossil record, they represent molecular phylogenetic and paleobotani- structures, and their evolution has long an ideal group in which to apply a variety cal approaches. Progress has seemingly fascinated botanists. The fossil record has of phylogenetic and comparative methods ground to a halt indicating that what is proven essential in understanding the ori- to deep-time evolutionary studies. needed are new sources of data. Cen- gins of modern conifer cones from fertile tral to many discussions of angiosperm shoot systems in Paleozoic ancestors, and Susana Magallón origins have been two groups of so-called, cones remain a promising system in which “Mesozoic” seed ferns - the Caytoniales Universidad Nacional Autónoma de to incorporate paleobotanical data into México, Mexico and corystosperms (Umkomasiales). New macroevolutionary studies. In particular, material, mainly discovered and collected advances in comparative methods using “The different roles of fossils for time- on field expeditions over the past decade dated phylogenetic trees may provide calibrating phylogenies” from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia answers to persistent problems in coni- Time-calibrated phylogenies provide and adjacent areas of China, is provid- fer cone evolution, such as the origin of direct information about the age of clades, ing new information on both groups. simplified and fleshy seed cone morpholo- and represent the starting point of stud- These new data, derived from exception- gies like the “berries” of yews. I use a ies on morphological evolution, biogeo- ally well-preserved lignified mesofossils combination of fossil data, ancestral state graphic history, and the dynamics of the and high quality impressions, as well as reconstructions, and models of character process of diversification. It is clearly specimens permineralized in chert, help evolution to illustrate how the appearance recognized that independent temporal to clarify previous misunderstandings and of specialized animal seed dispersal strate- calibrations are determinant to molecular are revealing surprising architectural com- gies over the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic clock analyses – far more relevant that monalities among the ovulate reproduc- played a large role in the evolution of the amount of molecular data, and clock tive structures of several groups of living modern conifer cone diversity, although method. Fossils have been used in varied and fossil seed plants. These discoveries the exact morphological adaptations that ways and to different degrees in different raise interesting questions and suggest clades exhibit depends on their branching clock methods. A few studies have entirely Page 14 omitted the paleobotanical record, drawing pollen counts from species-rich airborne today. The origin and causal mechanisms their calibrations from phylogenetically pollen samples from a Neotropical low- that underlie this diversity remain an open distant nodes or absolute substitution rates. land forest; reconstruction of the extinc- question in evolutionary biology. Fos- Other studies are entirely based on fossil tion history of a North American spruce; sil floras from northern South America evidence, including estimating a confi- and an investigation of the biogeography provide direct evidence of the timing of dence interval around the age of selected and diversification history of a pantropical origin and diversification of Neotropi- nodes, and a model that simultaneously legume clade. These diverse classifica- cal biomes, as well as their response to estimates ages, diversification and pres- tion problems were solved using modified global perturbations in the geological past. ervation parameters. Relaxed molecular convolutional neural networks (CNNs), Among these fossil floras are the Late clocks combine molecular data with fossil trained on image libraries created using Paleocene Cerrejón and Bogotá Floras, information applied in different ways, to optical superresolution microscopy and dating back to 58–60 million years ago, estimate divergence times and other par- automated slide scanners. and considered to be the earliest known ameters. Most conventionally, fossils are The diversity of these problems dem- examples of Neotropical rainforests used to calibrate selected internal nodes, onstrate the generalizability and transfer- based on their paleoclimate, family-level but are not included in the phylogeny, ability of these machine learning methods taxonomic composition and comparable nor do they play a role in generating it. to other visual classification problems. paleoecology with living rainforests. Even Tip-dating methods rely on total evidence CNNs represent a powerful new group of though these fossil floras have given a data to simultaneously estimate phylogen- computer vision algorithms. However, the baseline for understanding the evolution etic relationships and divergence times efficacy of these automated approaches of Neotropical rainforests throughout the among extant and fossil taxa. A recently is limited by the training data available Cenozoic, little is known about what kind developed, highly parametric method in any given analysis. The future of these of ecosystems and floristic associations integrates extant and fossil taxa as part automated analyses will largely rely on the existed in the Neotropics before this time. of the same diversification process under development of expansive specimen image Using the pollen and leaf fossil record, a common phylogeny-generating model, databases incorporating well-curated we describe the floristic composition of including estimation of the role of fossils image data, derived from well-curated Late Cretaceous forests in northern South as extinct terminals, or as ancestors of specimens. America and evaluate the impact of the prevailing phylogenetic branches. These End-Cretaceous mass extinction on these different roles of fossils in time-calibration Mónica Ramírez-Carvalho early tropical forests. methods will be exemplified with pub- Smithsonian Tropical Research Insti- The continuous pollen record across lished and ongoing studies estimating tute, Panama the K/Pg boundary indicates drastic plant angiosperm age. extinction at the end of the Cretaceous that “Late Cretaceous floras from northern is also reflected in Late Cretaceous and South America and the evolution of Neo- Late Paleocene leaf assemblages. Fossil Surangi Punyasena tropical rainforests” University Of Illinois at Urbana- leaves collected in four Late Cretaceous Champaign, USA Tropical South America has the highest sites show that many extant tropical plant plant diversity of any region in the world “Laying the foundations for automated Continued on page 16 pollen analysis” Palynological data are derived from the expert identification of fossil pol- len and spore specimens. Although the microscopes for observing palynological specimens have dramatically improved over the last century, our methods for comparison and classification are still largely visual and qualitative. Automated, machine-based pollen analysis holds the potential to transform the discipline. Auto- mation would increase data throughput, producing more pollen counts per expert per unit of time, and improve data quality, by increasing the taxonomic resolution of identifications and by calculating explicit estimates of identification uncertainty for the first time. I present three examples of research problems that we have successfully addressed using a generalized workflow Sir Peter Crane concludes that many of the seed-plant lineages we now treat as for automated classification: automation of independent may be closely allied. (photo by Gary Krupnick)
Page 15 Abstracts Continued from page 15 families such as Lauraceae, Arecaceae, Araceae, existed in the Late Cretaceous floras, these forests lacked the family-level composition typical of Late Paleocene and living Neotropical rainforests. Similarly, diverse and highly specific plant-insect associations seen in fossil leaf damage in the Late Cretaceous floras are replaced with distinct leaf damage traces in the Late Paleocene assemblages, indicating an ecological turnover. Plant extinction at the K/Pg boundary and the differences observed between the Late Cretaceous and Late Paleocene floras from northern South America indicate that the End-Cretaceous mass extinction could have enabled the evolution of Neotropical rainforests as we Susana Magallón discussing tools and methods that are used to estimate divergence know them today. times of flowering plants. (photo by Gary Krupnick) microCT include understanding biodiver- ological niches that were later explored Selena Y. Smith sity in the Cretaceous-Paleogene Deccan by flowering plants, suggesting an early University of Michigan, USA Intertrappean Beds of India and helping to history of complex physiological behavior “Plant paleobiology in the digital era: place fossils in a phylogenetic context in and environmental response. Furthermore, How X-ray microCT is helping to shed studies of specific groups like the Are- understanding the physiological properties light on the history of plants” cales (palms) and Zingiberales (gingers, of Carboniferous plants permits paleoenvi- Fossils provide critical data for under- bananas, and relatives). MicroCT is prov- ronmental proxies, including geochemical standing broad patterns of biodiversity, ing to be an invaluable tool for paleobo- proxies for carbon dioxide concetration, biogeography, ecology, and evolution over tanical studies, enhancing our ability to to be refined. Comparing the physiology geological time scales. Challenges remain study natural history collections and build of extinct plants with strategies that are in various areas of interpreting the fossil comparative datasets that will ultimately currently employed by living plants sheds record, including difficulties presented help to elucidate broader patterns of plant light on ecophysiological trajectories in by variable preservation, accessibility to diversity and evolution. plant evolutionary history and the history specimens, and accurately interpreting of plant-environment coevolution. morphology in order to place fossils in the Jonathan Wilson Tree of Life. A tool with much potential to Haverford College, USA Profile help overcome some of these challenges “Ecophysiology of extinct plants” is the use of 3D imaging via synchrotron- Continued from page 1 based or industrial X-ray micro-computed Plants are unique among multicel- lular organisms because much of their fossil record, Leslie was able to determine tomography (microCT). MicroCT is that proto-cones were modified shoots. non-destructive, rapid, and provides 2D physiology is biophysical, rather than behavioral, and the anatomy that defines The evolution of woodiness in long, thin, and 3D morphoanatomical data, making seemingly flexible cones was adaptively it ideal for fossils. In addition, digital data these biophysical capabilities is preserved in the fossil record. However, many advantageous because it provided protec- provide a lasting record of specimen mor- tion to their seeds from ever-evolving phology, preserving information in case extinct plants lack close living relatives or morphological analogues for fossilized predators. of compromised integrity and enabling This discovery made Leslie question virtual sharing and examination of mate- anatomical features, limiting the ability of experimental methods to provide a per- why small, fleshy, almost berry-like cones rial. MicroCT facilitates acquisition of found in Cupressaceae and Podocarpaceae comparative morphological data from spective on extinct plant growth, develop- ment, and function. Mathematical models, exist today. Unlike large, woody cones, extant taxa. Using either fossil or modern the fossil record for these was scarce, and datasets, virtual dissections and the cre- when applied to fossilized plant organs— particularly leaves and stems—can pro- if any fossils did exist, they looked like ation of virtual fossils from these 3D data- “a black smudge within another black sets can be used generate hypotheses of vide quantitative insight into the physiol- ogy and ecology of plants that have been smudge that used to be a seed.” To work expected morphologies from either extant around this problem, Leslie developed a or extinct taxa to aid in correctly placing extinct for hundreds of millions of years. Within the Euramerican Carboniferous mathematical model that hypothesized fossils in a taxonomic and phylogenetic transition rates between four cone types framework. Examples of the usefulness of tropical forests, key plants from seed and non-seed plant lineages occupied physi- that could have existed: large, woody Page 16 cones; small, woody cones; large, fleshy cones; and small, fleshy cones. After strik- ing out large fleshy cones as a possibility, Leslie examined the model. This model helped him theorize that a cone’s mor- phology was dependent on the form of its tree’s branches and how animals dispersed its seeds. A tree with small branches would not grow large cones, and a tree with thick branches would not develop fleshy cones. In his talk, “Ecophysiology of Extinct Plants,” Jonathan Wilson explained that the plant life we see today is a conse- quence of several hundred million years of evolution in response to the environment. Wilson told us that plants and their envi- ronments coevolved and each could tell us about the other. He advocated study of extinct plants as whole plants, rather than as disconnected fossil leaves or stems. He demonstrated that plants are integrated systems, and he used the example of a plant’s water transportation (what he calls the key to plant physiology) in his discus- sion. Plants are essentially composed of tubes; if we study how water was trans- ported around a plant and where to, it will tell us which parts of the plant were most important to its survival and how humid or dry its environment was. Wilson explained that the first vascular plants were experimenting with vascular tissue. He introduced the audience to the three plants with unusual structure: the Paleozoic “seed fern” Medullosa (large leaves on small stems; xylem cells that are among the largest in the fossil record), the Carboniferous tree fern Psaronius (root mantle surrounds stem), and the climb- ing sphenophyte Sphenophyllum (climb- ing hooks on heterophyllous leaves). He argued that within the Carboniferous ecosystems, plants occupied both ends of the modern hydraulic spectrum: high water transport efficiency but unsafe (Medullosa, Sphenophyllum) and lower water transport efficiency with higher safety margins (Psaronius, Cordaites). Top: Leslie Overstreet and Allie Newman give background information about the He concluded that plants have evolved a Botanical fossil books on display at the Cullman Rare Book Library. Leslie also wide range of ecophysiological strategies talked about the library and the services they offer. Questions are encouraged, so over the last 400 million years, including when asked where the best donations to the library have come from, the group was “extinct ecophysiologies” that are not rep- surprised to find out that most are acquired from retired Smithsonian Institution resented in extant ecosystems. Functioning researchers. Oftentimes these donors know little of the history of the book. of late Paleozoic tropical plants was more Bottom: Herbarium diluviarum by Johann Jakob Scheuchzer was first printed dynamic than inferred from phylogenetic in 1709. Scheuchzer theorized that fossils were leftovers from the Great Flood of relationships and it included the capability Noah’s Ark fame, which is depicted on this title page. (photos by Rose Gulledge) to force vegetation-climate feedbacks. Continued on page 18
Page 17 Symposium Selena Y. Smith gave a lecture on “Plant Continued from page 17 Paleobiology in the Digital Era: How Sponsors of the X-Ray MicroCT is Helping to Shed Light The afternoon session began with lec- th on the History of Plants.” Smith spoke 16 Smithsonian tures on fossilized pollen and technology. about the powerful ability of industrial The first was given by Surangi Punyasena Botanical Symposium X-ray micro-computed tomography on “Laying the Foundations for Auto- (microCT) scans to reconstruct otherwise • Cuatrecasas Family Foundation mated Pollen Analysis,” and focused on fragile or damaged fossils without doing • Department of Botany, National her lab’s development of machine-learning further harm to museum specimens. Smith Museum of Natural History artificial intelligence (AI), which had been illustrated the usefulness of this technol- • United States Botanic Garden applied to the recognition and cataloguing ogy through the example of a walnut. of fossilized pollen in microscopic images. Using traditional investigative methods insects, and identified pollen remains. She She used a labor-intensive method to cre- to identify an unknown walnut seed found high abundance of leaf damage, low ate a virtual 3D-image of pollen samples, preserved in a slab of rock, a researcher species diversity, and the same family- tagged data on each of the pollen grains, would need to find part of a shell, an level composition as in Neotropical forests and then fed these into a neural net. This outer husk, the seed itself, or be unable to of today. was the starting point for teaching her extract and examine the specimen without Carvalho asked what pre-Paleocene machine how to become a pollen expert. destroying it. Each part has the potential to tropical forests were like and how Neo- Punyasena’s early tests have been running be seen as a different plant. With microCT, tropical forests changed throughout the well, but she said that more data is needed a broken and apparently blank rock could Cenozoic. A study of 800 leaf samples to train the machine before it can reliably be scanned, rejoined, and the seeds within plus 350 new collections shows that the identify more complex pollen and beat rotated and examined from any angle. pattern of family-level dominance in pre- trained humans. This new tool is exciting Smith presented a case study of the extinction times (~70 Ma) was different because it will be able to plow through evolutionary history of the Zingiberales. from the late Paleocene. She also discov- large samples more quickly, and even She described a project that analyzes 50 ered that leaf damage diversity is notably identify broken, poorly preserved grains. seed characters of over 200 specimens of higher in the Cretaceous floras. Over the Punyasena expanded the crowd’s idea of Zingiberales using both traditional light next few years, Carvalho will be con- what is possible in paleobotany, from the microscopy as well as synchrotron-based ducting experiments in temperature- and sepia-tinged field of a hundred years ago, tomography. The use of synchrotron CO -controlled greenhouses at the Smith- to one moving into the gleaming era of 2 tomography allowed her to reexamine sonian Tropical Research Institute that test AIs and neural nets. non-destructively many rare and endan- hypotheses related to dramatic environ- Continuing the topic of technology, gered extant taxa and fossils for study. mental changes, such as the hyperthermals One result that she discussed was the dis- of the Early Eocene. The objectives of her Acknowledgements covery that two species of fossil Alpinia study will be to test for increased evapo- were actually three species of Carpolithus transpiration under high CO and high The success of the Symposium was 2 and one species of Caricoidea (Cyper- temperature. due to the significant time and efforts aceae). She concluded that non-destructive The last lecture of the day was given of the following people: X-ray tomography is a powerful tool for by Susana Magallón on “The Different Organizers fossil and modern plant material. A future Roles of Fossils for Time-Calibrating • Laurence J. Dorr goal is to build large comparative anatomi- Phylogenies.” This talk focused on tools • Kenneth Wurdack cal and morphological datasets to evaluate and methods that are used to estimate • William DiMichele fossil affinities, reconstruct past environ- divergence times, with a special focus • Gary Krupnick ments, and provide calibration points with on flowering plants. She presented three • Sue Lutz more confidence. objectives of her talk: the type of data used • Sylvia Orli The theme of the next talk alternated in the models, the specific role of fossils, • Susan Pell away from tools of the trade to research, and examples from studies that estimate • Eric Schuettpelz with Mónica Ramírez-Carvalho’s lecture the age of crown group angiosperms. She • Elizabeth Zimmer on “Late Cretaceous Floras from Northern then presented five different methods that South America and the Evolution of Neo- are used to estimate divergence times. Support tropical Rainforests.” Carvalho collected The first two methods estimate diversity • Mary Ann Apicelli fossils from Guajira, Colombia, at the site times by excluding the fossil record (for • Carol Youmans of the oldest known Neotropical rainforest example, using amino acid sequence data Photographers (58-60 Ma) – now one of the largest open of cytochrome C in different plant species) • Gary Krupnick pit coal mines in the world. She examined and by only using the fossil record (for • Kenneth Wurdack these fossils to learn more about what example, using plant macrofossil records Neotropical rainforests looked like before at the genus level). These two models give And many others who had helped in a the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K/Pg) extinc- a divergence time estimate of angiosperms myriad number of ways. tion event. Carvalho cataloged plant types, at 230-310 Ma and 133-152 Ma, respec- examined fossils of leaves for evidence of tively. Page 18 deep dive into the deep time of plants. The 17th Smithsonian Botanical Symposium is scheduled to return to Baird Auditorium at the National Museum of Natural History on Friday, 17 May 2019. The theme will be structured around the topic of domes- tication of plants. Check the symposium website
Supplementary Symposium Links on Web The website to the 16th Smithsonian Botanical Symposium
Alpinia modesta F.Muell. ex K.Schum. At the 2018 Smithsonian Botanical Symposium, “Plants in the Past: Fossils and the Future,” fossilized Zingiberales was among the many plant groups discussed. As part of the Zingiberales program at the Smithsonian spearheaded by Curator John Kress and colleagues, Alice Tangerini was sent to the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum in Hawaii in July 1997 to make preliminary drawings from living specimens of plants in the Zingiberales, including Alpinia modesta. It was a summer of sporadic rains so drawing in the Arboretum always meant bringing a large plastic tarp to throw over her work when a shower came. The floral details were illustrated at the education building in the evenings. Tangerini made additional sketches from specimens at the Smithsonian Botany Greenhouses the following summer.
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