Abstract
The genus Heuchera is recognized as one of the most diverse endemic radiations of Saxifragaceae in North America, yet species delimitation and geographic distribution within the group remain controversial. Many species remain difficult to identify, including Heuchera alba, a narrow Appalachian endemic and globally imperiled (G2) taxon recorded only from West Virginia and Virginia that occurs in sympatry with H. pubescens and H. americana. A recent survey of the cliffside flora of the Shikellamy Bluffs, PA recorded dozens of Heuchera individuals that, through the use of social media, were positively identified as H. alba. Aided by examination of historical herbarium records, subsequent searches of similar habitats in Pennsylvania led to the discovery of seven more populations and established a significant range expansion for this rare species. The uncovering of H. alba in Pennsylvania is an exciting conservation outcome and an example of what can happen when botanists embrace a combination of modern and classical approaches to discovery and collaboration.
Highlights
The genus Heuchera represents one of the most diverse endemic radiations of family Saxifragaceae in North America, with approximately 43 species (~10 in eastern North America)
The “discovery” of Heuchera alba in Pennsylvania is especially illustrative as a case study for the potential benefits of merging classical botanical studies with modern modes of information sharing, non-traditional scientific communication through the use of social media networks
Folk (@ry_folk) had replied to the post, suggesting that what had been identified as H. americana was probably H. alba – an inference made with confidence stemming, in part, from the fact that S
Summary
The genus Heuchera represents one of the most diverse endemic radiations of family Saxifragaceae in North America, with approximately 43 species (~10 in eastern North America). (white alumroot, Saxifragaceae) was first described in 1926 based on a collection made in 1925 from Snowy Mountain in Pendleton County, West Virginia (Rydberg 1926). Since that time, both major monographs of Heuchera covering the eastern United States (Rosendahl et al 1936; Wells 1984) reduced H. alba to synonymy with H. pubescens Pursh (1814), the only other large-flowered species known from the northern Appalachians. Recent morphological and molecular analyses of Heuchera (Folk and Freudenstein 2014, Folk et al 2017, Folk and Stubbs in review) are consistent with this recent recognition of H. alba at the species level and its sister relationship to H. pubescens. Fewer than 15 of the populations are considered viable and many of them are under threat from trampling and/or housing developments on high mountain ridges (NatureServe 2017)
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