York Botanical Garden Herbarium Research Articles

Lectotypification of Plagiothecium mauiense, a Hawaiian synonym of Plagiothecium longisetum (Plagiotheciaceae)

In 2020, Plagiothecium mauiense Broth. was recognised as a synonym of P. longisetum Lindb.; however, due to the inability to compare all known original material, the conducted taxonomic analysis was not completed with lectotypification of the name. Syntypes of P. mauiense were found in four American herbaria: Harvard University Herbarium (FH00220142), Miami University Herbarium (MU 000000546), New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY01256708) and Yale University Herbarium (YU 233890). Considering the condition of the found material and Articles 9.3, 9.11 and 9.12 of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants (Shenzhen Code) that is currently in force, a specimen NY01256708 was proposed to be the lectotype of P. mauiense.

A new synonym from Hawaii and lectotypification of Plagiothecium longisetum (Plagiotheciaceae).

Plagiothecium mauiense was first described in 1927 by V.F. Brotherus, based on materials from Hawaii. It has, so far been, treated as a separate species. A detailed analysis of the original material housed in the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY01256708) found the specimen to be characterised by a lack of metallic lustre; concave, asymmetrical, lanceolate to lanceolate-ovate leaves, shrunken in their dry condition; a straight, not denticulate, acute to apiculate apex; elongate-hexagonal cells in irregular transverse rows, 101–131 × 15–21 µm at mid-leaf; very lax areolation, with decurrencies composed of three rows of cells. These characteristics indicate that this species is identical to the original material of P. longisetum (e.g. H-SOL 1563 011; PC0132572). Hence, we propose that P. mauiense should be recognised as a new synonym of P. longisetum. In addition, a review of P. longisetum syntypes found one (H-SOL 1563 011) to have the same date of collection as the protologue, and to possess a quite abundant gametophyte turf with well-preserved sporophytes, indicating it to be fertile. Considering the above, we propose that specimen H-SOL 1563 011 be designated the lectotype of P. longisetum.

Digitization of The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium

The William and Lynda Steere Herbarium of The New York Botanical Garden has been digitizing specimens since 1995. At first, digitization included only specimen label data transcription, but specimen imaging was added in 1999. Over the years, computer technology has changed greatly, and consequently so have the hardware, software and workflow for accomplishing this work. Rapid digitization techniques developed mostly during the past five years have allowed a doubling in the rate at which specimens are digitized. Approximately 2.5 million specimens have been databased and 1.4 million have been digitally photographed. These data are served through the Garden’s C. V. Starr Virtual Herbarium and are shared through other data portals as well. Completion of the digitization of all American specimens (roughly five million) is projected by 2021.

New Taxa of Solenostoma and Plectocolea and Other Taxonomic Novelties Based on Study of Collections in the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium

Abstract Six new taxa are described based on study of Jungermannia s.l. collections in herbarium NY. Solenostoma costaricanum Bakalin, sp. nov. is related to S. crassulum (Nees & Mont.) Steph., from which it differs in plant size, the presence of ventral stolons, perianth shape, spore and elater size. Plectocolea subbalfourii Bakalin, sp. nov. is related to Solenostoma (Plectocolea) balfourii (Váňa) Váňa, Hentschel & J. Heinrichs, from which it differs in rhizoid features and size of perigynium and midleaf cells. Solenostoma rubrum var. underwoodii Bakalin, var. nov., based on Nardia macounii Underwood, nom. nud., differs from var. rubrum in coloration and leaf structure features. Plectocolea yunnanensis Bakalin, sp. nov., belonging to the ‘Plectocolea truncata’ group, differs from related species in leaf structure and rhizoid features. Solenostoma gracillimum subsp. camiguinense Bakalin, subsp. nov. differs from the typical variety in perianth and leaf structure features. Solenostoma inundatum var. grandirete Bakalin, var. nov. differs from the typical variety in leaf structure. Additionally, it was found that the type specimen of Plectocolea micrantha Mitt. is paroicous, not dioicous. Critical study of type specimens of Jungermannia marcescens Mitt. and J. sanguinolentha Griff. showed that these taxa are not conspecific, and the new combination Solenostoma marcescens (Mitt.) Bakalin, comb. nov. is proposed.

<p class="HeadingRunIn"><strong><em>Pitcairnia frequens</em> (Bromeliaceae), a neglected new species from Morro dos Seis Lagos, Amazonas, Brazil</strong></p>

This paper formally describes a nomem in schedulum for a Pitcairnia endemic to Morro dos Seis Lagos, São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas in North Brazil. It was first collected by Cyl Farney in 1987 in “Projeto Flora Amazônica”. The duplicate sent to New York Botanical Garden Herbarium was later annotated as Pitcairnia frequens by L. B. Smith and B. Holst, however it was never described and published.

Increasing the efficiency of digitization workflows for herbarium specimens

The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium has been databasing and imaging its estimated 7.3 million plant specimens for the past 17 years. Due to the size of the collection, we have been selectively digitizing fundable subsets of specimens, making successive passes through the herbarium with each new grant. With this strategy, the average rate for databasing complete records has been 10 specimens per hour. With 1.3 million specimens databased, this effort has taken about 130,000 hours of staff time. At this rate, to complete the herbarium and digitize the remaining 6 million specimens, another 600,000 hours would be needed. Given the current biodiversity and economic crises, there is neither the time nor money to complete the collection at this rate.Through a combination of grants over the last few years, The New York Botanical Garden has been testing new protocols and tactics for increasing the rate of digitization through combinations of data collaboration, field book digitization, partial data entry and imaging, and optical character recognition (OCR) of specimen images. With the launch of the National Science Foundation’s new Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections program, we hope to move forward with larger, more efficient digitization projects, capturing data from larger portions of the herbarium at a fraction of the cost and time.

Orthotrichum underwoodii, sp. nov. (Orthotrichaceae, Bryopsida) from California

A new moss species, Orthotrichum underwoodii F. Lara, Garilleti & Mazimpaka, is described from material kept in the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium. The new taxon is included in subgenus Pulchella (Schimp.) Vitt, and characterized by leaf cells pluripapillose; capsule immersed, cylindric, abruptly contracted to the seta whose apical part is hidden in a hollow; operculum conic-convex; stomata cryptopore and located in the lower capsule half; capsule with 8 short exothecial bands, comprising 2(3) cell rows; exostome with 16 whitish teeth recurving irregularly; and endostome with 16 segments uniseriate. Orthotrichum underwoodii is taxonomically close to O. handiense F. Lara, Garilleti & Mazimpaka recently described from the Canary Islands (Spain). Differences of the two mosses and possible confusion of the new species with others are discussed.

The herbarium of Paul A. Fryxell (pf) and U.S. Department of Agriculture, College Station, Texas, integrated into The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY)

The herbarium specimens amassed by Paul A. Fryxell while working at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, College Station, Texas, were moved in October 1993 to The New York Botanical Garden and integrated into the Herbarium in 1994. The collection is particularly rich in specimens of the Malvaceae and other families of the Malvales, the areas of Fryxell’s taxonomic specialty. Also included is the cotton reference herbarium of the former Cotton Branch of the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, which consists of voucher specimens of germplasm introductions of cotton (Gossypium) from expeditions and from test plots in the United States and Mexico. A total of 19,918 specimens, including 167 type specimens, have been incorporated into The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium.

A short description of the collections of The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY)

An overview of the phanerogamic and cryptogamic collections accumulated by The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY) since its foundation in 1891 is presented. Appended are a list of herbaria incorporated into NY, a list of collectors who have deposited their original herbaria or significant parts thereof at NY, a list of the taxonomic groups particularly well represented at NY, and a list of papers published since 1963 about the NY collections.

Collections from the Gettysburg College Herbarium now deposited at The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY)

A total of 555 older specimens from the herbarium of Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, were donated to The New York Botanical Garden in April 1993 and have been intercalated in the Herbarium (NY). A list of the collectors of the specimens is given.

A brief history of the Wellesley College Herbarium (WELC) and a list of its type specimens of vascular plants now deposited at The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY)

The majority of the Wellesley College Herbarium (62, 193 specimens) has been intercalated into The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY). Duplicated collections were distributed to other herbaria. Most specimens has been collected between 1850 and 1940. A brief history of the Wellesley Herbarium is given, and lists of the vascular plant type specimens and of some notable collectors of vascular plants are appended.

Type Specimens of Vascular Plants in the T. G. Yuncker Herbarium of Depauw University (DPU), Now Deposited at the New York Botanical Garden (NY)

A list of 226 vascular plant type specimens, representing 220 basionyms, found during the incorporation of the DePauw University Herbarium (DPU) into the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY), is presented. Included are the types from Truman G. Yuncker's numerous expeditions to Honduras and the South Pacific. Lists of the types found in the Piperaceae, Cuscutaceae, and cryptogamic collections are being published elsewhere or have already appeared.

The Fontinalaceae in the Winona H. Welch Herbarium (DPU) and a List of Welch's Collecting Trips Outside of Indiana

The Fontinalaceae in the Welch Herbarium, now deposited in the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY), consist of 8034 packets, 385 of which represent 118 types. Three appendices provide: a) a list of known Fontinalaceae types in the Welch Herbarium; b) a list of collectors of Fontinalaceae whose collections were studied by Welch after the publication of her monograph in 1960; and c) a list of Welch's collecting trips outside of Indiana.

Index to collectors of the piperaceae represented in the T. G. Yuncker Herbarium of DePauw University

In 1987 the New York Botanical Garden (NY) purchased the T. G. Yuncker Herbarium of DePauw University (DPU), which contains T. G. Yuncker’s collections of Piperaceae from the Pacific, South America, and Central America. An index to the collectors of the Piperaceae is presented. These collections have been incorporated into the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium and are available for study.

Reviews of publications

Book reviewed in this article: New Plant Sources for Drugs and Food from the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium, by Siri von Reis and Frank J. Lipp, Jr. Botany: Plant Biology and its Relation to Human Afairs, by Jean H. Langenheim & Kenneth V. Thimann. How to Know Western Australian WildJEowers, Part IV, (2nd edition) by B. J. Grieve & W. E. Blackall. Thonner's Analytical Key to the Families of Flowering Plants, by R. Geesink, A. J. M. Leeuwenberg, C. E. Ridsdale & J. F. Feldkamp. Insects of an Amazon Forest, by N. D. Penny and J. R. Arias. Ordering the World: A History of Classzfying Man, by David Knight.

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:Clinically Applied Anthropology: Anthropologists in Health Science Settings. Noel J. Chrisman and Thomas W. Maretzki, eds.Malay Poisons and Charm Cures. John D. Gimlette.Birth Control Technologies: Prospects by the Year 2000. Michael Harper.The Terror That Comes in the Night: An Experience‐Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions. David J. Hufford.Another Dimension to the Black Diaspora: Diet, Disease and Racism. Kenneth F. Kiple and Virginia Himmelsteib King.Windows of the Soul. Robert Kugelman.Psychosocial Factors Affecting Health. Mack Lipkin, Jr.Medusa's Hair: An Essay on Personal Symbols and Religious Experience. Gananath Obeyesekere.Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicine in Africa. Abayomi Sofowara.New Plant Sources for Drugs and Foods from the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium. Siri Von Reis and Frank J. Lipp, Jr.Bitter Pills. Donald P. Warwick.

New Plant Sources for Food and Drugs from the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium.

New Plant Sources for Food and Drugs from the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium.

New Titles

New Titles

THE HERBARIUM AND TYPE SPECIMENS OF THOMAS HENRY KEARNEY, JR. FROM 1890‐1901

SummarySpecimens of vascular plants designated as types by Thomas H. Kearney, Jr. during 1890 to 1901 have been inaccessible and considered destroyed since the third decade of the twentieth century. These specimens have been found to be extant in the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium, the Ohio State Herbarium, and the United States National Herbarium. The majority of these types are at the Ohio State University which houses T. H. Kearney's original collection of several thousand specimens. The collection is also rich in types which Kearney received from W. W. Ashe, A. W. Chapman, F. V. Coville, A. Gattinger, E. L. Greene, A. A. Heller, F. Lamson‐Scribner, C. Mohr, G. V. Nash, C. L. Pollard, A. Ruth, J. K. Small, and other contemporary botanists. The collection at the Ohio State University probably contains additional types which are as yet unverified. This paper catalogues the known type specimens of T. H. Kearney, Jr.

A Study of Russula Types, II

This paper is a second report of studies on North American types of Russula species. An earlier publication (Hesler, 1960) treated one hundred fifty-nine types of species of this genus; in this account thirty-four additional North American types are reported. In each of these papers, attention has been given to the spores (size and ornamentation), to the pleurocystidia and cheilocystidia, and to the epicutis and its component elements. Drawings to represent the characteristics of these structures are presented for each species. Acknowledgment is made to the National Science Foundation for a grant supporting these studies, and to The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium for a loan of types. The drawings, originally prepared by the author, were traced for publication by Mr. M. B. Yeligar, a graduate student in botany. In the illustrations, the spores are figured at a magnification x 1500; and other structures X 500.