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At a European level, Tropaeolum minus is the first species of this genus that arrived in our continent, around 1570, immediately used as an ornamental, vegetable and pharmaceutical plant. According to Italian sources, instead, T. minus arrived in Italy only in 1642: the species of this genus which was known in Italy at the time was T. majus, imported in 1596. However, in the Italian Renaissance herbaria, there are four specimens dated to the last decades of 1500, clearly recognisable as T. minus, which would confirm its import around 1570. Thanks to the analysis of these herbarium specimens and documental sources of the second half of the XVI century (Ulisse Aldrovandi's manuscripts and watercolour plates, the lists of species cultivated in that period in the principal Italian botanical gardens, the manuscript code I cinque libri di piante by Pietro Antonio Michiel), it is possible to demonstrate that the arrival of T. minus in Italy has to be redated at the second half of the XVI century. Furthermore, this work allowed the specimens of Tropaeolum preserved in the Erbario Aldrovandi to be identified correctly, which were formerly attributed to T. majus following the Italian scientific literature available so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese cattail (Typha japonica Miq., section Ebracteolatae) has been restored to its valid taxonomic status and listed as one of the floras of the outmost southern Sakhalin and Kuril Islands for the first time. These are the first records of T. japonica in Russia. With the unique geography and current molecular data (rpl32-trnL intergenic spacer), the latter cattail's combination of morphological characters clearly distinguishes it from all other species of sect. Ebracteolatae (including T. caspica Pobed., T. elata Boreau, and T. tzvelevii Mavrodiev), and also from all currently known bract-less species of Typha, including the Eastern cattail (T. orientalis C.Presl.), with which T. japonica was arbitrarily synonymized previously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigofera jintongpenensis, a new species of the subfamily Papilionoideae of Fabaceae, is described and illustrated from Yunnan, southwest China. The new species is characterised by having a prostrate habit, flexible stems and branches, as well as spreading, sub-basifixed, asymmetrically 2-branched trichomes covering the entire plant, discoid calyx, and racemose inflorescences 6–8-flowered, short, 1–2 (–3.5) cm in length, apparently shorter than the leaf. A distribution map and comparison of morphological diagnostic characters with its morphologically similar species are provided. Additionally, a preliminary conservation assessment of I. jintongpenensis is proposed following IUCN criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The origin of herbaria represented a revolution in the history of botany. An analysis of the earliest herbaria points to Bologna and Ferrara (Italy) as the cradle of this innovation. Ferrara, the seat of the Court of Este, was a hotspot of scientific humanism during the first half of the sixteenth century. Some evidence indicates that the physician and humanist Nicolò Leoniceno played a role in opening the way for this new science. Bologna was likewise a center of diffusion of the ars herbaria and Luca Ghini an undisputed leader. From there, the art of making herbaria spread rapidly in Italy and then throughout Europe. Three herbaria were certainly compiled before 1550, five more were completed or initiated in Italy before 1551, and by the end of the century, more than 20 herbaria had been compiled in Europe. In the earliest herbaria, plants were labeled with the names given by Dioscorides, as these were regarded as the "correct" ones. Starting from the middle of the century, however, several major botanical works were published, each one adopting a different nomenclature. This induced some authors to label their herbarium specimens with a rich synonymy. Herbaria offered an unprecedented opportunity for scientific communication: Dried plant specimens could be sent everywhere, so that any botanist could find out the meaning that colleagues abroad gave to a given plant name. Thus, for the first time in history, herbaria allowed a commonly accepted nomenclature to be established, a prerequisite for the development of a European scientific community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renaissance herbaria may provide precious information on exotic plants known or even introduced in Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries AD. In the Erbario Estense, preserved in the Archivio di Stato di Modena (northern Italy), there are 14 species considered as allochthonous neophytes or not present in the Italian flora. First, we accurately verified the taxa identification; then, we searched for the same species in the other coeval Italian Renaissance herbaria and collected the information present in the written sources of the second half of the 1500s (concerning, above all, the use of these species as medicinal plants); finally, we paid attention to their current uses in ethnobotanical tradition and their market value. For 12 taxa, we could confirm the former identification; whereas for 2, we came to a different conclusion; the comparison with other Renaissance herbaria, particularly Aldrovandi's, greatly helped this evaluation process. The species treated here are not placed according to a precise order nor do they have particular medicinal values in common: probably, the specimens were simply added to the existing nucleus, as the species were known or were proven to be rather useful. We shall be able to gain further knowledge when it shall be possible to study all the remaining species. In any case, the Erbario Estense is an important testimony for sixteenth-century botany, that contains some of the most ancient specimens of exotic species that are of common use in large parts of the world today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Frederico José de Santa-Anna Nery (1848–1901) was a Brazilian Baron who referred to himself as a "volunteer propagandist" for Brazil in Europe, serving as an immigration agent to publicize the living conditions in the Amazon region, advocating for its development and modernization at the end of the nineteenth century. Santa-Anna Nery's most famous book is "Le Pays des Amazones" (The Lands of the Amazons), first published in 1885, which the author dedicated a chapter to introduce and report on the Amazonian useful plant species and its relationship with humans. The aim of this work is to understand the historical context and ethnobotanical value of the plant species in the Brazilian Amazon at the end of the nineteenth century through an analysis of the book "Le Pays des Amazones" (1885) by Baron de Santa-Anna Nery, as well as to bring to light the historical importance of this very influential propagandist, who has been forgotten nowadays. Methods: The original book "Le Pays des Amazones" (1885), as well as the original 3rd edition and its translated version into Portuguese, was carefully analyzed and all information about plants was systematized, with botanical names being updated. Finally, using the scientific name of medicinal plants alone or in combination with their traditional use, a search was carried out in databases in order to indicate current pharmacological studies that provide evidence about the described traditional uses. Results: A total of 156 plant species were identified in the book, although 132 species had their scientific names updated. These species belong to 45 different families, with Fabaceae and Arecaceae the most represented, and 109 plants are Brazilian native. Considering only the 36 medicinal plants, the main medicinal indications reported were astringent, purgative/laxative, stimulant and tonic, vermifuge, febrifuge, sudorific, emetic, diuretic and antidysenteric. Regarding other useful plants (non-medicinal), 97 species were cited for food, constructions and buildings, spices and condiments, ornaments and objects, carpentry, textile fibers, gums, oils, balms and essences, pigments and tanning, hunting and fishing. Conclusions: When the book "Le Pays des Amazones" is analyzed from a timeless perspective, with a particular focus on historical ethnobotany, it is possible to observe the economic, social, and political importance of many useful plants for the Amazon at the end of the nineteenth century and how the relationship between local people, indigenous communities, and immigrants was established with plant biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]