Search

The natural history collections community has made significant strides in the past decade in the digitization of their holdings. Digitization has made the data and corresponding images of collections publicly available to researchers, students, and the public. Data and images are served online by institutions’ local databases, and regional, national, and international aggregators. One challenging aspect in digitizing natural history collections is the presence of offensive language, such as racial slurs in collection and location data. We present findings from a community survey and analysis of data from relevant aggregators to assess the presence of and approach to offensive language in collections data. We also suggest initial guidelines for data warning statements and disclaimers and transcription guidelines to help preserve historical integrity of data while also supporting inclusive and safe workspaces. Please note that in writing about offensive terms found in natural history collections, we use and refer to offensive terms and include images of labels and documents to provide examples.

The mustard family (Brassicaceae) is a scientifically and economically important family, containing the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and numerous crop species that feed billions worldwide. Despite its relevance, most published family phylogenies are incompletely sampled, generally contain massive polytomies, and/or show incongruent topologies between datasets. Here, we present the most complete Brassicaceae genus-level family phylogenies to date (Brassicaceae Tree of Life, or BrassiToL) based on nuclear (>1,000 genes, almost all 349 genera and 53 tribes) and plastome (60 genes, 79% of the genera, all tribes) data. We found cytonuclear discordance between nuclear and plastome-derived phylogenies, which is likely a result of rampant hybridisation among closely and more distantly related species, and highlight rogue taxa. To evaluate the impact of this rampant hybridisation on the nuclear phylogeny reconstruction, we performed four different sampling routines that increasingly removed variable data and likely paralogs. Our resulting cleaned subset of 297 nuclear genes revealed high support for the tribes, while support for the main lineages remained relatively low. Calibration based on the 20 most clock-like nuclear genes suggests a late Eocene to late Oligocene ‘icehouse origin’ of the family. Finally, we propose five new or re-established tribes, including the recognition of Arabidopsideae, a monotypic tribe to accommodate Arabidopsis. With a worldwide community of thousands of researchers working on this family, our new, densely sampled family phylogeny will be an indispensable tool to further highlight Brassicaceae as an excellent model family for studies on biodiversity and plant biology.

Dictyonema huaorani, a new species represented by a well-developed specimen found in the Ecuadorian Amazon region, is described in this paper. The material was collected during a Harvard ethnobotanical expedition in 1981 and originally determined by Mason E. Hale Jr. as belonging in the genus Dictyonema (D. sericeum s.lat.) and possibly representing an undescribed species. The species is morphologically distinctive in forming densely woven, semicircular thalli, closely resembling those of the paleotropical D. ligulatum but lacking clamps and with hyphal sheath around the photobiont filaments that resembles those of Cyphellostereum species. The species was reported to have hallucinogenic properties and chemical analyses suggest certain substances present that are shared with the hallucinogenic mushroom Psilocybe cubensis. Due to our inability to use pure reference compounds and scarce amount of sample for compound identification, however, our analyses were not able to determine conclusively the pr...

The Lecanoromycetes is the largest class of lichenized Fungi, and one of the most species-rich classes in the kingdom. Here we provide a multigene phylogenetic synthesis (using three ribosomal RNA-coding and two protein-coding genes) of the Lecanoromycetes based on 635 newly generated and 3307 publicly available sequences representing 1139 taxa, 317 genera, 66 families, 17 orders and five subclasses (four currently recognized: Acarosporomycetidae, Lecanoromycetidae, Ostropomycetidae, Umbilicariomycetidae; and one provisionarily recognized, Candelariomycetidae). Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses on four multigene datasets assembled using a cumulative supermatrix approach with a progressively higher number of species and missing data (5-gene, 5+4-gene, 5+4+3-gene and 5+4+3+2-gene datasets) show that the current classification includes non-monophyletic taxa at various ranks, which need to be recircumscribed and require revisionary treatments based on denser taxon sampling and more loci. Two newly circumscribed orders (Arctomiales and Hymeneliales in the Ostropomycetidae) and three families (Ramboldiaceae and Psilolechiaceae in the Lecanorales, and Strangosporaceae in the Lecanoromycetes inc. sed.) are introduced. The potential resurrection of the families Eigleraceae and Lopadiaceae is considered here to alleviate phylogenetic and classification disparities. An overview of the photobionts associated with the main fungal lineages in the Lecanoromycetes based on available published records is provided. A revised schematic classification at the family level in the phylogenetic context of widely accepted and newly revealed relationships across Lecanoromycetes is included. The cumulative addition of taxa with an increasing amount of missing data (i.e., a cumulative supermatrix approach, starting with taxa for which sequences were available for all five targeted genes and ending with the addition of taxa for which only two genes have been sequenced) revealed relatively stable relationships for many families and orders. However, the increasing number of taxa without the addition of more loci also resulted in an expected substantial loss of phylogenetic resolving power and support (especially for deep phylogenetic relationships), potentially including the misplacements of several taxa. Future phylogenetic analyses should include additional single copy protein-coding markers in order to improve the tree of the Lecanoromycetes. As part of this study, a new module (Hypha) of the freely available Mesquite software was developed to compare and display the internodal support values derived from this cumulative supermatrix approach. Fil: Passo, Alfredo. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina

Summary Paulownia tomentosa (Thunb.) Steud., though native to China first came to the attention of Western explorers and naturalists in Japan. It is of cultural importance both in mainland Asia and also in Japan. We describe the early Western encounters with Paulownia tomentosa highlighting in particular a lineage of early illustrations made in Japan and Europe between the mid-1820s and 1878 that reflect the fusion of Japanese art and Western science.

An Unusual Xylotheque with Plant Illustrations from Early Meiji Japan. Two unusual wood collections, reported previously in the collections of the Botanical Museum at Berlin-Dahlem and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, take the form of framed plant illustrations painted on boards made from the wood of the species illustrated. We present new finds of very similar wood collections in the Economic Botany Collection of the Harvard University Herbaria, a private collection in the U.K. (Loudon collection), and at the Koishikawa Botanical Garden of the University of Tokyo. A stamp on the reverse of the boards links all five collections to Chikusai Kato, an artist working at Tokyo University (now the University of Tokyo) in early Meiji Japan, under the direction of the preeminent nineteenth century Japanese botanist Keisuke Ito. New evidence from contemporary historical accounts indicates that more than 100 boards were ordered in June 1878 by Hiroyuki Katō, the first president of Tokyo University, most likely to support the early teaching of Western-influenced botanical science in Japan. However, while the boards had clear value for teaching, especially about useful plants, their unusual fusion of Western and Japanese influences also made them desirable craft objects that were collected and given as gifts during the early Meiji era.

Truffles are a polyphyletic group of more than 75 genera dispersed among four major fungal lineages, the Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Glomeromycota, and Zygomycota. Only about 20 truffle species are known from tropical Asia and most are endemic. In 1907–1908, the Austrian botanist and mycologist Franz von Hohnel collected and described five new species of truffles from the island of Java, Indonesia. From three of these five collections, the only existing materials are microscope slides preserved at the Farlow Herbarium of Cryptogamic Botany at Harvard University. The other two collections consist of small packets of fungal material. Considering the high rate of endemism on Java coupled with the destruction of many of the island's natural ecosystems, it is important to preserve and review the remaining collections of these fungi. To facilitate studies of tropical Asian truffles, we critically reexamine von Hohnel's Javanese truffle collections and translate his German descriptions and commentaries into English. As part of this review, Sphaerocreas javanicum Hohn. is synonymized with Glomus coremioides (Berk. & Broome) D. Redecker & J.B. Morton, and Gymnomyces javanicus (Henn.) M.E. Sm. & Schmull is proposed as a new combination for Hydnangium javanicum Henn.

Schaereria dolodes (Nyl. ex Hasse) Schmull & T. Sprib. comb. nov., an epiphytic lichen species known from western North America was originally described as a member of the genus Lecidea sensu lato. However, its morphology is very characteristic of the genus Schaereria Körb. Here, we lectotypify the species and propose its placement in the latter genus. It is also reported as new to Canada from British Columbia.

Lecidea hercynica Hauck & Schmull is described as a new species from Germany. It is characterized by a poorly developed or bullate to verrucose, areolate thallus on whitened spots of the substratum, numerous plane to yellowish brown to black, convex apothecia with a persistent margin, Micarea type-like asci, and by the presence of atranorin and protocetraric acid. It does not belong to Lecidea s. str., but is provisionally placed in Lecidea s. lat. until a taxonomic treatment of the whole group has been carried out. Lecidea hercynica is widespread in high-elevation forests of Picea abies in the Harz Mountains, where it grows preferably on decorticated wood in open situations.

We studied the tree communities in primary forest and three different land use systems (forest gardens, ca. 5-year-old secondary forests, cacao plantations) at 900–1200 m elevation in the environs of Lore Lindu National Park, Central Sulawesi. The primary forests had ca. 150 tree species ≥10 cm diameter at breast height (dbh) per hectare, which is unusually high for forests at this elevation in southeast Asia. Basal area in the primary forest was 140 m2 ha−1, one of the highest values ever recorded in tropical forests worldwide. Tree species richness declined gradually from primary forest to forest gardens, secondary forests, and cacao plantations. This decline was paralleled by shifts in tree family composition, with Lauraceae, Meliaceae, and Euphorbiaceae being predominant in primary forests, Euphorbiaceae, Rubiaceae and Myristicaeae dominating in the forest gardens and Euphorbiaceae, Urticaceae, and Ulmaceae in the secondary forests. Cacao plantations were composed almost exclusively of cacao trees and two species of legume shade trees. Forest gardens further differed from primary forests by a much lower density of understorey trees, while secondary forests had fewer species of commercial interest. Comparative studies of birds and butterflies demonstrated parallel declines of species richness, showing the importance of trees in structuring tropical forest habitats and in providing resources.

Aim This paper presents a synthesis of our recent results regarding the biogeography of Plagiochila using a molecular approach, and documents intercontinental ranges within this largest genus of the hepatics. Methods A maximum likelihood analysis of sixty-one nrITS sequences of Plagiochila was performed and the molecular topology obtained was compared with morphological, phytochemical and geographical data. Results Our molecular data set allowed the identification of eleven Plagiochila sections, the majority of which cover at least two floristic kingdoms. Seven sections have species in Europe (sect. Arrectae, Carringtoniae, Fuscoluteae, Glaucescentes, Plagiochila, Rutilantes, Vagae). Plagiochila species from Atlantic Europe are usually close to or conspecific with neotropical taxa, whereas species widespread in Europe are closely related to Asian ones and not to those in the Neotropics. Plagiochila sect. Arrectae represents a neotropical - Atlantic European clade. The section is not closely related - as has often been suggested - to the morphologically similar sect. Zonatae from Asia and western North America. Sequence data show that the African P. integerrima and the neotropical P. subplana are members of the Asian sect. Cucullatae (sect. Ciliatae, syn. nov.), which becomes pantropical in distribution. An ITS sequence of P. boryana from Uganda confirms the Afro-American range of the primarily neotropical sect. Hylacoetes. Similarities in sporophyte morphology between the sect. Cucullatae and sect. Hylacoetes are the result of parallel evolution. Main conclusions Our results indicate that intercontinental ranges at section and species level are common in Plagiochila. Carl's (1931) subdivision of Plagiochila into sections restricted to one floristic kingdom is outdated. Biogeographical patterns in Plagiochila are not dissimilar to those of other groups of bryophytes but elucidation of the geographical ranges of the taxa requires a molecular approach. Contrary to earlier belief, most Plagiochila species from Atlantic Europe do not have close relatives in Asia but are conspecific with or closely related to species from tropical America.

Concentrations of K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu in water eluates as well as in SrCl 2 and EDTA extracts of ground bark from Abies balsamea and Picea rubens were determined and related to total concentrations obtained from acid digests. SrCl 2 was most effective at extracting K, Ca and Mg, whereas EDTA had a higher extraction efficacy for Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu. Concentrations in the water eluates were generally lower. Mobility of the different metals in the bark was estimated as the percentage of the metal concentration recovered in the water eluates related to the total concentration; it decreased in the order K>Mg, Mn, Cu>Zn>Ca, Fe. Concentrations of K, Mg, Mn, and Zn in the water eluates, the SrCl 2 and EDTA extracts were correlated with total concentrations; in these cases the choice of extraction method has little impact on the detection of correlations between element concentrations and epiphytic lichen abundance. For Ca, Fe and Cu little correlation occurred between concentrations in the extracts and total concentrations; here, possible relationships between epiphytic lichen abundance and element availability can easily be overlooked due to insufficient extraction methods. Cation availability depends on the phorophyte species and its vitality; thus, ion availability has to be determined seperately for each type of substrate.

Summary Epiphytic lichen cover and total element concentrations of bark were studied in a montane Abies balsamea-Picea rubens forest on Whiteface Mountain in upstate New York. Epiphytic lichen abundance was much higher on A. balsamea compared to P. rubens . The bark of A. balsamea was characterized by high total concentrations of Mn. Mn is known to limit epiphytic lichen abundance on Picea abies in the Harz Mountains, Germany, where total Mn concentrations in bark are much lower. The rich lichen cover on A. balsamea included a well-developed population of Hypogymnia physodes . This species has been experimentally proven to be sensitive to Mn in previous studies. Total Mn concentrations in the bark of P. rubens on Whiteface Mountain were in the same range as in the bark of P. abies in Germany. X-ray microanalysis showed that A. balsamea immobilized most Mn in crystals in spongy cork and in sclerotic phelloid cells of the outer bark. This immobilization explains the high lichen abundance on A. balsamea despite the high total Mn concentrations. Immobilization of Mn in the bark may also be a cause for the generally high epiphytic lichen abundance on Abies species other than A. balsamea . No Mn deposits were observed in P. rubens . The cover of several lichen species including H. physodes decreased with increasing (total) Mn/Fe ratio in the P. rubens bark. These correlations match with previous experimental findings showing an alleviation of Mn toxicity in H. physodes by Fe.

Epiphytic lichen diversity in a dieback-affected forest of red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) on Whiteface Mountain, New York, U.S.A., was higher on dead compared with living trees and on fir compared with spruce. Diversity differed more between living and dead spruce than between living and dead fir. Cover of all lichen species that occurred on more than 50% of the sample trees, except for two species, decreased with increasing mean concentration of NO3–in stemflow. Concentrations of NO3–were higher on living spruce compared with dead spruce and with living and dead fir. The negative correlations between lichen cover and NO3–concentration may reflect either a decrease of lichen abundance caused by toxic effects of higher NO3–concentrations or a removal of NO3–from stemflow by epiphytic lichens. Experimental exposure of Hypogymnia physodes to NaNO3reduced chlorophyll concentrations. This result, together with estimations of lichen and needle biomass, indicates that a dependence of lichen cover on NO3–concentrations in stemflow may be the cause for the negative correlations. The sulphur concentration in stemflow did not affect lichen abundance on Whiteface Mountain. The manganese concentration in stemflow may have an effect on single species.Key words: forest dieback, manganese, nitrate assimilation, nitrate toxicity, precipitation chemistry, sulphur.

One-year-old seedlings of Quercus robur L., Q. petraea (Matt.) Liebl. and Fagus sylvatica L. were cultivated in lysimeters and subjected to waterlogging for 17 weeks, interrupted by a five-week drainage period during summer. The growth of Q. robur was less affected by waterlogging than that of Q. petraea and Fagus. Waterlogging resulted in the formation of adventitious roots in Q. robur and Q. petraea, but not in Fagus. In contrast to Fagus, Q. robur and, to a lesser extent, Q. petraea were able to generate roots even below the water table. The hydraulic conductance of the excised root systems, the stomatal conductance and, in Fagus, the leaf water potential and the leaf-mass related hydraulic conductance were decreased by waterlogging. The decrease in the hydraulic conductance was largest in Fagus, and smallest in Q. robur. The roots of Fagus responded to anaerobic conditions with an increase in ethanol concentration. The measurements of nitrate reductase activities in roots and leaves provided no indications of a persistent contribution of NO3 − metabolism to the alleviation of waterlogging-induced stress. It is concluded that Q. robur and, to a lesser extent, Q. petraea can tolerate waterlogging periods better than Fagus due to a different pattern of root formation, and to a better adjustment of leaf biomass production to the hydraulic conductivity of the root system.

The genus Lecidea Ach. sensu lato (sensu Zahlbruckner) includes almost 1200 species, out of which only 100 species represent Lecidea sensu stricto (sensu Hertel). The systematic position of the remaining species is mostly unsettled but anticipated to represent several unrelated lineages within Lecanoromycetes. This study attempts to elucidate the phylogenetic placement of members of this heterogeneous group of lichen-forming fungi and to improve the classification and phylogeny of Lecanoromycetes. Twenty-five taxa of Lecidea sensu lato and 22 putatively allied species were studied in a broad selection of 268 taxa, representing 48 families of Lecanoromycetes. Six loci, including four ribosomal and two protein-coding genes for 315- and 209-OTU datasets were subjected to maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses. The resulting well supported phylogenetic relationships within Lecanoromycetes are in agreement with published phylogenies, but the addition of new taxa revealed putative rearrangements of several families (e.g. Catillariaceae, Lecanoraceae, Lecideaceae, Megalariaceae, Pilocarpaceae and Ramalinaceae). As expected, species of Lecidea sensu lato and putatively related taxa are scattered within Lecanoromycetidae and beyond, with several species nested in Lecanoraceae and Pilocarpaceae and others placed outside currently recognized families in Lecanorales and orders in Lecanoromycetidae. The phylogenetic affiliations of Schaereria and Strangospora are outside Lecanoromycetidae, probably with Ostropomycetidae. All species referred to as Lecidea sensu stricto based on morphology (including the type species, Lecidea fuscoatra [L.] Ach.) form, with Porpidia species, a monophyletic group with high posterior probability outside Lecanorales, Peltigerales and Teloschistales, in Lecanoromycetidae, supporting the recognition of order Lecideales Vain. in this subclass. The genus name Lecidea must be redefined to apply only to Lecidea sensu stricto and to include at least some members of the genus Porpidia. Based on morphological and chemical similarities, as well as the phylogenetic relationship of Lecidea pullata sister to Frutidella caesioatra, the new combination Frutidella pullata is proposed here.

The type collection database of the herbarium of the University of Gottingen (GOET), containing about 8000 type specimens of vascular plants and bryophytes, is now accessible online at http://www.gwdg.de/∼sysbot/ Typen/default.htm. The website provides data and interactive photographs (habit, detail, and label) of each type specimen. The type database was transferred from Microsoft Access to Oracle and deployed on the web using the Oracle Designer. Two web applications were developed: one only for data queries, the other with an additional option for data editing (entry, update). Data editing by authorised persons is possible from any computer with internet access.