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Harpalyce greuteri is described as a new species from the serpentine outcrops of Holguin in eastern Cuba. It differs from other Cuban species of the genus by having leaflets alternate along the rachis, an elliptic, rounded or slightly acuminate standard petal, mostly black keel petals and broadly linear wing petals. An illustration and a distribution map of the new species are presented, as well as a synopsis of and an identification key to all 14 recognized species of H. sect. Cubenses. Lectotypes are designated for nine species names in Harpalyce.Citation: Rankin Rodriguez R. & Gonzalez Gutierrez P. A. 2021: Harpalyce greuteri (Leguminosae: Brongniartieae), a new species from eastern Cuba, with a synopsis of and key to the Cuban species of the genus [Novitiae florae cubensis No. 55]. – Willdenowia 51: 209–219.Version of record first published online on 28 June 2021 ahead of inclusion in August 2021 issue.

Report on scientific research at the National Botanic Garden, 2019 Citation: Rankin, R. 2020. Reporte de la investigación científica en el Jardín Botánico Nacional en el 2019. Revista Jard. Bot. Nac. Univ. Habana 41: I-VIII. Online: 10 October 2020.

Las exploraciones botánicas en Cuba: su desarrollo en la última centuria The botanical exploration in Cuba: it’s development in the last century Recibido: noviembre 2018 Aceptado: noviembre 2018 Publicado online 30 de diciembre de 2018. ISSN 2410-5546 RNPS 2372 (DIGITAL) - ISSN 0253-5696 RNPS 0060 (IMPRESA)

Reporte de la investigación científica en el Jardín Botánico Nacional en el 2018 Report on scientific research at the National Botanic Garden, 2018 Rosa Rankin Rodríguez Publicado online 11 de noviembre de 2019. ISSN 2410-5546 RNPS 2372 (DIGITAL) - ISSN 0253-5696 RNPS 0060 (IMPRESA)

Reporte de la investigación científica en el Jardín Botánico Nacional en el 2017 Report on scientific research at the National Botanic Garden, 2017 Publicado online 16 de octubre de 2018. ISSN 2410-5546 RNPS 2372 (DIGITAL) - ISSN 0253-5696 RNPS 0060 (IMPRESA)

The seven species currently placed in the genus Nashia are revised, based on the near totality of the (scant) material found in the world's herbaria. A morphological analysis of, in particular, the calyx and fruit reveals the heterogeneity of that genus. As a result, Nashia is reduced to its single original species, N. inaguensis, described from Great Inagua, Bahamas (where it is here considered to have been introduced by man), and recently found on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (St Croix). Nashia spinifera, of Hispaniola, is placed in Isidroa, a monotypic new genus. The five Cuban endemics, plus two newly described here, make up the new genus Diphyllocalyx, formerly Lippia sect. Diphyllocalyx of Grisebach. The formal treatment of all nine taxa comprises synonymy, type citation, detailed descriptions, specimen citation, distribution maps, and a key for identification. Possible evolutionary scenarios as well as conservation status are discussed. Citation: Greuter W. & Rankin Rodriguez R. 201...

RESUMEN Se revisan los datos de la literatura sobre la distribución de Enicostema verticillatum, el único representante del género en el Nuevo Mundo. Se descartan las antiguas indicaciones de su presencia en Cuba, Jamaica, La Española y Florida, mientras que se confirma que crece en la República Dominicana como planta introducida posiblemente naturalizada. Nuevas recolectas demuestran además su naturalización, quizás reciente, en la provincia de Cienfuegos, Cuba central. Se ofrece un tratamiento del género y de la especie en el formato de la Flora de la República de Cuba, para servir de complemento al fascículo Gentianaceae de aquella obra. Palabras claves: Enicostema verticillatum, corología, fitogeografía, nomenclatura, tipificación, Flora de la República de Cuba, Cienfuegos, Florida, Jamaica, La Española, Puerto Rico ABSTRACT Literature data on the distribution of Enicostema verticillatum, the sole New-World species of the genus, are reviewed. Old records for Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Florida are dismissed, the occurrence in the Dominican Republic (as a possibly naturalised alien) is confirmed. New gatherings demonstrate the probably fairly recent naturalisation of the species in Cienfuegos Province, Central Cuba. A treatment of the genus and species in the format of the Flora de la República de Cuba is supplied, to serve as a complement to the Gentianaceae treatment in that Flora. Keywords: Enicostema verticillatum, chorology, phytogeography, nomenclature, typification, Flora de la República de Cuba, Cienfuegos, Florida, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico Recibido: 20 de agosto 2015 Aceptado: 25 de septiembre 2015

Reporte de la investigación científica en el Jardín Botánico Nacional en el 2016 /Report on scientific research at the National Botanic Garden, 2016

RESUMEN Se presenta una síntesis de la vida y obra del Hno. Marie-Victorin (Dr. Conrad Kirouac, 1885-1944). Se destaca su labor en Cuba, donde realizó siete viajes, en los últimos cinco años de su vida, los cuales totalizaron un año y dos meses, realizando exploraciones prácticamente por todo el país, principalmente con el Hno León (J.S.Sauget). Como resultados florísticos describió 24 nuevas especies y cinco nuevas variedades en 11 familias, las recolectas se encuentran en el herbario del Jardín Botánico de Montréal, Canadá (MV), con 4853 especímenes, de 2195 especies de 171 familias, otra colección en el herbario del Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática, La Habana (HAC) y en varias importantes instituciones. Le fueron dedicados un género y 11 especies de diez familias. Los resultados fitogeográficos se encuentran en tres volúmenes de los “Itinerarios Botánicos en la Isla de Cuba”, con un aproximado de 1100 páginas y unas 650 ilustraciones (mapas, esquemas de vegetación y fotos) con descripciones de las localidades visitadas, en particular de las formaciones vegetales, los principales elementos florísticos y comentarios sobre su distribución y usos. Por su contribución a la ciencia cubana le fue otorgada en 1944 la Orden al Mérito “Carlos Manuel de Céspedes” en el grado de Oficial por el Ministerio de Estado de Cuba. Palabras claves: Marie-Victorin, Itinerarios botánicos ABSTRACT A synthesis of the life and work of Brother Marie-Victorin (Dr. Conrad Kirouac, 1885-1944) is presented. He travels to Cuba in seven times, in his last five years, totalizing a year and two months, with Brother León (J.S.Sauget). The floristic results were the description of 24 new species and five new varieties belonging to 11 families; the collection is in the herbarium of the Botanical Garden of Montréal, Canadá (MV), with 4853 sheets, from 2195 species, belonging to 171 families; another collection is in the: Ecological and Systematic Institute, La Habana (HAC); other collections are in various important institutions. The phytogeographycal results are in three volumes: “Botanical Itineraries in the Island of Cuba”, with 1100 pages, nearly 650 figures (maps, vegetation schemes and photos) with descriptions of the vegetation types, floristic elements, their distributions and uses. For his contribution to the Cuban science, the Merit Order “Carlos Manuel de Céspedes”, with the rank of Officer, was to concede him in 1944, by the Cuban State Ministry. Key words: Marie-Victorin, Botanical Itineraries Recibido: 10 de agosto 2013. Aceptado: 20 de enero 2014

RESUMEN A pesar de la destrucción que sufrió la vegetación original en Cuba, actualmente se registran unas 6,700 especies de plantas vasculares, donde la característica más sobresaliente es su alto endemismo, alrededor del 53 %, que representa el mayor de las Antillas lo cual convierte a Cuba en el principal centro de evolución y especiación del Caribe insular. En muchos casos no se conoce la localización exacta de estos taxones, o las especies no están bien definidas desde el punto de vista taxonómico, aspecto imprescindible para determinar con precisión con cuál entidad estamos trabajando. Este trabajo constituye una contribución a la actualización taxonómica y la localización geográfica de 542 taxones donde el 76% presenta alguna categoría de amenaza y el 78% son endémicos. Palabras clave: Conservación, endemismo, taxonomía, distribución ABSTRACT In spite of the strong degradation suffered by its native plant cover, Cuba to date still hosts about 6,700 species of vascular plants. The main feature of this diverse flora is the high incidence of endemic species, around 53 %, which is by far the largest proportion observed on any single island in the Antilles, staging Cuba as the main centre of evolution and speciation within the Caribbean archipelago. There are many cases in which the exact location of the endemic taxa is unknown, or where the species are ill defined from a taxonomic point of view so that the identity of material at hand cannot be ascertained with confidence. The present paper updates the taxonomic and chorological data for 542 Cuban vascular plant taxa, of which 76 % fall under one of the recognised threat categories, and 78 % are endemic to the island. Key words: Conservation, endemism, taxonomy, distribution

La colección nacional de Buxus fue establecida en el Jardín Botánico desde 1995. Hasta la fecha se han realizado ensayos de propagación vegetativa y por semillas, obteniéndose los mejores resultados en la propagación por semillas en B. acuminata, B. brevipes, B. leonii y B. wrightii y por esquejes especialmente en B. glomerata, B. leonii, B. shaferi y B. marginalis. Los representantes de este género, plantas perennifolias, a pesar de su lento crecimiento, constituyen un potencial ornamental. Palabras clave: Buxus, plantas ornamentales, propagación. ABSTRACT The Cuban Buxus national collection was initiated at the National Botanic Garden in 1995. Since that time, seed and vegetative propagation have been tested. The best results by seed propagation were obtained in B. acuminata, B. brevipes, B. leonii and B. wrightii, meanwhile propagation by cuttings was obtained in B. glomerata, B. leonii, B. shaferi and B. marginalis. These perennial shrubs or small trees, although being slow growing, constitute potential ornamental plants. Key words: Buxus, ornamental plants, propagation

Reporte de la investigación científica en el Jardín Botánico Nacional en el 2014-2015 Report on scientific research at the National Botanic Garden, 2014-2015 Rosa Rankin Rodríguez* Publicado online 2 de noviembre de 2016 y será incluido en el volumen 37. ISSN 2410-5546 RNPS 2372 (DIGITAL) - ISSN 0253-5696 RNPS 0060 (IMPRESA)

Greuter W. & Rankin Rodriguez R.: Notes on some endemic Cuban species of Ruelliinae (Acanthaceae), on their seeds, pollen morphology and hygroscopic features. — Willdenowia 40: 285–304. — Online ISSN 1868–6397; © 2010 Berlin-Dahlem. doi:10.3372/wi.40.40210 (available via http://dx.doi.org/)Ruellia shaferiana, a seldom collected and incompletely known species, is described in detail and compared with two vegetatively similar Cuban endemics, Dyschoriste bayatensis and the recently described Hygrophila urquiolae, and with the two Cuban species of Apassalus (A. cubensis and A. parvulus). All are placed by Scotland and Vollesen, in their classification of Acanthaceae, in the newly circumscribed subtribe Ruelliinae. Contrary to Dyschoriste, the other taxa studied have anther thecae that lack basal awns. Absence of these awns is the single character distinguishing Apassalus from Dyschoriste, and it has been suggested that both be combined. Our results lend support to that suggestion and prompt the transfer of A. parvulus to Dyschoriste. Study of pollen by SEM confirms the generic placement of the species studied, again associating Apassalus with Dyschoriste. Seed indumentum was studied by LM and REM, complementing earlier studies of the remarkable hygroscopic mucilaginous hairs, which apparently characterise the subtribe. Hygrochastic capsule dehiscence was detected in all four species. Pre-dawn anthesis and flowers withering by noon were observed in R. shaferiana. H. urquiolae, only known from a small area in W Cuba, is newly reported from E Cuba, and conversely, W Cuban occurrences of R. shaferiana are put on record. For three of the names lectotypes are designated, as Urban's original material was destroyed in Berlin in World War II.

Reporte de la investigación científica en el Jardín Botánico Nacional en el 2013 Report on the scientific research at the National Botanic Garden in 2013

Rankin Rodriguez, R.: Cleome sect. Physostemon (Cleomaceae) in Cuba. — Willdenowia 33: 439–444. — ISSN 0511-9618; © 2003 BGBM Berlin-Dahlem. The forthcoming Cleomaceae treatment for the Flora de la Republica de Cuba will recognise three species in Cleome sect. Physostemon, one of them endemic and one with two endemic subspecies, instead of the nine species (seven endemic) that had been previously described. Four new combinations, two at subspecies level and two varietal, are made. A key for all recognised taxa is presented and their distribution is mapped.

Reporte de la investigación científica en el Jardín Botánico Nacional en el 2012 /Report on the scientific research at the National Botanic Garden on 2012

Based on published sources (including contemporary correspondence) and the Humboldt expedition's field notebooks, some information on Humboldt and Bonpland's plant collections in their relation to Willdenow and his Species plantarum is provided. The genus Polygala served as a test sample. The Willdenow Herbarium (B-W) holds 23 Polygala specimens from the Humboldt expedition (several others were erroneously attributed to Humboldt), representing 17 of the 18 species described by Kunth in the Nova genera. The following main conclusions are drawn: (1) three types of handwriting can be recognised on the expedition's field labels in B-W, which are identified as Bonpland's, Humboldt's, and a third one that is tentatively ascribed to an unknown field assistant; (2) a full set of the plant collections from Venezuela was sent to Willdenow from Havana early in 1801 and had been received in Berlin by September 1802; (3) in vol. 3(2) of Willdenow's Species plantarum, published in early November 1802, a single species (Hypericum caracasanum) was described based on the new Humboldt material; (4) the numbers found on many of Humboldt's labels refer to the numbered entries in the field notebooks, but are not collection numbers in the modern sense, because many collections, on which no notes were taken, remained unnumbered; (5) numbering was fairly consistent, all duplicates of collections on which field notes exist being normally numbered, except when the label was accidentally lost; (6) the set of duplicates given by Humboldt to Willdenow was virtually complete, but the equally complete set in Bonpland's herbarium (P-Bonpl.), having been studied by Kunth in the first place, should be used to typify the names of new taxa first published in the Nova genera. Based on an improved understanding of the background of these collections, a recently proposed type designation for Polygala tenella Willd. is rejected. This long forgotten name is here neotypified in such a way as to retain its traditional place in the synonymy of P. paniculata L.

Rankin Rodriguez, R. & Greuter, W.: Notes on Aristolochia linearifolia and A. stenophylla (Aristolochiaceae), a vicarious species pair from the Greater Antilles (Cuba and Hispaniola). — Willdenowia 30: 131–139. 2000. — ISSN 0511-9618. Aristolochia linearifolia, a local endemic of E Cuba, and A. stenophylla, restricted to SW Hispaniola (mainly Haiti, but here first reported from the Dominican Republic), are closely related but distinct species even though they have sometimes been lumped together. They are described, contrasted, and compared with their closest relatives, A. oblongata and A. chasmema. Typification is discussed. For A. linearifolia a lectotype is designated, after consideration of the notorious problems that are linked with the Cuban collections of Charles Wright, the discoverer of the species. The holotype of A. stenophylla was destroyed in 1943, and although duplicate material exists that was designated as lectotype, it is of a fragmentary nature, so that an epitype is designated i...

Among the 1657 mostly unpublished drawings of Caribbean plants made by Charles Plumier between 1689 and 1697, 6 concern species of Aristolochia. All have served, either in original (kept in the Central Library of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris) or in copy (from the series drawn for Boerhaave in 1733 and studied in 1738 by Linnaeus), or as published plates base on either set, or by an associated description, as the main basis for 7 heterotypic binomials referring to 6 species. Having studied the original drawings and Plumier's correlated manuscript notes in Paris as well as the 4 extant Boerhaave copies and all relevant literature, the authors critically review the typification and application of the binomials concerned, designating lectoor neotypes where needed and epitypes in most cases. Current usage of names is maintained with two exceptions. The name A. bilabiata has, since 1966, been misapplied to the species that was previously and correctly known as A. oblongata, and should therefore now be rejected as a confused name (rather than being adopted in the sense of its type, displacing A. chasmema to designate a rare endemic of Haiti, Hispaniola). A. punctata, so far considered a doubtful name, is synonymous with A. fuertesii and must be adopted in its stead for another seldom collected endemic of Hispaniola.

Alain (1953) en la Flora de Cuba registra bajo el género Allophylus L. (Sapindaceae) cuatro especies; dos de éstas con hojas unifolioladas, rara vez trímeras: A. crassinervis Radlk., con folíolo laxamente reticulado de margen entero o subentero, se distribuye en las Antillas Mayores (La Española, Puerto Rico y localizada en Cuba oriental en la provincia Santiago de Cuba), y A.reticulatus Radlk., con folíolo densamente reticulado de margen sinuoso-denticulado, endémica de Cuba oriental (provincias Holguín y Guantánamo); las otras dos especies poseen hojas trifolioladas: A. cominia (L.) Sw. se distingue por sus folíolos aserrados o subenteros y frutos de ± 6 mm de largo/diámetro, con distribución en Bahamas y Antillas Mayores (Jamaica, La Española y toda Cuba), y A. occidentalis (Sw.) Radlk. con folíolos aserrados o dentados y frutos de > 7 mm de largo/ diámetro, que crece en las Antillas (presente en Cuba oriental, las provincias Holguín, Granma, Santiago de Cuba y Guantánamo) y América tropical continental. Posteriormente Alain (1969) incluye A. occidentalis en la sinonimia de A. racemosus Sw.

Rankin Rodriguez, R. & Greuter, W.: A study of differentiation patterns in Capparis sect. Breyniastrum in Cuba, with a nomenclatural and taxonomic survey of Cuban Capparis (Capparaceae). — Willdenowia 34: 259–276. — ISSN 0511-9618; © 2004 BGBM Berlin-Dahlem. Capparis is represented in Cuba by six species of four sections. A key for their identification is provided, their nomenclature and that of the sections in which they belong is revised, and the intricate relevant typification problems are discussed. Three species, each of a different section, are not critical taxonomically. The other three, which belong to C. sect. Breyniastrum, have been poorly understood and often confused in the past. Microcharacters of trichome and leaf surface morphology (illustrated by SEM photographs) prove useful to tell them apart. In conclusion, two Macroantillean species are recognised, each represented in Cuba by a distinct, endemic subspecies (one new, one recombined); a third species, C. singularis, known from a...

Rankin Rodriguez, R.: Variation in Polygala guantanamana (Polygalaceae), a Cuban endemic species. — Willdenowia 31: 425–431. 2001. — ISSN 0511-9618. The forthcoming Polygalaceae treatment for the “Flora de la Republica de Cuba” will recognize four shrubby Polygala species instead of the eight that had been previously described. One of them is P. guantanamana, easily recognized by its glabrous pedicels. A broadly based revision permits to distinguish two subspecies in it. P. guantanamana subsp. guantanamana is found in coastal habitats of southeastern Cuba and in xeric vegetation, mostly on ophiolithic soils, in central and western Cuba. The newly described subsp. alternifolia grows in that same kind of inland habitats but is limited to eastern Cuba. P. scabridula, a characteristic morph which is limited to and prevalent but not exclusive in the central and western Cuban populations, is given varietal rank within subsp. guantanamana.