[Aroid-l] New Species Anthurium, sect. Belolonchium

From: ExoticRainforest <Steve at exoticrainforest.com> on 2008.12.31 at 20:16:01 Hi Daniel, I've been correspondingwith Beth about this plant for sometime and will attempt to give you an answer.  The type specimen needsto be a plant with known collection data(elevation, forest type, epiphyte or terrestrial) that has been fullydescribed, ie, roots, stem, internodes, cataphylls,blades, veins, inflorescence, infructescence and details on the femaleand male flowers as well as pollen with detailed information on boththe adaxial (upper) surface as well as the abaxial (lower) surface ofthe blade including the midrib, primary lateral veins and tertiaryveins.  The people at the Quito Botanical Garden apparently did notcollect fieldnotes when they rescued their specimens which were in danger of beingdestroyed so that data does not nowexist.  They have given Beth an approximate location where it was foundand Beth is now working with Dr. Tom Croat to find it in the wild anddo the necessary field work to satisfy the publication of a scientificdescription of a new species.  The senior botanist also grantsthe plant its name.  One complete leaf must be dried and properlypreserved so information can be compared to other known speciesspecimens.  Adried blade may dry a different color than known species or exhibitfeatures not easily seen on a living specimen, thus the need for thecomparison.  All that info plus the dried specimen and a livingspecimen known as the "type specimen" must be deposited in a recognizedbotanical garden collection.  Of course, Tom will do that work withBeth working as the junior co-author and the dried material and typespecimen deposited in the Missouri Botanical Garden living collectionof aroid species.  Genetic analysis is not normallydone to publish a scientific description.  The new problem in botany isfar too many genetic botanists have little to zero idea what anyspecies lookslike in the wild state including natural variations, they only know howto determine a species byusing genetic information which is virtually worthless to a fieldbotanist such as Dr. Croat.  Field botany is regrettably a dieing breedof scientist!  If you are armed only with genetic data, how in theworld do you know how to recognize a plant in the wild?  You can'teasily do a genetic analysis in the middle of an Ecuadorian rain forest. Hope that helps. Steve Lucas www.ExoticRainforest.com Daniel Devor wrote: Hi Beth,  Perhaps you could explainto a total novice who has never field collected plants what you mean bycollecting the "type specimen" and then showing us pictures of plantsthat are already collected, flowering and fruiting (maybe I mesread andthis is a different plant)??  It seems the people at the QuitoBotanical Gardens could, if they chose to, compile a completedescription of the plant in question, including a proper geneticanalysis if they deemed it appropriate.  Are you saying that all thatis left to do is find the original field notes for collection local?   Sorry for the naive questions, butI'm just curious :o)   Thanks ,   Dan   -----Original Message ----- From: Elizabeth Campbell To: aroid-l@gizmoworks.com Sent:Sunday, December 28, 2008 11:19 AM Subject:[Aroid-l] New Species Anthurium, sect. Belolonchium Hi folks! As Steve said, I've found this big, ornate-leafed Anthurium,which Dr. Croat says is undescribed, and for which I am doing thefieldwork to collect the type specimen and take the environmental data.He mentioned y'all might like to see it! I took a number of descriptivephotos of the specimens that are growing at the Quito BotanicalGardens, and for ease of viewing they live in their own gallery. Here'sthe address: http://s256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Unknown%20Anthurium/ I hope to find specimens with mature seed; if not I will have to takecuttings in order to home-culture the plant. When I have viable seedfor it, I'll post another message for collectors. As a private citizen,it is very difficult for me to ship live plant matter out of thecountry, but they have no problem with germplasm. Steve: I am not normally in the coastal forests, but it looks like I'llget an opportunity to go later this month. I shall certainly keep aneye out for your species, and if I find it I will take wild photos, andthe observations you wanted. I can also bug EcuaGenera on your behalf. Cheers! Beth _______________________________________________________________ Get the Free email that has everyone talking at http://www.mail2world.com Unlimited Email Storage – POP3 – Calendar –SMS – Translator – Much More! _______________________________________________ Aroid-L mailing list Aroid-L@www.gizmoworks.com http://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l _______________________________________________Aroid-L mailing listAroid-L@www.gizmoworks.comhttp://www.gizmoworks.com/mailman/listinfo/aroid-l --------------060009070305010404060600

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