International Aroid Society

Steve:

Passthis on to Dan Devor! .

Findingdecent type specimen is actually one of the most difficult tasks of abotanist. There are lots of new species floating around but you needmorethan a live plant which does not count for anything according to therules. It has to be herbarium material preserved in a recognizedherbarium. Moreover, I insist that the type be widely distributed,meaning a bare minimum of three specimens, one on each continent. Thisisto avoid the risk of losing or damaging the specimens by sending themthroughthe mail. Too often specimens, particularly those of large plants, arecollected in sets of one (useless in my opinion). When I collect andsuspect that something is new I try to make as many specimens aspossible. Naturally a good description is nice and commendable but legally thereare nodemands on the quality of the description, unlike the demand that acollectionbe preserved. I try to make excellent descriptions with lots of photosaswell. Aroids are confusing enough when you have excellent informationsoit all helps.

Tom

From:aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com[mailto:aroid-l-bounces@gizmoworks.com] OnBehalf Of ExoticRainforest
Sent: Wednesday,December 31, 20082:16 PM
To: Discussion of aroids
Subject: [Aroid-l] NewSpeciesAnthurium, sect. Belolonchium

Hi Daniel, I've beencorresponding with Beth about this plant for sometime and will attempt to give you an answer. The type specimen needstobe a plant with known collection data (elevation, forest type, epiphyteorterrestrial) that has been fully described, ie, roots, stem,internodes,cataphylls, blades, veins, inflorescence, infructescence and details onthefemale and male flowers as well as pollen with detailed information onboth theadaxial (upper) surface as well as the abaxial (lower) surface of thebladeincluding the midrib, primary lateral veins and tertiary veins. Thepeople at the Quito Botanical Gardenapparently did not collect field notes when they rescued theirspecimens whichwere in danger of being destroyed so that data does not now exist. Theyhave given Beth an approximate location where it was found and Beth isnowworking with Dr. Tom Croat to find it in the wild and do the necessaryfieldwork to satisfy the publication of a scientific description of a newspecies. The senior botanist also grants the plant its name. Onecomplete leaf must be dried and properly preserved so information canbecompared to other known species specimens. A dried blade may dry adifferent color than known species or exhibit features not easily seenon aliving specimen, thus the need for the comparison. All that info plusthedried specimen and a living specimen known as the "type specimen"must be deposited in a recognized botanical garden collection. Ofcourse,Tom will do that work with Beth working as the junior co-author and thedriedmaterial and type specimen deposited in the Missouri BotanicalGardenliving collection of aroid species.

Genetic analysis is not normally done to publish a scientificdescription. The new problem in botany is far too many geneticbotanistshave little to zero idea what any species looks like in the wild stateincluding natural variations, they only know how to determine a speciesbyusing genetic information which is virtually worthless to a fieldbotanist suchas Dr. Croat. Field botany is regrettably a dieing breed ofscientist! If you are armed only with genetic data, how in the world do you knowhow torecognize a plant in the wild? You can't easily do a genetic analysisinthe middle of an Ecuadorian rain forest.

Hope that helps.

Steve Lucas
www.ExoticRainforest.com

Daniel Devor wrote:

Hi Beth, Perhaps youcould explain to a totalnovice who has never field collected plants what you mean by collectingthe"type specimen" and then showing us pictures of plants that arealready collected, flowering and fruiting (maybe I mesread and this isadifferent plant)?? It seems the people at the Quito Botanical Gardenscould, if they chose to, compile a complete description of the plant inquestion, including a proper genetic analysis if they deemed itappropriate. Are you saying that all that is left to do is find theoriginal field notes for collection local?

Sorry for the naivequestions, but I'm just curious:o)

Thanks ,

Dan

----- Original Message-----

From: ElizabethCampbell

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'vefound this big,ornate-leafed Anthurium, which Dr. Croat says is undescribed, and forwhich Iam doing the fieldwork to collect the type specimen and take theenvironmentaldata. He mentioned y'all might like to see it! I took a number ofdescriptivephotos of the specimens that are growing at the Quito BotanicalGardens, andfor ease of viewing they live in their own gallery. Here's the address:

http://s256.photobucket.com/albums/hh196/HabloPorArboles/Unknown%20Anthurium/

I hope to find specimens with mature seed; if not I will have to takecuttingsin order to home-culture the plant. When I have viable seed for it,I'll postanother message for collectors. As a private citizen, it is verydifficult forme to ship live plant matter out of the country, but they have noproblem withgermplasm.

Steve: I am not normally in the coastal forests, but it looks like I'llget anopportunity to go later this month. I shall certainly keep an eye outfor yourspecies, and if I find it I will take wild photos, and the observationsyouwanted. I can also bug EcuaGenera on your behalf.

Cheers!

Beth

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