Department of Botany & the U.S. Nat Herbarium

Botany Profile

Continued on page 11

New Series - Vol. 9 - No. 3 July-September 2006

The Plant PressThe Plant PressThe Plant PressThe Plant PressThe Plant Press

Special Symposium Issue - see page 9

Islands in the Stream of EvolutionBy Gary A. Krupnick

Special Symposium Issue - see page 8

On 21-22 April, more than 125participants gathered at theNational Museum of Natural

History to attend the Sixth Annual Smith-sonian Botanical Symposium, “IslandArchipelagos: Cauldrons of Evolution.”The Symposium explored the role thatisland archipelagos have played in ourunderstanding of ecological and evolu-tionary processes as well as the futureconservation of these unique ecosys-tems. Six invited speakers presentedtalks that described different island sys-tems, each containing unique biotas thatexperience selective pressures differentfrom those that dominate mainlandecosystems.

An opening reception at the UnitedStates Botanic Garden, a co-sponsor ofthe symposium, kicked-off the confer-ence on the evening of 21 April. Gather-ing in the Garden’s atrium, an enthusias-tic crowd enjoyed food, conversation,and tours of the amazing collection ofplants. The latest Garden exhibit featuredplant species that were collected duringthe U.S. Exploring Expedition (1838-1842).

W. John Kress, symposium convener,welcomed the audience at the morningsession on 22 April. Kress described the“what” and “where” of archipelagos, andexplained how archipelagos make won-derful systems that can provide to usunique insights about ecology andevolution. He also gave a brief history ofhow islands have shaped the study ofevolution, natural selection, and bioge-ography.

The morning session began with the

awarding of the sixth José CuatrecasasMedal for Excellence in Tropical Botany,which was awarded to Sherwin Carlquist(see related article, page 8). A leader inthe study of phylogeny, biogeography, andanatomy of island plants, Carlquist washighly appreciative of the award and spokeabout how the award will encourage himto continue to do better work. “The awardis not closure, but avote of confidence,”he said. Carlquistreceived accoladesthroughout the dayas each of the speakers began their talksby paying tribute to their highly respectedcolleague.

The first invited speaker was WarrenWagner, Curator of Pacific Botanyin the Department of Botany at the

Smithsonian Institution, who presented“Out of Hawaii: A Remote Archipelago asa Source Area.” Oceanic islands, ex-plained Wagner, are natural laboratoriesfor examining evolutionary diversifica-tion. He described (1) what plant diversityexists in the Hawaiian Islands; (2) howindependently derived groups exhibitsimilar patterns of colonization and diver-sification; (3) which groups radiated morethan others; and (4) if colonization toisolated archipelagos was one-way. Usingdiverse images of the Hawaiian flora,Wagner gave a brief tour of the mostspecies-rich lineages: Campanulaceae,Gesneriaceae, Lamiaceae, Rutaceae,Caryophyllaceae, Asteraceae, Arecaceae,Rubiaceae, and Myrsinaceae. He demon-strated that the Hawaiian Islands are notonly a place where divergent species

arose in many adaptive radiations, butthat the islands are a source area forcolonization to other oceanic islandsleading to new adaptive radiations.

Bruce G. Baldwin, Professor ofIntegrative Biology and Curator of theJepson Herbarium at the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley, next spoke on“Pacific Dispersals and Radiations of

Western NorthAmerican Origin: AnEmergent Pattern.”In describing theadaptive radiations

from the west coast of North Americato Hawaii, Baldwin presented casestudies from the Hawaiian silverswordalliance (Asteraceae), Hawaiian sanicles(Sanicula: Apiaceae), Hawaiian violets(Viola), Hawaiian mints (Haplo-stachys), and Hawaiian Schiedea (Cary-ophyllaceae). He described how fivewestern North American lineagesaccount for more than 12 percent ofHawaiian angiosperms. Baldwin alsodescribed how shrubby tarweeds fromthe islands off the coast of Californiaparalleled the adaptive radiation of theHawaiian silversword alliance.

Moving from the Pacific Ocean tothe Atlantic Ocean, Javier Francisco-Ortega, Head of the Plant MolecularSystematics and Conservation BiologyLaboratory jointly operated by FloridaInternational University and FairchildTropical Botanic Garden, ushered in theafternoon session with his presentationof “New and Old Paradigms for theMacaronesian Flora: Molecular Phylo-

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Chair of BotanyW. John Kress(kressj@si.edu)

EDITORIAL STAFF

EditorGary Krupnick(krupnickg@si.edu)

News ContactsMaryAnn Apicelli, Robert Faden, EllenFarr, Shirley Maina, George Russell, AliceTangerini, and Elizabeth Zimmer

The Plant Press is a quarterly publication providedfree of charge. If you would like to be added to themailing list, please contact Dr. Gary Krupnick at:Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution, POBox 37012, NMNH MRC-166, Washington, DC20013-7012, or by E-mail: krupnickg@si.edu.

Web site: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botany

The Plant Press

New Series - Vol. 9 - No. 3

Travel

Continued on page 6

Pedro Acevedo traveled to SantoDomingo, Dominican Republic, and SanJuan, Puerto Rico (6/17 – 7/2) to presentthe keynote address at the 9th LatinAmerican Botanical Congress and toattend the meeting of the Organization forFlora Neotropica, both in the DominicanRepublic, and to fundraise in Puerto Rico.

Walter Adey traveled to Newfound-land and Nova Scotia, Canada (6/12 – 8/12) to conduct research in the CanadianMaritimes.

Michael Bordelon traveled toDenver, Colorado (6/12 – 6/14) to give apresentation at the Applied Plant Conser-vation Training Program at the DenverBotanic Gardens; and to San Francisco,California (6/28 – 7/3) to consult ongreenhouse operations and the gingercollections at the University of Califor-nia, Berkeley.

Maria Faust traveled to Belize City,Belize (4/26 – 5/11) to conduct researchon red tide-forming, toxic, dinoflagellatemicroalgae in the Atlantic Barrier coralreef-mangrove habitats.

Vicki Funk, Sara Alexander, and MayaSthral traveled to Bronx, New York (6/5 –6/8) to study specimens from theVenezulean Guayana at the New YorkBotanical Garden.

with colleagues from the universities ofIstanbul, Ankara, and Cyprus.

Warren Wagner traveled to Pullman,Washington (4/2 – 4/11) to give a lectureand to participate in a graduate studentcommittee meeting at Washington StateUniversity; to Kauai and Oahu, Hawaii (4/30 – 5/9) to make a presentation at theNational Tropical Botanical Garden Boardof Trustees meeting and to conduct re-search at the Bishop Museum Herbarium;and to Santo Domingo, Dominican Re-public (6/17 – 6/20) to attend the councilmeeting of the International Associationfor Plant Taxonomy.

Anna Weitzman traveled to Edin-burgh, Scotland, and London, England (5/2 – 5/13) to discuss data standards fortaxonomy and issues related to rearrang-ing herbarium collections at the RoyalBotanic Garden Edinburgh and at theNatural History Museum in London.

Jun Wen traveled to New Haven, Con-necticut (4/4 – 4/6) to give a lecture atYale University; to Chicago, Illinois (4/27– 4/30) to work on her collections at theField Museum; to Mexico (5/8 – 5/22) topresent a seminar at Universidad NacionalAutónoma de México and to conduct fieldresearch on Vitaceae, Araliaceae, andPrunus; to China (5/28 – 6/11) to teach atraining course on molecular techniquesin ethnobotany organized by MissouriBotanical Garden and Kunming Instituteof Botany, and to conduct research onAraliaceae and Vitaceae; and to SantoDomingo, Dominican Republic (6/17 – 6/20) to attend the council meeting of theInternational Association for PlantTaxonomy.

Kenneth Wurdack traveled to Bronx,New York (5/15 – 5/17) to conductresearch at the herbarium and attend thededication of the Pfizer Plant ResearchLaboratory at the New York BotanicalGarden.

Linda Hollenberg and JamieWhitacre traveled to Albuquerque, NewMexico (5/22 – 5/27) to present a posterat the joint meeting of the Society for thePreservation of Natural History Collec-tions (SPNHC) and the Natural ScienceCollections Alliance (NSCA).

W. John Kress traveled to PanamaCity, Panama (5/8 – 5/11) to participate ina workshop on plant phylogeny, phylo-geography, and DNA barcoding; and toGrenada and Trinidad (5/19 – 6/1) toconduct field work on hummingbirds andHeliconia.

Mark and Diane Littler traveled toFort Pierce, Florida (6/4 – 7/5) to con-tinue work on the flora of the Indian RiverLagoon in collaboration with M. DennisHanisak at Harbor Branch Oceanographic.

Dan Nicolson traveled to Richmond,Virginia (4/4) with Emanuela Appetitito consult with the librarian and directorof the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden inRichmond on identification of plantspecies in artwork; and to New York (5/21– 5/26) to work on Taxonomic Literature,F & G Supplement.

James Norris and Robert Simstraveled to Belize City, Belize (5/7 – 5/25) to collect marine red algae forstudies in Carrie Bow Cay.

Rusty Russell traveled to Cambridge,Massachusetts (6/5 – 6/6) to visit theHarvard University Botany Library andArchives to investigate the Wilkescollection.

Alain Touwaide and EmanuelaAppetiti traveled to Tbilisi, Georgia (5/3– 5/7) to participate in a conference ontraditional medicine; to Pompeii, Italy (5/13 – 5/20) to study biological materialfrom excavations; to Rome, Italy (5/24 –7/5) to conduct research on Renaissanceprinted herbals; to Baku, Azerbaijan (6/10– 6/14) to attend a conference on ancientmanuscripts and materia medica; and toIstanbul, Turkey (6/15 – 6/16) to work

Visitors

Ze-Long Nie, Kunming Institute ofBotany, Chinese Academy of Sciences;Eastern Himalayan conservation andbiodiversity, and molecular biogeographyof Northern Hemisphere disjunct plants(10/10-6/9).

Robert Leucking, Field Museum; MasonHale Costa Rican collections (1/30-4/2).

Federico Luebert, Universidad de Chile,Santiago; Heliotropium (Boraginaceae)(2/5-8/4).

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Asian Botany at the Smithsonian: Past, Present and Future

The recent annual meeting of the Association forTropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC)held in China in July ended with the publication

of the “Kunming Declaration.” The conference washosted by the Xishuangbanna Tropical BotanicalGarden and sponsored by the Chinese Academy ofSciences and National Natural Science Foundation aswell as ATBC. Growth of Chinese science during thelast decade has been impressive and it was very clearat the meeting that the government was fully commit-ted to increase funding for ecological and environ-mental research.

The “Kunming Declaration,” approved unanimouslyat an ATBC plenary session on the last day of the con-ference, urged the nations of tropical Asia to expandthe number and size of protected areas within theirborders, especially for forest types and eco-regionsthat are poorly protected in existing reserves, and forthe increasingly rare areas that still retain their highlyvulnerable megafauna. The Declaration also stated thatfinancial support be substantially increased for scien-tific strategies to (a) restore degraded and secondaryforests, (b) identify key regions of high biological andconservation significance, (c) enhance and maintainfunctional connectivity for wildlife among existingand planned reserves; (d) develop multi-nationalresearch, collaboration, and capacity-building; and (e)devise sustainable strategies for natural-resourcedevelopment. The Kunming Declaration was distribu-tion to the local and international media by the end ofthe conference.

The success of the ATBC meeting in China and theannouncement of the Kunming Declaration was a clearsignal that biodiversity and conservation sciences arestrong and growing in Asia. As stated in the Declara-tion the biological diversity of tropical forests in Asiais among the very richest and most spectacular on theplanet and likely accounts for at least a quarter of allspecies on Earth. But at the same time Asia has thehighest deforestation rate of any major tropical regionin the world, and is also being massively altered byrampant industrial logging, plantation expansion, over-hunting, the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlifeproducts, pollution and degradation of freshwater andcoastal marine ecosystems, rapid human populationgrowth, and other threats. Yet rapid economic growthand the impressive development of scientific exper-tise in tropical Asia are creating important newopportunities for targeted research and conservationinitiatives.

Not always recognized, curators in the Departmentof Botany have contributed significantly to Asianbotany and biodiversity studies. In April, Botanyhosted the Joint Meeting of the Editorial Committeeof the Flora of China Project. Editorial members fromChina as well as the US and UK attended to discuss

and plan the final volumes of this massive project thatwill eventually include over 31,000 species of flower-ing plants. The Department of Botany has been aparticipant in the Flora of China Project since the early1990s. Although this participation has been one of themost obvious Asian-based programs in Botany duringthe last several decades, it should not be forgotten thatwe have a long history of working in various parts ofAsia since the very beginning of the United StatesNational Herbarium in the 1800s.

The U.S. South Pacific Exploring Expedition led byLt. Charles Wilkes returned to the Nation’s Capitol in1842 with tens of thousands of botanical specimens,many from islands in the Pacific which was a focus ofthe voyage. These specimens eventually became thebasis of the US. National Herbarium which was offi-cially formed in 1893 when Frederick V. Coville wasappointed Honorary Curator of the National Herbarium.Since that time a series of well-known botanists havemade significant contributions to Asian Botany at theSmithsonian, including

Elmer D. Merrill (1876-1956), who collected over6,000 species from the Philippines during and afterthe Spanish-American War;

Joseph F. Rock (1884-1962), whose 25,149 collec-tions from China, Tibet, Thailand, Burma, and Assamare the foundation of our Asian materials;

Floyd McClure (1897-1970), who studied bamboosand taught at Lingnan University in Guangdong,China, came to the Smithsonian in 1941 and hismassive bamboo collections and library are depos-ited here;

Egbert H. Walker (1899-1991), who also taught inChina at Canton Christian College, came to the USNational Herbarium in 1928; he was eventually co-author with Merrill on the Bibliography of EasternAsiatic Botany (1938) and sole author of theSupplement (1960);

Albert C. Smith (1906-1999), who first went to Fiji in1933, came to the Smithsonian in 1948 and rose tobecome Assistant Secretary of the Institution; hecompleted his Flora Vitiensis Nova (5 volumes) in1991;

Francis Raymond Fosberg (1908-1993), who studiedSouth Pacific botany made over 150,000 collectionsand published the Revised Handbook of the Flora ofCeylon.

More recently a number of contemporary membersof the Department have continued this tradition of AsianBotany with sustained field work, collections, andpublications in a number of different countries:

Dan H. Nicolson, who joined the staff in 1963,conducted field work and made collections in thePhilippines, Indonesia, New Guinea, Thailand,

Continued on page 7

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StaffResearch & Activities

New Faces

On 9 May, Robert Faden was an invitedguest of the open house of the U.S.National Arboretum’s Floral and NurseryPlants Research Unit/Green Industry. Theresearch done by the 15 researchers inthe FNPRU was presented by researchleader, John Hammond. The researchersinclude taxonomists, horticulturalists,geneticists, plant pathologists, microbi-ologists and physiologists. They arestationed in Beltsville, Maryland, at theUSNA in Washington, DC, and McMinn-ville, Tennessee. Research is focused onthe development of new, woody plants forhorticulture and on the diseases ofornamental plants. The presentation wasfollowed by discussion groups thatfocused on the work of the USNA and itsintersection with the needs of the GreenIndustry (essentially the horticulturaltrade at all levels). This was followed bylunch and tours of the USNA collections,including the herbarium (NA), and theresearch facilities at Beltsville.

On 18 May, Gary Krupnick presentedthe keynote address, “Plant Conservationat the U.S. National Herbarium,” at thesymposium “Charting the Future of Plant-based Conservation Education in theUnited States.” Held at the United StatesBotanic Garden, the symposium wasdesigned to address Target 14 of theGlobal Strategy for Plant Conservationand was co-sponsored by Botanic GardensConservation International.

Krupnick was also an invited speakerat the Maryland Master Gardeners AnnualTraining Day at the University of Mary-land, College Park, on 25 May, where hepresented “A Natural History Approach toPlant Conservation.”

On 4 April, Dan Nicolson and EmanuelaAppetiti visited the library of the LewisGinter Botanical Garden in Richmond,Virginia, to view the Descubes collection,which comprises 2,300 drawings (inpencil and painted in watercolor, most ofthem signed) of plants of the Indiansubcontinent and areas such as Pakistan,Buthan and the Himalayan region. Each

plate lists botanical information, fromfamily, genus and species, to countries inwhich the plant was found and relatedliterary references. The plates wereproduced by artist A. Descubes during thelate 19th and early 20th centuries.

In May, James Norris and SuzanneFredericq (co-principal investigators ofthe Belize Marine Algae Project), withRobert Sims, Fred Gurgel (SmithsonianMarine Station post-doctoral fellow) andChip Clark (Smithsonian photographer)traveled to the Smithsonian’s MarineLaboratory on Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, todive and collect marine macroalgae forcomparative morphological studies andmolecular analyses, focusing primarily onmangrove algae, colloid producingspecies of Hypnea , Eucheuma andGracilaria, as well as new species ofLiagoraceae and Wrangelia, and photodocumentation of their research anddiving at Carrie Bow Cay and vicinity.

On 5 June, Rusty Russell and BiancaLipscomb visited the Harvard UniversityBotany Library and Archives to completetheir review of Asa Gray’s handwritten andunpublished fourth manuscript which lists1,192 species names of the plant collec-tions made during the U.S. ExploringExpedition.

At the 2006 joint meeting of theSociety for the Preservation of NaturalHistory Collections (SPNHC) and theNatural Science Collections Alliance(NSCA) in Albuquerque, New Mexico,Jamie Whitacre presented a posterentitled “Ethnobotany of the BorderRegions of the U.S. and Mexico” whoseauthors included Russell, Bill Merrill andLinda Hollenberg.

Alice Tangerini is exhibiting two of herbotanical illustrations, Mortoniodendronuxpanapense and Alloplectus serpens atthe Athenaeum Gallery in Alexandria,Virginia, as part of an exhibition, “Inspiredby the Plant,” organized by the BotanicalArt Society of the National CapitalRegion (BASNCR). The exhibit runs until30 July and features botanical subjects inwatercolor, color pencil, graphite, pen andink, and mixed media. The BASNCR is alocal group of botanical artists who free-lance and teach classes in their special-ties. Some of the members are long timeillustrators associated with the Smith-sonian. On 24 June, Tangerini discussed

botanical illustration using herbariumspecimens and demonstrated her pen andink techniques.

An exhibit at the Desert BotanicalGarden (DBG) in Phoenix, Arizona,“Botany Beautiful, The Tradition Contin-ues” features three Oenothera illustra-tions by Tangerini and three watercolorpaintings by Mary Eaton from theDepartment’s Art Collection. The exhibit,curated by Marilyn Garber, educationaldirector of the American Society ofBotanical Artists, concentrates on plantsnative to the southwestern U.S. and alsoexhibits art from the Harvard collectionsas well as DBG. The exhibit runs until 3May 2007.

Anna Weitzman has taken a full timedetail assisting the Bureau of Industry &Security at the Department of Commercein managing some internet technologyprojects. She will continue to keep anaffiliation with the Botany Department.Weitzman is excited about revitalizingher work in botany and plans to have amore active role in botanical and biodi-versity informatics research projectsthrough the department than she has beenable to for some years.

Maya Strahl, a Research TrainingProgram (RTP) intern, is working withVicki Funk this summer on a projecttitled “Phylogeny and Biodiversity of theCompositae Family in the Guiana Shield.”Strahl was born in New York City butgrew up in a small village near Canada inupstate New York. She is currentlymajoring in biology at Berry College, asmall liberal arts college in northwesternGeorgia. She has been doing undergradu-

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Awards &Grants

Vicki Funk and Warren Wagner eachreceived a 2005 National Museum ofNatural History Science AchievementAward. The awards were established in2004 to recognize outstanding scientificcontributions by NMNH staff during thepreceding calendar year. Each spring acommittee comprising members of thepermanent scientific staff and chaired bythe Associate Director of Research andCollections (ADRC) reviews up to threepublications nominated by each curatorialdepartment as well as nominations fromindividual staff. Funk and Wagner wererecognized for the following publica-tions:

Funk, V.A. et al. 2005. Everywhere butAntarctica: Using a supertree to under-stand the diversity and distribution of theCompositae. Biologiske Skrifter 55:343-373.

Wagner, W.L., S.G. Weller, and A.Sakai. 2005. Monograph of Schiedea(Caryophyllaceae - Alsinoideae). System-atic Botany Monographs 72: 1-169.

Rusty Russell and W. John Kressreceived a grant from the EarthwatchInstitute for “Plants and People: Extract-ing Ethnobotanical Data from HistoricSpecimens.”

Alain Touwaide has been elected Presi-dent-Elect of the Washington Academy ofSciences.

Department Hoststhe Flora of ChinaProject

The Department hosted the JointEditorial Committee Meeting for theFlora of China project on 17-18 April.The meeting was organized by W. JohnKress and Jun Wen. Twenty-five mem-bers of the Committee from China, Japan,England, Scotland, and several major USbotanical institutions, including theMissouri Botanical Garden, HarvardUniversity, and the California Academy ofSciences, attended the two-day meeting.The Department has been a partner in theFlora of China Project for several dec-ades. The Flora of China will describeand document about 31,000 or one-eighthof the world’s total plant species. Thisnumber includes about 8,000 species ofmedicinal and economically importantplants and about 7,500 species of treesand shrubs. More than 600 scientistsfrom throughout the world are cooperat-ing in the preparation of individualtreatments of the Flora, including severalcurators in the Department of Botany atthe Smithsonian.

The Flora of China Editorial Committee at the National Museum of NaturalHistory. (Photo by Chip Clark)

ate research since the spring semester of2005 and has worked on research in oakseedling leaf ontogeny and cotyledonreserves, and on a study to assess theresults of prescribed burning on fire-suppressed longleaf pine stands. Morerecently she has been responsible for along-term project on a limestone gladecommunity on the Berry College campus.In addition, Strahl began a vegetationsurvey and drafted a management plan as aNational Science Foundation internduring the summer of 2005. This springshe presented her findings at the annualmeeting of the Association of Southeast-ern Biologists. After completing the RTPat the Natural History Museum she willfinish her senior year at Berry Collegeand apply for graduate school.

From 1 March to 12 April, PaulPeterson and Robert Soreng visitedArgentina to collect grasses and reviewspecimens at Darwinion (SI), FundacíonMiguel Lillo (LIL), Universidad deBuenos Aires (BAA), Instituto Nacionalde Tecnología Agropecuaria (BAB), andMuseo de La Plata (LP). Diego LionelSalariato and Adela Maria Panizza, twostudents from Darwinion, accompaniedPeterson and Soreng on the collecting tripthat began in southern Mendoza and con-tinued north through San Juan, La Rioja,Catamarca, Tucumán, and Salta to LaQuiaca, Jujuy. High elevation slopes ofthe Cordillera de los Andes were visited

Grass Collecting inArgentina

to collect cool-season grasses (Poo-ideae) while the intervening valleys andlower slopes provided good habitat forwarm-season grasses (Chloridoideae). Atotal of 503 numbers of grasses weregathered and duplicates were left at ourhost institution, Instituto de Darwinion inSan Isidro.

Jun Wen was honored as a guest profes-sor for a four-year term by the KunmingInstitute of Botany of the ChineseAcademy of Sciences.

Elizabeth Zimmer has been appointedAssociate Editor of the journal PlantSystematics and Evolution.

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East end of Plummers Island with large sign identifying island. (Photo by E.Lohnes)

New Synthesis ofFlora for FamedPlummers Island

A checklist of the flora of PlummersIsland, in the Potomac River narrowlyseparated from the Maryland shore justinside Washington DC’s Capital Beltway(I-495) and below the American LegionBridge, has just been published byStanwyn G. Shetler, Sylvia S. Orli,Elizabeth F. Wells, and Marcie Beyers-dorfer, in the Bulletin of the BiologicalSociety of Washington. The WashingtonBiologists’ Field Club has been studyingthe biology of Plummers Island and itsadjoining mainland since 1901, when theClub leased the island and established aheadquarters there. Today, it is one of themost studied small islands or sites ofcomparable size anywhere. The first andonly previous checklist was published in1935, with an addendum in 1953.

The new checklist reports a cumulativetotal of 885 species since records werefirst kept and documented with speci-mens. This is 92 species more than pre-viously reported in 1934 and 1953. Of the885, only 300-350 of these are presenttoday. The flora has been in constant fluxfrom season to season and year to year,especially because of the frequentflooding of the river. Among the speciesthat have disappeared from the island overthe years are the locally native prickly-pear cactus (Opuntia humifusa) onCactus Rock and bloodleaf (Iresine rhi-zomatosa), which was first described newto science from the island. Others havegiven way to invaders. The native hop(Humulus lupulus) has been displaced bythe Japanese hop (Humulus japonicus),and the American bittersweet (Celastrusscandens) has given way to the Orientalbittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus).

The island is still relatively unspoiled,but as everywhere, invasive aliens aretaking their toll. Although only about 21%of the historical total of 885 species andthe 300-350 contemporary species arealiens, 55% of the 42 species that havebeen recorded since the last update in1953 are aliens.

The new checklist will provide a focusfor the Electronic Field Guide Projectand the DNA Barcoding Project of W.J.Kress and collaborators.

Cuatrecasas Travel AwardThe Cuatrecasas Travel Award (CTA) is

a new annual competition offered by theDepartment, which will usually result inone to two awards, each not exceeding$3,000. The award is to support work inthe spirit of the research of the late Dr.José Cuatrecasas, a long time associate ofthe US National Herbarium. Priority isgiven to scientists from Latin America orfrom elsewhere who work on tropicalplants. Funds are to be used to studyspecimens housed in the US NationalHerbarium.

This year, the CTA Committee (PedroAcevedo, Laurence Dorr, and VickiFunk) selected three proposals to fundfor a total of $6,000. Fortunately, theDirector of the National Museum ofNatural History, Cristián Samper, willprovide an extra $6,000, to bring a totalof five applicants to the US NationalHerbarium:

• Rodrigo Bernal - “Study of Palms(Arecaceae) at US, Towards a Treat-ment of the Family for the Flora ofColombia”

• Rodrigo Duno de Stefano - “Study ofthe Family Leguminosae in the YucatanPeninsula Biotic Province (YPBP),Mexico. Part III.”

• Jorge Andrés Pérez Zabala -“Curation of Neotropical Prunus(Rosaceae) and Colombian RosaceaeBased on Collections Deposited at theUS National Herbarium”

• Oscar Mauricio Vargas - “Study ofthe Genus Diplostephium (Aster-aceae, Astereae)”

• Alejandra Vasco - “Monograph andPhylogenetic Study of the Fern GenusElaphoglossum Subsection Muscosa(Dryopteridaceae)”

These awards will bring in fourcolleagues from Colombia and one fromVenezuela (now in Mexico). These tripswill help build institutional collaborationand advance botanical systematics.

VisitorsContinued from page 2

Wenying Wu, Philipps University,Marburg, Germany; Nolana (Solanaceae)(2/28/06-2/27/08).

Ying Meng, Kunming Institute of Botany,China; Smilacina (Liliaceae) (2/28-6/6).

Shiliang Zhou, Institute of Botany,Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing;

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Publications

Applequist, W.L., W.L. Wagner, E.A.Zimmer and M. Nepokroeff. 2006.Molecular evidence resolving the sys-tematic position of Hectorella (Portula-caceae). Syst. Bot. 31(2): 310-319.

Clark, J.L., P.S. Herendeen, L.E. Skogand E.A. Zimmer. 2006. Phylogeneticrelationships and generic boundaries inthe Episcieae (Gesneriaceae) inferredfrom nuclear, chloroplast, and morpho-logical data. Taxon 55(2): 313-336.

Dorr, L.J. 2006. New combinations inErica (Ericaceae: Ericoideae) from thehigh mountains of East Africa. Novon16(1): 56-58.

Peterson, P.M. 2006. Grasses. P. 68. In:R. Abramson and J. Haskell (eds.). Encyc-lopedia of Appalachia. University ofTennessee Press, Knoxville.

Sakai, A.K., S.G. Weller, W.L. Wagner,M. Nepokroeff, T.M. Culley and D.R.Campbell. 2006. Adaptive radiation andevolution of breeding system in Schiedea(Caryophyllaceae), an endemic Hawaiiangenus. Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard. 93: 50-65.

Shetler, S.G., S.S. Orli, E.F. Wells andM. Beyersdorfer. 2006. Checklist of thevascular plants of Plummers Island, Mary-land. Contribution XXIX to the NaturalHistory of Plummers Island, Maryland.Bull. Biol. Soc. Wash. 14: 1-58.

Touwaide, A. 2006. Malaria, pp. 195-196; Marcellus [8] Empiricus, pp. 300-301; Medicina Plinii, pp. 568-569;Medicinal plants, pp. 558-568; Method-ists, pp. 801-802; Metrodora, p. 836. In:Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of theAncient World. Brill, Leiden and Boston.

Wasshausen, D.C. 2006. 156. Acantha-ceae. In: M.J. Jensen-Jacobs (ed.). Floraof the Guianas: Series A: Phanerogams23: 1-141.

Wasshausen, D.C. 2006. 159. Mendonci-aceae. In: M.J. Jensen-Jacobs (ed.). Floraof the Guianas: Series A: Phanerogams23: 142-151.

Whittall, J.B., Medina-Moreno, A., E.A.Zimmer and S.A. Hodges. 2006. Gener-ating single-copy nuclear gene data for arecent adaptive radiation. Mol. Phylo-genet. Evol. 39(1): 124-134.

ChairContinued from page 3

Burma, India, Nepal and China;Laurance Skog, Robert DeFilipps (now

deceased), Anna Weitzman and JohnKress, who have served as editors andadvisors to the Flora of China Projectsince 1990;

Warren Wagner, who took over thePacific Botany Program when Fosbergretired, focuses on the Flora of Hawaiiand Pacific Islands;

John Kress, who has worked on the sys-tematics and pollination biology of theZingiberaceae in China, Thailand,Myanmar, and other Southeast Asiancountries, recently published a newchecklist of the flowering plants ofBurma;

Jun Wen, who is one of the newest hiresin the Department, will continue herfloristic, biogeographic and taxonomicwork in China and neighboring coun-tries as Curator of Botany.

Curators at the United States NationalHerbarium have a rich history, past andpresent, of working in Asia and it isexpected that this work will continue intothe future. As suggested by the KunmingDeclaration biodiversity is exceptionallyrich in Asia but is also under exceptionalthreat from over exploitation and ecosys-tem degradation. Increased activity bybotanists at the US National Herbarium aswell as other institutions both in Asia andoutside Asia will be necessary to discoverand describe this plant diversity before itdisappears.

Note: Thanks to Dan Nicolson who con-tributed facts and dates on Asian Botany atthe US National Herbarium.

Calycanthaceae (3/14-8/14).

Michael Dillon, Field Museum; PeruvianAsteraceae (3/31-4/7).

Thaweesak Thitimetharoch, Khon KaenUniversity, Thailand; Commelinaceae (4/3-5/2).

Lynn Russo, Independent researcher;Volunteer interview (4/12).

Mark Tebbitt, Brooklyn Botanic Garden;Begoniaceae (4/13-4/14).

Jean Molina, Rutgers University; Leea(Nyctaginaceae) (4/21).

Donald McClelland, New York Botani-cal Garden; Solanum (Solanaceae) (4/21-4/22).

Jen Whipple, USDI-NPS-Yellowstone;Frank Tweedy collections (4/24-4/26).

John Freudenstein, Ohio State Univer-sity; Orchidaceae (4/28).

WendyLynn Sacerdoti, Independentresearcher; Ethnobotany lecture (4/28).

Frank Axelrod, University of PuertoRico, San Juan; Flora of Puerto Rico (5/1-5/5).

Judy Chen, University of Florida;Vitaceae (5/8- 5/12).

Steve Manchester, Florida Museum;Cornales (5/8-5/12).

Elizabeth O'Leary, University of FloridaMuseum of Natural History; Winged fruitdatabase (5/8-5/12).

Nicolas Cuvi, Universitat Autònoma deBarcelona, Spain; Cinchona Mission files(5/17).

Rose Broome and James Reveal,Independent researchers; Dodecatheon(Primulaceae) (5/19-5/22).

Sarah Wakamiya and Kim Winter,North American Pollinator ProtectionCampaign; Conservation database (5/24).

Orlando Alvarez F., Michigan State Uni-versity; Thelypteris (Thelypteridaceae)(6/8-6/11).

Jackie Kallunki, New York BotanicalGarden; Rutaceae (6/12).

Ray Mims, United States BotanicGarden; Plant conservation (6/13).

Qing Liu, South China Botanic Garden,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Guangzhou; Poaceae (6/13-7/21).

Kathryn Mauz, University of Arizona;Arizona historical collections (6/14).

Alice Calvente, Universidad de SaoPaulo, Brazil; Rhipsalis (Cactaceae) (6/26- 6/29).

Leonardo Versieux, Universidad de SaoPaulo, Brazil; Bromeliaceae (6/26-6/29).

Joao Nunes, Universidad de Sao Paulo,Brazil; Brazilian Bromeliaceae (6/26-7/10).

Page 8

Carlquist Receives Sixth Cuatrecasas MedalThe Department of Botany and the

United States National Herbarium presentthis annual award to a botanist and scholarof international stature who has contrib-uted significantly to advancing the field oftropical botany. The José CuatrecasasMedal for Excellence in Tropical Botanyis named in honor of Dr. José Cuatreca-sas, a pioneering botanist and taxonomistwho spent nearly a half-century workingin the Smithsonian Institution’s Depart-ment of Botany. Dr. Cuatrecasas devotedhis career to plant exploration in tropicalSouth America and this award serves tokeep vibrant the accomplishments andmemory of this outstanding scientist.

The winner of this prestigious award isselected by a committee made up of threebotanists on the staff of the Department,in consultation with other plant scientistsin the Washington area. Nominations forthe Medal are accepted from all scientistsin the Botany Department. The awardconsists of a bronze medal bearing animage of José Cuatrecasas on the frontwith the recipient’s name and date ofpresentation on the back. Highlights frompast presentations to the recipients areavailable on the Symposium Archives athttp://persoon.si.edu/sbsarchives/.

Sherwin Carlquist is the sixth recipientof the José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excel-lence in Tropical Botany. Carlquist is awood anatomist who focused on manytropical angiosperm families and whoalso addressed questions about the evolu-tion of plants on islands. The awardcommittee was impressed with his manycontributions to scientific journals aswell as a significant number of bookspublished over the course of his career,including Island Life: A Natural Historyof the Islands of the World (1965);Island Biology (1974); Hawaii: ANatural History; Geology, Climate,Native Flora and Fauna Above the

Shoreline (1970, 1980); and Tarweeds &Silverswords: Evolution of the Madiinae(Asteraceae) (2003).

Carlquist received his B.A. and Ph.D.from the University of California atBerkeley in 1952 and 1956, respectively.In 1955-1956, he conducted his post-doctoral study at Harvard University. Hewas a Professor of Botany at the Clare-mont Graduate School, 1956-1992, with ajoint position at Pomona College, 1977-1984. His position was funded jointly byRancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden andPomona College, 1984-1992 (duringwhich time the title of Plant Anatomistwas held at Rancho Santa Ana BotanicGarden, and the titles as Professor wereretained at Claremont Graduate Schooland Pomona College). He also servered

as Adjunct Professor of BiologicalSciences at the University of California atSanta Barbara, 1993-1998.

Other than academic honors (includingPhi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi), Carlquisthas received the Gleason Prize of theNew York Botanical Garden for IslandLife, 1967; career award (Certificate ofMerit), Botanical Society of America,1977; Fellow, International Academy ofWood Science, 1987; Allerton Medal ofthe National Tropical Botanical Garden,1992; Asa Gray Award, American Societyof Plant Taxonomists, 1993; CareerAward, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden,1996; Fellows’ Medal, California Acad-emy of Sciences, 1996; and the MargaretT. Getman Teaching Award, University ofCalifornia at Santa Barbara, 1996.

Sherwin Carlquist (center), recipient of the José Cuatrecasas Medal forExcellence in Tropical Botany, receives his award from Laurence Dorr (left) andW. John Kress. (Photo by Jim Harle)

Page 9

Abstracts fromthe Speakers atthe SmithsonianBotanical Symposium

The sixth annual Smithsonian Botani-cal Symposium was held 21-22 April2006. The symposium, “Island Archipela-gos: Cauldrons of Evolution,” exploredthe role that island archipelagos haveplayed in our understanding of ecologicaland evolutionary processes. Below are thespeakers’ abstracts from the papers thatwere presented.

Warren L. WagnerSmithsonian Institution, U.S.A.

“Out of Hawaii: A Remote Archipelago asa Source Area”

Oceanic islands have been viewed asnatural laboratories for understandingevolutionary diversification. Pacificislands support an unparalleled array ofbiota whose patterns of diversity havecontributed significant insights intoevolutionary theory. Many of the con-cepts have been derived from traditionalcomparative biology and taxonomicsystems. One fundamental conclusion isplants and animals on isolated archipela-gos stem from a one-way colonizationevent from continents, sometimes movingin stepping-stone fashion across regionswith smaller inter-archipelago distances,to end up on the most remote islands likeHawaii. Tremendous growth in geologicknowledge of Pacific tectonics and datingof oceanic hot-spot archipelagos hasopened a new era of discovery of biogeo-

Speakers of the 2006 Smithsonian Botanical Symposium (from left): W. JohnKress, Robert Ricklefs, Robert Fleischer, Warren Wagner, Sherwin Carlquist,Bruce Baldwin, Mike Maunder, Javier Francisco-Ortega, Ole Hamann (Photoby Jim Harle).

Continued on page 10

graphic patterns. The advent of cladisticapproaches to polygenetics and the incor-poration of molecular data have launcheda new and exciting era of Pacific biogeog-raphy. Data from the genus Melicope(Rutaceae) revealed a significant new bio-geographic pattern of the remote Hawai-ian Islands serving as a source area forcolonization followed by radiation. Ha-waiian Melicope (56 species), which havediversified throughout the main HawaiianIslands, and another 10 to 15 vascularplant lineages have further colonized tothe Marquesas Islands, other islands ofsoutheastern Polynesia, and as far as Fiji.New data demonstrate more dynamicpatterns of colonization across thePacific, and suggest that remote archipel-agos inhabited by unique island-adaptedlineages can and do disperse to otherarchipelagos, if not back to continents.

Bruce G. BaldwinUniversity of California at Berkeley,U.S.A.

“Pacific Dispersals and Radiations ofWestern North American Origin: AnEmergent Pattern”

Recent progress in understandingorigins of Hawaiian angiosperms hasgreatly increased support for the impor-

tance of western temperate and borealNorth America as a source of founderlineages. Molecular phylogeneticevidence for North American ancestry ofprominent Hawaiian radiations, such asthe silversword alliance, mints, schiedeas,sanicles, and violets, underscores thepotential of long-distance dispersal toshape floras, in accord with hypotheseschampioned by Sherwin Carlquist andreinforced by recent phytogeographicstudies on a worldwide scale. As noted byCarlquist, high-elevation environments onthe main islands of the Hawaiian chain andassociated dry habitats leeward of majorvolcanic summits present unusual ecolog-ical opportunities in a tropical setting forcolonists from temperate or boreal areasof North America. Comparison of twoPacific island clades that were founded byclosely related Californian ancestorsaddresses in part the difficult question ofwhether some lineages have intrinsicpotential for diversification under insularconditions. Results of these molecularand cytogenetic studies confirm Carl-quist’s suggestion that the Hawaiiansilversword alliance (Argyroxiphium,Dubautia, and Wilkesia) and CaliforniaIsland tarweeds (Deinandra), althoughdiffering greatly in levels of diversity,

Sponsors of the6th SmithsonianBotanical Symposium• Cuatrecasas Family Foundation• National Museum of Natural

History, Smithsonian Institution• Office of the Associate

Director for Research andCollections, NMNH

• United States Botanic Garden• National Tropical Botanical

Garden

Page 10

AbstractsContinued from page 9

have undergone parallel adaptive radia-tions marked by strikingly similar proc-esses and patterns of evolutionary change.

Javier Francisco-OrtegaFlorida International University,U.S.A.

Arnoldo Santos-GuerraJardín de Aclimatación de La Oro-tava, Canary Islands

Javier FuertesReal Jardín Botánico, Spain

Mark A. CarineNatural History Museum, London,U.K.

“New and Old Paradigms for the Macaro-nesian Flora: Molecular PhylogeneticPerspectives”

In the last 15 years molecular phylog-enies have been obtained to a greatproportion of plant species restricted tothe Macaronesian region (i.e., Azores,Madeira, Salvagens, Canaries, and CapeVerde archipelagos). These phylogenieshave provided a unique framework to testprevious taxonomic, evolutionary andbiogeographical hypothesis about theMacaronesian flora. In this presentationwe will review and evaluate the availablephylogenies for Macaronesian plants. We

will also assess to what extend some ofthese hypotheses are confirmed by themolecular data. Phylogenetic patterns oftaxa restricted to old geological regionsof the archipelago (i.e., paleo-islands),colonization routes between the islandsand the mainland, dispersal tracks withinthe region, and major phylogeneticincongruences will be discussed. Few ofthe molecular phylogenies are based onmore than one DNA region, have strongphylogenetic support for relevant nodes,and have extensive taxonomic sampling inthe mainland. Despite these limitationsour study supports a region with complexbiogeographical and evolutionary pat-terns. Therefore we believe that earlyhypothesis concerning the origin andevolution of the Macaronesian flora weretoo simplistic and generalistic and did notconsider the complex environmentalhistory of the region.

Robert E. RicklefsUniversity of Missouri-St. Louis,U.S.A.

“Avian Perspectives on Evolution andDiversification in Archipelagoes”

The diversity of species in archipela-goes balances colonization, diversifica-tion, and extinction. Each of theseprocesses has historic and geographicdimensions that can be perceived throughphylogenetic analyses of taxa in archi-pelagoes. Whereas classic island bioge-ography theory was developed in thecontext of equilibrium systems composedof homogeneous organisms, recentstudies suggest that this is hardly the case.Especially in archipelagoes, local extinc-tion, recolonization, and species forma-tion create a complex pattern of diversityand distribution from interacting pro-cesses. Phylogeographic studies of birdsin the Lesser Antilles reveal a highlydynamic system far from equilibrium inwhich the outcome of coevolutionaryrelationships influence abundance andhabitat distribution, extinction, and thesecondary spread of populations amongislands. The degree to which theseprocesses are apparent, and how theyinfluence evolutionary change and diver-sification, depends on how well theirtemporal and spatial scales match thegeography and history of an archipelago.This is evident in comparisons of taxawith different potential for dispersal and

for resisting extinction. Such compari-sons also emphasize the well-knownutility of archipelagoes for the study ofevolution.

Ole HamannBotanic Garden, University ofCopenhagen, Denmark

“The Galápagos Islands – Aspects ofVegetation Dynamics and Conservation”

The demography of selected woodyspecies and changes in vegetation hasbeen studied in the Galápagos Islandssince 1972. Characteristic and dominanttrees and shrubs of the arid and humidzone (Opuntia spp., Bursera graveolens,and Scalesia spp.) display differentpatterns of growth, mortality, turnover andlife expectancy. This leads to differentrecovery patterns in different vegetationtypes after disturbances caused by, forexample, goat grazing or El Niño events.In situ plant conservation measuresinclude protection of native vegetationand species, and control or elimination ofinvasive alien plants and animals. Ex situplant conservation measures in the islandscomprise growing and propagating rareand endangered species for habitat resto-ration or population enhancement. Out-side the islands, such species may be con-served ex situ in seed- and gene-banks asthe ultimate insurance against extinction.

Mike MaunderFairchild Tropical Botanic Garden,U.S.A.

Marie M. BruegmannU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceHawaii, U.S.A.

“Extinction and Restoration: OceanicIslands as Testing Grounds for Conserva-tion Biology”

Oceanic islands are being stripped oftheir evolutionary heritage; uniquebiological assemblages and associatedecosystem resources are being lost froma lethal combination of poor resourcemanagement, habitat loss and invasivespecies. Ironically these islands have alsobeen intellectual crucibles where theconcepts of conservation and sustainablemanagement have been tested since theeighteenth century. Using case studiesfrom Macaronesia, the Mascarenes, St.Helena, and the Pacific Islands case

AcknowledgmentsThe success of the Symposium

was due to the significant time andefforts of the following people:

Organizers• Mary Ann Apicelli• Patricia Davis• Laurence Dorr• Ellen Farr• Gary Krupnick• Sue Lutz• Warren Wagner

Core Collections Management Staff

Reception• Holly Shimizu and the United

States Botanic Garden staff

Photographer• Jim Harle

And many others who had helped in amyriad number of ways.

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SymposiumContinued from page 1

genetic Perspectives.” Francisco-Ortegabegan his talk with a description of theunique biogeography of Macaronesia. Hethen presented arguments against twomajor paradigms for the Macaronesianflora. The first paradigm says that manyMacaronesian taxa are sister to taxarestricted to remote regions of Easternand Southern Africa, Arabia, and Asia. Heargues that most lineages instead havelinks with the Mediterranean region. Thesecond paradigm states that taxa that areendemic to the palaeo-islands of Tenerifeform early branching lineages, which isevidence for old speciation events.Francisco-Ortega explained that there areonly a few examples that support thatclaim. He then presented a new paradigmbased on molecular phylogenetics: phy-logenies for only 27 percent of endemicspecies are robust enough to make clearconclusions about continental affinities.

The next speaker presented an ornitho-logical viewpoint. Robert E. Ricklefs,Curators’ Professor of Biology at theUniversity of Missouri St. Louis, spokeabout “Avian Perspectives on Evolutionand Diversification in Archipelagoes.”Using the West Indies as a case study,Ricklefs described biogeographic pat-terns and processes of the avian fauna. Heexplained that the basic pattern of islandbiography is the species-area relationship;but area is often confounded by environ-

mental heterogeneity. Distance from thesite colonization, recolonization, andlocal extinctions also are importantfactors on species richness.

Following Ricklefs was Ole Hamann,Director of the Botanical Garden &Museum, Natural History Museum ofDenmark, University of Copenhagen, whopresented “The Galápagos Islands –Aspects of Vegetation Dynamics andConservation.” Using three case studies(Opuntia, Bursera, and Scalesia),Hamann described how the Galápagosflora has regenerated time and again aftersevere disturbances, such as El Niñoevents and invasive species like goats. Heargued that arid and humid zone woodyplants display different patterns of mor-tality and survival and thus have differentlife expectancies. These species reactdifferently to El Niño events. WhereasOpuntia and Bursera can survive duringthese long-term disturbances, manyspecies of Scalesia can not and thusdeserve high conservation priority.

The final invited talk was “Extinctionand Restoration: Oceanic Islands as Test-ing Grounds for Conservation Biology”presented by Mike Maunder, ExecutiveDirector of Fairchild Tropical BotanicGarden in Coral Gables, Miami, and Chairof the World Conservation Union–Species Survival Plant ConservationCommittee. In describing the essence ofhis talk, Maunder said that his presenta-tion will be a “first aid course when youhave the last four or five individuals of aspecies.” Maunder emphasized whyislands are important and provided a listof threats to island species. His “islandsof the living dead” included Rodgrigues,Mauritius, and St. Helena. After present-ing images of extinct and near-extinctplant species, Maunder offered somehope. He described how recovery ispossible, and outlined three stages ofrestoration: salvage, siege, and restore.

Robert Fleischer, Head of the Genet-ics Program at the Smithsonian Institu-tion, concluded the afternoon sessionwith a “Summary and Perspective.”Fleischer was able to discern four generalconclusions: (1) molecular data havegreatly clarified our understanding oftiming of colonization, region of origin,speciation, and coevolution; (2) plants,like birds, can really move around(sometimes in or on birds); (3) communi-ties are usually not in equilibrium, and

only roughly match expectations oftheory; and (4) many unexpected phyloge-netic relationships and geographic originshave been discovered, which have chal-lenged existing paradigms for manybiotas. In addition, island floras andfaunas seem to be particularly susceptibleto invasion from introduced species,which have devastating impacts on islandorganisms. Development of effectiveconservation strategies are usuallydifficult, and often involve both in situand ex situ solutions.

In his discussion, Fleischer provided alist of suggested future directions: (1)increase the use of DNA marker methodsto document patterns of colonization,geographic origins of biotas, colonizationtimes and rates of evolution; (2) refinestudies of island biogeography usingtemporal scales and information from thefossil record; (3) analyze genes involvedin development to better understandadaptation and speciation; (4) considermultiple factors and their interactions inconservation management; and (5) con-duct better outreach to the public andgovernment agencies about drastic con-servation problems facing island biotas.

To conclude the day of presentations,Kress invited John Burns from Smith-sonian’s Department of Entomology todeliver a poem that Burns had written 30years ago about Drosophila evolution andisland biogeography.

Next year, the Smithsonian BotanicalSymposium will consider plant classifica-tion and conservation in the light ofLinnaeus’ 200 birthday celebration. Allare invited to attend.

The Web site to the 6th AnnualSmithsonian Botanical Symposium<http://persoon.si.edu/sbsarchives/sbs2006/> has many links and documentsrelated to the conference. Included on theWeb site is the full program, abstracts ofthe talks, links related to the speaker’spresentations, and selected images fromthe various events. Additional itemsrelated to the symposium can be added tothe list of links and documents by sendingan E-mail to sbs@nmnh.si.edu.

SupplementarySymposium Linkson the Web

studies will be reviewed that illustrate thealarming collapse of many island biotasand the evolving portfolio of conservationtechniques available to avert habitat lossand extinction. Particular emphasis willbe given to the acute issue of managingthe “living dead,” an increasing number ofspecies that survive as tiny and often non-reproductive relictual populations, insome cases surviving as single wild indi-viduals. Some species have survived onlyas ex situ populations in overseas botanicgardens (e.g. Sophora toromiro fromEaster Island); others such as the RoundIsland Bottle Palm (Hyophorbe lageni-caulis) are recovering after intensivehabitat restoration in situ. A set of island-wide declines will be highlighted, particu-larly the decline in wild populations ofisland endemic palms and hibiscoidslargely as a result of invasive species.

A recently described species(Allertonia 9(1), 2005) from

the Marquesas Islands,Psychotria uapoensis is

known only from the islandof Ua Pou and grows on the

windswept and cloud-shrouded summit ridge of

the island. More than adecade of exploration by

David Lorence and WarrenWagner along with collectors

Steve Perlman, Ken Wood,Liloa Dunn and several

French collaborators Jean-Yves Meyer and Jacques

Florence have increased theknown vascular flora of the

archipelago by 20% with thediscovery of 60 species new

to science. They are beingillustrated by Alice Tangerini

for publication. A flora ofthe islands is being devel-

oped online at <http://ravenel.si.edu/botany/

pacificislandbiodiversity/marquesasflora/index.htm>.

Psychotria uapoensis Lorence & W. L. Wagner

Department of BotanyPO Box 37012NMNH, MRC-166Washington DC 20013-7012

Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300

Art by Alice Tangerini