Daniel E. Atha

Medicinal plants used by Latino healers for women's health conditions in New York City

This paper examines the use of medicinal plants by Latino healers in New York City to treat various women’s illnesses. Eight Latino healers collaborated on the study through consultations with female patients who had one of the following conditions as diagnosed by biomedically trained physicians: uterine fibroids, hot flashes, menorrhagia, or endometriosis. The study identified a total of 67 plant species prescribed by the healers in the form of mixtures or as individual plants. Voucher specimens were collected from local botánicas and identified by specialists at The New York Botanical Garden. Studies of immigrant traditional healers and the plants they use in an urban setting can provide interesting ethnobotanical data and information to assist in diagnosing conditions and contributing to treatment of patients from Latino as well as non-Latino communities.ResumenEste documento examina el uso de plantas medicinales por curanderos Latinos en la ciudad de Nueva York en el tratamiento de varias enfermedades en mujeres. Ocho curanderos Latinos colaboraron en el estudio a través de consultas con pacientes mujeres que tenían una de las siguentes condiciones de salud diagnosticadas por médicos: fibroma del útero, incrementos de temperatura repentinos, menorrea o endometriosis. El estudio identificó un total de 67 especies de plantas presentas por los curanderos ya sea en mezclas o individualmente. Muestras de los especímenes fueron colectadas en botánicas locales e identificadas por especialistas en El Jardín Botánico de Nueva York. Estudios de curanderos tradicionales inmigrantes y sus plantas en un área urbana pueden proveer datos etnobotánicos interesantes e información que asista en el diagnóstico del estado de salud y contribuya al tratamiento de pacientes tanto de comunidades Latinos, como no Latinos.

Scrophularia orientalis extract induces calcium signaling and apoptosis in neuroblastoma cells.

Effective neuroblastoma (NB) treatments are still limited despite treatment options available today. Therefore, this study attempted to identify novel plant extracts that have anticancer effects. Cytotoxicity and increased intracellular calcium levels were determined using the Sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay and Fluo4-AM (acetoxymethyl) staining and fluorescence microscopy in NB cells in order to screen a library of plant extracts. The current study examined the anticancer effects of a dichloromethane extract from Scrophularia orientalis L. (Scrophulariaceae), a plant that has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. This extract contained highly potent agents that significantly reduced cell survival and increased calcium levels in NB cells. Further analysis revealed that cell death induced by this extract was associated with intracellular calcium release, opening of the MPTP, caspase 3- and PARP-cleavage suggesting that this extract induced aberrant calcium signaling that resulted in apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway. Therefore, agents from Scrophularia orientalis may have the potential to lead to new chemo therapeutic anticancer drugs. Furthermore, targeting intracellular calcium signaling may be a novel strategy to develop more effective treatments for NB.

A new species of Acalypha (Euphorbiaceae: Acalyphoideae: Acalypheae) from Belize and adjacent Mexico and Guatemala

Acalypha gentlei is described, illustrated and mapped. The species is endemic to Belize and adjacent areas of Mexico and Guatemala and restricted to semi-deciduous moist forests on limestone. The species is referred to Acalypha subgenus Linostachys.ResumenSe describe, ilustra y grafica la distribución de Acalypha gentlei. Esta especie nueva es endémica a Belice y áreas adyacentes de México y Guatemala, y está restringida a bosques húmedos semi-deciduos sobre caliza. La especie es referida a Acalypha subgénero Linostachys.

Persicaria extremiorientalis (Polygonaceae) is established in the flora of the eastern United States of America1

Abstract Persicaria extremiorientalis is native to Japan, the Russian Far East, China, and Korea. It is documented here with specimens from the Atlantic coastal region including the states of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and North Carolina. The earliest collections in North America are from Queens, New York in 1961. The species belongs to Persicaria section Persicaria, and is distinguished from all other North American species by the combination of stems usually hispid or sparsely pilose with long, soft hairs; ocrea outer surfaces strigose and the apices setose; leaf blades eglandular and the abaxial surfaces golden-strigose; racemes dense, often nodding, the bracts short-ciliate; achenes small, brown, lenticular or biconcave (rarely trigonous) and basally tumescent. The existence of this species in North America is substantiated with herbarium specimens and a full description and an identification key to it and related species are provided.

The historic and extant spontaneous vascular flora of The New York Botanical Garden

The New York Botanical Garden occupies 100 hectares (250 acres) in the north central portion of Bronx County, New York. The property is a public garden with the majority of the grounds under cultivation. The Thain Family Forest, margins of the Bronx River, rock outcrops and areas of undeveloped landscape are important refugia for spontaneous plants, both native and non-native. We compiled data from historic lists of spontaneously occurring species, conducted original field work and searched the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium to determine the historic and extant spontaneous vascular plant flora of the Garden from 1899 to 2015. This is the first published inventory of the wild flora since 1899. The historic and extant flora comprises 695 species and infraspecies in 363 genera and 121 families. The extant flora comprises 429 species and infraspecies in 263 genera and 108 families. A total of 264 (62%) of the extant species and infraspecies are native and 165 (38%) are not native. All species are vouchered by herbarium specimens collected between 1881 and 2015. All herbarium vouchers are databased, imaged and available online. Forty-six species and infraspecies are new Bronx County records. Among the rare extant species and infraspecies on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Active Inventory List are three critically imperiled (S1) and two imperiled (S2) taxa, and Carex aggregata that was thought to be historical (SH, no existing sites known) in New York State, but was found in 2009 on the grounds. The number of extant rare species and infraspecies, the total number of extant taxa and the percentage of native verus non-native species strongly supports the conclusion that The New York Botanical Garden is an important and significant refugium or hotspot for local biodiversity.

A new species of Comocladia (Anacardiaceae) from Belize and Guatemala

Comocladia mayana, a new species of Anacardiaceae, is described, mapped and illustrated. The species is endemic to western Belize and adjacent Guatemala and is restricted to semi-deciduous moist forest on karstic limestone formations. It differs from all other Comocladia species by the combination of entire to subentire, acuminate leaflets and tetramerous staminate flowers.ResumenComocladia mayana, una especie nueva de Anacardiaceae, se describe, mapea e ilustra. La especie es endémica al oeste de Belice y Guatemala y se limita a bosque húmedo semi-deciduo sobre formaciones de piedra caliza cárstica. Se diferencia de otras especies de Comocladia por la combinación de foliolos enteros a subenteros y, acuminados, y flores estaminadas tetrámeras.

New combinations and typifications in Bistorta, Persicaria, Polygonum, and Rumex (Polygonaceae)

New combinations are proposed in anticipation of the Polygonaceae treatment in the forthcoming volume of Intermountain Flora: Polygonum kelloggii var. esotericum, P. kelloggii var. watsonii,Rumex densiflorus var. pycnanthus,R. salicifolius var. utahensis, and R. occidentalis var. tomentellus. Typifications are proposed to facilitate ongoing studies in Polygonaceae and to maintain current usage.

Wild Flowers of Mombacho Nicaragua

The search for the geographic origins of cultivated plants, and the quest to understand how plant populations evolve under artificial selection, has fascinated anthropologists, archaeologists, botanists, and evolutionary biologists for over a century. In recent times, studies of crop species have garnered increasing attention from the scientific community as concerns mount about the narrowing genetic base of cultivated populations and the increasing dependency of human populations on fewer and fewer crop species and varieties. In addition, because all crop species evolved during a relatively short time scale (<10,000 years) and artificial selection is known to be the main force driving evolutionary change in cultivated populations, some crop species have become important model systems for evolutionary studies (e.g., corn and rice). Darwin’s Harvest is a timely and significant contribution to a growing body of literature focused on understanding the evolutionary history of cultivated plant populations. The book provides a broad sample of current research on a diverse group of crop plants, integrating studies of crops native to South America, North America, Central America, the Fertile Crescent, and Oceania. Example crops represented in this volume have different breeding systems (monoecious, dioecious, hermaphroditic flowers), modes of propagation (vegetative, sexual), economically important components (fruits, roots, stalks), and taxonomic affinities (ten plant families are represented). Darwin’s Harvest is a valuable text for those interested in agricultural history, crop origins, ethnobotany, plant evolution, reproductive biology, systematics, and taxonomy. The book would be an excellent focal point around which to structure an upper-level undergraduate or graduate level seminar in plant evolution or crop evolution. Darwin’s Harvest is organized into four parts: (1) Genetics and Origin of Crops: Evolution and Domestication; (2) Systematics and the Origin of Crops: Phylogenetic and Biogeographic Relations; (3) The Descent of Man: Human History and Crop Evolution; and (4) Variation of Plants Under Selection: Agrodiversity and Germplasm Conservation. The grouping of chapters seems a bit arbitrary as portions of all chapters fit somewhat into each of these categories. Darwin’s Harvest begins with a formidable introduction to plant domestication (Chapter 1), covering the history of crop plant studies and offering a concise summary of the major theories of agricultural origins. The subsequent chapters are complementary in terms of the crops presented, the questions addressed, and the data used in the studies. Darwin’s Harvest ends with a useful appendix entitled “Molecular Marker and Sequencing Methods and Related Terms” by Sarah Ward, which provides thorough and very practical explanations of different types molecular data, their historical development, analyses, and modern applications. The four chapters of the first section of the book (“Genetics and Origin of Crops”) examine the evolution and domestication of sunflower, sugarcane, and corn. In one of the strongest chapters of the book (Chapter 2), Rieseberg and Harter trace the evolution of sunflower, covering in detail the variety of data that has been used to understand sunflower evolution, starting with Heiser’s morphological studies, archaeological data, chloroplast DNA sequences, allozymes, RAPDs, and microsatellites. The third chapter explores sugarcane evolution; this is the first of five chapters in the book that investigate crops that are cultivated for vegetative parts. This chapter focuses on the taxonomy of sugar cane cultivars and its wild relatives, chromosome evolution in Saccharaum, and the role of interspecific hybridization in crop evolution. The last two chapters in this section explore corn evolution, giving equal time to two competing hypotheses of how and where domesticated corn originated. Chapter 4 covers the teosinte hypothesis, which postulates that domesticated corn was derived from wild Zea species (teosintes), specifically, Z. mays ssp. parviglumis populations. Corn has become a model system for evolutionary studies; the authors do a good job describing the importance of corn in identifying an important paradigm in evolution under domestication: that genetic bottlenecks during the domestication process do not affect all loci equally. ChapBOOK REVIEWS

Capoche-rediscovery of a forgotten febrifuge (Ocotea veraguensis [Meisn.] mez) from Belize, Central America, including a new floristic record

Capoche-Rediscovery of a Forgotten Febrifuge (Ocotea veraguensis [Meisn.] Mez) from Belize, Central America, Including a New Floristic Record.--In the process of compiling a book on the ethnobotany of Belize, we came across the mention of an unusual medicinal preparation from a tree used to treat fevers. The mention was in a book from the 19th century, The Colony of British Honduras, Its Resources and Prospects; With Particular Reference to its Indigenous Plants and Economic Productions (1883), written by D. Morris, Director of Public Gardens and Plantations in Jamaica in the late 1800s (1). It offers a most interesting historical perceptive on the ethnobotany of the region. Morris discussed his travels of over one thousand miles of rivers and trails of Belize, undertaking studies of the native flora and its uses, along with agricultural production. One of his tasks was to suggest potential crops for the Colony, and his book is filled with interesting information about natural history and the use of some of the plant resources by local people. He referred to a Mr. Henry Fowler, Colonial Secretary of British Honduras, who led an expedition that explored much uncharted territory in the Colony. Morris quoted Fowler s observation (1) on an interesting but enigmatic use of a plant: