Dennis E. Breedlove

Folk taxonomies and biological classification.

A sample of 200 native plant names from the Tzeltal-speaking municipio of Tenejapa, Chiapas, Mexico, was found to consist of 41 percent that comprised more than one botanical species, 34 percent with a one-to-one correspondence, and 25 percent that referred to only a part of a botanical species. Cultural significance was least for the plants in the first group, greatest for those in the last group. Over half (60 percent) of the names for which there was one-to-one correspondence were plants associated with Hispanic culture, introduced as named entities following the Spanish conquest.

Alkaloid and predation patterns in colorado lupine populations

SummaryColorado populations of herbaceous perennial lupines show three distinct patterns of amounts, kinds, and individual variability of inflorescence alkaloids. These patterns, interpreted as alternative chemical defense strategies, can be related to the susceptibility of populations to attack by larvae of a small flower-feeding lycaenid butterfly, Glaucopsyche lygdamus.In situations ecologically unfavorable to G. lygdumus, lupine populations have “low” alkaloidal profiles, accumulating relatively low amounts of single, bicyclic alkaloids in their inflorescences, with little individual alkaloidal variability, Lupine populations which are quite available to G. lygdamus, on the other hand, accumulate much higher amounts of inflorescence alkaloids. Of these alkaloidally “high” populations, those which suffer only minor predation by G. lygdamus have individually variable mixtures of three or four inflorescence alkaloids, which are found to be isomers of lupanine and closely related tetracyclic compounds. In contrast, those which suffer heavy predation by G. lygdamus show a mixture of nine diverse alkaloidal components including lupanine, hydroxylupanine, and hydroxylupanine esters which is quite invariant from individual to individual.It is hypothesized that individual variability in alkaloids is an anti-specialist chemical defense mechanism. Such individual variability may be advantageous to plant populations by reducing the possibility of selection for strains of specialist herbivores capable of detoxifying or otherwise withstanding plant defensive compounds.

Weather and the “Regulation” of Subalpine Populations

Unusual spring weather climaxed by a late June snowstorm in the subalpine area around Gothic, Gunnison County, Colorado, had a profound effect on the biota. Damage to herbaceous prennial plans was extensive and the size of insect and small mammal populations was depressed. The storm caused the extinction of at least one butterfly population. The significance of these events to arguments concerning the regulation of animal population is discussed. See full-text article at JSTOR

The Ecology of the Pollinators and Predators of Frasera Speciosa

Frasera speciosa is a conspicuous perennial in the Rocky Mountains where it forms discrete colonies whose inflorescences are characterized by almost total absence in some years and greater abundance in others. This sporadic yet synchronous flowering was the most conspicuous feature of the reproductive biology of the species and its adaptive value was worth investigation. In a three—mile stretch of the East River Valley, Colorado, the following data were gathered over a period of three years: the distribution and abundance of colonies, the floral biology, the dispersal of insect visitors among the flowers of Frasera and its floral associates, the frequency of floral predation and seed—set. Although the percentage of plants with inflorescences was always very low and despite the occasional wide spatial separation of individuals, Frasera invariably attracted the greatest number and diversity of floral visitors and never yielded less than 52% seed—set. It was also shown that pollination was affected by a wide variety of inset visitors that maintained cross—pollination at a frequency of approximately 15%. In no colonies was floral predation nearly as heavy as in its sympatric associate Lupinus and it was concluded that seed—set Frasera was not significantly affected by predispersal herbivory. The local synchrony revealed by the occurrence of discrete colonies and the overall synchrony revealed in the almost total absence of floral colonies in some years and their abundance in others is viewed as a strategy for predator avoidance. These mechanisms, together with other aspects of the reproductive biology, also reduce pressure from sympatric species competing for pollinators. It is out that they confer reproductive advantage to a minority species which may otherwise rapidly decline to extinction in the presence of intense competition. The flowering regime of Frasera combines a predator avoidance system which yields widely dispersed colonies in space and in time with a pollination system which successfully exploits the maximum diversity of floral visitors and maintains excellent seed—set whenever and wherever the colonies appear. The systems are clearly complementary in preventing the build—up of predator populations while maintaining an attractive forage source for potential pollen vectors. The combined effect is to maintain the abundance of the species in a variety of stress environments, in turn resulting in a remarkably wide geographic success. It is considered likely that similar systems will turn out to be very common among entomophilous plants in both temperate and tropical regions.

The Mexican and Central American Species of Fuchsia (Onagraceae) Except for Sect. Encliandra

Six native and one naturalized species of Fuchsia (Onagraceae) from Mexico and Central America are recognized, not including the recently revised sect. Encliandra. One species, Fuchsia jimenezii, and one section, Jimenezia, are newly described, and Ellobium is also recognized as a section. The recognition of subdioecy in Fuchsia paniculata (sect. Schufia) now strengthens evidence of a trend toward male sterility and eventual dioecy in the small, peripheral sections of the genus. The distinctions between that species and the closely related but entirely hermaphroditic F. arborescens are established. Fuchsia jimenezii (sect. Jimenezia) is a phylogenetically key species because it has the antipetalous stamens reflexed into the tube like sect. Encliandra, yet it has the more generalized many-seeded berry and hermaphroditic flowers of most other sections. The new sect. Ellobium joins F. splendens, F. fulgens, and F. decidua into a morphologically and geographically coherent unit, with links to the Andean sects. Fuchsia and Hemsleyella. Fuchsia cordifolia is reduced to the synonymy of F. splendens on the basis of a study of populations from throughout its range. Fuchsia is a predominantly South American group comprising some 100 species of shrubs and trees. In the only comprehensive revision of the genus, Munz (1943) recognized seven sections, Quelusia, Fuchsia, Hemsleyella, Kiershlegeria, Schufia, Encliandra, and Skinnera, of which the last three, a small part of sect. Fuchsia, and one species of Hemsleyella were found outside of South America. Recently, Breedlove (1969) revised the Mexican and Central American sect. Encliandra, reducing the number of species recognized from 16 to 6 through the study of populations in the field. Later, experimental work by Arroyo & Raven (1975) revealed that the three morphologically gynodioecious species in this section are functionally subdioecious and that the remaining morphologically dioecious species probably evolved from gynodioecious ancestors via subdioecy. As

Cytological Studies in Lopezieae (Onagraceae)

Information is presented on chromosome number and pairing in 23 of the 25 recognized taxa of the primarily Mexican genus Lopezia (Onagraceae), based on the examination of 193 individuals from 99 different populations. Of these, 5 have n = 11, the presumed original basic chromosome number for the genus and for the family; 4 have n = 10; 6 have n = 9; 2 have n = 8, of which one also includes populations with n = 7; and 1, n = 7 only. Three additional entities are polyploids, 1 a very distinct species with n = 22; the other 2, with n = 20, are closely related to entities with n = 10. Both the annual habit and self-pollination are correlated with reduced chromosome numbers in Lopezia. Multipolar spindle formation is frequent and thought to play a role in the production of aneuploids. Distributional evidence indicates the probability of saltational speciation in semiarid marginal habitats, as in Clarkia, especially among annuals.

New taxa of Fuchsia from Central America and Mexico

This paper describes and illustrates three new taxa of Fuchsia from Central America and Mexico. Fuchsia paniculata subsp. mixensis P. E. Berry & Breedlove is newly described in section Schufia; it is from a small area in central Oaxaca, Mexico, that is a geographical transition area between F arborescens and F paniculata. The new subspecies is distinguished by its large pubescent leaves and flowers. Because it has both hermaphrodite and female individuals, it is placed with the gynodioecious F paniculata rather than the exclusively hermaphrodite F arborescens. In section Encliandra, Fuchsia encliandra subsp. microphylloides P. E. Berry & Breedlove is newly described from material that was previously included in F. encliandra subsp. encliandra, but differs in its more divaricating branching pattern and more serrulate leaves. Fuchsia microphylla subsp. chiapensis (Brandegee) P. E. Berry & Breedlove, stat. nov., is created to recognize populations that were most recently treated as part of F microphylla subsp. aprica. This taxon differs from subspecies aprica in its larger leaves, more pubescent stems and leaves, and lower elevational range. Since the latest treatments of the Mexican and Central American species of Fuchsia (Breedlove, 1969; Breedlove et al., 1982), additional field and herbarium studies have led us to recognize one new taxon in section Schufia and two additional taxa in section Encliandra, all of which are described and illustrated below. Both of these sections have members that exhibit sexual dimorphism, a trait which has evolved probably independently in several other sections of the genus. We follow the precedent of Breedlove (1969) in recognizing the new taxa at the subspecific level, implying that they have sufficient morphological, ecological, and/or geographical differences to distinguish them from other populations of the same species. Fuchsia paniculata Lindley subsp. mixensis P. E. Berry & Breedlove, subsp. nov. TYPE: Mexico. Oaxaca: 35 km N of Ayutla along road from Mitla to Choapam, N slope of Cerro Zempoaltepetl, 2470 m, 17 Apr. 1988, (hermaphrodite), Breedlove & Bartholomew 66841 (holotype, CAS). Figure 1. A Fuchsia paniculata Lindley subsp. paniculata foliis ramulisque pubescentibus, nervis secundariis 14-18-jugatis, tubo florali sepalisque roseis differt; florum hermaphroditorum magnitudine formaeque F arborescenti Sims similis. Erect shrub 2.5-4 m tall, gynodioecious; branchlets ascending, 5-30 cm long, finely pubescent with hairs 0.2-0.4 mm long. Leaves opposite, membranous, the blade elliptic, 11-25 cm long, 4-10 cm wide, puberulent on the lower surface along the veins, becoming glabrescent on the upper surface but short hairs often present along the veins, secondary veins 14-18 on either side of the midvein, apex acute to subacuminate, base acute to attenuate, margin gland-denticulate; petiole 10-25 mm long, puberulent; stipules narrowly triangular, dark NovoN 6: 135-141. 1996. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.96 on Sun, 02 Oct 2016 06:15:43 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

NEW TAXA AND RECOMBINATIONS IN LOPEZIA (ONAGRACEAE)

Studies of the 22 species of Lopezieae, one of the six tribes of Onagraceae, have led to the conclusion that these are best treated as a single genus. In the course of our investigations, three new taxa have been discovered and several new combinations have become necessary. These are published here so that they may be available for one or more papers on the group that will appear before our monograph, to be published in the Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden in 1973. This work has been supported by a series of grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation to Peter H. Raven.