Laurence J. Dorr

Collections-based systematics: Opportunities and outlook for 2050

Systematic biology is a discipline rooted in collections. These collections play important roles in research and conservation and are integral to our efforts to educate society about biodiversity and conservation. Collections provide an invaluable record of the distribution of organisms throughout the world and through recent and geological time, and they are the only direct documentation of the biological, physical, and cultural diversity of the planet: past, present, and future. Recent developments in bioinformatics and cyberinfrastructure are transforming systematics by opening up new opportunities and as a result major digitization efforts have increasingly made available large amounts of biodiversity data. The collections‐based systematics community needs to train the next‐generation of systematists with integrative skills, address grand questions about biodiversity at different scales, develop a community‐wide cyberinfrastructure, effectively disseminate systematic data to biologists and the public, and proactively educate the public and policy makers on the importance of systematics and collections in the biodiversity crisis of the Anthropocene. Specifically, we call for a new global Biodiversity CyberBank, comparable to GenBank for genetic data, to be the repository of all biodiversity data, as well as a World Organization of Systematic Biology to lead major initiatives of the field. We also outline a new workflow for taxonomic monographs, which utilizes both the traditional strengths of synthesizing diverse collections‐based taxonomic data and the capacity of online resources and bioinformatics tools.

The Future of Botanical Monography: Report from an international workshop, 12-16 March 2012, Smolenice, Slovak Republic

Monographs are fundamental for progress in systematic botany. They are the vehicles for circumscribing and naming taxa, determining distributions and ecology, assessing relationships for formal classification, and interpreting long-term and short-term dimensions of the evolutionary process. Despite their importance, fewer monographs are now being prepared by the newer generation of systematic botanists, who are understandably involved principally with DNA data and analysis, especially for answering phylogenetic, biogeographic, and population genetic questions. As monographs provide hypotheses regarding species boundaries and plant relationships, new insights in many plant groups are urgently needed. Increasing pressures on biodiversity, especially in tropical and developing regions of the world, emphasize this point. The results from a workshop (with 21 participants) reaffirm the central role that monographs play in systematic botany. But, rather than advocating abbreviated models for monographic products, we recommend a full presentation of relevant information. Electronic publication offers numerous means of illustration of taxa, habitats, characters, and statistical and phylogenetic analyses, which previously would have been prohibitively costly. Open Access and semantically enhanced linked electronic publications provide instant access to content from anywhere in the world, and at the same time link this content to all underlying data and digital resources used in the work. Resources in support of monography, especially databases and widely and easily accessible digital literature and specimens, are now more powerful than ever before, but interfacing and interoperability of databases are much needed. Priorities for new resources to be developed include an index of type collections and an online global chromosome database. Funding for sabbaticals for monographers to work uninterrupted on major projects is strongly encouraged. We recommend that doctoral students be assigned smaller genera, or natural portions of larger ones (subgenera, sections, etc.), to gain the wo r k sh o p r epo r t

Dombeya gautieri (Dombeyaceae), a remarkable new species from Madagascar

SummaryDombeya gautieri Dorr & Skema sp. nov. is described from Madagascar and illustrated. It is remarkable for its pinnatipartite leaves, reduced number of fertile stamens, petaloid staminodes, deeply divided style, and minute, 2-carpellate ovary.

Applications of deep convolutional neural networks to digitized natural history collections

Abstract Natural history collections contain data that are critical for many scientific endeavors. Recent efforts in mass digitization are generating large datasets from these collections that can provide unprecedented insight. Here, we present examples of how deep convolutional neural networks can be applied in analyses of imaged herbarium specimens. We first demonstrate that a convolutional neural network can detect mercury-stained specimens across a collection with 90% accuracy. We then show that such a network can correctly distinguish two morphologically similar plant families 96% of the time. Discarding the most challenging specimen images increases accuracy to 94% and 99%, respectively. These results highlight the importance of mass digitization and deep learning approaches and reveal how they can together deliver powerful new investigative tools.

Does Pseudobombax have prickles? Assessing the enigmatic species Pseudobombax endecaphyllum (Malvaceae : Bombacoideae)

In order to better understand the taxonomy of the enigmatic Pseudobombax endecaphyllum (Vell.) A.Robyns (Malv aceae: Bombacoideae), the only species in this genus thought to have aculeate branches, we reexamined the protologues of B. endecaphyllum and Pachira decaphylla A.St.-Hil. & Naudin, the latter a name long considered to be a synonym of the for- mer, and discovered a great deal of taxonomic confusion. We conclude that B. endecaphyllum does not belong in Pseudobombax, Pachira decaphylla was based on a mixture of elements from two plant families, and the relationship between B. endecaphyl- lum and Pachira decaphylla is specious. It becomes evident that B. endecaphyllum is the earliest name available for Pachira stenopetala Casar. and the new combination Pachira endecaphylla (Vell.) Carv.-Sobr. is effected. An epitype is designated for B. endecaphyllum and a lectotype is designated for Pachira decaphylla, which becomes a synonym of Pseudobombax grandiflorum var. majus A. Robyns. Most importantly, we now consider that all species of Pseudobombax are unarmed.

Bonpland and Humboldt specimens, field notes, and herbaria; new insights from a study of the monocotyledons collected in Venezuela

Abstract Stauffer, F. W., J. Stauffer & L. J. Dorr (2012). Bonpland and Humboldt specimens, field notes, and herbaria; new insights from a study of the monocotyledons collected in Venezuela. Candollea 67: 75–130. In English, English and French abstracts. The monocotyledon collections emanating from Humboldt and Bonplands expedition are used to trace the complicated ways in which botanical specimens collected by the expedition were returned to Europe, to describe the present location and to explore the relationship between specimens, field notes, and descriptions published in the multi-volume “Nova Genera et Species Plantarum” (1816–1825). Collections in five European herbaria were searched for monocotyledons collected by the explorers. In Paris, a search of the Bonpland Herbarium (P-Bonpl.), the most important repository of the expeditions botanical collections, uncovered about 350 specimens of monocotyledon and more or less the same number of species. The Venezuelan material represents 86 species belonging to 57 genera and 19 families. Curiously, 235 species of monocotyledon described in the “Nova Genera et Species Plantarum” are not represented now by specimens in the Bonpland Herbarium although 32 of these 235 are represented by illustrations (i.e., grisailles). No material whatsoever could be found for 203 species of monocotyledon that were expected to be documented by specimens in this herbarium. In Berlin, the Willdenow Herbarium (B-W) holds at least 126 specimens of monocotyledon from Venezuela, corresponding to the same number of species distributed in 64 genera and 26 families. The Berlin herbarium (B) received expedition collections when it purchased the herbarium of Karl Sigismund Kunth. We discovered several specimens of monocotyledon from Venezuela in the herbarium HAL, and they are duplicates of specimens in the Willdenow Herbarium that were removed by D. F. L. von Schlechtendal. No monocotyledon material tied to Humboldt and Bonpland was discovered in the herbarium MA-CAV even though there is evidence that seed was sent by the explorers from Venezuela, cultivated in Madrid, and on occasion these garden-grown plants vouchered as herbarium specimens. Similarly, no monocotyledon material was found in the herbarium LR, despite evidence in correspondence that Bonpland sent specimens to his older brother. We believe that evidence contained in the field books favors describing the botanical collections as being made by “Bonpland and Humboldt” and not “Humboldt and Bonpland”, as is commonly done. The same field books, correspondence, and the introduction to “Nova Genera et Species Plantarum” favor a collective authorship such as “Kunth, Bonpland & Humboldt” rather than “Kunth in H.B.K.” for taxa described in this work. This seems particularly appropriate for those taxa described in these volumes that are not vouchered now by specimens or illustrations in P-Bonpl.

AETHIOCARPA REDUCED TO HARMSIA (MALVACEAE, DOMBEYOIDEAE)

The unispecific genus Aethiocarpa was distinguished from Harmsia principally on the basis of ovary and fruit structure: one-seeded, unilocular ovaries and indehiscent fruit versus twoseeded, bilocular ovaries and tardily dehiscent fruit, respectively. A critical re-examination of ovary characters, however, reveals that both genera share biovulate unilocular ovaries, which are unique within subfamily Dombeyoideae (Malvaceae). Differences in indumentum, inflorescence morphology, and number of seed per fruit, which were cited as ancillary characters distinguishing Aethiocarpa from Harmsia, do not appear to justify the recognition of two different genera. Aethiocarpa is therefore considered to be a synonym of Harmsia and the new combination H. lepidota is proposed.

A previously unrecognized Isidrogalvia (Liliaceae) from Bolivia

Isidrogalvia longiflora, a new combination based onAsagraea longiflora, is proposed. It is the first record ofIsidrogalvia from Bolivia.

A synopsis of the neotropical genus Pentaplaris, with remarks on its systematic position within core Malvales

Pentaplaris davidsmithii from Peru and Bolivia andP. huaoranica from Ecuador are described and compared to the only other species previously known in the genus,P. doroteae from Costa Rica. Morphological and palynological characters support the inclusion ofPentaplaris in core Malvales while suggesting that the original assumption that the genus belonged in Tiliaceae-Brownlowieae cannot be maintained.Pentaplaris, which comprises three isolated and evidently rare species, probably belongs to the malvoid-bombacoid alliance, but its position within this clade ramains unresolved.

Ayenia saligna (Sterculiaceae), a new species from Colombia

Ayenia saligna from Colombia is described and illustrated. It is remarkable for having foliar nectaries, which now are known to occur in seven of the 75–80 species in the genus. The petals ofAyenia are structurally complex and the inconsistent use of terminology to describe their parts is noted. In addition, the relationship ofA. saligna to other species ofAyenia is discussed.