Richard A. Howard

The role of botanists during World War II in the Pacific theatre

During World War II some professional botanists and graduate students who were drafted, enlisted, or commissioned in the armed forces were fortunate to be able to use their training directly or indirectly. This was especially true for the Pacific theatre. Others served their country as civilians. The roles of botanists in the military ranged from teaching or research to participation in combat or support operations. A few botanists in uniform, in spite of their occupational obligations, were able to collect botanical specimens and were encouraged to do so by civilian museum personnel. The best known projects for botanists as civilians involved the search for native supplies of strategic raw materials, particularlyCinchona andHevea, whileCryptostegia and Guayule, as possible sources of latex, were grown on plantations and studied in detail.Tropical problems of fungal deterioration of fabrics and optical equipment involved primarily civilian botanists in both military and academic laboratories. Some older botanists and those deferred for marital, dependent, or physical reasons served as instructors in regular academic programs or the special college programs for military personnel.This paper is a summary of the contributions of botanists from the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to the war effort in the Pacific theatre during World War II.ResumenDurante la Segunda Guerra Mundial algunos botánicos profesionales y estudiantes graduados que fueron reclutados, enlistados, o comisionados en las fuerzas armadas fueron afortunados en poder utilizar su entrenamiento directamente o indirectamente. Esto fue especialmente cierto en el teatro del Pacífico. Otros sirvieron a su pais como civiles. El papel de botánicos en las fuerzas militares incluyó desde la enseñanza o la investigación hasta la participación en combates o en operaciones de apoyo. Unos pocos botánicos uniformados, a pesar de sus obligaciones militares, pudieron colectar espécimenes botánicos y fueron alentados a hacerlo por las autoridades civiles de museos. Los proyectos mejor conocidos de botánicos trabajando como civiles involucraron la búsqueda de fuentes nativas de materias primas estratégicas, particularmenteCinchona y Hevea, mientras queCryptostegia y guayule, posibles fuentes de látex, fueron cultivados en plantaciones y estudiados detalladamente.Problemas con el deterioro por hongos de telas e instrumentos ópticos en los trópicos involucraron principalmente botánicos civiles tanto en laboratorios académicos como militares. Algunos botánicos de mayor edad y aquellos diferidos por razones de estado marital, por tener dependientes, o por razones físicas sirvieron como instructores en programas académicos regulares o en programas universitarios especiales para personal militar. Este trabajo es un sumario de las contribuciones de botánicos de América, Canadá, Australia, y Nueva Zelandia a la guerra en el teatro del Pacífico durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

Studies of the icacinaceae—VI. Irvingbaileya and codiocarpus, two new genera of the icacineae

Engler (1893) was the first to recognize Tylecarpus as a distinct genus. Howard (1940) pointed out that Medusanthera was an older name for the genus and must replace the name Tylecarpus. The genus Medusanthera is closely related to Lasianthera, Gastrolepis, and Discophora in having, in common with those genera, polypetalous flowers, stamens with pubescent filaments, and a characteristically flattened drupe with a fleshy appendage borne laterally. Further study of this genus revealed that the species recently assigned to Medusanthera (Tylecarpus of Engler and Sleumer) represent more than one generic entity. Therefore, in this paper Tylecarpus Merrittii, Tylecarpus andamanicus, and Medusanthera australis are segregated into the new genera Codiocarpus and Irvingbaileya. The principal characters supporting this segregation are to be found in the structure of the fruit, especially in the form of the putamen, although secondary characters are found in other parts of the plant. Codiocarpus differs from the other genera mentioned above in that the staminal filaments are filiform and glabrous. The essential differences for generic segregation are summarized in the synoptic key which follows. I have not seen mature fruits of Lasiainthera or of Gastrolepis, and the descriptions of these in the literature are sketchy. For that reason I have avoided using fruit characters in the keys for these two genera. All other descriptions have been drawn up from examination of the cited material. No mature wood was available in existing collections of Irvingbaileya australis, Codiocarpus andamanicus, Lasia-nthera africana, and Gastrolepis austro-caledonica. The anatomical descriptions of wood structure of these species were drawn up after examination of twigs from herbarium sheets. Of these genera, one, Discophora, is found in the New World, occurring from Brazil to Colombia and Panama. Lasianthera is from tropical Africa. The others are from Australia, the Philippines, the East Indies, and Oceania. Their relationship is established from evidence found not only in the structure of the flowers, the fruits, and the similarity of appearance but also from similarities of wood structure and pollen-grain morphology.

Collected notes on Coccoloba L. (Polygonaceae)

New species ofCoccoloba are described from Mexico (Coccoloba ortizii), Honduras (Coccoloba cholutecensis), Panama (Coccoloba gentryi andC. johnstonii), Venezuela (Coccoloba yaracuyensis), and Brazil (Coccoloba bullata). Recent collections have permitted the re-examination of species from Central and South America.Coccoloba escuintlensis Lundell,C. floribunda (Bentham) Lindau, andC. williamsii Standley, which had been placed in synonymy, are now re-established. The following species have been placed in synonymy after the examination of additional collections:Coccoloba itzana Lundell,C. matudai Lundell,C. oligocarpa Lundell,C. petensis Lundell,C. tenuis Lundell,C. verapazensis Lundell,C. viridis Lundell,C. ecuadorensis Brandbyge,C. trollii Brandbyge andC. inaequilatera Rizzini.

NOTES ON QUIINA (QUIINACEAE) AND ILEX SPECIES (AQUIFOLIACEAE) IN CUBA

Quiina ternatiflora C. H. Wright is the only member of the family Quiinaceae reported from Cuba. An examination of the holotype indicates that this is a species ofIlex, and the transfer is made asIlex ternatiflora (C. H. Wright) R. Howard. A study of otherIlex species from Cuba indicates that a new name,Ilex walsinghamii Howard, is required forIlex wrightii Loes. not Trel.

Phytotaxonomy in the People’s Republic of China

As three of the members of the delegation of the Botanical Society of America, the authors participated in a 28-day tour of the People’s Republic of China in May and June, 1978. Botanical institutes and universities were visited in nine cities. A list of names and addresses of the collaborators and editors of family treatments for theFlora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae is supplemented with a bibliography of published floras and significant taxonomic literature issued primarily since the end of the Cultural Revolution. A few observations on herbaria and herbarium practices are included.