Main | Family List (MO) | Family List (INBio) | Cutting Edge Draft Treatments | Guidelines | Checklist | Citing | Editors The Cutting Edge Volume XII, Number 1, January 2005 News and Notes | Recent Treatments | Leaps and Bounds | Germane Literature | Season's Pick | Annotate your copy SEASON'S PICK: Bakeridesia vulcanicola (Standl.) D.M. Bates (plus various other Malvaceae) This Season's Pick is dedicated to Paul A. Fryxell, contributor for the Manual Malvaceae treatment (as well as for many other projects at MO), our long-time collaborator, and excellent correspondent.  Thanks Paul, for all your help Although one of us has stated something on the order of "Malvaceae are all a bunch of bloody, nondescript weeds!" others, on closer look even at the most nondescript of them, would beg to differ. Bakeridesia [see The Cutting Edge 3(2), Apr. 1996], among the most "descript" of plants one could imagine , is a case in point and, flowering profusely since the end of December, wins this Season's Pick, hands down. When we first reported the Costa Rican Bakeridesia as one of Francisco Morales' many extremely interesting discoveries from his favorite region of Acosta, we didn't yet know what sp. was involved. Long since then, Paul Fryxell identified it as B. vulcanicola, known otherwise from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Its large (ca. 10 cm in diameter), extremely showy flowers are rivaled among Costa Rican native Malvaceae only by spp. of Wercklea. The particular plant of these photos (vouchered by Hammel 23552) is from a cutting brought home and nurtured by Hammel in Santa Ana, then transplanted to his new digs in San Isidro de Heredia, where it really took hold. The plant apparently roots easily from cuttings and would seem to have high potential as an ornamental, if it's not already in the trade. While we're on Malvaceae, here are a few more photos of native Costa Rican spp., including other showy ones as well as some more humble...for readers to make their own judgment. The flowers of all these (except for the larger Malvaviscus and Pavonia) are within the range ca. 1--3 cm in diameter. All photos for this Season's Pick are by Hammel. Abutilon divaricatum Turcz. (Hammel 23551) Allosidastrum interruptum (Balb. ex DC.) Krapov., Fryxell & D. M. Bates (Hammel 23531) Herissantia crispa crispa (L.) Brizicky (Hammel 23478) Kosteletzkya depressa (L.) O. J. Blanch., Fryxell & D. M. Bates (Hammel 23510) Malvaviscus concinnus Kunth (Hammel 23213) Pavonia cancellata (L.) Cav. (llanuras de Guanacaste, unvouchered photo) Sida abutifolia Mill. (U. Chavarría 2237) Sida ciliaris L. (Hammel 23125) Sida cuspidata (A. Robyns) Krapov. (Hammel 23091) Sida repens Dombey ex Cav. (Hammel 23179) Sida rhombifolia L. (Hammel 23183) Sida urens L. (Hammel 23191) TOP