www.mobot.org Research Home | Search | Contact | Site Map  
 
Research
W³TROPICOS
QUICK SEARCH

MO PROJECTS:
Africa
Asia/Pacific
Mesoamerica
North America
South America
General Taxonomy
Photo Essays
Training in Latin
  America

MO RESEARCH:
Wm. L. Brown Center
Bryology
GIS
Graduate Studies
Research Experiences
  for Undergraduates

Imaging Lab
Library
MBG Press
Publications
Climate Change
Catalog Fossil Plants
MO DATABASES:
W³MOST
Image Index
Rare Books
Angiosperm
  Phylogeny

Res Botanica
All Databases
INFORMATION:
What's New?
People at MO
Visitor's Guide
Herbarium
Jobs & Fellowships
Symposium
Research Links
Site Map
Search

Projects

 
Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica

Main | Family List (MO) | Family List (INBio) | Cutting Edge
Draft Treatments | Guidelines | Checklist | Citing | Editors

The Cutting Edge

Volume VII, Number 1, January 2000

News and Notes | Recent Treatments | Leaps and Bounds | Germane Literature

MYRSINACEAE. J. F. Morales (INB).
The dust from the frenetic era of Cyrus Lundell has finally settled, at least where Costa Rican Myrsinaceae are concerned. When all is said and done (by Chico), we are left with a reasonable total of 60 spp., in six genera, in this undeniably difficult family. Ardisia s. l. (including Lundellian segregates Amatlania, Auriculardisia, Chontalesia, Graphardisia, Ibarraea, Icacorea, and Valerioanthus) accounts for the bulk (39 spp.), with Parathesis (8 spp.) a distant second. Twenty spp. are Costa Rican endemics: 15 spp. of Ardisia, three of Parathesis, and one each of Gentlea and Myrsine (including Rapanea). One sp. (of Myrsine) is given a provisional name, and nine infraspecific taxa are mentioned. Presented here for all the world to see, the sheer quantity of Lundell binomials applicable (mostly as synonyms) to Costa Rican Myrsinaceae is simply staggering. Of the 42 apparently heterotypic synonyms listed for the variable Ardisia compressa Kunth, 40 were coined by Lundell between 1941 and 1985. A unique situation is that of Ardisia standleyana P. H. Allen which, though dating only from 1956, stands as an accepted name, with 13 heterotypic synonyms (all Lundell names, published from 1968--1981). These examples omit mention of homotypic synonyms, of which virtually every heterotypic name in Ardisia has at least one (in one of the segregate genera enumerated above).

SAPINDACEAE. J. F. Morales (INB).
This contribution treats 21 genera, with a total of 90 spp.; three of the genera (Blighia, Melicoccus, and Nephelium) are represented only by a single, cultivated sp. (and Sapindus may also be introduced). By far the most diverse genera are Paullinia (29 spp.) and Serjania (21 spp.), both consisting exclusively of lianas; the arborescent (and arguably distinct) Cupania (9 spp) and Matayba (6 spp.) are next in line. Only six genera (Allosanthus, Cardiospermum, Paullinia, Serjania, Thinouia, and Urvillea) comprise vines or lianas, but these contain the majority (56) of the spp. Just eight spp. (three each of Cupania and Paullinia, one each of Pseudima and Serjania) are Costa Rican endemics. Three of the sp. names used here are still "ined." (two attributed to the author, one to T. D. Pennington). The application of the names Serjania inebrians Radlk. and S. pteropoda Standl. could not be resolved, though they are based on Costa Rican types.

 

TOP

 
 
© 1995-2024 Missouri Botanical Garden, All Rights Reserved
4344 Shaw Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63110
(314) 577-5100

E-mail
Technical Support