Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas

A simple, PCR-based method for the identification of Triodanis (Campanulaceae) species and their hybrids

Alyssa Wu Zhan — 2025-06-23

Triodanis Raf. is a genus of Campanulaceae with some cryptic species that are known to hybridize. Therefore, non-morphological identification methods are instrumental in differentiating species and their interspecific hybrids. Primers were developed from the ITS and ETS regions for 4 sympatric species present in North America to assess their utility in the identification of species, and natural and simulated hybrids by multiplex PCR amplification and gel electrophoresis. We found that these multiplexed PCRs were highly accurate in the identification of the 4 study species as well as natural hybrids. Simulated hybrids (in vitro combinations of total DNA extracts) to confirm co-amplification in multiplexed PCR also showed high rates of amplification but were sensitive to dosage effects of parental DNA. Overall, this study demonstrates a promising method to cheaply and quickly identify large numbers of individuals of most species of Triodanis and could be applied to more species, given sufficient differentiation in target DNA locus and species-specific constancy of targeted variation.

Taxonomic revision of the Packera crocata/dimorphophylla (Asteraceae: Senecioneae) complex in the southern Rocky Mountains (U.S.A.)

Charles F. Keller — 2025-06-23

In the Southern Rocky Mountains, Packera crocata and P. dimorphophylla form a complex of intergrading forms leading to difficulty in distinguishing taxa. Here we review the morphological variation in the context of regional phylogenetic data from two independent datasets to recircumscribe the taxa. We show the complex to consist of three taxa, P. crocata, P. dimorphophylla var. dimorphophylla, and P. intermedia, a new combination for a little-recognized taxon previously treated as a variety of P. dimorphophylla.

Pleurothallis puyoensis (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae): A new species of subsection Macrophyllae-Fasciculatae from eastern Andean slopes of Ecuador

Xavier Cornejo — 2025-06-23

Pleurothallis puyoensis (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae), a new species from the eastern slopes of Andes of Ecuador in the province of Pastaza is formally described and illustrated, and their relationship to morphologically closely related species is discussed.

Aphelandra bracteopectinata (Acanthaceae): A beautiful new species from northwestern Ecuador

Xavier Cornejo — 2025-06-23

Aphelandra bracteopectinata Cornejo, Wassh., & Cohen from the wet montane forests of northwestern Ecuador is described as new and illustrated with photographs. It is an attractive shrub with yellow corollas and pectinate floral bracts.

Columnea flammeostoma, a new species of Gesneriaceae from the Cordillera del Cóndor in southern Ecuador

John L. Clark — 2025-06-23

Ongoing research on the systematics of Columnea (Gesneriaceae) has resulted in the discovery of a new species, Columnea flammeostoma J.L. Clark of the Gesneriaceae (tribe: Gesnerieae, subtribe: Columneinae). The new species is distinguished by the combination of isophyllous leaf pairs, fimbriate calyx lobe margins, and a deeply bilabiate corolla that is dark purple with yellow corolla lobe margins. The new species is endemic to the Cordillera del Cóndor in southern Ecuador where it was collected from the wild in 2005 and brought into cultivation by Ecuagenera and has since been distributed by horticulturists throughout several countries.

Index to New Names and New Combinations

Barney Lipscomb — 2025-06-23

Index to new names, new combinations, and typifications published in J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 19(2), 2025.

Carex of Illinois and Surrounding States: The Oval Sedges

Paul M. McKenzie — 2025-06-23

This incredible book follows recent publications of excellent photographic field guides that cover the Midwest: (e.g., P.E. Rothrock. 2009. Sedges of Indiana and the adjacent states-the non-Carex species-(Vol. I); W.R. Smith and R. Haug. 2018. Sedges and rushes of Minnesota: The complete guide to species identification; P.E. Rothrock. 2021. Sedges of Indiana and the adjacent states—the Carex species-(Vol. II); J. Ogle, T. Witsell, and J. Gentry. 2022. Trees, shrubs, and vines of Arkansas. Reviews of each are provided by McKenzie (2009, 2020, 2021, 2022). Any book on the genus Carex that includes stellar reviews and/or input from three of most renowned experts on the genus: A. Reznicek, A. Hipp, and P. Rothrock has to be good, and this field guide will not disappoint!

Recent discovery of a significant population of Drosera rotundifolia (Droseraceae) in northwest Alabama (U.S.A.)

David M. Frings — 2025-06-23

Drosera rotundifolia reaches its southern-most North American extent in Alabama, where it is considered quite rare. Adding to that rarity, previously reported Alabama coastal plain populations are dismissed due to confusion with D. capillaris, while northwestern Alabama populations have either been much reduced or completely destroyed.

The recent discovery of a large, robust colony of Drosera rotundifolia in a remote area of Winston County represents a significant event in the study of Alabama’s carnivorous plants.

First record of Pleioblastus fortunei (Poaceae) from the Arkansas (U.S.A.) flora

Brett E. Serviss — 2025-06-23

The first naturalized occurrence of Pleioblastus fortunei (Poaceae) in the Arkansas flora is reported here from Columbia County. In 2024, a large, naturalized population of P. fortunei was discovered in highly disturbed riparian habitat adjacent to a large residential area, within the city of Magnolia. Plants were sterile but aggressively establishing via rhizomatous offsets. The precise origin of the naturalized plants is unknown, although establishment from once cultivated plants of the species is suspected, as a residence adjacent to the location of the naturalized plants had a large colony of P. fortunei that had spread throughout much of the property.

Asarum arifolium (Aristolochiaceae) new for Texas (U.S.A.)

George M. Diggs, Jr. — 2025-06-23

Asarum arifolium (Aristolochiaceae) is reported as new to the Texas flora.

Vascular Plants of New Mexico

Barney Lipscomb — 2025-06-23

A field-portable guide to all known and documented vascular plants in New Mexico.

Do Plants Know Math? Unwinding the Story of Plant Spirals, From Leonardo da Vinci to Now

Barney Lipscomb — 2025-06-23

Do Plants Know Math? takes you down through the centuries to explore how great minds have been captivated and mystified by Fibonacci patterns in nature. It presents a powerful new geometrical solution, little known outside of scientific circles, that sheds light on why regular and irregular spiral patterns occur. Along the way, the book discusses related plant geometries such as fractals and the fascinating way that leaves are folded inside of buds. Your neurons will crackle as you begin to see the connections. The book will inspire you to look at botanical patterns—and the natural world itself—with new eyes.

Range Plants of North Central Texas: A Land User’s Guide to Their Identification, Value and Management

Barney Lipscomb — 2025-06-23

Now in its 6th printing (2025), Range Plants of North Central Texas: A Land User’s Guide to Their Identification, Value and Management provides several photos, 1,450 in total, for each of the 324 plants (160 forbs, 59 grasses, and 105 woodies) with emphasis on leaves, flowers, fruits, and other details to aid in identification. The text is predominately written for the layman plant enthusiast with a minimum of technical, botanical terms. Each plant is discussed with identification tips, value, and management. The sections on the value of the plants will be of most interest to many readers because this information is harder to find from other sources.

Field Guide to the Grasses of Oregon and Washington. Second Edition

Barney Lipscomb — 2025-06-23

Field Guide to Grasses of Oregon and Washington (1^st ed., 1999) was reviewed in J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 14(1), 2020. The reviewer noted that the Field Guide “is a comprehensive source of information on all 101 genera and 376 species, subspecies, and varieties of grasses known to occur in the natural environment of Oregon and Washington.” The second edition treats 394 species, 18 additional species more than the first edition. The new edition also includes “updated names, new keys, and improved photographs and maps.”The labeled macrophotographs illustrated beautifully the hard-to-see diagnostic features, critical for identification.

Botany of the 1860 Chadbourne Expedition from Williams and Bowdoin colleges to Labrador and Greenland. Part 1: Greenland

Arthur V. Gilman — 2025-06-23

In 1860 Paul A. Chadbourne, Professor at both Williams College and Bowdoin College, arranged a scientific expedition to Labrador and Greenland. Traveling by schooner, the party of nineteen comprised nine students and two recent graduates from Williams, three from Bowdoin, two from Harvard, and three others, plus the Professor and the ship’s owner and captain, Charles E. Ranlett of Thomaston, Maine. They departed Thomaston on 27 June, left seven members of the party on Caribou Island in the Straits of Belle Isle, and proceeded toward West Greenland, hoping to make landfall at Paamiut (Frederickshåb). Instead, they were forced northward by storm-driven pack ice ca. 250 miles before making landfall near Maniitsoq (Sukkertoppen), where they collected plant and animal specimens 19–30 July. They then sailed south ca. 100 miles to the capital, Nuuk (Godthåb), where they collected additional plant specimens and purchased or were gifted various other natural history and cultural materials. Leaving Nuuk on 14 August, they returned to Caribou Island, boarded the students who had made similar collections there, and returned to Maine on 11 September.

The Expedition’s Greenland plant collections, comprising more than 220 specimens and representing 93 taxa, are in two main two groups. The smaller collection, with 64 specimens, was purchased from Professor Chadbourne and donated anonymously to Bowdoin College in 1881 and is now at the Pringle Herbarium. The other, larger, set of more than 175 specimens collected by Williams ’61 student William P. Alcott was deposited at Williams College and is currently housed at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio. A few additional Alcott specimens, apparently sent to others for identification, are in other U.S. herbaria. These sets of collections and images were studied, identified, and revised as necessary and are published here for the first time. The Chadbourne Expedition specimens constitute the earliest large, systematically collected set of herbarium records for central West Greenland and should be considered historically significant.

The earliest known botanical illustration depicting the entirety of a coffee plant (Coffea arabica, Rubiaceae) (1666)

Fernando E. Vega — 2025-06-23

Dominique Chabrée’s book, Stirpium icones et sciagraphia, published in 1666, and with slightly different titles in 1677, and 1678, includes the first botanical illustration of an entire coffee plant (Coffea arabica), including the roots. Despite inaccurate botanical characters, the illustration is a milestone in the evolution of coffee botanical art.

A Report on the Sixth Botanical Nomenclature Course Organized by the Botanical Survey of India at Gangtok, Sikkim

Kanchi N. Gandhi — 2025-06-23

During February 3–7, 2025, the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) organized its sixth botanical nomenclature course at Gangtok (BSI-SHRC), Sikkim Himalayan Regional Centre, India. This academic activity was the result of a collaboration between the BSI-SHRC and Forest & Environment Dept., Government of Sikkim. The course was attended by seventy-one people from across India.