Summary The life and work of the Irish botanist E. Charles Nelson (1951–2024) is explored in the context of his interest in botanical art, especially considering the Irish native and garden floras.
Summary Allium kollmannianum is a small, late‐spring to early‐summer blooming Allium , endemic to the Negev Desert in south Israel, and previously thought to be extremely rare and critically endangered. Here we expand new information regarding its distribution and habitat in the Negev Desert, and a new estimation of its threat level, considering the new findings, together with a new taxonomic consideration of its subgeneric placement within Allium .
Summary Streptocarpus aylae T.J.Edwards, a spectacular, rosette forming herbaceous perennial from cliffs of the Msikaba River in Pondoland, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa is illustrated and discussed. The species is known from only two sites and is highly localised, growing in humus rich cracks and crevices on sandstone cliffs. The species is remarkable for its large and decorative five‐lobed, campanulate flowers which are deep mauve with yellow throat markings.
Summary Dendrobium chryseum is a widespread orchid from continental tropical Asia and Taiwan with a confused taxonomical history. In addition to its horticultural merits and its use in Traditional Chinese Medicine, this species has significant cultural importance among the Tsou people of Taiwan. Notes on pollination, cultivation, taxonomy, distribution, as well as a detailed description and illustrations are provided.
Summary Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench (Compositae: Heliantheae: Zinniinae) is described and illustrated with a colour plate and black and white text figure. An introduction to the history of the appearance of this species in the Magazine appears in brief, together with comments on the treatment of the genus, and the available generic revisions. Notes are provided for the species' cultivation, propagation, likely pests and diseases, and availability, which includes a short list of the more commonly available cultivars. A full synonymy is given, along with type citations and known presence of type material, together with relevant notes. Selected illustrations of the species are cited, and statements of the species' distribution, habitat and ecology, phenology, etymology, conservation status and a lengthy list of vernacular names provided. Extensively grown as an ornamental and as a crop, naturalized material escaping from cultivation may well have extended the apparent range of the species. Also discussed and explained is the fact that what most people know as Echinacea purpurea is not that originally described by Linnaeus in 1753; Linnaeus' species is now correctly referred to as Echinacea laevigata . Discussions cover the lectotypification of the name Rudbeckia purpurea L., the over‐abundant use of the ‘drug’ known as ‘echinacea’, the apparent lack of scientific evidence supporting its efficacy in many treatments, and the appropriate dosage rates and potential side effects. A warning is provided over the use of any plant material for medical purposes.
Summary Eupatorium maculatum L. (Compositae: Eupatorieae: Eupatoriinae) is described and illustrated. Notes are provided for the species’ cultivation, propagation, likely pests and diseases, and availability, along with useful contrasting planting in a prairie garden or specimen border planting. A full synonymy is given, along with type citations and known presence of type material, together with relevant notes. Selected illustrations of the species are cited, and statements of the species’ distribution, habitat and ecology, phenology, etymology, conservation status and vernacular names provided. A simple explanation of tribal placement also suggests why the inclusion of Eutrochium and Eupatoriadelphus in synonymy of Eupatorium should be considered. The possession of coloured pappus setae in this species is commented on, and a token listing of some of the more spectacular colours, and the tribes in which they occur tentatively suggests why some colours exist.
Summary A biography and critique of Pierre‐Joseph Buc'hoz (1731–1807) – lawyer, physician, mineralogist, naturalist, compiler and publisher – is provided. Often criticised as being a mass‐plagiariser, this is commented on, based on a detailed examination of several of his publications. Buc'hoz's publications are reassessed, emphasizing that his uncompleted multi‐volume Histoire Universelle du Règne Végétal … (1773–1780, published up to mid‐way through the letter P in volume 13 of the Discours ) was so advanced, being a much more expansive, and detailed, precursor to Lamarck's Encyclopédie Méthodie. Botanique … (1783–1817). Estimates vary as to the quantity of published works to be credited to Buc'hoz, especially as his own catalogues were rarely complete, and no complete bibliography has yet been compiled. An upper estimate, of 500 works, was provided by Pritzel, these having been published between 1758 and 1807. There is evidence that many illustrations were copied, again and again and again, although some of these were from works he originally commissioned, others were based on engravings he owned; yet more were clearly blatant copies (sometimes mirror, or highly edited, copies) of much earlier works. Examples of some of these are illustrated. Many of the educational works have much to commend themselves, especially for the audience of the time. Originally Buc'hoz published many works by subscription, which were printed by well‐known Parisian publishing houses of the day. From the late 1770s he published his own works and, when he became less capable, his (second) wife continued to publish and sell later volumes. A blatant self‐publicist, he rarely made much money from sales of his works, although it is clear that he was quite prepared to sink a vast fortune into some, commissioning some of the better‐known botanical artists of the day to illustrate several, including his second wife, Marie‐Louise‐Sophie Nobillot. The text is supplemented by an extensive annotated bibliography.
Summary A further eight plant portraits are provided of additional Compositae amongst the North American Prairie plantings at Wakehurst, West Sussex. Three tribes are represented amongst the portraits, the Astereae ( Symphyotrichum oolentangiense , Heterotheca camporum ), Heliantheae ( Echinacea simulata , E. purpurea and Helianthus occidentalis ) and the Eupatorieae ( Eupatorium maculatum , E. hyssopifolium , and Liatris pycnostachya ). Each of the portraits are discussed in relation of the taxon to their tribe and related species. The importance of verifying the identity of any material chosen for Curtis's Botanical Magazine plant portraits is highlighted by the need to redetermine the names of two plants growing in the prairie plantings. Material labelled as Chrysopsis mariana was redetermined as Heterotheca camporum , and that of Echinacea pallida redetermined as E. simulata . The historical plate in the then Botanical Magazine , supposedly illustrating Echinacea purpurea is discussed. The species illustrated, with its attenuate lamina base, pinnate venation, serrate leaf margins, orangish paleae, and narrow ray limbs (with almost forked apices), should now be named Echinacea laevigata . Mention is made of this year's flowering of the strange‐looking and architectural Arnoglossum plantagineum (Senecioneae), a plant first illustrated in Curtis's some 120 years ago. Discussions of Helianthus include comments on the confirmation of the earliest publication of the name H. mollis by Buc'hoz following a critical examination of his earlier publications. The three variants of the engraving are illustrated. Later duplications of the original uncoloured plate of this species showed it was modified, with the addition of an additional flowering shoot. Between the two duplications, the hand‐coloured plates differ somewhat as does the detail of the background engraving. Confirmation of the authority of Helianthus mollis is provided, as Helianthus mollis Buc'hoz; it should never be attributed to Lamarck. Although Helianthus mollis appears to have been illustrated before in the Magazine , a critical commentary suggests that Hooker incorrectly determined the material painted, and that H. decapetalus was re‐illustrated. Brief mention of Pierre‐Joseph Buc'hoz, self‐publicist, author, lawyer, physician, mineralogist, naturalist and compiler, is made; a short biography is provided later in this issue. Buc'hoz, although clearly a prolific author, was held in contempt by many as he was demonstrably a serial mass‐plagiariser, frequently of his own works. His connection with Helianthus mollis is expanded upon, and the relevance of three of his more significant works in this story is indicated.
Summary Helianthus occidentalis Riddell (Compositae: Heliantheae: Helianthinae) is described and illustrated. The species' placement in the genus is commented on, as are the differences in infrageneric placement of the other species Heiser originally grouped H. occidentalis with. Notes are provided for the species' cultivation, propagation, likely pests and diseases, and availability. A full synonymy is given, along with type citations and known presence of type material, together with relevant notes. Selected illustrations of the species are cited, and statements of the species' distribution, habitat and ecology, phenology, etymology, conservation status and vernacular names provided. A very brief biographical note of John Leonard Riddell, the collector and author of the species, is offered. Discussions include observations on the inclusion of H. dowelliannus M.A. Curtis in synonymy, aspects of publication of Riddell's name, and one nomenclatural irregularity that has appeared in the literature. The chocolate aroma of the flowering capitula is commented on (especially as it is also found in other species of Helianthus ), as are other smell‐types within the tribe Heliantheae.
Summary Symphyotrichum oolentangiense (Riddell) G.L. Nesom (Compositae: Astereae: Symphyotrichinae) is described and illustrated. A very brief biographical note of John Leonard Riddell, the collector and author of the species, is offered. Notes are provided for the species' cultivation, propagation, likely pests and diseases, and availability. A full synonymy is given, along with type citations and known presence of type material, together with relevant notes. Selected illustrations of the species are cited, and statements of the species' distribution, habitat and ecology, phenology, etymology, conservation status and vernacular names provided.
A small to very large tree, Cyrtophyllum fragrans (Roxb.) DC. is perhaps one of Southeast Asia's more familiar plants. It is described and illustrated here. In the Malay Peninsula, its adult stage is notable for its gregarious flowering, emanating a strong floral fragrance, as well as the attractive small fruits in conspicuous clusters that ripen a bright red, adorning the stately tree. It also has one of the hardest and most durable of timbers.
Potentilla valderia is illustrated here. It is a silicicolous orophyte endemic to the Maritime and Ligurian Alps. A detailed description is provided, with notes on cytology and habitat. Despite its narrow distribution and the few habitats where it occurs, its conservation status is Least Concern.
Phytocrene bracteata Wall., a woody liana from the lowland forests of mainland South‐East Asia from Thailand to Borneo and the Philippines, is described and illustrated. The species is remarkable for the heteromorphic leaves, the bracteate ‘foxtail’ staminate inflorescences, and the small, spherical pistillate inflorescences which enlarge considerably during fruiting, forming dense heads of bristly hairy compound fruits the size of a small football.
Silene cordifolia is illustrated and discussed. It is a paleoendemic species growing in cliff cracks and boulders on granites and gneiss of the Maritime and Ligurian Alps (NW Italy). In this area the species is one of the main hosts of the Owlet Moth Hadena clara (Noctuide, Lepidoptera). A detailed description of S. cordifolia is provided, including notes on its cytology and habitat. Despite its narrow distribution and its occurrence in few habitats it has no particular threats, and its conservation status is Least Concern.
Orchis patens is described and illustrated. It is a species with a narrow disjunct distribution in the Mediterranean basin, and its populations have suffered declines over the past half‐century. We summarise its nomenclature, detailed morphology, cytology, symbiotic mycorrhizal associations, pollination biology, seed micromorphology, evolution and conservation status. It is not known in cultivation, given its specificity with mycorrhizal fungi and conservation status (Endangered) in Europe.
Kopsia singapurensis Ridl. forms large shrubs to small trees most commonly found in lowland swampy forests or riverbanks. In cultivation, the plants freely flower throughout the year but records indicate a twice annual flowering previously occurred in the wild. The leaves have stout, short petioles and are arranged in pairs along the stem (opposite). The plant produces a thin white latex when the tissue is broken, like all members of the Apocynaceae. The flowers are arranged in a lax inflorescence and characterized by an elongate tubular white corolla bearing anthers near the throat which is marked by a red “eye”. The paired ovaries (again characteristic of the family) form ellipsoid follicles with a small spur on one side. Due to its ability to survive in poor and acidic soils and its attractive constantly present flowers has become popular for ornamental planting to mark entrances and gates.
