Main | Family List (MO) | Family List (INBio) | Cutting Edge Draft Treatments | Guidelines | Checklist | Citing | Editors The Cutting Edge Volume III, Number 2, April 1996 News and Notes | Recent Treatments | Leaps and Bounds | Germane Literature EDGE ON THE WEB. Some of you have asked why we don't disseminate the Edge via the World Wide Web (WWW). The primary reason has been that we suspect that a sizeable percentage of our contributors still lack access to the Web, and we want to reach each and every one of you. As of the present issue, however, we have decided to compromise. The Edge will henceforth exist in both a hard-copy and Web version, the latter accessible at: http://www.mobot.org/mobot/research/edge/welcome.shtml Each contributor with an e-mail address will receive notice on the day of issue. If and when you decide you no longer wish to receive the hard-copy Edge, PLEASE INFORM US AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (e.g., via e-mail, by clicking on one of our names in the heading of the Web version). You will save us paper, postage, and time. No need to worry, if you have no hope of gaining access to the Web or, for whatever reason, are reluctant to take this leap; we will continue to print out and distribute the wood wafers for as long as the need exists (and our funds permit!). By the way: all back issues of Vols. II and III of the Edge are also now available at the above Web address. NEW WEB-SITE ACCESS. As announced on TAXACOM on 2 March of this year, the WWW site for the Manual, developed at and previously accessible only through INBio in Costa Rica at: http://www.inbio.ac.cr/bims/PLANTAE.html can now also be seen via the Missouri Botanical Garden at: http://www.mobot.org/manual.plantas/welcome.shtml The Garden site should assure stateside users speedier and more reliable access. For those of you who may not know about it, this hierarchical list of names and collection data for over 60,000 collections and approximately 8,500 species of vascular plants has distribution maps for all species, and representative color photos for many families. Due to the recent efforts of Gregorio Dauphin at INBio, the list now also includes many bryophytes. It was last updated in January of this year. TETRANEMA PAPER. According to some, on approximately 5 March "history was made on the Internet" when we (Grayum and Hammel) put up the first example of what electronic publication of new taxa may involve. "The genus Tetranema (Scrophulariaceae) in Costa Rica, with two new species," having been reviewed and sent off to Phytologia (although not yet published there), can now be seen with additional graphics and revision at MO's site: http://www.mobot.org/mobot/research/tetranema/welcome.shtml and at INBio's site: http://www.inbio.ac.cr/papers/Tetranema/tetpage.html Our intentions were neither to defy nor ignore the Code (which specifically proscribes electronic publication of new taxa), but rather to press the issue in hopes that by the time of the 1999 International Botanical Congress substantial and meaningful debate will already have taken place so that the issue can be voted on in a community of informed participants. Probably most of the pros and cons of electronic publication have already been discussed on TAXACOM, and can be seen by browsing the March messages at: http://muse.bio.cornell.edu/archive/gophtax.mar.96/index.html (Outdated link: 4/2001) or: gopher://muse.bio.cornell.edu:70/1m/taxacom/gophtax.mar.96 (Outdated link: 4/2001) Incidentally and (we hope) more importantly, our intentions were to publicize this earth-shaking taxonomic breakthrough! Comments as to content and suggestions for further revision of the Web version will be graciously accepted. GAZETTEER. Our "Gazetteer to Costa Rican Plant-Collecting Locales" can now be accessed on the Web at: http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/costaricagaz.shtml This alphabetical list of "localities of historically prominent collectors" has been distributed on a limited basis via photocopies for a number of years, but we have not otherwise made it widely available, until now. The Gazetteer provides the following data, where available, for each site: collectors, elevation, slope (Pacific or Atlantic), province, topographic quadrangle, and coordinates. We hope this new resource will receive heavy use. The Web version allows one to jump instantly to any letter of the alphabet, but is not otherwise Web-enabled. IMPORTANT INBio PERSONNEL. Our announcement in the last issue of the Edge that Kalman Aviram had taken over the reins as INBio's Coordinator of the Division of Biodiversity Inventory was both belated and premature; Dr. Aviram has now left and Carlos Mario Rodríguez has taken over the position, subsuming within it his other functions (over the last two years) as coordinator of the developing Guanacaste All-Taxon Biological Inventory. His assistant is Jessica Zamora. Though Jessica is not new, hers is an important name to keep in mind for any contributor planning a visit to Costa Rica, because she is in charge of obtaining collection permits. Click on her e-mail address (she speaks/writes English), or that of any other INBio official, in their personnel directory at: http://www.inbio.ac.cr/en/contac/Personal.html VISITORS AT MO. PI Barry Hammel and INBio botanist José González arrived on 12 April for a six-week stint that will include side trips to F and US. Writing and herbarium work are high on the agenda for both gentlemen. VISITORS TO INBio. Contributor Garrett Crow (NHA) was in Costa Rica for ca. two weeks during March, conspicuously wading through lowland streams on both slopes, looking for Podostemaceae, hoping to fill distribution gaps in this seldom-collected family. He reports that the trip was a success. Visiting (at MO) Ph.D. student Sachiko Yasuda (KYO) was also in Costa Rica for ca. four weeks during February and March for a closer, in-the-flesh, look at her study organisms, Beilschmiedia (Lauraceae). The Monteverde leg of her trip, where our colleague Bill Haber led her to the six spp. he recognizes from there, was particularly rewarding. COLLECTING HOT SPOT. As seen in the "Leaps and Bounds" section, below (and in previous issues, e.g., dealing with Cerro Anguciana) numerous country records are beginning to turn up from the Pacific coastal range (Fila Costeña) south and east of San José. For some time now we have wanted to spend more than a few roadside minutes in the area of Fila Tinamastes--one of the localities of Tetranema gamboanum Grayum & Hammel--on the route between San Isidro de El General and Dominical. On this part of the Fila Costeña, a sheer cliff, facing the Pacific ocean, rises (just behind the town of Tinamastes, at ca. 750 m) to just over 1000 m elevation. The green face of the cliff and the line of trees along the top, suggesting a forested ridge, are misleading; during the last week of February, Barry Hammel and José González discovered that most of the top is pasture, with a fence at the very rim--to keep cattle from falling off! Nevertheless, by combing forest patches and by a few risky forays down less precipitous parts of the cliff, they came back with enough tantalizing collections (not yet fully processed) to entice further exploration of the area. These include: what looks to be the white-flowered Byrsonima herrerae W. R. Anderson (see under "Germane Literature" in the last issue of the Edge), previously known only from the Atlantic slope of the Cordillera de Talamanca; Justicia skutchii Leonard, previously known only from the type; and a very low-elevation population of Spaghnum. RECENT TREATMENTS BOMBACACEAE. Alfredo Cascante M. (CR). This family comprises 24 spp. in Costa Rica, here arranged in 9 genera. Quararibea, here treated in the broad sense (to include Matisia), is by far the largest genus, with 14 spp. Bombacopsis is maintained (as separate from Pachira), while Spirotheca is segregated from Ceiba. Three spp. are endemic to Costa Rica: Huberodendron allenii Standl. & L. O. Williams, Quararibea costaricensis W. S. Alverson, and Q. pumila W. S. Alverson (the last still known only from the La Selva Biological Station). No strictly cultivated spp. are formally treated. MALVACEAE. Paul A. Fryxell (TEX). Costa Rica's contingent of 80 spp. in this cosmopolitan family is dispersed among 26 mostly oligotypic genera. Wercklea is here maintained as distinct from Hibiscus (Don Carlos would be proud). The largest genera in Costa Rica are Sida and Pavonia, with 15 and 10 indigenous spp., respectively. Just two spp. of Malvaceae are counted as Costa Rican endemics: Wercklea lutea Rolfe and Wissadula costaricensis Standl. Two genera (Abelmoschus and Alcea) and 11 spp. are known mainly or exclusively in cultivation, while two spp. are included hypothetically (based on reports by Standley). LEAPS AND BOUNDS CYPERACEAE. Algologist Ricardo Soto (USJ) has garnered the first Costa Rican record of Websteria confervoides (Poir.) S. S. Hooper, from the La Cureña region of the Llanuras de San Carlos. This distinctive aquatic, from both the Old and New World tropics, was previously reported in Mesoamerica from Guatemala to Nicaragua. This information comes to us via Manual Cyperaceae contributor Jorge Gómez-Laurito (USJ). Don Jorge has, by the way, submitted his completed treatment but, unfortunately, we do not have it in hand for review in this issue. DIOSCOREACEAE. On a recent trip to the region of Cerro Turrubares, PI Barry Hammel collected abundant flowering material of Dioscorea densiflora Hemsl., previously known from Mexico to El Salvador. This complements fruiting material collected last December along the Río Virilla near San José. FABACEAE/CAESALPINIOIDEAE. Kernan 1303, from the Península de Osa, has been identified by PI and legume authority Nelson Zamora as Bauhinia petiolata (Mutis ex A. DC.) Triana ex Hook. f. This arborescent sp., similar to B. beguinotii Cufod. in having entire (non-bifid) leaves, has not been reported previously from north of Colombia. A collection made by former parataxonomist Gerardo Rivera from near Sacramento, high on Volcán Barva, represents Senna cajamarcae H. S. Irwin & Barneby, heretofore known from Panama to Peru. Senna racemosa (Mill.) H. S. Irwin & Barneby may also be added to the Costa Rican flora on the basis of a Rivera collection, from Parque Nacional Rincón de la Vieja; this population is apparently disjunct from northern Mesoamerica (Mexico to Guatemala). FABACEAE/MIMOSOIDEAE. Mimosa xanthocentra Mart., easily confused with the more vulgar M. pudica L., has been collected by parataxonomist Ulises Chavarría at Palo Verde, and by others in Parque Nacional Santa Rosa. These are the first Mesoamerican records of this widespread South American sp. FABACEAE/PAPILIONOIDEAE. Three old Alberto Brenes collections at NY dating from 1931-1933 have now been identified by Nelson Zamora as Desmodium plicatum Schltdl. & Cham., a principally Mexican sp. not previously reported from Costa Rica. All three collections are from the Meseta Central near west of Alajuela. Diphysa carthagenensis Jacq., widespread in Mesoamerica and south to Colombia (but not recorded from Costa Rica), has turned up at Estación Maritza in Parque Nacional Guanacaste. Lonchocarpus retiferus Standl. & L. O. Williams, heretofore known only from Honduras and Nicaragua, has been collected at Parque Nacional Guanacaste by Nelson Zamora and parataxonomist Roberto Espinoza. A collection made by Ulises Chavarría at Palo Verde is the first Mesoamerican record of the widespread South American Machaerium robiniifolium Vogel; unvouchered populations are also known from Parque Nacional Santa Rosa and Hacienda Los Inocentes. Platymiscium yucatanum Standl., previously known only from Mexico to Guatemala, can now be reported from Costa Rica on the basis of a Gerardo Rivera collection from the still poorly explored Atlantic slope of Volcán Rincón de la Vieja, at 1000-1300 m elevation. GENTIANACEAE. A mystery plant collected by Joaquín Sánchez (CR) from the Cerro Toro region of the Pacific coastal range, south of San José, represents the northern Andean genus Tachia, not previously reported from Central America. This material bears some resemblance to the familiar Symbolanthus, but has smaller, sessile, axillary, greenish flowers. The Costa Rican collection apparently corresponds to Tachia parviflora Maguire & Weaver. HYDROCHARITACEAE. Costa Rican marine biologist Jorge Cortés has collected Halophila baillonis Asch. from the waters of Bahía Culebra, Guanacaste. This mainly Caribbean sp. was previously known from the Pacific coast of Panama, and is mentioned as a hypothetical (though not formally treated) in Garrett Crow's Manual treatment of this family. We thank Jorge Gómez-Laurito for bringing this to our attention. MALVACEAE. Bakeridesia (a segregate from Abutilon) has turned up in Costa Rica, from the ever-more-intriguing Pacific coastal range south of San José, this time from the Cerros de Caraigres of Fila Bustamante (Morales 3443). This genus has been known from Mexico to Nicaragua and South America, though not, until now, from Costa Rica. Paul Fryxell comments that history repeats; not long after he submitted the treatment for the Flora of Ecuador Bakeridesia turned up there, as well. PIPERACEAE. Peperomia villarrealii Yunck., an Andean sp. not reported from Mesoamerica, was collected on the same day by former parataxonomist (and Manual staff artist) Alvaro ("Bary") Fernández and Museo Nacional botanist Gerardo Herrera, at 1700-1800 m elevation in the Río Lori basin on the Atlantic slope of the Cordillera de Talamanca. RUBIACEAE. Hintonia lumaeana (Baill.) Bullock (Morales 3509), hidden among specimens of Coutarea hexandra (Jacq.) K. Schum., is a new generic record for Costa Rica; the sp. was not previously known from south of El Salvador. This is yet another find from the Pacific coastal range (Cerros Cabeza de Vaca). SAPOTACEAE. A collection made by PI Nelson Zamora from Boca Tapada de San Carlos corresponds to Pouteria cuspidata (A. DC.) Baehni, a sp. previously known only from South America. GERMANE LITERATURE Austin, D. F. & Z. Huáman. 1996. A synopsis of Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) in the Americas. Taxon 45: 3-38. Features a checklist of 339 taxa (327 spp., 5 vars. and 5 subsp.) currently recognized in the New World, with indications of infrageneric placement and geographic distribution for each. The authors estimate the total number of spp. in the genus at 600-700, with a projected New World total of nearly 500. The checklist attributes 38 spp. to Costa Rica (one questioningly), plus one subsp. Our own data mostly corroborate this, with the addition of the following spp. Ipomoea asarifolia (Desr.) Roem. & Schult., I.cholulensis Kunth, I. dumetorum Willd. ex Roem. & Schult., I. X leucantha Jacq., I. ophioides Standl. & Steyerm., I. purpurea (L.) Roth, I. santae-rosae Standl. & Steyerm., I. ternifolia Cav., and I. turbinata Lag. Axelius, B. 1996. The phylogenetic relationships of the physaloid genera (Solanaceae) based on morphological data. Amer. J. Bot. 83: 118-124. Parsimony analyses of morphological data suggest (among other things) that Physalis is diphyletic, with the type sp. (the Eurasian P. alkekengi L.) having very different affinities from the rest: "The circumscription of the genus is a serious problem that must be addressed." These are trying times indeed for floristics! Baeza P., C. M. 1996. Los géneros Danthonia DC. y Rytidosperma Steud. (Poaceae) en América _ Una revisión. Sendtnera 3: 11-93. No change here, from a Costa Rican perspective, with Danthonia decumbens (L.) DC. our only sp. Bohs, L. 1995. Transfer of Cyphomandra (Solanaceae) and its species to Solanum. Taxon 44: 583-587. Molecular studies (by Bohs and others) using chloroplast DNA restriction site variation and sequence data have established that Cyphomandra and Lycopersicon are nested within Solanum. Despite having recently revised Cyphomandra (Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 63: 1-175. 1994), Bohs opts to sink it (rather than divide Solanum into smaller, monophyletic genera). Here, 12 new names and 12 new combinations are published for former Cyphomandra spp. Those relevant to Costa Rica are: Solanum circinatum Bohs (the former Cyphomandra hartwegii), S. fortunense Bohs (= C. dolichocarpa), and S. melissarum Bohs (= C. divaricata). The name Solanum betaceum Cav. was already available for Cyphomandra betacea, the "tree-tomato" of horticulture (and Solanum lycopersicum L. is available for the plain old tomato, formerly Lycopersicon esculentum). Crane, E. H., D. R. Farrar & J. F. Wendel. 1995. Phylogeny of the Vittariaceae: convergent simplification leads to a polyphyletic Vittaria. Amer. Fern J. 85: 283-305. Parsimony analysis of rbcL sequence data shows that "current broad concepts of Vittaria and Antrophyum cannot be maintained under strict monophyly." The authors describe and evaluate the two most sensible classificatory options. The first of these envisions nine genera, as follows: Vittaria sensu stricto (incl. V. dimorpha, V. graminifolia, and V. lineata, in Costa Rica), Ananthacorus, Scoliosorus, Polytaenium, Anetium, Antrophyum sensu stricto (the Old World spp.), Radiovittaria (incl. Costa Rican spp. presently known as Vittaria gardneriana, V. minima, V. remota, and V. stipitata), Hecistopteris, and Haplopteris (an Old World taxon). This option is preferred by the authors over the alternative, which accepts just two genera: Vittaria sensu lato (Vittaria through Anetium in the above list) and Haplopteris. This and the Gastony & Rollo paper addressed below are but two of several important contributions in this meaty issue of AFJ, devoted entirely to recent phylogenetic advances in ferns and fern allies. Durkee, L. H. & L. A. McDade. 1996. Three new species of Justicia (Acanthaceae) from Costa Rica. Novon 6: 13-21. All three new spp. are endemic, as far as is known. Justicia arborescens Durkee & McDade comprises shrubby plants with bright red flowers, growing on the Pacific slopes of the Cordilleras de Guanacaste and Tilarán at ca. 450-1,500 m; J. circulibracteata Durkee & McDade is known only from the type, collected at 100-150 m elevation near Puerto Viejo de Talamanca on the Caribbean coast; J. densibracteata Durkee & McDade is known from three collections from disparate sites on the Atlantic slope, at 0-660 m. Detailed descriptions and discussions, exsiccatae citations, excellent line drawings, and SEM micrographs of pollen. This genus continues to astonish; we know of several other novelties in the works. Gastony, G. J. & D. R. Rollo. 1995. Phylogeny and generic circumscriptions of cheilanthoid ferns (Pteridaceae: Cheilanthoideae) inferred from rbcL nucleotide sequences. Amer. Fern J. 85: 341-360. Parsimony analysis of the data set suggests that Cheilanthes and Pellaea are polyphyletic, and supports generic status for Argyrochosma (recently segregated from Notholaena). The robustness of Cheilanthes-segregates Aleuritopteris and Cheiloplecton is tentatively supported, but not that of Mildella. Gómez-Laurito, J. & M. M. Chavarría. 1995. A new species of Drymonia (Gesneriaceae) from Costa Rica. Gesneriana 1: 15-17. The name Drymonia submarginalis Gómez-Laur. & Chavarría is finally available for a sp. that has been "ined." for more than 15 years. This is an Atlantic slope taxon, known from 0-1000 m elevation. Includes exsiccatae citations and a superb plate by our own Silvia Troyo. Kuijt, J. & E. A. Kellogg. 1996. Miscellaneous mistletoe notes, 20-36. Novon 6: 33-53. Dendrophthora haberi Kuijt sp. nov. is endemic to Costa Rica, where it is known only from 1100-1300 m in the Monteverde region. It does not seem closely related to any other sp. in the genus. Illustrated by a line drawing. The application of the name Phthirusa stelis (L.) Kuijt (Taxon 43: 193. 1994) is discussed in detail, and a full synonymy is provided. The basionym, Loranthus stelis L., is neotypified on a recent Panamanian collection. Phthirusa stelis is the correct name for the sp. called P. retroflexa (Ruiz & Pav.) Kuijt in Burger and Kuijt's Flora costaricensis treatment of Loranthaceae (Fieldiana, Bot. n. s. 13: 29-79. 1983). This sp. had not been recorded from Costa Rican in 1983, but subsequent collections now firmly establish it as a member of the flora. Luer, C. A. 1995. Icones pleurothallidinarum XII. Systematics of the genus Brachionidium (Orchidaceae). Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 57: 1-139. _____. 1995. Icones pleurothallidinarum XII. A re-evaluation of the pleurothallid subgenera Satyria and Silenia (Orchidaceae). Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 57: 146. The neotropical, mainly Andean genus orchid genus Brachionidium comprises (by our count) 64 spp., 32 of which are here described as new. Costa Rica is home to 8 spp., of which 4 (B. dressleri Luer, B. haberi Luer, B. minusculum Luer & Dressler, B. polypodium Luer) are new. Four additional spp. occur in far western Panama. Four of the Costa Rican spp. are endemic, so far as is known, while 3 of the others extend only to western Panama. Key to species (non-indented), as well as descriptions, exsiccatae citations, distribution maps, and line-drawings for each species. Satyria and Silenia, two erstwhile subgenera of Myoxanthus are here transferred to Pleurothallis as sections of subg. Acianthera. This affects at least three spp. attributed to Costa Rica, which are herewith returned to Pleurothallis from short-lived exiles in Myoxanthus: P. lappiformis Heller & L. O. Williams, P. pan Luer, and P. uncinatus Fawc. Luther, H. E. 1996. A checklist of the Bromeliaceae of Costa Rica. J. Bromeliad Soc. 46: 60-63. A watered-down version (with bibliographic entries removed) of the same list published in Selbyana 16: 230-234 (1995). _____ & W. J. Kress. 1996. Two overlooked species of Guzmania (Bromeliaceae) of the species-complex Massangea from Central America. Brittonia 48: 91-95. Guzmania herrerae H. Luther & W. J. Kress is a Costa Rican endemic, known only from the Atlantic slopes of the Cordillera de Guanacaste and Volcán Arenal at 600-700 m. Guzmania scandens H. Luther & W. J. Kress is more widespread, occurring at 550-1700 m on the Atlantic slopes of the Cordilleras Central and Talamanca, and to eastern Panama. Both spp. are closely related to the South American Guzmania dissitiflora (André) L. B. Sm., a name which has heretofore been misapplied to Costa Rican material. Features full descriptions, lists of exsiccatae, good line-drawings, and a list of all the spp. comprising the Massangea complex. Mehltreter, K. 1996. Species richness and geographical distribution of montane pteridophytes of Costa Rica, Central America. Feddes Repert. 106: 563-584. A survey of literature and the CR herbarium accounts for a (probably realistic) total of 1099 pteridophyte spp. in Costa Rica. Just 282 spp. occur at higher elevations (defined as above 2500 m). More than 50% of these can be found at 1000 m or even below, while just 56 spp. are restricted to higher elevations. Of the latter group, 22 spp. are endemic to Costa Rica (a 39% endemism rate, compared to just 26% for the Costa Rican pteridoflora in general). The most species-rich genera in the montane regions of Costa Rica are: Grammitis (31 spp.), Elaphoglossum (29 spp.), Lycopodium (28 spp.), Hymenophyllum (17 spp.), Asplenium and Polypodium (13 spp. each), and Thelypteris (12 spp.). Volcán Barva, with 104 pteridophyte spp. in just 19 km2, is a particularly rich site. Monro, A. K. 1996. A new species of Cayaponia Manso (Cucurbitaceae: Cucurbiteae) from Mesoamerica. Novon 6: 82-84. Cayaponia longiloba A. K. Monro ranges from southern Mexico to Costa Rica. It is compared to the widespread C. attenuata (Hook. & Arn.) Cogn., from which it differs in having longer petioles and larger flowers and fruits. The sole Costa Rican record is a 1928 collection from "below Turrialba [Prov. Cartago], 1000 m" (as Turrialba itself lies at just 650 m elevation, and no other cited collections of this sp. are from above 600 m, we suspect this to be an error). Detailed description, list of exsiccatae, photo of the type specimen, distribution map. Moran, R. C. & R. Riba (editores). 1995. Psilotaceae a Salviniaceae. Vol. 1 in, G. Davidse, M. Sousa S. & S. Knapp (editores generales), Flora mesoamericana. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City/Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis/The Natural History Museum (London). 470 pp. This, the second volume of Flora mesoamericana to roll off the presses, comprises (according to the introduction) the largest floristic treatment of pteridophytes ever published in terms of the number of taxa treated. In addition to the volume editors, 28 specialists from seven different countries contributed to this mammoth effort. The format and organization of this volume correspond substantially with the standards set in the previously published Vol. 6, as described in the April 1994 issue of this newsletter [1(2): 6-7], except for the inclusion of a lengthy (22 pp.) glossary. Another welcome departure from Vol. 6 is the strictly alphabetical arrangement of genera within families and species within genera (or major generic subdivisions); families, however, are still ordered "taxonomically." Volume 1 treats 1358 spp. (plus an additional 40 infraspecific taxa) of ferns and fern allies, arranged in 136 genera and 32 families. The most species-rich genera in the region are Thelypteris (133 spp.), Elaphoglossum (118 spp.), Asplenium (81 spp.), Selaginella (72 spp.), and Polypodium (64 spp.). A recent trend toward downsizing in pteridophyte genera is reflected here, with several traditional generic concepts (e.g., Ctenitis, Gleichenia, Grammitis, Lycopodium, Notholaena, Ophioglossum, Polybotrya, Schizaea) more or less reduced through the recognition of segregates. Thelypteris remains conspicuously impervious to this trend, although the Old World Macrothelypteris is spun off. No new taxa here, but some new lectotype designations. Nelson Sutherland, C. 1995. Pityrogramma dealbata (C. Presl) Domin versus Pityrogramma dealbata (C. Presl) Tryon. Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid 53: 246. Domin's validly published combination, which antedates Tryon's by 20 years, has been overlooked by all major floristic and taxonomic works (including Flora mesoamericana, not seen by Nelson)--this despite the fact that it was recorded in the fifth supplement of Index filicum (1985). The proper citation, according to our follow-up investigation, is as follows (Nelson uses the wrong B-P-H abbreviation): Pityrogramma dealbata (C. Presl) Domin, Rozpr. Ceské Akad. Ved, Tr. 2, Vedy Mat. Prír. 51(15): 7. 1942 ["1941"]. Nelson (though neither Domin nor Index filicum) indicates that Domin's combination was published simultaneously in another Czech journal, Bull. Int. Acad. Tchéque Sci., Cl. Sci. Math. Nat. Med.; the question of priority would seem to be moot, however, as the 1941 and 1942 volumes of the last-mentioned journal were destroyed in war action (according to a slip appended to MO's copy of a subsequent volume). Prance, G. T. 1995. New taxa and notes on neotropical Chrysobalanaceae. Kew Bull. 50: 707-721. Seven new spp. and one new subsp. are described here, including three spp. from Costa Rica. Licania belloi Prance (dedicated to former parataxonomist and Monteverde flora collector Erick Bello) is known from the Atlantic slope of the Cordillera de Tilarán to the Barra del Colorado region and adjacent Nicaragua, at 0-800 m elevation; it is compared with the Colombian L. macrocarpa Cuatrec. Licana riverae Prance (named for former parataxonomist Gerardo Rivera) occurs on the Pacific slope of the Cordillera de Guanacaste at 600-900 m; it is compared with L. michauxii Prance, of Florida, and the Mexican L. retifolia S. F. Blake. Licania diegogomezii Prance (honoring Costa Rican renaissance man Luis Diego Gómez) is known only from the type, collected at ca. 100 m elevation at the head of Golfo Dulce; it is compared with L. stevensii Prance and L. sparsipilis S. F. Blake, both known from Costa Rica. Superb line drawings. Pruski, J. F. 1996. Compositae of the Guayana Highland_X. Reduction of Pollalesta to Piptocoma (Vernonieae: Piptocarphinae) and consequent nomenclatural adjustments. Novon 6: 96-102. On the basis of a traditional consideration of morphological characters, the Central and South American genus Pollalesta is reduced to synonymy of Piptocoma (West Indian, in the narrow sense). The newly expanded Piptocoma is maintained as distinct from the Old World Oliganthes. The only affected taxon occurring in Costa Rica is Pollalesta discolor (Kunth) Aristeg. [Oliganthes discolor (Kunth) Sch. Bip. in Standley's Flora of Costa Rica], which now becomes Piptocoma discolor (Kunth) Pruski. Smith, D. A. 1996. Three previously undescribed Central American species of Sloanea (Elaeocarpaceae). Novon 6: 120-127. Sloanea geniculata Damon A. Sm. and S. laevigata Damon A. Sm. are endemic to the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica; both were known originally (and the former still principally) from the La Selva Biological Station. Sloanea rugosa Damon A. Sm. occurs in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica and adjacent Nicaragua, and also on the Osa Peninsula. Generous descriptions and discussions, up-to-date exsiccatae citations, fine line drawings. Weigend, M. 1996. Notes on Loasa (Loasaceae) I-III. Sendtnera 3: 219-253. Includes keys to spp. in ser. Saccatae (with Loasa triphylla Juss. in Costa Rica) and ser. Grandiflorae (with L. speciosa Donn. Sm. in Costa Rica). Several novelties here, but only L. triphylla subsp. rudis (Benth.) Weigend need concern us. This taxon, known heretofore as L. triphylla var. rudis (Benth.) Urb. & Gilg, comprises all Costa Rican material of the sp. The reclassification apparently reflects Weigend's notion of the "geographically well isolated" status of this taxon. Wiehler, H. 1995. New species of Gesneriaceae from the Neotropics (II). Gesneriana 1: 29-97. Most of the novelties published here are South American. The following are pertinent to Costa Rica: Columnea glicensteinii Wiehler, known only from cultivated material from Costa Rica, "without specific locality" (no discussion or comparison with other spp.). Dalbergaria ornata Wiehler, compared with D. polyantha Wiehler, is restricted to the Pacific slope in the Puriscal region and the Valle de El General. Dalbergaria uninerva Wiehler is typified by material from cultivation, but known also by wild collections from near Palmar Norte and San Pedro de San Ramón. The most startling novelty is Rhoogeton panamensis Wiehler, vouchered for Costa Rica by a paratype collected in July 1890 from near Surubres (location unknown to Wiehler, but at ca. 200 m elevation on the Pacific slope near San Mateo, Prov. Alajuela). This is an acaulescent, tuberous herb, probably developing only in the rainy season. It has also been collected near El Valle de Antón in west-central Panama. The only two other spp. in this small genus are endemic to the Guyana Shield region of South America! All of the new taxa are fully described and illustrated with line drawings. Note also the "Additional New Combinations" on pp. 121-122 of this issue, mostly comprising transfers from Columnea to Dalbergaria, Pentadenia, and Trichantha. Of interest to us is Paradrymonia longipetiolata (Donn. Sm.) Wiehler, based on Episcia longipetiolata Donn. Sm. This rectifies the earlier, erroneous transfer of the latter as P. longipedunculata (Donn. Sm.) Wiehler in Selbyana 5: 54 (1978).