Main | Family List (MO) | Family List (INBio) | Cutting Edge Draft Treatments | Guidelines | Checklist | Citing | Editors The Cutting Edge Volume XXIX, Number 1, January, 2022 News and Notes | Leaps and Bounds | Germane Literature | Season's Pick | Global Range Extensions HERBARIUM PITFALL. CR curator Silvia Lobo has advised us of a problematic situation that has arisen since (and largely as a consequence of) the 2015 merger of CR with INB, which resulted in the abandonment of the last-mentioned acronym. The merger, however, was purely administrative; to date, the two collections remain separated physically. Prior to 2015, it was customary for duplicates of specimens collected under the auspices of INBio to be distributed to CR, among other herbaria. Thus, the newly expanded CR herbarium now houses two (or more) duplicates of many specimens, all correctly attributed to “CR,” even if they reside in different cities. In compiling information on new spp. from Costa Rica published since 2015 and tracking down their types in CR, Silvia found that, not infrequently, two duplicates were present (one in Santo Domingo and one in San José), and ambiguity existed as to which was the intended holotype. In some cases she was able to identify a holotype (e.g., if a herbarium accession number or bar-code number was provided, or an illustration or scanned image of a specimen); however, in other cases the choice was not at all clear, and lectotypification may be required. The lesson is this: when describing new taxa based on specimens at CR, botanists should make every effort to visit both the Santo Domingo and San José campuses, and in any case should always clearly specify the identity of their holotypes (ideally, by citing accession numbers and/or bar-code numbers). One potentially useful indicator: it turns out that all former INB bar-codes used seven digits, while all original CR bar-codes used no more than six. New collections added to the CR database since 2019 all have seven-digit bar-codes, regardless of where they are housed. With that information, and the database at hand, many situations will be easily comprehensible. NEW AND HORRIBLE HURDLES! Manual co-PI Barry Hammel has just learned, the hard way, of Draconian restrictions recently imposed on the importation and exportation of biological materials by SINAC (the Costa Rican Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación). Barry was planning to borrow Panamanian Cyclanthaceae specimens from MO for his work on the Flora mesoamericana treatment of that family. However, what was once a routine procedure has now become a nightmare: among other things, Barry would now be required to provide both import and export permits, as well as a certificate from MO verifying permission from Panamanian authorities to possess and ship the specimens! We say “would,” rather than “will,” because Barry has now aborted the process, at least for the time being, and instead has gladly reformed a collaboration to work on several new spp. with a former Cyclanth co-author, ours truly Manual co-PI Mike Grayum. The new requirements are long and complicated, and we will not reproduce them here; suffice it to say that they will affect anyone planning to do field work in, borrow specimens from, or send loans (or gifts) to Costa Rica, not just us. A further repercussion is that some loans that arrived in Costa Rica prior to the imposition of these new regulations cannot now be returned legally, because they were brought in without the proper export permit (a new requirement!). Discussion is underway among Costa Rican botanists to explore the possibility of convincing SINAC to exonerate herbarium specimens from these controls, which (it is suspected) were written to deal mainly with live animals. Good luck! It always seems to us that innocent scientists, obliged to uphold the integrity of their institutions, are the most impacted by regulations of this sort, while the real bad guys simply ignore and find ways to contravene them (e.g,, by taking their chances and simply suitcase-exporting everything from live insects to archaeological artifacts). PASSAGES… Costa Rican Araceae specialist Marco Cedeño-Fonseca, who obtained a master’s degree at the Universidad de Costa Rica with a partial revision of Monstera, departed for Germany on 9 August to pursue doctoral studies at the Freien Universität Berlin. There he will undertake a project involving the systematics of Philodendron, supervised by Thomas Borsch (best known for his work on Amaranthaceae). We are obliged to Manual collaborator Mario Blanco (CR) for this news. Another source reports that Marco will be joined in Berlin by Panamanian Araceae student Orlando O. Ortiz. Also off to get his Ph.D., at the University of Florida, is Manual collaborator Esteban Jiménez (Aristolochiaceae), who will be working (most assuredly on Peperomia) in the lab of Lucas C. Majure (a specialist on Cactaceae and Melastomataceae). Coming out the other end of the chute: on Monday, 1 November, Costa Rican ecologist (and sometime plant taxonomist!) Miguel Chaves successfully defended his doctoral dissertation, entitled “The role of Zingiberales shared evolutionary history and leaf traits in structuring rolled-leaf beetle assemblages in a tropical forest," at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He returned to Costa Rica just before Thanksgiving. And at the end of the road: we are sad to have to report the death, on 21 November, of JVR Curator (and former CR Director) Pablo Sánchez-Vindas, at the age of just 64. Pablo was responsible for numerous new spp. and combinations, mostly in Myrtaceae (the family on which he was specialized), and often in collaboration with his close colleague (and JVR emeritus) Luis J. Poveda. May he rest in peace, and may the four young men mentioned previously in this paragraph enjoy equally successful careers! NICOYA WINDFALL. Despite erroneous indications (on our part!) to the contrary, the highest point on the Península de Nicoya is a peak we have elected to call “Cerro Azul,” at 1018 m elevation [see under “Annotate Your Copy” in The Cutting Edge 19(2), Apr 2012]. Manual collaborator Esteban Jiménez (see previous entry) recently visited the site and, together with several colleagues, collected what we believe to be the first botanical specimens from the summit region. Not surprisingly, this inventory yielded numerous interesting collections, including at least five that appear to represent new records for the peninsula: Neomirandea pendulissima Al. Rodr. (Asteraceae), Peperomia galioides Kunth, P. tenuicaulis C. DC., and P. tuerckheimii C. DC. (Piperaceae), and (see under "Season's Pick") Stenostephanus gracilis (Oerst.) T. F. Daniel (Acanthaceae). They were able to spend just two days at the site, and their efforts were curtailed by heavy rains, so it is likely that much remains to be discovered (although Esteban reports that the very summit of the peak has been deforested to accommodate an infernal radio tower). The same crew garnered two additional peninsular records from the neighboring Reserva Natural Monte Alto: Orthosia glaberrima (Woodson) W. D. Stevens (Apocynaceae) and Senegalia polyphylla (DC.) Britton (Fabaceae). All vouchers are destined for the USJ herbarium. THE LATEST FROM LUKO. As Costa Rica’s Bicentennial year came to a close, Costa Rican biologist and historian Luko Hilje announced the publication of his latest book (with three co-authors), entitled Santa Rosa, paraje de biodiversidad y scenario de la libertad. This contribution provides, in four chapters, an interdisciplinary analysis of the biological and historical significance of Santa Rosa—a major Guanacaste cattle ranch since the colonial period—as both a National Historical Monument and a National Park. Among the topics addressed are geology, botany, zoology, ecosystems, proprietors and naturalists who have worked at the site, and the 1856 battle of Santa Rosa (starring the infamous American brigand William Walker). Congratulations to Luko and his colleagues for what we are certain will be a fascinating read!   TOP