Scott ZonaNorth Carolina State University | NCSU · Department of Horticultural Science
Scott Zona
PhD in Botany
My newest book: A Gardener's Guide to Botany.
https://quarto.com/books/9780760374450/a-gardener-s-guide-to-botany
About
97
Publications
65,242
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
1,567
Citations
Introduction
I am a Botanist.
Additional affiliations
January 2008 - August 2017
September 1993 - January 2008
Publications
Publications (97)
New Guinea is the world’s largest tropical island and a globally significant biodiversity hotspot. Palms dominate the rainforests of New Guinea, from exquisite, forest floor palmlets to graceful canopy giants, and are vital for local people who depend on them for survival.
Palms of New Guinea is the first comprehensive account of these immensely i...
A Gardener’s Guide to Botany is not just another book on how to grow plants. Instead, it’s a lushly illustrated botanical journey into what makes plants tick, delivered in layman’s terms that are easily understood and appreciated by both advanced gardeners and first-timers. It’s the chlorophyll-infused science behind the plants you know and love, w...
A 12-month survey of cyanogenesis in the fruits and leaves of Nandina domestica (Berberidaceae) revealed that the leaves are strongly cyanogenic throughout the year, as measured by the Feigl-Anger test. Fruits vary in their cyanogenic potential depending on the degree of ripeness and clone. Green fruits are strongly and rapidly cyanogenic, but most...
Disponible en inglés y español. Este libro es un recorrido por la diversidad y riqueza de las palmas en el mundo.
La relación entre las palmas y los seres humanos ha sido muy estrecha desde el inicio de las civilizaciones antiguas. Hoy son tan importantes como lo fueron para los antiguos aztecas, pues desde siempre han proporcionado comida, refugi...
Premise of research. Salvia is one of the most species-rich genera in the world. Its outstanding diversity and subcosmopolitan distribution have prevented the preparation of a modern comprehensive monograph and re-evaluation of its classification. As phylogenetic efforts advance to untangle the evolutionary relationships of Sal-via, the need for a...
Aerial vegetative diaspores — often simply called “bulbils” in the botanical and horticultural literature — are diverse in morphology, origin, position, and modes of dispersal. This review examines their occurrence in the Angiosperms, their morphology and site of origin, and possible ecological and evolutionary advantages. Moreover, a standard term...
The curious habit of shingle-leaf climbers – root-climbing plants whose leaves are closely adpressed to the phorophyte and often overlap like shingles – has attracted the attention of both botanists and horticulturists for more than a century. The habit has arisen in ten families, 22 genera, and at least 158 species and is especially common in seve...
Premise of research. Salvia is one of the most species-rich genera in the world. Its outstanding diversity and subcosmopolitan distribution have prevented the preparation of a modern comprehensive monograph and re-evaluation of its classification. As phylogenetic efforts advance to untangle the evolutionary relationships of Salvia, the need for a s...
History of date palm agriculture in Furnace Creek, Death Valley and China Ranch, California
A review of the nomenclature of the Cuban species of Calyptronoma revealed two names, both based on Charles Wright collections and now synonyms of Calyptronoma plumeriana, whose authorities have been incorrectly cited in the literature. Moreover, additional duplicate types for several Cuban taxa have been located.
Citation: Moya, C.E. & S. Zona. C...
Coccothrinax argentata (Arecaceae) occurs in southern Florida, both on the mainland and in the islands of the Florida Keys. However, the palms from the mainland and Keys display morphological differences that led taxonomists to recognize them as distinct species in the past. They are now treated as a single, polymorphic species, but the question re...
Although Salvia roemeriana has long been known to produce both chasmogamous and cleistogamous flowers, the mericarps resulting from those flowers have received little attention. We germinated seeds from chasmogamous and cleistogamous flowers, recorded germination times, and fit time-to-germination, three-parameter log-logistic regressions to analyz...
Garnett and Christidis (2017) slammed taxonomy for hampering conservation. They painted a picture of capricious taxonomists arbitrarily creating or dismissing species and claimed “the scientific community's failure to govern taxonomy threatens the effectiveness of global efforts to halt biodiversity loss, damages the credibility of science, and is...
Garnett and Christidis (2017) slammed taxonomy for hampering conservation. They painted a picture of capricious taxonomists arbitrarily creating or dismissing species and claimed “the scientific community's failure to govern taxonomy threatens the effectiveness of global efforts to halt biodiversity loss, damages the credibility of science, and is...
The endocarps of Chamaedorea cataractarum, a rheophytic palm, have adherent fibers, which separate from the endocarp and display hooked tips after the endocarps have been submerged in water. Laboratory experiments suggest that the hooked fibers increase drag on the endocarp while in the water column and
then anchor the endocarp to a substrate prior...
Introduced species can have diverse effects on recipient ecosystems. Here we share observations suggesting the formation of a reciprocally positive interaction, seed dispersal, between an introduced lizard and a native palm. We present evidence that the large arboreal lizard (Anolis equestris), native to The West Indies but well-established in sout...
Brother Marie-Victorin (1885–1944) was a member of the Roman Catholic congregation of the La Salle Brothers and one of the most important figures in the botanical history of Canada. In 1929, he undertook a 7-month trip across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. During this journey he visited the islands of Gran Canaria (26–27 June) and Tenerife (28...
The seed dispersal mechanisms of Salvia species are reviewed, with particular attention to quantitative or experimental evidence of dispersal. Despite having rather uniform fruit morphology, Salvia has several dispersal mechanisms: dispersal of mericarps by water (hydrochory), wind (anemochory), animals (zoochory) or gravity (barochory). Cases of m...
A recent survey of the liverworts of Mahogany Hammock, Everglades National
Park, Florida, USA, complements the surveys in the 1950s, 1970s, and 1980s. Despite
disturbances by hurricanes, changes in local ecology, and millions of park visitors,
Mahogany Hammock still supports a rich hepatic flora with mostly tropical affinities. We
collected 29 of c...
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden maintains a living collection of Mangifera species collected in Indonesian and Malaysian Borneo, Hawaii, Java, Peninsular Malaysia, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Sumatra and Thailand. This collection is composed of single tree accessions planted at the Williams Grove Genetic facility located in Homestead, Florida, USA. P...
This is an outreach article that highlights the botanical activity in the Caribbean islands by the Brothers of La Salle. It was published in The Tropical Garden, magazine of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Miami.
The nutrient-poor soils of tropical rainforests have pushed plants to evolve new ways to get the carbon, nitrogen, potassium and other nutrients that they need. Many tap into the rainforest’s constant drizzle of falling leaves, flowers, fruits and more to create their own private compost piles.
The phenology, floral biology and pollination ecology of Salvia arborescens Urb. & Ekman (Lamiaceae) are reported, based on field and garden observations. The flowers of S. arborescens are white, fragrant and rich in nectar. Anthesis begins in the late afternoon, and flowers wilt by late morning of the following day. Floral features fit the moth po...
Salvia subg. Calosphace sect. Gardoquiiflorae is re-examined, and three species, all endemic to Hispaniola (Greater Antilles), are recognized. The names S. brachyloba, S. buchii and S. selleana are here lectotypified. Detailed morphological descriptions, distribution maps, information about habitat, and an identification key to the species are prov...
Litter-trapping plants have specialized growth habits and morphologies that enable them to capture falling leaf litter and other debris, which the plants use for nutrition after the litter has decayed. Litter is trapped via rosettes of leaves, specially modified leaves and/or upward-growing roots (so-called ‘root baskets’). Litter-trappers, both ep...
Species of the genus Schinus Linnaeus (1753) (Anacardiaceae) are native to the Americas but are found in many tropical and subtropical parts of the world, where they are cultivated as ornamentals or crops (“pink peppercorns”) or they are invasive weeds. Schinus molle L. (1753: 388) is a cultivated ornamental tree in Australia, California, Mexico, t...
A new survey of liverworts in three tropical hardwood hammocks in South Florida 100 years after they were first surveyed by John Kunkel Small found that the liverwort flora is mostly intact. The new survey collected 24 species, recollecting eight of the 13 species first collected by Small in these hammocks. Some taxa not noted by Small are xerophyt...
Solfia, a monotypic genus from Samoa, is synonymized with Balaka, based on
molecular evidence. When transferred to Balaka, Solfia samoensis requires a new
name for which we propose Balaka insularis.
2014). Dracaena L. (Asparagaceae) en el Nuevo Mundo: su historia y botánica. VIERAEA 42: 219-240. RESUMEN: Se presenta una revisión sobre el descubrimiento de las únicas especies de Dracaena L. (Asparagaceae) endémicas del Nuevo Mundo: D. americana Donn. Sm. y D. cubensis Vict. Se muestran mapas de distribución e ilustraciones para ambas especies....
Recent botanical exploration in eastern Malesia has resulted in the discovery of three spectacular palm taxa that have proved difficult to assign to genus. New evidence from molecular phylogenetic research indicates that these taxa should now be recognised as three monotypic genera. Here, we describe these genera as new to science, all of which are...
A study was conducted on Mangifera casturi, Mangifera lalijiwa, Mangifera rubrapatela, Mangifera odorata, Mangifera lauraina, Mangifera zeylanica and Mangifera sp (‘Rampagni’) grown at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden living collection located in Homestead, FL, USA. These species are part of a Mangifera species collection that currently consis...
Many animal species are important dispersers of seeds; however, relatively little attention has been paid to the seed-dispersal capabilities of reptiles, and almost nothing is known about the seed-dispersal capabilities of crocodilians. This lack of information is surprising given that seeds have been found in the stomach contents of a majority of...
Tuberous, water-storing roots in Ravenea xerophila are described and illustrated.
They are the first such roots ever recorded for a palm. Tuberous roots are probably
an adaptation to the xeric habitat in which this palm grows in southern Madagascar.
This study, the first survey of species composition and abundance in the built environment of Miami, Florida, USA, found 18 taxa, six of them new records for Miami-Dade County. The newly reported taxa are: Acrolejeunea heterophylla, Frullania brittoniae, F. eboracensis ssp. virginica, F. inflata var. communis, Lejeunea trinitensis, and Marchantia i...
The gemmae of the corticolous moss Calymperes palisotii cling to the bodies of the millipede Anadenobolus monilicornis, a species that climbs tree trunks. Both field observations and experiments showed that the millipedes transport gemmae. The millipedes are presumed dispersers
of the moss; moreover, the millipedes provide directed dispersal, trans...
The use of palms as a source of sweet sap is ancient and widespread throughout the palm-growing regions of Africa, Asia and the Americas. Sweet sap is consumed fresh, processed into syrup or sugar, or fermented into alcohol or vinegar. We review 40 species of palms and their tapping methods, which may be either destructive or nondestructive. Nondes...
Erpodium domingense is reported for the first time from Miami, Florida. In the United States, this tropical American species was previously known from only two localities in southern Texas.
Morphometric analyses are used to test two competing hypotheses of classification for Aiphanes (Arecaceae: Cocoseae) in the Antilles. Three vegetative characters and three characters of the inflorescence were analyzed via one-way analyses of variance followed by a test of pairwise comparisons for the least-squares means. We found a complex pattern...
A study of seed coat micromorphology, using both light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, revealed characters of taxonomic significance and utility among the species of Eriocaulaceae of the United States and Canada. Our survey of nine native species of Eriocaulon, five Lachnocaulon, and one Syngonanthus revealed diversity in the shape and...
A study of seed coat micromorphology, using both light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, revealed characters of taxonomic significance and utility among the species of Eriocaulaceae of the United States and Canada. Our survey of nine native species of Eriocaulon, five Lachnocaulon, and one Syngonanthus revealed diversity in the shape and...
Additional collections and observations of living material shed new light on Salvia subg. Calosphace sect. Wrightiana, which comprises three species endemic to Cuba and Hispaniola. A new key and expanded descriptions are presented, a lectotype is designated for Salvia wunschmannii, which is a synonym of S. densiflora. One species, S. strobilanthoid...
We examined the phylogeny and intergeneric relationships among the 12 genera of the palm subtribe Ptychospermatinae. While many of these taxa are familiar, cultivated ornamental palms in warm areas of the world, the monophyly of the subtribe and its component genera required testing. We also examined the biogeographic relationships of this lineage,...
Leaf size and shape, long used to differentiate taxa in Haenianthus, were found to be less useful than previously believed. Nevertheless, two species can be recognized on the basis of leaf shape, H. incrassatus and H. salicifolius. The former species has long petioles, attenuate leaf bases, and thin laminas and is endemic to cloud forests of Jamaic...
Pseudophoenix sargentii is critically endangered in the USA. We have developed ten polymorphic microsatellite loci for this palm. A study based on
populations from the Bahamas and Florida identified 3–17 alleles per locus. Values for the fixation index were positive, and
eight loci deviated significantly from Hardy–Weinberg Equilibrium. Two differe...
The micromorphology of the seeds of six species of Hypoxis (Hypoxidaceae) from eastern North America (east of Texas) was studied with low vacuum, scanning electron microscopy using the backscatter detector. The shape of the cells of the seed coat and the configuration of the cuticle appeared characteristic for a particular species. The species may...
The native Philippine palms cultivated in the Makiling Botanic Gardens, Philippines are featured in this paper, some with color photographs.
The Caribbean Islands are one of the world's 34 biodiversity hotspots, remarkable for its biological richness and the high level of threat to its flora and fauna. The palms (family Arecaceae) are well represented in the West Indies, with 21 genera (three endemic) and 135 species (121 endemic). We provide an overview of phylogenetic knowledge of Wes...
The palm Coccothrinax argentata occurs on both the southern Florida mainland and the Florida Keys, but the populations are morphologically distinct. The mainland populations tend to be shorter in stature than the insular populations. We tested the hypothesis that differences in stature were the result of genotypic selection because of different env...
Fresh hearts of palm were tested for cyanogenic glycosides; two species of the genus Dypsis were cyanogenic. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Observations of a cultivated specimen of Manicaria saccifera Gaertn. revealed that the stem of this species branches dichotomously. PALMS 50(2): 99–102 1. Manicaria saccifera at FTBG. There are two sets of twin shoots; one pair has 10 and 9 expanded leaves, while the other pair had 10 and 10 expanded leaves. One shoot is hidden in this photo. E = e...
The systematic placement of the little-known species Ptychosperma micranthum (Arecaceae/Palmae: Arecoideae: Areceae) from far western New Guinea has been repeatedly disputed, resulting in recombinations in both Heterospathe and Rhopaloblaste. However, comparative morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies provide strong evidence against the p...
The occurrence and discovery of Dransfieldia micrantha, on of the tropical palms from the forests of New Guinea, is described. Descriptions of field collections, detective work in libraries and herbaria, morphological comparisons and modern molecular analyses conducted in order to identify the collected palm are also given.
Ruminate endosperm, the condition in which the endosperm is dissected by in-growths of the seed coat, is a common condition in the palms. It is present in 53 genera from throughout the family, having no particular systematic or geographic distribution. Many genera are heterogeneous in endosperm condition, having both ruminate and homogeneous endosp...
Although known to European botanists since 1876, the genus Ptychococcus (Arecaceae: Arecoideae: Ptychospermatinae) of New Guinea has remained one of the most poorly known genera of the Ptychospermatinae. The present study, based on examinations of plants in the field, in herbaria, and in cultivation, reduces the number of species to two and present...
Zona, S. (Fairchild Tropical Garden, 11935 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, FL 33156-4242, USA. e-mail: szona@fairchildgarden.org). Endosperm condition and the paradox of Ptychococcus paradoxus. Telopea 10(1): 179–185. Endosperm condition, whether homogeneous or ruminate, is an easily-observed character that is widely used in species level taxonomy o...
A Viewpoint of the Convention on Biological Diversity published in Public Garden Magazine, published by the American Public Gardens Association.
https://www.publicgardens.org/public-garden-magazine
The Commelinoid monocots are a monophyletic group comprising the Arecales, Commelinales, Poales and Zingiberales, plus the
unplaced family Dasypogonaceae. Pollen from 149 taxa was examined qualitatively for starch as the primary storage product.
Starchy pollen was found in 134 taxa (90% of the sample) of Commelinoid monocots. Starchy pollen thus ap...
Agave decipiens Baker is shown to be morphologically and geographically distinct from A. vivipara L. of Mexico. The species differ in ovary length and anther length. Agave decipiens is endemic to southern Florida, USA, where it occurs in small, scattered populations in coastal habitats, some of which are currently protected. Its conservation status...
We surveyed leaf material of 545 individual palms representing 108 genera and 155 species for cyanogenesis using the Feigl-Anger test. We detected HCN production in only two species of one genus, Drymophloeus. Additional smaller surveys of shoot meristems and roots revealed cyanogenesis only in the shoot meristem of one species of Dypsis. Our resul...
A revision of the genus Drymophloeus (Arecaceae: Arecoideae: Ptychospermatinae) recognizes seven species, distributed from the Maluku Islands of Indonesia to Western Samoa. The history of the genus is reviewed. A key, species descriptions; a complete list of synonymy, a list of specimens examined, illustrations and distribution maps are provided. A...
Abstract The California Peony (Paeonia californica), a regional endemic and outcrossing species, is almost completely monomorphic for 23 isozyme loci. The level of genetic diversity in the California Peony is similar to that of narrow endemics and/or self-fertilizing species. This paradoxical result may be explained by either of two hypotheses: 1)...
Enzyme electrophoresis and restriction-fragment analysis of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) and nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) were used to test the hypothesis that both Helianthus neglectus and H. paradoxus are stabilized hybrid derivatives of H. annuus and H. petiolaris. The four species are annuals, diploid outcrossers, and have the same chromosome number...
Enzyme electrophoresis and restriction-fragment analysis of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) and nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) were used to test the hypothesis that both Helianthus neglectus and H. paradoxus are stabilized hybrid derivatives of H. annuus and H. petiolaris. The four species are annuals, diploid outcrossers, and have the same chromosome number...
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Claremont Graduate School, 1989. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 177-192). Photocopy.
Allozyme data, combined with traditional morphological and anatomical data, were used to evaluate the genetic status of the island endemic, Cercocarpus traskiae (Catalina mahogany). Comprising only seven adult plants and close to 70 seedlings, C. traskiae is confined to Wild Boar Gully on the southwest side of Santa Catalina Island in Los Angeles C...
A comparative study of the leaf anatomy ofthree species of three genera of Goetzeaceae (Henoonia, Goetzea, and Espadaea) revealed a number of characteristics common to all genera, viz. anomocytic stomata, sinuous anticlinal epidermal walls, both glandular and uniseriate nonglandular trichomes, crystal sand and druses in the mesophyll (often in the...
Qualitative and quantitative features are reported for Bocconia, Dendromecon, Dicentra, Hunnemannia, and Romneya. Bocconia differs from the other genera by its wide vessels, few per group, and few per mm2; it shows paedomorphosis in vessel element length and ray histology. In respects other than these, it agrees with features common to woody Papave...
Qualitative and quantitative wood features are reported for 38 species representing 22 genera, including the scandent genera Mendoncia and Thunbergia. Woods of Acanthaceae are characterized by relatively narrow vessels with simple perforation plates and alternate lateral wall pitting, septate libriform fibers, scanty vasicentric axial parenchyma, r...
Sabal miamiensis, a species endemic to the Miami pinelands of south Florida, is described and illustrated. It is shown to be morphologically
and ecologically distinct fromS. etonia andS. palmetto.
Typescript. Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 1983. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-87).
Questions
Question (1)
I'm looking to do some simple tests for HCN in fruits. I'll put the sample in small vials and suspend a bit of Feigl-Anger paper above it to detect the HCN. My strips are very old, and I can't find a source to buy strips ready-made. Does anyone have some Feigl-Anger paper that I could have that I can cut into ca. 120 strips (they can be small, say 1 X 10 mm)?
