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Fieldwork, examination of herbarium specimens and photographic images, supported by molecular sequencing have resulted in the re-interpretation of a number of species of Ipomoea L. found in Ecuador and the recognition of four new species. Ipomoea ophiodes Standl. & Steyerm. is shown to be a distinct species from I. regnellii Meisn. and their contra...
Systematic monographs are an important tool for understanding biodiversity. However, while papers that outline systematic methods for biogeography, phylogenetics and diversification are commonplace, papers that cover methods for monographic and taxonomic research are rare. In this paper, we describe how we conducted a monographic study of Ipomoea ,...
A rebuttal to the proposal to change the conserved type of Ipomoea is presented. We argue the proposal is unnecessary and has no basis in evidence or precedent that justifies its approval.
Big genera represent a significant proportion of the world's plants. However, comprehensive taxonomic and evolutionary studies of these genera are often complicated by their size and geographic spread. This paper explores the challenges faced in classifying these megadiverse plant groups consequent to the existing tension between diagnosability and...
Angola is a tropical country with many biogeographical units and, therefore, has a high floristic diversity. Although an increasing number of floristic studies has been carried out in Angola in recent years, the country is still considered to be underinvestigated as many species being collected were previously unknown there. Several scientific grou...
A brief history of the discovery of Strobilanthes species in Myanmar is presented. The revival of fieldwork in recent years has resulted in many new records, so an updated checklist of all known species from the country is needed. Selected specimens are cited and distribution notes provided. One new species, Strobilanthes hians J.R.I.Wood & K.Armst...
Disagreements over how to define species potentially render them incomparable, yet biologists routinely count and compare species. This ‘species problem’ persists despite the wealth of data and methods available to contemporary systematists. A heuristic approach to species provides a consistent yet flexible means of selecting, assessing, and integr...
The origin of sweetpotato, a hexaploid species, is poorly understood, partly because the identity of its tetraploid progenitor remains unknown. In this study, we identify, describe and characterize a new species of Ipomoea that is sweetpotato’s closest tetraploid relative known to date and probably a direct descendant of its tetraploid progenitor....
Species are crucial to most branches of biological research, yet remain controversial in terms of definition, delimitation and reality. The difficulty of resolving the “species problem” stems from the tension between their theoretical concept as groups of evolving and highly variable organisms and the practical need for a stable and comparable unit...
The date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, has been a cornerstone of Middle Eastern and North African agriculture for millennia. It was first domesticated in the Persian Gulf, and its evolution appears to have been influenced by gene flow from two wild relatives, P. theophrasti, currently restricted to Crete and Turkey, and P. sylvestris, widespread from...
The date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera ) has been a cornerstone of Middle Eastern and North African agriculture for millennia. It is presumed that date palms were first domesticated in the Persian Gulf and subsequently introduced into North Africa, where their evolution in the latter region appears to have been influenced by gene flow from the wild re...
Urera Gaudich, s.l. is a pantropical genus comprising c. 35 species of trees, shrubs, and vines. It has a long history of taxonomic uncertainty, and is repeatedly recovered as polyphyletic within a poorly resolved complex of genera in the Urticeae tribe of the nettle family (Urticaceae). To provide generic delimitations concordant with evolutionary...
The description of a new species is a key step in cataloguing the World’s flora. However, this is only a preliminary stage in a long process of understanding what that species represents. We investigated how long the species discovery process takes by focusing on three key stages: 1, the collection of the first specimen; 2, the publication of the s...