New taxa to commemorate the opening of the Van Steenis building by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix PDF
Preview New taxa to commemorate the opening of the Van Steenis building by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix
New taxato commemoratetheopeningofthe Van Steenisbuildingby Her MajestyQueen Beatrix INTRODUCTION Systematic botany isaboutthediscovery, description, naming, and understanding of plant diversity.Of thesefour aspects the naming and describingofnewspecies be- longs tothemosttraditional, yetexciting activitiesoftheplant taxonomist. On the occasion oftheofficial opening oftheVanSteenis Building by HerMajesty Queen Beatrix, weindulge inpresenting species andonegenus, newto science, andnamed to commemorate thisauspicious event. TheVanSteenisBuilding provides thenewandhighly functionalpremises forthe Rijksherbarium, theCentreforEnvironmentalScience, andthefacilities fortheun- dergraduate study ofbiology ofLeiden University. Prof. Dr. C.G.G.J, van Steenis (1901-1986) wasanunrivalledauthority ofMalesianbotanybuthealsowas apioneer in tropical vegetation science, ecology andnature conservation.During his director- ship oftheRijksherbarium (1962-1972) theinstituteflourishedas neverbefore.The moss species DicranolomasteenisiiKlazenga is namedin hishonour,and addsan- other taxon to the rich eponymy commemorating this greatbotanist. We are very honouredthathiswidow,Mrs.VanSteenis-Krusemanwillbepresent attheopening ceremony. Itmay seemironic thatthe inauguration ofthebuilding which carries VanSteenis’s name is celebratedwiththe launching ofnew taxa. ThecredoofVan Steeniswas thatweshouldendeavourto determinehow few,not howmany species are comprised inthefloraofaregion. Ofcourse hewas absolutelyright incriticising thelight-hearted description ofnew species on thebasis ofslightly deviating plant specimens. Thenewtaxa presented here havenothing incommonwiththeseephem- eralblemisheson botanical nomenclature;they aregood and distinct species recog- nisedby specialists from the ‘LeidenSchool’, who arerenownedfortheirtendency tolump ratherthan tosplit. Mostofthenewspecies were not recently foundinthefield,butdiscoveredinthe herbariuminthe process ofmonographic systematic study. Thereis an important messagehere forbiodiversity research policy: biological collectionsin herbariaand museums harbourthe greatestandmost efficiently accessible wealthof taxonomic diversity imaginable. Notonly for discovering new species, but also forproviding base-line dataon all species ofaregional or nationalflora. Inthisageofbiodiver- sity informaticsherbariumcollectionsare the richest source tobe tapped forestab- lishing monitorprojects andthustoacquire insightsintotheeffects ofhumaninter- ventionon plant biodiversity. It wouldbefoolish forany governmentto have high aspirations forsustainableuse and conservationofbiodiversity resources, while at thesametimeneglecting theirnationalherbariumcollections.Itis gratifying thatthe physical conditionsforcurating theRijksherbarium collectionsare now betterthan they havebeen foravery long time,thanksto thewise investmentsby theBoardof 2 BLUMEA Vol. 41, No. 1, 1996 LeidenUniversity. Iexpress the hope that theimmense, andfor a greatpart still untapped, informationcontent ofour collections will remainaccessible through the funding ofasufficient stafffortheircollectionmanagementand scientific curation. The Rijksherbarium/Hortus Botanicus co-ordinatesalarge Human Capital and MobilityNetwork in Europe on the Plant Diversity ofthe Indo-PacificRegion, fundedby theEuropean Union.Duringthepreparations fortheofficial opening, our ScottishFellow inthe Dublinnodeofthenetwork, Dr. D.J. Middletonsubmitteda new genusin theApocynaceae forpublication, Ecua, a climberfromMaluku, Indo- nesia, namedtocommemorate thecurrency inwhich theresearch was funded.He kindly agreed toinclude thisnewgenusinthelistoftaxa tobelaunchedattheopen- ing oftheVanSteenisBuilding. Atributetofinancialsupportneededforbasic plant biodiversity research is not outofplaceonthisoccasion. In 1829theRijksherbarium was foundedinBrussels by Royal Decree ofKing WilliamIofthethen unitedNetherlands.In 1996Her Majesty Queen Beatrix is the firstreigning monarch to visit the Rijksherbarium, partofthe Research Institute Rijksherbarium/Hortus BotanicusofLeiden University. In theintervening period we havelooked after a unique herbariumcollectionfrom Luxembourg donatedto KingWilliamIII inthelate 19thCentury, andidentifiedherbariumspecimens collect- edby HerRoyal Highness Princess Julianawhenshewas still aschoolgirl. Several timestheHortusBotanicushaswelcomedmembersoftheroyal family forinformal visits. Itis thereforewithgreatpleasure thatwededicateafern species, Microsorum aurantiacumNoot. to theRoyal HouseofOrange. Not lessthan seven species are namedin variousways after HerMajesty Queen Beatrixherself: Galerinabeatricis Bas, Entoloma reginae Noordel.& Chrispijn, Selliguea sri-ratuHovenkamp, Bul- bophyllum gemma-reginae J.J.Vermeulen, Chelonistelelaetitia-reginae de Vogel, GoniothalamusmajestatisP. KeGler,andAlstoniabeatricisSidiyasa. Thesespecies arerepresentative ofonly partofthephylads studied attheRijksherbarium/Hortus Botanicus, yet range from theAgaricales ofthehigher fungi, through mosses and fernsto theangiosperms. Only two arefromtheNetherlands, theremainderis from tropical Malesia, wheresomanyspecies remain tobe described, andthemajority of plant biodiversity is still insufficiently understood,despite theurgent societal need forplant taxonomicinformation. We dedicatethisbouquetofnewtaxa respectfully to HerMajesty Queen Beatrix, andexpress our appreciation forheractiveinterest inourinstitute. Leiden, 11 June1996 PieterBaas Director
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