ALBERT

Description: Some rain and savanna forests of western Suriname (Corantijn R., Winana Creek; Upper Marataka R.; Upper Nickerie R;) were studied and their composition was compared with that of forests of other parts of Suriname and Guyana. The savanna forests of western Suriname proved to be much related to Guyanan ( Walabaand Dakama-) savanna forests as described by Davis & Richards (1934) and Fanshawe (1952). On the other hand, there was less relationship as regards rain forests of western Suriname when compared with ones of Guyana and other parts of Suriname, except for the Demerara greenheart forest of the Upper Marataka R., which was closely related to the Demerara greenheart forests of Guyana as described by Davis & Richards (1934). In addition an upland rain forest was studied near Blanche Marie falls, Upper Nickerie R., which proved to be very much like that of the Stofbroekoe Mts., eastern Suriname, as described by Schils (1960). Species/area curves for some rain and savanna forests are given. The geographical distribution of some common western Surinam tree species was studied; of the seventeen species studied one was endemic for Suriname. An annotated list of all species of trees and palms occurring in the explored areas is provided.

Description: The samples of the genus Calypogeia in the dutch institutional herbaria and private collections, those of C. arguta excluded, have been re-identified, according to the revision of the Swiss Calypogeias by Bischler (1957); distribution maps are given for all the taxa. More exact circumscriptions are given of several differentiating characters which were already established by previous authors. In C. fissa and C. sphagnicola the areolation of the leaves appeared to be a new differentiating character: in C. fissa the cells in the middle of the leaf show a great variation in length, whereas in C. sphagnicola the cell size is uniform. These differences are shown in histograms. C. muelleriana appeared to be restricted to the diluvial parts of the country, whereas C. fissa is common on both alluvium and diluvium; c. neesiana, C. sphagnicola and C. trichomanis are very rare, so that no clear geographical distribution can be given.

Description: Dalbergia and Machaerium are two distinct genera. The former genus Ecastophyllum is a distinct entity in the genus Dalbergia. The former genus Drepanocarpus differs from Machaerium only in certain pod characters and is considered as congeneric with it.

Description: The present paper, the fifth¹) in this series, is a continuation of the documented list of chromosome numbers of Angiospermae occurring in the Netherlands. In this paper 49 species and two hybrids are listed. Some species show variation in chromosome number, as was concluded after comparison of our results with those of other authors [cf. the lists published by Löve and Löve (1961); Cave et al. (1956-1964); Ornduff (1967, 1968, 1969); Solbrig and Gadella (1970); Moore (1970)]. Some notes on 14 species and two hybrids are given.

Description: The circular which was enclosed in Bulletin 24 has received full attention of our readers and a large number of cards were received. The large majority favours the continuation of our annotated bibliography as it is, not cutting off references on the Australian and Pacific floras, and not discarding the references on the Cryptogams. A review of Mr. Ferguson’s Index is given on p. 1912. October 21, 1970, Foundation Flora Malesiana existed twenty years. This anniversary was marked by a small festivity in the Rijksherbarium. Although curtailed financially since January 1958, it has kept its promise to promote all studies encompassing progress of the botany and plant geography of the Malesian subcontinent. It is gratifying that with the distinct tendency of the rehabilitation of the economical and political situation in Indonesia during the last few years, science in general, and biology in particular, are getting a new impetus. Amongst others through international agreement and co-operation, two master organisations have been set up, SEAMEC and BIOTROP, the latter being the centre of biological studies and education allotted to Bogor. It is clear that this focus will be a great stimulant and will sponsor biological activity. It was particularly pleasant to learn from Professor Sarwono and Dr. Didin, chairman and secretary of LIPI respectively, that this general scientific rehabilitation scheme included assistance towards the Flora Malesiana Foundation. Although the scientific elaboration of Flora Malesiana has been transferred as a major work project to the Rijksherbarium, a necessity since 1958, there are various desiderata left, amongst others contributions from Indonesian systematists. Unfortunately, the net result of Dr. Kostermans’s efforts to have promising Indonesian students thoroughly trained and prepared to share the tremendous task still before us, is meagre. Two of them, Dr. Soegeng and Dr. Didin, are occupied with very responsible and very necessary but largely administrative tasks, Dr. Prijanto died unexpectedly, and Dr. Soepadmo spends his time largely on educational matters. Clearly something must be done and we trust that in the near future creative work by Indonesian systematists can be resumed. We shall, I sincerely hope, overcome, and the future carries certainly very promising features for a more intense co-operation. And disinterested loyal co-operation is the very basis of ensuring achievement. It is with immense satisfaction that I see this perspective of a bright future ahead.

Description: The entries have been split into five categories: a) Algae – b) Fungi & lichenes – c) Bryophytes – d) Pteridophytes – e) Spermatophytes & General subjects. — Books have been marked with an asterisk.

Description: De in Nederland waargenomen soorten van Taraxacum uit de sectie Spectabilia Dahlst. zijn: T. anglicum Dahlst., T. euryphyllum (Dahlst.) Christ., T. hygrophilum v. S., T. johannis-jansenii v. S. en T. nordstedii Dahlst. Op de kaartjes is hun verspreiding weergegeven, in hoofdzaak berustend op gegevens van na 1950 (fig. 1, a—d). Zou men de oudere gegevens daaruit weglaten, zo zou het beeld dat de kaartjes bieden niet noemenswaard worden beïnvloed. Bij de steeds verder schrijdende cultuurmaatregelen worden deze, op natuurlijke standplaatsen groeiende soorten ernstig bedreigd. Volledigheidshalve zij vermeld dat nog twee nieuwe soorten uit deze sectie te zijner tijd in de Acta Botanica Neerlandica zullen worden gepubliceerd: T. duvigneaudii v. S. (Gouda-Waddinxveen) en T. zevenbergend v. S. (Hijzen bij Moergestel en Houtakker bij Tilburg).

Description: In 1960 I made a preliminary analysis of the floristic distribution of the native Phanerogam genera of the Pacific islands, which amounted to 1511 genera in all. The aims of the present work have been to record these more accurately and more critically in detail, especially with regard to native versus introduced, to complete the survey with new records from new explorations made during the interval, and to evaluate new taxonomic literature on Pacific genera. The present list amounts to a total of 1666 genera, as far as known in July 1969, listed in an Appendix. The floristic relationships of the Pacific islands and the surrounding continental areas are established and a hierarchical subdivision of the flora of the Pacific islands based on demarcations in it is made. Furthermore a nomenclatural stabilization of the names and ranks of the subdivisions is attempted. Chapter IV, 3. An attempt was also made to find factual data on the correlation between distribution and means of dispersal. Chapter IV, 4. Secondary aims were to review earlier attemps towards a subdivision of the Pacific flora (Chapter II), two other secondary purposes to see whether traces of the historic plant-geography of the Pacific flora are still reflected in the present flora (Chapter V), and finally to compare geographic subdivisions and other data from non-Phanerogam taxa, mostly animals, with floristics. Chapter VI. Chapter III is devoted to an explanation and a discussion of the methods employed. Arguments are given why only Phanerogams have been considered and why only native genera have been used for computing results. Chapter III, 1—2. Arguments are given for employing the genus as a working unit. It is shown that the genus is much less susceptible to variability in taxonomic concepts than either the species or the family. Besides it is comparatively easy to establish the distribution of a genus fairly reasonably from literature. Chapter III, 3. Chapter III, 4 is devoted to a discussion on the sources of information on which this work is based, comprising i.a. literature, herbarium collections and personal information. Many errors are contained in the first two of these and it cannot be avoided that some mistakes have not been detected. Also, the island groups have been investigated with a varying degree of intensity. The island groups in the Pacific are taken as geographic units of which there are 36. The surrounding land masses are divided into 12 main areas. Chapter III, 5. Of each genus occurring in any of the 36 Pacific unit areas the full distribution is traced. See Appendix. From a comparative study of generic ranges, it has appeared that they exhibit a restricted number of recognizable patterns, 17 of which have been distinguished. These I have called distribution types in this work. Chapter III, 6. The choice of geographic unit areas introduces a certain element of arbitrariness. Each island group can then be characterized by its set of distribution types: the distribution types spectra. It is also possible to calculate floristic relationships or resemblance between the island groups, for which a number of methods are discussed and evaluated. It appears that basically all methods lead to more or less similar conclusions. Chapter III, 9. As a test for the validity of the conclusions based on the distribution of all genera, similar calculations were performed on 345 revised or otherwise well-known taxa. Although the percentages of the distribution types are slightly different the general conclusions are corroborated. Chapter III, 7. In addition, an attempt has been made to find whether there is a correlation between the distribution and the means of dispersal of these revised or otherwise well-known taxa. Chapter III, 8. One of the most important results of this work is the census of Pacific genera. See Appendix. By using the method of distribution types spectra, demarcation knots and other methods it has been possible to find demarcations and to define phytochores. The main demarcation is that between the New and Old World floras. A hierarchy is set up of subdivisions which is illustrated in fig. 35 and tabulated in table 6. It appears that a strong demarcation exists between the islands on the American side of the Pacific (Galapagos, Juan Fernandez, etc.) and the western islands. Hawaii and SE. Polynesia form the easternmost frontier of the OldWorld flora. This conclusion was reached almost unanimously by all phytogeographers, one of the earliest being Engler after whom I have proposed to name this demarcation: Engler’s line. In the W. Pacific Bonin in the north and New Zealand and adjacent islands in the south show a sharp demarcation from the rest, Bonin forming part of the E. Asiatic region, and New Zealand forming a distinct subregion of the Australian. New Caledonia cannot be satisfactorily placed. It shows relations with New Guinea, Queensland and the Pacific in about equal measure. Besides it abounds in endemics, some of which are highly peculiar in various aspects. The remaining part of the Pacific shows an essentially Malesian character, decreasing in strength from west to east. The New Hebrides with Fiji, Samoa and Tonga form a subprovince as does SE. Polynesia, Hawaii is considered a separate province of the Malesian subregion. Unlike the islands west of Engler’s line the American Pacific islands show very little mutual floristic alliance, but they all have a characteristic American flora. Comparisons with subdivisions and demarcations of other groups of organisms show that often, but not always, the same barriers are respected by unrelated groups. My data give certain indications about the past but no attempt has been made to correlate the conclusions with contemporary geological theories. The regularity of distribution patterns, the close floristic alliance among the islands west of Engler’s line independent of their distance from each other, combined with the fact that dispersal spectra show no clear correlation between distribution and ‘dispersibility’, suggests an old relictual character of the flora rather than a young one built up by random long-distance dispersal. This applies especially to the W. Carolines, the Melanesian islands, Lord Howe I. and New Zealand, i.e. islands more or less within the Andesite line, which are much richer and contain many poor dispersers. For Hawaii also a better accessibility in the past seems indicated. The regular decrease in the number of taxa in proportion to their distance from source areas is discussed. An attempt is made to explain the phenomenon. A tentative conclusion is reached that impoverishment and other phenomena attributed to oceanic islands are not restricted to these. A large scale comparative study of continental and island floras is needed.

Description: In January 1971 Dr. Simon Jan van Ooststroom, senior botanist of the Rijksherbarium, retired on reaching the age of 65, having been on the staff since November 1934. Though this event will to a certain extent change, but not interrupt, his work, it is nevertheless worth commemorating, as he has so many contacts at home and abroad, all of whom have profited from his wide knowledge which he shared freely. He was born in Rotterdam in 1906, where he received his primary and part of his secondary education. He completed the latter in Schiedam and entered the University of Utrecht in 1924. He became the assistant of Prof. Dr. A. Pulle in January 1927. By chance he became interested in the genus Evolvulus and this led him to compose an excellent world monograph of this genus for which he was awarded his doctor’s degree in 1934 and which furthermore caused a life-long interest in the bindweed family, on which he became a most reliable authority, especially for the Indo-Australian region. Many papers emanated from these studies, culminating in his treatment (assisted by Dr. R. D. Hoogland) of the family in Flora Malesiana (1953).

Description: A peculiar structural detail, occurring during the development of ovules, seems to have passed almost unnoticed till the present day. It concerns the distal rim of either the outer or the inner integument, which appears to be slightly lobed in the ovules of several unrelated plants. In a recent note (1970) I called attention to this feature. It is known from Juglans and Platycaria (Warming, 1878; Leroy, 1955; Boesewinkel and Bouman, 1967), where the single integument is two-lobed. Warming mentioned two more cases, namely Lagarosiphon and Symplocarpus; however, I cannot confirm his observations from dried material. I noticed it myself in Scyphostegia horneensis, in Caloncoba welwitschii, and in Sterculia alexandri. In these three species the lobes occur at the rim of the outer integument. To these can now be added Hernandia peltata. However, in that species the lobes occur at the rim of the inner integument.