Geographic Distribution and Conservation of Cactaceae from Tamaulipas Mexico

An inventory of the species of Cactaceae from Tamaulipas, Mexico was carried out. The study area was divided into 48 squares of 30 min of latitude and 30 min of longitude. Collections were made at 60 sampling sites distributed over an area extending in to the bordering states of San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León, Veracruz and Texas (USA). Species diversity per squares and their geographic distribution range were obtained. Results showed a diversity of 120 species and 53 subspecies, of total 49 are considered as endangered by the CITES, IUCN, and SEMARNAT. The genera most represented were Mammillaria, Coryphantha, Echinocereus and Opuntia. Index of Geographical Expansion (IGE) was calculated for each species. Highest diversity per squares as well as the IGE for each species was found at square 66 (Jaumave) IGE = 52%, 72 (Tanque Blanco) IGE = 22% and 59 (Cd. Victoria) IGE = 7%. It was for these sites that had the highest number of endemic taxa and thus are recommended as priority sites for conservation. This information may help establish natural protected areas by the government of the State of Tamaulipas.     

A new species of Verbesina (Asteraceae) from gypsum outcrops in southern Nuevo León,Mexico

Verbesina hintoniorum, an endemic gypsophile belonging to the sect.Saubinetia, is described from south-central Nuevo León. Only two collection sites are known, both from gypsum outcrops about Cerro Potosí.     

A taxonomic study of Jamesia (Hydrangeaceae)

Jamesia (Hydrangeaceae) is endemic to western North America from the southern Rocky Mountains in southeastern Wyoming and Colorado west across the Great Basin to the southern Sierra Nevada and south through New Mexico and southeastern Arizona to Chihuahua and Nuevo León. Its distinctiveness and Oligocene fossil record suggest that it is an old genus. The genus comprises five geographically distinct taxa that can be grouped into two species. One of these,Jamesia americana, is further divided into four varieties, the second of which is new, and the fourth of which assumes a name older than that in current use:J. americana var.americana, var.zionis, var.macrocalyx, and var.rosea. The second species,J. tetrapetala, is new.     

A new species of Bidens (Compositae) from Mexico

Bidens longistyla, an annual species with a square stem and yellow rays, known only from the States of Nuevo León and Coahuila, Mexico, is described as new.     

Astragalus mario-sousae (Fabaceae: Galegeae), a new species from northeastern Mexico

Astragalus mario-sousae is described from the central part of state of Nuevo León, Mexico. It differs fromAstragalus esperanzae by its habit, peduncles, pedicels, and fruits.

---

Resumen   Astragalus mario-sousae (Fabaceae: Galegeae), a new species from northeastern Mexico. Brittonia 57: 314–319. 2005.—Astragalus mario-sousae es propuesta como especie nueva. Se conoce solo de la porción central del estado mexicano de Nuevo León. Se presentan una descripción e ilustración. Difiere deAstragalus esperanzae por su hábito erecto, pedúnculos, pedicelos y frutos más cortos.

     

Trisetum curvisetum (Poaceae: Aveneae), a new species from Mexico

Trisetum curvisetum is a new species from high Sierra Madre Oriental in Nuevo León, Mexico. Its soft rather than liquid endosperm is new for the genus, and its lemma awn is thin and flexuous, easily distinguishable from that of other North AmericanTrisetum.     

Plantae Alpinae Novae Mexicanae: Argemone subalpina (Papaveraceae)

A new species ofArgemone (Papaveraceae),A. subalpina, is recognized from the subalpine glades of Sierra Peña Nevada, Nuevo León, México. It is the first member of the poppy family to be associated with timberline vegetation in the New World. The new taxon is closely related toA. platyceras of the Mexican transvolcanic belt, but differs by retrorse cauline spines, broadly ellipsoid flower buds to 20 mm long, caudate sepal norns 3–5 mm long, and recurved fruit spines.     

New Teleostei from the Agua Nueva Formation (Turonian), Vallecillo (NE Mexico)

A new genus and new species of an ichthyodectiform fish, a new species of the pachyrizodontid Goulmimichthys, as well as specimens of Araripichthys sp. are described from the Agua Nueva Formation (Turonian) of Vallecillo, State of Nuevo León, NE Mexico. The ichthyodectiform fish shows a combination of characters from different families, warranting the creation of a new genus and questioning the monophyly of these families. We report herein the first record of Goulmimichthys and Araripichthys in North America. To cite this article: A. Blanco, L. Cavin, C.R. Palevol 2 (2003).     

Three new species of Phacelia (Hydrophyllaceae) from Nuevo León,Mexico

Three new species ofPhacelia from Nuevo León, Mexico are described and illustrated. Two of these,P. hintoniorum andP. potosina, belong to theCrenulata group; the former, with included anthers, relates toP. coerulea; the latter, with exserted anthers, relates toP. alba orP. coulteri. The remaining novelty,P. zaragozana, belongs to the subgenusCosmanthus where its closest relationship is withP. laxa.     

Hesperozygis pusilla (Labiatae), a new species from Mexico

Hesperozygis pusilla Irving, a rare and apparently endemic species from Galeana, Nuevo León, is described. It is closely allied toH. ciliolata Epling. BothH. ciliolata andH. pusilla have chromosome numbers of 2n = 36.     

Distribution of ixodid ticks on dogs in Nuevo León, Mexico, and their association with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato

This study aimed to document the geographic distribution of Ixodes tick species in dogs and the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. in adult ticks and blood samples by amplification of the ospA region of the B. burgdorferi genome. The study area included nine localities in Nuevo León state. DNA amplification was performed on pools of ticks to calculate the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), and the community composition (prevalence, abundance, and intensity of infestation) was recorded. A total of 2,543 adult ticks, representing four species, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Dermacentor variabilis, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus, and Amblyomma cajennense, were recorded from 338 infested dogs. Statistically significant correlations were observed between female dogs and infestation (P = 0.0003) and between R. sanguineus and locality (P = 0.0001). Dogs sampled in Guadalupe and Estanzuela were positive by PCR (0.9 %) for B. burgdorferi. Rhipicephalus sanguineus had the highest abundance, intensity, and prevalence (10.57, 7.12 and 94.6, respectively). PCR results from 256 pools showed that four pools were positive for D. variabilis (1.6 %), with an MLE of 9.2 %; nevertheless, it is important to consider that in the area under examination probably other reservoir hosts for D. variabilis and B. burgdorferi are present that, very likely, play a much more important role in the ecology of Lyme borreliosis than dogs, which could be considered in future studies.     

Patterns of genetic variation of the genusCapsicum (Solanaceae) in Mexico

The evolutionary relationships of 186 accessions ofCapsicum from Mexico were studied through enzyme electrophoresis. A total of 76 alleles representing 20 genetic loci coding for nine enzyme systems were observed and the allelic variations of enzymes were studied for geographical distribution. Allele frequencies were used to estimate the apportionment of gene diversity within and between populations and to construct a dendrogram based on a similarity matrix containingNei genetic distances. — The gene diversity estimates suggest that the structure ofCapsicum populations in Mexico consists of predominantly homozygous genotypes presumably due to a self-pollinated breeding system and population bottlenecks. Significant genetic differentiation was found mainly between populations of differing geographical regions.—Based on the results of this study, three species of domesticatedCapsicum can be identified in Mexico,C. annuum var.annuum, C. chinense, andC. pubescens. Semidomesticated and wild forms include two species,C. frutescens andC. annuum var.glabriusculum. A sharp geographical division results between the latter species;C. frutescens was collected exclusively in the southeastern states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Tabasco; whereas wild and semidomesticated forms from the rest of the country areC. annuum. Based upon the similarity of enzyme genotypes of semidomesticated and wild forms, the primary center of domestication of cultivatedC. annuum was estimated to be the region comprising the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Veracruz, and Hidalgo in eastern Mexico. A possible second center of domestication is suggested to be localized in the state of Nayarit, western Mexico.     

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION,SURVIVAL, AND FECUNDITY OF DIOON EDULE (ZAMIACEAE) IN A TROPICAL DECIDUOUS FOREST IN VERACRUZ,MEXICO, WITH NOTES ON ITS HABITAT

A natural habitat of the cycad Dioon edule Lindl. in central Veracruz, Mexico is described. Prolonged drought periods and fire are factors contributing to seedling death resulting in a population structure with a reverse ‘J’ or Deevey type III survivorship curve. The cycads exhibited a ‘clumped’ or contagious distribution on shallow soils of the habitat and on rocky outcrops. This distribution was attributed to exclusion by competition from other species for water, soil nutrients, and/or seed dispersal by rodents. Estimated coning frequency varied from 2.8 to 8.8 years in male plants and from 10.0 to 52.0 years in female plants, though shorter intervals are known to occur, especially following exceptionally wet years. Chamberlain's age estimate for D. edule has been confirmed and a life table is presented.     

Three new species of Tigridia (Iridaceae) from Mexico

Tigridia durangense, T. chiapensis, andT. huajuapanensis are described as new. The first species is known from llanos near La Ciudad and El Salto, Durango ; the second from the highlands of central Chiapas; and the third from a single locality near Huajuapan de León, Oaxaca.     

Genetic structure of the populations migrating from San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas to Nuevo León in Mexico

The Mexicans residing in the Monterrey metropolitan area in Nuevo León, Mexico, were grouped by generation and birthplace [Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA), San Luis Potosi (SLP), and Zacatecas (ZAC)] of the four grandparents to determine the extent of genetic variation within this population and the genetic differences, if any, between the natives living in the MMA and the immigrant populations from SLP and ZAC. Nine genetic marker systems were analyzed. The genetic distance analysis indicates that SLP and ZAC are similar to the MMA, irrespective of birthplace and generation. Gene diversity analysis (GST) suggests that more than 96% of the total gene diversity (HT) can be attributed to individual variation within the population. The genetic admixture analysis suggests that the Mexicans of the MMA, SLP, and ZAC, stratified by birthplace and generation, have received a predominantly Spanish contribution (78.5%), followed by a Mexican Indian contribution (21.5%). Similarly, admixture analysis, conducted on the population of Nuevo León and stratified by generation, indicates a substantial contribution from the MMA (64.6%), followed by ZAC (22.1%) and SLP (13.3%). Finally, we demonstrate that there is no nonrandom association of alleles among the genetic marker systems (i.e., no evidence of gametic disequilibrium) despite the Mestizo origin of this population.     

Medicinal plants in the southern region of the State of Nuevo León,México

Background

Although the flora of the State of Nuevo León is well known, there are few records of ethnobotancial information. An ethnobotanical study was undertaken in order to know the medicinal plants used by people living at the scrublands and oak-pine forest areas in the southern Nuevo León. Collection of plants specimens and interviews were carried out among the people of the municipalities of Aramberri, Galeana, and Zaragoza. Since former studies in the region are scarce, the aim of this work was to record the medicinal species and their uses in the scrublands and oak-pine forest areas, of southern Nuevo León, Mexico, and also to know if there are differences in the number of species and number of uses knowledge by people.

Methods

Field work was carried out over a 2 years period; useful plants were collected and a total of 105 people from 46 different villages were interviewed. A database was compiled using data collected by means of semi structured interviews. The data were analyzed by means of non-parametric statistics, using goodness-of-fit test (Chi-squared) (number of species known by people of each municipality, number of uses known by people of each municipality), Chi-squared modified to incorporate the Yates Correction (number of species known by people living at scrublands and oak-pine forest); the Kruskall-Wallis test (number of species known by women and men of the three municipalities), and the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (age and number of species known, and age and number of uses).

Results

A total of 163 medicinal plant species were recorded in the study area, comprising 108 wild and 55 cultivated plants. A total of 117 species were recorded in the oak-pine forest, and 111 in the scrublands area, a total of 68 were recorded in both areas; 68 medicinal species are used in all three municipalities, 40 wild and 28 cultivated. We documented 235 different medicinal uses. The most common plant parts used for medicinal purposes were found to be leaves (123 species), stems (55), fruits (28), roots (17), and bark (14). No differences were noted in the number of medicinal plant species identified among people, but differences were significant in their knowledge with respect to the number of uses among people of the three municipalities studied; people from both, scrublands and oak-pine forest know similar number of species and number of uses. Men and women of the three different municipalities knew statistically the same number of species and number of uses. There was no correlation between resident’s age and number of species known and resident’s age and number of uses either in Galeana or in Aramberri, but, there was high correlation among these variables in Zaragoza.

Conclusion

In southern Nuevo León people use at least 5% of the total State flora as medicinal plants, and most of these species are included in few plant families. Most of medicinal species are wild and indigenous to the region. The two most important major plant communities, scrublands and oak-pine forest provide almost the same number of medicinal species. A third of the medicinal flora recorded are used in all three municipalities, most of them are wild. Leaves, stems and fruits are the plant parts most commonly used for healing, and boiling is the most common method used for this purpose. Men and women from the three municipalities are familiar with nearly the same number of species; however, their knowledge of the number of uses varies significantly. In Galeana and Aramberri there was no correlation between a person’s age and number of species recognized, however, in Zaragoza, there existed a high correlation between these two factors.