Ethnobotany of some weeds of Khasi and Garo Hills,Meghalaya, Northeastern India

Meghalaya, one of the seven states of northeastern India, is inhabited by three distinct tribes, viz., Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia, each occupying respective districts. These tribes live in remote places and depend mostly on surrounding plant resources for their food, shelter, fodder, medicare, and other cultural purposes. Local hill agricultural practice—“slash-and-burn”—and encroaching civilization are responsible for diminishing the local uses of the plants. Hence, it was felt worthwhile to record the native uses of these weeds before the information is buried. The present paper deals with the ethnobotany of 65 taxa belonging to 26 families ofangiosperms. A generic index is included.     

Origin,Differentiation, and Geographic Distribution of the Chenopodiaceae

Numbers of species and genera,endemic genera,extant primitive genera,relationship and distribution patterns of presently living Chenopodiaceae(two subfamilies,12 tribes,and 118 genera)are analyzed and compared for eight distributional areas,namely central Asia,Europe,the Mediterranean region,Africa,North America,South America, Australia and East Asia． The Central Asia,where the number of genera and diversity of taxa are greater than in other areas,appears to be the center of distribution of extant Chenopodiaceae．North America and Australia are two secondary centers of distribution． Eurasia has 11 tribes out of the 12,a total of 70 genera of extant chenopodiaceous plants,and it contains the most primitive genera of every tribe． Archiatriplex of Atripliceae,Hablitzia of Hablitzeae,Corispermum of Corispermeae,Camphorosma of Camphorosmaea,Kalidium of Salicornieae,Polecnemum of Polycnemeae,Alexandra of Suaedeae,and Nanophyton of Salsoleae,are all found in Eurasia,The Beteae is an Eurasian endemic tribe,demonstrating the antiquity of the Chenopodiaceae flora of Eurasia．Hence,Eurasia is likely the place of origin of chenopodiaceous plants． The presence of chenopodiaceous plants is correlated with an arid climate．During the Cretaceous Period,most places of the continent of Eurasia were occupied by the ancient precursor to the Mediterranean,the Tethys Sea．At that time the area of the Tethys Sea had a dry and warm climate．Therefore,primitive Chenopodiaceae were likely present on the beaches of this ancient land．This arid climatic condition resulted in differentiation of the tribes Chenopodieae,Atripliceae,Comphorosmeae,Salicornieae,etc．,the main primitive tribes of the subfamily Cyclolobeae. Then following continental drift and the Laurasian and Gondwanan disintegration, the Chenopodiaceae were brought to every continent to propagate and develop, and experience the vicissitudes of climates, forming the main characteristics and distribution patterns of recent continental floras. The tribes Atripliceae, Chenopodieae, Camphorosmeae, and Salicornieae of recent Chenopodiaceae in Eurasia, North America, South America, southern Africa, and Australia all became strongly differentiated. However, Australia and South America, have no genera of Spirolobeae except for a few maritime Suaeda species. The Salsoleae and Suaedeae have not arrived in Australia and South America, which indicates that the subfamily Spirolobeae developed in Eurasia after Australia separated from the ancient South America-Africa continent, and South America had left Africa. The endemic tribe of North America, the tribe Sarcobateae, has a origin different from the tribes Salsoleae and Suaedeae of the subfamily Spirolobeae. Sarcobateae flowers diverged into unisexuality and absence of bractlets. Clearly they originated in North America after North America had left the Eurasian continent. North America and southern Africa have a few species of Salsola, but none of them have become very much differentiated or developed, so they must have arrived through overland migration across ancient continental connections. India has no southern African Chenopodiaceae floristic components except for a few maritime taxa, which shows that when the Indian subcontinent left Africa in the Triassic period, the Chenopodiaceae had not yet developed in Africa. Therefore, the early Cretaceous Period about 120 million years ago, when the ancient Gondwanan and Laurasian continents disintegrated, could have been the time of origin of Chenopodiaceae plants.The Chinese flora of Chenopodiaceae is a part of Chenopodiaceae flora of central Asia. Cornulaca alaschnica was discovered from Gansu, China, showing that the Chinese Chenopodiaceae flora certainly has contact with the Mediterranean Chenopodiaceae flora. The contact of southeastern China with the Australia Chenopodiaceae flora, however, is very weak.     

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used for cancer treatment in Kebbi state,North-west Nigeria

Kebbi state is endowed with medicinal plants that have been used by different tribes especially the Hausa-Fulani, Dakarkari and Gungawa to treat different ailments such as cancer for decades. Therefore, this study is aimed at documenting the medicinal plants used for treating cancer in Kebbi state. Demographic data, personal information of willing informants and information on plants used and mode of treatment was collected via administration of a structured questionnaire. Data was collected and analysed, whereas, cited plants were collected, identified and assigned voucher numbers. The study revealed a total of 48 medicinal plants across 25 different families. Prosopis africana (Guill. & Perr.) Taub ranked first with a citation frequency of 44.9%. The Hausa-Fulani tribes were predominantly the traditional medicine practitioners (53.6%). Plants parts used include leaf, bark, root and whole plant. Generally, the herbal medicine is prepared as a powder and mixed with local beverages (kunu or fura) and administered orally 2–3 times daily. Whereas, residues of the powder are topically applied. Future studies should investigate the antiproliferative potency, determine the mechanisms mediating the cytotoxic potency and isolate the cytotoxic compounds from the active frequently mentioned, scarcely investigated and uninvestigated plants.     

Molecular systematics reveals the origins of subsociality in tortoise beetles (Coleoptera,Chrysomelidae, Cassidinae)

Subsocial behaviour is known to occur in at least 19 insect orders and 17 families of Coleoptera. Within the leaf beetle family, Chrysomelidae, extended maternal care is reported in only 2 of 15 subfamilies: Cassidinae and Chrysomelinae. Although the emergence of subsociality in insects has received much attention, extensive analyses on the evolution of this behaviour based on phylogenetic approaches are missing. Subsociality is recorded in 33 species of tortoise beetles belonging to the tribes Mesomphaliini and Eugenysini. A molecular phylogenetic reconstruction of these tribes and the remaining five Neotropical tribes of cassidine tortoise beetles was used to investigate the evolution of maternal care and to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships among Neotropical cassidine tribes. A phylogeny was constructed using 90 species and three loci from both mitochondrial and nuclear genes (COI, CAD and 28S). Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood analyses based on a concatenated dataset recovered two independent origins, with no evidence of reversal to solitary behaviour. One origin comprises three Mesomphaliini genera tightly associated with Convolvulaceae, and the other consists of the genus Eugenysa Chevrolat (Eugenysini), a small clade embedded within a group feeding exclusively on Asteraceae. A previous hypothesis suggesting dual origins on different host plants was confirmed, whereas other hypotheses based on a phylogenetic reconstruction of Cassidinae could not be sustained. Our analysis also revealed that the tribe Mesomphaliini is a monophyletic taxon if Eugenysini is included, and for this reason, we re-establish synonymy of both tribes. We also provide nine new records of subsociality for tortoise beetles species.     

藜科植物的起源、分化和地理分布

全球藜科植物共约130属1500余种,广泛分布于欧亚大陆、南北美洲、非洲和大洋洲的半干旱及盐碱地区。它基本上是一个温带科,对亚热带和寒温带也有一定的适应性。本文分析了该科包含的1l族的系统位置和分布式样,以及各个属的分布区,提出中亚区是现存藜科植物的分布中心,原始的藜科植物在古地中海的东岸即华夏陆台(或中国的西南部)发生,然后向干旱的古地中海沿岸迁移、分化,产生了环胚亚科主要族的原始类群;起源的时间可能在白垩纪初,冈瓦纳古陆和劳亚古陆进一步解体的时期。文章对其迁移途径及现代分布式样形成的原因进行了讨论。     

Shaniodendron,a New Genus of Hamamelidaceae from China

During investigating rare and endangered plants in China, the authors made morphological observation on Hamamelis subaequalis H. T. Chang and discovered that it is apetalus, different from the tribe Hamamelideae, in addition to other morphological characters, which differ from the genera of the tribes Distylteae and Fothergilleae(Hamamelidaceae). Therefore, a new genus-Shaniodendron is described.     

Genetic characterization of wild leguminous nodular bacteria living in the South Urals

Genetic diversity and phylogeny of rhizobia that nodulate 18 species of wild-growing bean plants of South Urals from 8 genera belonging to 4 tribes (Loteae, Genisteae, Galegeaev and Hedysareae) was studied. It was demonstrated that for the wild-growing plants of Galegeae and Hedysareae tribes symbiotic interaction with various strains of nodule bacteria that closely related to bacteria of Mesorhizobium sp. was typical of the plants of Genisteae tribe--to bacteria of Bradyrhizobium sp. In the nodules of Lortus ucrainicus from Loteae tribe we have found a rhizobium that is closely related to the bacteria of Mesorhizobium sp., and at Coronilla varia rhizobia strains obtained by us were close by sequence of a 16S pRNA gene to Rhizobium sp. In the nodules of some kinds of the investigated plants we found also minor species of a rhizobia, which structure is under the great influence of conditions of the host plant growth.     

Molecular systematics of the Brassicaceae: evidence from coding plastidic matK and nuclear Chs sequences

Phylogenetic relationships were inferred using nucleotide sequence variation of the nuclear-encoded chalcone synthase gene (Chs) and the chloroplast gene matK for members of five tribes from the family Brassicaceae to analyze tribal and subtribal structures. Phylogenetic trees from individual data sets are mostly in congruence with the results from a combined matK-Chs analysis with a total of 2721 base pairs, but with greater resolution and higher statistical support for deeper branching patterns. The analysis indicates that tribes Lepidieae, Arabideae, and Sisymbrieae are not monophyletic. Among taxa under study four different lineages each were detected in tribes Arabideae and Lepidieae, interspersed with taxa from tribes Sisymbrieae, Hesperideae, and Brassiceae. It is concluded that tribe Brassiceae might be the only monophyletic group of the traditional tribes. From our data we estimated several divergence times for different lineages among cruciferous plants: 5.8 mya (million years ago) for the Arabidopsis-Cardaminopsis split, 20 mya for the Brassica-Arabidopsis split, and ～40 mya for the age of the deepest split between the most basal crucifer Aethionema and remaining cruciferous taxa.     

Phylogeny,Evolution and Classification of Gall Wasps: The Plot Thickens

Gall wasps (Cynipidae) represent the most spectacular radiation of gall-inducing insects. In addition to true gall formers, gall wasps also include phytophagous inquilines, which live inside the galls induced by gall wasps or other insects. Here we present the first comprehensive molecular and total-evidence analyses of higher-level gall wasp relationships. We studied more than 100 taxa representing a rich selection of outgroups and the majority of described cynipid genera outside the diverse oak gall wasps (Cynipini), which were more sparsely sampled. About 5 kb of nucleotide data from one mitochondrial (COI) and four nuclear (28S, LWRh, EF1alpha F1, and EF1alpha F2) markers were analyzed separately and in combination with morphological and life-history data. According to previous morphology-based studies, gall wasps evolved in the Northern Hemisphere and were initially herb gallers. Inquilines originated once from gall inducers that lost the ability to initiate galls. Our results, albeit not conclusive, suggest a different scenario. The first gall wasps were more likely associated with woody host plants, and there must have been multiple origins of gall inducers, inquilines or both. One possibility is that gall inducers arose independently from inquilines in several lineages. Except for these surprising results, our analyses are largely consistent with previous studies. They confirm that gall wasps are conservative in their host-plant preferences, and that herb-galling lineages have radiated repeatedly onto the same set of unrelated host plants. We propose a revised classification of the family into twelve tribes, which are strongly supported as monophyletic across independent datasets. Four are new: Aulacideini, Phanacidini, Diastrophini and Ceroptresini. We present a key to the tribes and discuss their morphological and biological diversity. Until the relationships among the tribes are resolved, the origin and early evolution of gall wasps will remain elusive.     

Molecular phylogeny and divergence times of Hormaphidinae (Hemiptera: Aphididae) indicate Late Cretaceous tribal diversification

The aphid subfamily Hormaphidinae is a good candidate for the study of the evolution of insect – plant relationships. Most hormaphidine species depend on woody primary host plants and woody or herbaceous secondary host plants, and represent high host specificity, especially to their primary hosts. No detailed molecular phylogeny of Hormaphidinae has been reported, and the taxonomic positions of some taxa in this group remain unclear. To reconstruct major phylogenetic relationships and to understand the evolution of host association patterns for major lineages, we present the first detailed molecular phylogeny of Hormaphidinae, as inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences, using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian methods. The monophyly of Hormaphidinae and its three traditional tribes was supported, and a sister relationship between Hormaphidini and Nipponaphidini was suggested. Most inner relationships within tribes were also supported, and some novel relationships were revealed. Two subtribes of Cerataphidini are proposed. Divergence times estimated using a Bayesian approach indicate that tribal diversifications occurred during the Late Cretaceous and were coincident with the appearance of their primary host plants. The current pattern of secondary host association for the three tribes may have evolved in different time ranges. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 165 , 73–87.     

Ethnobiological notes on the Khasi and Garo tribes of Meghalaya,Northeast India

A total of 105 plants used for food and medicine and 11 animals hunted and gathered for meat by the Khasis and Garos of Meghalaya were identified. Of the total plants recorded, 85 were used by the Garos alone, only three by the Khasis whereas the other 17 were used by both tribes. In addition to fresh use in-season many plant products were processed for storage and use off-season. Although all adults were familiar with various uses of plants and animals, the village elders were more knowledgeable. Garos have especially knowledgeable curers. Wild foods are of particular value for tiding over lean periods when resources from agriculture and animal husbandry systems are scarce, especially for the poorer sections of society. The importance of recording the use of plants and animals in this region is especially important because of rapid loss of rain forest habitats.     

Molecular data support a rapid radiation of aphids in the Cretaceous and multiple origins of host alternation

Many aphids display a remarkably complex life cycle of host alternation, in which cyclical parthenogenesis is combined with the obligate use of two unrelated host plants. We used mitochondrial ribosomal DNA (partial 12S and 16S) sequences to reconstruct the phylogeny of aphids, to determine how many origins of host alternation and correlated major host-plant shifts have occurred. Our results agreed with previous morphological studies in that species clustered with good support at the level of tribes. There was little well-supported phylogenetic structure at levels deeper than tribes, however, except for the monophyly of two subfamilies, Aphidinae and Lachninae. We argue that aphids experienced a rapid radiation at the tribal level, after host shifting from gymnosperms to angiosperms. A rapid radiation is consistent with aphid fossils, which record the presence of few subfamilies in the late Cretaceous, but most extant tribes by the early Tertiary. Plant fossils also record host plants of aphid tribes diversifying during this time. A hypothesized mechanism by which host alternation has evolved (fundatrix specialization), coupled with the rapid radiation, implies that this life cycle may have originated as often as in the ancestor of each tribe that displays it. We also consider, however, an alternative hypothesis of fewer origins. The basal radiation of Aphididae was dated from molecular sequences to have occurred at approximately 80–150 Mya.     

Ethnobotany of hill tribes of northern Thailand. I. Medicinal plants of Akha

The Akha are one of the 6 major tribes or minorities living in the remote hills of northern Thailand who still use extensively plants as medicines. This paper describes the Akha culture and environment and their use of medicinal plants. An appendix lists 121 different species and the medicinal use or uses attributed to them.     

Phylogeny and host-plant association in the leaf beetle genus Trirhabda LeConte (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

The leaf beetle genus Trirhabda contains 26 described species from the United States and Canada, feeding on host plants from the families Asteraceae and Hydrophyllaceae. In this study, we present a phylogeny for the genus that was reconstructed from mitochondrial COI and 12S rRNA fragments, nuclear ITS2 rRNA, and morphological characters. Both parsimony and mixed-model Bayesian likelihood analyses were performed. Under both methods, the mitochondrial and nuclear partitions support the same backbone phylogeny, as do the combined data. The utility of the molecular data is contrasted with the low phylogenetic signal among morphological characters. The phylogeny was used to trace the evolution of the host-plant association in Trirhabda. The recovered phylogeny shows that although the host-plant association is phylogenetically conservative, Trirhabda experienced one shift to a distantly related host-plant family, 6 shifts between host-plant tribes, and 6 between genera within tribes. The phylogeny reveals that Trirhabda were plesiomorphically adapted to tolerate complex secondary compounds of its host plants and this adaptation is retained in Trirhabda species, as evidenced by multiple shifts from chemically simpler host plants back to the more complex host plants.     

Transferrins,haptoglobins, and ceruloplasmins among tribal groups of Madagascar

Transferrin phenotypes of 403 Malagasy were determined by autoradiography after electrophoresis of plasma or serum. Three phenotypes, Tf C, Tf CD, and Tf D, were found. The frequency of Tf^D was 0.051 in the total sample, 0.041 in tribes of the Madagascar plateau, and 0.075 in tribes of the coastal and lowland regions. Haptoglobin phenotypes of 402 Malagasy were determined. The frequency of Hp¹ was 0.41 in the total sample, 0.38 in tribes of the plateau, and 0.49 in coastal-lowland tribes. There is a significant difference in the frequency of Hp¹ between the tribes of the plateau and those of the coastal and lowland regions. This confirms earlier observations of significant differences in frequencies of haptoglobins and hemoglobin S. Plasma or serum samples from 405 Malagasy were examined by electrophoresis to determine ceruloplasmin phenotypes. Seven distinct ceruloplasmin bands were observed. These were A, B, Galveston, Bridgeport, New Haven, Tananarive, and X, the last two described for the first time. Ten different phenotypes composed of one or two of the bands were observed. The frequency of the allele for ceruloplasmin B (CpB) was 0.78 in the total sample, 0.73 in tribes of the plateau, and 0.92 in coastal and lowland tribes. There is a significant difference in the frequency of this allele in the two major tribal groups, and this provides additional evidence of genetic differences between the peoples of the plateau and those of the coast and lowland regions of Madagascar.     

缘脊叶蝉亚科生物地理学研究(同翅目,叶蝉科)

对缘脊叶蝉亚科的组成,族、属和种的地理分布,以及起源与扩散途径进行了研究.结果表明:缘脊叶蝉亚科由7族57属323种组成,只分布于旧世界(Old World).7个族在非洲区均有分布,古北区有4个族、东洋区3个族、澳洲区2个族.依种类分布情况对4大动物区的相似性分析表明,东洋区与古北区关系最为密切,其次是澳洲区,与非洲区的相关性较小,这与地球演化历史是相吻合的.通过对各族地理分布及起源时间分析,它们的起源时间依次是:Drabescini、Paraboloponini、Selenocephalini、Ianeirini、Adamini、Dwightiini和Hypacostemmini.文中给出了各族的地理分布图.     

Importance of local knowledge in plant resources management and conservation in two protected areas from Trás-os-Montes, Portugal

Assam is very rich in plant biodiversity as well as in ethnic diversity and has a great traditional knowledge base in plant resources. It is inhabited by the largest number of tribes and they lead an intricate life totally dependent on forest plants. The Mising is the major section and second largest tribal community of Assam and have a rich tradition of religion and culture. Their religious practices and beliefs are based on supernaturalism. A study of the plants related to magico religious beliefs in Dobur Uie of Mising is carried out. The results revealed the use of 30 plants belonging to 23 families. All plant species are used both in religious purpose as well as in the treatment of different ailments. Details of the uses of plants and conservational practices employed in Dobur Uie are provided. Our findings on the use of plants in Dobur Uie ritual reflect that some plants are facing problems for survival and they need urgent conservation before their elimination. Because this elimination may threat the rich tradition of Mising culture. Most of the plants that are domesticated for different rituals are almost same in all Mising populated areas.     

A new classification scheme for the family Araliaceae

The present paper deals with the following three aspects: 1. It attempts to discuss the problems on primitive forms of the family Araliaceae. The genus Tupidanthus Hook. f. & Thoms. was considered by H. Harms (1894) and H. L. Li (1942) as primitive, whilst another genus Plerandra A. Gray was regarded as primitive by R. H. Eyde & C. C. Tseng in 1971. Having made a detailed comparison of the taxonomical characters of these two genera, the present authors believe that both genera are not the most primitive in the Araliaceae. Their affinit yis not close enough and they possibly evolved in parallel lines from a common ancestor which is so far unknown yet. 2. By studying the systems of the past, the present authors believe that none of them is entirely satisfactory. Bentham (1867) recognized five ‘series’ (in fact, equivalent to ‘tribe’ with the ending-eae of names) based on the petaline arrangement in the bud, the numbers of stamen and the types of endospem. This is a plausible fundamental treatment for the Araliaceae, but choosing the endosperm as a criteria in dividing tribe is artifical. As we know today, both ruminate and uniform endosperm are usually presente in the same genus. Seemann’s system (1868) divided the Hederaceae (excl. Trib. Aralieae) into five tribes, in addition to the locules of ovary. The criteria are essentially the same as Bentham’s. The system of Hams (1894) divided the family into three tribes. Two tribes, Aralieae and Mackinlayeae, of Bentham are retained, but other groups were combined in the Trib. Schefflereae. However, Harms did not retain one of those three oldest legitimate names which had named by Bentham, that is contrary to the law of priority in the International Code of Botanical Nomenelature. Hutchinson (1967) adopted seven tribes for the family. The criteria essentially follow those of Bentham, but the inflorescence is overstressed. The inflorescence is an artifical taxonomical character in dividing tribes, because of some dioecious plants, such as Meryta sinclairii (Hook. f.) Seem., have two types of inflorescence in male and female plants. According to Hutchinson’s arrangement, the male and female plants would be put in separate tribes. 3. The present authors are of the opinion that in the study of a natural classification of plant groups emphasis should be laid not only on the characters of the reproductive organs, but on those of vegetative organs as well. The present revised system is based principally upon the characters of both flowers and leaves of the five tribes as follows: Trib. 1. Plerandreae Benth. emend. Hoo & Tseng Trib. 2. Tetraplasandreae Hoo & Tseng Trib. 3. Mackinlayeae Benth. Trib. 4. Aralieae Benth. Trib. 5. Panaceae Benth. emend. Hoo & Tseng     

STUDIES ON THE PHYLOGENY AND HOST PLANT ASSOCIATION OF LACHNIDAE (HOMOPTERA: APHIDINEA)*

Abstract With reference to the material related to the evolution of host-plant associations, phylogenetic analyses of aphids in Lachnidae are carried out by using 20 taxa and 26 characters. The monophyly of Traminae and Cinarinae are recognized. However, Lachninae is proved to be a polyphyletic group. Three traditional subfamilies, Cinarinae, Lachninae and Traminae are still retained. Three tribes within Cinarinae which include Cinarini, Eulachnini and Schizolachnini are suggested. It is concluded that the ancestral host plants of Lachnidae were deciduous plants rather than coniferous trees or other plants.     

Resource Partitioning between Highly Eusocial Bees and Possible Impact of the Introduced Africanized Honey Bee on Native Stingless Bees in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest

The highly eusocial bee community of the neotropical Atlantic Rainforest was studied at Boracéia Biological Station in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. In this reserve, 17 species of stingless bees and the introduced Africanized honey bee were found, the latter being the most abundant flower visitor. Of all flowering plants, Asteraceae and Myrtaceae were particularly important as resources for bees. Trophic niche overlap between the various species of stingless bees is evident, and it was generally larger within the tribes Meliponini and Trigonini than between members of different tribes. Nevertheless, in the stingless bee community the competitive pressure is rather uniformly spread. The trophic niche of the Africanized honey bee can be positioned between those of Meliponini and Trigonini. Today this introduced species represents the main competitor in this bee community. However, its impact on native stingless bee populations is apparently buffered by mass-flowering trees which are the most important food plants of the indigenous highly eusocial bees.