Some further notes on the taxonomy and nomenclature ofCuscutaceae

The division ofCuscuta s.l. into 4 genera, based mainly on floral morphology, is corroborated by their embryology. Several new combinations inMonogynella andGrammica are proposed.     

Some new taxa ofPotentilla L.

Five new species and two varieties from the sectionMultifidae are described from the Sino-Himalayan region. They are referred to the affinity ofP. multifida L. andP. griffithii Hook. f.; one of the new species is probably related toP. gerardiana Lindl. and one is intermediate between the species of the sectionsMultifidae andNiveae.     

Chromosome numbers and taxonomy in Cryptocoryne (Araceae). II

Chromosome numbers for 38 species of Cryptocoryne are reported, 16 of which have not been reported earlier. About 90% of the species of Cryptocoryne have now been investigated cytologically. On the basis of chromosome numbers, morphology, and distribution, it is possible to distinguish some 24 groups within the species investigated. The chromosome numbers represent a heteroploid series which is based on the (secondary) base numbers 10, 11, 14, 15, 17, and 18. Evidence is given that 2n = 36 is the more primitive one. Evolution on the chromosome level has most likely gone in the direction of a reduction in numbers. Two new species, Cryptocoryne amicorum De Wit & N. Jacobsen and C. keei N. Jacobsen, are described.     

Chromosome numbers in African and Madagascan Loranthaceae and Viscaceae

Eighty-five chromosome numbers representing about 63 species and 23 genera are reported for African and Madagascan Loranthaceae. The base chromosome number of all genera studied is χ= 9. This chromosome number also typifies all other Old World genera of the tribe Lorantheae, and thus supports the previously suggested thesis that the Asian and African Loranthaceae are relatively closely related. Seventy-six chromosome numbers, representing three genera ( Arceuthobium, Korthalsella, Viscum ) and 40 species are reported for African and Madagascan Viscaceae. Most of the data are for Viscum. The number χ= 14 is suggested as the base chromosome number for both Viscum and the family as a whole. The Madagascan Visca , however, have a modal chromosome number of χ= 13. Aneuploid chromosome numbers of χ= 12, 11 and 10 occur in Viscum at the north-south distributional extremes in southern Africa and Europe and, with the addition χ= 13, in all the species with eastward distributions in Madagascar, Asia and Australia. Polyploidy is rare in African and Madagascan members of both families, as is generally also true for other parts of the world where they have been studied. Translocation heterozygosity is reported for a number of species in Viscum.     

Chromosome numbers of goldenrods,Euthamia and Solidago (Compositae: Astereae). II. Additional counts with comments on cytogeography

Chromosome number determinations were made from 407 wild or transplanted individuals and seedlings representing 65 taxa and hybrids inEuthamia andSolidago. The following are first reports:Euthamia remota, 2n=9II;Solidago leavenworthii, 2n=54;S. mollis, 2n=36;S. mollis var.angustata, 2n=36;S. rigida var.glabrata, 2n=9II;S. sempervirens var.azorica, 2n=9II; andS. sparsiflora, 2n=54. Most species have been sampled only a few times or are consistently of one cytotype. Sufficient counts have been made to indicate some general patterns of cytotype distribution in the following species complexes:S. gigantea, S. canadensis, S. flexicaulis, S. rugosa, andS. uliginosa.     

Nature, nomenclature and taxonomy of obligate methanol utilizing strains

In a screening program, a number of different bacterial strains with the ability to utilize methanol as a sole carbon and energy source were isolated and described. They are well known methanol utilizing genera Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Micrococcus, Methylomonas or, on the contrary, the new, unknown genera and species of methylotrophic bacteria. In the last category, Acinetobacter and Alcaligenes are the new reported genera of organisms able to use methanol as a sole carbon and energy source. The present paper reports the very complex physiological and biochemical modifications when very versatile bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus are cultured on methanol and when the obligate methylotrophic state is compared with the facultative methylotrophic state of the same bacterial strain. Based on experiments and comparisons with literature data, it seems that Methylomonas methanica is the obligate methylotrophic state of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and that Acinetobacter calcoaceticus is the facultative methylotrophic state of Methylococcus capsulatus, an obligate methylotroph. The relationship of the obligate to the facultative and of the facultative to the obligate methylotrophy were established. These new methylotrophic genera and species, the profound physiological and biochemical modifications as well as the new data concerning nature, nomenclature and taxonomy of methanol utilizing bateria were reported for the first time in 1983.     

Some new taxa of desmids from the Andaman Islands,India

Two new species, five new varieties and five new forms belonging to the desmid genera Closterium Nitzsch, Pleurotaenium Naeg., Euastridium W. & W., Micrasterias Agardh, Cosmarium Corda and Staurastrum Meyen from the Andaman Islands are described.     

Contribution to the taxonomy and nomenclature ofLeuzea DC. andRhaponticum auct

The relationship betweenLeuzea DC. andRhaponticum auct. was studied. The differences between these taxa are shown to be insufficient to justify classification at the generic level. The resulting genus is preliminarily subdivided into seven subgenera. Its correct name isLeuzea DC. 1805. A new subgenus is described and 27 new nomenclatural combinations are proposed including 5 for subgenera, 20 for species and 2 for subspecies.     

Chromosome numbers and reproduction inRubus subgen.Malachobatus

A review of current knowledge of chromosome numbers and modes of reproduction in the genusRubus L. is presented. Chromosome numbers from some species of subg.Malachobatus Focke together with results of crossing experiments are reported for the first time.     

Phoradendron olae Kuijt, a new species from Mexico pivotal in the taxonomy of the genus, with comments on P. californicum Nutt.

Materials are presented to the effect thatPhoradendron californicum Nutt., the nomenclatural type of the genusPhoradendron (Viscaceae), is related to southern, cataphyllous species, not to northern, acataphyllous ones. The evidence consists of the frequent occurrence of basal cataphylls in the species, variation in basal phyllotaxy, and a basically biseriate arrangement of flowers on fertile internodes. The suggestion of this southern, cataphyllous affinity is supported by the recent discovery of a strictly cataphyllous Mexican species,P. olae Kuijt, which shows median basal phyllotaxy and is in many features extremely similar toP. californicum. The nomenclatural consequences of this discovery would lead to subgen.Boreales (Trel.) Engler (and probably subgen.Aequatoriales (Trel.) Engler) being synonymized under subgen.Phoradendron, characterized by basal cataphylls (though not in all species). However, no generic subdivision of any sort is supported at this time.     

Chromosome numbers in Onchocerca dukei and O. tarsicola

Testicular examination of male Onchocerca dukei and German O. tarsicola revealed five pairs of chromosomes, which is typical of most filariae. In contrast to German O. tarsicola, specimens from Sweden had only three pairs of chromosomes.