Garcinia intermedia, a little-known fruit tree in the American tropics

Garcinia intermedia (Pittier) Hammel, known as the lemon drop mangosteen in English and by a variety of names including limoncillo and toronjil in Mexico, belongs to the family Clusiaceae, and is distributed in the warm tropical regions of Mexico and Central America at elevations of 300 to 1,000 m. It is an underutilized fruit tree that reaches up to 20 m in height and produces yellow fruits with up to four seeds. The pulp is bittersweet and is highly valued by the rural population of the regions where it grows, where bats and spider monkeys also consume it. The fruit has medicinal properties; it is rich in benzophenones, which attack colon cancer cells. The fruit of G. intermedia has higher antioxidant capacity than the fruit of the mangosteen (G. mangostana Linn.); however, little is known about the horticultural management of this species, and basic knowledge, such as asexual propagation or postharvest conservation, has not been reported. There is no information on ex situ conservation of this species in Mexico and Central America, and no selection of outstanding specimens with high quality fruits has been made. Most of the information reported so far for this species is about its ecology and medicinal properties.

Flagler’s Whitehall: Beaux-Arts Grandeur in the American Tropics

ABSTRACT In a second career begun in his retirement, Henry Morrison Flagler (1830–1913), the cofounder of Standard Oil and one of the wealthiest citizens in the United States, embarked on the development of the tropical wilderness of Florida. Starting in St Augustine, he built a network of luxury hotels and railroads that became the infrastructure for modern Florida. Creating a counterpart to the premier summer resort of Newport, Rhode Island, Flagler transformed Palm Beach, an undeveloped barrier island, into a winter playground for the new American aristocracy, starting with the Georgian-style Royal Poinciana Hotel. It was Whitehall, however, the mansion built for Flagler in 1900–02 as a wedding gift to his third wife, Mary Lily Kenan, that became the resort community’s monumental showplace. Designed by the New York firm of Carrère & Hastings in the Renaissance-derived classicism of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, the stately white palace fronting Lake Worth embodied Flagler’s cultural aspirations as a patron of the arts. As the first major client of Carrère & Hastings, Flagler was critical in launching the career of one of the most prominent architectural firms of the Gilded Age. This article examines Whitehall in the context of Flagler’s business practices and personal goals, consistent with Andrew Carnegie’s ‘Gospel of Wealth’. Architectural opulence not only boosted Flagler’s mercantile purposes, but also reflected a belief, nurtured by his relationship with Carrère & Hastings and other close associates, about the importance of classical architecture and the arts in the development of society.

Parthenium hysterophorus, an emergent weedy plant species expands its geographical ranges in Pakistan

Parthenium hysterophorus [commonly known as Carrot grass; native to American tropics; family Asteraceae] is a flowering, short-lived perennial or an annual invasive-weedy plant. In the recent few years, the plant is spread (in epidemic proportions) vigorously, at least, in the two provinces (KP and Punjab) and the twin capital cities (Islamabad and Rawalpindi). The weed came in the lame light soon after the monsoon rains and floods of September 2012 and August 2013 that hit larger areas of KP and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. The massive boom in the weed was witnessed in areas under floods of the river Kabul and the Indus Ocean. It is speculated that after initial entry into the flood zones, the seeds then germinated and dispersed into the near and farther areas in the country, including hilly areas. The plant is categorized as a poisonous weed, and a source of skin allergies and itching. It may be a cause of increased reports of asthma, cough, fever, and allergies related to eyes in these areas [1, 2]. Due to its vigorous growth and allelopathic effects, the plant soon dominated over all other weeds and crop plants. Furthermore, it has a tremendous potential to withstand abiotic and biotic stresses. Its vigorous growth has resulted in the loss of local floral biodiversity [3]. Specifically in Islamabad, it has dominated completely the wild cannabis (weeds). However, this year, the cannabis weed seems to overcome gradually the parthenium dominance. The coming years may witness the revival of other plant species suppressed by parthenium. Although the plant seems to be resistant/tolerant to biotic stresses, very few plants were identified with leaf rolling, vein yellowing, stunting and bunchy-top like diseases, indicative of begomovirus infection. PCR amplification and sequencing confirmed a symptomatic parthenium plant positive for the viral infection (unpublished observation; Figure 2). Previously, only a single report is available of parthenium being infected with geminiviruses [4]. Currently, no weedicide is available to eradicate the weedy plant. The only available alternative is to drag the plants out of soil along with their roots before they bear seeds. The presence of the plant everywhere on barren lands, streets, along the drains, hilly terraces, orchards, in lawn grass, and in crop fields makes complete eradication almost impossible (Figure 1a-c). Increased ailment linked with parthenium like – toxicity in the livestock and insect pollinators, skin allergies in humans and reduced agricultural productivity necessitates that the government and non-government stakeholders should take stringent measures to save human health, livestock and agricultural production.

Guava (Psidium guajava L.) Fruit and Valorization of Industrialization By-Products

Guava (Psidium guajava L.), is a fruit considered native to the American tropics. It is of great economic importance in many countries of the world, due to its high production and diversity of products derived from its fruit. It can be consumed fresh or processed. During the fruit’s processing, some residues are generated, such as seeds, rinds, and pulp, which is about 30% of the fresh fruit’s volume. Different studies have shown that it can be used in various industries, such as food, chemical, and pharmaceutical. By-products or processing residues have valuable components. Evidence indicates that it contains significant amounts of dietary fiber (soluble and insoluble), vitamins (A, B, C, β-carotene), essential oils, minerals, proteins (transferrin, ceruloplasmin, albumin), pectins, antioxidants (flavonoids, flavonols, condensed tannins) and volatile organic compounds; these elements can help in the prevention of chronic and degenerative diseases. P. guajava L. is considered a nutraceutical due to its compounds with beneficial properties on health and disease prevention. Therefore, this paper aims to review the physicochemical composition of the different by-products of the processing of guava and its reported uses.

Haplaxius crudus (American palm cixiid).

Haplaxius crudus, commonly known as American palm cixiid, is native to the American tropics and subtropics. The species was first described from Jamaica in 1907 and is currently known from northern South America, Central America, certain islands of the Caribbean, and Florida and southern Texas in the USA. The adults of H. crudus feed mainly on palms, particularly coconut palms, while the nymphs feed mainly on grasses. The main economic impact of H. crudus is as a vector of coconut (or palm) lethal yellowing (LY) caused by Candidatus Phytoplasma palmae, a highly destructive disease that affects at least 37 species of palms, including coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) and date palm (Phoenix dactylifera). Control of LY is best achieved by the planting of resistant cultivars integrated with cultural measures such as ground cover management because chemical control of H. crudus is not practical. International trade in palms from LY-infected areas is prohibited because of the threat of the disease and vector spreading not only to coconuts and date palms, but also to palms that are important as ornamental plants or as local sources of food or fibre.

Historical Biogeography and the Evolution of Hematophagy in Rhodniini (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae)

The Rhodniini tribe is one of the five tribes in the subfamily Triatominae and is notorious for its domestic blood-sucking pests and vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi across Latin America. The human and economic costs of the Chagas disease in the American tropics are considerable, and these insects are of unquestionable importance to humans. We used mitochondrial rDNA (16S), nuclear ribosomal RNA (28S) and wingless (Wg) sequences to perform phylogenetic analysis to derive trees based on parsimony and maximum likelihood. Nucleotide sequences were used in molecular-clock analyses to estimate time divergence between species of Rhodniini. The potential distribution of each species was modeled and compared with Kappa statistic. Multivariate niches with bioclimatic variables were used to describe differences between the species using discriminant analysis. The results of this study indicate that the Rhodniini originated 17.91 Mya ago. Rhodnius domesticus is the oldest species having its origin at 9.13 Mya. Rhodniini are closely related to Salyavatinae that are specialist termite predators and diverged from this subfamily 30.43 Mya. Most species are clearly allopatric and have distinct bioclimatic niches. The colonization of bromeliads, palms trees and bird nests represent important events for the speciation of these taxa. The hematophagous habit can be described as a scenario where Rhodniini’s ancestor could be pre-adapted for the invasion of bromeliads, palm trees, and bird nests where they would find significant water availability and thermal damping. These environments are widely used by vertebrate inquilines that would be the source of food for the species of Rhodniini. Lastly, our results show an alternative position of Psammolestes in the phylogenetic tree.

Anastrepha serpentina (sapodilla fruit fly).

A. serpentina is a pest of various cultivated species of Sapotaceae, especially caimito [Chrysophyllum cainito], sapodilla [Manilkara zapota], and sapote [Capparis angulata], and it occasionally attacks a variety of other hosts, including Citrus spp. It is a widespread species in the American tropics, occurring from Mexico to Argentina. It has been intercepted and trapped in the USA (Florida, California) and other countries outside its range indicating its potential for spread via infested fruits.

Psidium guajava (guava).

P. guajava is indigenous to the American tropics, and is now naturalized throughout the tropics and subtropics. It is grown mainly for its fruit, which is usually eaten raw, both green and when ripe, or is also cooked for preserves, jams, juice and guava paste (or 'guava cheese'). P. guajava is an ideal home garden fruit tree due to its hardiness, high yield, long supply season and high nutritive value. It is grown in orchards or incorporated into agroforestry systems in India, and is widely planted (or has spread) in Africa. The potential for developing guava for a larger and wider commercial market appears to be limited, mainly by its short shelf life and its susceptibility to fruit flies. One disadvantage is that P. guajava is an important weed in pastures, where it is difficult to eradicate and leads to land degradation in some Pacific Islands and Central America.

"Biografía coral del panamericanismo". The Dinner at Gonfarone's. Salomón de la Selva and His Pan-American Project in Nueva York, 1915-1919

Reseña de:Hulme, Peter. The Dinner at Gonfarone's. Salomón de la Selva and His Pan-American Project in Nueva York, 1915-1919. American Tropics. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2019, 416 pp., il. ISBN: 978-1-78694-200-5.