A new species of Utricularia Sect. Orchidioides (Lentibulariaceae) from the Amotape-Huancabamba Zone of North Peru

A new species of Utricularia Section Orchidioides: Utricularia amotape-huancabambensis sp. nov. (Lentibulariaceae), endemic to Northern Peru is described and illustrated. It is known from two populations so far, both located in the Province Bongará, Dpto. Amazonas at ca. 2200 m altitude. The new species inhabits the páramo of the low white sandstone plateaus, an extension of the southern branches of the Condor mountain range in the southeastern part of the Amotape-Huancabamba phytogeographic zone. A diagnosis, description, etymology and an identification key covering the Andean and selected similar species of the section are presented. The distribution, habitat, ecology, associated flora, preliminary conservation status, an observed hybridization with sympatric U. unifolia and the affinities of the new species with other related taxa are discussed. The new species is known from two close-by populations in the same region and likely affected by anthropic pressure. Threatening changes in land use, resulting in habitat fragmentation or loss or changing water regimes in the course of climate change will have severe consequences for the sensitive páramo ecosystem and thus the populations of U. amotape-huancabambensis. Therefore, this new spectacular species of Utricularia is preliminarily considered Critically Endangered (CR).

Vascular flora and phytogeography of Cape Prince of Wales, Seward Peninsula, Alaska

Cape Prince of Wales on the western tip of the Seward Peninsula in Alaska is the closest point in continental North America to Asia. From here the eastern tip of the Chukotsk Peninsula is less than 80 km away across the Bering Strait. Owing to the position of the Seward Peninsula, its flora is of great biogeographic interest, yet until recently was poorly known because of the remoteness of the region. Here I document the 292 vascular plant taxa that compose the flora at Cape Prince of Wales. I consider this Bering Strait region a distinct phytogeographic zone. The flora has strong alpine affinities, and it is marked by the local abundance of certain Asiatic and Beringian species, and the absence of continental species requiring summer warmth that are common elsewhere on the Seward Peninsula.

The identification of some Tertiary pollen belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae

Five fossil pollen forms from Tertiary assemblages in southern New South Wales are shown to have botanical affinities with taxa in the family Euphorbiaceae. Careful comparison of all morphological features of fossil and extant reference pollen, and consideration of as many closely related taxa as possible has enabled these identifications to be made with confidence. The fossil pollen forms Tricolporopollenites endobalteus and Triorites introlirnbatus match the extant Macaranga-Mallotus, and possibly other related taxa. The fossil Polyorificites oblatus is identified with the extant Longetia pollen type, i.e. Austrobuxus (Longetia) buxoides and Dissiliaria tricornis. Most of the specimens of the fossil Malvacipollis divevsus fit the extant Tetracoccus pollen type, ie. Austrobuxus (Longetia) swainii and Dissiliaria baloghioides, and only a very few have malvaceous affinities. An analysis of the exine stratification and the base of the spine is a reliable way of distinguishing spiny pollen of the Euphorbiaceae from that of the Malvaceae. The presence of Micrantheurn-Neoroepera and Alchornea (Caelobogyne) is also established in the fossil record. Only one of the fossil taxa, Micrantheum-Neoroepeva, has living representatives in the temperate zone of Australia today, and the fossil occurs in Upper Tertiary assemblages which usually lack Nothofagus. The other four are Lower Tertiary taxa, found always in assemblages with abundant Nothofagus, and their living representatives are almost entirely restricted to the tropical phytogeographic zone of Australia. This distribution contrasts strongly with the fossil localities in southern New South Wales. Only the Alchornea fossil is a Tertiary tropical element.