Atlas of the flora of New England: Dicots - Asteraceae: Introduction

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Dicots - Asteraceae:   Introduction   Genera A-C   Genera D-R   Genera S-Z   References



by

Ray Angelo1 and David E. Boufford2
Harvard University Herbaria
22 Divinity Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138-2020, USA
1rangelo@oeb.harvard.edu
2david_boufford@harvard.edu



ABSTRACT. Dot maps are provided to depict the distribution at the county level of the taxa of Magnoliophyta: Asteraceae (corresponding to Flora of North America, Vols. 19, 20, 21) growing outside of cultivation in the six New England states of the northeastern United States. The maps treat 491 taxa (species, subspecies, varieties, and hybrids, but not forms) based primarily on specimens in major herbaria of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, with most data derived from the holdings of the New England Botanical Club Herbarium (NEBC). Brief synonymy (to account for names used in standard manuals and floras for the area) habitat, chromosome information, and common names are also provided.

Key Words: flora, New England, atlas, distribution, Asteraceae.


This article is the ninth in a series (Angelo and Boufford, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2007, 2010, 2011a, 2011b, 2012) that present the distributions of the vascular flora of New England in the form of dot distribution maps at the county level (see Key Map). The atlas is posted on the internet at http://neatlas.org/ where it will be updated as new information becomes available.

This project encompasses all vascular plants (pteridophytes and spermatophytes) at the rank of species, subspecies, and variety growing independent of cultivation in the six New England states. Hybrids are also included, but forms and other ranks below the level of variety are not. The dots are based on voucher specimens primarily in New England herbaria (of colleges, universities, botanical gardens, and public museums) representing reproducing populations outside of cultivated habitats. This ninth installment includes the family in Magnoliophyta: Asteraceae corresponding to the family treated in Flora of North America, Volumes 19, 20, 21 (Flora of North America Editorial Committee 2006a, 2006b. 2006c). Of the 491 taxa treated, 223 are not native to the region. Future accounts will treat the distribution of additional non-monocot angiosperms.

The habitat data are distillations from a variety of sources augmented by our own field observations. An attempt was made to indicate habitat information as it applies to a particular taxon in New England rather than to the entire range of the taxon. Such information is omitted where habitat is not indicated on the specimen label and where we also lack personal knowledge of the plant in New England. Omissions of habitat information are for a few introduced taxa and for all hybrids.

It is our hope that these articles will stimulate additional field work to supplement the distributions portrayed in the maps. The New England Botanical Club herbarium has proven to be the most important resource for this project. We are eager to receive information on voucher specimens in public herbaria documenting range extensions and filling county gaps in distributions. Similarly, because the atlas of the New England flora will be continuously updated as new information becomes available, we are eager to receive notification of published corrections of cytological information and new, documented chromosome counts for taxa in the New England flora.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Materials and methods are as outlined in Angelo and Boufford (1996) and at http://neatlas.org/Intro-Pterid&Gym.html and are not repeated here.

TAXONOMY AND FORMAT

The taxonomy and nomenclature adopted for this work essentially follow that of the Flora of North America project in progress, except that families, genera, and species are arranged alphabetically. The families and their circumscription do not necessarily reflect current views on relationships or composition. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Website (Stevens 2001 onwards) should be consulted for a continuously updated treatment of families and their inclusive genera. Named and unnamed hybrid taxa are placed alphabetically at the end of the genus in which they occur. Unnamed hybrids combine the names of the progenitors alphabetically by epithet. Taxa that are not native to New England are indicated by uppercase text. Unpublished names are not used, even if publication is pending.

Chromosome numbers are taken from Flora of North America, Volumes 19, 20, 21 (Flora of North America Editorial Committee 2006a, 2006b, 2006c) and from Missouri Botanical Garden's Index to Plant Chromosome Numbers [website http://www.tropicos.org/NameSearch.aspx?projectid=9; St. Louis, MO]

Synonymy is provided primarily with respect to names accepted in standard manuals covering New England published from 1950 onward, including Fernald (1950), Gleason and Cronquist (1991), and Seymour (1982). Synonyms have not been provided where the distribution for the synonymized name does not include New England.

The following list (which includes excluded taxa) will aid readers in finding familiar names that have been transferred to other taxa:


The following species are reported from our area but are excluded for the reasons noted:


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank the curators and directors of the herbaria of the New England Botanical Club, the Harvard University Herbaria, the University of Massachusetts, and the University of Vermont for allowing access to their collections. For the University of Maine and the University of Connecticut herbaria we used their exceptional online databases of specimens (http://herbaria.umaine.edu/ and http://bgbaseserver.eeb.uconn.edu/databasesimple.html). We are grateful also to Karen Searcy and Roberta Lombardi for facilitating access to the herbarium and to the notebooks of Harry E. Ahles at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) and to Dr. Searcy for kindly answering requests for information after our visit. James Hinds generously checked information on voucher specimens at the University of Maine (Orono). The following persons also checked certain records for us at their respective institutions: Janet Sullivan, Emily Wood and Elizabeth Allen. In particular we thank the following individuals for repeated checking of specimens at their institution: Robert Capers of the University of Connecticut, Craig D. Layne of Dartmouth College, and Alina Freire-Fierro of The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. James Morefield kindly provided information that aided in locating voucher specimens. John Kartesz and Misako Nishino generously provided the latest draft of the Floristic Synthesis of North America, which was consulted for reports of occurrence and sources of such reports. We thank Kanchi Gandhi for nomenclatural assistance.



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http://neatlas.org/Neatlas8/Intro-Asteraceae.html -- Revised: Jan. 3, 2013
Created by: Ray Angelo
rangelo@oeb.harvard.edu