[BSW] November 1 meeting + Sugarloaf + Misc.

[KATHY BILTON]

Tuesday, November 1, 2022 at 7pm (Doors will open by 6:45.)

Mr. N.S. Prasanna and Ms. Rhuthuparna S B, Ph.D. students at Dr. Vinita 
Gowda’s Tropical Ecology and Evolution (TrEE) Lab at the Indian Institute 
of Science Education and Research, Bhopal, will speak on the topic:

A Glimpse into the Ecology and Evolution of Gesneriaceae in India

Flier: http://botsoc.org/nov22.pdf

(See bottom of email for detailed description)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83300432865?pwd=WTY3MC9vU1N5Y1RpS0x6QkhGM1h2QT09
If needed: Meeting ID: 833 0043 2865   Passcode: 727022

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Frederick County rejects compromise on Sugarloaf Mountain’s future
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/10/25/sugarloaf-mountain-vote/

Everyone loves Sugarloaf Mountain. The fight for its future is still ugly.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/10/24/sugarloaf-mountain-frederick-council-vote/

Stronghold Says It Will Close Sugarloaf Mt. To The Public If Treasured 
Landscape Management Plan, Overlay Are Adopted
https://www.wfmd.com/2022/10/11/stronghold-says-it-will-close-sugarloaf-mt-to-the-public-if-treasured-landscape-management-overlay-are-adopted/

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One of the founders of the MNPS, Lou Aronica, has died.
Obituary in the Post: 
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/louis-aronica-obituary?id=36813845
Article from 2000: 
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/268666/garden-variety-activism/
2014 Interview with him: https://youtu.be/nrPBc6J27fk

In response to a link in the last BSW email, Gene Rosenberg said:
For "Canada's Botanist to be Remembered", I would nominate
Frère (Brother) Marie-Victorin (1885-1944).

Plantwatch: The World’s Tiniest Orchids
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/oct/19/plantwatch-the-worlds-tiniest-orchids

Why Is the Most American Fruit So Hard to Buy?
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/10/pawpaw-fruit-taste-history/671646/

October Talk has been uploaded to YouTube (to make room in Zoom account 
for November talk)
Juan Diego Palacio-Mejía, Director of the Tibaitatá Research Center at
Colombian Corporation of Agricultural Research) spoke to our meeting about
"Economic Botany as an Option for Development in Colombia"
https://youtu.be/0RBdKCuOaWg

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A Glimpse into the Ecology and Evolution of Gesneriaceae in India

Tropical forests of the Indian subcontinent harbor a diverse flora which 
is attributed to its long and complex biogeographic history. Understorey 
herbs like gesneriads (African violet family) often receive less attention 
from botanists and conservationists alike, although they are more prone to 
extinction due to their unique niche and habitat requirements.

In India, Gesneriaceae is represented by one-third of old-world genera and 
more than 130 species. Gesneriaceae research in India began in the early 
18th century, although colonial botanists focused primarily on 
economically important plants, and thus understorey herbs like gesneriads 
were often overlooked. Regardless of the fact that, more recently, a 
renewed interest in the Indian Gesneriaceae has resulted in updated 
generic concepts, and descriptions of many new species from unexplored 
regions, there is a severe lack of studies on the pollination biology and 
reproductive ecology of this plant family. Gesneriaceae have a remarkable 
diversity of floral forms along with multiple mating strategies reported 
from different genera. This includes temporal and spatial partitioning of 
sex organs (stamen and pistil) known as dichogamy and herkogamy 
respectively. Enantiostyly in Didymocarpus, heterostyly in Henckelia, and 
protandry in Aeschynanthus are only a few examples of exceptional mating 
strategies evolved in Gesneriaceae.

In this talk, we provide a glimpse of the rich flora of Gesneriaceae in 
India from both ecological and evolutionary perspectives. We will also try 
to emphasize where we lack scientific knowledge about this plant family 
and why it is important to study them given their specificity in choice of 
habitat, narrow endemism, and drastically declining habitats. We will also 
present the latest update from our phylogenetic studies and enumerate the 
evolutionary patterns we uncovered in the genus Didymocarpus and related 
genera.