Taxonomic Revision of Rhodospatha (Araceae)

密苏里州植物园的托马斯·克罗特博士将在南美洲进行实地采集，然后在实验室和植物标本馆对估计的70种芳香植物红花属进行研究。作为在园艺学上众所周知的Philodendron的近亲，Rhodospatha与许多其他天南星属一起在草本植物收集中很少被代表，因此很少被人知道。该群的成员在新大陆热带潮湿的低海拔森林中相当常见，在那里他们为雨林中存在的藤本植物和附生植物的丰富群落做出了贡献。植物在幼叶形状和成叶形状之间表现出有趣的差异，部分原因是需要在地面上萌发，然后作为藤本植物向上生长，需要邻近植物的支持。克罗特博士将研究叶、茎、花和果实的形态特征，以辨别用于区分物种的可靠特征。对这些物种标本的标本标本馆进行广泛调查，将有助于详细绘制这些物种的地理范围和栖息地偏好的地图。温室中选定的类群的生长将允许近距离观察细微的形态特征，以及研究开花和结果的季节性(如果有的话)。将在项目结束时完成对估计的70个物种的全面分类修订，并分析与其他芳香族化合物的属间关系。这项工作将有助于我们了解热带植物的多样性，并将为其他研究人员和学生提供材料和标本。

Dr. Thomas Croat of the Missouri Botanical Garden will undertake field collecting in South America followed by laboratory and herbarium study of the estimated 70 species of the aroid genus Rhodospatha. A relative of the philodendron, well known horticulturally, Rhodospatha along with many other aroid genera is poorly represented in herbaria collections and consequently is poorly known. Members of the group are rather common in moist low-elevation forests of the New World tropics, where they contribute to the rich community of vines and epiphytes present in the rainforest. Plants exhibit an interesting difference between juvenile leaf shape and adult leaf form, partly related to the need to germinate on the ground followed by growth upward as a vine requiring neighboring plants for support. Dr. Croat will study morphological features of leaf, stem, flower, and fruit to discern reliable characters for distinguishing species. An extensive survey of herbarium holdings of specimens of these species will enable detailed mapping of the geographic ranges and habitat preferences of the species. Growth of selected taxa in the greenhouse will permit close observation of subtle morphological features as well as study of flowering and fruiting seasonality (if present at all). A comprehensive taxonomic revision of the estimated 70 species, with analysis of generic relationships with other aroids, will be completed at the end of the project. The work will contribute to our understanding of tropical plant diversity, and will make available materials and specimens for other researchers and students.