Roland Keller A Field Guide to Tropical Plant Families A Field Guide to Tropical Plant Families Roland Keller A Field Guide to Tropical Plant Families 123 RolandKeller Lausanne,Switzerland ISBN978-3-031-05941-4 ISBN978-3-031-05942-1 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05942-1 ©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNature SwitzerlandAG2023 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsaresolelyandexclusivelylicensedbythePublisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinany otherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation, computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthis publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublisher,theauthors,andtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationin thisbookarebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material containedhereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremains neutralwithregardtojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations. ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland Foreword by David Mabberley Botanists, formerly (and with differing motives), collected, described and named the world’s trees and other plants as the principal task of the plant sciences.Thepracticalnecessitytoclassifyplantsaccordingtotheirusesisat the root of plant systematics, which is therefore one of the oldest of all sciences, being evident in the historical records of all major civilisations. Despite this longevity and an enormous literature, both printed and online, thefactremainsthatwestillcannotaccuratelystatehowmany plantspecies there are (or, very often, even agree on what constitutes a species), while detailsoftheiroverallmorphologyandecologyoftennotknownatall.Each yearsome2000newplantspeciesaredescribedasnew,andwedonotknow howmanyundescribedonesremainundiscoveredinthefieldorliefallowas preserved specimens in museum collections. Yet, despite the hullabaloo about conservation of resources, endless conferences, ‘declarations’, ‘accords’ and pious sentiments from politicians, it is clear that, following, and greatly accelerating, the environmental mod- ifications wrought by their forebears, modern humans have caused the extermination of hordes of animal and plant species we know about—and, undoubtedly, many that were never documented. We live in the Anthro- poceneandarewitnessingthefastestofthegreatextinctioneventseverseen on earth—and it is our fault. Besides the rising tide of alarm about climate change and this extinction, there are increasing public concerns about, or general interest in plants in general: organic food, herbal remedies and supplements, biofuels, ‘super- foods’, aromatherapy, genetically modified organisms and invasive species; gardening and the mere presence of plants are increasingly seen as good therapy. In short, people are engrossed by plants and, I would argue, the fathomingofthemagnificent natural world (incidentallyusuallyfeminineas inMotherEarthandMotherNature)ofwhichweformanincreasinglylarge part, is perhaps the greatest contribution that we scientists, as part of that magnificence, can possibly do. A1946paperofCorner’sinNewPhytologistwasprescient,‘Ifearlestall the virgin lowland forest of the tropics may be destroyed before botany awakes:evenourchildrenmayneverseetheobjectsofourdelightwhichwe havenotcaredforintheirvanishing….thereisstillavastamountofhack-work tobedone….’.Contrarytowhattheconcernedlaypersonmightbelieve,such work, so basic to the conservation effort, is not at the forefront of botanical endeavour, now swept along by a universal and mindless ‘business model’ v vi ForewordbyDavidMabberley requiring publication of papers of theoretical interest, in ‘high-impact’ jour- nals, without which truly Neronian fiddling young scientists cannot advance their careers. It is particularly lamentable that this now obtains even in the countrieswhichretainmostofthegreatestbiodiversity.Nonetheless,likethe guardiansofhumanartefactsinmuseums,thoseofus,whoareable,oweitto thecominggenerationstoatleasttrytocollectanddescribewhatremains. Howveryrefreshingthenisthismightybook:apracticaltoolintunewith theconcernsofeverymanandeverywomanratherthangrant-givingbodiesin themostivoryofacademictowers!RolandKellerisinthegrandtraditionof pioneeringnaturalists,rightlyawestruckbythemajestyofthenaturalworld, rather than obsessed with green matter in test-tubes. He follows modern exponents like Francis Hallé and Roelof Oldeman, these inspired by John Corner, who built on the work of Arthur Harry Church, paradoxically one of the least travelled of botanists (in body, though not mind). Ecological and conservation work in the tropics entails identifying large numbersof trees, which are often notin flower or fruit: consideration hasto begiventovegetativecharactersthatcanbeusedinthefield,charactersoften notevenmentionedinfloristicaccountsormonographs.RolandKeller,with wide experienceacross the tropical world,hasdrawntogetherknowledge of suchcharacters,mostderivedfrompersonalexperienceandobservation.His book is full of original information not to be found elsewhere: it is a the- saurusofbotanicalfactsandiswritteninanaccessibleandeffervescentstyle. Unlike most such guides or keys, this superbly illustrated book can be used anywhere in the tropics and provides in a straightforward three-step process identification to the level offamilies, which are now circumscribed accordingtomolecularaswellasmorphologicalcharactersintheuniversally accepted scheme of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. Here that scheme is bolsteredbytheconsiderationofimportantandusefulfieldcharacters—from overall architecture to bark characters (particularly revelatory in Lauraceae for example), to stipular scars, nature of any latex, odours of bruised tissues (and their taste!) besides the more familiar characters of indumentum and armature, for example. Withinthefamilyaccounts,thereisinformationconcerningimportanteco- nomic plants with notes on the larger genera and, particularly helpfully, dis- cussion of families readily confused and how to separate them. Particularly delightfulareextractsfromtheauthor’sfield-books,showingexquisitedrawings ofarchitectureandotherfeaturesofplantsastheyarefoundintheforest. This book is unique—and a triumph. David Mabberley Wadham College University of Oxford Oxford, England Department of Natural Sciences Macquarie University Sydney, Australia š Foreword by Jitka Klime ová As an ecologist, I like keys for determination of plants according to vege- tative characters. When assessing species composition of a vegetation, majority of plants is not flowering but still they are residents of the com- munity,interactingwithotherspeciesandaffectingecosystemfunctionsand Iwanttoknowthem.Asamorphologist,Iknowthatnotallcharactersuseful for plant determination are commonly known to authors of identification keys.Itconcernsplantbelowgroundorgansinherbsorbranchingpatternsin trees.IappreciatethatbookAFieldGuidetoTropicalPlantFamiliesthatis mainly devoted to trees. Moreover, branching and architectural models are integratedintothedeterminationkeysandplantdescriptions.Althoughthese traits areinterestingperse,themainstrengthofthis attempt isthetreatment ofaplantinitswholeappearance.Currently,weknowlargepartoftheworld floraonlyasaplantnameandafloweringtwiginherbarium,andsuchbooks asthisfromRolandKellermayencouragebotaniststotakewholeplantinto accountwhenlookingfordeterminationcharactersandnoteitforothersand future research. Personally, after two years of travel restrictions due to pandemic, I feel excited when imagining myself outside of camp in tropics observing a plant in its natural habitat, examining its branching, bark, exudates or odour of crushed leaves as is suggested in the section ‘It is better to observe the followingcharactersinthefield,beforebringingthesamplesbacktocamp’. Jitka Klimešová Institute of Botany Czech Academy of Sciences Trebon, Czech Republic vii Acknowledgements I wish to thank the following for their assistance, their friendship or their encouragements Daniel Atuany (Taman Nasional Manusela, Seram) Rupert Barneby † (New York Botanical Garden) Claude Edelin (CNRS, Montpellier) Peter Endress (Institut für Systematische und Evolutionäre Botanik, Zürich) Miguel Estaba (Boca Nichare, Venezuela) Jacques Fournet † (INRA, Pointe-à-Pitre) Pierre-André Loizeau, Nicolas Fumeaux, Fred Staufer, Laurent Gautier (Conservatoire Botanique de Genève) René Hebding † (Jardin Botanique Les Cèdres, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat) Pak Ijun † (BIOTROP, Bogor) André Kostermans † (Kebun Raya, Herbarium Bogoriense) Anton Leeuwenberg † (Herbarium Vadense, Wageningen) Pierre Lombion (Morne-à-l’Eau, Guadeloupe) Germán López (Belize’s National Herbarium, Belmopan) Paul Maas (Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht) Francis Ng (Forest Research Institute Malaysia, Kepong) Jeanine Raharilala † (Jardin botanique de Tsimbazaza, Tananarive) Mamisoa Rapanoelina (WWF, Diego Suarez) Elio Sanoja (Universidad Nacional Experimental de Guayana, Upata) Nanu Sasidharan (Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi) Prachaya Srisanga (Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden, Chiang Mai) Sarawood Sungkaev (Jatujak University, Bangkok) Max van Balgooy (Universiteit Leiden) John van Thuyne (Van Thuyne Ridge Research Center, Chobe, Botswana) Jasper Zanco (Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina) In addition, I thank Marie-Claude Gothuey, Claude Maillefer, Arnaud Pradervand, Caroline Sonnay, Daniel Schlaepfer, Laurent Rivier and Jean-Denis Briod for their practical assistance and moral support. I am indebted to the Corporación Venezolana de Guayana, the Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden and the Conservatoire Botanique de Genève, who generously helped me for logistical support or herbarium assistance. My heartfelt appreciation to Francis Hallé who was an invaluable guide throughout my years of research into the architecture of plants. ix x Acknowledgements My humble thanks to David Mabberley for his flamboyant preface; his ‘Plant-Book’ was a faithful companion in the course of my last trips in Indonesia. Michael Heads has kindly provided many improvements to the concepts andthebotanicalterminology;thankyou,Michael,foryourwisesuggestions. I was pleased to discover the work of Jitka Klimešová. Her book «TemperateHerbs—AnArchitecturalAnalysis»isparticularlyimportantasit shouldencouragemorefrequentexchangesbetweenbotanistsspecialisingin tropical plants and those of mid-latitudes. IamverygratefultoRosemaryLeesforhercontributiontothetranslation of the French version into English. Contents Part I User Manual and Architectural Concepts 1 Introduction.. .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 3 1.1 Scope of the Book .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 3 1.2 Why Consider Families?.... .... .... .... ..... .... 3 1.3 Photos or Drawings?... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 4 1.4 Sources and Tests. .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 4 1.5 Structure of the Book .. .... .... .... .... ..... .... 4 References.... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 5 2 How to Use This Book .. .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 7 References.... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 10 3 Architectural Concepts and Key to the Models... ..... .... 13 3.1 Concepts and Statements.... .... .... .... ..... .... 13 3.2 Key to the Architectural Models.. .... .... ..... .... 18 References.... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 25 Part II Identification Keys 4 Key to the Groups of Families of Trees and Shrubs.... .... 29 5 Keys to Families of Trees and Shrubs.. .... .... ..... .... 37 6 Supplementary Keys .... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 95 6.1 Key A—Tribes and Main Genera of the Euphorbiaceae s.l..... .... .... .... ..... .... 95 6.2 Key B—Tribes and Main Genera of the Malvaceae .... 103 6.3 Key C—Families of the Order Sapindales + Picramniaceae . .... .... .... ..... .... 106 6.4 Key D—Tribes and Main Genera of the Leguminosae.... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 111 6.5 Key E—Some Genera of the Rubiaceae.... ..... .... 119 References.... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 120 7 Keys to the Groups of Families of Lianas and Woody Epiphytes.... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 121 8 Keys to Families of Lianas and Woody Epiphytes ..... .... 123 xi