When you think of Los Angeles, there are some iconic things that come to mind: the Hollywood Sign, the Santa Monica pier, the Hollywood Walk of Fame — and palm trees. Call up a photo of Los Angeles’ cityscape, and chances are you’ll see palm trees. They are ubiquitous throughout the city, growing along major boulevards and picturesque residential streets, populating parks and framing beachside boardwalks.

While today it’s hard to conjure up imagery of Los Angeles without these towering plants, that was not always in the case. Before the end of the 19th century, Los Angeles was a scrubland desert, no palms in sight. As developers moved into the area in the late 1800s, they wanted to find a way to make the desert more appealing. Palm trees, with their tropical and exotic associations, were just the ticket, especially since they are relatively easy to transport (they have a small, dense root ball rather than elaborate root systems) and thrive so long as they have sun and water.

Developers planted them everywhere, and they became a staple of Southern California [1].

Given their strong association with the area, you might be surprised to learn that there is only one species of palm native to the entire state of California — the California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera), native to the southwestern United States and northwest Mexico. It is one of two recognized species in the genus Washingtonia, the other being the Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta), native to western Sonora and Baja California Sur in northwestern Mexico. Both are among the palm tree species found in L.A., with the Mexican fan palm in particular reaching exceptional heights throughout the city.

Dr. Lorena Villanueva-Almanza, outreach coordinator at the California Botanical Society, specializes in the Washingtonia genus. As a plant taxonomist, her work focuses on understanding plant relationships and the many ways and names under which plants have been described across time — something she is currently engaged in for the Washingtonia. BHL is an invaluable resource for this work.

“Sometimes, the same plant will have multiple names, something we know as a synonym. In order to clear the confusion, I must look for the original publications — the protologues — in which they were first described,” explains Villanueva-Almanza. “The protologue gives me information about when a taxon was first published, traits that can help me determine the plants that I am working on, and if any type specimens were designated. BHL is a great resource for finding these protologues and, ideally, a solution to taxonomic and nomenclatural problems.”

Villanueva-Almanza has been studying plant taxonomy and systematics for twelve years. She first discovered BHL in 2011, while working as a research assistant for the Flora of the Tehuacán Valley Flora project in Mexico City. Since then, she has used the Library for all of her nomenclatural research. She refers to it daily in her work to identify Washingtonia synonyms and trace type specimens, downloading relevant pages as well as images of possible types in cases where these might be illustrations rather than herbarium specimens.

Being a plant taxonomist is rather like being a detective, explains Villanueva-Almanza. Working out the often convoluted taxonomic history of a species or genus means digging into historic texts and protologues and piecing together information across multiple centuries and languages. BHL makes it easy for her to locate relevant information with its full text “search inside” functionality and author searches that often lead to new publication sources.

“BHL provides invaluable material that sparks my detective skills,” attests Villanueva-Almanza. “It does a great job cross-linking data. I have found more information than I was originally looking for, allowing me to piece together the botanical history of Washingtonia palms with newly discovered information.”

One such example of the kind of unexpected discovery made possible thanks to BHL relates to the original collecting location for the Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta). While taxonomists knew that W. robusta was described from a cultivated palm, it has long been accepted that it was first collected in Baja California Sur. However, after studying a passage published in Möllers deutsche gärtner-zeitung(1888) in which Hermann Wendland — the author of W. robusta’s original species description — discussed the specimen that was sent to him by Louis van Houtte in the spring of 1883 for identification, and upon which his description was based, Villanueva-Almanza realized that this assumption was baseless.

“I remember the awe I felt when I read, translated, and finally realized the importance of Wendland’s notes on W. robusta,” recalls Villanueva-Almanza. “Wendland admits that he does not know where the specimen was collected, which means we do not know its original location. I knew that what I had found would change the way we had interpreted the genus Washingtonia.”

While unraveling taxonomic mysteries may sometimes simply lead to more mysteries, Villanueva-Almanza is up to the challenge. By providing easy access to historic texts through a single, convenient online portal, BHL allows her to make discoveries that eluded researchers of the past who may not have had access to such a breadth of material.

“Sometimes, finding a solution becomes a bigger challenge than I anticipated. However, I am particularly drawn to old mysteries,” affirms Villanueva-Almanza. “BHL has been a crucial part of my research — first, by acknowledging the value of historical publications and second, by making them accessible.”

We’re proud to know that BHL is living up to its vision of “Inspiring discovery through free access to biodiversity knowledge.” And while the original collecting location for Washingtonia robusta may still be a mystery, there’s no mystery about where you’re sure to see a Mexican fan palm today — towering over the streets of Los Angeles.

References

[1] Nosowitz, Dan. 2018. “Why Are There Palm Trees in Los Angeles?” Atlas Obscura, July 6. Accessed on 8 July 2020. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-are-there-palm-trees-in-los-angeles

At the end of the twentieth century, the The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Harvard University Herbaria, and The Australian National Herbarium began collaboration on an ambitious project—to create an online index of names for all of the world’s vascular plants [1].

By combining the data in the nomenclatural indices of these three institutions—namely Index Kewensis, the Gray Card Index, and the Australian Plant Names Index—the collaboration created the International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Hosted by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, today the database includes over 1.6 million records. As part of the provided nomenclatural information, IPNI includes bibliographic details linked to scanned literature in the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) and links to taxonomic data through the Plants of the World Online.

Not surprisingly, given its role as a source of scanned literature for the Index, BHL is a vital resource for those working to build and maintain the IPNI database.

“I started working for the International Plant Names Index in 2013,” says Heather Lindon, Plant and Fungal Names Editor at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . “I need to be able to look up protologues—the original place of publication of plant names and their descriptions. If the earliest place of publication isn’t known, we can use the name search in BHL to try to find it. Since our modern naming system dates to 1753, BHL has a lot of relevant literature for my work. Also, the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature that govern plant names apply to names published in the past, so consulting older works is still relevant for names being published today.”

Lindon has worked in the botanical sciences since 2003. Her resume is extensive and varied, and includes: serving as a paleobotanist at the Smithsonian; working on a native seed collection project at Chicago Botanic Gardens; digitizing plant specimens at the Natural History Museum, London and Kew; teaching university level botany; working in entomology on invasive plant control; running a molecular research lab; and conducting field surveys for the US Army.

For the past seven years, Lindon has worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as an editor on the Plant and Fungal Names Curation team, which curates the name, author, and publication data in IPNI. While BHL is often praised for providing access to literature that researchers may not otherwise be able to obtain, it also helps improve the research efficiency of those who do have access to robust research libraries.

“Although the library at Kew Gardens is extensive, since I often only need to look at a single page quickly to confirm a name, it’s much faster to use BHL,” explains Lindon. “With over 1.6 million plant name records to curate, and 6,000 more added every year, anything that can speed up the process is welcome. BHL also gives me access to editions or volumes that might be missing from Kew’s Library.”

From verifying the accuracy of the place, date and publication data in IPNI to confirming original spellings, establishing the correct author of a name, or reviewing the language of the original plant description, Lindon and her colleagues use BHL almost daily. For the small team managing the IPNI database, including Lindon and two other content editors at Kew and a collaborator at Harvard University Herbarium, the access and efficiencies that BHL provides are essential.

“BHL is a fantastic tool,” lauds Lindon. “For me personally, it also allows me to work from home more often, which is a huge bonus. That would not have been possible just five or 10 years ago in this kind of work. Even when I am in the office, I can find the information I need quickly.”

The Library is also useful both for answering reference questions received from users and as a way for users to provide feedback to the IPNI team members.

“We receive emails daily from users of our database to address matters of nomenclature. Answering these questions often involves searching through BHL’s literature,” shares Lindon. “Our users who send in questions and corrections can also send us a link directly to the relevant BHL page, which means we can sort out and answer their questions quickly.”

While BHL is an important repository of scanned literature for the database, inserting links to relevant pages on BHL was once a manual process for Lindon and her colleagues. However, a redesign of the IPNI website dramatically improved this workflow by making use of BHL’s OpenURL Resolver to create dynamic links to BHL pages.

“When IPNI designed its new website, we made sure that it could parse the information about the publication title, volume page and year,” says Lindon. “That means we don’t have to make individual links from names in our system to BHL. We can just tidy up the publication details in one go, and it will automatically link to the correct page in BHL.”

Lindon hopes that IPNI and BHL can build upon this progress to collaborate even further in the future.

“We would like for there to be stronger ties between the IPNI name list and the scientific name finder in BHL,” asserts Lindon. “That will make it easier for us to find names for keeping the database updated, but also for users to find literature on plant names in the search.”

While there are many publications in the Library are are useful for her research, such as the digitized volumes of the original printed copies of Index Kewensis, Lindon’s favorite publication in BHL is Taxonomic Literature 2 (TL-2). TL-2 is a 15 volume guide to the literature of systematic botany published between 1753 and 1940. It serves as the standard by which authors’ names and titles should be abbreviated in works on systematic botany [2].

“Having Taxonomic Literature 2 scanned means that we can easily link to it in our system,” shares Lindon. “If there is a question of publication date or authorship, we can click right through from the author’s record in IPNI and find the answer in TL-2 via BHL.”

As an enthusiastic BHL user, Lindon is not only grateful for the support that BHL provides to herself, her colleagues, and the IPNI user community, but she is also proud that her institution is part of BHL’s global consortium—a passionate community working to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to essential literature.

“It’s been good for Kew’s scientific library to be able to share what they have with users around the world,” affirms Lindon. “BHL makes the information that is often hidden away in institutions accessible, especially for those who might not always have access to a botanical library.”

We are proud to know that BHL is such a vital resource for the International Plant Names Index and its community of editors and users, allowing the Library to support the progression of the plant sciences and the work of systematic botanists around the world.

References

[1] Croft, J., Cross, N., Hinchcliffe, S., Lughadha, E.N., Stevens, P.F., West, J.G. and Whitbread, G. (1999), Plant names for the 21st century: the International Plant Names Index, a distributed data source of general accessibility. TAXON, 48: 317-324. doi:10.2307/1224436

[2] Smithsonian Libraries. “Taxonomic Literature II (TL-2).” Collections. Accessed on December 4, 2019. https://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/tl-2/.