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Post by Melanie on Feb 10, 2007 18:06:53 GMT 1
Braya pilosa Hooker, Pilose Braya, is an extremely rare endemic of the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is perhaps the most distinctive and, at the same time, least understood North American member of a taxonomically difficult genus.
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Post by Melanie on Feb 11, 2007 6:24:47 GMT 1
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Post by Melanie on Feb 11, 2007 6:29:06 GMT 1
thought to be extinct between 1850 and 2004
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Post by Melanie on Feb 11, 2007 6:43:19 GMT 1
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Post by Melanie on Nov 8, 2007 1:41:26 GMT 1
The Rediscovery of Braya pilosa (Brassicaceae): Solving a 150-Year-Old Taxonomic Mystery.
BRAYA pilosa was discovered in 1826 along the coast of Arctic Canada by John Richardson, naturalist with Sir John Franklin’s 2nd expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. Two additional collections of the plant were made by arctic explorers in 1848 and 1850, but the species was subsequently lost to science for 154 years. The lack of fruiting material for study in North American herbaria resulted in much speculation about the existence and taxonomic status of B. pilosa. Some botanists misapplied the name to collections of B. glabella, others wondered if the species were extinct, and still others speculated that B. pilosa might actually be a misidentified Draba species. An examination of Richardson’s 1826 journals indicated that the type locality of B. pilosa was probably on Cape Bathurst Peninsula in the Northwest Territories of Canada, 200 km east of its published location. A recent search of the presumed type locality resulted in the rediscovery of an extant population of B. pilosa. DNA sequence data confirm that B. pilosa is properly placed in the genus Braya and indicate that B. thorild-wulffii, another North American Arctic endemic, is its closest relative. There is evidence that B. pilosa survived Pleistocene glaciation at the eastern edge of the Beringia Refugium, that it is an allogamous diploid, and that it may be a parent to more widely distributed autogamous polyploid Braya taxa
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Post by Melanie on Nov 8, 2007 1:42:22 GMT 1
Jim Harris, professor of biology at UVSC, will discuss his recent Northwest Territory adventure with a blend of science and history. He will discuss the discovery of the plant species Braya Pilosa that originated in 1828 and the circumstances that led to its loss to science for more than 150 years. Harris rediscovered the plant in 2004 in a remote area of the Northwest Territories. He will discuss possible reasons for its disappearance and the circumstances surrounding its rediscovery. Additionally, he will discuss the scientific importance of the race to find the Northwest Passage in the 19th century, with special emphasis on the efforts to find the lost Franklin Expedition in the 1840s and 1850s.
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