Post by Melanie on Jul 13, 2008 4:27:03 GMT 1
Volker Bittrich, a botanist with the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) who participated in this project, whilst he was preparing data for the on-line Flora, found one single registration of Sciaphila caudata, carried out by the Frenchman Auguste-Francois-Marie Glaziou in Rio de Janeiro around 1870. As it was never again collected, this species of a miniscule flower could have become extinct – and the illustration in the Flora brasiliensis is practically the only clue for botanists who might want to reencounter this plant. For the public in general, especially teachers, students and artists, they can make use of an archive of beautiful images, previously guarded in no more than ten Brazilian libraries.
