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A new species—it’s plain in Spain
Oranges and bergamot oil are both products of plants in the Rutaceae, a large family with over 900 species, many of which are economically important, distributed from warm-temperate to tropical regions, as described by Navarro et al. (Granada, Spain, pp. 571–582). These authors have focused on the genus Haplophyllum, many members of which occur in the warmer parts of Europe. Members of this genus are rich in alkaloids and other important secondary metabolites. However, despite the background of centuries of botanical research in Europe and the commercial potential of Haplophyllum species, we have only a relatively limited knowledge of the ecology and taxonomy of this genus. So much so, that, in the present paper, Navarro and colleagues describe a newly discovered species, H. bastetanum. We often hear, in the context of biodiversity, that much of the world’s fauna and flora still remains to be described and we presume that such statements relate to less-accessible parts of the world or to regions that have not been the subject of extensive research. But these authors have discovered a previously undescribed species in a major European country. Further, in describing H. bastetanum they have enjoyed advantages that previous generations of taxonomists did not have, namely being able to use DNA sequencing and bioinformatics. It is certainly true that H. bastetanum is readily distinguishable from its close relatives by virtue of clear differences in morphology, floral characters and chromosome number (which leads us to ask why it had not been discovered earlier) but the DNA sequence comparisons (using part of the major gene encoding ribosomal RNA) confirm very strongly the separate identity of this species and its place in the evolution of the genus. One wonders how many more European plant species await discovery.
Professor J. A. Bryant
University of Exeter, UK
j.a.bryant{at}exeter.ac.uk
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