New
Pleurothallid Orchids from the Cordillera del Condor of Ecuador
: Here I formally describe
three new species of orchids that I discovered in the Cordillera del Condor.
This article is published in Selbyana 25:11-16
(2004). See my
Orchids of the Cordillera del Condor report for more
details about the area. 
Teagueia Explosion!: The story of the discovery of (at the time) TWENTY new species of the orchid genus Teagueia on three neighboring mountaintops in the Andes of east-central Ecuador. Prior to these discoveries, the genus Teagueia only had six members, three from Ecuador and three from Colombia. Remarkably, all twenty new species share floral and vegetative characters that are not found in the six previously known Teagueia species, suggesting that all twenty evolved locally from a recent common ancestor. This is the most dramatic species radiation yet known from Ecuador, exceeding even the famous Scalesia radiation on the Galapagos Islands. Later discoveries have made this radiation even more interesting; there are now THIRTY new species instead of twenty! For a more systematic discussion of the species of Teagueia, see Monograph of the Genus Teagueia Luer (Orchidaceae).
A version of this article first appeared in Pleurothallid News and Views, the newsletter of the Pleurothallid Alliance.A version has also appeared in the Orchid Digest 68:8-13 (2004).
Latest
Orchid Discoveries : Here I post the latest new orchid
species as I discover them. Recent discoveries include new species of
Maxillaria, Ponthieva, Lepanthes, Teagueia,
and Epidendrum. 
Mystery
Plants : Here I post Ecuadorian plants that I am having
trouble identifying. I invite comments by experts, who may write me at
the address on the home page.
An
Analysis of the DNA-Based Reclassification of the Pleurothallid Orchids:
Recently Pridgeon et al. proposed a controversial
reclassification of the orchid subtribe Pleurothallidinae. The published
responses to their proposal have either embraced it uncritically or rejected
it completely. The truth is somewhere in the middle.This article looks at
the details, and concludes that some of the proposed genera should be accepted,
while others lack sufficient backing.
Lepanthes
of
Ecuador Identification Guide:
This online book is meant to be used with Dr. C. A. Luer's Lepanthes
monographs (published by the Missouri Botanical Garden). It arranges the
Lepanthes of Ecuador into many small more-or-less natural groups,
and provides a key to those groups. For each group, all known Ecuadorian
species are illustrated and presented in two side-by-side scrollable frames
to facilitate comparison. Dr. Luer's illustrations (used here with his kind
permission) are supplemented by photos when available, and by my own drawings
of new unpublished species. NOT READY YET!! THIS IS LOTS OF WORK!!!!!
Biogeography
of the Pastaza Watershed (Eastern Andes of Central Ecuador):
This online book treats the amazingly rich and highly endemic flora of the
Pastaza watershed and surrounding area. More plant species are endemic to
this small valley than to all of the Galapagos Islands. This book concentrates
on orchids, and includes species accounts for some of the ninety orchid
species endemic to the watershed. It also includes species accounts for
some of the many other plants endemic to the watershed. Some nonflowering
plants are also treated, including the endemic monotypic liverwort genus
Myriocolea, discovered on the Rio Topo in 1857 and only just now
rediscovered by S. R. Gradstein, Noelle Noske, and myself. The distributions
of the orchids of the area shed light on the nature of plant evolution in
the Andes, and contradict some popular theories.
Orchids of the Jocotoco Foundation Reserves:
The Jocotoco Foundation was formed to buy and manage reserves for critically
endangered Ecuadorian birds. The reserves coincidentally contain many threatened
and endangered plant species, especially orchids. The Foundation has asked
me to assess the conservation value of their reserves for orchids, and this
article reports the ongoing results of those investigations. 
Using
Sympatry to Resolve Species-Level Problems in Lepanthes: 1. L.
nummularia . Lepanthes
nummularia needs to be split into between four and six species, based
on the existence of multiple consistent sympatric forms.Discovery of a New Genus: This article contains my observations on the active trap mechanism of the lip of what was then called Masdevallia teaguei. On the basis of these observations Dr. Luer established a new genus, Jostia, for this plant. However, recent DNA evidence shows that this species still deserves to be kept in Masdevallia......
This article first appeared in the Pleurothallid News and Views, the newsletter of the Pleurothallid Alliance.
Monograph
of the Genus Teagueia Luer (Orchidaceae):
When Dr. C. A. Luer published the first monograph of the genus Teagueia,
there were only six known species. Over the last few years my students
and I have discovered about thirty new species in my study area, and more
are on the way as I figure out how to reach additional unexplored mountain
peaks here. This online book is the ideal way to keep the world posted
on this remarkable explosion of Teagueia species, since it can
be updated so easily. See also Teagueia
Explosion!
for the story of their discovery.
A
Simple Point-centered Quarter Method for Non-Uniform Forests:
The Point-centered Quarter method (PCQ) has long been a standard technique
for measuring plant density. Unfortunately the botanists who invented
it were poor mathematicians, and they made assumptions which cause the
standard density formula to be grossly invalid in nonuniform forests.
Recent critics have recognized this problem and have recommended that
the method be abandoned in spite of its other advantages. However, I have
derived a new formula for PCQ data which is valid for nonuniform forests.
I have tested the new formula both in computer-simulated and real forests
and find it to be accurate. Therefore there is no need to abandon the
PCQ method. The new formula uses exactly the same variables as the classical
formula, so it can be used to reanalyze old data and find the correct
density.
Orchids
of the Cordillera del Condor:
The Cordillera del Condor is an isolated range of mountains just east
of the main body of the Andes, along the frontier between Ecuador and
Peru. It is very poorly known, because until recently it was the site
of border conflicts between those two countries. In addition, the resident
Shuar indigenous people are somewhat hostile towards outsiders. The Missouri
Botanical Gardens Cordillera del Condor Project is now working to explore
the region under the direction of David Neill, Director of the Herbario
Nacional del Ecuador. I was able to go on two of his expeditions, one
to the white sand mountains above Tinkimints, and another to the high
peaks (2700 m) above Warints. This web page describes the orchid specimens
found on these trips, including several new species.