Bradleya 27/2009
Cover: (Top left) figure of Tephrocactus (Maihueniopsis or formerly Opuntia) darwinii, published by Henslow in 1837, drawn from Darwin's preserved material. This drawing provided the background for John Gould's portrait of the common cactus finch Geospiza scandens, from The Zoology of HMS Beagle (1838) (centre left). (Bottom left) Opuntia galapageia, drawing published by Henslow in1837, again based on a collection by Darwin from The Galapagos Islands. (Right) Charles Darwin as a young man.
Charles Darwin was born 200 years ago this year and his monumental work On the origin of species, laying the foundation of modern evolutionary theory driven by natural selection, was published 150 years ago. Earlier in 1759, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, were established. This year's special issue of Bradleya celebrates these anniversaries with the principal theme of evolution of succulents. Bradleya 27 includes the following articles:
- Editorial: Darwin and Kew anniversaries
- Charles Darwin's succulent plants
- Living under temporarily arid conditions − succulence as an adaptive strategy
- Evolution of cacti driven by genetic drift not selection
- Evolution of characters in the Opuntioideae
- Insect flower visitors and pollinators of cacti from the southwest USA
- On the evolution of nectaries in the Aizoaceae
- Kew and its collections of succulent plants
- The composite structure of cactus spines
- Evolution of bat pollination in cacti
- Stapelia hirsuta L. and early portrait
- Rectification of a mistake by G.W.Reynolds on a Malagasy Aloe (Asphodelaceae) and description of a new species
- The identity of Sansevieria arborescens (Ruscaceae), with an amplified description and description of a new species
- Priority of Aloe teissieri over Aloe andohahelensis
- Ceropegia thailandica (Asclepiadoideae-Ceropegieae), a spectacular new Thai species
- Aloe arborescens Miller (Asphodelaceae) is spreading in Portugal
Bradleya 27 can be purchased for £21 (or £25 overseas) incl. p & p. Publication August 1st 2009.
