Identifying gaps in the photographic record of the vascular plant flora of the Americas.

Field photographs of plant species are crucial for research and conservation, but the lack of a centralized database makes them difficult to locate. We surveyed 25 online databases of field photographs and found that they harboured only about 53% of the approximately 125,000 vascular plant species of the Americas. These results reflect the urgent need for a centralized database that can both integrate and complete the photographic record of the world's flora.

A remarkable new species of Brunfelsia (Solanaceae) from the eastern Andes of Central Peru.

Brunfelsia cabiesesiana J. G. Graham, sp. nov. (Solanaceae), a new species from montane cloud forests of Ucayali and Pasco Departments, Peru, is described and illustrated. The new species differs from all other members of the genus Brunfelsia by its cauline inflorescences. A key to the Peruvian species of Brunfelsia is presented.

Resumen Brunfelsia cabiesesiana J. G. Graham, sp. nov. (Solanaceae), descrita e ilustrada aquí, constituye una nueva especie de los bosques nublados de los departamentos de Ucayali y Pasco, Perú. La nueva especie difiere de todas las demás especies de Brunfelsia por sus inflorescencias caulinas. Se presenta aquí también una clave para las especies peruanas de Brunfelsia.

Exploration of Vanilla pompona from the Peruvian Amazon as a potential source of vanilla essence: quantification of phenolics by HPLC-DAD.

This study provides the first chemical investigation of wild-harvested fruits of Vanilla pompona ssp. grandiflora (Lindl.) Soto-Arenas developed in their natural habitat in the Peruvian Amazon. Flowers were hand-pollinated and the resulting fruits were analysed at different developmental stages using an HPLC-DAD method validated for the quantification of glucovanillin and seven other compounds. The method showed satisfactory linearity (r(2)>0.9969), precision (coefficient of variation <2%), recoveries (70-100%), limit of detection (0.008-0.212 µg/ml), and limit of quantification (0.027-0.707 µg/ml). The evaluation of crude and enzyme-hydrolyzed Soxhlet-extracted samples confirmed the leading role of glucosides in fruit development. LC-ESI-MS studies corroborated the identities of four glucosides and seven aglycones, among them vanillin (5.7/100 g), 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol (3.6/100 g), and anisyl alcohol (7.1/100 g) were found in high concentrations. The attractive flavor/aroma profile exhibited by wild V. pompona fruits supports studies focused on the development of this species as a specialty crop.