Vicia dennesiana explained

Vicia dennesiana is a species in the Fabaceae family, named after the solicitor and plant collector George Edgar Dennes.^[1] It is protected by the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.^{[2] [3]} This species has not been found in the wild since 1848, and is considered extinct in its natural habitat.^{[4] [5]} It has not been observed in cultivation since 1922.^[6]

The habitat of the species is poorly known. The available data indicate that the species developed on the sheltered slopes of Serra da Tronqueira, São Miguel Island, Azores, but the population was subsequently destroyed in a landslide.^{[7] [8]}

A cultivated population was maintained in the Thames Ditton garden of Hewett Cottrell Watson, the author who described the species. Several seeds were germinated and produced annually flowering and fruiting plants. In the winter, the plants were sheltered in a greenhouse to protect them from frost, and in the summer they were planted in the garden. However, at the end of May 1867, almost all of Watson's plants had died due to a late frost. One of the three surviving plants bloomed again in the summer of the next year, which made it possible to continue to cultivate the species.^[1] After Watson's death a specimen was transferred to the Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew. Due to unsuccessful propagation, today only herbarium specimens remain.

Herbarium specimens

The Fielding-Druce Herbarium of Oxford University and the Kew Gardens Herbarium include specimens collected on Ilha de São Miguel.^{[9] [10] [11]} Preserved specimens of Vicia dennesiana cultivated by Watson are held by herbaria including the National Herbarium of Victoria Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, and the Copenhagen University Botanical Museum.^{[12] [13]}

Notes and References

1. Book: Godman, Frederick Du Cane . 1870 . Natural history of the Azores, or Western Islands . https://archive.org/details/naturalhistorya00godmgoog/page/n123/mode/2up?q=dennesiana . London . J. Van Voorst . 155 . Botany of the Azores.
2. Web site: Vicia dennesiana. Espécies da Directiva Aves/Habitats 140/99 Diário República Anexo II. Plano Sectorial para a Rede Natura 2000 Açores . . 2000 . Island Biology Research Group . 12 April 2021.
3. Web site: Checklists containing Vicia dennesiana H.C.Watson . . 2021 . Natural History Museum . 19 April 2021.
4. Anonymous . Vicia dennesiana: Native of the Azores Islands. . Curtis's Botanical Magazine . 1887 . 3 . 43 . 6967.
5. Schaefer . Hanno . Hechenleitner . Paulina . Santos-Guerra . Arnoldo . Menezes de Sequeira . Miguel . Pennington . R. Toby . Kenicer . Gregory . Carine . Mark A. . Systematics, biogeography, and character evolution of the legume tribe Fabeae with special focus on the middle-Atlantic island lineages . BMC Ecology and Evolution . 2012 . 250 . 12 . 250 . 10.1186/1471-2148-12-250 . 23267563 . 3547781 . 2012BMCEE..12..250S . free .
6. Web site: Vicia dennesiana. . . 2019 . Stockholms Universitet . 26 April 2021.
7. Web site: Vicia dennesiana. . Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Plants of the World Online . 26 April 2021.
8. Britten . J. . Short Notes: Vicia Dennesiana H.C. Watson. . Journal of Botany, British and Foreign . 1922 . 60 . 364 .
9. Marner . Serena . News from the Herbaria. . Oxford Plant Systematics . 2014 . 20 . 39.
10. Web site: Lost and Found. . Museum of the History of Science . Natural Histories . 23 June 2021.
11. Web site: Vicia dennesiana. . JSTOR . JSTOR Global Plants . 26 April 2021.
12. Web site: The Australasian Virtual Herbarium. . 2020 . The Australasian Virtual Herbarium. Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (CHAH) . 12 April 2021.
13. Web site: Vicia dennesiana. . GBIF . Global Biodiversity Information Facility . 26 April 2021.