高野 温子

The new collection building named Collectionarium*1 (CN) of the Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo, (HYO), Hitohaku*2 Japan, which opened in October 2022, contains ca. 600,000 vascular plant specimens, including 10% that were not mounted. Here, we describe the process of specimen moving to the CN, including integration with ca. 250,000 herbarium specimens of Shoei Junior College (known as SHO). At the same time, the collection sequence has been updated from the new Engler system (Melchior 1964) to the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) III system. The storage rooms of natural history museums are full everywhere across the world, and extensions are necessary. When collections spaces are enlarged, it creates opportunities to relocate specimens. We hope that our experiences will be useful to other institutions. The Status of the HYO Collection in 2020 When the construction of the CN started in early 2020, we had 600,000 plant specimens: ca. 350,000 on 220 shelves and the other 250,000 in ca. 1,500 cardboard boxes. The 250,000 specimens, donated by the SHO in 2012, were kept in boxes as existing shelves were too short to house them. Based on an estimated capacity of 1,000–2,000 specimens per shelf, the new storage consisting of 525 shelves would not have the capacity to store all the specimens. Therefore, it was necessary to estimate the total volume of specimens more accurately. The classification system also needed updating. Change From Engler to APG At the time of its opening in 1992, HYO specimens were arranged according to the new Engler system. However, the APG system began to be adopted more recently. The new Engler and APG systems are quite distinct, treating dicots in a different way, and some families have disappeared and new ones arisen. The plant picture books published recently in Japan all adopt the APG system. The younger generation studying plants never learned the new Engler system, making it impossible for them to find specimens arranged in this way. Therefore, we decided to change the arrangement of the specimens to the APG III system whilst relocating the herbarium. For pteridophytes, we decided to adopt the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group (PPG) I system (PPG I 2016). In order to plan the placement of specimens, it was necessary to know the number of specimens at the genus level and to investigate how much space each family would need. We measured the thickness of all genus covers containing specimens, regardless of whether they were in shelves or boxes. Based on these results, we planned the layout. Next we packed the specimens into cardboard boxes following the APG system, and two surfaces of each box was labeled with the room number (=1 or 2) in the CN with locations in the room. All the boxes were moved to the Holonpia Hall (the Hall) from December 2021 to January 2022. Then, 220 empty specimen shelves were transported to the CN in February 2022. After the shelves were moved, ca. 4,000 boxes stored in the Hall were carried back into old repository in March 2022 to wait for moving. Moving to the new storage Gases, e.g., ammonia, are released from concrete buildings for a while after construction. Since these gases are harmful to specimens, it is necessary to wait until the gas concentration decreases to a safe level, before storing the specimens there. Beginning in April 2022, the ammonia concentration was measured once a month in the two new storage rooms at the CN. Rooms were ventilated nearly every day. In November 2022, the concentration of ammonia in both rooms fell to 30 ppb or less and it was finally safe to move the specimens in. Moving was carried out during the regular maintenance closure in January 2023. First, we carried the boxes to the exhibition area on the first floor of the CN because we needed enough space for unpacking and sorting. We opened boxes one by one for each family to combine the HYO and SHO specimens, sorted them in alphabetical order, re-packed them into boxes, brought the boxes up to the storage rooms on the second floor, and placed them onto the shelves. Two teams of people, three or four for each storage room, worked with this system for six days until all the specimens were placed, properly arranged, and on the shelves by late January. Specimens are now arranged according to the APG system, and ready to be examined. Please contact the authors for herbarium study requests.

We would like to introduce our recently developed systems for taking images of herbarium specimens and for the automatic extraction of data from specimen labels at the Herbarium of the Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo, Japan (HYO). Firstly, we designed a low-cost, but high-quality specimen imaging system for non-professional photographers to obtain images rapidly (Takano et al. 2019). Our system uses a mass-produced, mirrorless single-lens reflex (SLR) camera (SONY ILCE6300) with a zoom lens (Samyang Optics SYIO35AF-E35 mm F/2.8). We made a photo stand by ourselves to reduce costs. In addition, we have adopted an LED (light-emitting diode) lighting system with high color rendering. This imaging system has been introduced, with some improvements or adjustments for available space, to various herbaria in Japan (e.g., University of Tokyo (TI), Kyoto University (KYO)), contributing to the digitization of herbarium specimens across Japan. Next, we developed a system to extract label information from specimen images. The specimen image was uploaded to Google OCR and data were extracted in the form of text. Uploading the whole specimen image decreased the reading accuracy of the software because the plant images behaved as OCR (Optical Character Reader) noise. Therefore, the label part was cut out from the whole specimen image by using D-Lib*1 and uploaded to tesseract OCR*2 for OCR extraction of the label information (Aoki 2019, Takano et al. 2020). When installing this system for HYO, we designed it as an application accessible externally via the internet, which proved very useful during the coronavirus pandemic: part-time workers checked and conducted label data input from home. Finally, we decided to develop a system that would automatically label the text data extracted by OCR and input them into the appropriate cells of the database. Even though the text data could be extracted from specimen images, it needed a human to input them into the database. Therefore, we adopted Named Entity Recognition (NER), a system that extracts named entities such as place names, identifying proper nouns from unstructured text data. It enables information recorded in herbarium specimens to be tagged as named entities. We tried text matching at first, but the result was not satisfactory, so we started to use machine learning instead. We compared three natural language libraries for Japanese: BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers), Albert (A Lite version of BERT), and SpaCy. Despite BERT and SpaCy returning similarly high f-scores (indicating good performance), we decided to use SpaCy because it runs better on ordinary PCs or servers. With sufficient machine learning after the creation of a text corpus (a specialised dataset) specific to labels on herbarium specimens, we successfully developed the application. The project files are available on GitHub*3 (Takano et al. 2024). We then examined whether this system could be applied to non-plant specimen images, i.e., fishes or birds, and found that it could efficiently extract data. Therefore, we decided to publicize this system on the cloud server and share it with other natural history museums in Japan*4. Curators can obtain a unique ID and password and upload specimen images from their collection to extract label data. The digitization of natural history collections in Japan has been long behind other countries, and this system will help to accelerate it. The system mentioned above is specialized for the natural history collections of Japan, but we believe it is possible to build similar programs in other countries, and we hope our experience will contribute to the mobilization of the world’s natural history collections.

Abstract Reproductive interference, an interspecific interaction in reproductive process that exerts an adverse effect, has gained attention as a contributing factor in promoting exclusive distributions between closely related species. However, detailed studies on the possibility of reproductive interference between native plants are still lacking, presumably because strong reproductive interference can rapidly realize exclusive distributions, leaving the two species apparently independent. Salvia japonica and S. lutescens are found in separate localities at a small scale, although their distributions overlap at a large scale. We investigated the possibility of reproductive interference between them through field surveys, hand-pollination experiments, evaluation of hybrid fertility, cpDNA and nrDNA genotyping, and genome-wide DNA analysis. The field survey results did not reveal apparent negative interaction in competition for pollinator services. Mixed pollination with conspecific pollen and counterpart pollen reduced seed set in S. japonica, and hybrid progeny produced by mixed pollination were less than 20% as fertile compared to the pure species. The DNA genotyping results suggested the possibility of hybridization where their distributions overlap, and the genome-wide DNA analysis results showed clear genetic differentiation between the two species as well as the existence of hybrids. These results suggest that bi-directional reproductive interference between S. japonica and S. lutescens may have led to their present separated distributions at a small scale.

Abstract Paraphlomideae (Lamioideae, Lamiaceae) is a recently established tribe endemic to East and Southeast Asia. It comprises three herbaceous genera: Paraphlomis, Matsumurella, and Ajugoides. Phylogenetic relationships among these genera have not yet been satisfactorily resolved and the monophyly of Paraphlomis was challenged in previous molecular phylogenetic studies. In this study, we performed maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses on complete plastomes and nuclear ribosomal internal and external transcribed spacer sequences to further resolve the generic relationships within Paraphlomideae. All phylogenetic analyses support the monophyly of Paraphlomideae. Contrary to traditional classifications, both Ajugoides and Matsumurella were deeply nested within Paraphlomis, indicating the need to expand Paraphlomis to include Ajugoides and Matsumurella. Hence, six new combinations and one replacement name are proposed. Morphologically, species of the newly defined Paraphlomis share a rhizomatous or stoloniferous habit, plants with simple hairs, nutlets with a truncate apex, and actinomorphic calyces. In addition, widespread incongruence between nuclear and plastid trees may have been caused by hybridization and incomplete lineage sorting after rapid diversification in the re‐circumscribed Paraphlomis.

Abstract Digital extraction of label data from natural history specimens along with more efficient procedures of data entry and processing is essential for improving documentation and global information availability. Herbaria have made great advances in this direction lately. In this study, using optical character recognition (OCR) and named entity recognition (NER) techniques, we have been able to make further advancements towards fully automatic extraction of label data from herbarium specimen images. This system can be developed and run on a consumer grade desktop computer with standard specifications, and can also be applied to extracting label data from diverse kinds of natural history specimens, such as those in entomological collections. This system can facilitate the digitization and publication of natural history museum specimens around the world.

Abstract Species delimitation has long been a subject of controversy, and there are many alternative concepts and approaches used to define species in plants. The genus Amana (Liliaceae), known as ”East Asian tulips” has a number of cryptic species and a huge genome size (1C = 21.48–57.35 pg). It also is intriguing how such a spring ephemeral genus thrives in subtropical areas. However, phylogenetic relationships and species delimitation within Amana are challenging. Here we included all species and 84 populations of Amana, which are collected throughout its distribution range. A variety of methods were used to clarify its species relationships based on a combination of morphological, ecological, genetic, evolutionary and phylogenetic species concepts. This evidence supports the recognition of at least 12 species in Amana. Moreover, we explored the complex evolutionary history within the genus and detected several historical hybridization and introgression events based on phylogenetic trees (transcriptomic and plastid), phylonetworks, admixture and ABBA‐BABA analyses. Morphological traits have undergone parallel evolution in the genus. This spring ephemeral genus might have originated from a temperate region, yet finally thrives in subtropical areas, and three hypotheses about its adaptive evolution are proposed for future testing. In addition, we propose a new species, Amana polymorpha, from eastern Zhejiang Province, China. This research also demonstrates that molecular evidence at the genome level (such as transcriptomes) has greatly improved the accuracy and reasonability of species delimitation and taxon classification.

Abstract Herbarium specimens are dried plants mounted onto paper. They are used by a limited number of researchers, such as plant taxonomists, as a source of information on morphology and distribution. Recently, digitised herbarium specimens have begun to be used in comprehensive research to address broader issues. However, some specimens have been misidentified, and if used, there is a risk of drawing incorrect conclusions. In this study, we successfully developed a system for identifying taxon names with high accuracy using an image recognition system. We developed a system with an accuracy of 96.4% using 500,554 specimen images of 2171 plant taxa (2064 species, 9 subspecies, 88 varieties, and 10 forms in 192 families) that grow in Japan. We clarified where the artificial intelligence is looking to make decisions, and which taxa is being misidentified. As the system can be applied to digitalised images worldwide, it is useful for selecting and correcting misidentified herbarium specimens.

Meehania montis-koyae Ohwi (Lamiaceae), which has been considered a narrow endemic and endangered species in Japan, was found in eastern China in 2011. China and Japan belong to the same floristic region and share many plant species, but it is very rare that Japanese narrow endemic species are newly found outside of the country. We examined herbarium specimens of both countries, and conducted analyses of molecular phylogenetics, population genetics, and divergence time estimation using two nuclear (ITS and ETS) gene regions and MIG-seq data. Chinese plants tend to become larger than Japanese, and they are different in leaf shape and floral features. Molecular phylogenetic analysis shows Chinese and Japanese M. montis-koyae are the closest relatives to each other. Population genetic analysis indicates no current gene flow between the Chinese and Japanese populations, and divergence time analysis shows they were separated during the late Miocene. We reach the conclusion that Chinese and Japanese M. montis-koyae have already become distinct biological entities, and a new taxon name Meehania zheminensis A. Takano, Pan Li, G.-H.Xia is proposed for the Chinese plants. A key to Asian Meehania species is provided.

Both Salvia akiensis and S. lutescens (Lamiaceae) are endemic to Japan. Salvia akiensis was recently described in 2014 in the Chugoku (= SW Honshu) region, and each four varieties of S.lutescens distributed allopatrically. Among varieties in S.lutescens, var. intermedia show a disjunctive distribution in the Kanto (=E Honshu) and Kinki (= W Honshu) regions. Recent field studies of S.lutescens var. intermedia revealed several morphological differences between the Kanto and Kinki populations. Here, I evaluated these differences among Salvia lutescens var. intermedia and its allies with morphological analysis and molecular phylogenetic analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA (internal and external transcribed spacer regions) and plastid DNA (ycf1-rps15 spacer, rbcL, and trnL-F) sequences. Both morphological analysis and molecular phylogenetic analyses showed that S. lutescens var. intermedia from the Kinki region and var. lutescens were closely related to each other. However, var. intermedia from the Kanto region exhibited an association with S. lutescens var. crenata and var. stolonifera, which also grew in eastern Japan, rather than var. intermedia in the Kinki region. These results indicated that S. lutescens var. intermedia is not a taxon with a disjunctive distribution, but a combination of two or more allopatric taxa. Present study also suggested that S. akiensis was most closely related to S. omerocalyx.

Here we report newly found alien herb in Japan, Moenchia erecta (L.) G., M. et Sch. (Caryophylla-ceae). The species is native to Europe and has been naturalized in Australia, Canada and United States. Since 2008, the species has been known its existence in Hyogo Prefecture, and also found from Mie Prefecture in 2014. Its small habit and short life cycle may prevent them find out from the other part of Japan, but the species may spread out throughout this country.

絶滅危惧種オチフジ(Meehania montis-koyae Ohwi, シソ科)の複数の自生地集団において,複数年にわたり交配実験による繁殖様式の調査,及び送粉者の予備的な観察を行った.強制自花受粉した個体が高い結実率を示したことから,オチフジは自家和合性を持つことが明らかになった.自花の花粉を柱頭に付着させた例も観察されたが,袋かけのみを行った花の結実率は低いことから,オチフジは基本的に送粉動物により自花,自家或いは他家の花粉が柱頭に媒介されることによって結実すると考えられる.送粉者は調査地や年によって異なる結果となった.強制受粉した花の結実率が対照花よりも高いことから,送粉者の不足による花粉制限があると推察された.

A novel species, Salvia akiensis A.Takano, Sera & Kurosaki, from western Honshu, Japan, is described. Salvia akiensis occurs in Hiroshima and Shimane prefectures and flowers in May and June. Salvia akiensis is similar to S. isensis, S. lutescens sensu lato and S. omerocalyx in having long exerted stamens. However, the species can be distinguished from S. isensis by having much larger flowers, and from S. omerocalyx by having one pair of cauline leaves, long pilose hairs on the inside upper half of the calyx tube, multicellular hairs 1-2 mm long on the outside of the dorsal calyx lobe, and pale bluish-purple corollas. It can be distinguished from S. lutescens sensu lato by its smaller flowering shoots, the leaf apex roundish, flowering shoot with a single pair of cauline leaves and larger calyx and corolla.

Gynodioecy and floral dimorphism in Salvia omerocalyx Hayata, an endangered species endemic to central Japan, is here reported for the first time. In three populations of flowering individuals, one population had approximately equal numbers of hermaphrodites (= individuals only with perfect flowers) and male sterile individuals, another population was composed entirely of hermaphrodites, and the third was hermaphroditic except for two individuals with perfect- and male sterile flowers. Examination of herbarium specimens suggested two other localities with male sterile individuals. Male sterile flowers are significantly smaller than hermaphroditic flowers, but there was no difference in seed set between the two floral morphs. Additional field surveys are needed to determine the exact sex expression of the species.

Floral size dimorphism, pollination, and genetic variation of Alpinia nieuwenhuizii (Zingiberaceae), a flexitylous ginger, were studied. This study revealed that floral size differed among habitats (i. e., roadsides/riversides vs. forest floors). The effective pollinators of small-flowered populations of the species on a forest floor were different from those of large-flowered populations along roadsides/riversides. Using inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) PCR, considerable genetic differentiation was detected between small- and large-flowered populations. These results indicate that reproductive isolation in A. nieuwenhuizii owing to the differentiation of pollen vectors between two floral size morphs may lead to genetic differentiation between the two morphs. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Wien.

To determine evolutionary relationships among all Japanese members of the genus Salvia (Lamiaceae), we conducted molecular phylogenetic analyses of two chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) regions (rbcL and the intergenic spacer region of trnL-trnF: trnL-trnF) and one nuclear DNA (nrDNA) region (internal transcribed spacer, ITS). In cpDNA, nrDNA, and cpDNA+nrDNA trees, we found evidence that all Japanese and two Taiwanese Salvia species are included in a clade with other Asian Salvia, and Japanese Salvia species were distributed among three subclades: (1) S. plebeia (subgenus Sclarea), (2) species belonging to subg. Salvia, and (3) species belonging to subg. Allagospadonopsis. At the specific level our findings suggest: a close relationship between S. nipponica and S. glabrescens, no support for monophyly of S. lutescens and its varieties in cpDNA, nrDNA and cpDNA+nrDNA trees, and that S. pygmaea var. simplicior may be more closely related to S. japonica than to other varieties of S. pygmaea.

Five new species of the genus Plagiostachys (Zingiberaceae) from Borneo, P. brevicalcarata, P. longicaudata, P. megacarpa, P. roseiflora, and P. viridisepala are described and illustrated. Of these, P. brevicalcarata, P. longicaudata, and P. viridisepala have mucilaginous inflorescences, while the inflorescences of the other two species are non-mucilaginous. A key to the Bornean species of Plagiostachys is also provided.

A new genus and species, Myxochlamys mullerensis (Zingiberaceae) from Central Kalimantan, Borneo is described. This new species is characterized by indistinct pseudostems; congested inflorescences with spirally arranged bracts; copious, highly viscous, axillary-pooled mucus secreted from glands on imbricate bracts; and flowers with a concave labellum, versatile anthers, and a groove formed by the inner surface of the corolla tube to envelope and hold the style. Parallel orientation of the plane of distichy of the leafy shoots, well-developed staminodes, and labellum not connate with the filament suggest that Myxochlamys belongs to the tribe Zingibereae. Among the genera in Zingibereae, Myxochlamys is similar to Scaphochlamys in that it lacks a distinct pseudostem and spiral inflorescence; it is distinct from Scaphochlamys, however, in that it has a groove within the corolla tube, concave labellum and versatile anthers. Phylogenetic analyses based on DNA sequences of the nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and maturase K (matK) of the chloroplast DNA show similarity with Distichochlamys, Myxochlamys, and Scaphochlamys. The similarities and differences between Myxochlamys and related genera are discussed.

A new species of ginger, Etlingera palangkensis (Zingiberaceae) is described from Borneo. Though similar to E. nasuta, the new species is clearly distinguished by the color of flowers and shape of labellum.

Trapa L. (Trapaceae) is one of the most common aquatic plants in Japan. However, its taxonomic treatment has differed among authors. As a step toward a revision of Japanese Trapa, we analyzed allozymes in plant samples collected from 55 populations and tentatively classified into 6 taxa. Allozyme analysis indicated three distinct groups corresponding to the size class of the fruits: T. incisa (small), T. japonica group (medium), and T. natans group (large). The development of lower protuberances or spines and the presence or absence of tubercles had no correspondence to allozymic differentiation and thus are to be considered as variants within taxa. Fixed heterozygosity found in the T. japonica group indicates that the group might be of hybrid origin between T. incisa and plants of the T. natans group. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Flexistyly is a unique floral mechanism involving extreme curving of the style. It was first described in Chinese ginger (Amomum, Zingiberaceae). This is a pioneer report on flexistylous gingers of Malesia, where most species of this family grow. We observed the floral behaviour and flower visitors in Alpinia nieuwenhuizii Val., a Bornean endemic. Although the floral behaviour and effective pollinators (carpenter bees, Xylocopa) were similar between the Bornean species and the previously reported flexistylous Alpinia, the pollinator behaviour between them strikingly differed with regard to the visit frequency of the pollinators showing a bimodal pattern during the day. This was a better match for the floral behaviour of the flexistylous Alpinia. Some gender differentiation observed between the two types of morphs is also discussed in the present study.

All published information on Globba (Zingiberaceae) in Sumatra is summarized and augmented by our own data obtained by revision of herbarium materials and observations in the field. Sixteen species and five varieties of Globba are reported from Sumatra, including one new species, which belongs to sect. Globba, G. multifolia sp. nov. The difference between G. multifolia and allied species is discussed. A key to the species of Globba in Sumatra is provided.

Molecular phylogenetic analyses of the genus Globba, Zingiberaceae, using the trnK gene (including the matK.,gene) of chloroplast DNA and the internal transcribed spacers of nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS) sequence data, were carried out in order to understand whether triploid formation was a rare event in Globba. The topologies of both the trnK gene and the ITS trees were almost identical except the position of G. patens var. costulata. Triploids were scattered into several clades. These results suggest that multiple triploid formations had taken place and that such formations may be one of the most important force for speciation of Globba. The monophyly of both sects. Ceratanthera and Globba was not positively supported.

A new variety of Globba atrosanguinea, var. sumatrana is described and illustrated. The difference from var. atrosanguinea is discussed. A key to varieties of G. atrosanguinea is provided.