Reddit mentions of Tropical Plant Collecting - From the Field to the Internet

Warning: this is going to be a really long comment!


I won’t be able to help you regarding the mechanical properties of the wood depending on species/subspecies as it is not my domain of expertise, but I can help you get started on the taxonomy (I am currently doing a PhD on taxonomy/systematics, e.g. the study of the classification of plants). I am not sure how much you know about taxonomy, so please excuse me if you already know some of the things, and don’t hesitate to ask if something isn’t clear enough.


The first thing I do when I study a genus/species is to go check it on IPNI (International Plant Name Index). It is a checklist of all the validly published plant taxa (families / genera / species and all levels in between). (But not necessarily the “correct” accepted name, I will explain more about this later.) It is not completely exhaustive yet as it is still being updated, but it is really good for most taxa.
If you type the name of your genus, you will find a list of all the valid species and subspecies names. When you click on a name, you get the references of the protologue (the original publication in which the species/subspecies was first described). According to the current rules of nomenclature, the protologue should contain a description (=diagnose) of the species/subspecies in Latin (or English if the group was described since 2012), and it should refer to a type specimen (the specimen that will serve as a reference for the identification of the species). If you are lucky there will also be illustrations, and a key to identify the different species / subspecies.
Now if you look at Klainedoxia, it looks like the subspecies you were talking about might be considered as species now (but you will have to confirm this with more literature research).
If I take Klainedoxa microphylla for example, the references of the protologue are: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 71(1): 168 (1984) (which means Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, volume 71, issue 1, page 168, published in 1984). You can find many ‘old’ publications related to biodiversity for free on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website. If you don’t find them there, then you will have to look for them in University or Herbarium libraries.
Now in the protologue of Klainedoxa microphylla, you can see that the name Klainedoxa gabonensis var. microphylla is written below the species name in italics. This means that the author of this article considers it as a synonym of K. microphylla (e.g. the accepted name of this group is K. microphylla, not K. gabonensis var. microphylla). The type specimen was collected in Maboumi in Gabon by someone called Le Testu, and the collection number is 1823 (this is how you can find type specimens in Herbaria).
You are lucky this time because the author gives an explanation as to why she considers it as a species and not a subspecies of K. gabonensis, and she even gives a key that will help you distinguish between 3 of the taxa (K. gabonensis, K. microphylla, K; trillesii). In fact the whole article should be of interest (and you will probably find useful information in the papers cited at the end). It was published in 1984, which is relatively recent for botany (even if it is entirely possible that something has been published since that contradicts this article, you always have to be careful about that).
By the way, on BHL you can download a pdf of the pages that interest you for free (top right button). This website is truly amazing!


Going back to IPNI: as I said earlier, the names listed there are ‘valid’ but they may not be the ‘accepted’ names. ‘Valid’ means that the taxon was described following the rules of nomenclature (e.g. the protologue contained a description in Latin/English and referred to a type specimen, plus many more rules that I don’t have the time to list now). But sometimes people describe things that actually already existed, in which case they are synonyms, or you can have species that become subspecies (and vice-versa). You will have to find out for sure which are the current accepted names of the taxa you are interested in (e.g. in your case whether they are distinct species or subspecies of K. gabonensis). Basically the rule for this is that the most recent publication (a revision, a Flora, an article) is considered as right. This may seem trivial and arduous but it is really important to know for sure how to define and differentiate what you are working on, especially if you want to see if there are differences between the groups.

You will have to do the same research for all your species/subspecies of interest, it can take quite a lot of time!


Now, you have a written description of your species/subspecies, but you really need to see the plants to understand them fully. You can find high resolution scans of herbarium specimens on Jstore Global Plants. Unfortunately, the high res images are only available if you are working in an affiliated institution, otherwise you will only have access to the information regarding the specimens. And you have to be careful with Jstore, because the specimens are displayed under the name written on the specimen itself, the identification is not always checked by a specialist and there are a lot of misidentified specimens and invalid names in there.
What I would recommend is to try to go and visit Herbaria yourself. Usually you will need to request permission to visit (the procedure depends on the Herbarium) and you will then be hosted by someone working on the Family or Order you are interested in (in your case, the Order is Malpighiales and the Family is Irvingiaceae). There may not be specialists everywhere, but they will be able to at least point you in the right direction.
In Germany I know there is a Herbarium in Berlin and Hamburg but I have never visited them. Some of the biggest Herbaria in Europe are Paris (MNHN), Kew, Leiden and Geneva. They often have catalogues online that you can check in order to see if they have specimens that could interest you (for example, here is the one for Paris).
They also give the contact details and procedures for visits.

If you are lucky there may be living specimens in botanic gardens too.


I would also recommend trying to get in touch with people who have published on Klainedoxa if possible, they will have up to date information about it! The best thing to do would be to get in touch with people in Cameroon, (try local guides or Universities with a Botany Department).

Now I think I will stop here because I could write about taxonomy for hours, but hopefully it will help you to get started. I hope this wasn’t too confusing, feel free to PM me with more questions, or if you want references to general books and articles about taxonomy and plant identification.

TLDR: Start by finding out what the valid and accepted names of your plants of interest are by searching literature in order to know exactly what you are working on, try to get in touch with experts/local people, and go to a herbarium and look at the plants by yourself.

Best of luck with your project!

Edit: Here is a good book on tropical plant collecting, and you should also check the Online botanical resources tab on the right.