Contributions of manuscripts treating families and genera are welcome. Contact Robert Naczi, rnaczi@nybg.org, in advance of planning a contribution, in order to arrange the specifics of a contribution.
General
Consult the example treatment for clarification of the instructions provided here.
For circumscription of families, follow APG IV.
Criteria for inclusion: a) all native taxa, including recently extinct ones, spontaneous within the region of coverage, and b) non-natives that are established (spontaneous, persisting, reproducing, forming populations, and known from multiple sites, even if established only rarely and locally) in the region.
Criteria for exclusion: non-native species collected once or only a few times, and not persisting.
Use of abbreviations: Abbreviate frequently-used scientific terms as in Gleason & Cronquist (1991: vi). Abbreviate certain terms of frequency, without period, as “abund,” “freq,” and “infreq.” Abbreviate the names of states and provinces by using the official, two-letter abbreviations (for U.S.A.: http://pe.usps.gov/text/pub28/28apb.htm, and for Canada:http://canadaonline.about.com/library/bl/blpabb.htm). Use standard abbreviations for author names, as available in IPNI (http://www.ipni.org/ipni/authorsearchpage.do). For months, use three-letter abbreviations without periods. For a complete list of accepted abbreviations, please review the New Manual Abbreviations document.
References: At the end of each family, cite in full the references consulted during preparation of the treatment. Do not cite references in the body of the manuscript.
Format: Use Microsoft Word, and format with 1-inch margins on all sides; Times New Roman, 12-point font; double-spaced.
Deadline: The deadline depends on the size and complexity of the group being treated, but an author should submit a manuscript within one year of making a commitment to prepare the treatment.
Manuscript submission: Send manuscripts via e-mail to Robert Naczi, rnaczi@nybg.org.
Family
Provide the following components, in order, as instructed below.
a. Scientific Name and Common Name.
Provide the scientific name, but not the author name(s). Provide alternative scientific name, if appropriate. Follow the scientific name with a comma, then one or two common names.
b. Name, Mailing Address, and E-Mail Address of the Author(s) of the Treatment
c. Technical Description
Concisely describe the family. Focus on the diagnostic features.
d. Diversity and Geographic Distribution
Mention the number of genera in the family, followed by a slash. Then, provide the number of species in the family. Follow these figures by a comma, then a brief description of the geographic range of the family.
e. Morphologic Synapomorphies
Mention hypothesized morphologic synapomorphies for the family. Give preference to those that are easily observable. Omit microscopic characters. Do not be exhaustive, but try to provide 3–5 synapomorphies.
f. Discussion
Discuss noteworthy aspects of the family, such as complex or unusual morphologic characters, taxonomy, and conservation.
Key to Genera
Make keys as original as possible. Construct dichotomous keys to be as universally useful as possible. Thus, include those features that diagnose taxa through as much of the year as possible. Place stronger diagnostic features before weaker ones. Make leads mutually exclusive, and use parallel wording. Make the keys indented, using hanging indents to provide indentation (not spaces or tabs).
Genera
Provide the following components, in order, as instructed below. For families that contain more than one genus, treat the genera in alphabetic order, and number the genera consecutively.
a. Scientific Name.
Provide the scientific name in full, including author name(s). Include “nom. conserv.” when appropriate. Truncate as allowed by the International Code of Nomenclature when “ex” and “in” are involved in authorship.
b. Etymology
Provide the etymology of the name, in parentheses. If of Greek origin, indicate by including “G.” Do not indicate if of Latin origin, since that is the common situation. If application of the etymology is obscure, explain it, e.g. for Corydalis, “(G: corydallion, ancient name for the crested lark; flowers of this genus have spurs resembling those of the birds).”
c. Common Name
Provide common name(s) for the taxon, if they have been in use for at least a decade, and are truly common name(s). Do not coin new common names. Omit common name if none exists.
d. Technical Description
Concisely describe the genus. Focus on the diagnostic features. Make descriptions parallel for all taxa within the next higher taxon (e.g., make descriptions parallel for all genera within a family).
e. Diversity and Geographic Distribution
Mention the number of species included in the genus. Do not include infraspecific taxa in this figure. Follow this figure with a comma, then a brief description of the geographic range of the genus.
f. Synonymy
Include synonyms of names of genera, in square brackets immediately following the appropriate technical descriptions. Include authors for the synonyms. Do not include full synonymy. Rather, include as synonyms those names treated as accepted names in works published 1950 or later.
Keys to Species, Subspecies, and Varieties
Make keys as original as possible. Construct dichotomous keys to be as universally useful as possible. Thus, include those features that diagnose taxa through as much of the year as possible. Place stronger diagnostic features before weaker ones. Make leads mutually exclusive, and use parallel wording. Include subspecies and varieties in the same keys as species.
Species
Provide the following components, in order, as instructed below. For genera that contain more than one species, treat the species in alphabetic order, and number the species consecutively. Follow instructions as for genera, unless presented below.
a. Scientific Name
b. Etymology
c. Common Name
d. Technical Description
e. Habitat
Describe the habitat as specifically and concisely as possible. Make the description general for generalists, but quite specific for specialists. For specialists, mention the scientific names of up to three taxa that usually co-occur with plants of the taxon in question.
f. Geographic Distribution
Describe the entire global geographic distribution, first from east to west, and then north to south, e.g. “NS to MB, s. to FL and e. TX.” For non-native species, differentiate the native range from the areas in which the taxon has become established. For species of restricted distribution, list each state/province for the entire range. If the species is endemic to the New Manual region, mention that fact.
g. Phenology
Provide the range of months (expressed as 3-letter abbreviations) of flowering. If fruiting time is the usual time of identification for the taxon, then provide phenology for fruiting, not flowering. In such cases, be sure to explain in the introductory matter for the next higher taxon that phenologies are for fruiting.
h. Frequency and Conservation Status
Provide a qualitative assessment of the overall frequency within the New Manual region, using the following terms and order of frequency: abundant > common > frequent > infrequent > rare > very rare. This assessment is an average. For those species that are quite variable in frequency in different portions of the region, briefly describe the situation, e.g. “Freq on Coastal Plain, rare in mountains.” Indicate if the taxon is quite local by adding “local” to the frequency. In addition, for each native taxon, provide a brief review of the conservation status within the region. First, indicate if globally secure or imperiled. Then, provide abbreviations of states/provinces of the region in which the taxon is of grave conservation concern (extirpated, historic, endangered, threatened, S1, or S2). Do not list states/provinces for which the taxon is “watch list,” “special concern,” S3, S4, or S5. List the states alphabetically, with provinces before states, e.g. “Infreq to rare, local; secure, concern: QC, DE, IN, KY, MD, ME, NH, NJ, OH, RI, WV.”
i. Synonymy
j. Discussion
If warranted, briefly discuss such subjects as nomenclature, taxonomic problems, significant morphologic variation, needs for future research, or any other significant issues relating to the taxon. In instances in which the region has only one infraspecific taxon of a polytypic species, mention the name(s) of the other infraspecific taxa and their geographic ranges.
Infraspecific Taxa
When more than one infraspecific taxon of a species is present in the region, treat them separately from the species, immediately following the species treatment. Follow the guidelines as for species, except indent the treatments of the infraspecific taxa below their species, and append a lower-case letter to the species number. Treat subspecies and varieties, but not forms. Do account for variation of forms in the technical descriptions of the species.