A new species of (Compositae, Heliantheae, Enceliinae) from the southern Baja California Peninsula.

Here, we describe and illustrate , a new species of Compositae from the Baja California Peninsula. It is rare and known only from the rocky hills around Puerto Balandra and Pichilingüe, inside the bay of La Paz, in the State of Baja California Sur, Mexico. We determine that this new species has affinities with , based on its suffruticose woody habit, neuter ray florets and compressed disc cypselae with a cleft apex.

Environmental traditional knowledge in a natural protected area as the basis for management and conservation policies.

Ethnobotany is an adequate tool to identify the most import wild edible plants used by local people and to develop strategies for its sustainable use and policy making. This research records the wild edible plants used by the inhabitants of the Sierra la Laguna Biosphere Reserve, in Mexico, and identified priority species for sustainable development. The employed quantitative approach included the application of a food-oriented index named Food Significance Index (FSI), which integrated cultural, agricultural and food parameters; moreover, it used multivariate analysis to identify priority edible species for use and/or conservation.

High proportion of cactus species threatened with extinction.

A high proportion of plant species is predicted to be threatened with extinction in the near future. However, the threat status of only a small number has been evaluated compared with key animal groups, rendering the magnitude and nature of the risks plants face unclear. Here we report the results of a global species assessment for the largest plant taxon evaluated to date under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Categories and Criteria, the iconic Cactaceae (cacti).