Botanical Envelopes

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Field Collecting Living Material in Papua, Indonesia

This paper sets out ‘best practice’ methods for field collecting wild material, based on experience gained during a two-month expedition to the Indonesian province of Papua. The horticultural team involved in the trip sought to keep cuttings, rhizomes, seedlings, whole plants, seeds and spores intact and healthy while in the field. With several obstacles including climate and lengthy delays in transportation to deal with, the high success rate of collected material is testament to the careful techniques employed in the processing of living plant material in the field

The Living Collection at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Illustrates the Floral Diversity in Streptocarpus (Gesneriaceae)

A visual summary of the floral types present in the diverse genus Streptocarpus is given along with descriptions of the different categories. We categorised the species and defined seven types and six sub-types. The use of a comprehensive and well-curated living collection for the study of floral diversification is presented and its use for interpretation and education discussed

Begonia yapenensis (sect. Symbegonia, Begoniaceae), a new species from Papua, Indonesia

A new species, Begonia yapenensis M.Hughes, in Begonia section Symbegonia (Begoniaceae) is described and diagnosed against Begonia sympapuana. The new species is endemic to Yapen Island, Papua, Indonesia, and is currently known from a single collection

Begonia yapenensis (sect. Symbegonia, Begoniaceae), a new species from Papua, Indonesia

A new species, Begonia yapenensis M.Hughes, in Begonia section Symbegonia (Begoniaceae) is described and diagnosed against Begonia sympapuana. The new species is endemic to Yapen Island, Papua, Indonesia, and is currently known from a single collection

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication