A new species has been named in honor of Botany Professor David Baum.
The new species -- Iochroma baumii or I. baumii-- was described by Stacey D. Smith in Novon: A Journal for Botanical Nomenclature 21(4):491-495. 2011. The blue-flowered "treelet" is native to the cloud forests of Napo in northern Ecuador.
Smith is a 2006 graduate of the PhD program in Botany and is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Smith dedicated the species to David "in recognition of his contributions to understanding of the nature of species and his efforts to promote the incorporation of phylogenetics and tree-thinking in education at all levels."
Baum is a College of Letters & Science Faculty Fellow and Chair of the Department of Botany.