WELCOME NOTE

Issue 69: From the Editors

The Bean Bag started in 1974 on the initiative of Charles (Bob) Gunn and Richard Cowan and the first printed issue was distributed 48 years ago in May 1975. The aim of the annual newsletter is to keep legume researchers informed about new publications, events and projects focused on the systematics of the family Leguminosae. Bean Bag Number 69 is another bumper issue reporting on diverse aspects of another vibrant and busy year of global legume systematics research.

This year’s Bean Bag includes two new elements. First, we have introduced a new series of short Student Digests. These provide short commentaries on important legume papers published during the year, written by graduate students / post-docs. Two student digests are included in Issue 69. We hope that graduate students will continue to contribute to this section of the Bean Bag in coming years. Second, we have added a section entitled ‘Gallery of Leguminologists’ with short portraits and photos of past legume researchers. We hope these will be informative, especially for younger readers unfamiliar with some of these historical figures and can also serve some modest archival role. Two portraits appear in Issue 69, and again, we hope that readers will suggest candidates and contribute to this gallery in future issues.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the Legume Data Portal, which also posts news items of interest to the legume research community. You can read more about the Portal in this issue of the Bean Bag.

We have added a third editor, Leonardo Borges, who has kindly agreed to join the Bean Bag editorial team. Thank you Leo! We also thank Gwilym Lewis at Kew for help with checking this issue and facilitating the archiving of the Bean Bag in the Kew Research Repository. Thanks also to you, the legume international community, and our many contributors for sharing their time and insights.

For recent BB issues see the Legume Data Portal Earlier issues of the BB (1975 to 2022) are available via the Kew Research Repository

Editors:

Colin Hughes (University of Zürich, Switzerland)
Warren Cardinal-McTeague (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Leonardo Borges (Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Brazil)

Editor email: beanbag.kew@gmail.com
Email listserv: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!forum/thebeanbag
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1484192248560637/

*Caesalpinia pulcherrima* (Caeasalpinioideae), photo by Francisco Valazquez Puentes. Caesalpinia pulcherrima (Caeasalpinioideae), photo by Francisco Valazquez Puentes.

Issue 69, Year 2022 Contents