Missouri Botanical Garden
P. O. Box 299
St. Louis, MO 63166-0299
USA

Phone: 314-577-5169 (message)
Fax: 314-577-9596
E-mail:

Research: Vegetative anatomy of the family Araceae, all genera. This project was undertaken as a contribution to Anatomy of the Monocotyledons published by Oxford University Press, Oxford. At present, the manuscript of nearly 500 pages is scheduled to be presented to the editors in May 1997. Material obtained and described as of summer, 1996, includes nearly 100 genera and 375 species of Araceae, Acoraceae, and Lemnaceae. The bulk of the manuscript will comprise generic treatments, alphabetically arranged. Each treatment will include parallel anatomical descriptions of leaf, stem and root sections, as available. More material has been available for some genera than for others. At the end of descriptive text will be a list of specimens cited, a list of anatomical literature annotated with the species, and organ or tissue studied, a list of additional, non-anatomical literature, and taxonomic notes. Introductory chapters will discuss general anatomical features of the family, microtechniques, and a discussion of the phylogeny of the family from the standpoint of anatomy. The bibliography will include around 900 references dating back as far as 1836. Illustrations are being prepared for most of the prepared slides. These will be black and white photomicrographs as well as drawings. For an example of the format of this series of anatomical monographs, see Paula Rudall’s Iridaceae volume published in 1995.