Dr. Henk van der Werff of the Missouri Botanical Garden will study species of the laurel genus Pleurothyrium of the American tropics, in order to characterize them and map their geographical ranges and habitats. The Lauraceae family is one of the most commonly encountered groups of tropical forest trees, both in the American and Asian tropics. The family is of great economic interest as well, as a source of commercial timber, edible fruits (avocados for example), spices (cinnamon, bay leaves), and aromatic oils (camphor, rosewood oil). Nonetheless, taxonomic knowledge of the species and genera is in a poor state, because of limited collections in herbaria and because the flowers and fruits are often inconspicuous and require dedicated searching to collect. Dr. Werff has targeted the estimated 35 species of one genus of the American tropics, to begin a long-term taxonomic reappraisal of the family. Considerable variation in leaf shape and venation, in trichomes (plant hairs), and in floral morphology has been documented so far, and new field collections will facilitate an assessment of the reliability of these features for distinguishing species in the field and herbarium. The taxonomic monograph of the group will include correct assignment of scientific species names, mapping of the geographic ranges of species, notes on flowering and fruiting seasonality, description of vegetative morphology, and preliminary data on pollinators and likely animal dispersers of the plants' seeds and fruits. This effort will contribute to on-going inventory of tropical plant resources.
