Taxonomic understanding of the broad interrelationships of groups of flowering plants can both facilitate and constrain comparative study of the morphology, physiology, and ecology of plants. Where taxa have been well sampled, deep knowledge of their evolutionary or genealogical relationships leads to fruitful comparisons of homologous structures or biochemical pathways or life-histories. When the taxa are not well known, comparisons are often made between spuriously related forms, and arguments may perpetuate endlessly over whether convergence or true evolutionary relationship accounts for the similarity in form or function under study. Dr. Larry Hufford of the University of Minnesota has organized a large-scale symposium for the Botanical Society of America meetings in Richmond, Virginia, on the topic of the evolutionary relationships of the highly advanced dicots of the subclass Asteridae, including the sunflower, potato, and madder families, among the largest in the world in numbers of species. Fourteen speakers, including four from Europe, will address in turn morphological data, from living and fossil plants, and molecular data, from recent DNA analyses of these plants, to identify areas of agreement and disagreement in our understanding of the phylogeny of Asteridae and to target projects necessary to achieve resolution. Plans have already been made for publication of the meeting's deliberations, so the results will become widely available to all interested botanists.
