People
Banks, Hannah
| Job Title | Palynologist |
|---|---|
| Department | Jodrell |
| Section | Micromorphology |
| Science Teams |
Leguminosae Large-Scale Syntheses |
| Joined Kew | 1992 |
| Foreign Language(s) |
Qualifications & Appointments
BSc, Environmental Biology, Swansea Univ.
PhD, Oxford Brookes Univ.
Role
Research into pollen-morphology and development to assist identification, taxonomy, systematics and the understanding of evolutionary processes.
Research on the pollen of eudicots with a primary focus on the Fabales clade as part of the legume team. Pollen has been sampled and data published for every genus in the legume subfamily Caesalpinioideae, and pollen data are provided for other members of the legume team, as well as for international collaborators. Pollen descriptions have been published for Quillajaceae and Surianaceae (the putative sister families of Leguminosae), and a manuscript on the pollen of Polygalaceae is in preparation. New techniques to examine pollen development have been developed (ms submitted), and this has lead to a new project examining the pollen apertures of Nelumbo. Support duties involve the preparation and curation of pollen collections, maintenance of the palynological specimen database, input of pollen bibliographic references into the plant micromorphology bibliographical database (PMBD), and answering palynological enquiries. Technical duties include laboratory maintenance, providing training in laboratory procedures and in the use of electron microscopes, and carrying out health and safety duties for the Palynology laboratory.
Projects
New Phylogeny of the Caesalpinioideae, Leguminosae
Plant Micromorphology Bibliographic Database
Selected Publications 2001-2005
Banks, H., Klitgaard, B., Lewis, G., Crane, P. & Bruneau, A. (2003). Pollen and the systematics of tribes Caesalpinieae and Cassieae (Caesalpinioideae: Leguminosae). Advances in Legume Systematics, 10. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 95-122.
Banks, H. (2003). Structure of pollen apertures in the Detarieae s.s. (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae), with particular reference to underlying structures (Zwischenkörper). Annals of Botany 92: 425-435.
Banks, H. (2004). Pollen structure in caesalpinioid legumes. PhD thesis undertaken at RBG Kew, in association with Oxford Brookes University.
Banks, H., Feist-Burkhart, S. & Klitgaard, B. (2006). The unique pollen morphology of Duparquetia (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae): developmental evidence of aperture orientation using confocal microscopy. Annals of Botany 98: 107-115.
Selected Publications pre-2001
Ferguson, I.K. & Banks, H. (1995). Pollen morphology of the Cynometra group (Detarieae: Caesalpinioideae: Leguminosae) in Africa. Proc. 2nd Symposium of African Palynology. Tervuren (Belgium): Publ. Occas. CIFEG, 1995/31 Orléans. 217-227.
Banks, H. (1997). The pollen of Delonix (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae: Caesalpinieae). Kew Bull. 52(2): 417-434.
Banks, H. & Rico, L. (2000). Pollen morphology and phylogenetic analysis of Eperua Aublet (Detarieae: Caesalpinioideae: Leguminosae). Grana 38: 261-276.
Banks, H. & Klitgaard, B. (2000). Palynological contribution to the systematics of detarioid legumes (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae). In Herendeen, P. & Bruneau, A. (eds) Advances in Legume Systematics, 9. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 79-104.
Banks, H. & Gasson, P. (2000). Pollen morphology and wood anatomy of the Crudia group (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae, Detarieae). Bot. Journ. Linn. Soc. 134: 19-59.