People
Lewis, Gwilym P.
| Job Title | Head of Legume Section |
|---|---|
| Department | Herbarium |
| Section | Dicot Systematics |
| Science Teams |
Drylands: Tropical America Leguminosae Drylands: Africa |
| Joined Kew | 1975 |
| Foreign Language(s) | Brazilian Portuguese (spoken), Spanish (spoken). |
Qualifications & Appointments
BSc (Hons), Univ. London, 1973
PhD, Univ. St Andrews, 1994.
Commission, Flora Neotropica
Rupert Barneby, visiting researcher award, New York Botanical Garden (1996)
Consultant, Department for International Development (1998–2000).
Role
Systematics, biogeography, diversity and biology of neotropical Leguminosae, especially Caesalpinioideae (particularly Caesalpinia) and Mimosoideae.
Research focuses on the systematics of neotropical (mainly South American) Leguminosae, principally subfamilies Caesalpinioideae and Mimosoideae. Floristic work has been in the drylands and wet tropics of Brazil and the Andes of Ecuador, including monographic work on the large genus Caesalpinia. Research and publication is multidisciplinary (including: taxonomic revision, phylogenetic studies, reproductive biology, floral anatomy, phytochemistry and biogeography) and involves international networks and capacity-building through training and data repatriation. Fundamental identification services facilitate legume work in conservation and sustainable use, both at Kew and globally. Higher level systematic studies contribute to an improved legume phylogeny through international collaborative efforts and publication and dissemination of the results.
Projects
Authentication and Chemical Fingerprinting of Economically Important Species
Biogeography of the Leguminosae
Importance of Legumes and Legume-Derived Compounds in Medicine and Agriculture
Isoflavonoids of the Leguminosae
Kew Latin America Research Fellowships
New Phylogeny of the Caesalpinioideae, Leguminosae
Repatriation of Herbarium Data for Northeastern Brazil
Repatriation of NE Brazilian Legumes
Systematic Phytochemistry of Legumes
Selected Publications 2001-2005
Herendeen, P.S., Lewis, G.P. & Bruneau, A. (2003). Floral morphology in caesalpionioid legumes: testing the monophyly of the “Umtiza clade”. International Journal of Plant Sciences 164 (5, Suppl.): S393–S407.
Lewis, G.P., Knudsen, J.T., Klitgaard, B.B. & Pennington, R.T. (2003). The floral scent of Cyathostegia mathewsii (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae) and preliminary observations on reproductive biology. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 31: 951–962.
Hughes, C.E., Lewis, G.P., Yomona, A.D. & Reynal, C. (2004). Maraniona. A new Dalbergioid legume genus (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae) from Peru. Systematic Botany 29(2): 366–374.
Haston, E.M., Lewis, G.P. & Hawkins, J.A. (2005). A phylogenetic reappraisal of the Peltophorum group (Caesalpinieae: Leguminosae) based on the chloroplast tRNL-F, RBCL and rPS16 sequence data. American Journal of Botany 92(8): 1359–1371.
Lewis, G., Schrire, B., Mackinder, B. & Lock, M. (eds) (2005). Legumes of the World. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. xiv, 577 pp.
Selected Publications pre-2001
Lewis, G.P. (1998). Caesalpinia, A revision of the Poincianella-Erythrostemon Group. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 233 pp.
Gibbs, P., Lewis, G. & Nic Lughadha, E. (1999). Fruit-set induced changes in the sex of flowers in Caesalpinia calycina (Leguminosae). Plant Biology 1(6): 665–669.
Lewis, G.P. & Gibbs, P.E. (1999). Reproductive Biology of Caesalpinia calycina and C. pluviosa (Leguminosae) of the caatinga of north-eastern Brazil. Plant Systematics and Evolution 217: 43-53.
Lewis, G.P., Simpson, B.B. & Neff, J.L. (2000). Progress in Understanding the Reproductive Biology of the Caesalpinioideae (Leguminosae). In Herendeen, P.S. & Bruneau, A. (eds) Advances in Legume Systematics 9. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 65–78.
Queiroz, L.P. de, Lewis, G.P. & Allkin, R. (2000). A revision of Moldenhawera Schrader (Leguminosae- Caesalpinioideae). Kew Bulletin 54(4): 817–852.