People
Stuppy, Wolfgang
| Job Title | Seed Morphologist |
|---|---|
| Department | Seed Conservation |
| Section | Information |
| Science Teams |
Malpighiales Monocots I: General Alismatids & Lilioids |
| Joined Kew | 1999 |
| Foreign Language(s) | German (mother tongue), Dutch, French, Spanish (basic), Mandarin (basic). |
Qualifications & Appointments
Dipl.-Biol. (MSc equivalent), Univ. Kaiserslautern, 1990
Dr. rer. nat. (PhD equivalent), Univ. Kaiserslautern, 1996.
Secretary, Cactus & Succulent Specialist Group, IUCN-SSC
Secretary, International Organization for Succulent Plant Study (1999-2004).
Role
Seed structure of angiosperms, its relevance for seed banking operations and phylogenetic significance, especially with respect to Malpighiales.
Investigation, documentation (including digital imaging) and web publication of the seed morphology of taxa relevant to the Millennium Seed Bank Project with special emphasis on Kew focus groups (Fabaceae, Malpighiales, monocots, Rubiaceae, etc.); c. 500 images and descriptions of the external and internal seed morphology of c. 150 taxa already published, c. 200 more taxa to follow at the end 2005. Joint MSc Project with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh on comparative seed morphology and anatomy of the Malpighiales. Other major current projects include the preparation of a popular book on seeds with artist Rob Kesseler and an illustrated dictionary of seed and fruit morphological terms with US co-author Richard Spjut; the latter book will comprehensively cover the female side of sexual reproduction in seed plants including embryology.
Projects
Authentication and Chemical Fingerprinting of Economically Important Species
Maximising Seed Quality: Maturity and Post-harvest Studies
Morphological Innovations in Poales
Screening for Physical Dormancy (MSBP Collections)
Seed Information Database (SID)
Significant Trade in CITES Plants
Theme: Diagnosis of Viability and Germination
Theme: Ecophysiology and Morphology
Selected Publications 2001-2005
Stuppy, W. (2002). Seed characters and generic classification of Opuntioideae. Succulent Plant Research 6: 25-58.
Taylor, N.P., Stuppy, W. & Barthlott, W. (2002). Realignment and revision of the Opuntioideae of Eastern Brazil. Succulent Plant Research 6: 99-132.
Stuppy, W.H., Maisano, J.A., Colbert, M.W., Rudall, P.J., & Rowe, T.B. (2003). Three-dimensional analysis of plant structure using high-resolution X-ray computed tomography. Trends in Plant Science 8: 2-6.
Flynn, S., Turner, R.M., & Stuppy, W.S. (2004.) Seed Information Database, release 6.0, October 2004.
Rudall, P.J., Stuppy, W., Cunniff, J., Kellogg, E.A., & Briggs, B. (2005). Evolution of reproductive structures in grasses (Poaceae) inferred by sister-group comparison with their putative closest living relatives, Ecdeiocoleaceae. American Journal of Botany 92: 1432-1443.
Selected Publications pre-2001
Stuppy, W. & Taylor, N.P. (1989). A new variety of Ariocarpus fissuratus. Bradleya 7: 84–88.
Stuppy, W. & Nagl, W. (1992). Regeneration and propagation of Ariocarpus retusus Scheidw. (Cactaceae) via somatic embryogenesis. Bradleya 10: 85–88.
Stuppy, W., Welzen, P.C. Van, Klinratana, P. & Posa, M.C.T. (1999). A revision of the genera Aleurites J. R. Forst. & G. Forst., Reutealis Airy Shaw and Vernicia Lour. (Euphorbiaceae). Blumea 44: 73–98.
Welzen, P.C. Van & Stuppy, W. (1999). Phylogenetic considerations of Euphorbiaceae tribe Aleuritideae. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 86: 894–903.