Activities and Disciplines

Plant Anatomy

Research Focus

Research in the Anatomy section focuses largely on systematics, with implications for character evolution and conservation. We are concerned with improving and evaluating data sets for critical characters in various plant groups, often in collaboration with researchers from other disciplines.

Applied research programmes link in with and complement the main systematic research. The Plant Micromorphology Bibliographic Database supports all of our research programmes. The two book series Anatomy of the Dicotyledons and Anatomy of the Monocotyledons are published by Oxford University Press, and are co-ordinated at Kew. We have over 50 research collaborators, from about 20 different countries, as well as on-site researchers.

Research areas:

• Systematic anatomy of monocotyledons

• Systematic anatomy of dicotyledons

• Flower anatomy

• Wood anatomy and conservation

• Applied plant anatomy

• Plant Micromorphology Bibliographic Database (PMBD)

Links

• BoDD: Botanical Dermatology Database

• Inside Wood (collaborative database at North Carolina State University)

• International Association of Wood Anatomists

News

• Identification of Wood course, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - 5-9 February 2007