People

Hoffmann, Petra

Job Title Malpighiales Team Leader
Department Herbarium
Section Dicot Systematics
Science Teams Wet Tropics: SE Asia
Malpighiales
Madagascar
Joined Kew 1998
Foreign Language(s) German (mother tongue), French, Dutch.

Qualifications & Appointments

Dipl.-Biol. (MSc equivalent), Humboldt Univ., Berlin, 1991

Dr. rer. nat. (PhD equivalent), Humboldt Univ., Berlin, 1995.

Editorial Board, Kew Bulletin

Madagascar Plant Specialist Group, IUCN-SSC

Committee for Sustainability (ISO 14001), RBG Kew.

Role

Systematics of Euphorbiaceae sensu lato, particularly Phyllanthaceae.

Phylogenetic studies, classification, taxonomic revisions and description of new taxa of Euphorbiaceae sensu lato, with special focus on Phyllanthaceae. Work at species, genus and family level. Floristic work in drylands and wet tropics of Madagascar, Malesia and China. Recent collaborative fieldwork in Madagascar, the Comoro Islands and Sri Lanka to fill gaps in Herbarium collections and DNA sampling. Close collaboration with molecular systematists at RBG Kew and abroad. Supervision of PhD and MSc students in UK and abroad, working on aspects of Phyllanthaceae systematics. Interest in electronic identification systems. Team leader of Malpighiales Science Team and Herbarium Malpighiales Section. Deputy team leader of RBG Kew's Madagascar Programme including projects in capacity-building.

Projects

European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy (EDIT)

Evolution of Tribe Poranthereae (Phyllanthaceae)

Flora of China

Interactive Key to the Genera of Malpighiales

Molecular Phylogenetics of Euphorbiaceae sensu lato

Molecular Phylogenetics of Tribe Phyllantheae (Phyllanthaceae)

Phylogenetics and Conservation of Madagascan Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae)

Polyhydroxyalkaloids in Euphorbiaceae sensu stricto

Systematics and Biogeography of Phyllanthus (Phyllanthaceae) of Madagascar

World Checklist of Malpighiales

World Classification and Phylogeny of Salicaceae sensu stricto

Selected Publications 2001-2005

Hoffmann*, P., Kirkup*, D., Galster*, A., Challen*, G.L. & Radcliffe-Smith*, A. (2005). Interactive key to the genera of Euphorbiaceae sensu lato. Release version 1.0. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Kew. Available at: http://www.kew.org/herbarium/keys/euphorbs/

Wurdack, K.J., Hoffmann, P. & Chase, M.W. (2005). Molecular phylogenetic analysis of uniovulate Euphorbiaceae (Euphorbiaceae sensu stricto) using plastid rbcL and trnL-F DNA sequences. American Journal of Botany 92: 1397-1420.

Hoffman, P. (2005). Taxonomic revision of Antidesma (Phyllanthaceae) in Malesia and Thailand. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 292 pp.

Kathriarachchi, H., Hoffmann, P., Samuel, R., Wurdack, K.J. & Chase, M.W. (2005). Molecular phylogenetics of Phyllanthaceae inferred from 5 genes (plastid atpB, matK, 3’ ndhF, rbcL) and nuclear PHYC. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 36: 112–134.

Hoffmann, P. & McPherson, G. (2003). Euphorbiaceae. In Goodman, S.M. & Benstead, J.P. (eds) Natural History of Madagascar. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 379–383.

Selected Publications pre-2001

Hoffmann, P. (1994). A contribution to the systematics of Andrachne sect. Phyllanthopsis and sect. Pseudophyllanthus compared with Savia s.l. (Euphorbiaceae) with special reference to floral morphology. Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 116: 321–331.

Hoffmann, P. & McPherson, G. (1998). Revision of the genus Blotia (Euphorbiaceae–Phyllanthoideae) Adansonia, sér. 3 20: 247–261.

Hoffmann, P. (1999). New taxa and New Combinations in Asian Antidesma (Euphorbiaceae). Kew Bulletin 54: 347–362.

Hoffmann, P. (1999). The genus Antidesma (Euphorbiaceae) in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. Kew Bulletin 54: 877–885.

Hoffman, P. (2000). Revision of Andrachne sect. Pseudophyllanthus (Euphorbiaceae), with the description of two new species from Madagascar. Adansonia, sér. 3 22: 123–133.