Systematics of Dioscoreales
Female plant of Dioscorea birmanica Prain & Burkill from Thailand
Dioscoreales are one of the most critical taxa in monocot systematics, but have received much less attention than Asparagales or Liliales. The first goal of this project at its outset in 1995 was to delimit the order and discover its higher level relationships. Having achieved this, research since 2000 has focused on Dioscorea (yam), which is by far the most species-rich and economically important genus in the order. Plastid gene sequence and morphological data have been used to reveal monophyletic entities in Dioscorea and to investigate the evolution of those characters thought to be systematically significant in previous studies. More recent morphological studies have focused on pollen morphology. Comparative studies have been underpinned and facilitated by baseline plant diversity research, especially in Thailand and Madagascar. A total of 21 papers on Dioscoreales have been published in peer-reviewed journals since 2001. Future research will be orientated towards a species-level study of the “edible” yam clade of Dioscorea.
Project Team
Project Leader: Wilkin, Paul
Herbarium
Anna Haigh, Paul Wilkin
HPE
John Sitch
Jodrell Laboratory
Mark Chase, Carol Furness, Paula Rudall
Project Partners and Collaborators
Belgium
University of Leuven
France
Laboratoire d’Ecologie Generale, Museum Nationale d’Histoire Naturelle
Madagascar
University of Antananarivo
Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza
Thailand
Naresuan University, Phitsanulok
Herbarium, National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Dept.
USA
Fairchild Tropical Garden
State University of New York, Stonybrook
Funders
Belgium
Fund for Scientific Research-Flanders (FWO)
Institute for the Promotion of Innovation through Science and Technology in Flanders (IWT)
Thailand
Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA)