Flowering Plants

Flowering plants produce seeds but, unlike gymnosperms, flowering plants have evolved seeds that are contained within fruits. They have also evolved flowers, which are organs for reproduction. Fruits can help with dispersal of seeds by attracting animals to consume them. Flowers can attract animal pollinators that carry pollen to other individuals of the same species. Flowers, fruits, and other characters evolved by flowering plants have given them adaptive advantage over many of the non-flowering plants around them. Since their first appearance on Earth around 130 million years ago, flowering plants have attained an incredible diversity of forms and have come to dominate most terrestrial ecosystems. They also provide us with almost all the food we eat—either directly or indirectly through livestock feed.

NYBG’s Flowering Plants Projects:

A phylogenomics approach to resolving one of the world’s most diverse, tropical angiosperm radiations: Melastomataceae
Applications of Leaf Architecture in Systematics and Forest Management
Assessing Phylogeny and Biogeography in a Megadiverse Tropical Plant Family (Melastomataceae)
Digitization of Caribbean Plants and Fungi
Endless Forms: Digitizing the World’s Most Interesting Plants
Evolution and Systematics of the Neotropical Clade of Schefflera (Araliaceae)
EvoNet: A Phylogenomic and Systems Biology Approach to Identify Genes Underlying Plant Survival in Marginal, Low-Nitrogen Soils
Incised Fumewort in Westchester County: Early Detection and Rapid Response
Legume Research at The New York Botanical Garden
Natural History Collections: Developing Ericaceae Research Resources through Collections Enhancement and Data Integration
A New Era: Cuban/U.S. Collaboration in Biodiversity Science
PBI: A Complete Web-based Monograph of the Tribe Miconieae (Melastomataceae)
Phylogenetics and Taxonomy of Ormosia
Revision of Calamus
Strategy for Conserving Ash Trees in the Northeast: Collection, Analysis, and Outreach
A Systematic Monograph of Swartzia
Systematic Studies of the Burseraceae
Systematics and Ecology of the Brazil Nut Family (Lecythidaceae)
Systematics of Rhynchospora (Cyperaceae)
Systematics of Symplocos