Systematics and Evolution of Plants
Welcome!
Systematics is the science of the diversity of life. The core questions of systematics and evolution of plants are:
- How many and which species of plants are there on earth?
- How can we recognize, characterize and identify them?
- How are they related?
- Where and in which habitats do they occur?
- Where and when did they evolve?
- Which adaptations ensure their survival?
In order to find answers to these questions, we apply a variety of different methods. The focus of our work is primarily on Molecular Systematics and Phylogenetics, where we intend to reconstruct the most likely pathway of evolution within different plant groups based on DNA sequence analyses.
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Flowers of Phoebe sheareri; left: female phase, anther valves still closed, stigma receptive, nectar secretion from the staminodial glands = fourth androecial whorl; right: male phase, anther valves open, stigma wilted, nectar secretion from the glands of the third staminal whorl
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Sterculia coccinea, open fruit; Indonesia, Java, Bogor, Botanical Garden
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Digestive glands on the upper leaf surface of Pinguicula
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Cross section of a stem of Hippuris vulgaris; central cylinder in the lower left corner
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Helianthus annuus, capitulum, split longitudinally
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Cross section of a stem of Cyperus papyrus, outer layers, with vascular bundle
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Stems of Cassytha filiformis, with young fruits; Brazil, Espírito Santo, near Linhares
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Cross section of an anther of Rosa rugosa
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Dehaasia incrassata; left: part of an inflorescence; right: mature fruit
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Araucaria angustifolia forest, with laurel forest as second canopy stratum; near São Francisco de Paula, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Cross section of a stem of Juncus effusus, with stellate parenchyma in the pith
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Bladder trap of Utricularia
Photo: UHH / Rohwer
Flowers of Ocotea aciphylla, along road to Parque Estadual das Lauráceas, Paraná, Brazil
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Burmannia disticha, a saprophytic angiosperm; inflorescence with crab spider; Thailand, Nakhon Nayok, Khao Yai National Park
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Vascular bundle of a leaf of Phormium tenax, phloem on the left, xylem in the center
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Cross section of a rhizome of Davallia mauritiana, outer layers, with peltate scale
Photo: UHH/Rohwer
Cross section of a seed of Nymphoides peltata
Secondly, in the field of Taxonomy and Traditional Systematics we are using herbarium material and stereo microscopes as well as the scanning electron microscope, databases and a large collection of our own digital plant photos. The research area of morphology and anatomy is currently experiencing a worldwide renaissance. After all, the structures of the organisms (not their genes) interact with their environments – and structures allow assigning fossil material to evolutionary lineages.