Research Interests:
Research
in my laboratory focuses on the evolutionary history of flowering plants.
During the last several years research has focused on two broad areas:
elucidating the early evolutionary history of the flowering plants and
systematics of the legume family. Graduate students in my lab have the
opportunity to participate in these projects, or focus on other research
topics. In my research I am working to understand present and historical
patterns of systematic diversity and details of morphological and anatomical
evolution using both living and fossil plants. Paleontological data provide
unique insights into phylogeny, biogeography, and taxonomic and structural
diversity that are not available in studies that include only living organisms.
The primary goal of my research today and into the future is the integration of
morphological and anatomical data with data from molecular systematics and
floral development to gain a more comprehensive understanding of angiosperm
evolutionary history and relationships.
Systematics of the Leguminosae
As the third
largest family of flowering plants, the Leguminosae is extremely diverse
taxonomically, biologically, and in vegetative and reproductive morphology and
anatomy. One of my primary areas of research is working
to understand the evolutionary history of this large and important family. This
research is focused on the critically important subfamily Caesalpinioideae.
This project involves several international collaborators, including A. Bruneau
(Montréal) and G. Lewis (Kew).
The goal of this research is to
produce a comprehensive phylogeny for caesalpinioid legumes based on combined
analyses of morphological and molecular data. This phylogeny will serve as the
basis for a new classification system and the foundation upon which to explore
patterns of morphological and molecular evolution. Analyses of morphological
and molecular data demonstrate that several caesalpinioid lineages have more
basal positions in the family than either the Mimosoideae or Papilionoideae,
and that some caesalpinioid lineages are more closely related to Mimosoideae or
Papilionoideae than they are to other caesalpinioids. Thus a phylogenetic
classification of the family would not recognize the caesalpinioids as a single
subfamily. How many distinct lineages are there in the “Caesalpinioideae,” at
what level should they be recognized relative to mimosoids and papilionoids,
and what are the relationships among “caesalpinioid” legume genera? These
questions form the core of this research.
Evolutionary History of Early Angiosperms
The angiosperms are the largest group of land
plants, yet their origin and early diversification have long been poorly
understood. My research seeks to document and understand the early diversification of flowering plants during the
Cretaceous, which was the period of earth history when angiosperms became
abundant and diverse and dominated nearly all terrestrial ecosystems. My
research involves studies of floral evolution and angiosperm wood anatomy
through the Cretaceous. Materials for these studies are derived from numerous
fossil localities in North America and Europe. These studies utilize fossil
flowers, fruits, and seeds that have been preserved as charcoal or as mummified
remains. I am currently concentrating my efforts on Cretaceous floras from the
Atlantic Coastal Plain in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
and Georgia. This approach to studying early angiosperm paleobotany is
relatively recent and there is still considerable opportunity for new
discoveries, especially from lower latitudes. The search for the earliest
angiosperms must focus more on lower paleolatitudes. Also of interest is
paleobotanical evidence for the early history of tropical angiosperms from the
mid- and later Cretaceous and early Tertiary. Angiosperms are very diverse in
the tropics and we know very little about the early evolutionary history of
tropical flowering plants. In addition to flowering plants, there is a great
deal to be done with fossil conifer, fern, and bryophyte material that has been
recovered from these sites.
Selected publications:
For reprint requests, please send an email to herenden@gwu.edu
Edited Volumes:
Herendeen, P. S. and A. Bruneau, Editors. 2000. Advances in legume systematics, part 9. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Crane, P. R. and P. S. Herendeen, Editors 1999. The Origin of Modern Terrestrial Ecosystems: Fossils, Phylogeny and Biogeography. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 86(2).
Herendeen, P. S. and D. L. Dilcher, Editors. 1992. Advances in Legume Systematics, part 4. The Fossil Record. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Recent Peer Reviewed Articles:
Eklund, H., J. A. Doyle, and P. S. Herendeen. 2004. Morphological phylogenetic analysis of living and fossil Chloranthaceae. International Journal of Plant Sciences. In press.
Herendeen, P. S., G. P. Lewis, and A. Bruneau. 2003. Floral morphology in caesalpinioid legumes: testing the monophyly of the "Umtiza clade." International Journal of Plant Sciences 164 (Supplement): S393-S407.
Doyle, J. A., H. Eklund, and P. S. Herendeen. 2003. Phylogenetic analysis and floral evolution in Chloranthaceae. Flowers: diversity, development & evolution. International Journal of Plant Sciences 164 (Supplement): S365-S382.
Herendeen, P.S., A. Bruneau, G. P. Lewis. 2003. Phylogenetic Relationships in Caesalpinioid Legumes: A Preliminary Analysis based on Morphological and Molecular Data. In B. B. Klitgaard and A. Bruneau, Editors. Advances in legume systematics, part 10, pp. 37-62. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Lupia, R., P. S. Herendeen, and J. A. Keller. 2002. A new fossil flower and associated coprolites: evidence for angiosperm-insect interactions in the Santonian (Late Cretaceous) of Georgia, U.S.A. International Journal of Plant Sciences 163: 675-686.
Takahashi, M., P. S. Herendeen, and P. R. Crane. 2001. Lauraceous fossil flowers from the Kamikitaba Locality (Lower Coniacian; Upper Cretaceous) in northeastern Japan. Journal of Plant Research 114: 429-434.
Bruneau, A., F. Forest, P. S. Herendeen, B. B. Klitgaard, and G. P. Lewis. 2001. Phylogenetic relationships in the Caesalpinioideae (Leguminosae) as inferred from chloroplast trnL intron sequences. Systematic Botany 26: 487-514.
Magallón, S., P. S. Herendeen, and P. R. Crane. 2001. Floral diversity in Hamamelidoideae (Hamamelidaceae): Androdecidua endressi gen. et sp. nov. from the late Santonian (Late Cretaceous) of Georgia, U.S.A. International Journal of Plant Sciences 162: 963-983.
Herendeen, P. S. 2000. Structural evolution in Caesalpinioideae. In P. S. Herendeen and A. Bruneau, Editors. Advances in legume systematics, part 9, pp. 45-64. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Herendeen, P. S. and R. B. Miller. 2000. The application of wood anatomical characters in cladistic phylogenetic analyses. IAWA Journal 21: 247-276.
Herendeen, P. S. and B. F. Jacobs. 2000. Fossil Legumes from the Middle Eocene (46.0 Ma) Mahenge Flora, Singida, Tanzania. American Journal of Botany 87: 1358-1366.
Herendeen, P. S., E. A. Wheeler, and P. Baas. 1999. Angiosperm wood evolution and the potential contribution of paleontological data. Botanical Review 65: 278-300.
Sims, H. J., P. S. Herendeen, R. Lupia, R. A. Christopher, and P. R. Crane. 1999. Fossil flowers with Normapoles pollen from the Upper Cretaceous of southeastern North America. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 106: 131-151.
Herendeen, P. S., S. Magallón-Puebla, R. Lupia, P. R. Crane and J. Kobylinska. 1999. A preliminary conspectus of the Allon flora from the Late Cretaceous (Late Santonian) of central Georgia, USA. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 86: 407-471.
Magallón-Puebla, S., P. R. Crane, and P. S. Herendeen. 1999. Phylogenetic pattern, diversity and diversification of eudicots. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 86: 297-372.
Herendeen, P. S. and J. E. Skog. 1998. Gleichenia chaloneri: a new fossil fern from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) of England. International Journal of Plant Sciences 159: 870-879.
Sims, H. J., P. S. Herendeen, and P. R. Crane. 1998. New genus of fossil Fagaceae from the Santonian (Late Cretaceous) of central Georgia, U.S.A. International Journal of Plant Sciences 159: 391-404.
Konopka, A. S., P. S. Herendeen, and P. R. Crane. 1998. Sporophytes and gametophytes of Dicranaceae from the Santonian (Late Cretaceous) of Georgia, U.S.A. American Journal of Botany 85: 714-723.
Konopka, A. S., P. S. Herendeen, G. L. Smith Merrill and P. R. Crane. 1997. Sporophytes and gametophytes of Polytrichaceae from the Campanian (Late Cretaceous) of Georgia, U.S.A. International Journal of Plant Sciences 158: 489-499.
Magallón-Puebla, S., P. S. Herendeen and P. R. Crane 1997. Quadriplatanus georgianus gen. et sp. nov.: staminate and pistillate platanaceous flowers from the Late Cretaceous (Coniacian-Santonian) of Georgia, USA. International Journal of Plant Sciences 158: 373-394.
Magallón-Puebla, S., P. S. Herendeen and P. K. Endress 1996. Allonia decandra: floral remains of the tribe Hamamelideae (Hamamelidaceae) from Campanian strata of southeastern USA. Plant Syst. Evol. 202: 177-198.
Keller, J. A., P. S. Herendeen and P. R. Crane. 1996. Fossil flowers and fruits of the Actinidiaceae from the Campanian (Late Cretaceous) of Georgia. American Journal of Botany 83: 528-541.
Crane, P. R. and P. S. Herendeen. 1996. Cretaceous floras containing angiosperm flowers and fruits from eastern North America. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 90: 319-337.
Herendeen, P. S. and P. R. Crane 1995. The fossil history of the monocotyledons. In P. J. Rudall, P. Cribb, D. F. Cutler, and C. J. Humphries (editors). Monocotyledons: Systematics and Evolution, pp. 1-21. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Herendeen, P. S. 1995. Phylogenetic relationships of the tribe Swartzieae. In M. D. Crisp and J. J. Doyle (editors), Advances in Legume Systematics, part 7, Phylogeny. pp. 123-132. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Herendeen, P. S., P. R. Crane and A. N. Drinnan 1995. Fagaceous flowers, fruits and cupules from the Campanian (Late Cretaceous) of central Georgia, USA. International Journal of Plant Sciences 156: 93-116.
