The Genus Lavandula

Susyn Andrews, recently of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is a world-leading horticultural taxonomist and was the co-founder and Chairman of the Horticultural Taxonomy Group. She has published over 150 scientific papers and articles, was the senior editor of Taxonomy of Cultivated Plants (1999), has sat on the ISHS Commission for Nomenclature and Registration, is an Honorary Research Associate at Kew, and currently serves on several scientific and horticultural committees. An enthusiastic gardener, her main interests are temperate and subtropical woody plants and her passion for lavenders stretches back 15 years.

 

Tim Upson is the Superintendent of Cambridge University Botanic Garden.

My interests are in plant diversity, reflected both in my position as Superintendent of the University Botanic Garden and research in plant systematics and conservation. As Superintendent much of my time involves curating and running the Botanic Garden, which grows over 8,000 plant species and provides research facilities, as part of its role.

Research interests are in plant systematics and are presently focused on the family Labiatae and especially the genera Rosmarinus and Lavandula, the latter currently being monographed. This utilises herbarium studies and molecular methods to investigate phylogenetic relationships and biogeography. Major collections of both genera are held at the Botanic Garden, which also include many cultivars, grown to investigate the horticultural taxonomy of these economically important plants. Other research interests include the systematics of the Araceae, the conservation and evolution of island plants.

Upson, TM. & Jury, S.L. (2002). A revision of native Moroccan species of Lavandula L. section Pterostoechas Ging. Lamiaceae. Taxon 51: 309-327.

Upson, TM. & Jury, S.L. (2003). The re-circumscription and lectotypification of Lavandula antineae Maire and description of a new species L. saharica Upson & Jury (Lamiaceae). Kew Bull. 58(4).

Upson, TM. & Andrews, S.A. (2003). A new species of Lavandula L. (Lamiaceae) from Gran Canaria, Canary Islands. Kew Bull. 58(4).

Upson, TM. & Andrews, S.A. (2004). The Genus Lavandula. Botanical Magazine Monograph. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Tam, S.M., Boyce, P.C., Upson, TM., Barabe, D., Brunneau, A, Forest, F. & Parker, J.S. (2004). Infrafamilial phylogeny of Araceae and the origins of the aroids based on chloroplast Trn L-F intergenic spacer. American Journal of Botany. In press.