Gwilym Peter Lewis

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Gwilym Peter Lewis (born 1952) is a British botanist, a curator at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and a leading expert on neotropical Leguminosae .

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Education and career

Lewis graduated in 1973 with a B.Sc. from the University of London. He eventually became the head of the legume section at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which he joined in 1974. In his research on the legume family he has contributed to the description of 58 species and 11 genera. He has also contributed to several taxonomic revisions, especially for the genus Caesalpinia . [1] In 1994 he received a Ph.D. from the University of St. Andrews. [2] His doctoral dissertation, supervised by Peter Edward Gibbs, is entitled Systematic studies in neotropical 'Caesalpinia L.' (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae), including a revision of the 'Poincianella-Erythrostemon group' . [3]

Lewis has collected thousands of botanical specimens and has done botanical "fieldwork in Brazil, Cuba, Argentina, Ecuador, Central America, Mexico and Madagascar". [1] He has been a plant co-collector with over twenty different botanists. [4] During his career at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, his research has focused on "systematics, phylogenetics, biogeography, diversity and comparative biology of neotropical (mainly South American) Leguminosae, especially Caesalpinioideae (particularly Caesalpinia ) and Mimosoideae . Floristic studies focus on the drylands and wet tropics of Brazil and the Andes of Ecuador, including monographic work on the large genus Caesalpinia." [5]

His numerous scientific articles (over 250 as author or co-author) [1] have been published in leading journals such as Brittonia , Curtis's Botanical Magazine and Kew Bulletin . The book Legumes of the World, of which he is the lead author, has been awarded the 2006 Annual Literature Award in the Technical Category from the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries. [6]

In 1995 Lewis received the Rupert Barneby Award from the New York Botanical Garden to enable him, as a visiting researcher for the year 1996, to do research on the legume family of Ecuador. [7] He is a member of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, the Botanical Society of America and the Organization for Flora Neotropica.

Selected publications

Articles

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fabaceae</span> Family of legume flowering plants

The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, are a large and agriculturally important family of flowering plants. It includes trees, shrubs, and perennial or annual herbaceous plants, which are easily recognized by their fruit (legume) and their compound, stipulate leaves. The family is widely distributed, and is the third-largest land plant family in number of species, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with about 765 genera and nearly 20,000 known species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faboideae</span> Subfamily of plants

The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is Papilionoideae, or Papilionaceae when this group of plants is treated as a family.

<i>Paubrasilia</i> Species of plant in the family Fabaceae

Paubrasilia echinata is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is endemic to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. It is a Brazilian timber tree commonly known as Pernambuco wood or brazilwood and is the national tree of Brazil. This plant has a dense, orange-red heartwood that takes a high shine, and it is the premier wood used for making bows for stringed instruments. The wood also yields a historically important red dye called brazilin, which oxidizes to brazilein.

<i>Delonix</i> Genus of flowering plants in the bean family Fabaceae

Delonix is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It contains trees that are native to Madagascar and East Africa. By far the best known species is the Royal Poinciana.

<i>Hymenaea</i> Genus of legumes

Hymenaea is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. Of the fourteen living species in the genus, all but one are native to the tropics of the Americas, with one additional species on the east coast of Africa. Some authors place the African species in a separate monotypic genus, Trachylobium. In the Neotropics, Hymenaea is distributed through the Caribbean islands, and from southern Mexico to Brazil. Linnaeus named the genus in 1753 in Species Plantarum for Hymenaios, the Greek god of marriage ceremonies. The name is a reference to the paired leaflets.

<i>Libidibia ferrea</i> Species of legume

Libidibia ferrea, formerly Caesalpinia ferrea, and commonly known as Brazilian ironwood, leopardtree or jucá, is a tree found in Brazil.

<i>Dinizia</i> Genus of legumes

Dinizia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It was believed to be monotypic until 2017, when Dinizia jueirana-facao was described. Dinizia is native to Brazil, Guyana and Suriname. Both species are colossal forest trees.

Disynstemon paullinioides is a species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. It is a liana that is native to Madagascar. It is the only member of the genus Disynstemon.

<i>Luetzelburgia</i> Genus of legumes

Luetzelburgia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes 14 species of trees and shrubs native to Brazil, Bolivia, and Colombia. Typical habitat is seasonally-dry tropical lowland woodland and wooded grassland, and occasionally lowland rain forests. The genus belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. It was traditionally assigned to the tribe Sophoreae, mainly on the basis of flower morphology; recent molecular phylogenetic analyses assigned Luetzelburgia into an informal, monophyletic clade called the "vataireoids". Keys for the different species of Luetzelburgia have been published.

Sinodolichos is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes two species native to southern China, Assam, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Borneo. It belongs to subfamily Faboideae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brongniartieae</span> Tribe of legumes

The tribe Brongniartieae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae, primarily found in tropical regions of the Americas and in Australia The members of this tribe consistently form a monophyletic clade in molecular phylogenetic analyses. The tribe does not currently have a node-based definition, but morphological synapomorphies have been identified:

"stamens united by filaments in an adaxially open tube; anthers alternately long and basifixed, short and versatile; anther connective inconspicuous; septa present between seeds in pods; aril lateral lobe present and fitting into heel of funicle; fine red glandular processes present in axils; and pollen tricolporate with opercula and no definite endoaperture."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalbergieae</span> Tribe of legumes

The tribe Dalbergieae is an early-branching clade within the flowering plant subfamily Faboideae. Within that subfamily, it belongs to an unranked clade called the dalbergioids. It was recently revised to include many genera formerly placed in tribes Adesmieae and Aeschynomeneae and to be included in a monophyletic group informally known as the dalbergioids sensu lato. The members of this tribe have a distinctive root nodule morphology, often referred to as an "aeschynomenoid" or "dalbergioid" nodule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigofereae</span> Tribe of legumes

The tribe Indigofereae is a subdivision of the plant family Fabaceae. It is consistently recovered as a monophyletic clade in molecular phylogenies. The Indigofereae arose 30.0 ± 3.3 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophoreae</span> Tribe of legumes

The tribe Sophoreae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae. Traditionally this tribe has been used as a wastebasket taxon to accommodate genera of Faboideae which exhibit actinomorphic, rather than zygomorphic floral symmetry and/or incompletely differentiated petals and free stamens. Various morphological and molecular analyses indicated that Sophoreae as traditionally circumscribed was polyphyletic. This led to a re-circumscription of Sophoreae, which resulted in the transfer of many genera to other tribes. This also necessitated the inclusion of two former tribes, Euchresteae and Thermopsideae, in the new definition of Sophoreae. Tribe Sophoreae, as currently circumscribed, consistently forms a monophyletic clade in molecular phylogenetic analyses. The Sophoreae arose 40.8 ± 2.4 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swartzieae</span> Clade of legumes

The tribe Swartzieae is an early-branching monophyletic clade of the flowering plant subfamily Faboideae or Papilionaceae. Traditionally this tribe has been used as a wastebasket taxon to accommodate genera of Faboideae which exhibit actinomorphic, rather than zygomorphic floral symmetry and/or incompletely differentiated petals and free stamens. It was recently revised and most of its genera were redistributed to other tribes. Under its new circumscription, this clade is consistently resolved in molecular phylogenies. Members of this tribe possess "non-papilionate swartzioid flowers[…]largely characterized by a tendency to lack petals combined with a profusion and elaboration of free stamens" and a "lack of unidirectional order in the initiation of the stamens". They also have "complete or near complete fusion of sepals resulting from intercalary growth early in development, relatively numerous stamens, and a single or no petal, with other petals not at all apparent in development." The tribe is predicted to have diverged from the other legume lineages 48.9±2.8 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robinioids</span> Clade of legumes

The robinioids are one of the four major clades in subfamily Faboideae of the plant family Fabaceae (Leguminosae). It is composed of the traditional tribes Loteae, Sesbanieae and Robinieae. It is a large and important clade that is distributed in mostly temperate areas. Species in this clade share a unique determinate root nodule structure. The clade is predicted to have diverged from the other legume lineages 48.3±1.0 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalbergioids</span> Clade of legumes

The dalbergioids are an early-branching monophyletic clade of the flowering plant subfamily Faboideae or Papilionaceae. They are pantropical, particularly being found in the neotropics and sub-Saharan Africa. This clade is consistently resolved as monophyletic in molecular phylogenetic analyses. It is estimated to have arisen 55.3 ± 0.5 million years ago. A node-based definition for the dalbergioids is: "The least inclusive crown clade that contains Amorpha fruticosaL. 1753 and Dalbergia sissooRoxb. ex DC. 1825." Indehiscent pods may be a morphological synapomorphy for the clade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caesalpinieae</span> Tribe of legumes

The tribe Caesalpinieae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae: subfamily Caesalpinioideae.

<i>Weberbauerella brongniartioides</i> Genus of legumes

Weberbauerella brongniartioides is a South American species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bruneau, Anne; Hughes, Colin E. Hughes (2019). "Tribute to Gwilym P. Lewis". Australian Systematic Botany. 32 (6): iv–vi. doi: 10.1071/SBv32n6_TB . S2CID   204811154.
  2. "Lewis, Gwilym P." Directory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Archived from the original on 27 April 2007.
  3. Lewis, Gwilym Peter (1995). Systematic studies in neotropical 'Caesalpina L.' (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae), including a revision of the 'Poincianella-Erythrostemon' group. Biology Theses, St Andrews Research Depository (Thesis). University of St Andrews. hdl:10023/14134.
  4. "Lewis, Gwilym Peter". JSTOR Global Plants.
  5. "Dr Gwilym P Lewis, Research Leader". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  6. List of CBHL Annual Literature Award recipients
  7. "Lewis Receives 1995 Barneby Award". Plant Science Bulletin. 42 (1): 11. 1996.
  8. International Plant Names Index.  G.P.Lewis.