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2007 Richard and Minnie Windler Award Recipients - September 2007
Matthew Sewell and Michael A. Vincent
The 17th annual Richard and Winnie Windler Award has been presented to Matthew Sewell and Michael A. Vincent for their paper ‘‘Biosystematics of the Phacelia ranunculacea Complex (Hydrophyllaceae)’’ in Castanea 71:192-209. This award is given annually for the best paper in plant systematics, taxonomy, or floristics published in Castanea the preceding year.
They conducted morphological analyses of the Phacelia ranunculacea complex, members of which are herbaceous annuals and occur on floodplains and in alluvial hardwood forests throughout eastern North America. The distribution of the complex displays a disjunct distribution between the Midwest and Atlantic coastal plain. Their phenetic analysis of morphological characters revealed two distinct clusters of specimens that corresponded to the haploid chromosome numbers. Correlation of the clusters and chromosome counts with type specimens resulted in recognition of two taxa: P. ranunculacea sensu stricto and P. covillei.
Matthew Sewell is currently the lab manager for the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Program for Molecular Systematics Studies at The New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, New York). His study on the biosystematics of Phacelia ranunculacea published in Castanea was the result of his Master's thesis research completed under supervision of Michael Vincent.
Michael A. Vincent is Curator of the Willard Sherman Turrell Herbarium at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio). His major focus is on alpha taxonomy and floristics, particularly New World taxa of Trifolium (clovers, Leguminosae). Michael also has broad interests in the flora of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, and in the past done research on fungal taxonomy and floristics.
Jeffrey Walck, Middle Tennessee State University, Chair, Windler Award Committee.
To view original article: Castanea Volume 71, Issue 3 (September 2006)