Botany Research Team to Study Camas, Rush Lilies

A collaborative research team that includes a KU post doctoral associate in botany has learned that their National Science Foundation proposal to study camas and rush lilies has been recommended for more than $850,000 in funding.

The proposal is entitled "Understanding diversity in camas and rush lilies: can a unified approach resolve species boundaries in difficult groups?" The co-PI for the project are Jenny Archibald at KU, Susan Kephart of Willamette University and Theresa Culley of the University of Cincinnati.

The research team will study the integrative species delimitation in the plant genera Camassia (camas) and Hastingsia (rush lilies). These diverse and systematically complex taxa allow tests of multiple criteria of species boundaries, as well as investigation of the evolutionary processes at play. Morphology, phylogeny, ecology, and pre- and post-zygotic reproductive isolation will all be examined.