ASU SoLS Faculty: Leslie R. Landrum

Senior Research Scientist and Herbarium Curator, came to Arizona State University in 1986. Received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. Held post-doctoral positions at the New York Botanical Garden and the California Academy of Sciences, and visiting lectureships at San Francisco State University and the University of California at Berkeley. Presently a member of the Commission of the Organization for Flora Neotropica and a member of the Editorial Board of the Flora of Arizona Project.

From 1969 to 1973 I lived in Chile as a member of the Peace Corps working in the Forestry School of the University of Chile. There I became interested in the plants of South America, and especially the myrtle family (Myrtaceae). My research for the last several years has mainly concerned the evolution and classification of the Myrtaceae, the group to which guavas, allspice, cloves, and Eucalyptus belong. There are approximately 3500 species worldwide and about half of these are American. The South and Central American tropics are especially rich and provide the focus of my investigations. Although botanists have been describing species of Myrtaceae for over 200 years, the classification is far from clear. At present I am involved in monographic studies of Psidium and all its relatives, a complex of about 100 species. Perhaps the greatest problem has been defining limits of Psidium. With the help of SEM studies, William Sharp and I found a set of seed coat characters that clearly separates the genus from others. One of the most interesting species is P. guajava, the cultivated guava. It is now found in tropical regions around the world but no one is quite sure where it originated and how much hybridization with other species has played a part in its evolution under human influence.

A second area of investigation is the genus Berberis (Berberidaceae) in Chile. Berberis has two great centers of distribution: South America and Asia, continents that have been separated for millions of years. The genus is poorly known in South America and I hope my studies in Chile will be the beginning of a broader study.

A third area of research involves the use of models to evaluate methods of phylogenetic analysis.

Finally, along with other Arizona botanists, I am participating as a co-editor and contributor in a project to write a new manual on the vascular plants of our state. Seventy-eight contributions of complete or partial family treatments have been published in recent issues of the Journal of the Arizona/Nevada Academy of Science.

Selected Publications | CV (PDF)

Kim, Young-Dong, Sung-Hee Kim, Leslie R. Landrum. Taxonomic and phytogeographic implications from ITS phylogeny in Berberis (Berberidaceae). Journal of Plant Research (Tokyo) 117(3): 175-182. 2004.

Holst, B., L. R. Landrum and F. Grifo. Myrtaceae in: J. A. Steyermark et al., Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana, 7:1-99. 2003.

Landrum, L. R. Berberidaceae in: C. Marticorena & R. Rodriguez, Flora de Chile 2(2): 1-23 & 79-81. 2003.

Landrum, L. R. A revision of the Psidium salutare complex (Myrtaceae). Sida 20(4): 1449-1469. 2003.

Landrum, LR. (2002). Two new species of Campomanesia (Myrtaceae) from Espirito Santo and Bahia, Brazil. Brittonia 53(4):534-538.

Landrum, LR. (2001). What has happened to descriptive systematics? What would make it thrive? Systematic Botany 26(2):438-442

Landrum, LR, and A Rand. (2000). Anther glandularity in the American Eugeniinae (Myrtaceae). Rojasiana 5(1):1-13

Landrum, LR. (1999). Berberis (Berberidaceae) in Chile and adjacent Argentina. Annals Missouri Bot Gard 86:793-834.

Landrum, LR. (1998). A new species of Calycolpus (Myrtaceae) from the Campos Rupestres, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Novon 8:244-246.

Kawasaki, ML, and LR Landrum. (1997). A rare and potentially economic fruit of Brazil: cambuci, Campomanesia phaea (O. Berg) Landrum (Myrtaceae). Economic Botany 51(4):403-407.

Landrum, LR, and ML Kawasaki. (1997). The genera of Myrtaceae in Brazil: an illustrated synoptic treatment and identification keys. Brittonia 49(4):508-536

Landrum, LR, and J Bonilla. (1996). Anther glandularity in the American Myrtinae (Myrtaceae). Madrono 43(1):58-68.

Landrum, LR, WD Clark, WP Sharp, and J. Brendecke. (1995). Hybridization between Psidium guajava and Psidium guineense (Myrtaceae). Economic Botany 49(2):153-161.

Landrum, LR. (1994). Vascular Plants of Arizona: Fagaceae. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 27(2):203-214.

Landrum, LR. (1993). Factors influencing the accuracy of the parsimony criterion and a proposed method for estimating true tree length. Systematic Botany 18(3):516-524.

Landrum, LR. (1991). Chamguava: a new genus of Myrtaceae (Myrtinae) from Mesoamerica. Systematic Botany 16(1):21-29.