Basal Angiosperm Gallery
Amborellales (Amborella):
Amborella trichopoda, endemic to New Caledonia. It is dioecious, and male and female flowers retain sterilized parts of the opposite sex. Amborella grows in the cloud forest, often arching over the trail.
Nymphaeales:
Nuphar polysepala - after onset of stigma receptivity, anthers open. Nymphaea odorata from near Starkesville, Miss. (thanks Fishbein!) Nymphaea spp. from the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney, Australia
Cabomba caroliniana, on the Tennessee river (Guntersville Lake), in northern Alabama. Photo by Mackenzie Taylor. Brasenia schreberi first day flower (photo by Mackenzie Taylor) Brasenia - 1st and 2nd day flowers, in Tennessee (photo by Mackenzie Taylor).
Austrobaileyales:
Illicium floridanum, taken near the coast of Mississippi, before the hurricanes of 2005. Illicium floridanum and rice were shown here as representing diploid and triploid endosperms. Schisandra glabra from the foothills of the southeastern USA smoky mountains.    Photo by Matt Valente
Austrobaileya scandens - just opened flower with receptive carpels (anthers not open) Schisandra chinensis, from the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, 2002 Schisandra chinensis
Austrobaileya scandens flower on the way up the rope. Austrobaileya scandens after pollination, with anthers just opening. Austrobaileya scandens, flowers are not pendant, but the vines often hang
Chloranthales:
 
Hedyosmum brasiliensis, female plant, in Uberlandia, Brasil (2005) Hedyosmum brasiliensis, male plant  
Basal monocots:
 
Gymnostachys anceps, a basal aroid, in wet tropics area of NE Queensland, Australia. Orontium aquaticum,a basal aroid, in southern Mississippi (2004).
Eumagnoliids:
From the Magnolia garden in the UT arboretum in spring. Unknown Piperaceae (to me!) in the Floresta da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil (2003). Manekia naranjoensis from Costa Rica. Photo by Tatiana Arias (2006).
   
Manekia naranjoensis infloresence with white stamens. Photo by Tatiana Arias.  
Basal eudicots:
Fieldwork:
I have great reverence for the people who visited the canopy before me, and I'm grateful to be able to follow in their footsteps! Fixing the ropes for Austrobaileya study (2005)... ...in one of the smallest trees I worked in (2005).
     
Friends, Family and Colleagues:
 
Fieldhands Ana and Nico (age: 7 months)  overlooking one of the wettest places on earth, in NE Queensland, Australia. 2006.  
 
With John Bryant and Tom Clausen after 400 miles on the Porcupine and Yukon rivers in an open boat. Old Crow is one of the most isolated towns in North America. (2005) Bear and wolf tracks on the beach in campsite on Porcupine river, Alaska (June 2005).  
   
   
Len Thien and Peter Bernhardt turned up on the slick muddy trail on Plateau de Dogny, in 2001. They introduced me to the flora of New Caledonia. In the wet tropics of NE Queensland at one of many "Cathedral figs."