The first prize went to Dr. Kamil Frankiewicz from the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town and the Compton Herbarium of the South African National Biodiversity Institute for his excellent presentation on "Raylessness: from Carlquist's paedomorphosis to metacambia syndrome".
In his talk, Kamil demonstrated developmental diversity (especially in the varying duration of metacambial activity) accounting for various degrees of raylessness and derived woodiness in the Apiaceae. He thus provided an ontogenetic basis for Carlquist's earlier theory of paedomorphosis in secondarily woody taxa. In his captivating talk, Kamil used some nice images for a virtual dialogue with Carlquist on this long-debated subject.
Kamil Frankiewicz
The 2nd and 3rd positions were shared by Dr. Bingwei Chen for her outstanding "Study on the cell wall structure and mechancial properties of phloem fibres from Pteroceltis tatarinowii" and Vicky Beckers for her beautifully illustrated presentation on "Comparative wood anatomy and origin of woodiness of two Apocynaceae subfamilies".
Bingwei Chen (Nanjing Forest University, China and Max Planck-Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany) showed how ultrastructure and mechanical properties of primary and secondary phloem fibres of Pteroceltis can explain their superior qualities for paper making throughout the ages in Chinese high culture.
Vicky Beckers (Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Leiden University, The Netherlands) demonstrated the stunning wood anatomical diversity in trees, shrubs, and climbers of the Apocynaceae family, and how that diversity has evolved along the phylogeny of the family as we understand it today. The woody habit arose from herbaceous ancestors multiple times (ca. 28) in the subfamily Asclepioideae.
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Bingwei Chen |
Vicky Beckers |
The laureates will receive a certificate and a prize of respectively 1200 and 600 EUR.
Pieter Baas, the Netherlands
