Chicago Botanic Garden

Plant Science — OUR SCIENTISTS

PHOTO: Patrick HerendeenPatrick S. Herendeen, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist
Director of Academic Partnerships

Ph.D., Indiana University, 1990


PUBLICATIONS
phone (847) 835-6956


Graduate Faculty Memberships

Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University


Research Interests

Research in my laboratory focuses on the evolutionary history of flowering plants. My research has focused on two broad areas, elucidating the early evolutionary history of the flowering plants and systematics of the legume family. Graduate students in my lab have the opportunity to participate in these projects, or focus on other research topics. In my research I am working to understand present and historical patterns of diversity and details of morphological evolution using both living and fossil plants. Paleontological data provide unique insights into phylogeny, biogeography, and taxonomic and structural diversity that are not available in studies that include only living organisms.

Systematics of the Leguminosae

As the third largest family of flowering plants, the Leguminosae is extremely diverse taxonomically, biologically, and in vegetative and reproductive morphology and anatomy. One of my primary areas of research is working to understand the evolutionary history of this large and important family. This research is focused on the critically important subfamily Caesalpinioideae. This project involves several international collaborators, including A. Bruneau (Montréal) and G. Lewis (Kew).

The goal of this research is to produce a comprehensive phylogeny for caesalpinioid legumes based on combined analyses of morphological and molecular data. This phylogeny will serve as the basis for a new classification system and the framework to explore patterns of morphological and molecular evolution. Analyses of morphological and molecular data demonstrate that several caesalpinioid lineages have more basal positions in the family than either the Mimosoideae or Papilionoideae, and that some caesalpinioid lineages are more closely related to Mimosoideae or Papilionoideae than they are to other caesalpinioids. Thus a phylogenetic classification of the family would not recognize the caesalpinioids as a single subfamily. How many distinct lineages are there in the “Caesalpinioideae,” at what level should they be recognized relative to mimosoids and papilionoids, and what are the relationships among “caesalpinioid” legume genera? These questions form the core of this research.

Evolutionary History of Early Angiosperms

The angiosperms are the largest group of land plants, yet their origin and early diversification have long been poorly understood. My research seeks to document and understand the early diversification of flowering plants during the Cretaceous, which was the period of earth history when angiosperms became abundant and diverse and dominated nearly all terrestrial ecosystems. My research involves studies of floral evolution and angiosperm wood anatomy through the Cretaceous. Materials for these studies, which include fossil flowers, fruits, and seeds that have been preserved as charcoal or as mummified remains, are derived from numerous fossil localities in North America and Europe. In addition to flowering plants, these fossil sites yield diverse assemblages of fossil conifers, ferns, and bryophytes that are in need of detailed study.

Selected publications


Bruneau, A., M. Mercure, G. P. Lewis, and P. S. Herendeen. 2008. Phylogenetic patterns and diversification in caesalpinioid legumes. Botany 86:697-718.

Redden, K. M. and P. S. Herendeen. 2006. Morphology and phylogenetic relationships of Paloue and related genera in the Brownea clade (Detarieae, Caesalpinioideae). International Journal of Plant Sciences 167:1229-1246.

Kaiser, T. M., J. Ansorge, G. Arratia, V. Bullwinkel, G. Gunnell, P. S. Herendeen, B. Jacobs, J. Mingram, C. Msuya, A. Musolf, R. Naumann, E. Schulz, and V. Wilde. 2006. The maar lake of Mahenge (Tanzania) – unique evidence of Eocene terrestrial environments in sub-Sahara Africa. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften 157(3):99-120.

Clark, J. L., P. S. Herendeen, L. E. Skog, and E. A. Zimmer. 2006. Phylogenetic relationships and generic boundaries in the Episcieae (Gesneriaceae) inferred from nuclear, chloroplast, and morphological data. Taxon 55:313-336.

Lavin, M., P. S. Herendeen, and M. F. Wojciechowski. 2005. Evolutionary rates analysis of Leguminosae implicates a rapid diversification of lineages during the Tertiary. Systematic Biology 54:575-594.

Crane, P. R., P. S. Herendeen, and E. M. Friis. 2004. Fossils and plant phylogeny. American Journal of Botany 91:1683-1699.

Jacobs, B. F. and P. S. Herendeen. 2004. Eocene dry climate and woodland vegetation in tropical Africa reconstructed from fossil leaves northern Tanzania. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 213:115-123.

Eklund, H., J. A. Doyle, and P. S. Herendeen. 2004. Morphological phylogenetic analysis of living and fossil Chloranthaceae. International Journal of Plant Sciences 165:107-151.

Herendeen, P. S., G. P. Lewis, and A. Bruneau. 2003. Floral morphology in caesalpinioid legumes: testing the monophyly of the “Umtiza clade.” International Journal of Plant Sciences 164(Supplement):S393-S407.

Gunnell, G. F., B. F. Jacobs, P. S. Herendeen, J. J. Head, E. Kowalski, C. P. Msuya, F. A. Mizambwa, T. Harrison, J. Habersetzer, and G. Storch. 2003. Eocene microbat from Sub-Saharan Africa and the early evolution of sophisticated echolocation. Palaeontologia Electronica http://palaeo-electronica.org/paleo/2002-2/africa/issue2_02.htm.

Doyle, J. A., H. Eklund, and P. S. Herendeen. 2003. Phylogenetic analysis and floral evolution in Chloranthaceae. International Journal of Plant Sciences 164(Supplement):S365-S382.

Herendeen, P.S., A. Bruneau, and G. P. Lewis. 2003. Phylogenetic relationships in Caesalpinioid legumes: a preliminary analysis based on morphological and molecular data. In Advances in legume systematics, part 10, ed. B. B. Klitgaard and A. Bruneau, pp. 37-62. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Lupia, R., P. S. Herendeen, and J. A. Keller. 2002. A new fossil flower and associated coprolites: evidence for angiosperm-insect interactions in the Santonian (Late Cretaceous) of Georgia, U.S.A. International Journal of Plant Sciences 163:675-686.