Melissa Luckow at the US National Herbarium

In May, Melissa Luckow was awarded a senior fellowship at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum for her sabbatical year.

She has been in Washington DC since July 15, 2007 working in the US National Herbarium on the project A synopsis of 40 genera of mimosoid legumes.

by Melissa Luckow

Flowers and fruits of Dicrostachys spicata

Mimosoid legumes include important high-value tropical hardwoods such as Patagonian rosewood, Bumese Ironwood, and Australian Blackwood. They are also important forage and pasture trees and major components of tropical ecosystems.

The work, to be distributed both in printed and web platforms, is the first comprehensive look at this large and economically important group of plants in the past 50 years. Dr. Luckow will return to Cornell in July 2008.