Jeffery Morawetz - Postdoctoral Fellow












email: morawetz@umich.edu | phone: 734-615-6200

 Academic background
The Ohio State University, Ph.D.

Fields of study
Plant systematics

Research interests
I have a broad interest in the systematics & taxonomy of flowering plants, and the molecular evolution of photosynthetic genes in holoparasitic plants. My research has focused on extensive fieldwork in Africa to acquire a better understanding of the relationships among the diverse and poorly understood tropical genera of the cosmopolitan parasitic plant family Orobanchaceae (broomrapes). The tropical clade of Orobanchaceae forms a well-supported monophyletic group, and is economically important because it contains three of the four most noxious parasitic weeds of agriculture. The range of habit (herbaceous vs. woody; hemiparasitic vs. holoparasitic) and floral morphology is most diverse in this clade. With multiple origins of holoparasitism, this group provides an ideal framework to investigate the fate of photosynthetic genes in plants that no longer utilize this metabolic pathway.
My current post-doctoral research with Paul Berry is focused on the giant genus Euphorbia, which comprises approximately 2,000 species exhibiting extensive diversity in growth form (herbs, shrubs, trees, succulents, geophytes) and floral morphology. The one morphological feature uniting this amazing and diverse group of plants is the complex and highly reduced inflorescence termed the cyathium. I am involved in coordinating fieldwork in the Old World, as well as managing the molecular data associated with this project. The ultimate goal is to produce a robust phylogeny addressing the relationships of major groups within Euphorbia, a web-based monograph treating each species, and an interactive online key.

Select publications

Morawetz, J. J. and C.P. Randle. The repatriation of Harveya alba (Orobanchaceae). Kew Bulletin (submitted)

Morawetz, J.J., C.P. Randle and A.D. Wolfe. Phylogenetic relationships within the tropical clade of Orobanchaceae. Taxon (submitted)

Morawetz, J.J. and A.D. Wolfe. Taxonomic revision of the Alectra sessiliflora complex (Orobanchaceae). Systematic Botany (submitted)

Morawetz, J.J. and A.D. Wolfe. Assessing the monophyly of Alectra and its relationship to Melasma (Orobanchaceae). Systematic Botany (in press)

Wolfe, A.D., C.P. Randle, S.L. Datwyler, J.J. Morawetz, N. Arguedas and J. Diaz. 2006. An examination of phylogeny, taxonomic affinities, and biogeography of Penstemon (Plantaginaceae) based on ITS and cpDNA sequence data. American Journal of Botany 93(11):1699-1713.

Sytsma, K.J., J.J. Morawetz, J.C. Pires, M. Nepokroeff, E. Conti, M. Zjhra, J.C. Hall, and M.W. Chase. 2002. Urticalean rosids: circumscription, rosid ancestry, and phylogenetics based on rbcL, trnL-F, and ndhF sequences.  American Journal of Botany 89(9):1531-1546.