Montgomery Botanical Research Fellow, Dr. John Dowe of the Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research, made significant progress in researching palm hurricane and cyclone damage during his visit to Montgomery Botanical Center (MBC). Dr. Dowe examined MBC’s living collection of Australian palms, assessing the damage from south Florida’s 2005 hurricanes. Relevant databases were prepared and adapted to allow comparative examination across years and different strength hurricanes.
In public lectures held in MBC’s Nixon Smiley Meeting Room, Dr. Dowe covered the following:
- On August 24, 2006, he presented The Initial Impact of Cyclone Larry on Populations of the Alexandra Palm(Archontophoenix alexandrae) in North Queensland, Australia. Category 5 tropical cyclone Larry crossed the Queensland coastline on March 20, 2006, causing massive destruction. It is estimated that falling and flying debris inflicted the most damage to A. alexandrae A. alexandrae are most likely to survive the initial impact of high wind events. populations rather than direct wind-force impact; the smallest and largest plants in populations of
- On September 1, 2006, Dr. Dowe presented The Macarthur Palm, Ptychosperma macarthurii: A Case Study of Its Discovery, Taxonomy, and Introduction to Horticulture. Ptychosperma macarthurii is one of the world’s most popular ornamental palms, adaptable to a broad range of climatic and cultural conditions.
While at Montgomery Botanical Center, MBC executive director Dr. Patrick Griffith, MBC palm biologist Dr. Larry Noblick, and Dr. Dowe continued their collaboration on MBC’s study outlining variation in cyclone tolerance in palms. Broadening the Montgomery Fellows program, Dr. Dowe also met with Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden staff to collect herbarium materials for DNA examination and access Fairchild’s herbarium for anatomical research.
The Montgomery Botanical Fellows Program encourages scientific and educational study of MBC’s palm and cycad collections, linking distinguished scientists and their work with other scientists, educators, our next generation of scientists — the students, and the community. The Montgomery Botanical Fellows Program is supported by generous funding from the Kelly Foundation.