Dr. John Dowe has completed an important work, Australian Palms: Biogeography, Ecology and Systematics. The book features a detailed treatment of each palm species in Australia, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk island, and Christmas Island. In all, 60 species are covered, in 21 genera. The book is available through CSIRO Publishing (Australia). Montgomery is hosting the supplemental data for this work on the MBC website.
The new book represents the results of an extended period of detailed study of palms. Quoting the preface: “The author has studied and collected all mainland palm species in their natural habitats, and has studied those from off-shore territories as cultivated specimens in Australian botanic gardens such as The Palmetum in Townsville, Flecker Botanic Gardens in Cairns and Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens in Brisbane, and in Florida at the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens and the Montgomery Botanical Center. This work is the culmination of over 20 years of research into Australian palms.”
John’s work has added many new discoveries to the palm family. Nineteen new species were described by John during the course of this work. In addition, John recently authored a definitive treatment of the genus Livistona.
Dr. Dowe has been involved in the work of Montgomery Botanical Center for almost two decades. Beginning with MBC’s collections recovery work after Hurricane Andrew, John contributed to many of MBC’s living palm collections. In 2004, the MBC Board of Directors appointed Dr. Dowe as a Montgomery Botanical Research Fellow. With the generous support of the Kelly Foundation, John has travelled to MBC every year since, and contributed a great deal to Montgomery’s research, offered lectures on his work, and has also co-authored studies with the MBC team.