what is a geophyte?Geophytes are terrestrial plants with their growing points located on below ground structures such as a bulb, corm, tuber and/or rhizome. Some examples that you might be familiar with include potato, onion, turmeric and taro. Geophytes, many of which are economically, ecologically and evolutionarily important, are vastly understudied, which limits our understanding of how plants respond to various environmental pressures and the ensuing consequences of those responses. Thus, the need for a working group focused on these lineages is warranted.
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Who is goophy?
GOOPhy (goof-e) is a diverse group of people devoted to understanding the morphological, evolutionary, ecological and genomic complexity of geophytes. Our interests are broad and include horticulture, genetics, systematics, morphology and anatomy. The breadth of expertise found among our members will promote the integration of knowledge at different levels of organization from the individual cell to whole ecosystems.
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Where are we going?Through a growing collaborative network of people not afraid to get their hands dirty (literally), the work of GOOPhy will enhance our understanding of how form relates to function, abiotic and biotic drivers of morphological innovation and the genomic consequences of these changes, plus so much more! Those with synergistic interests and a desire to work with fellow geophytophiles should feel free to Contact us.
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