Charles Davis is Professor of Biology at Harvard University and Curator of Vascular Plants at the Harvard University Herbaria. He uses collections-oriented and phylogenetic research to investigate plant evolution and ecology in a variety of tropical and temperate clades.

Abstract
Parasitic plants have remained a great mystery in the flowering plant tree of life. Among the most iconic and bizarre are the Rafflesiaceae, which produce the world’s largest flowers. I will illustrate our efforts to untangle evolutionary relationships of this charismatic family, expose the developmental underpinnings of their massive flowers, and reveal the genomic basis of extreme plant parasitism.

Image copyright: Jeremy Holden