Biology Professor Morris Contributes to Discovery of New Plant Species

New Plant Species: Furman University’s Ashley Morris, a professor of biology, collaborated with Jon Evans, a biology professor at Sewanee University, to identify a new plant species. Thought to be lost since 1795 and “hiding in plain sight,” Phacelia sewaneensis (its proposed name), bears purple and white blooms with jagged leaves – much like another known species with purple and blue blooms.

Evans turned to Furman’s Morris to conduct genetic analysis on the two plants that exhibited different growing patterns, among other characteristics. She extracted DNA from the samples and found that the two are reproductively incompatible species, confirming their genetic uniqueness. Learn more in The Sewanee Purple. Newswise/SP