TRAITS WORKING GROUP

Coordinators: Leonardo Borges (Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Brazil) & Renske Onstein (Naturalis Biodiversity Centre, Netherlands & German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, iDiv, Germany)

In 2024 the Traits Working Group was not as active as in previous years. Nonetheless, we’ve noticed the efforts towards documentation of the diversity and understanding of the ecology and evolution of legume traits.

Many papers were published on this subject, a number of them in the Advances in Legume Systematics 15, as well as others listed in this volume’s Legume Bibliography. A few interesting examples are Zalko 2025, linking vascular anatomy and development in Swartzia; Dörken et al. (2025), on the morphology and development of Jackonia phyloclades (photosynthetic plane branches); Huang et al. (2025), unraveling the relationship between leaf traits, phylogeny and environment of Chinese legumes; and Monteiro et al. (2025) investigation of evolutionary trade-offs in flowers of the Adesmia clade (Dalbergieae, Papilionoideae).

Two news shared with us this year may be of interest to the wide legume community. First, Prof. Charles Stirton communicated the establishment of a small working group focused on traits of tribes Psoraleeae, Indigofereae and Crotalarieae in the Cape Region of Southern Africa. Their main goal is to understand trait evolution across these tribes using a newly generated phylogenomic tree. We strongly support the formation of such groups, which surely facilitate data collections across the different legume clades. Second, Meghan Forde (Missouri Botanical Garden, USA) is starting a project on legume seed traits. Besides a must needed update to the works by Gunn (1984) and Kirkbride et al. (2003), her research may unlock interesting knowledge on the diversity and evolution of legume seeds.

Looking ahead to 2026, we plan to have an online meeting with all coleagues interested in legume traits. The main goal of the meeting is to share updates on current research projects, understand the aims of different researchers, and, as always, to promote collaboration.

The meeting will happen between May and June. The exact date will be annouced soon to all those interested in attending. If you would like to participate, please fill this form. We hope to meet you there!

References

Dörken, V. M., Ladd, P. G., & Parsons, R. F. (2025). Phylloclades of Jacksonia (Fabaceae)—leaf-like branches as adaptation to seasonally arid environments. Botanical journal of the Linnean Society, 208(2), 212-227. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boae065

Gunn, C.R. 1984. Fruits and seeds of genera in the subfamily Mimosoideae (Fabaceae). US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.

Huang, K., Li, Y., Wang, J., Liang, W., Zhao, K., Long, C., Yu, N., Yang, G., Yang, Y., Yang, W. & Liu, C. (2025). Environmental versus phylogenetic control of leaf anatomical traits in Fabaceae, across a continental scale. American Journal of Botany, 112(11), e70105. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.70105

Kirkbride, J.H., Gunn, C.R., & Weitzman, A.L. 2003. Fruits and seeds of genera in the subfamily Faboideae (Fabaceae) (Vol. 1 & 2). US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.

Monteiro, T. C. E., Falcão, M. J. A., Mansano, V. F., Fortuna-Perez, A. P. (2025). Unravelling floral ontogeny and evolutionary trade-offs in the Adesmia clade (Dalbergieae, Papilionoideae, Fabaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boaf104

Zalko, J. (2025). There will be traces: exploring the atypical floral vasculature of Swartzia panacoco and Swartzia polyphylla (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae). Brazilian Journal of Botany, 48(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-024-01044-5