The Reinvention of Compositae: Vicki Funk’s Legacy in the Systematics of the Largest Plant Family on Earth

Abstract

Vicki Ann Funk was an American botanist and a leading figure on the taxonomy, systematics, and biogeography of Compositae in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Of her many contributions to these fields, Vicki’s ardent defense of the value and necessity of strong collections-based research for plant systematics was highly prominent. We will delve into Vicki’s contribution to Compositae systematics and explore how she was often at the forefront of research in the areas of plant phylogenetics, systematics, and collections. She pioneered the use of cladistics in plant systematics in the late 1970s and the early 1980s and helped develop and put in practice novel methods for understanding plant evolutionary relationships. During the next-generation sequencing revolution of the 2010s, she was again at the leading edge developing new tools for studying the world’s largest flowering plant family. Throughout this, she continuously made use of the latest methods and approaches to study evolutionary diversification, biogeography, and classification in Compositae. She spared no effort in supporting small herbaria across the globe, constantly aware (and reminding those around her) of the paramount importance of collections at all levels of plant research. She envisioned producing a global database to track nomenclature in Compositae and saw this massive effort from its origin to its implementation by encouraging contributions from researchers across the globe. In all her work, there was a genuine desire to connect people in pursuit of deeper understanding of the Compositae.