I work as a researcher and collection manager at the Hortus botanicus Leiden. I am fascinated with the evolution of different groups of plants and how adaptations to local conditions has lead to differences in traits such as floral morphology.

More information about Roderick Bouman

My research focuses on the evolution of plants using different types of collections. By looking at special structures such as flowers or the trapping mechanisms of carnivorous plants, he hopes to understand how plants evolved.

The Hortus maintains a living research collection of more than 15,000 plants. As well as using this collection to study plant evolution, I also ensure that all the plants in the Hortus are recorded in a database. Due to the age of the Botanic Garden, there is a considerable amount of archive material that I manage. By organising the database and archive, researchers can continue to gain insight into the changes botanical gardens over the past 400 years.

In collaboration between Naturalis Biodiversity Centre and the Hortus botanicus Leiden, I did my PhD project on the plant genus 'Phyllanthus', a huge group of plants with more than 800 species, which presented a number of taxonomic problems. Through an extensive phylogenetic study, we investigated the evolution of this group of plants and developed a new classification. At the same time, our research has shed light on how the different traits in Phyllanthus have evolved and how the group has spread, as plants in this group are now found throughout the tropics and subtropics.  

In different projects, I look at the evolution of plants using a combination of living collections and herbarium material.