Research Interests
- Floristics of Southwestern US, particularly Grand Canyon region
- Cactaceae and Agavaceae systematic
- Ethnobotany of Sonoran Desert
- Invasive species
- Systematics of rare Southwestern plants
Personal Statement:
I have lived in and loved the Sonoran Desert for over 40 years. My areas of interest include southwest US and northern Mexico floristics, rare and endemic plants, and taxonomy and systematics of Agave and Yucca, including the study of pre-Columbian agave cultivars. Other current projects include the study and documentation of the flora of the Grand Canyon region, including the evolution and distribution of certain plant groups as affected by the unique factors characteristic of this area. I am also studying and documenting southwest US cacti, coordinator for the Cactus family treatment for Intermountain Flora and co-coordinator for the Cactus Family of Arizona project by Garden research staff and research associates. I am an avid plant collector who strives towards making high quality specimens in difficult groups like Agavaceae and Cactaceae.
Selected publications
Food Plants of the Sonoran Desert (University of Arizona Press), winner of the 2002 Klinger Book Award, presented by the Society for Economic Botany. Text and Illustrations by W. Hodgson.
Schenk, J. J., W. Hodgson and L. Hufford. A new species of Mentzelia section Bartonia (Loasaceae) from the Grand Canyon, Arizona. Brittonia (in press).
Parker, K., J. Hamrick, W. Hodgson, D. Trapnell, A. Parker and R. Kuzoff. 2007. Genetic consequences of Pre-Columbian cultivation for Agave murpheyi and A. delamateri (Agavaceae). American Journal of Botany. 94(9): 1479-1490.
Reveal, J. and W. Hodgson. 2002. Agave. Agavaceae. In: Flora of North America North of Mexico. Flora of North America Editorial Committee, Oxford University Press, Vol. 26, pp. 442-461.
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