Professor Howard Griffiths of the Department of Plant Sciences studies succulent plants and Crassulacean Acid Metabolism.
He models the compromise between water use and carbon gain to interpret evolutionary origins and biomass production potential, using Agave, Kalanchoe and Mesembryanthemum plants maintained at the Botanic Garden.
He also studies the C4 photosynthetic turbocharger, exploring how leaf vein anatomy modifications and metabolic partitioning provided the platform which allowed high-light demanding but highly productive grasses to predominate in savanna regions and to become staple crops. Miscanthus plants are maintained at the Botanic Garden for this project.
