Lytton John Musselman
Mary Payne Hogan Professor of Botany
Education:
Doctor of Philosophy, 1974 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Master of Science, 1968 University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Bachelor of Science, 1965 Beloit College
Teaching Responsibilities:
Biol 221, Field Botany
Biol 322 Ethnobotany
Biol 414/514, Plants of the Bible and the Koran
Biol 419/519, Wetland Plants
Biol 438/538 Dendrology
Biol 498/598 Field Ethnobotany. (This is a new course, part of our growing program in ethnobotany, and will receive a separate catalog number).
Administrative Responsibilities:
Manager, Blackwater Ecologic Preserve
Research Interests:
Plants fascinate me. I am intrigued by their diversity of form, function, and habitat. I especially enjoy studying them where they live--on mountain slopes, tidal rivers, or deserts. This means I spend a lot of time in the field with my three main research interests.
I have devoted the majority of my career to parasitic plants, especially the witchweeds (genus Striga), broomrapes (genus Orobanche), dodders (genus Cuscuta), and the family Hydnoraceae. Witchweeds are mainly African and include some of the most serious pathogens of subsistence crops in the semiarid tropics.Broomrapes are chiefly Mediterranean plants that parasitize a diversity of hosts and are serious problems in crop legumes. Witchweeds and broomrapes are of limited concern in the United States. Dodders are yellow vines resembling parasitic spaghetti. They cause problems on five continents. Species of Hydnoraceae include some of the most bizarre plants on our planet! One species, H. triceps, flowers underground-one of only two species known to have hypogeous flowering. See the "Strangest Plant in the World" and the papers cited below.
In contrast to the desert and semidesert regions where the Hydnoraceae and witchweeds occur, another of my active research efforts involves an aquatic fern-like plant, quillworts, species of the genus Isoetes. Along with Dr. Rebecca Bray and students in our department, I have been investigating quillworts of the southern United States, South Africa, and the Middle East.Studies in tidal freshwater marshes in the Virginia Coastal Plain are revealing a previously unknown diversity in Isoetes taxa. See the ODU Quillwort Page.
Another research endeavor involves the life and botanical activities of pioneer botanists of the Middle East including George Edward Post (1838-1909). He was one of the founders of the medical school of the American University of Beirut and also a professor of botany. While in Syria, he contributed the treatment of plants and animals to the most widely circulated Bible dictionaries. For information on Post and his activities, Click Here. The revision of Post's flora was done by John Edward Dinsmore (1862-1951) and published in 1932 by the American University of Beirut. This flora is available on line at: http://ddc.aub.edu.lb/projects/saab/post-flora/ . For many years it was the most widely used flora in that region yet very little is known about Dinsmore. He moved from Maine to Jerusalem in the 1890's to join a Protestant commune called The American Colony. At present, I am working on a short biography of Dinsmore based on my presentation at the International Congress on Biodiversity in the Middle East (see http://www.senckenberg.de/root/index.php?page_id=3987 )
My work in ethnobotany has resulted in several books, the most recent is Figs, Dates, Laurel, and Myrrh Plants of the Bible and Quran published in 2007 by Timber Press. I have completed work on an exhaustive treatment of Bible plants which will be published by Cambridge University Press.
Recently, I have been involved in the Flora of Iraq project, a collaborative effort with Iraqi institutions, Royal Botanic Garden-Edinburgh, Missouri Botanical Garden, and Old Dominion University. The goal of this effort is to produce a modern flora of Iraq, web based, involving extensive field work to document rapidly eroding biodiversity.
Selected Publications:
Musselman, L. J. (2011). A Dictionary of Bible Plants. Cambridge University Press. In press.
Bolin, J.F, K.U. Tennakoon, E. Maass, and L.J. Musselman. 2010. Host specific germination of the root holoparasite Hydnora triceps (Hydnoraceae). Botany 87(12): 1250-1254
Musselman, L. J. and M. S. Al Zein. 2009. Isoetes duriei in Lebanon. American Fern Journal 99(4): 333-334
Bolin, J. F., E. Maass, and L. J. Musselman. 2009. Pollination Biology of Hydnora Africana Thunb. (Hydnoraceae) in Namibia: Brood-site Mimicry with Insect Imprisonment. International Journal of Plant Science 170: 157-163.
Bolin, J. F., R. D. Bray, M. Keskin, L. J. Musselman. 2008. The Genus Isoetes L. (Isoetaceae, Lycophyta) in South-Western Asia. Turkish Journal of Botany 32: 447-457.
My Websites:
ODU Plant Photo Site: A large compilation of plant pictures and information.
Blackwater Ecologic Preserve: Information on the preserve, now part of the Zuni Pine Barrens state natural area.
My Home Page includes my curriculum vitae and other information as well as links to my courses.
Recent lectures include presentations on George Edward Post, pioneer botanist of the Middle East, lectures on Bible plants, and other material.
Haustorium Parasitic Plants Newsletter: Official Organ of the International Parasitic Seed Plant Research Group.
Contact Information:
Department of Biological Sciences
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, VA 23529-0266
Phone: (757) 683-3597
Cell: (757) 771-6156
Fax: (757) 683-5283
e-mail: lmusselm@odu.edu
