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George M. Diggs, Jr., Ph.D. Botanist Plants of Texas, Tropical Plant Systematics, Illustrated Flora of East Texas Project Department of Biology and Center for Environmental Studies  -- Austin College, Sherman, TX 75090  & Research Associate, Botanical Research Institute of Texas  gdiggs@austincollege.edu (903) 813-2246 school year  (817) 332-4441 summer

 

BRIEF INFORMATION:

Ph.D. Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, 1981. Joined the Austin College faculty in 1981. Currently Professor of Biology. Teaches Introductory, Plant, and Evolutionary Biology, and Models of Scientific Thought. During JanTerm offers classes in Plants and Civilization and courses in Tropical Natural History in locations including Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Tanzania. Research interests include the taxonomy and ecology of the flora of Texas and the systematics of the plant genera Comarostaphylisand Arctostaphylos (Ericaceae). Research Associate of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) in Forth Worth.

In 1999 named Texas "Professor of the Year" by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. In 2000, Diggs and co-authors Barney Lipscomb and Robert O'Kennon were awarded the Donovan Stewart Correll Memorial Award for Scientific Writing by the Native Plant Society of Texas, for the book  Shinners & Mahlers Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas. In May 2006, Diggs and co-authors published volume 1 of the Illustrated Flora of East Texas. In October 2006, they again received the Correll Memorial Award for the Illustrated Flora of East Texas.

Current Research Project: Illustrated Flora of East Texas, a 3-volume illustrated taxonomic treatment of the 3,402 species of vascular plants occuring in the East Texas Region. Volume 1 of this work (Introduction, Ferns, Gymnosperms, and Monocots) is now available, and Vols. 2 and 3 (Dicots) will be available in the future. This is the second publication of the Illustrated Texas Floras Project, a collaborative effort between the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) in Fort Worth and the Austin College Center for Environmental Studies. It is authored by George Diggs of Austin College, Barney Lipscomb and Robert O'Kennon of BRIT, and Monique Reed of College Station. The first publication of the project was Shinners & Mahler's Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas.

Other Research Interests: Systematics of Tropical Ericaceae (Blueberry Family). Reference: Diggs, Jr., G.M. 1995. Taxonomic Treatments of Arctostaphylos and Comarostaphylis, in Luteyn, J.L., Ericaceae, Part II, The Superior-Ovaried Genera. Flora Neotropica 66: 133-193.

Selected Recent Publications:

Diggs, G.M., Jr. and B.L. Lipscomb. 2008. Invaders of the plant kind in East Texas. Proceedings of Fourth Lone Star Regional Native Plant Conference. Pages 14--24.

Diggs, G.M., Jr., B.L. Lipscomb, M.D. Reed, and R. J. O'Kennon. 2006. Illustrated flora of East Texas, Vol. 1 (Introduction, Ferns, Gymnosperms, Monocots). Sida, Bot. Misc. 26. This volume includes a 270 page general introduction to East Texas and includes illustrated taxonomic treatments of all the ferns, gymnosperms, and monocots known to occur in East Texas.

Diggs, G.M., Jr. and B.L. Lipscomb. 2005. Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides (Apiaceae) new for Texas and notes on introduced species. Sida 21:2449–2456.

Diggs, G.M., Jr. and P.C. Schulze. 2003. Soil-dependent fire frequency: A new hypothesis for the distribution of prairies and oak woodlands/savannas in North Central and East Texas. Sida 20:1139–1153.

Diggs, G.M., Jr. and R.J. O’Kennon. 2003. A rockhouse habitat in North Central Texas. Sida 20:1327–1333.

Diggs, G.M., Jr. and B.L. Lipscomb. 2002. What is the writer of a flora to do: Evolutionary taxonomy or phylogenetic systematics. Sida 20:647–674.

Diggs, G.M., Jr. 2002. East Texas as a unique habitat. Native Plant Society of Texas, 2002 Symposium Proceedings, Pp. 53–66.

Diggs, G. M., Jr., B. L. Lipscomb, and R. J. O'Kennon. 1999. Shinners and Mahler's Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas. Sida, Bot. Misc. 16. This work is an illustrated systematic treatment of the 2,223 species of vascular plants known to occur in the North Central Texas region. There are over 2,300 line drawings and 174 color photographs.

Lipscomb, B. L. and G. M. Diggs, Jr. 1998. The use of animal-dispersed seeds and fruits in forensic botany. Sida 18:335-346.

Kosnik, M.A., G.M. Diggs, Jr., P.A. Redshaw, and B.L. Lipscomb. 1996. Natural hybridization among three sympatric Baptisia (Fabaceae) species in North Central Texas. Sida 17:479--500.

All text and images on this page copyright 2008, George M. Diggs, Jr.
For more information or comments please contact gdiggs@austincollege.edu