Friends of the Arboretum Lecture

This talk follows Eileen and Mark’s journey to China in search of wild populations of Aucuba chinensis. Eileen will share the experience of collecting wild Aucuba material across its native range, along with highlights from the expedition and the process of documenting populations for her research. These collections provide the genetic material needed to investigate whether Aucuba omeiensis represents a distinct species from A. chinensis. Back in the lab, Eileen will outline how DNA extractions and sequencing will be used to investigate genetic diversity and relationships within the group, and determine whether a distinct species of Aucuba occurs on Mt. Omei.