Hugo de Boer

I am a systematic botanist with a strong profile in ethnobotany and a research focus on molecular identification of plants. Plant identification using molecular barcoding has a huge potential for biodiversity, conservation, and monitoring of trade in plant genetic resources for pharmaceutical manufacturing, horticulture and tropical timber trade. Research projects in my group focus on systematics and evolution of plants and development and application of molecular identification. Some examples include DNA barcoding and metabarcoding of wild-harvested orchids in Europe, Asia and Africa used in salep and chikanda; molecular authentication of herbal medicines and food supplements; phylogenetics and systematics of genera in Orchidaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Asteraceae and Zingiberaceae.