Florida Museum of Natural History
Majure Lab
Led by Lucas C. Majure · Florida Museum of Natural History (Herbarium)
What we study
The Majure Lab studies plant biodiversity across the Americas, especially in tropical drylands and mountain forests, focusing on cacti (including prickly pears), the Melastomataceae family and the Caribbean flora. It uses DNA-based family trees, plant structure and chromosome studies, intensive fieldwork and herbarium specimens.
What working here is like
- Fieldwork
- Wet lab
- Plants
- Projects
- 4
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Global Melastomataceae Phylogeny
Builds a global family tree for Melastomataceae, a large flowering plant family, using DNA data to show how its many species are related.
Evolution of the Cactaceae across the Andes Mountains
Studies how cacti diversified across the Andes Mountains, using DNA data and plant collections to see how the mountains shaped where and when new species arose.
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Prickly pear evolution
Studies how prickly pear cacti evolved, using DNA and field-collected plants to untangle relationships among species, including those formed by hybridization.
Caribbean Biogeography and Biodiversity Studies
Studies the plants and biodiversity of the Caribbean islands, tracing how plant groups arrived, diversified and are distributed, using field collections and DNA evidence.
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Phylogenomics of Melastomataceae: rooting out discordance across organellar and nuclear genomes
2026 · Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
Builds a genetic tree for Melastomataceae using many plant DNA samples.
- Taxonomic revision and phylogenetic insights of Peperomia subgenus Multipalmata (Piperaceae) from Central America
2026 · Botany Letters
Revises taxonomy of Peperomia subgenus Multipalmata in Central America.
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- Evidence of introgression amid phylogenetic conflict in Brachyotum , a plant radiation from the Tropical Andes
2026 · American Journal of Botany
Finds conflicting genetic data in Brachyotum, a plant group from the Andes.
- Life on the rocks: Notes on the natural history of Lithobium cordatum (Melastomataceae, Myrtales)1
2026 · The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society
Documents traits of Lithobium cordatum, a tiny plant growing on rocks in Brazil.
- Five New Bullate-leaved Species of Peperomia (Piperaceae) from Colombia
2026 · Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden
Describes five new species of Peperomia with bullate leaves from Colombia.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Lucas C. Majure hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.