A new variety sedge, a type of flowering plant that resembles grass and rushes, has been named after EIU Botany Professor Gordon Tucker. The new species is called Fimbristylis tuckeri and was discovered in the Western Ghats, a mountain range in India.
According to Tucker, it’s not uncommon for botanists to name newly discovered species after professors.
“I’ve named discoveries I’ve made after professors I’ve known,” Tucker said. “I’m flattered that this group of researchers would name their discovery after me.”
Tucker was good choice for the name of the new species because of his extensive work on the sedge family. Throughout his over forty year career, Tucker has published dozens of papers on the sedges of North America, Venezuela, and Brazil.
The announcement came in the September issue of the Kew Bulletin, a leading international journal for the botanical community.