Maria Sergeevna Vorontsova (russian: Мария Сергеевна Воронцова; born 1979) is a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n-born botanist, specializing in the

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

of Poaceae (grasses). She was responsible for authoring the

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

for

Solanum agnewiorum ''Solanum agnewiorum'' is a species of ''Solanum''. The species is andromonoecious. It is native to Kenya and occurs in 4 locations. ''Solanum agnewiorum'' is currently listed as endangered by the IUCN The International Union for Conservatio ...

and

Solanum umtuma ''Solanum umtuma'' is a species of plant in the Solanaceae family. The species is related to tomatoes. The species is andromonoecous. It can be found in South Africa in areas like Cape Province and KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also re ...

. She is a member of the Accelerated Taxonomy department at

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

. She is one of the co-authors and maintainers of

GrassBase GrassBase (or GrassBase – The Online World Grass Flora) is a web-based database of grasses, continually maintained and updated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. As of 2015, GrassBase was one of the largest (along with GrassWorld) structured ...

, and is an editor of the journal, ''

Phytotaxa ''Phytotaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal for rapid publication on any aspect of systematic botany. It publishes on a wide range of subjects, but focuses on new species, monographs, floras, revisions, reviews, and typification issues ...

''. In 2010, she identified a new species of Africa spiny

aubergine Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mo ...

, '' Solanum ruvu'', which had been collected only once in the wild ten years earlier. A subsequent expedition failed to locate it, and it is now believed to be extinct due to

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

Publications

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References

External links

•
Biography on Kew Science
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vorontsova, Maria S. 1979 births 21st-century Russian botanists 21st-century Russian women scientists Living people Russian women botanists Botanists active in Kew Gardens