Dr. Charlotte M. Taylor is a botanist and professor specialising in taxonomy and conservation. She works with the large plant family Rubiaceae, particularly found in the American tropics and in the tribes Palicoureeae and Psychotrieae. This plant family is an economically important group, as it includes plant species used to make coffee and quinine. Taylor also conducts work related to the floristics of Rubiaceae and morphological radiations of the group. Taylor has collected plant samples from many countries across the globe, including Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, and the United States of America, and has named many new species known to science from these regions. As of 2023, Taylor has authored 500 land plant species' names, the third-highest number of such names authored by any female scientist. She has 172 publications on Research Gate alone.
Education Taylor holds a B.S. from the University of Michigan (1978), and an M.S. (1982) and Ph.D. (1987) from Duke University.
Career In addition to the work mentioned below, Taylor has identified many herbarium specimens at the Missouri Botanical Garden and at other institutions throughout the world.
Floras Taylor has spent much of her career authoring floras (full treatments and catalogues), and she has contributed to several large regional floras, including: Flora Mesoamericana (12 genera and ca. 850 species) Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana (86 genera and 524 species) Flora of China (97 genera and ca. 700 species) Catalogue Rubiaceae treatments (see citations below) Ecuador (ca. 110 genera and 530 species) Peru (ca. 110 genera and 600 species) Bolivia (ca. 100 genera, 430 species)
Overview of taxonomic work Taylor is an active and prolific scholar. By 2015, she had named 278 species. Within the Rubiaceae group, her main focuses are the species in the neotropical genera Palicourea, Notopleura, Carapichea, Faramea, and Coussarea, the species of the pantropical genus Psychotria, and the species of the Madagascar genus Gaertnera. In addition to the numerous plants that she has named, Taylor has also conducted taxonomic work and transferred species names between different genera. For this reason, she is linked as an author to 1,091 plant species name citation records through the International Plant Names Index (IPNI). A full list of all 1,091 records can be viewed here.
Rubiaceae projects In addition to her taxonomic work with this family, Taylor maintains two websites related Rubiaceae to the Missouri Botanical Garden website. The Selected Rubiaceae Tribes and Genera website includes taxonomic parts of previously published works related to the family. The content of the website is also incorporated in Tropicos, the online database of taxonomic information about plants maintained and populated by the Missouri Botanical Garden and its scientific staff.
Personal life Taylor attributes her interest in plants to her parents, who were "serious bird watchers." However, she opted to study plants instead of birds because it afforded her more freedom to keep to her own research schedule.
Taylor is married to Roy E. Gereau, an Assistant Curator at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Gereau's research interests include plant nomenclature, floristics and phytogeography of eastern Africa, plant conservation assessment in eastern Africa and in Africa generally, classification and identification of East African flowering plant genera, and taxonomy and systematics of African Sapindaceae. Taylor and Gereau have published together on botanical topics.
New species described As of 2015, Taylor had named 278 plant taxa new to science and authored a total of 771 names. This number has increased to 500 by 2023. She has also assigned new names to existing taxa and created new name combinations. The first species that Taylor described was Palicourea spathacea. A combination is a previously published name that is transferred to another name, for example a species transferred to a different genus, or a variety raised to a species, or a subgenus changed to a section, but it keeps the same name. A full list of Taylor's authored names can be viewed through the Tropicos database.
Alibertia premontana C.M. Taylor Alseis costaricensis C.M. Taylor Amphidasya amethystina J.L. Clark & C.M. Taylor Amphidasya brevidentata C.M. Taylor Amphidasya elegans C.M. Taylor Amphidasya panamensis C.M. Taylor Appunia megalantha C.M. Taylor & Lorence Bouvardia costaricensis C.M. Taylor Carapichea verrucosa C.M. Taylor Chiococca caputensis Lorence & C.M. Taylor Chomelia chiquitensis C.M. Taylor Chomelia costaricensis C.M. Taylor Chomelia rubra Lorence & C.M. Taylor Chomelia torrana C.M. Taylor Chomelia venulosa W.C. Burger & C.M. Taylor Coussarea acrensis C.M. Taylor Coussarea amplifolia C.M. Taylor Coussarea antioquiana C.M. Taylor Coussarea boliviensis C.M. Taylor Coussarea brevipedunculata C.M. Taylor Coussarea camposiana C.M. Taylor Coussarea cephaeloides C.M. Taylor Coussarea cephaëloides C.M. Taylor Coussarea dulcifolia D.A. Neill, Cerón & C.M. Taylor Coussarea duplex C.M. Taylor Coussarea ecuadorensis C.M. Taylor Coussarea grandifructa C.M. Taylor Coussarea izabalensis C.M. Taylor Coussarea linearis C.M. Taylor Coussarea loftonii subsp. calimana C.M. Taylor Coussarea loftonii subsp. occidentalis C.M. Taylor Coussarea maranonensis C.M. Taylor Coussarea mexiae C.M. Taylor Coussarea nigrescens C.M. Taylor & Hammel Coussarea pilosula C.M. Taylor Coussarea pilosula C.M. Taylor Coussarea pseudopilosula C.M. Taylor Coussarea psychotrioides C.M. Taylor & Hammel Coussarea resinosa C.M. Taylor Coussarea sancti-ciprianii C.M. Taylor Coussarea spiciformis C.M. Taylor Coussarea spiciformis C.M. Taylor Coussarea vasqueziana C.M. Taylor Coutarea coutaportloides C.M. Taylor Coutarea fuchsioides C.M. Taylor Danais antilahimenae C.M. Taylor Danais disticha C.M. Taylor Danais laciniata C.M. Taylor Danais masoalana C.M. Taylor Danais rakotovaoi C.M. Taylor Danais randrianaivoi C.M. Taylor Duroia laevis Devia, C.H. Perss. & C.M. Taylor Duroia sancti-ciprianii Devia, C.H. Perss. & C.M. Taylor Elaeagia chiriquina C.M. Taylor Elaeagia glossostipula C.M. Taylor Faramea accumulans C.M. Taylor Faramea ampla C.M. Taylor Faramea angusta C.M. Taylor Faramea areolata C.M. Taylor Faramea calimana C.M. Taylor Faramea calyptrata C.M. Taylor Faramea coffeoides C.M. Taylor Faramea colombiana C.M. Taylor Faramea condorica C.M. Taylor Faramea correae C.M. Taylor Faramea cupheoides C.M. Taylor Faramea frondosa C.M. Taylor Faramea guaramacalensis C.M. Taylor Faramea longistipula C.M. Taylor Faramea melicoccoides C.M. Taylor Faramea monsalveae C.M. Taylor Faramea ortiziana C.M. Taylor Faramea permagnifolia Dwyer ex C.M. Taylor Faramea robusta C.M. Taylor Faramea sanblasensis C.M. Taylor Faramea schunkeana C.M. Taylor Faramea uncinata C.M. Taylor Faramea vasquezii C.M. Taylor Faramea verticillata C.M. Taylor Gaertnera arenarioides C.M. Taylor Gaertnera breviflora C.M. Taylor Gaertnera hirsuta C.M. Taylor Gaertnera laevis C.M. Taylor Gaertnera littoralis C.M. Taylor Gaertnera malcomberiana C.M. Taylor Gaertnera masoalana C.M. Taylor Gaertnera nitida C.M. Taylor Gaertnera rakotovaoana C.M. Taylor Gaertnera razakamalalana C.M. Taylor Gaertnera robusta C.M. Taylor Gaertnera rubra C.M. Taylor Gaertnera sclerophylla C.M. Taylor Gaertnera velutina C.M. Taylor Gaertnera vernicosa C.M. Taylor Gaertnera xerophila C.M. Taylor Gonzalagunia mildrediae D.R. Simpson ex C.M. Taylor Gonzalagunia osaensis C.M. Taylor Gonzalagunia villosa D.R. Simpson ex C.M. Taylor Guettarda subcapitata C.M. Taylor Hillia grayumii C.M. Taylor Hillia oaxacana C.M. Taylor Hillia pumila C.M. Taylor Hillia rivalis C.M. Taylor Hillia subg. Andinae C.M. Taylor Hillia subg. Illustres C.M. Taylor Hillia subg. Tetrandrae C.M. Taylor Hippotis stellata C.M. Taylor & Rova Hoffmannia barbillana C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia boliviana C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia boraginoides Dwyer ex W.C. Burger & C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia coriacea C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia costaricensis C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia formicaria C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia hammelii C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia limonensis C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia micrantha C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia pacifica C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia pseudovesiculifera C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia rivalis C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia subcapitata C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia tilaranensis C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia turrialbana C.M. Taylor Hoffmannia veraguensis C.M. Taylor Ixora knappiae C.M. Taylor Joosia antioquiana C.M. Taylor Joosia capitata C.M. Taylor Joosia confusa C.M. Taylor Joosia frondosa C.M. Taylor Ladenbergia franciscana C.M. Taylor Malanea campylocarpa C.M. Taylor Malanea cylindrica C.M. Taylor Malanea ecuadorensis C.M. Taylor Manettia longipedicellata C.M. Taylor Margaritopsis inconspicua C.M. Taylor Monnina ferreyrae C.M. Taylor Monnina parasylvatica C.M. Taylor Neoblakea ecuadorensis C.M. Taylor Notopleura acuta C.M. Taylor Notopleura aequatoriana C.M. Taylor Notopleura albens C.M. Taylor Notopleura amicitiae C.M. Taylor Notopleura bahiensis C.M. Taylor Notopleura biloba C.M. Taylor Notopleura bryophila C.M. Taylor Notopleura callejasii C.M. Taylor Notopleura capitata C.M. Taylor Notopleura cincinalis C.M. Taylor Notopleura cocleensis C.M. Taylor Notopleura congesta C.M. Taylor Notopleura corniculata C.M. Taylor Notopleura corymbosa C.M. Taylor Notopleura costaricensis C.M. Taylor Notopleura cundinamarcana C.M. Taylor Notopleura elegans C.M. Taylor Notopleura episcandens C.M. Taylor & Lorence Notopleura hondurensis C.M. Taylor Notopleura hurtadoi C.M. Taylor Notopleura hypolaevis C.M. Taylor Notopleura iridescens C.M. Taylor Notopleura lanosa C.M. Taylor Notopleura longiflora C.M. Taylor Notopleura longipedunculata C.M. Taylor Notopleura montana C.M. Taylor Notopleura multinervia C.M. Taylor Notopleura nepokroeffiae C.M. Taylor Notopleura obtusa C.M. Taylor Notopleura pacorana C.M. Taylor Notopleura parasiggersiana C.M. Taylor Notopleura parvifolia C.M. Taylor Notopleura penduliflora C.M. Taylor Notopleura pilosula C.M. Taylor Notopleura pyramidata C.M. Taylor Notopleura recondita Hammel & C.M. Taylor Notopleura sanblasensis C.M. Taylor Notopleura scarlatina C.M. Taylor Notopleura spiciformis C.M. Taylor Notopleura steyermarkiana C.M. Taylor Notopleura submarginalis C.M. Taylor Notopleura torrana C.M. Taylor Notopleura triaxillaris C.M. Taylor Notopleura tubulistipula C.M. Taylor Notopleura vargasiana C.M. Taylor Notopleura zarucchiana C.M. Taylor Paederia taolagnarensis Razafim. & C.M. Taylor Palicourea albaniana C.M. Taylor Palicourea albocaerulea C.M. Taylor Palicourea anderssoniana C.M. Taylor Palicourea andina C.M. Taylor Palicourea andina subsp. panamensis C.M. Taylor Palicourea anianguana C.M. Taylor Palicourea asplundii C.M. Taylor Palicourea australis C.M. Taylor Palicourea awa C.M. Taylor Palicourea azulina C.M. Taylor Palicourea azurea C.M. Taylor Palicourea bellula C.M. Taylor Palicourea betancuriana C.M. Taylor Palicourea bullulata C.M. Taylor Palicourea cajamarcana C.M. Taylor Palicourea calophlebioides C.M. Taylor Palicourea canarina C.M. Taylor Palicourea candida C.M. Taylor Palicourea chignul C.M. Taylor Palicourea clerodendroides C.M. Taylor Palicourea cogolloi C.M. Taylor Palicourea condorica C.M. Taylor Palicourea corniculata C.M. Taylor Palicourea cornigera C.M. Taylor Palicourea crystallina C.M. Taylor Palicourea cuspidata subsp. occidentalis C.M. Taylor Palicourea cutucuana C.M. Taylor Palicourea deviae C.M. Taylor Palicourea diminuta C.M. Taylor Palicourea dodsoniana C.M. Taylor Palicourea eburnea C.M. Taylor Palicourea foreroi C.M. Taylor Palicourea frontinoensis Cogollo & C.M. Taylor Palicourea garcioides C.M. Taylor Palicourea gelsemiiflora C.M. Taylor Palicourea gemmiflora C.M. Taylor Palicourea gentryi C.M. Taylor Palicourea glandulifera C.M. Taylor Palicourea gomezii C.M. Taylor Palicourea grandiceps C.M. Taylor Palicourea hammelii C.M. Taylor Palicourea harlingii C.M. Taylor Palicourea hollinensis C.M. Taylor