Plant systematics and floristics are the two major areas of my research. In systematics, my research focuses on the tropical relatives of willows, poplars, and cottonwoods (Salicaceae), trees and shrubs formerly placed in the heterogeneous family Flacourtiaceae. Delimiting and describing species, working out the nomenclature, and mapping distributions make up the classical aspects of these studies, and inferring relationships using phylogenetic techniques with data obtained from morphology, phytochemistry, anatomy, and DNA sequences make up the modern aspects. Although I study relationships throughout the family (and related families), my descriptive and exploratory research has been focused on neotropical members. Present interests include inferring the evolution of the reduced flowers of willows and reconstructing the biogeographical history of the family.

In floristics, my research focuses on the state of Mississippi and the southeastern coastal plain. Mississippi currently lacks a manual, taxonomic keys, and county-level distribution maps of the known species of plants, and only recently has an electronic checklist of the species become available (available here). Along with databasing the existing collections, I am actively collecting within the state to ensure that a complete checklist is prepared and that distribution maps reflect the actual distributions. I am also actively involved in the Flora Mesoamericana project, which covers plants that occur in southern Mexico to Panama.

Publications

Alford, M. H. 2008. Revision of Neosprucea (Salicaceae). Systematic Botany Monographs 85: 1-62. [abstract] [resumen en español]

Alford, M. H. 2006. Gerrardinaceae: A new family of African flowering plants unresolved among Brassicales, Huerteales, Malvales, and Sapindales. Taxon 55(4): 959-964. [abstract]

Alford, M. H. 2006. A new species of Hasseltia from Costa Rica and Panama (Salicaceae). Brittonia 58(3): 277-284. [abstract] [resumen en español]

Alford, M. H. 2006. Nomenclatural innovations in neotropical Salicaceae. Novon 16(3): 293-298. [abstract] [resumo no português]

Alford, M. H. 2006. A taxonomic revision of the Andean genus Pineda (Salicaceae). Kew Bulletin 61: 205-214. [abstract] [resumen en español]

Alford, M. H., C. Grández, & R. Vásquez. 2005 [“2004”]. Una nueva especie de Neosprucea (Salicaceae / Flacourtiaceae) de Perú y Colombia. Arnaldoa 11(2): 37-42. [resumen] [abstract in English]

Alford, M. H. 2003. Claves para los géneros de Flacourtiaceae de Perú y del Nuevo Mundo. Arnaldoa 10(2): 19-38. [resumen] [abstract in English]

Alford, M. H. 2003. Noteworthy collections—Mississippi. Castanea 68(1): 93.

Alford, M. H. 2001. The vascular flora of Amite County, Mississippi. Sida 19(3): 645-699. [abstract] [résumé en français]

Faden, R. B. & M. H. Alford. 2001. A new species of Commelina (Commelinaceae) from Tanzania. Novon 11: 16-21. [abstract]

Bevans, N., M. H. Alford, F. Guánchez, M. Aregullín, & E. Rodriguez. 2001. Preliminary phytochemical study of two Caribbean Malvaceae used in the treatment of conjunctivitis. Journal of Undergraduate Study and Independent Research 2: 20-24. [abstract]

B. P. Stark, M. H. Alford, & S. Tucker. 2000. Allocapnia polemistis Ross and Ricker (Plecoptera: Capniidae), new for Mississippi. Entomological News 111(4): 283-286. [abstract]

Alford, M. H. 1998. New records of Allocapnia (Plecoptera: Capniidae) from Mississippi and Louisiana, with accompanying scanning electron micrographs. Entomological News 109(3): 183-188. [abstract]

Alford, M. H. 1996. Freshwater mussels (Unionidae) in the East and West Forks of the Amite River, Mississippi. Proceedings of the National Conference on Undergraduate Research 10: 1459-1463. [abstract]