International Research Fellow Awards Program: Biosystematics and Ethnobotany of Selected Cucurbitaceae in Yunnan, People's Republic of China

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9600346 Marr The International Research Fellow Awards Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty- four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions. This award will support a twenty-four month postdoctoral research visit by Dr. Kendrick L. Marr (under the sponsorship of Dr. Richard I. Ford) of the University of Michigan to work with Professor Pei Sheng-Ji at Kunming Institute of Botany in Yunnan, China. Funding for this project is being provided by the U.S.-China Program. The purpose of this project is to investigate the ethnobotany, domestication and genetic variability of Momordica charantia L. (bitter-melon) and various other species such as the wax gourd and the loofa. The edible fruit are harvested from the wild, swidden farms, or home gardens, by the Xishuangbanna people. These species belong to the Cucurbitaceae (Squash family), one of the most important plant families in China for fresh vegetables as well as medicinal plants. The luffa and bitter-melon are important because they have a thick wax coating which protects them during the hot summer months and allows them to be stored for up to a year and a half. Documentation of indigenous knowledge of crop plant varieties is important not only to maintain genetic diversity, but because this knowledge encourages rational regional development policies in rural areas. ***