#  Charles C. Davis 

Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

Curator of Vascular Plants in the Harvard University Herbaria

 

 

 



   ![Charles Davis, with short brown hair wearing a suit outside in front of a tree](/sites/g/files/omnuum6811/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/oeb/files/charles_davis_crop.jpeg?itok=VJAM6Gmo) 

 



 

 location\_on Harvard University Herbaria22 Divinity AvenueCambridge, MA 02138 

 smartphone [617-496-0515](tel:617-496-0515) 

 email <cdavis@oeb.harvard.edu> 

 laptop\_windows [Davis Lab](https://davislab.oeb.harvard.edu/) 

 laptop\_windows [Harvard University Herbaria](http://huh.harvard.edu/) 

 

 



 

Faculty Support: [Bridget Power](/people/bridget-power)

Our research on plant diversity integrates the disciplines of systematics, paleobiology, evolution, ecology, and molecular biology. One major theme that unites these disciplines is phylogenetic theory, which we apply to reconstruct the history of plant diversity through evolutionary time. Biogeography, biome evolution, plant-insect interactions, and horizontal gene transfer are some of the focal points of our work in this area. Our recent projects have sought to understand the origins of intercontinental disjunctions, the age of modern tropical rain forest, the maintenance of morphological stasis in the tree of life, and mechanisms for horizontal gene transfer. This research combines fieldwork with specimen-based studies in the herbarium and molecular approaches in the lab. Broader interests of our lab also include monographic and floristic study.

**Recent Publications**

de Medeiros, B. A. S., Cai L, Flynn P. J., Yan Y., Duan X., Marinho L. C., Anderson C., **Davis C. C.**. A composite universal DNA signature for the tree of life. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 9, 1426-1440, doi:10.1038/s41559-025-02752-1 (2025).

**Davis, C. C.**, Kehoe, J., Knaap, A. C. &amp; Atkins, C. D. M. Science x art: spotlighting unconventional collaborations. Trends Ecol. Evol. 40, 104-108, doi:10.1016/j.tree.2024.12.004 (2025).

Shrestha, N., Hart, R., Harrison, D., Gourguillon, L. &amp; **Davis, C. C**. The human fingerprint of medicinal plant species diversity. EcoEvoRxiv, doi:<https://doi.org/10.32942/X2T638> (2025).

Peng, S., Ellison, A. M. &amp; **Davis, C. C**. Climate change intensifies plant-pollinator mismatch and increases secondary extinction risk for plants in northern latitudes. EcoEvoRxiv, doi:10.32942/X2VH1X (2025).

**Davis, C. C**. &amp; Choisy, P. Medicinal plants meet modern biodiversity science. Curr. Biol. 34, R158-R173, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2023.12.038 (2024).

**Davis, C. C.** Collections are truly priceless. Science 383, 1035-1035, doi:10.1126/science.ado9732 (2024).

**Davis, C. C.** (2023). The herbarium of the future. Trends in Ecology &amp; Evolution (Amsterdam), 38(5), 412–423. <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2022.11.015>

Cai, L., Arnold, B. J., Xi, Z., Khost, D. E., Patel, N., Hartmann, C. B., Manickam, S., Sasirat, S., Nikolov, L. A., Mathews, S., Sackton, T. B., &amp; **Davis, C. C.** (2021). Deeply Altered Genome Architecture in the Endoparasitic Flowering Plant Sapria himalayana Griff. (Rafflesiaceae). Current Biology, 31(5), 1002–1011.e9. <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.12.045>

**Courses Taught**

OEB 59 Plant and Human Affairs   
OEB 103 Plant Systematics and Evolution  
OEB 363 Plant Diversity and Evolution



 

 

 





 

 

- ## Building
    
     [Herbaria](/building/huh)
- ## Faculty Affiliation
    
     [Harvard University Herbaria](/faculty-affiliation/harvard-university-herbaria)
- ## Lab Group
    
     [Davis Lab Members](/lab-group/davis-laboratory)
- ## People
    
     [Faculty](/people/faculty) [Department Faculty](/people/department-faculty)
- ## Research Areas
    
     [Evolution](/research-areas/evolution) [Ecology](/research-areas/ecology) [Biodiversity &amp; Systematics](/research-areas/biodiversity-and-systematics)
- ## Search by Last Name
    
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