Maria Vorontsova (botanist)
Maria Vorontsova | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1979 (age 45–46) |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge Open University |
| Known for | Poaceae |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany |
| Thesis | (2008) |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Voronts. |
Maria Sergeevna Vorontsova (Russian: Мария Сергеевна Воронцова; born 1979) is a Russian-born botanist, specializing in the taxonomy of Poaceae (grasses). She was responsible for authoring the taxon for Solanum agnewiorum and Solanum umtuma. She is a member of the Accelerated Taxonomy department at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. She is one of the co-authors and maintainers of GrassBase, and is an editor of the journal, Phytotaxa.
In 2010, she identified a new species of Africa spiny aubergine, 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.