The modern science of ambrosiology: in honour of Herbert and Irene Baker P. G. Kevan International Network for Expertise in Sustainable Pollination, Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada Received November 12, 2002; accepted January 17, 2003 Published online: June 2, 2003 Ó Springer-Verlag 2003 Abstract. Herbert and Irene Baker were a team. Their contributions to pollination biology have been many, but it is in the area of nectar its chemical composition, functional and ecological significance, and value in taxonomy and evolution that we honour them here. Although nectar can be de- scribed as simply a sugary secretion from plants, we know that it is more than that. Herbert and Irene explored the depths of nectar chemistry, analysing sugar components, non-sugar constituents that can benefit nectarivorous animals (amino acids, lipids, antioxidants, proteins, minerals, vitamins) or that may be deleterious (alkaloids, phenolics, other toxins, salts, and perhaps some other amino acids). They related the ratios of disaccharide (sucrose) to monosaccharides (glucose and fructose), and the amounts of amino acids, and other constituents in nectar to pollinator types and theorized on the reasons for the trends they observed. They noted tight relationships between nectar constituents and plant systematics, and additive effects of some constituents after hybridization. In all their nectar studies made over a quarter century, evolution and ecology were forefront. This scholarly couple made an indelible mark. Over nearly three decades, Herbert and Irene Baker provided the world with many novel ideas about nectar, and its functional, evolu- tionary, and taxonomic significance. I am honoured to write this short vignette by which tribute can be paid to the contributions they made to the scientific study of nectar, or ambrosiology. Herbert died on 2 July, 2001 at the age of 81 having lost his team mate in pollination biology, Irene (nee´ Williams, 1918) on 6 November, 1989. Despite that crushing blow, and his long battle with Parkinson’s disease, Herbert continued to contribute through cor- respondence, communications, and publica- tions throughout his retirement years. Herbert received his Ph.D. from the Uni- versity of London in 1945. There he studied hybridization in Melandrium (Caryophylla- ceae) and continued studies on its floral biology and the effects of the smut, Ustilago violaceae, on sexual expression in the flowers. Irene studied zoology and mathematics for her B. Sc. from University of Wales, Cardiff. She used her expertise to great effect as a teacher in high school, technical college, and nursing college levels as well as in their joint investigations on nectar. They married in 1945. Herbert’s aca- demic career took him to the University of Leeds (1945–1954) and to the University Col- lege of Ghana (1954–1957). In Ghana, Irene researched tsetse fly and sleeping sickness. Plant Syst. Evol. 238: 1–5 (2003) DOI 10.1007/s00606-003-0271-z