The Plant Press

Connecting Content at the US National Herbarium

From Plant Press Vol. 16 no. 2

By Sylvia Orli, guest contributor
IT Manager

The latest buzz term in natural history is “connecting content.” We see the term used officially in certain contexts, such as the California Academy of Science’s collaborative initiative to digitize natural history field notes and connect them to natural history collections and Biodiversity Heritage Library publications. But connecting content can also refer to projects which connect concepts in various content areas. In the US National Herbarium, we are using our KE EMu (Electronic Museum) data system to store different types of content, such as specimen data, photo images, mapping coordinates, and genetic voucher details, which connect to each other and to outside content. To date, we have nearly 1.2 million specimen descriptive records, 300,000 geocoded collection localities, and 185,000 specimen images and live plant images in EMu and available online. With these resources, we can illustrate botanical taxonomic and geographic checklists with both live images and plant specimen images, create locality maps of our collections, and connect our botanical research to our herbarium collections through the use of online tools.

The original 1856 botanical illustration of “Echinocactus (Sclerocactus) whipplei” drawn by Paulus Roetter, above, is housed at the National Museum of Natural History, whereas the type specimen is at the herbarium of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Sometimes the merits of connecting our botanical content into one data storage system are shown to us in surprising ways. For example, this year we will be importing our botanical art images into EMu. Alice Tangerini, our botanical illustrator, discovered that the Department of Botany has most of the original botanical illustrations from the Report of the Expedition of the 35^th Parallel, “Explorations and Surveys of a Railroad Route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean,” published in 1856. The exploration was funded by the U.S. Secretary of War and led by A.W. Whipple of the Corps of Topographical Engineers and accompanied by botanists, George Engelmann and J. M. Bigelow of St. Louis. The expedition was part of an initiative of the U.S. government to find a railroad route from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean.

If the Department of Botany had the original report drawings, shouldn’t we also have the specimens from the expedition? The notion of combing the herbarium for specimens from this expedition to match the drawings seemed daunting, as 70 percent of the herbarium specimens are not inventoried. But Botany has also embarked on the Historical Collections project, an effort to document the botanical explorations in the US National Herbarium and digitize the collections associated with the expeditions as part of the Global Plants Initiative (GPI). By querying the name of the expedition in our EMu system, we were able to retrieve 71 records and specimen images for the Whipple expedition and match many of them to the original illustrations. A score for both the Whipple Expedition illustrations and specimens! We could now digitally connect the illustrations to their voucher specimen records.

Chair With A View: José Cuatrecasas’ Magnum Opus to be Published

From Plant Press Vol. 16 no. 1

By Warren Wagner

José Cuatrecasas

José Cuatrecasas (1903–1996) is widely considered to be one of the great botanical explorers of the South American páramo. Cuatrecasas was born on 19 March 1903, in Camprodón, Spain, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. He studied in Barcelona and Madrid (1924–1931) and later in Berlin (1932–1938). His first publication was in 1924, when he was 21 years old. By 1932 he was an internationally recognized botanist and was invited by the Colombian government to the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of José Celestino Mutis (1732–1808). In 1938 he returned to Colombia and while there was warned about the tragic political situation unfolding in Spain; the growing power of Franco had made it unsafe for him to return home. In the years that followed, he worked in Colombia (1939–1947), in Chicago at the Field Museum (1947–1955), and in Washington here in the Department of Botany (1955–1996).

From his very first trip to South America in 1932, Cuatrecasas began working on the subtribe Espeletiinae of the Compositae family. The Espeletiinae, commonly known as “frailejones,” are not just one of the most fascinating radiations of the Neotropics, but also one of the most challenging plant groups to study because of the complex variation patterns and extensive hybridization present in an evolutionary radiation of young age. More than six decades later, after describing dozens of new species and most of the genera, he was still refining the text, analyses, illustrations, and photographs for his growing and already very large monographic manuscript.

During expeditions to South America (1932–1979) José Cuatrecasas made more than 28,000 plant collections. He compiled an astounding photographic archive with more than 20,000 images, accompanied by detailed descriptions. He published more than 250 research papers, including 3,308 new taxa of plants. His field collection books, journals, and images are housed in the Botany Department and are being digitized and organized for wide access via a web site that has been developed by Mauricio Diazgranados and Vicki Funk, which will launch in 2013.

Chair With A View - A Tribute to Two Directors

From Plant Press Vol. 15 no. 4

By Warren L. Wagner

“Focus on the future and think big” was perhaps the most fundamentally enduring piece of advice given to all museum staff by Dr. Cristián Samper as he wrapped up his nine year tenure as Director of the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) this past July. While these visionary words can certainly serve as a principle for our own departmental level planning initiatives they also reveal the essential nature of Cristián’s gracious influence and generous support within the Department of Botany over the past decade. Under his dedicated and enthusiastic leadership the department recruited two highly productive research scientists, hired two collections support staff, and laid the foundation to re-build the department and position it for long-term stability through a strategic hiring initiative. Through the years matching funds from the Director’s office allowed the department to leverage the Cuatrecasas Fellowship awards by extending additional research grants to deserving students and visiting researchers. Moreover, he unreservedly supported the continuation of the Biological Diversity of the Guiana Shield Program and actively participated in the international conference on the Evolution of Life on Pacific Islands and Reefs held in Hawaii in 2011. We remain very grateful to Cristián for his friendship, exceptional leadership, and scientific expertise in tropical botany.

 Looking ahead, we eagerly await the arrival of Dr. Kirk Johnson on October 19^th as the next Director of NMNH. In his previous capacity at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Kirk provided administrative and scientific oversight at multiple levels. Although Kirk is likely more well-known for his geologic and vertebrate paleontologic research he holds graduate degrees in paleobotany and actively studies the fossil plants of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. We look forward to working with Kirk in the years ahead to advance a broad spectrum of departmental research and collections initiatives. Among the activities of his first week at NMNH will be a tour of the department. Please join me in welcoming him to the museum and the Department of Botany. 

Chair With A View: Getting Better All The Time

From Plant Press Vol. 15, No. 3 from 2012

The 2012 summer interns hosted by the Department of Botany

On a 100 degree Monday afternoon in D.C. this summer, Lauren Scangarella is comfortably ensconced in a fifth floor office inventorying and curating Hawaiian specimens. Emmie Miller and Julia Quigley are in the Botany Library researching historical expeditions. Kelly Friend is peering into a microscope to collect character data on Commelina. And Catherine Cox is leaning over the Zeutschel scanner making digital images of Ray Fosberg’s field books. However, beating the heat is the last thing on their minds.

Every year, hundreds of college undergrads and graduate students apply to participate in activities in the Department of Botany that are aimed at every aspect of our collections, research and outreach programs. Choosing among them may be one of the most difficult things we do. These students are consistently competent, highly intelligent, and motivated. They bring a youthful enthusiasm that is lacking most of the rest of the year. For three months every year, the energy level in the Department spikes to unreal heights. And by the end of the summer, the cumulative product of their work contributes to Botany’s goal of “getting better” vs. “getting by”—in every program. But this doesn’t happen by chance.

A Brave New Digital World (Vol. 15, issue 2)

"Chair with a View: A Brave New Digital World" can be seen in this issue from 2012.

Next Generation Sequencing Comes to NMNH

From Plant Press Vol. 15, no. 1

Liz Zimmer
Research Botanist & Curator

Over the last eighteen months, scientists at the Smithsonian increasingly have envisioned applying methods collectively referred to as “Next Gen Sequencing” to their research on molecular systematic and evolutionary biology. Due to continuing advances in technology fostered by the Human Genome initiative, it is now possible to sequence multiple complex genomes across the tree of life in a week or less and for as little as $1000, once the appropriate equipment is in place. New “genomics” collaborations with outside genome centers and new equipment on site are in the works here at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) and at other Smithsonian bureaus. For example, Jun Wen and I have a joint project started with Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) in China to sequence expressed genes in members of the grape family, Vitaceae, in part to generate rapidly evolving markers applicable to biogeographic studies at and below the species level.

Adding to the excitement about “Next Gen Sequencing” is the promise of an upcoming exhibit with related educational outreach activities. The proposed 2,500-foot exhibition is the product of a partnership between the Museum and the National Institutes of Health’s National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). It will open in Hall 23 on the second floor of our museum in April 2013 to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of sequencing the human genome and the 60^th anniversary of Watson and Crick’s discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. Displays will feature four content areas, looking at genomics from a series of broadening perspectives. Interactives, videos, and other exhibit elements that delve into the history of genomic research, future implications of genomics and comparative genomics will be woven throughout the exhibit. The hope is that, after seeing the exhibit, visitors will have a new understanding of themselves and the unity of all life on the planet.

The core team developing the exhibit and related activities includes exhibit specialists from NMNH as well as research scientists and educators from both the NHGRI and the Museum. Representing researchers at NMNH are myself and Rick Potts, Director of the Human Origins Program in the Department of Anthropology.

Honoring 204 Years of Service (Vol. 14, issue 4)

"Chair with a View: Honoring 204 Years of Service" can be seen in this issue from 2011.

Plant Conservation has 2020 Vision

From Plant Press Vol. 14, no. 3

Editor's Note
By Gary A. Krupnick

In October 2010, in Nagoya, Japan, the 10^th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted a Decision incorporating a consolidated update of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) for the period 2011-2020. Over 180 countries backed the Global Strategy when it was first introduced to the CBD in April 2002. They recognized that up to two thirds of the world's plant species could be threatened by the end of this century unless urgent steps are taken to safeguard tens of thousands of species.

The original strategy set 16 targets in plant conservation to be achieved by 2010. These 16 outcome-oriented targets fall into five categories: understanding and documenting plant diversity, conserving plant diversity, using plant diversity sustainably, promoting education and awareness about plant diversity, and building capacity for the conservation of plant diversity. The new GSPC has revised targets set for 2020.

The ultimate and long-term objective of the Strategy is to halt the current and continuing loss of plant diversity. The mission of the Strategy is a catalyst for working together at all levels – local, national, regional and global – to understand, conserve and use sustainably the world's immense wealth of plant diversity while promoting awareness and building the necessary capacities for its implementation.

To help nations meet the targets, a consortium of international and national plant and conservation agencies have formed the Global Partnership for Plant Conservation. The Partnership brings together international, regional and national organizations in order to contribute to the implementation of the GSPC and provide tools and resources on how each country can plan and act to meet the targets. The National Museum of Natural History is a member of the Partnership.

XVIII International Botanical Congress (Vol. 14, issue 2)

"Chair with a View: XVIII International Botanical Congress" can be seen in this issue from 2011.

The Evolution of Life on Pacific Islands and Reefs: Past, Present, and Future (Vol. 14, issue 1)

"Chair with a View: The Evolution of Life on Pacific Islands and Reefs: Past, Present, and Future" can be seen in this issue.