The Plant Press

10 Botanical Treasures Exemplify Herbarium

From Plant Press Vol. 16 no. 2

By Gary Krupnick

trea·sure (noun \ˈtre-zhər, ˈtrā-\): 2. something of great worth or value
- Merriam-Webster

United States National Herbarium

Just under 5 million specimens are housed in the U.S. National Herbarium, placing it among the world's largest and most important. The plant collections of the Smithsonian Institution began with the acquisition of specimens collected by the United States Exploring Expedition (1838-1842). These formed the foundation of a national herbarium.

Among the collections are botanical specimens that hold a unique, and rather subjective, value to those who study them. These are some of the treasures of the U.S. National Herbarium. What makes a specimen a treasure? Is it because if its size, age, or rarity? Or perhaps it is due to the circumstances on where, when, or how it was collected.

The staff of the Department of Botany was asked earlier this year to list what they feel are the herbarium treasures—any specimen that is particularly interesting in some respect or aspect. The herbarium has a variety of impressive collections, from the type specimen collection (nearly 110,000 types, including almost 20,000 holotypes) to the 250,000 fern collections, the largest number of these plants in any institution in the Western Hemisphere. Only individual specimens, however, and not collections were considered for this list.

This list of 10 specimens was chosen based on having scientific, taxonomic, aesthetic, representative, historic, and/or cultural value.

The following people contributed to the treasure stories: Barrett Brooks, Carol Kelloff, Nancy Khan, Ingrid Lin, Greg McKee, Rusty Russell, Mary Sangrey, Warren Wagner and several interns.

The 10 Botanical Treasures of the US National Herbarium:

1. Wilkes collection type specimen: holotype of Argyroxiphium macrocephalum (US 59690).
2. Historical collection: Mexican Boundary Survey. Castilleja lanata (US 93751).
3. Lichens as biological monitors: Flavoparmelia baltimorensis (US Barcode 00536547).
4. New Hawaiian species: Hibiscadelphus woodii (US 3313194)
5. Local extirpation: Zizania aquatica (US 2313301)
6. Deepest photosynthetic marine algae: Undescribed species in the order Corallinales (Rhodophyta)
7. New fern species: Hecistopteris kaieteurensis US 33760054).
8. Champion tree: Taxodium distichum (US w42707)
9. World's largest seed: Lodoicea maldivica (US 3609441)
10. New Compositae species: Fulcaldea stuessyi (US 3580444)

Botanical Treasure #9. World's largest seed: Lodoicea maldivica (US 3609441)

From Plant Press Vol. 16 no. 2

The ninth botanical treasure comes from a palm tree that produces the largest seeds in the world.

Botanical Treasure #5. Local extirpation: Zizania aquatica (US 2313301)

From Plant Press Vol. 16 no. 2

Botanical treasure number 5 is a species once found in Washington, DC.

Botanical Treasure #4. New Hawaiian species: Hibiscadelphus woodii (US 3313194)

From Plant Press Vol. 16 no. 2

Botanical treasure number 4 is a rare and possibly extinct species from Hawaii.

Botanical Treasure #1. Wilkes collection type specimen: holotype of Argyroxiphium macrocephalum (US 59690)

From Plant Press Vol. 16 no. 2

The first botanical treasure is the holotype of Argyroxiphium macrocephalum (US 59690).

Planted Evidence Found in Research Greenhouse

From Plant Press Vol. 15 no. 4

By Gary A. Krupnick

Larsenianthus wardianus W.J. Kress, Thet Htun & Bordelon, one of four new species in this genus of gingers (Zingiberaceae) from Asia. (Photo by Leslie Brothers)

Walking along a trail in an evergreen forest in the foothills of the Himalayas in north central Myanmar in 2002, Botany Curator John Kress came across a plant that appeared to be a species of Hitchenia (Zingiberaceae). The plant had no flowers, so he collected a living specimen and brought it back to Washington, DC, for further study. Placed in the hands of the Botany Research Greenhouse manager, Mike Bordelon, it took two years and plenty of care for the plant to flower. During a hot summer day, while hand-watering and soil-checking, Bordelon found at the base of the plant an inflorescence with open flowers. While examining the flowers, Kress decided that this was not Hitchenia, but something new to science instead. What was collected from Myanmar and growing in the greenhouse was a new genus, Larsenianthus. The genus was named after Kai Larsen, a Danish botanist and expert on the flora of Thailand and Zingiberaceae. The species was named L. wardianus, in honor of the famous British plant collector Francis Kingdon-Ward who explored Upper Burma in the first half of the 20^th century.

It is not uncommon for plants to be collected in the field and brought back to the Research Greenhouses to watch them grow. What is uncommon is for a new genus or a new species to be discovered after the collected plant flowers. Currently growing in the greenhouses, for example, are an additional eight different flowering plants of Curcuma (Zingiberaceae) from Southeast Asia that may turn out to be species new to science after further research is completed. Additional Curcuma plants in the greenhouse collection have yet to flower—are they known species or are they new species awaiting description?

Art by Alice Tangerini: Pedicularis furbishiae S.Watson

Pedicularis furbishiae S.Watson by Alice Tangerini

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

The diversity of Pedicularis (Orobanchaceae) in China’s Hengduan Mountains was the focus of Richard Ree’s talk at the 10^th Smithsonian Botanical Symposium. Alice Tangerini illustrated the North American endangered Furbish lousewort (Pedicularis furbishiae) for the cover of Endangered and Threatened Plants of the United States by E.S. Ayensu and R.A. DeFilipps (1978; Smithsonian Institution and World Wildlife Fund, Inc.). This critically imperiled species is endemic to the Saint John River Valley of northern Maine and adjacent New Brunswick, where threats include ice scouring, flooding, gravel extraction, forestry, and invasive species.

Super Tough Seed Coat Keeps Michaux's Sumac on Critically Endangered List

From Plant Press Vol. 15, no. 1

Adapted from Smithsonianscience.org

Photos of Michaux’s sumac by Lytton Musselman

It is one of the rarest shrubs in the southeastern United States but for scientists trying to save it, the critically endangered Michaux’s sumac (Rhus michauxii) is not cooperating. So far botanists have exposed the hard-, thick-coated seeds of this native North American plant to boiling water, dry heat up to 284 degrees Fahrenheit and flames from a propane blowtorch to try to coax them into germination. Nothing has worked. “Complete understanding of the germination requirements of endangered plants is an absolute requirement to effectively manage populations,” Department of Botany research associate Jay Bolin and botanists Marcus Jones and Lytton Musselman write in a recent paper on this plant in Native Plants Journal. So far, however, Michaux’s sumac has not given up its secrets.

Scientists, Researchers, and Government Officials Meet to Protect Pollinators

From Plant Press Vol. 15, no. 1

Co-hosted by the Departments of Botany, Entomology, and Education and Outreach, the 11^th Annual North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) International Conference was held at the National Museum of Natural History on 25-27 October 2011. NAPPC is a decade-long science-based collaboration of over 140 organizations (scientists, researchers, government officials and volunteers) who are working together to protect pollinators, raise awareness of pollinator-related issues, and benefit the health of all threatened species. The conference was an active and engaging experience focusing on the protection of biodiversity, food safety and healthy wild and working land.

Gary Krupnick gave a behind-the-scenes tour of the U.S. National Herbarium to partipants of the 11th Annual NAPPC International Conference

In addition to 12 task-force workshops attended by 120 participants, the conference included behind-the-scenes tours of the museum’s collections, a public screening of The Strange Disappearance of the Bees followed by a Q&A with film director Mark Daniels, a public symposium featuring four keynote speakers (available for archived viewing), and an evening reception featuring the presentation of the NAPPC Pollinator Advocate Award and the NAPPC-NACD Farmer-Rancher Award. The meeting was organized by Gary Krupnick (Head of the Plant Conservation Unit, NMNH) and Nate Erwin (manager of the NMNH Insect Zoo and Butterfly Pavilion).

 

Marquesas Islands Yield 18 New Species

From Plant Press Vol. 14, no. 4

Oxalis simplicifolia growing on cliff, Ua Huka, Marquesas Islands, shows distinctive simple leaves, flowers and fruits. (Photo by Steve Perlman, NTBG)

New findings by Warren Wagner and David H. Lorence (National Tropical Botanical Garden), in collaboration with French IRD and French Polynesian researchers, have brought to light 18 new species and one new variety of ferns and flowering plants from the rugged Marquesas Islands. Since 1988, 62 new species have been described in conjunction with the Vascular Flora of the Marquesas Islands and the Flore de la Polynésie Française projects, representing a 20 percent increase in the known native flora. Ten precursor papers by the authors and collaborators describing the new species were published in an issue of the open access journal PhytoKeys.