From Plant Press, Vol. 19, No. 3, July 2016.
Michael and Sharon Rosenthal stopped by the Department of Botany on June 17 to see the type specimen of the quillwort Isoëtes viridimontana M.A. Rosenthal & W.C. Taylor (Isoëtaceae). Sharon was hiking the Appalachian Trail at the time, and their visit was a brief diversion from the Virginia section of the trail, as well as a brief respite from all of the rain that Washington, DC, had been receiving lately. Several years ago Michael discovered this quillwort along the margins of Haystack Pond in southcentral Vermont. He and Sharon described the new species with assistance from Botany Laboratory Technician Gabe Johnson, Research Associate Carl Taylor, and Curator Elizabeth Zimmer (see Amer. Fern. J. 104: 7-15. 2014). The discovery of this new species, including a photograph of Michael collecting in Haystack Pond, is featured in the display, “Botany in a New Era of Discovery,” near the West Wing elevator lobby of the National Museum of Natural History. Michael told us that he continues to discover new records of ferns (and other organisms) for Vermont and New England. It is an excellent way to spend one’s retirement!
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