The Plant Press

New publication: Smithsonian Trees of North America

From Plant Press, Vol. 27, No. 3, July 2024.

Smithsonian Trees of North America by W. John Kress, an indispensable illustrated source of information about hundreds of species of North American trees, will be published by Yale University Press on September 3, 2024. Nature lovers will relish the beauty and clarity of this authoritative guide to more than 325 common native and non-native trees.

More than a field guide, Smithsonian Trees of North America includes more than 300 range maps and 3,000 exquisite photographs of leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, and bark. It has an in-depth introduction to the biology of trees and their value, structure, evolution, classification, ecology, and conservation. The book has descriptions of each species, organized by genus and family. North American trees are presented from a planetary and evolutionary perspective, drawing on the latest technologies. Kress also reflects on the consequences of environmental change for the health of trees, now and in the future.

The Secretary of the Smithsonian, Lonnie Bunch III, says of the book, “Dr. Kress has deftly synthesized and presented this collected information in an accessible volume that will help people everywhere understand, appreciate, value, and conserve the planet’s trees that are so critical to our shared future.” Peter Raven of the Missouri Botanical Garden adds his praise, “A beautifully illustrated guide to the commonest trees of the United States and Canada—a ‘must have’ for any nature lover who wants to expand their horizons!”

An additional review by Peter Crane of Oak Springs Garden writes, “Irresistible for those who love trees and want to know more about them. In particular, the ‘best in class’ color photos, including more than 300 spectacular two-page illustrated spreads, set this book apart.”

Ten years in the making, Smithsonian Trees of North America marries science and art to provide an insightful and compassionate exploration of the diversity, structure, form, and beauty of trees. Visit <https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300185218/smithsonian-trees-of-north-america/> or these QR codes for more information:

Kress is Distinguished Scientist and Curator Emeritus at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, where he served as Curator of Botany. His research has taken him to more than forty-five countries to study the evolution and ecology of tropical plants. He developed the Leafsnap plant identification app and helped to develop the tool for DNA barcoding of plants.

Outside of the cabinet and into the garden: Vicki Funk’s extraordinary legacy in botanic gardens

From Plant Press, Vol. 27, No. 3, July 2024.

By Morgan Gostel

When most of us in the Natural History community think of botanical collections, our first thought is of herbaria and the critical role they play in documenting and preserving the rich diversity of plants and lichens on Earth. Indeed, herbaria play an increasingly important role in advancing botanical science and are arguably the single most important scientific resource available to confront and overcome the biodiversity crisis for plants and lichens. However, another resource plays a key role in advancing plant science, conservation, and education – the diverse collections stored in botanic gardens worldwide. The history of botanic gardens and herbaria is inextricably linked. Despite the parallel role of these institutions, their connections faded throughout the 20^th century. According to Index Herbariorum, there are currently 3,567 herbaria worldwide, and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) estimates there are more than 3,000 botanic gardens and arboreta. Although the aim and scope of herbarium is often distinguished from botanic gardens, a significant historical component of these institutions is linked through their role in facilitating research, notably taxonomy and systematics (see Dosmann 2006). One individual who saw enormous potential for herbarium and botanic garden collections to grow together was Vicki Funk. Funk’s impact and legacy in phylogenetic theory, biogeography, and plant systematics and evolution – particularly in the daisy family, Compositae – are enormous and widely recognized. Perhaps less well-known, however, is the great collections-based legacy she left for botanic gardens.

Vick Funk (second from left) collecting with interns Sara Gabler, Asia Hill, and Kristen van Neste (left to right) at the U.S. Botanic Garden. (photo courtesy U.S. Botanic Garden)

Ten years ago, in 2014, Funk was motivated to explore the role that botanic gardens might play in advancing collections-based research, particularly in the genomic era. To Funk, the crux of this motivation was a fervent belief that botanic gardens are in a unique position to facilitate plant collections-based research, yet surprisingly the living collections that gardens maintain and the dedicated staff who grow them were increasingly disconnected from herbaria and the broader research community. According to Funk, botanic gardens held vast collections of diverse living plants that were underutilized for research. Throughout her career, Funk was an ardent advocate for the importance of scientific vouchers and the critical role of natural history collections as foundational institutions for biological science. Encouraging botanic gardens to rediscover their historical connections to herbaria and more actively collect scientific vouchers could lead to an untapped wellspring of botanical knowledge.

Abstracts from the speakers of the 21st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium

From Plant Press, Vol. 27, No. 3, July 2024.

The 21^st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium, “Advancing Plant Conservation Through Horticulture,” was held on 17 May 2024. The invited speakers included botanists, horticulturalist, conservation biologists, and scientific curators. Below are the abstracts from the papers that were presented by the invited speakers.

Carlos Magdalena
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
“The many facets of botanical horticulture”

In this talk, Carlos will draw on his 20 years of experience in botanical horticulture and recount some highlights of his career. In doing so, it will become apparent that the term “botanical horticulture” encompasses far more than meets the eye. While plant cultivation in a botanic garden is at the core of most botanical horticulturists’ job description, the range of skills and activities involved in conservation surpasses this. To safeguard species in a holistic manner, the emphasis cannot and should not be solely on single species conservation, but also consider the wider context that the work is set in. This includes but is not limited to local flora, habitat restoration efforts and practices, and engagement with local partners. Carlos’ talk will challenge what you understand botanical horticulture to be and explore the interdisciplinary links in plant conservation.

Jennifer Cruse-Sanders
State Botanical Garden of Georgia
“From dwarf sumac, Rhus michauxii, to turkey beard, Xerophyllum asphodeloides (and other species in between): How conservation horticulture has helped to preserve imperiled species in the southeastern U.S.”

Globally, plant species diversity is fundamental for supporting ecosystem function, landscape resilience, and food security. And yet, plant species diversity is threatened with some of the highest rates of extinction in our world. It is imperative that conservation horticulture methods for propagation and restoration of species are not only developed widely, but are also shared generously to meet the pressing grand challenges we face. As one example, the southeastern U.S. is a global biodiversity hotspot, recognized as such for high rates of endemism and perceived threats to natural ecosystems. The state of Georgia, in the southeastern U.S., with some of the highest numbers of plant species diversity in the U.S., has more than 700 plant species that are imperiled and facing significant conservation challenges. Even more significant are diverse plants considered common species that are not tracked through conservation programs but are nearly disappearing before our eyes. This program will share highlights from our efforts to conserve rare species through horticultural interventions and our efforts to make common plants even more commonly available for essential conservation needs that anticipate a growing need in our communities.

Colin Khoury
San Diego Botanic Garden
“Distributions, conservation assessments, and conservation action for crop wild relatives”

Crop wild relatives - the wild progenitors and cousins of agricultural crops - are valuable genetic resources used by plant breeders to increase pest and disease resistance, stress tolerance, nutritional value, and other traits critical to productivity, quality, and sustainability. Many of these species are threatened in their natural habitats and are under-represented in seedbanks and other ex situ conservation repositories, limiting the portfolio of useful plant diversity that may be available to present and future generations. In this presentation, I detail efforts at local to global scales to better understand the distributions and conservation status of the wild relatives of important crops, and to take action to address conservation concerns.

Dustin Wolkis
National Tropical Botanical Garden
“Applied seed conservation biology to support seed banking”

Seed banking provides the most efficient means of ex situ plant conservation. Conventional seed banking practices involve desiccating seeds to low moisture contents and storing them at a specific temperature below freezing. However, not all species can be conserved by conventional seed banking methods. Although many species produce desiccation tolerant seeds, some cannot be dried and even some desiccation tolerant species are sensitive to long-term freezing stress. Besides problems with desiccation tolerance and short life spans in conventional storage, other challenges to the ex situ conservation of seeds include the inability to acquire seeds, and the failure of viable seeds to germinate. Collectively, species exhibiting one or more of these traits have been termed “exceptional.” The flora of the Hawaiian Islands harbors 90% vascular plant endemism, yet globally has experienced the highest number of contemporary plant extinctions. Using the Hawaiian flora as a model system this presentation will explore some of the mechanisms underlying species defined as exceptional and discuss methods in which to overcome obstacles to ex situ seed banking. The applied projects presented will be broadly relevant beyond seed science including species and land managers and to the field of conservation horticulture.

Abby Meyer
Botanic Gardens Conservation International
“Conservation horticulture capacity at botanic gardens”

Conservation horticulture refers to the skills and knowledge required to maintain plants of conservation concern in ex situ living collections. This is a fundamental and expanding area of expertise that is often and uniquely manifested through the work of botanic gardens. As we face major environmental and social crises around the world, the conservation and outreach work of botanic gardens is becoming more and more imperative. Specialists in conservation horticulture are more important than ever as the plant conservation community scales-up our collective efforts to halt species extinction. This presentation will describe the current state of conservation horticulture in botanic gardens globally and provide examples of how BGCI is working with partners to promote awareness of and capacity for this critical area of expertise.

 

Acknowledgments

The success of the Symposium was due to the significant time and efforts of the following people:

Symposium Organizing Committee: Amy Bolton, Eric Calhoun, Joy Columbus, Laurence Dorr, Rose Gulledge, Carl Johnson, Gary Krupnick, Susan Pell, Eric Schuettpelz, Warren Wagner, and Kenneth Wurdack

Symposium Support: Emir Ali, MaryAnn Apicelli, Tiara Boyd, Nancy Khan, and Sue Lutz

Symposium Sponsors: José Cuatrecasas Botanical Fund, Mellon Foundation, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Gardens, and United States Botanic Garden

Peter F. Stevens receives the 21st Cuatrecasas Medal

From Plant Press, Vol. 27, No. 3, July 2024.

The José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany is named in honor of Dr. José Cuatrecasas, a pioneering botanist and taxonomist, who spent nearly a half-century working at the National Museum of Natural History. Cuatrecasas had a distinguished career devoted to systematic botany and plant exploration in tropical South America, especially in the Andes, and this award serves to keep vibrant his accomplishments and memory. The Department of Botany and the U.S. National Herbarium present this award at the Smithsonian Botanical Symposium to a botanist and scholar of international stature who has contributed significantly to advancing the field of tropical botany. The award consists of a bronze medal bearing an image of José Cuatrecasas on the front with the recipient’s name and date of presentation on the back.

This year the 21^st José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany was presented to Peter F. Stevens, an accomplished scientist, botanist, and author.

Peter F. Stevens (right) accepts the 21st José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany presented to him by Laurence Dorr. (photo by Ken Wurdack)

Stevens most recently held joint appointments as a Professor of Biology, University of Missouri-St. Louis and Research Curator, Missouri Botanical Garden. After receiving a B.S. from Oxford University, he went to Edinburgh where he received a Ph.D. in 1971. His dissertation was simply titled Taxonomic studies in Ericaceae, but it was deceptively influential in influencing subsequent research on that family.

His first professional post was as a Forest Botanist in Papua New Guinea. There he collected plants mostly in the highlands, gained further experience with tropical Ericaceae, and developed interests in other primarily tropical families such as the Clusiaceae. His three years in New Guinea were influential in fostering his interests in plant families, identification, and tropical botany in general.

Leaving New Guinea, Stevens moved half-way around the globe to accept an appointment as an Assistant Curator at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, which had a long-standing interest in Asian (and Malesian) botany. Eventually, he became a tenured professor at the university. While at Harvard he also had teaching responsibilities and served as principal advisor to a number of graduate students interested in tropical plant systematics. He also began publishing on aspects of systematic philosophy, especially examining the conflicts between morphological character states and phylogenetic hypotheses.

Moving half-way across the continent to St. Louis in the late 1990s, Stevens continued his research and teaching but also was one of the principal architects in constructing the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website, which continues to be a remarkable and valuable tool for anyone interested in up-to-date information on the 400 plus families of flowering plants. Without doubt, Stevens has contributed in innumerable ways to advancing the field of tropical botany.