The Plant Press

Art by Alice Tangerini: Erato costaricensis E. Moran & V.A. Funk

From Plant Press, Vol. 23, No. 1, January 2020.

Known only from Costa Rica and Panama, Erato costaricensis (Compositae) grows in wet forest, forested hillsides, and along roadsides. This illustration is representative of Vicki Funk’s passion for mentoring young scientists, especially women, and work in the family she studied during her career, Compositae, especially in Latin America. The research paper, published in Systematic Botany (31: 597-609; 2006 https://doi.org/10.1600/036364406778388728), was done by Emily Moran as part of the Research Training Program at the National Museum of Natural History, which was funded by the National Science Foundation. Alice Tangerini illustrated this drawing in polycarbonate pencil on drafting film to match the media of a previous drawing, Erato polymnioides, completed in 1976.

Illustration intern has a productive fall semester

From Plant Press, Vol. 23, No. 1, January 2020.

Alice Tangerini hosted Jacquelyn McPeck, an intern acquired through the Smithsonian’s Office of Fellowships and Internships’ (OFI) partnership with Whitworth University, for the fall semester September 13 through December 13, 2019. Though McPeck’s major is Biology, she has an interest in Horticulture and two-dimensional art media. She came highly recommended.

Alice Tangerini with intern Jacquelyn McPeck. (photo by Ken Wurdack)

McPeck expressed an interest and had knowledge of working in Adobe Photoshop and came at just the opportune time to work on a project for Harold Robinson involving Edith Scott, former Research Associate in the Botany Department.

McPeck’s first project was to scan and rework the photographs, diagrams, and maps for Scott’s dissertation on “The Protosalvinia from Kentucky,” a paper on Devonian fossils originally submitted to George Washington University in 1980. Scott’s major professor was Francis Huber, former Paleobiology Curator at the National Museum of Natural History. The dissertation had never been published online. McPeck scanned and enhanced the old faded photographs and redrew maps using online models and old photocopies of Scott’s maps. McPeck finished this project in record time, impressing even Robinson.

McPeck followed up the initial project and continued by scanning a series of old botanical drawings that were waiting to be inventoried. One of these included a 1922 oil painting of a Ferocactus (discovered in the herbarium) covered with dust spots and stains which required removal in the scan. She also rescanned all of the Funk Werneria drawings at a higher resolution for optimum publication, and meticulously rehoused the illustrations in archival folders.

McPeck was actively working on an illustration of a species of Perityle for Botany researcher, Isaac Marck, during her last week at the museum.

Art by Alice Tangerini: Dendrophthora sp.

From Plant Press, Vol. 22, No. 4, October 2019.

This new species of mistletoe (Dendrophthora sp.; Loranthaceae) is a preliminary sketch from collections made by Larry Dorr (US) and Basil Stergios (formerly PORT) for the Flora of Guaramacal project, which focuses on the vascular plants of a national park in the Venezuelan Andes. Daniela Canelón, Curator of Herbario PORT, is especially interested in parasitic epiphytes and with the assistance of Miguel Niño, Botany Research Collaborator, and Marcos Caraballo, Peter Buck Fellow, they have determined that the material represents a new, as yet undescribed species. The collections provide a challenge to illustrate in that as they dry the plant color darkens to almost black. Rehydration in a wetting solution is required for dissecting and illustrating the tiny flowers and fruits. Caraballo has been generous in lending Tangerini his books and papers on the genus so that typical views by other illustrators can be studied to show how this particular collection differs from similar species.

Art by Alice Tangerini: Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson ex F.A.Zorn) Fosberg

From Plant Press, Vol. 22, No. 3, July 2019.

The domestication of crop plants and their wild relatives was the theme of the 17^th Smithsonian Botanical Symposium held on 17 May 2019. The challenges of domesticating tropical forest fruit trees, such as breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), was presented in one of the talks. Alice Tangerini illustrated breadfruit for Edward Ayensu’s second book on medicinal plants, Medicinal Plants of the West Indies, published in 1981 by Reference Publications. Tangerini was part of a team of illustrators for the book including artists Mary Monsma and Cathy Pasquale. Tangerini examined herbarium specimens and books in the Smithsonian Botany Branch Library for details when she drew this illustration.

Staff Activities

From Plant Press, Vol. 22, No. 3, July 2019.

Marcos Caraballo gave two workshops on plant taxonomy and molecular biology on May 24 and May 31 to two groups of high school students from the Youth and Diversity Program of the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE). On June 3, Caraballo was a judge at the 2019 EnvironMentors National Science Fair for high school students from underrepresented groups, an activity sponsored by NCSE. On June 25, he helped train the Q?Crew High School Volunteers on the scientific value of herbarium collections for research during a “Collections Zone Deep Dive” workshop in the Q?rius Education Center at NMNH.

On April 16-17, Gary Krupnick presented a poster, “The immense value of museum collections in conservation research,” at Smithsonian’s first ConCom 2019 event hosted by Smithsonian’s Conservation Commons. The event was designed to recognize Smithsonian’s superheroes in science and conservation with team-building opportunities, share knowledge, increase storytelling skills, and enhance collaborations.

A number of Department of Botany research fellows and associates presented talks during the Botany Seminar Series at the National Museum of Natural History. On May 2, Kathryn Picard presented “Creatures from the black lagoon: Next-generation approaches to understanding the diversity and evolution of marine fungi.” On May 9, Rob Soreng presented “Plant collecting in Far East Russia.” On June 13, Joel Nitta presented “Ferns on islands: Community assembly, comparative ecology, and biogeography of Polynesian pteridophytes.” Other seminar speakers over the past three months included Jennifer Ackerfield from Colorado State University on April 18 who spoke about “A prickly puzzle: Phylogeny and evolution of the Carduus-Cirsium group (Cardueae: Compositae)” and Charles Delwiche from the University of Maryland College Park on June 6 who spoke about “Assembling the embryophyte form: the evolution of streptophytes.”

Illustration of Curcuma arracanensis by Alice Tangerini

Alice Tangerini had her artwork, Curcuma arracanensis, displayed in the Queensland Museum in conjunction with the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI) 2019 Conference in Brisbane, Australia, July 1-7, 2019. The juried exhibit was strictly digital this year due to the logistical constraints of shipping framed artwork. During the exhibit reception the artworks were projected on several screens simultaneously in the lobby of the museum and then individually in the theater auditorium. The artwork can be viewed online in the GNSI website, http://2019gnsi-conf.org/exhibits.

Art by Alice Tangerini: Distichophyllum cuspidatum (Dozy & Molk.) Dozy & Molk. and Leskeodon brevicuspidatus (E.B. Bartram) B.C. Tan & H. Rob.

From Plant Press, Vol. 22, No. 2, April 2019.

"Distichophyllum cuspidatum (Dozy & Molk.) Dozy & Molk. and Leskeodon brevicuspidatus (E.B. Bartram) B.C. Tan & H. Rob." illustrated by Alice Tangerini

In a 1990 monograph in Smithsonian Contributions to Botany (Number 75), Benito Tan and Harold Robinson reviewed the Philippine taxa of Hookeriaceae. Their treatment looked at 11 genera and 36 species in this family of mosses. Alice Tangerini illustrated 15 species for this publication, including Distichophyllum cuspidatumi, a widespread species from Malesia and Oceania, and Leskeodon brevicuspidatus, from Papua New Guinea and Mindanao, Philippines. Tangerini worked on the moss drawings in the spring of 1988 using material from the bryophyte collection. She also inked some sketches of cell drawings made by Tan.

Staff Activities

From Plant Press, Vol. 22, No. 2, April 2019.

Emmanuel Kyei-Baffour and Maggy Benson (Education & Outreach) interview lichenologist Manuela Dal Forno during a broadcast of “Exploring the Amazing World of Lichens” on Smithsonian Science How. (photo by Jennifer Renteria, NMNH)

On 28 March, Manuela Dal Forno participated in two video broadcasts of “Exploring the Amazing World of Lichens” on Smithsonian Science How, a free, interactive, live video webcast that takes questions from students while introducing them to science concepts and practices through the lens of Smithsonian research and experts. In the video, archived at <https://naturalhistory.si.edu/education/distance-learning/exploring-amazing-world-lichens-manuela-dal-forno>, Dal Forno takes students on an exploration of the world of lichens, helping them to realize that lichens are living all around us—from forests to city streets. She explains what lichens are and how the lichen symbiosis works. Classes across the country had the opportunity to see Manuela’s student interns in action extracting DNA from lichens in one of the Smithsonian’s labs. Throughout the live broadcast, Dal Forno took questions from students via text chat. In addition to the archived video, companion worksheets and answers with the theme, “Exploring Lichens,” are available.

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Gary Krupnick engages with teens in a conversation about the importance of pollination and food security. (photo by Christian Lilakos, NMNH)

On 16 March, more than 130 local teens participated in the third annual Teen Earth Optimism event in Q?rius, the science education center at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. A collaboration with the Smithsonian Conservation Commons, the event focused on the ethics, nutrition, culture, and innovation of food. Experts from multiple Smithsonian units, teen leaders, and local non-profits participated. Teens engaged with scientists at several conservation stations that ranged in topics from composting and the history of food to bird-friendly coffee and the sustainable management of fisheries. Gary Krupnick spoke with teens about the role of pollination in food security and the steps individuals can take to support the health of pollinator populations. With a couple minor exceptions, all of the waste from the program was recycled or composted, resulting in a near-zero waste event!

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Visitors participate in drawing orchids at the Open Studio Botanical Art Event at the National Museum of American Art. (photo by Alice Tangerini)

On 15 March, Alice Tangerini participated in the Open Studio Botanical Art Event as part of the Orchid Show in the Kogod Courtyard at the National Museum of American Art (NMAA). Tangerini provided her drawings of orchid flowers, in pen and ink and then digitally colored, which previously were signage for the NMNH Orchid Show in 2007. Organizers made hundreds of copies of the drawings as handouts and provided art materials for the visitors. Over 200 visitors came to the Open Studio event between 1:00 and 5:00 pm, often filling all 16 tables arranged in the Courtyard. Smithsonian Gardens had staff on hand to provide information on the orchids. Tangerini and Jill Galloway, NMAA’s local art instructor, provided advice and instruction on drawing or coloring the orchids in pencil and watercolor.

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National Museum of Natural History participants honor International Women’s Day. (photo by Lucia RM Martino and James Di Loreto, Smithsonian Institution)

On 8 March, scientists, research associates, students, and contractors from the Department of Botany joined other women from the National Museum of Natural History to participate in a group photo honoring International Women’s Day. The photo gives tribute to all the past, present, and future generations of women in STEM.

Art by Alice Tangerini: Dryopteris macropholis Lorence & W.L.Wagner

From Plant Press, Vol. 22, No. 1, January 2019.

Asexuality, in the form of apomixis, may help ferns colonize islands more readily, but little is known about the incidence of asexuality across the group. Dryopteris macropholis is an endangered fern endemic to the Marquesas Islands. Recent analysis of spores from the type specimen revealed that it is an apomict (see article, "Asexuality as a detour, not a dead end"). Alice Tangerini began this illustration in Kauai at the National Tropical Botanical Gardens in September 2005. She was on a two-week assignment illustrating Marquesas Island ferns for Warren Wagner. Tangerini penciled the drawings at NTBG using collections from Wood 10489. She later inked them in 2009 for the publication.

Art by Alice Tangerini: Trichomanes pedicellatum Desv.

From Plant Press, Vol. 21, No. 4, October 2018.

Smithsonian botanists have trained a deep learning model to identify fern genera of specimens on herbarium sheets with an average of 90.5 percent accuracy (see cover story in this issue of The Plant Press). For the genus Trichomanes, the model is 92 percent accurate. Trichomanes pedicellatum is a South American fern found in eastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. Alice Tangerini drew this illustration for a 1991 paper by David Lellinger (Amer. Fern J. 81(1): 24-36) to highlight the great diversity in frond and pinnae form within T. pedicellatum.

Artwork of Emily Dickinson Plants to Be Displayed outside Chair’s Office

From Plant Press, Vol. 21, No. 4, October 2018.

A metalpoint drawing of Rosa carolina by Kandy Phillips. The drawing was inspired by the poems of Emily Dickinson.

A selection of metalpoint drawings by local artist Kandy Vermeer Phillips will be on display beginning October 10 outside the Department of Botany Chair’s office on the fourth floor of the West Wing, National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. These illustrations are the culmination of Phillips’ yearlong project to illustrate the plants associated with Emily Dickinson’s poetry. All of Phillips’ artwork represents specimens from the US National Herbarium collections with attention to choosing those in the area and time of Dickinson’s poetry.

Phillips’ work was supported by an Educational Grant from the American Society of Botanical Artists. The drawings are a generous donation by Phillips to the Botanical Art Collection in the Department of Botany.