Posted on 01/30/2009 5:06:48 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Just a stone's throw from UW-Madison's seat of power on top of Bascom Hill is a place that melds old scientific methods with modern research that you likely have not heard of The Wisconsin State Herbarium.
The herbarium in Birge Hall is a collection of 1.1 million dusty, dried plant specimens, taped or glued inside manila folders and tucked inside row upon row of huge, vertical metal file cabinets protected with insect traps. Boxes of overflowing specimens sit in the hallways.
Now the herbarium staff is trying to get more people interested in the vast collection housed there.
"In a past century people could go outside and name the flowers or trees," said Ken Cameron, the herbarium's director. "Now you take a kid outside and the most they can say is, 'It's a tree.' If we can get students in and get them excited, then I think we've helped to counteract bio-illiteracy."
At two large wooden desks near the herbarium's entrance senior curators Ted Cochrane and Mark Wetter hover over piles of pressed plants filing, managing and researching.
The herbarium was established the same year as the university: 1849. Specimens are still collected and pressed much the same way they were then flattened between newspaper, felt and cardboard and held tight with buckles. Some specimens here are even older than the herbarium, dating back as far as the 1600s.
"What I'd like people to know is that in this day and age that is so focused on medical advances and biotech and genetics and molecular work, there's still a place for the more traditional science," Cameron said. "What to one person looks like a dusty, dried sample to another person is a very important look back in time."
Rare herbarium
Herbaria are becoming more of a rarity. And the UW-Madison has the third largest collection of any public university in the country, behind the universities of California and Michigan.
At many universities, botany has been absorbed into large biology departments, and collections put into storage. That has not happened at UW-Madison.
"The combination of having a botany department and a big herbarium is getting pretty rare," said David Baum, botany department chairman. "And more and more herbaria are closing or making the decision to move off campus into storage, which has a real negative effect on research."
Cameron himself is an example of a modern researcher who benefits from traditional specimens. He came to the herbarium in 2008 from the New York Botanical Gardens where he did molecular research using genetics to decipher plants' evolutionary paths.
At the UW-Madison, he keeps a molecular research lab upstairs from the herbarium. Dried plant samples, he said, give researchers the potential to track climate change or biodiversity. For example, tracking lichens, which are extremely sensitive to air quality, can show when an urban area has become so polluted that lichens disappear.
William S. Alverson, a senior conservation ecologist and botanist at The Field Museum in Chicago, praised the UW herbarium for remaining accessible.
"It provides a critical and permanent record of our botanical heritage, and serves to train students and inform natural resource decisions," Alverson said. "It is a very accessible resource to state citizens, and is open to amateur and professional biologists, as well as anyone interested in the flora of the state."
Adding to the importance of maintaining a collection in Wisconsin is that several ecosystem types meet in this state, said Andrew Hipp, a UW-Madison graduate and curator of The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Ill.
"Wisconsin has boreal forest, woodlands, prairies, northern bogs it is floristically fascinating," he said. "A herbarium is a time capsule, kept in the university to provide a record of the changing flora, giving us information on climate change, urbanization and things that lead to the loss of species."
Comprehensive database
For a decade the herbarium has been working on a comprehensive database of its Wisconsin plants that it can make widely available not just to its most regular users - researchers, students and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources but also the backyard gardener or farmer. It recently completed that task and is available on the Web at www.botany.wisc.edu/herbarium.
"We are open to anybody here, but we do have to screen visitors," Cameron said. "By putting the information online we can do away with screening and make it more democratic."
And now Cameron's staff is taking that a step further, working on a technical high resolution digital scans of its most important specimens chosen to represent that species.
Unlike many states, Wisconsin does not have a published book of all its flora. This heightens the importance of the database and can be more easily updated as new species or plants are discovered.
With a detailed database, why keep the natural history samples around?
Even from a plant that looks brown, dead and lifeless, a scientist can still extract DNA.
"There's just no substitute for a physical specimen," Cameron noted. "You can't do DNA analysis on a digital image or feel the texture or smell."
Exactly! I’ve been a ‘Conserve-ative’ for my entire life. And that’s why the ‘Greenwits’ annoy me to no end with their tying every little thing into ‘saving the planet.’ *Rolleyes*
Spend a day keeping up with me, Tree-Hugger, LOL!
Liberal tree-huggers think nature is disappearing, because they live in huge cities...
They have no concept.
Except I suppose that doesn’t completely explain Madison. :)
When I had kitties they couldn’t stand the scent of chives. But it being a kitchen garden, I’m sure you already have some planted there. Hmmmm...
I wonder if you could put some thorny rose branch clippings in amongst your plantings. Ouch for kitty when he steps in there, but he might avoid it from then on out.
We dug and dug, put down some compost, piled the dirt onto a bed and turned it all upside down. Then, we put leaf lettuce seed into the dirt and raked the bed. After the plants grew up and we had fresh veggies, she went “YUCK. all that work for this?”
Now, she actually eats a lot of salads, and loves coming home to fresh lettuce from the garden. Fresh out of the garden tomatoes are an endangered species at my house. They do NOT go bad.
NOTHING explains ‘Madistan,’ LOL!
It’s one of the most gorgeous places on the planet...and it’s filled with kookburgers!
I’m pretty sure our Founding Fathers never imagined America this way...
Now that the boys are grown, they love having their own little ‘garden’ even if it’s just a pot of herbs or a patio tomato until they own a little land of their own. :)
You gotta plant the seeds and have patience. Then, years later you get to see what blooms. :)
Actually, I don’t have any chives in that particular spot, I guess I’ll just have to dig up a clump from else where!!!
Rose branch clippings is an idea, I don’t have roses, but I’m sure I can find some thorny branches around here somewhere.
Just thought of another trick I used long ago when the cats would dig in my houseplants. Lemon or orange peels in the pot would keep them out. I don’t know how that would work outside though. It might invite other creatures in. :>0
There is so much truth in those statements, "Patience is a virtue."
Then, years later you get to see what blooms. :)
And this Biblical prophesy, "By their fruits, you will know them."
I’ll give the peels a shot as well. Between the cats and the dog, around that side of the house we rarely get any critters.
Thanks for the tips!!!
My husband inherited that book, as well, and still consults it to set the table for a dinner party.
I believe it was written to educate the immigrants from Europe who came here in the early part of the 20th century.
However, I tend to look up more modern versions of the recipes on the Internet. Most of them are available with measurements, temperatures/times, techniques and ingredients with which we are more familiar.
I like your potpourri technique and will try it this year. Do peonies retain their odor when dried?
Last year I made Elder Flower cordial. I adore the odor of Elder Flower and maybe I will see if they retain their odor, too. The cordial was a big hit with everyone who tried it and I gave away nearly a gallon (I made two gallons). You can google a variety of recipes, but be advised they call for way too much sugar and I cut the sugar in half. I use it mainly to make a drink with LaCroix Lime Flavored carbonated water and a squeeze of lime. Great with Prosecco or 1/2 and 1/2 with a cheap Asti. A friend used it in some bundt cakes. It is great in a cup of tea, adding a summery taste/smell. I used it instead of simple syrup in some marmalade I made with my Calamondin oranges and then mixed some of the result 1/2 and 1/2 with honey. That was also great in tea. I think it would also make a good icing.
Does anyone gather and use Sumac flowers? I dried some and have it in the freezer, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I need to get a dedicated spice grinder, first.
“Do peonies retain their odor when dried?”
Not that you’d notice, but they make great ‘filler’ for potpourri. The darker colors look nicer when dried. The white petals seem to just turn brown/tan. They are one of my favorite flowers! I have 14 of them. :) Have you found a good lotion or oil that captures their scent? I haven’t. :(
By ‘Elder Flower’ do you mean the blooms of the common Elderberry? That sounds interesting.
I’ve made a rose petal cordial. When you drink it, you feel as if your whole head is filled with roses, LOL! I’ve also added rose petals to a bottle of vodka, then thrown it into the freezer for summer sippin’ on ice.
(Your own untreated rose petals, of course!)
No, I don’t have a good carrier oil for any natural petal scent. I don’t think it would be a case of what oil, as much as what fixative. Maybe Orris Root powder for the potpourri? I will try that. Orris has its own, slightly sweet scent, IIRC. It has been awhile since I played with scents.
Yes, the big umbrella-like white blooms. Pick, clip _just_ the tiny blooms until you have 4c packed. Meanwhile, mix 5# sugar with 3 liters water, the zest and juice of 4-6 lemons (depends on size; the original recipe, online, calls for 10# sugar and 12-14 lemons). Just warm the water/sugar/lemon juice and zest until sugar dissolves. Add the elder flowers. Place something (I use the top of my dehydrator) over the pot of flowers and cover with a clean flour sack dish towel. If you don’t use some sort of domed cover, the liquid could wick into the towel. Let sit undisturbed (you can go and take periodic whiffs...it is heavenly)up to four days. Strain the flowers and zest out of the liquid. Boil 20-30 minutes, skimming as it boils. Prepare jars or other containers with good tight lids by pouring boiling water over them and let them dry in the oven at 250. Remove cordial from heat and ladle into jars/containers. Has so far kept well in the fridge. I had a tad bit of mold in one jar out of 2 gallons total (I do a gallon at a time). I skimmed out the bit of mold, boiled the contents hard for 10 minutes and rebottled after cleaning and boiling the same jar. All is fine, at the moment.
The rose cordial sounds wonderful. Unfortunately, I cannot grow them more than a couple of seasons on my land....just not enough sun, too cold in the valley and too much West wind, IMO. Maybe I will try some this summer, just for the cordial and not expect them to survive.
The elder flower cordial also fills your head with the scent of the flowers. It’s Summer anytime you use some.
Copied! My Aunt gives me dried elderberry flowers for tea. I’ll ask her to let me know when they’re in bloom this upcoming season and hopefully I can get some fresh ones. :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.