HEBERLING LAB

​This specimen of winter creeper (Euonymus fortunei) was collected on January 31, 2012 along the Monongahela River in Fayette County, PA by Allison Cusick.  Allison Cusick is a current Research Associate in the Section of Botany at the museum.  He can be frequently found in the Carnegie Museum herbarium.  He has a unique wealth of knowledge on plants, herbaria, botanical history, and more.  He authored three books and more than 50 scientific papers on the flora of eastern North America. Before retiring, he was the Chief Botanist for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.  He continues to collect today, and many thousands of his specimens can found at herbaria across the country. 
 
Note the label on this specimen reads “Cusick, A.W.  37174”  The number following a collectors name is known as the...you guessed it... collector number (surprise!).  The collector number is the number assigned to a specimen by the collector.  It is common for several specimens to have the same collector number, if they are from the same individual or species in the same location on the same day (“duplicate specimens”).  Unfortunately, there are no universal rules on how collector numbers are used or assigned.  Collector numbers primary use is so the collector and/or others using the specimen can go back to the collector’s field notebook for additional information on the specimen.  Collector numbers are different from specimen numbers (which are assigned by the herbarium, such that every specimen has a unique ID for reference).  Most collectors number their specimens chronologically in order they were collected (but not always), but some collector numbers consist of dashes and/or letters, too. 
 
Anyway, what I’m getting at is that this specimen (Cusick 37174) suggests Allison has collected AT LEAST over 37,000 specimens.  The number is actually higher than that, with duplicates and an additional 8 years of collecting.  Not that numbers are everything, but Allison’s contribution to the herbarium record is clearly impressive and impactful.
 
Ok, now back to the plant!  Winter creeper (Euonymus fortunei), native to Asia, is commonly planted in Pennsylvania and many other places, and unfortunately has also spread to become invasive.  It is still commonly planted.  It is a woody vine that climbs trees, but also is a thick ground cover.  It has leaves that persist through the winter, with attractive fruits.  Despite those advantages, it can impact native species and habitats as an invasive species, and therefore, should not be planted.
 
Find this specimen and more here: http://midatlanticherbaria.org/portal/collections/individual/index.php?occid=12134036&clid=0

(Not quite yet) flowering dogwood
 
This specimen of flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) was collected on January 21, 1906 in Fern Hollow,  Frick Park, Pittsburgh by Otto Jennings.  The specimen was collected 13 years before Frick Park became a city park, bequeathed by the well-known industrialist Henry Clay Frick after his death.  Otto Jennings was an influential botanist in western Pennsylvania, serving as curator at the museum for many years.
 
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again -  specimens without leaves are cool!  Why did Jennings collect this specimen?
 
Flowering dogwood has distinctively big flower buds through the winter.  The flower is in there, remaining dormant, waiting to blossom in the spring.  Like many other woody species in our area, the leaf and flower buds are pre-formed  by the previous fall.  They remain dormant until they reach their chilling requirement (number  of cold  days), the air temperature  warms,  and/or the days get longer (in plants, this is called “photoperiod”).   Different species have different requirements, with some species being more conservative than others to prevent premature leaf out in the middle of winter.
 
Only about two and half more months until flowering dogwood awakes in western Pennsylvania. In the meantime, you can admire the species in the spring diorama in Botany Hall, or look for their buds outside.

Find this specimen and more here: http://midatlanticherbaria.org/portal/collections/list.php?db=all&catnum=CM073964&othercatnum=1
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From cultivation to invasion: a common route
 
This specimen of princess tree (Paulownia tomentosa) was collected on January 13, 1937 in Schenley Park, Pittsburgh by R.J. Templeton and J.R. Steck.  Thought subtle, note the heading on the label “Flora of Cultivation.”  This header suggests that this tree was planted in the park, rather than naturally occurring on its own.
 
Princess tree has a remarkable presence – large wide leaves larger than your face (though you can’t see that in this winter collected specimen) and very showy, fragrant flowers that burst from large buds in the spring.  Signs of the flowers/fruits remain obvious on the branches year round.
 
Princess tree is a common urban weedy tree that is not native to Pennsylvania or the United States.  Rather, it is native to Central and Western China.  It was brought to Europe in the 1830s (and then to the US) by the Dutch East India Company, with many historical medicinal and ornamental uses, as well as its wood. The tree was named after a Romanov princess, the Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna.
 
Princess tree can still be found in Schenley Park.  It is especially noticeable, with its flowers at eye level, as you walk or drive across the bridge from the museum to Phipps Conservatory (Schenley bridge). 
 
Listed as invasive by the state, Princess tree should not be planted in Pennsylvania.  It grows quickly and actively spreads beyond its planting, into roadsides, streams, and disturbed forests with potential to displace native plants.
 
Find this specimen and more here: http://midatlanticherbaria.org/portal/collections/list.php?db=all&catnum=CM120710&othercatnum=1