HEBERLING LAB

  • Welcome
  • People
  • Publications
  • Photos
  • Collected on this day!
  • Welcome
  • People
  • Publications
  • Photos
  • Collected on this day!

Collected on this day...

a weekly blog featuring specimens in the Carnegie Museum herbarium.
Each specimen has an important scientific and cultural story to tell.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation grant no. DBI 1612079 (2017-2019) and DBI 1801022 (2019-2022). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

October 28, 1920: 102 years ago

10/28/2022

Comments

 
Picture

The Vine that Ate Pittsburgh?
Not yet.

This specimen of Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata) was collected on October 28, 1920 by Neil MCCallum at West End Park, Pittsburgh.  The plant was collected in cultivation, meaning it was intentionally planted and grown in a garden or similar. This specimen is one of the earliest records of the species in Pittsburgh (It was also collected two years before).

Kudzu is a vine in the bean family, Fabaceae, with beautiful purple flowers. Native to East Asia, it was introduced as an ornamental  the United States from from Japan in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition.  It was promoted in the 1930-40s in the southern US to prevent soil erosion.  However, it is now an invasive species, with big ecological impacts.  It is widely known as "the vine that ate the South."  A quick google search will show you striking pictures of the vine covering large areas of land, covering trees, shrubs, logs, and everything.  It shades out existing vegetation and can drastically alter the ecosystem.

It is not common in Pennsylvania, but perhaps might become so.  It is listed by the state as a "Class A Noxious Weed" - meaning it is assessed as a high invasive risk and ecological/economical concern, but is uncommon and possible to be eradicated.  It can not be sold or planted commercially in PA.

It is currently most invasive in the South, but a study published in 2009 by Dr. Bethany Bradley and others suggests that the species may become more invasive in the north (including Pennsylvania) as climate change continues.

You can find this specimen online here, and search our collection at midatlanticherbaria.org.
Picture
Picture
Kudzu (Pueria montana) growing along the Kiskiminetas River in Apollo, Pennsylvania in 2018.  It was likely planted, but seems to be doing quite well.
Comments

August 1937 (1925): 84 (96) years ago

8/29/2021

Comments

 
Picture
Botanical look-alikes...on the other side of the world!
East Asia-Eastern North America are more similar than you might think.
 
This maple specimen was collected in August 1937 by J.R. Steck and R.J. Templeton in Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park. At first look, it is clearly a maple...its leaves have that “mapley” look!  But upon closer inspection, this specimen was collected from a planting. The species is from Japan – Honshū maple or grey-budded snake-bark maple (Acer rufinerve).
Picture
Now, check out this doppelgänger specimen, another maple collected by famed Carnegie Museum curator Otto Jennings in late August 1925 in Elk County, Pennsylvania. This similar looking species is found across Eastern North American forests – striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum).  Though you can’t tell from these leaves and stems, the bark also has distinctive striping (hence the name) that is uncannily like its Asian relative species above.
 
There are many species across Eastern North America and far away East Asia that look almost identical at first glance.  Why?  This observation has long been of interest to botanists for centuries, notably by Asa Gray at Harvard in the 1800s. Eastern North America and East Asia are comprised of many shared genera across continents, with species within remarkably similar!  These are called “disjunct” genera, resulting from a shared evolutionary history, with both floras once connected in geological time but have since been separated over many thousands of years. Interestingly, of the shared genera between regions, East Asia comprised roughly two times the number of species within compared to Eastern North America.  A lot of interesting evolutionary studies have been done on this disjunction across these floras, with many more to do!
 
Find these maple specimens and 3,030 more from across the world in the Carnegie Museum Herbarium here: https://midatlanticherbaria.org/portal/collections/list.php?db=328&includecult=1&taxa=Acer&usethes=1&taxontype=2
​
Comments

    RSS Feed

      Suggest a specimen!

      Your birthday, favorite species, collected by your house, a particular collector, etc...?
      [object Object]
    Submit

    Archives

    October 2022
    April 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    Categories

    All
    Amaryllidaceae
    Anacardiaceae
    Apiaceae
    Apocynaceae
    Aquifoliaceae
    Araceae
    Araliaceae
    Asparagaceae
    Asteraceae
    Balsaminaceae
    Betulaceae
    Boraginaceae
    Brassicaceae
    Cactaceae
    Caprifoliaceae
    Caricaceae
    Caryophyllaceae
    Celastraceae
    Climate Change
    Convolvulaceae
    Cornaceae
    Cucurbitaceae
    Cultivated
    Cupressaceae
    Dioscoreaceae
    Dryopteridaceae
    Ericaceae
    Euphorbiaceae
    Fabaceae
    Fagaceae
    Geraniaceae
    Hamamelidaceae
    Holiday Posts
    Introduced Species
    Lamiaceae
    Lauraceae
    Life History Series
    Liliaceae
    Limnanthaceae
    Lycopodiaceae
    Magnoliaceae
    Malvaceae
    Melanthiaceae
    Melastomataceae
    Montiaceae
    Myristicaceae
    Oleaceae
    Onagraceae
    Orobanchaceae
    Oxalidaceae
    Papaveraceae
    Paulowniaceae
    Pinaceae
    Plantaginaceae
    Plants Of The Anthropocene
    Poaceae
    Poisonous
    Polemoniaceae
    Polygonaceae
    Primulaceae
    Pteridaceae
    Ranunculaceae
    Recollected
    Recollection
    Rhamnaceae
    Rosaceae
    Rubiaceae
    Salicaceae
    Santalaceae
    Sapindaceae
    Scrophulariaceae
    Simaroubaceae
    Solanaceae
    Staphyleaceae
    Type Specimens
    Ulmaceae
    Undetermined
    Urban Plants
    Violaceae
    Vitaceae