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.

Christmas Eve 1883: 134 years ago

12/22/2017

Comments

 
Picture
 Image above:  European mistletoe specimen collected on Christmas Eve, 1883.
Image below: Close up image of specimen label that reads: "a. purchased at Pittsburg market."  It took me a while to decipher this handwriting.  Note that Pittsburgh's official spelling was "Pittsburg" until 1911.  The mistletoe was for sale for the holidays, likely imported from its native range in England.
Picture
Well, specimens don’t get much more festive than this!  This mistletoe specimen (Viscum album) was purchased at a Pittsburgh market on Christmas Eve 1883 by John A. Shafer, who would become the museum’s first botany curator 16 years later.  Mistletoes refer to many species in the genus Viscum, but traditionally referred to a species native to Europe, Viscum album.  European mistletoe has a deep rooted cultural history, dating back to as early as ancient Greece, is a part of many legends and stories through human history, and remains a well-known holiday decoration today.
 
Did you know that mistletoes are parasitic plants? Mistletoes grow on the branches of trees (especially oaks), with specialized roots (called “haustorium”) that penetrate the host tree to obtain water and nutrients.  Technically, most mistletoes are hemi-parasites, as they do have green leaves capable of photosynthesizing to some degree.  How do they germinate high up on the branches of trees?  They have evolved to produce berries which birds ingest, fly around, land on another branch, and poop a viable mistletoe seeds.  Without the assistance of birds, the seeds would likely just fall to the ground.
 
Mistletoes are native to the United States, too.  American mistletoe (Phoradendron leucarpum) is native to southeastern US states.  The species has been harvested and sold in the US in Christmas traditions, similar to European mistletoe. The specimen pictured below was collected in South Carolina in 1968, found attached to several oak species.
 
Picture
Comments

    RSS Feed

      Suggest a specimen!

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

    Archives

    January 2025
    October 2024
    January 2024
    September 2023
    May 2023
    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