Mason Heberling

nUnnamed, but not forgotten!
 
Today, we celebrate the 9th birthday of this specimen...that was collected 36 years ago.
 
This specimen was collected on leap day, February 29, 1984 in Brazil by Keiichi Mizoguchi.
 
Fun fact: The Carnegie Museum herbarium includes 85 specimens collected on leap day, collected between 1872 until 1990.  That’s a lot of leap years!
 
Aside from it being collected on leap day, the specimen label might seem even more unique.  Where most herbarium specimen labels have the species name, this one is blank. A big blank spot. The collector did not identify this specimen, nor has anyone else in the past 36 years (yet).  This is an “indetermined” or unidentified specimen.  It is filed in the sunflower family (Asteraceae) based on its flowers, but it is otherwise not identified.
 
We can’t forget about these unidentified specimens.  Especially those collected on leap day!
 
Specimens in the herbarium are arranged by plant family, then genus, then geography (where it was collected), and in nearly every genus, at the bottom of all these folders is a black colored folder labelled “undetermined” (also called “indet.”) that includes those specimens that have not yet been identified to species.  Of the over 525,000 specimens in the Carnegie Museum herbarium, about 2% (= 10,588 specimens), are not (yet) identified to species.
 
This specimen is most likely a member of a species already known to science, but an expert has not yet identified this particular specimen yet.  However, many undetermined specimens may be undescribed (that is, new to science!).  The name and description of new species (alpha taxonomy) is a major purpose of herbaria.  A study in 2010 estimated that of the estimated 70,0000 species yet to be described, over HALF are lying in herbaria right now!  They also found that only 16% of new species descriptions were done within 5 years of specimen collection, and 25% of new species descriptions involved specimens that were more than 50 years old!
Study abstract here: http://www.pnas.org/content/107/51/22169.abstract
 
Taxonomy (branch of science on classification of organisms) is always changing.  Species names are changed, what was once thought to be one plant species or family is split into many, and what was thought to several species is lumped into one.  And with further information or upon review by experts in particular plant groups. specimens are determined to be a different species than what the original collector called it.  Annotation labels are added to specimens all the time – these labels revise the species listed on the original label.  A typical annotation label includes the revised species name and details, the name of the person making the annotation, and the date.
 
Some specimens can have many annotations, which nicely demonstrates the community culture of science as a process with constant revision as we learn more about the world around us.
 
Find this specimen here: http://midatlanticherbaria.org/portal/collections/individual/index.php?occid=12339031&clid=0

Check back, maybe it'll have a species name on it by next leap year!

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Well, please don’t, really. This is a scientific specimen.
 
This tobacco specimen was collected in Ecuador by Hendrik Balslev on February 21 1984. Hendrik Balslev is now a professor at Aarhus University, Denmark, who studies the taxonomy and ethnobotany of plants of the Amazon. This specimen was planted by the Secoya tribe in the “area of tropical rainforest.” The Secoya are a group of indigenous peoples, with a distinct culture and language, living in the Amazon regions of Ecuador and Peru.
 
Tobacco refers to more than 70 species of plants in the genus Nicotiana. In the nightshade family (Solanaceae), tobacco is related to deadly nightshade, potatoes, and tomatoes. They famously contain the addictive alkaloid stimulant chemical nicotine. Nicotine is a neurotoxin for insects, produced by plant for its insecticide properties.  For that reason, tobacco has also been used as an insecticide.
 
Tobacco is a culturally important plant, far beyond a pack of cigarettes. The commonly cultivated species is Nicotiana tabacum. Tobacco has rich, long history of medicinal and traditional use in the Americas, especially Mesoamerica and Caribbean, and with many native American tribes growing and using tobacco for centuries. It was used for smoking, in religious ceremonies, socially, as a sign of peace (peace pipes), as a good for trade, and more. There is evidence suggesting its cultivation in Mexico as early as 1500 BC.
 
When Europeans arrived in the Americas, tobacco was quickly prized and popularized in Europe.  Tobacco was influential in European colonization in North America, becoming a major cash crop. Tobacco was important to the history of the United States, but with a dark side. Many of America’s founding fathers had tobacco plantations, mostly operated through slave labor. The cultivation of tobacco fueled the early slave trade in 17th and 18th century America.  The number of slaves from Africa in the Chesapeake region (Virginia) and North Carolina increased greatly.   
 
A complicated plant – botanically and culturally.
 
Find this specimen and more here: http://midatlanticherbaria.org/portal/collections/list.php?db=328&catnum=CM321082&othercatnum=1

There's something unique about this specimen. There's a certain aesthetic to the folded, smile-like arrangement of the winter collected stem bent back and forth around the sheet. Fruit pods in the corner. Maybe it is just me.

This specimen of Maryland senna (Senna marilandica), also called wild senna, was collected by Joe Isaac and Mike Takacs on Febrary 15, 2006 in Freeport Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania. 

Wild senna flowers is semi-shrub/herbaceous perennial native to the US, primarily in the midwest and southerneastern states.  It flowers in the summer that develop into characteristic pea-pod like fruits, which makes sense since it is in the pea/legume family (Fabaceae).

It is a species of conservation concern in Pennsylvania, tracked by the state as Rare. More here. 

​Herbarium specimens are critical to determining whether a species is rare or not.

Find this specimen image online at http://midatlanticherbaria.org/portal/collections/list.php?db=328&catnum=CM469516&othercatnum=1​

​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
​

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

 Now this is a festive specimen!

This specimen of Polystichum acrostichoides, commonly known as Christmas fern, was collected on December 25, 2008 in the woods in Savage, Maryland by Wayne Longbottom.  I assume the collector was also singing carols while putting this specimen in the plant press.  Christmas fern is a common fern in our woods and fairly easy to recognize. Its name comes from the fact that it is an evergreen perennial, with green fronds even in the winter, including Christmas.  
 
 
Find this specimen and more here:
http://midatlanticherbaria.org/portal/collections/list.php?db=all&catnum=CM537982&othercatnum=1

Happy Thanksgiving! And what’s screams fall more than pumpkin?
 
And this specimen isn’t just any specimen – it is the museum’s first official Anthropocene collection. A 2,090.5 pound squash, in fact. The Anthropocene, or Age of Humanity, is the proposed current time period marked by pervasive and long-term human impact on the Earth’s systems. The mark of human influence is now so great, that the effects will be present in the geological record millions of years from now. The Anthropocene is a core focus for the museum, drawing together many areas of research, education, and scholarship. These Anthropocene initiatives were launched, in part, through the 2017-2018 exhibition We Are Nature: Living in the Anthropocene. At the time of the exhibition’s opening, a gigantic squash was on display in the museum’s courtyard. This 2,090.5 pound pumpkin is a striking visual of the influence of humans on plant evolution in the Anthropocene.
 
But these huge pumpkins are not easy to grow.  This specimen was from a plant grown in Ellwood City, PA by Dave and Carol Stelts. When they came to the museum to harvest seeds for next year, Bonnie Isaac, Collection Manager of Botany, collected a specimen for the herbarium. As you might guess, even the pieces don’t fit nicely on a typical herbarium sheet, but instead stored in the 3D fruit collection.
 
Species in the genus Cucurbita (including pumpkins, gourds, squashes) were domesticated by humans in North America about 10,000 years ago.  That is, they were cultivated in gardens, likely first selected for the use of their durable rinds (anthropological evidence for gourds used as containers for drinking) and later as a food source. Most Cucurbita species went extinct around this time, coinciding with the extinction of large mammals that these species relied upon to spread their seeds.  Their fruits were unpalatable to the smaller herbivores that did not go extinct. Ironically, it is human hunters, paired with climate change, that led to the extinction of large herbivores in North America.  Modern day pumpkins have adapted to the Anthropocene.
 
This Anthropocene specimen isn’t your Halloween jack-o-lantern or pie pumpkin, which is Cucurbita pepo, but the related Cucurbita maxima, which can be grown to enormous sizes with skill and effort.
 
Find this specimen and more here: http://midatlanticherbaria.org/portal/collections/list.php?db=328&catnum=CM312111&othercatnum=1

Cranberries are a holiday staple. Fresh or canned, the choice is yours. But where do they come from? 
 
The cranberry on your table is most likely the American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon), a short trailing evergreen shrub native. The species is native to northeastern/northcentral North America. They are grown commercially in human-made ponds (often called cranberry bogs) that are well irrigated.  They are harvested in two ways.   If the fruit is used for juices, sauces, or  dried, the ponds are flooded in the fall for harvesting (the fruit floats).  For use  as fresh cranberries,  the fruit is harvest dry.
 
Check out this cool specimen of cranberry, collected by Millie Turner in 1928 between Saxonburg and Freeport, Pennsylvania near Cypher farm.  Cypher farm still exists today,  operated by the same family  for over 100 years.
 
What is especially neat about this specimen is a note attached that reads “...80 ten quart  pails of these berries were picked at one time from  this bog.”
 

Now that’s a lot of cranberry sauce!  
 
Find this specimen and more cranberries here: 
​ http://midatlanticherbaria.org/portal/collections/list.php?db=328&taxa=Vaccinium+macrocarpon&usethes=1&taxontype=2

Look carefully in the fall diorama of a bog in northwestern Pennsylvania in the Hall of Botany to see cranberries as they’d appear in the wild.

Which hazel? This one!
 
Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is such a cool species for many reasons, but especially because of its unique flowering phenology. Witch hazel has striking yellow flowers in the fall, blooming as the leaves drop. Check out this flowering specimen collected in the back of Allegheny Cemetery (Pittsburgh) on November 16, 1884 by John Shafer, who would later be the first custodian of the Carnegie Museum herbarium (1897-1904) before moving to the New York Botanical Garden. Shafer graduated from the Pittsburgh
School of Pharmacy at the age of 18 (now part of University of Pittsburgh) and many of the oldest specimens collected in and around Pittsburgh were collected by him.  Shafer was influential in the early growth of the Carnegie  Museum herbarium, including facilitating donations of specimens dating back to early 1800s and donating his own collection.  You can see from this label that this specimen was from the herbarium of the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania (which became part of the Carnegie Museum herbarium).
 
Find this specimen and more here: http://midatlanticherbaria.org/portal/collections/individual/index.php?occid=12026676&clid=0