WVA Herbarium Newsletter Number 24 (2019-20) Donna Ford-Werntz, Herbarium Specialist, Editor Phone (304) 293-0794 West Virginia University Department of Biology PO Box 6057 Morgantown, WV 26506-6057 Fax (304) 293-6363 Life Sciences Building B2 email: [email protected] http://biology.wvu.edu/facilities/herbarium Names and Titles Herbarium Begins Two New Grants! The WVU Herbarium is featured in WV Invasive Plants and Fern Digitization an exhibit designed by English faculty Dr. Lara Farina for her "Art in the Libraries" grant. The display, entitled Two new multiyear WVU Herbarium digitize fern herbarium collections and "Big Green Data," opened fall 2019 in projects were funded in late 2018. The fossils. WVU Herbarium holdings are Wise Library room 1020 and will travel U.S. Forest Service awarded $12,000/ being sent to the University of North to other local sites in 2020. It covers year to support student labor for invasive Carolina (Chapel Hill) for processing. historical botanical depictions and plant plant research directed by Dr. Cindy In 2019, two dedicated volunteers, naming from antiquity through pre- Huebner. During the school year, work community member Mike Breiding and modern time. is at the WVU Herbarium and Evansdale student Rhiannon Newton, barcoded and The exhibit profiles important works greenhouse, while summer emphasizes packaged material for shipping. To date in B.C.E. philosophy, early medicine field studies. The goal is to document 2,445 fern specimens from foreign (herbal texts), medieval art, and Middle historical geographic patterns, as well as countries and non-southeastern U.S. Ages literature. Posters from the display to discern species growth parameters. states have been mailed. An additional are viewable online at researchrepository During the initial semesters, three 6,221 fern images were transferred from .wvu.edu/biggreen-exhibit. Take a look: students investigated seven non-native the SERNEC portal (see below left). go to image #14 to see WVU Herbarium species. Starting with existing WVU Label data from nearly 5,000 West portion! Herbarium records for West Virginia, Virginia fern collections previously Another highlight of 2019 is the they extended label databases to include transcribed will be linked to the project WVU Herbarium curator’s promotion all U.S. and foreign collections. After website at pteridoportal.org. from Associate to Full Service Professor. graduations, two more students are Dr. Ford-Werntz is very appreciative for continuing the work, expanding on the supportive external reviews provided Arthraxon hispidus and Polygonum WWII Plaque History by six colleagues, as well as approval caespitosum. Their focus has been to Clark Hall is best known as WVU’s from her WVU peers and supervisors. use the iDigBio specimen image portal chemistry building, but over 75 years It is interesting to reflect on past to transcribe labels from other online ago it also served as an herbarium activities in the context of 25 years total herbaria and to conduct greenhouse repository. This mostly forgotten story of WVU botany teaching and herbarium experiments. was recently reconstructed by Amy work. It has been a joy to interact with The WVU Herbarium is one of 39 Weiss of the New York Botanical talented students in their plant studies, facilities participating in a three year, Garden (NYBG), who provided the assist knowledgeable scientists with NSF funded pteridophyte specimens following information. research projects, and provide programs grant. This nearly $3 million award, After the World War II Pearl Harbor and information for the general public. distributed among nine centers, is to bombing, there was concern of possible future attack on the American mainland. The NYBG Herbarium decided to move its most valuable materials inland to SE Flora Digitization Project Results safer storage. NYBG’s Henry Gleason wrote to his colleague P.D. Strausbaugh The WVU Herbarium imaged more In total, 115 herbaria from the 12- at WVU, who arranged to house the than 92,000 southeastern U.S. plant state southeastern region have over 4.7 items in the Chemistry Building (later collections during the five year NSF million specimens publicly available. renamed Clark Hall). “Keys to the Cabinet” grant. In the final Of these, 89% are imaged, and the By May 1942, the first boxes of year of digitization about 20,000 West number of georeferenced collections is NYBG Herbarium type specimens and Virginia dicotyledon specimens (through more than 421,000. These figures other important collections were at family #227, Umbelliferae) were surpass the original grant goals, though WVU. In addition, NYBG also sent rare photographed by undergraduate Emily more work remains to be done. books and the papers of John Torrey and McDougal. Work-study student Information contained in the resulting Nathaniel Britton (famous New York Matthew Sheik did ongoing label data database has numerous applications for botanists). A total of about 38 boxes entry for West Virginia species in 2019. field botany and plant community arrived and were stored at WVU through The WVU Herbarium SE U.S. flora studies. It is particularly useful for both September 1944. Following return of records represent 4,639 species from endangered and invasive species the specimens, NYBG commissioned a 1,314 genera in 223 families. To see management, as well as large scale plaque to be sent to WVU in thanks. WVU Herbarium uploads, as well as modeling of regional biodiversity and Due to a shortage of bronze after the those from Marshall University (nearly climate change impacts. Other war, the plaque did not arrive at WVU 42,000 specimens) go to sernecportal. outcomes from the project include until December 1948. It is still in place org. West Virginia Wesleyan College significant staff and student training, as today on the side of Clark Hall facing has digitized over 21,700 collections, well as public outreach through citizen the Wise Library as a testament to this which are also posted online. science volunteer involvement. past botanical collaboration.

West Virginia University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution.