Fall 2010

Nothing new (botanically) under the sun?

One would think in this age of Blu-Ray technology, instant information access, and glob- al environmental awareness, that something as seemingly mundane as an understanding of the life of would have been figured out by now. Well, that hasn’t hap- pened. South Carolina is a very “dynamic” state in terms of natural ecosystems, and enjoys a remarkable diversity of plant species. The list of known native species in the state is not a static one, as additional taxa are located and catalogued, most often from unusual or un- common natural habitats. The process of recognizing and describing new to science has had a long history in Lake Jocassee, but very recently, this state, at least as far back as this plant has shown up in ponds in 1788, and new species are still be- Lexington and Charleston Counties. ing described. To date, treatments with herbicides Non-native species, as a result have been effective in eliminat- of an array of environmental fac- ing this plant, but pesticides are tors and human manipulation, are expensive, and potentially danger- showing up increasingly as well. ous. Better strategies for avoiding Although such plants are not “na- problems with this plant, and other tive”, they still figure importantly aquatic weeds—the list is grow- into the contemporary plant life of ing!—would involve prevention a given region, and plenty of new rather thanLeptochloa treatment. panicoides imports have been recently docu- mented. Here are a few examples 2. , of plant species recently receiving “Amazon sprangletop”. Native to attentionNymphoides at the Herbarium. peltata wetlands of Brazil and Mesoamer- ica, this handsome grass occurs 1. , “yel- in the Mississippi River drainage, low floating heart”. This beautiful apparently naturally, from western aquatic species is native to South Illinois to the Gulf Coast. It was America, but has become popular recently collected (Autumn 2009) for home aquaria and water gar- A thriving population of yellow floating heart in alongNelson US 27097 601 near, 28056 the) Congaree dens. Unfortunately, when plants Lexington County. Close-up photo by Chris Gladis. River, where it grew prolificallyLepto - are discarded or “released” into (chloa . Neil Snow, creeks and ponds, they tend to an authority on the genus show their dark side, rapidly working at the Bishop Mu- multiplying as serious invasive pests. Small ponds may seum Herbarium in Hawaii, has confirmed the identity of be covered by thick growths of this species, which leads the SC plants. The presence of this grass in SC may not be to light diminution, among other things. We have speci- particularly surprising, and it should be monitored, espe- mens of yellow floating heart from several years ago in cially concerning any potential it may have as an agricul- tural weed. 1 Continued from page 1

Stachys

3. is a genus in the mint family, and has been the subject of study by John Nelson. It turns out that an unusual, previously unrecog- nized species has been collected from a total of two populations in SC, both in association with the lower Santee River, in Charleston and Georgetown Counties. The plants are distinctive in the genus, with velvety, soft pu- bescence, white corollas, and obtuse lower . The name of this new species will be shortly forthcoming. As a new species, it will prove to be absolutely endemic to South Carolina, growing nowhere else in the world, Amazon sprangletop, newly reported from and one of the world’s rarest plants. Could this hedge-nettle be one of he world’s South Carolina. rarest plants?

Ghosts of dueOclemena to a taxonomic acuminata revision of North Recently, Heritage Trust staff Collections Past American asters and is now known embarked on a survey expedition Shed New Light as Flora(Michaux) to the Blue Wall Preserve in search Greene or ‘whorled aster’. Oddly of several rare plant species. Man- on Previously enough, Weakley’s also had no aged by The Nature Conservancy, the record of this plant in South Carolina. Preserve harbors a variety of natural Undocumented Since no other published plant communities which include Species in South sources seemed to indicate that the several ‘narrow’ endemics (plants whorled aster had ever been docu- known only from a few areas in the Carolina mented to occur in South Carolina, world). The Preserve is also very inquiries were made to regional her- close to the abandoned Boy Scout baria including those at UNC Chapel Camp mentioned on the specimens Hill, Clemson and Furman University at Furman. Given the proximity of the During Heritage Trust survey to see if there were any unreported survey site to the known localities work, mystery plants are often col- specimens in their collections. of the historic whorled aster collec- lected for later identification at the While no SC specimen of the whorled tions, the survey team paused for a USC Herbarium. On one such collect- aster was found in the collections at close inspection of a cluster of curi- ing expedition to a site near Caesar’s Clemson and the UNC, Furman had ous plants that stood next to a small Head known for a federally-endan- two! Correspondence with Joe Pol- stream crossing. Noting the strong gered lichen species, Heritage staff lard, Curator of the Ives Herbarium serrate margins, prominent collected an odd looking aster. After at Furman, revealed that both speci- petioles and corymbiformOclemena clusters of the specimen was pressed and dried, mens were collected in the vicinity floweringacuminata. heads, it was evident that Herrick BrownManual set about of the the Vascular task of of an old Boy Scout Camp near the these were, as suspected, keyingFlora of out the the Carolinas species using the clas- border. Interestingly, While herbarium speci- sic reference one of the specimens was collected mens played a vital role in locating by Radford,Aster by Wade Batson (our own Dr. B!) more populations of whorled aster in Ahlesacuminatus and Bell (1968). Surprisingly during his undergraduate studies at South Carolina, they did not foretell the specimenManual appeared to be Furman. The other specimen was the extent to which this species was Michaux, which accord- collected by Albert Radford (also as distributed. Along nearly the entire ing to the was not known an undergraduate), but ironicallyManual this stretch of the Palmetto Trail that then to occur in SouthFlora Carolina. of the The specimen was apparently forgotten runs through the Blue Wall Preserve, specimenSouthern and was Mid-Atlantic then keyed usingStates a during his work on the 1968 . several miles, visitors may witness working draft of the These important historic collections the beauty of whorled asters whose by alerted Heritage Trust staff to the occurrence in South Carolina is still Alan Weakley (2009), and while the possibility of locating more whorled poorly understood. specimen was determined to be the 2 aster populations in South Carolina. same species, its genus had changed Inter-Agency Partnerships them in making management deci- of Converse College. Unprocessed sions. specimens, our “works in progress” Play a Vital Role Heritage Trust staff will con- numberFlorascope about 10,000 specimens. tinue to document the occurrence of Over the last year, and since the last in Rare Species rare and threatened species. Future , we have mounted and ac- Conservation efforts will focus on properties held cessioned slightly more than 1,200 by the South Carolina Department of new sheets. Most of our new addi- Natural Resources. The Herbarium tions arise from field work in South and its Collections Database will play Carolina, notably by staff of the SC a significant role in supplying useful With support from the United Heritage Trust Program, as well as data to help direct field survey activi- States Fish and Wildlife Service from material sent to us on exchange ties. (USFWS), SC DNR HeritageEchinacea Trust stafflae- Herbarium by other herbaria. Thirteen loans recentlyvigata concluded a five-year survey have been made in this calendar year, of smooth coneflower ( Partnership with with a total of 651 specimens sent ) populations in South Caroli- to other researchers for study. Ap- na. Listed as Endangered by USFWS, South Carolina PRT proximately one-third of the Ravenel smooth coneflower is the eastern- Collection has been repaired and ac- most representative of a genus pre- cessioned, and is now available for dominantly found in the prairies of study and loan. On February 26, staff from the the American West. It is thought that As an example, we were fortu- A. C. Moore Herbarium attended the past forestry practices and urbaniza- nate recently to have the leading ex- second annual SC State Parks “All tion have been largely responsible pert on North American hawthorns, Taxa Biodiversity Inventory” (ATBI) for habitat degradation which has Dr. James Phipps at the UniversityCrataegus of Partners Meeting and will continue left this species with a tenuous exis- Western , borrow and anno- to serve in an advisory capacity with tence. One might not readily imagine tate a large majority of the particular respect to botanical in- prairie-like clearings on the hills of withinAnacardiaceae the Ravenel herbarium. Simi- ventories, associated data collection, upstate South Carolina, but in fact larly, we sent all of the specimens and database development. SC Parks, they are a natural phenomenon his- of (poison ivy and Recreation and Tourism (SCPRT) will torically maintained by wildfires pos- sumacs) for Dr. Susan Pell’s study be using Specify 6 to manage its data, sibly sparked from lightning strike or at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden’s with assistance from the herbarium. set by Native Americans. Soil chem- Herbarium. Making these specimens Specify 6 has proven to be a powerful istry may also play an important part available to other scientists would tool in collections management, and in maintaining these unique upland surely have pleased Ravenel, a gradu- can be of great benefit in facilitating communities. ate of South Carolina College, as he access to historic specimen records. After field work was completed, intended for his amassed specimens Further, SCPRT’s application of Speci- data compilation began. In addition toI be shall used be andglad studied: to have my old Alma fy 6 potentially uses some methods of to corroborating existing records in Mater, to be the custodian of [the] data collection and entry that could the Heritage Trust Database, Heritage collection-- the labors of my life. be employed by the herbarium staff staff examined the label information as a means of expediting specimen on smooth coneflower specimens in — processing. This partnership holds the A. C. Moore Herbarium. Several from the personal journal of H. W. great potential with respect to devel- other species of federal concernCarex radwere- Ravenel, 1875. opment of state wide data standards alsofordii part of the herbarium searchCarex in - and enhancing the utility of Specify cluding:amplisquama Radford’s sedge ( One other number is of interest: 6 as a means of enhancing the acces- ), FortSmilax Mountain biltmoreana sedge ( 484. This is the number of separate sibility of the herbarium’s collection ), SisyrinchiumBiltmore’s carrion dichoto - plant identification requests we information. This partnership also flowermum ( ), and the have had this calendar year through holds the potential for internships white irisette ( October 11. Identifying plants has with SCPRT and student projects in ). As a result of the herbarium become one of our hallmark public the herbarium. specimen survey, Heritage staff was Everyone likes services, and we intend to continue able to identify about 25 previously this offering indefinitely. Our service undocumented occurrences for these Numbers is completely free, and available to species of interest. Since many of the public. these populations are found on fed- You may have houseplant, a erally held lands within the Sumter weed, or perhaps a tree or shrub National Forest, this new information The A. C. Moore Herbarium now from your yard or garden that Floraneeds- was then provided to United State includes approximately 120,000 col- toscope. be identified. See contact informa- Forest Service personnel to assist lected specimens, including 6,512 tion at the end of this issue of within the H. W. Ravenel Collection 3 Specimens of poison ivy, pioson oak and poison sumac got a lot of Herbarium Outreach attention at the Sparkleberry Fair. Henry Michael Powell Memorial Garden 2010 USC Sci- cess for the enceSeveral and Engineering SC high school Fair, students participating in the at the Hampton-Preston held Mansion. While plans for annually at USC’s Columbia campus, the garden are still evolv- toured the Herbarium on March 19. ing, we are excited about These students represent some of the ideas that have surfaced SC’s most promising young scientists. over the past six months and (Editor’s note: We hope that some of look forward to seeing this them grow up to become botanists!) special children’s area de- Several of the students were veloped within the historic from Spring Valley High School, and Hampton-Preston Gardens. they had learned that Dale Soblo, project, which is funded by the Commission on Higher Education their teacher, had a number of plant USC and Clemson set aside their specimens in the Herbarium. Dale and presented by USC’s Center for differencesSparkleberry for a day while Country the Her Fair- Science Education and Longleaf was a graduate student at Clem- barium sponsored a table at the 15th son in the 1980s, studying under Environmental Learning Center in annual conjunction with the Georgetown John Fairey. Most of the specimens at the Clemson Sandhill Research and at Moore Herbarium that Dale col- County School District, is designed Education Center in northeast Co- to help early childhood educators lected came from his project site at lumbia on April 24, 2010. In spite of Stony Landing State Park, in Berkeley integrate the local environment into rain, over 25,000 people attended the their lessons and use outdoor class- County. Those students really got a fair and enjoyed exhibits, food, car- charge out of seeing their teacher’s nival rides, and performances while specimens. learning about the theme of “Agri- Satchel culture, Past and Present.” Plantman FordThe Elementary USC Herbarium School’s made Science its made a special appearance to iden- thirdFair annual appearance at tify mystery plants for the public, and Dr. John Nelson, Curator, and Chanda on April 16. With Collections Cooper were on hand to answer Manager Chanda Cooper on hand to questions about the Herbarium and answer students’ questions about to pass out the ever-popular Herbari- Georgetown County school teachers get how plant specimens are prepared, um bumper stickers. hands-on experience with plant identification. what botanists do every day, and why herbaria are important, K-5 students On April 27, ChandaGeorge Cooper- were able to learn about various bo- representedtown/Horry the County Herbarium Master at Gar the- tanical “tools of the trade,” watch a monthlydeners meeting of the herbarium specimen being prepared, rooms to foster student learning. Now in its third year, the Project has and discover several interesting . Several herbarium speci- plants growing in their schoolyard. served 37 teachers at eight schools mens, including one from the Henry and will reach 15 more teachers at W. Ravenel Collection of Converse In March, the Historic Columbia three more schools in its fourth and College and several from the his- final session in the 2011-2012 school Foundation invited the USC Herbar- toric azalea collection of Brookgreen ium to be a part of the planning pro- year. Chanda Cooper represented the Gardens, were put on display while Herbarium at two three-day summer Cooper answered questions workshops in June and July, provid- about the Herbarium’s op- ing botanical training and tips for erations and the collection integrating schoolyard flora into the and preservation of plant curriculum, and conducted flora sur- specimens. veys at three participating elemen- taryHistoric schools Columbia in September. Foundation Nature-BasedThe Herbarium Inquiry con- March 5, 6 tinuesProject to be a partner in the Chanda Cooper. This explains four-year the John Nelson was invited to rep- science—and art—of making plant specimens. resent the A. C. Moore Herbarium

4 at the annual Historic Columbia their interactions and the human Foundation meeting. This was the impact on the natural environment. Foundation’s 3rd Annual Garden- Published Graduates are expected to devote ing Symposium, entitled “A Natu- in 1871, 24-36 hours per year in service ac- ral Pastime: Gardening in South Ravenel’s tivities that promote environmental Carolina”. Dr. Nelson’s presenta- “The stewardship, exposing themselves to tion was entitled “Henry William Southern Gardener” was natural, scientific and/or educational Ravenel: the 19th Century Gar- one of several settings. “Herbarium Volunteer”... dening Scene in South Carolina”. gardening “Master Naturalist needing service Important within this presenta- books designed hours”...could these two people be tion was the historic change for homes and private gardens. one and the same? in growing plants for purely Courtesy Thomas For Susan Creed, a 2008 gradu- utilitarian reasons in private Cooper Library, ate of the Master Naturalist program, gardens, to the increasing use Rare Books & this match came at a very good time. Special Collections. of ornamental species, espe- Stimulated while cially “new” cultivars. Addi- a student in tionally, this talk pointed out USC’s Fall Flora the change in gardening as a preoc- class (BIOL 526, cupation suited mostly for women, in 2009), Susan to a more equitable outlay of time, first inclination toward working here during the class field trip to see the looked for an op- both industrious and recreational, for portunity to meet both sexes. Primary sources included collection. After entering thousands of her service re- works available from the Thomas quirements and at Susan Creed, a Cooper Library’s Rare Books and records into the database, he now masterful naturalist thinks of himself as something of a the same time in- and herbarium Special Collections. Of course, numer- crease her botanical assistant! ous examples of cultivated plants of Latin expert, not to mention German and Swedish! exposure. Presto! the time were available in the Rav- An Herbarium Vol- enel Collection of Converse College, Master Naturalist unteer was born. and these images were perfect for For Susan, a number of things illustrating this fascinating construct Finds Rewarding make the Herbarium a rewarding between botany and social history. place to be. It’s great to be able to A tour of the Herbarium was Hours as Herbarium have a part in the scientific and edu- provided on Saturday to a nicely- Volunteer cational mission of the Herbarium. sized crowd. At this time the speci- It’s satisfying to handle plant speci- mens from Ravenel’s collection were mens, to mount them properly, and to on display, along with the acces- try to identify them. And, not least, sioned material of the main collec- Among its various missions, the it’s pleasant and stimulating to work tion. Herbarium is involved in an array of with people of similar interests who A new face In the educational offerings. One of these are willing to share their knowledge Herbarium offerings involves hands-on teach- and experience with one who values ing for volunteer helpers. this gift. Over the years, the A. C. Each Tuesday Moore Herbarium has afternoon Susan We present to you Mr. Allen been fortunate to looks forward to Hord, who has been our data man- have a “small army” her time in the Her- agement specialist for just over a of dedicated help- barium. Two hours year now. He comes from Green- ers. Very recently, well spent. A good wood, SC. Allen is a USC graduate, we partnered with match. She recom- and a former biology major with an Clemson University’s mends it to others. emphasis in bota- Master Naturalist (Editor’s note: ny, who graduat- Program. There is always ed in 2008. While The Master Natu- something interesting an undergradu- ralist program provides happening in the Her- ate, Allen was no a natural “habitat”, so to barium, and we could always stranger to the speak, for those who love the natural use assistance for various projects. Herbarium, as world and want to make a difference If you are interested in volunteering, part of the Spring in its future. Students’ goals in this call us at 803-777-8196. For more Flora (BIOL 527) program are to increase their knowl- on Clemson’s Master Naturalist Pro- class, and got his edge of (mainly) South Carolina’s gram, call (864)656-4859.) 5 plants, animals, and ecosystems, Plantman makes rare appearances We appreciate these very kind That indefatigable botanical make surprise appearances at vari- gifts! superhero, Plantman, continues to ous public events. Plantman’s goals, amaze us. As you might expect, iden- beyond identifying plants for people, tifying plants for people all over the is to increase awareness of the im- world (the universe!) is a very time- portance of botanical diversity both During 2010, the A. C. Moore consuming job, and yet he is able to globally and locally, and to get people Herbarium received very generous spend as much time at his home base, excited about learning more about gifts from a wide variety of friends the A. C. Moore Herbarium, as he plant life. He is available for K-12 and supporters. The W. T. Batson can. Even better, he has been able to classroom meetings with schools, as Endowment for the A. C. Moore well as with gardeners and other “ap- Herbarium continues to benefit the plied” botanists. Due to his very tight activities within the herbarium; gifts schedule, it may be difficult to book made to the herbarium are managed him, but arrangements may be made within USC’s Educational Foundation, through the herbarium, by calling and are made available as needed. either Chanda Cooper or John Nelson For instance, salaries for part-time at 803-777-8196. employees at the Moore Herbarium are supported entirely through the Endowment, as are day-to-day purchases of supplies (rub- ber stamps, minor computer accessories, etc.) as well as major acquisitions such as herbarium paper, archival glue, other expendable sup- plies, and computer software and hardware. Our heartfelt thanks go to those who have made donations in these eco- nomically trying times. Our list of supporters now includes the Lexington County Master Gardeners Association and the SC Mid- lands Master Gardeners As- sociation. The A. C. Moore Herbarium applied for grants and was funded through both of groups. As a result of their very gener- Clockwise from top left: In August, Plantman ous donations to our greeted Kate Goodrich at the Botany 2010 meetings in Providence, RI. Kate received Endowment, we have her PhD degree from USC in 2005 under the been able to make a direction of Rob Raguso. major purchase of her- barium paper, shipping In conjunction with McKissick Museum’s “Grass Roots” exhibition, Basket Day was boxes, cardboard ven- held in April. Plantman swooped down to tilators (for pressing explain the botanical importance of the plant specimens), as enduring tradition involved in making grass well as a video camera. baskets along the Southeast coast. We hope to generate Aspiring young botanists were charmed informative videos by Plantman’s phytological ways at the Plantman surprised everyone by showing up of botanical subjects, Sparkleberry Country Fair, held at the at the September 14 live airing of SC ETV’s including field trips, Clemson Sandhill Research and Education award-winning Making it Grow! series. Here and make these avail- Center in April. So much interesting plant he is with Amanda McNulty --and her hat-- as “things” to examine! well as John Nelson, the “Mystery Doctor with able through our web site. And, these the Mystery Plant”. donations have provided us with enough start-up hardware to begin digitizing our collection. 6 Specify 6 the Herbarium has experienced with College Herbarium to begin catalog- A bigger, better this effort was duly noted by Specify ing its collection of about 20,000 software staff and other regional specimens in its own database database. institutions who recently have been maintained on a server at the Moore able to incorporate the 94,000 name Herbarium. Under this configuration, taxon tree developed by herbarium staff at the Newberry College Herbar- staff into their own Specify 6 data- ium was able to install Specify 6 and Migration of the A. C. Moore bases. This sets USC as a source for login in less than 20 minutes. This Herbarium database from Specify 5 regional nomenclatural standards. accomplishment is a proof of concept to Specify 6 was completed for ap- Given the flexibility of Specify 6, us- that such an arrangement significant- proximately 70,000 specimen re- ers can login securely and enter data ly reduces the amount of IT resources cords. During the transformation, a from anywhere in the world. This needed for remote data contributors few data cleanup tasks were easily feature has made possible a pilot pro- to successfully begin their collection accomplished as well. The success gram which will allow the Newberry information in a database. And the Winner Is…

The results are in from the first-ever Moore Herbarium Picturing Plants Art Contest! We received over 50 entries, and boy, was it tough choosing a winner! To help with the judging, we enlisted plant scientist Dr. Beth Professor Beth Krizek of USC’s Krizek, Thoreau scholar and scientific illustrator Dr. Laura Walls, and USC Department of Biological Sciences First Lady Patricia Pastides. First-, second-, and third-placeA Guide winnersto the Wildflow were - served as one of the judges. erschosen of South in two Carolina age categories, and several honorable mentions were also awarded. First-place prize packs included a copy of (USC Press, 2002), a plant press, and a florascope. Con- gratulations to all of our winnersWinners and entrants! in the 9-and-under age category:

st 1 Place: Alyssa Launi, Age 7, West- mont, IL (Shown Left) nd 2 Place: Kathleen Conrad, age 5, Columbia, SC rd 3 Place: Michael Kaufmann, ageWinners 7, Columbia, in the SC 10 to 14 age category:

Mason Thigpen, age 11, Columbia, SC (Shown Right)

Taylor Wideman, age 14, Columbia, SC

Jamison Wright, age 11, Columbia, SC 7 We Need Your Help! made by check, written out to “USC Educational Founda- tion”, and with a note reading “Batson Endowment-Moore If you have received this newsletter in the mail, it Herbarium”--those four words are important! Checks may be because you have taken advantage of the Her- may be mailed directly to: barium’s free plant identification service. This service continues to be free for all citizens, and we intend that it A. C. Moore Herbarium will always be available free of charge, with no request Department of Biological Sciences “limit” from users. University of South Carolina You may be interested in supporting the Herbarium Columbia SC 29208 through a donation to our Endowment. Funds from the [email protected] Endowment are regularly used to support student em- If you would prefer not to receive this newsletter, ployees and to acquire equipment and supplies. Your please call 803-777-8196 or email so donation is, of course, tax-deductible. Donations may be that we can remove your name from the mailing list.

A. C. MOORE

at the University of South Carolina

Volume 5 Issue 1

Editor...... John Nelson Identification...... Plantman Layout...... Tim Donahue

website: www.herbarium.org email: [email protected] 803/777-8196

A. C. Moore Herbarium Department of Biological Sciences University of South Carolina Coker Life Sciences Columbia, SC 29208

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