Supporting botanical collections III.

Sheets at SLBI, ready for Chris to go through.
Image: C. Metherell.

More people are emailing about how they rely on herbaria. Chris Metherell is writing a BSBI handbook on Eyebrights Euphrasia and tells me that he has been visiting as many relevant herbaria as possible. 

Chris said, "The first chap in the UK to take an interest in the genus Euphrasia was Frederick Townsend, who I feel a particular affinity for, as he came from Bournemouth, my home town. I easily tracked his herbarium down to the South London Botanical Institute (SLBI) and made arrangements to visit. They were unfailingly helpful."  SLBI's herbarium and library are housed in a converted house in Tulse Hill (!) where SLBI hosts talks and training courses, and offers volunteering opportunities for botanists.

Chris continued, "I had checked up on what might be there, and was interested to read, in Peter Yeo's paper revising Euphrasia in the UK (1978) that several of the type specimens for the genus were missing from the Townsend herbarium. Pity, I thought, but there would obviously be other interesting stuff. Anyway, they had got all the Euphrasia sets ready for me. A pile about 4 feet high - excellent! 

Digitising sheets for Herbaria@Home.
Image: C. Metherell. 

"The top set happened to be E. foulaensis so I started there. Almost the first sheet I looked at turned out to be the missing type specimen for E. foulaensis! Yelp of excitement and much interest from the volunteers. It had been designated by Herbert Pugsley in the 1920s [Pugsley also published an earlier revision of Euphrasia in 1930]. I didn't have time to go through the whole Euphrasia collection, but there were lots of other gems. I'm sure no-one has looked at the Euphrasias since Pugsley in the 1920s. Oddly, Peter Yeo obviously never went, as he always wrote notes on specimens he appraised."

As SLBI specimens are now being digitised for Herbaria@Home, Chris can continue working on the Euphrasia records from his home in North Northumberland, where he is a VCR, but he laments, "The only downside is that I don't have the very welcoming SLBI volunteers feeding me coffee and biscuits!" Chris is also a lutenist, so maybe he could compose an ayre on 'Weeping beside sad fountains, for I am without custard creams' in the style of John Dowland?    

How does a botanist "get to work" (part three)

Botanists rowing to work at Malltraeth Marshes.
Image: Barry Wrightson.

The third in an occasional series.

Barry Wrightson, a BSBI member living in Ynys Mon (Anglesey) has sent me this photo showing how he and some fellow botanists travelled to Malltraeth Marsh recently to carry out a Callitriche survey. 

Barry tells me "We have (I think) record numbers of species of the difficult little blighters." 

Good luck with identifying them, Barry. I'm sure you'll be using Tim Rich's excellent Plant Crib and the BSBI handbook on Callitriche spp. aka Water-starworts. And as a BSBI member, you will be able to consult BSBI Referees to help you identify those "little blighters" with confidence!

Supporting botanical collections II. 

Helen Cleal volunteering at NMW.
Image: T. Rich.

Delighted to report that, over the past few days, I have been inundated with emails and photos showing how BSBI members are using, volunteering in and otherwise supporting their local herbaria!  

Several people have been in touch from Wales. Tim Rich sent this photo of one of his herbarium volunteers at NMW National Museum of Wales, which houses more than 250,000 specimens and welcomes volunteer curators. 

Paul Green (on right) at the Polypodium field meeting.
Image: Ceri Gait 2013. 

Acting Welsh Officer Paul Green uses the NMW herbarium a lot for his work. He told me, "I often check the specimens before I go out to survey a rare Welsh species to see if any extra info on the sheet can help me find the plant." 

Paul added, "I used the Polypodium specimens when I ran a workshop for the BSBI in March at the National Museum Wales." I was sorry I couldn't make it to that workshop, but hear it was very successful. One of the participants took these photographs of the workshop (below) and the follow-up field meeting (on right). 

Details of this year's workshops and training meetings will be up on the Meetings page this winter, but we will have a print-out listing all our 2014 meetings ready for you to take away at the AEM in November.

Polypodium Workshop 2013.
Image: Ceri Gait.

And Sarah Stille, VCR for Merioneth, has sent me her list of forthcoming training and recording meetings in Wales, including a proposed workshop at NMW in autumn 2014. Sarah's excellent Blog has details of what she is up to, or you can contact her (and other VCRs) via the email links on the Local Groups page. 

Sarah has been a longtime supporter of herbaria in general and BSBI's Herbaria@Home project in particular. She gave a presentation on the subject at the AEM 2010 and, at Meetings Committee the other week, Sarah agreed to offer a poster on H@H at this year's AEM. Please get in touch with me at publicity@bsbi.org.uk if you would also like to offer a poster at the AEM on how you use and support your local herbarium.

Supporting botanical collections.

University of Leicester Herbarium volunteers
Image: L. Marsh

Sue Townsend (Biodiversity Learning Manager at the Field Studies Council and an active BSBI member who sits on our Meetings & Communications Committee) has been in touch over an issue I feel very strongly about - herbarium/natural history collections and how we use and value them in these cash-straitened times. 

Herbarium sheet exhibited at Birdfair.
Image: R. Benskin

Sue tells me that she is to chair a plenary meeting at the Linnean Society on 18th September entitled: 'The role of museums and collections in biological recording'. The meeting is open to all: you have to register, but it only costs £15 for a full day of talks, and lunch is included in the price. 

More info here, with a programme listing all the speakers and subjects. Looks like a really interesting mixture, and apparently Tom Humphrey is also offering a poster on Herbaria@Home! 

Sue said "I have been part of the Taxonomy and Systematics Committee, and a repeated cry was that museums are suffering from lack of curators, and collections are coming under more and more pressure. This is an opportunity to make the case that collections and type specimens play a vital role in recording." 

Yes, Sue, I agree. Geoffrey Hall and I gave a talk to the BSBI AEM last November on this very subject, called 'Herbarium collections under threat: how should BSBI respond nationally and can local BSBI groups help?' 

You can see the abstract here and the slides here: http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/met/jds/cnhs/herbaria.pdf

LTR herbarium volunteer demonstrates
mounting to botany students.
Image: L. Marsh

Every herbarium sheet has a story behind it, as well as being a valuable scientific resource. The sheet in the image (above left) shows one such example, with its all-important label (above) stating where, when and by whom the specimen was found.

And those of you who watched the recent video about New Journal of Botany will have heard Richard Gornall explain how much he relies on herbarium volunteers in his role as Curator of the collection  (LTR) at University of Leicester. 

With cutbacks biting, herbarium collections are in a precarious situation, so maybe this is the time for botanists to go that extra mile and actively support local herbaria this autumn. 

BSBI President in online Q&A. 

Ian Denholm and Martin Godfrey at the BSBI AGM 2013
Photo: L. Marsh

Our President, Ian Denholm, is to appear in a live, on-line Q&A on the subject of 'What impact will UK biodiversity decline have?" For one hour on Wednesday, 18th September, starting at 2pm, Ian and other experts on the panel will be available to answer your questions. 

The event is organised by Sense About Science, who define themselves as "a charitable trust that equips people to make sense of scientific and medical claims in public discussion". 

More details here: http://www.senseaboutscience.org/ pages/biodiversity-decline.html and you can submit your questions via Twitter or email plantsci@senseaboutscience.org

Ian Denholm

Ian is used to helping people make sense of science (he is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Sciences at the University of Herts.) and his long experience as a research scientist (he spent decades running the Plant and Invertebrate Ecology Unit at Rothamsted Research) will also stand him in good stead. 

Ian can also draw on years of experience out in the field, seeing the impact of biodiversity decline at first hand. The photograph above shows him in typical field botanist's pose - on his knees in a wet field, in the rain, peering at a plant. And enjoying every minute of it!

So do check out the Q&A on the 18th September and maybe submit a question for our new President?

Talk by BSBI Vice-President

Horniman's Food Gardens
Image: Horniman Museum and Gardens

Roy Vickery, one of BSBI's Vice-Presidents, is leading a guided tour around the Horniman's Food Gardens in Forest Hill, London. 

Roy will be talking about the medicinal use of plants through the ages. 'Healing through cabbages, carrots and weeds' starts at 6pm next Monday, 9th September, lasts for an hour and costs £3.  

Find out more here:

Events - Visit - Horniman Museum and Gardens

Planning for the Annual Exhibition Meeting. 

Meetings & Communications Committee.
Photo: L. Marsh

BSBI's Meetings & Communications Committee met today in the Angela Marmont Centre at the Natural History Museum to plan future meetings (indoor and in the field) and to look at how we communicate what BSBI is doing to our members, the media, the wider public and the scientific community. Our new President, Ian Denholm, is also Chair of what was simply Meetings Committee until today, and has been a driving force behind recent publicity and outreach initiatives, so we all agreed this afternoon to change the name of the Committee to reflect this widening of its remit.

One item on today's agenda was to look at how preparations are going for this year's Annual Exhibition Meeting. We are holding the AEM in London this year, at the Natural History Museum on 23rd November, and the theme is Plants - Publicity - People. 

Ian Denholm and Uta Hamzaoui planning the AEM.
Photo: L. Marsh

Uta Hamzaoui is the Committee member co-ordinating the event. She is preparing a flyer about the AEM, which will go out to all members in the next issue of BSBI News, but the event is also open to anyone interested in the wildflowers of Britain and Ireland. I'll be posting details here about the AEM, and there will be info on the website soon, so non-members can see what is on offer and whether it's worth dropping in on 23rd November to find out more. 

The AEM features talks, posters, exhibits, presentations, natural history booksellers and all things botanical, as well as a chance to meet other botanists, from beginner to expert, and find out what BSBI has to offer. And it's free!