The Art & Science of Plant & Fungi Herbarium Collections

After several months of bare tree branches, I am ready for the arrival of spring and with it returning to Colorado’s flower filled natural areas. The gardeners I know spend these short days and long cold nights perusing seed and plant catalogs to gear up for the next season.

In lieu of shiny catalogs, botanists, like myself, and mycologists work with specimens (mycologists study organisms in the kingdom Fungi). Specimens are individual plants or fungi that have been dried and archived into a collection. These plants and fungal specimens are collected as part of a scientific study to document species diversity and distribution.

The specimens themselves serve as a voucher or as a representative of the population for future botanical and mycological research. For botanists, anxious to get out into the field, specimens allow us to continue our work even when the plants or fungi are dormant for the season. Likely for this reason, in the 1500’s, the Italian botanist and physician Luca Ghini developed the practice of preserving plants by pressing and drying them when freshly collected, and then  
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Another successful field season for the Research & Conservation department

The changing of the seasons is marked in the Research & Conservation department not only by the fact that the days are getting noticeably shorter, but by the fact that we have all returned indoors for the year. The growing and collecting season has dwindled for our botanists and mycologists, and we are now busy processing and analyzing the fruits of our summer labors.

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Ethnobotany talk at the Gardens on Wed., Sept. 14 at noon

Dr. Don Hazlett in the field

Join Gardens’ adjunct researcher Dr. Don Hazlett for a look into the field of ethnobotany.  Dr. Hazlett will be giving the second talk in our new brown bag series: Re-search the Gardens: Meet Our Scientists. Dr. Hazlett has been instrumental in the initiation and curation of the Gardens’ ethnobotanical collection, housed within the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium. As part of the ethnobotany research Dr. Hazlett conducts as an adjunct researcher, he investigates Native American and Spanish common names. These common names frequently provide information not only about plant origin, but plant use and cultural importance as well.

Dr. Hazlett’s talk will be in Gates Hall from noon – 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Specimens at Denver Botanic Gardens Document Climate Change

Denver Botanic Gardens and University of Denver (DU) are currently collaborating to conduct research that documents climate change effects on native flora in Colorado.  We have been using preserved specimens from the Gardens Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium and other regional herbaria to determine if flowering time has changed over the last 100 years.  A preserved plant with reliable label data is proof positive that it existed in a specific place at a specific time in the state it is shown.  Such specimens show that some Colorado species were blooming on average as much as three weeks later 100 years ago than today– a reflection of warming temperatures that are causing earlier springs.

Amelia Bowman, ‘09 University of Denver (DU) graduate, first discovered this trend investigating a set of six early blooming species that were collected in Colorado
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Are you a butterfly or a bee?

Ambassador Jan here! What do you think of when you think of the things that make up Denver Botanic Gardens? I think of the many wonderful Gardens – each with its own personality and its own way of inspiring us. I also think of the plant accessions themselves, the water features, the herbarium records, the library (my dream collection
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Do You Miss The Cloud Forest Tree?

Do you miss the beautiful orchid displays from the Cloud Forest Tree?  In order to satisfy your orchid fix before the new greenhouse complex is complete and the orchids return to display, come see many of them as preserved specimens in the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium.

Volunteer Eleanor Von Bargen has worked tirelessly over the last 2 years to carefully preserve over 560 specimens of our orchid collection.  Each specimen is carefully chosen to capture optimal flowering by Von Bargen and curator Nick Snakenberg.  Many of the orchids retain their original beauty in preserved form creating valuable scientific documentation of what the species look like in flower.  These specimens add to the wealth of cultivated plants which have been added to our herbarium collection by volunteers in recent years.

Please visit the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium to see these beautiful orchid specimens in person.

Fungal herbarium to be named for its founder

Dr. Sam Mitchel studying his favorite fungi

Forty years ago, a family physician named Dr. Sam Mitchel turned a hobby into a real scientific endeavor by establishing a “mushroom collection” at Denver Botanic Gardens.  The fungal collection at the Gardens is now the largest actively curated herbarium of Rocky Mountain fungi in the world, with over 24,000 specimens representing over 2,000 taxa.  Preserved collections of plants and fungi are called herbaria (herbarium is singular), and are an essential resource for scientists, land managers, botanical illustrators, horticulturalists, explorers, historians, educators, and others needing documentation or records about plants and fungi.  
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Our Mushroom Maven is honored

Vera and her dedicated assistant, Karen Schoen

Passion. Commitment. Dedication. Love. All these words and more describe the relationship Vera Evenson, Curator of Denver Botanic Garden’s fungal herbarium, has with the most elusive of kingdoms. And yet, few know quite how remarkable this woman is. Vera recently received a distinguished award from the North American Mycological Association in honor of her 30+ years of dedication and expertise in the field.  
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