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Nypa fruticans
inflorescences at Montgomery Botanical Center
April 29, 2008
Spring/Summer
2008 Montgomery
Botanical Newsletter Available Online
For
expanded coverage of Montgomery Botanical Center's expeditions,
research, and conservation efforts, please see Montgomery
Botanical News Spring/Summer 2008.
April 26, 2008
Montgomery
Botanical Center Palm Material in National Arboretum Exhibit
Montgomery
Botanical Center contributed palm foliage and fruits to The U.S.
National Arboretum for use in their South
African Plants Used in Traditional Zulu Culture exhibit. The
Zulu use the dried leaves of Hyphaene
coriacea to weave baskets and watertight containers; its fruits
are used for carvings and jewelry.
Montgomery
Botanical's tradition of providing plant material for exhibits dates
back to the 1939 New York World's Fair, where much of the palm material
for Fairchild Tropical Garden's plant display was shipped from Colonel
Montgomery's Coconut Grove Palmetum. Tropical plant displays have long
been a curiosity in more temperate reaches and make an important
contribution to education.
April 23, 2008
Royal
Botanic Garden Edinburgh and MBC Collaboration Continues
Martin
Gardner, coordinator of the International Conifer Conservation
Programme (ICCP) of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) visited
Montgomery Botanical Center (MBC) with RBGE glasshouse supervisor Fiona
Inches. While here, they studied several native U.S. conifer habitats
in the southeast including Torreya State Park, home of the critically
endangered Torreya taxifolia
and Taxus floridana.
The
visit was part of ongoing collaborative efforts among RBGE, MBC,
and Atlanta Botanical Garden (ABG) to further conservation of warm
climate conifers. Last October, Chad Husby, MBC collections manager,
and Ron Determann of ABG traveled to Edinburgh to exchange tropical
conifer propagating material. That project was funded by a USDA
Germplasm Exchange grant.
While
at MBC, Martin Gardner presented a seminar on the tropical conifer
conservation work of RBGE's International Conservation Programme. He
shared photos and information about the ICCP's efforts to improve the
conservation status of threatened conifers, including extensive work in
New Caledonia, Vietnam, and Chile.
April 18, 2008
Dr.
Donald Hodel Studies Montgomery Botanical's Sabal Species
Dr.
Donald Hodel, University of California, Davis, studied Montgomery
Botanical Center's (MBC) wild-collected Sabal species in an effort to help
identify the Sabal species
being cultivated in California.
While
at MBC, Dr. Hodel presented an update of his research on Pritchardia palms, including their
distribution, ecology, and conservation status. He presented
illustrated profiles of 26 Pritchardia
species.
April 15, 2008
Paul
Drummond Fund for Palm Conservation Grows
With
a very generous gift from Jeff Shimonski, the Paul Drummond Fund
continues to grow. Montgomery Botanical Center (MBC) has earmarked this
fund for palm conservation work via expeditionary fieldwork to collect
palm germplasm. The Fund honors
the life and work of Paul Drummond, past president of the International
Palm Society and lifelong palm enthusiast. Mr.
Drummond passed away in September 2007; this recent gift was made in
remembrance of his birthday.
March 27, 2008
Montgomery
Botanical Center Hosts Environmental Education Day
Montgomery
Botanical Center hosted students from John A. Ferguson Senior High
School as part of The Fairchild Challenge. Please see our Education
page for more on this Environmental Immersion Day.
March 20, 2008
Montgomery
Botanical Center Co-Sponsors 20th Gifford Arboretum Lecture
Julie
S. Denslow, research ecologist and team leader for the Institute of
Pacific Island Forestry, USDA Forest Service, presented Weeds in Paradise: Invasive Plants in the
Pacific Islands at the University of Miami. The 20th Gifford Arboretum
Lecture was part of the Coalition for Excellence in Tropical Botany
(CETroB) lecture series. Montgomery Botanical Center (MBC) hosted Dr.
Denslow in the Arthur Montgomery Guesthouse.
"Dr.
Denslow's research on invasive plants is of great importance for
botanical conservation," states Dr. Patrick Griffith, MBC executive
director. "MBC recently completed a cycad conservation expedition on
Guam and Rota and a palm
conservation expedition in the Hawaiian Archipelago -- invasive
species biology has a role in each of these Pacific Island conservation
concerns."
The Gifford
Arboretum celebrated its restoration this year, with a special
rededication of the Arboretum collections following the extensive
recovery work required after the 2005 hurricane season. With funding
from the IMLS, John Cozza, Aldridge Curator at the Gifford Arboretum,
developed and implemented a new master plan designed to maximize the
educational and research use of the Arboretum collections.
March 15-16, 2008
Montgomery
Botanical Hosts South Florida Palm Society Sale
For
a second year, Montgomery Botanical Center (MBC) hosted the South
Florida Palm Society's spring sale. Close to 30 vendors offered over
500 species and varieties of palms for sale during the weekend event.
Motorized tours of Montgomery Botanical's grounds were available for
visitors interested in learning about MBC's palm and cycad research
collections.
"MBC
was pleased to, once again, host the South Florida Palm Society sale,"
said Dr. Patrick Griffith, MBC executive director. "We are also
grateful for SFPS's continuing support of our palm conservation work."
March 10, 2008
Montgomery
Botanical Completes Successful Cycad Conservation Expedition
Montgomery
Botanical Center's (MBC) cycad biologist, Michael Calonje, recently
returned from a month-long expedition to the Chiriquí and
Wargandí provinces of Panama. Supported by MBC's Zane B.
Carothers Memorial Fund, the expedition helped advance phytogeographic
understanding and ex situ
conservation for Zamia fairchildiana
and Z. cunaria (pictured).
Successful
collaboration with the University of Panama and the Kuna indigenous
communities of Wargandí Province helped accomplish expedition
objectives. Michael Calonje worked closely with Dr. Alberto Taylor,
cycad researcher at the University of Panama and Montgomery Botanical
Research Fellow.
A
total of 733 seeds representing five species and 27 accessions of
cycads and palms were collected. For additional expedition information,
please see this report.
March 4, 2008
Turks
& Caicos National Trust Visits MBC
The
leadership of the Turks &
Caicos National Trust is being hosted at Montgomery Botanical
Center (MBC) this week. Ethlyn Gibbs, executive director, and Bryan
Naqqi Manco, senior conservation officer, are in south Florida
following an international meeting on Pine Rockland conservation.
While
at MBC, Ethlyn and Bryan met with the MBC staff to plan future
collaborative conservation projects focusing on palms native to the
Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI). Comprised of many islands, rocks, and
keys, TCI encompasses some of the largest uninhabited islands in the
Caribbean. The Turks & Caicos National Trust seeks to safeguard the
natural, historical, and cultural heritage of the Turks & Caicos
Islands. Through collaboration with MBC, ex situ conservation collections
can help advance this mission.
February 20, 2008
Dr.
Andrew Henderson Presents New Palm Discoveries at Montgomery Botanical
Dr.
Andrew Henderson, curator at the Institute for Systematic Botany at The
New York Botanical Garden, has recently returned from a five-month
field survey of palm diversity in Vietnam. While studying at Montgomery
Botanical Center (MBC) this week, Dr. Henderson presented a seminar on
the palm diversity of Vietnam based on this fieldwork.
Working
in collaboration with Dr. Ninh Khac Ban of The Institute of Ecology and
Biological Resources, Dr. Henderson collected palm specimens from
throughout Vietnam. The survey sought to also investigate the
sustainability of rattan harvesting activities in Vietnam. This
fieldwork discovered a great number of palm species new to science.
The
large volume of new botanical discoveries from Dr. Henderson's
fieldwork highlights the continuing ongoing need for basic
phytogeographic research in many areas of the world. There remains a
great deal of plant diversity yet to be described.
Dr.
Henderson is a longtime collaborator of MBC, having spent several
summers here performing detailed morphological studies. He is author of
several books on the palm family, including Evolution and Ecology of Palms, and
A Field Guide to the
Palms of the Americas.
February 14, 2008
Pritchardia Conservation Project
A
research and conservation project involving Montgomery Botanical Center
and National Tropical Botanical Garden recently obtained specimens and
data for conservation and research. The project focused on native Pritchardia populations. Pritchardia comprises some of the
most imperiled palm species in the world.
Christine
Bacon recently returned from her 30-day Pritchardia research and
conservation expedition in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Christine is a
doctoral candidate at Colorado State University, McBryde Graduate
Fellow of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, and Montgomery
Botanical Research Associate.
With
generous funding from The Thomas S. Kenan Foundation, Inc., and
logistical support from National Tropical Botanical Garden, Christine
was able to conduct research at 11 field sites across five islands. The
expedition resulted in valuable ex
situ material of Pritchardia
for Montgomery Botanical's palm collections.
For
a detailed account of the project, please see this report.
January 19, 2008
Montgomery
Botanical at Cycad 2008
Cycad
2008, the triennial scientific conference for cycad biology, was held
in Panama City, Panama, January 12-18. Hosted by Universidad de
Panamá (UP), Montgomery Botanical Center (MBC) was honored to
co-sponsor this important meeting in collaboration with other important
research institutes and botanic gardens including The New York
Botanical Garden (NYBG) and The Smithsonian Tropical Research
Institute. The meeting also bridged the scientific and enthusiast
communities through the participation of The Cycad Society.
Dr.
Alberto Taylor, professor at UP, MBC research fellow, and conference
chair, organized the conference and all related functions. Montgomery
Botanical was well-represented among the diverse scientific and
horticultural findings presented at the conference. Michael Calonje,
MBC cycad biologist, presented a poster on his very recent
phytogeographic research, highlighting new field data obtained in the
days before the conference. Dr. Patrick Griffith, MBC executive
director, gave a talk on MBC phenological data, coauthored by Dr. Damon
Little and Dr. Dennis Stevenson of NYBG, with Michael Calonje and Chad
Husby, MBC collections manager and botanist.
For
more information regarding MBC's participation in Cycad 2008, please
see this report.
January 10, 2008
Noted
Cycad Scientist, Dr. John Donaldson, Visits MBC
Dr.
John Donaldson, chief director of conservation science at the South
African National Biodiversity Institute, visited Montgomery Botanical
Center (MBC) with his graduate student, Terence Suinyuy. While here,
John and Terence discussed future research and conservation
collaborations with MBC, and photographed the Encephalartos collections.
In
a presentation, Pictures From The
Edge, Dr. Donaldson shared his project photographing cycads --
some of which are now extinct -- "to inspire an appreciation of wild
plants in wild places". Wild
Portraits is a limited edition of prints from that project
which supports cycad conservation; the IUCN Cycad Specialist Group
receives a portion of the profits.
Larry
Aronson, a longtime volunteer and friend of MBC, has very generously
donated a complete set of those nine cycad prints to MBC. Montgomery
Botanical plans to display the cycad portraits in the Nixon Smiley
Meeting Room upon completion of the Room's renovation.
"I
was very excited to bring Larry [Aronson] and John [Donaldson] together
for this presentation," stated Dr. Patrick Griffith, MBC executive
director. "Larry has been an incredibly dedicated volunteer here, and
the prints he gifted to MBC are wonderful. Having John describe these
beautiful prints in person was a unique opportunity."
January 8, 2008
Conifer
Authority, Dr. David J. de Laubenfels, Studies
Montgomery Botanical's Collections
Dr.
David J. de Laubenfels, a renowned authority on conifers of the
Southern Hemisphere and professor emeritus at Syracuse University,
studied the cycad and tropical conifer collections at Montgomery
Botanical Center (MBC). Dr. de Laubenfels has described 100
species of conifers and is also an authority on the genus Cycas.
Working
with Chad Husby, MBC collections manager and botanist, Dr. de
Laubenfels helped with identifying MBC's conifers and species
within the genus Cycas. While
here, Dr. de Laubenfels presented The
Southern Hemisphere Conifers.
In
the photo at left, Dr. de Laubenfels at MBC with Araucaria laubenfelsii, a species
named after him which has been growing in MBC's collection for 20
years.
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