(3 August 1882 – 16 March 1964) The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) has cataloged less than a dozen botanical specimens collected by Ivey Foreman Lewis. Most specimens were collected ca. 1901 near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus while he was an undergraduate. A few were collected…
Category: Research
This is the category for research related posts from the herbarium and conservation.
Wade Thomas Batson, Jr.
(1912-2015) The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) has cataloged about 150 vascular plant specimens collected by Batson, who usually signed his herbarium labels “W. T. Batson”. Without doubt more specimens will be found as we continue to catalog our collections. Most of Batson’s specimens at NCU were collected in South Carolina;…
Goodwin LeBaron Foster
(4 June 1891 – March 1977) The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) has cataloged approximately 50 vascular plant specimens collected by Goodwin LeBaron Foster, who signed his specimens and scientific papers “G.L. Foster.” Foster was clearly keen on collecting and keen on his status as an alumnus of Dartmouth College, as…
Bruce Alexander Sorrie
b. 1944 Bruce Sorrie with Taxodium ascendens in Moore County, North Carolina in 22 November, 2011. Photo by Kathy Ann Walsh. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) is Bruce Sorrie’s primary repository for specimens collected for the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program and for other botanical projects throughout the southeastern United…
One Flower You Will Never Find in the Herbarium*
There is one flower that will never be found in herbarium, but not because of its rarity, habitat or toxicity. I first encountered frost flowers a decade ago along my driveway in southeastern Alamance County.
A New Fungus Among-Us: “Chip Cherry” makes first appearance in North Carolina
New plants, animals and fungi are not only found in far-away exotic locations. The Carolina campus might be a surprising place to find an fungus never before documented from North Carolina, but recently a Carolina Biology major did just that.
Helen Shedd Sherwin
(4 August 1921 – 23 November 1990 ) Helen Shedd Sherwin was born in Raleigh, North Carolina to Edith Sherwin nee Dodson and Melvin Ernest Sherwin. Her father was a professor of agriculture at North Carolina State College in that city. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Women’s College of the University of North Carolina (which later became…
New Flora Covers Entire Southeastern United States
The southeastern United States is home to incredible biodiversity, and new plants are discovered in this area every year. Plant lists for this region, or Flora, evolve and change, making the most recent edition vital for professionals working in conservation and natural resources management. On the cutting edge of the research to identify plants and their ranges are herbaria. Herbaria are collections of…
Effie Boon
(4 December 1894 – 19 December 1988) The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) has found a single vascular plant specimen collected by Effie Boon. As she collected primarily in her home state of Texas which is outside our current cataloging focus, it is possible that more specimens collected by her will…
Spelunking in The Caves of Chapel Hill
One of the challenges of cataloging herbarium specimens – algae, fungi, mosses, vascular plants, or fossils – is interpreting the information on the specimen’s label. Some nearby localities I have puzzled over include The Tin Can, Scott’s Hole, Sparrow’s Meadow, The Volcano, and The Caves.