On occasion I’ve met people who would ask, in reference to a plant that I was studying, “what good is it?”  I was initially somewhat baffled because I assumed that most people knew that plants are needed for an ecosystem to function properly, and that since ecosystems provide humans with clean water and air, they are important.  But sadly many people view species from a complete utilitarian viewpoint, assuming that if you can’t eat it or cut it down to make furniture, it is useless and therefore expendable.  One argument for the conservation of all plants is that we simply don’t know which ones may yield chemicals potentially useful to humans.  What is considered a useless plant one day could be a life saver on another.

Chemical compounds in dandelion may help prevent disease.

The Pacific Yew tree (Taxus brevifolia) was long considered a “weed” by foresters.  In the 1960’s an extract from this species called paclitaxel was found to kill cancer cells.  The drug Taxol was approved by the FDA in 1992 and is now a commonly used in the treatment of ovarian and breast cancer. Continue reading ‘The virtuous dandelion’

Nature preservation is often seen as something that is “nice” for people to do if they can afford to as it really isn’t all that important for the survival of humanity.  Increasingly though scientific research is revealing that this attitude is based on an incomplete understanding of how the world works.

Bees love wild sunflowers!

Continue reading ‘Nature preservation = self preservation’

Bee flies and syrphids pollinate Western Silvery Aster flowers.

For the last several years I have been studying the pollination ecology in Birds Hill Provincial Park focusing specifically on the rare Western Silvery Aster (Symphyotrichum sericeum) plant.  I discovered that this species is self-incompatible (meaning it can’t fertilize its own eggs), and visited by a wide range of insect pollinators, including both flies and bees.

Continue reading ‘With a little help from my friends’

For the last two years I have been searching for four species of rare Bugseed (Corispermum spp.) plants.  Historically these plants were found in sand dunes and along the beaches of Lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba.  Unfortunately there were very few recently collected specimens; most had been collected over 40 years ago.  Attempts to determine the rarity status of these plants were hampered due to this lack of information.

A new population of Hairy Bugseed was discovered at Grand Beach!

Continue reading ‘Pallas Bugseed Possibly Extirpated in Manitoba’

Today I got to study a plant specimen that had been collected 100 years before I was born in 1872 by one of the most famous Canadian botanists, Dr. John Macoun.  Dr. Macoun accompanied the engineer Sanford Fleming to look for a railroad route through the Canadian west and determine the area’s agricultural potential.  Macoun collected thousands of plant and animal specimens on his journeys, which involved travelling either by horse or canoe.  He collected over 100,000 plants in his lifetime including over 1,000 that were new to science.  In total 48 new species were named after him, including Macoun’s buttercup (Ranunuculus macounii).

Macoun and Fleming were trying to determine the route for the western railroad.

Continue reading ‘Musing About Macoun’

On October 28th a new natural history exhibit on the Colours in Nature will open in the Museum’s Discovery Room.  Organisms and minerals representing all the colours of the rainbow will be on display.  Unfortunately no flowering plant specimens will be displayed (only photographs) because, unfortunately, most of the plants in our collection represent only one colour: brown.  If the exhibit was on the colour brown in nature, boy would I have a lot stuff to show!

British Soldier lichens have distinct red caps.

Continue reading ‘Colours of Lichens’

Some human activities mimic those of bison.

A lot of conservation initiatives around the world involve fencing off areas to “protect” the wild species contained within.  Although that strategy can work well in ecosystems that are rarely disturbed, like tropical rainforests, it doesn’t work as well in ecosystems that evolved with natural disturbances.  North American prairies used to contain migratory herbivores (e.g. bison, antelope) that consumed large quantities of the vegetation.  Bison are unique in that they also engaged in extensive wallowing activities, creating permanent bowl-shaped depressions on the landscape.  Old journal entries from some of the first European explorers describe bison herds as taking days to pass and leaving huge swaths of trampled and disturbed soil in their wake.  Wild fires following drought and lightning strikes were also common.  Native annual plants like ragweed, goosefoot and bugseeds were likely adapted to colonize these disturbed areas. Continue reading ‘When is a human like a bison?’

While examining the backlog of uncatalogued plants in my lab I came across a very old and intriguing collection: 28 vascular plants from Ungava, Labrador collected in 1876 by a Mrs. Lizzie Crawford.  Immediately my curiosity was aroused.  Who was this mysterious woman?  Why was she collecting plants in Canada’s north so long ago?  How on earth did her specimens end up at The Manitoba Museum?  Clearly figuring all this out was going to require some serious detective work.

Some of Lizzie Crawford's pressed plants from Labrador.

Continue reading ‘Museum Mystery: Who was Lizzie Crawford?’

I love staring at the delicate Blue-eyed grass flowers!

For the last several weeks I have been recording the pollinators of wild flowers in Birds Hill Provincial Park.  One rather windy and uneventful day I was able to reflect on my chosen profession and was forced to conclude that I am a science geek.   Continue reading ‘Confessions of a Genuine Science Geek’

I recently attended the annual meeting of the Canadian Society of Ecology and Evolution in Banff, Alberta.  However, being stuck inside a building on several beautiful sunny days was agonizing and on several occasions I found myself gazing wistfully out the windows at the mountains beyond.  Fortunately, visiting other museums while I travel is an important part of my job as it helps me to plan exhibits here at The Manitoba Museum.  This trip was no exception and I was able to visit the Banff Park Museum during a long lunch break one day.

The Banff Park Museum in Alberta.

Continue reading ‘A Museum of a Museum’